One was prepared to be a martyr for the temple;
the other to be a martyr for the Church. Both were enthusiasts in an
unwelcome cause; both had suffered more than a life's wonted share of
affliction; and both were old, passing irretrievably from their fading
present on earth to the eternal future awaiting them in the unknown
spheres beyond.
But here--with their position--the comparison between them ends. The
Christian's principle of action, drawn from the Divinity he served, was
love; the Pagan's, born of the superstition that was destroying him, was
hate. The one laboured for mankind; the other for himself. And thus
the aspirations of Numerian, founded on the general good, nourished by
offices of kindness, and nobly directed to a generous end, might lead
him into indiscretion, but could never degrade him into crime--might
trouble the serenity of his life, but could never deprive him of the
consolation of hope. While, on the contrary, the ambition of Ulpius,
originating in revenge and directed to destruction, exacted cruelty from
his heart and duplicity from his mind; and, as the reward for his
service, mocked him alternately throughout his whole life with delusion
and despair.
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