There was now no resource left for
him but entirely to deliver himself up to those pursuits which had made
his home as a strange place to him, which were hallowed by their
connection with the lost object of his attachment, and which would
confer the sole happiness and distinction that he could hope for in the
wide world on his future life.
In addition to this motive for labour in his vocation, there existed in
the mind of Ulpius a deep and settled feeling that animated him with
unceasing ardour for the prosecution of his cherished occupations. This
governing principle was detestation of the Christian sect. The
suspicion that others had entertained regarding the death of the high
priest was to his mind a certainty. He rejected every idea which
opposed his determined persuasion that the jealousy of the Christians
had prompted them to the murder, by poison, of the most powerful and
zealous of the Pagan priests. To labour incessantly until he attained
the influence and position formerly enjoyed by his relative, and to use
that influence and position, when once acquired, as the means of
avenging Macrinus, by sweeping every vestige of the Christian faith from
the face of the earth, were now the settled purposes of his heart.
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