The struggle
for the possession of the temple had assumed to them the character of a
holy warfare against heathenism and magic--a sacred conflict to be
sustained by the Church, for the sake of her servant who had fallen a
martyr at the outset of the strife. Strong in their fanatical boldness,
they advanced with one accord close to the gates. Some of the smaller
images of the fallen pile had been forced through the bars, behind which
appeared the great idols, the broken masses of furniture, the long robes
and costly hangings, all locked together in every wild variety of
position--a chaos of distorted objects heaped up by an earthquake!
Above and further inward, the lower part of the Pagan's robe was faintly
discernible through the upper interstices in the gate, as he stood,
commanding, on the summit of his prostrate altar, with his idol in his
arms.
The priests felt an instant conviction of certain triumph when they
discerned the cause of the shock that had been heard within the temple.
One of their number snatched up a small image that had fallen through to
the pavement where he stood, and holding it before the people below,
exclaimed exultingly--
'Children of the Church! the mystery is revealed! Idols more precious
than this lie by hundreds on the floor of the temple! It is no demon,
but a man, one man, who still defies us within!--a robber who would
defraud the Romans of the ransom of their lives!--the pillage of many
temples is around him.
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