He bade me, indeed he bade me, assure you that he would receive you back as a son, and forgive and forget all the past.' 'Forgive and forget?
That is my part--not his.

Will he right me against that tyrant and his crew?
Will he proclaim me openly to be an innocent and persecuted man, unjustly beaten and driven forth for obeying his own commands?
Till he does that, I shall not forget that I am a free man.' 'A free man!' said Peter, with an unpleasant smile; 'that remains to be proved, my gay youth; and will need more evidence than that smart philosophic cloak and those well-curled locks which you have adopted since I saw you last.' 'Remains to be proved ?' Arsenius made an imploring gesture to Peter to be silent.
'Nay, sir.

As I foretold to you, this one way alone remains; the blame of it, if there be blame, must rest on the unhappy youth whose perversity renders it necessary.' 'For God's sake, spare me!' cried the old man, dragging Peter aside, while Philammon stood astonished, divided between indignation and vague dread.
'Did I not tell you again and again that I never could bring myself to call a Christian man my slave?
And him, above all, my spiritual son ?' 'And, most reverend sir, whose zeal is only surpassed by your tenderness and mercy, did not the holy patriarch assure you that your scruples were groundless?
Do you think that either he or I can have less horror than you have of slavery in itself?
Heaven forbid! But when an immortal soul is at stake--when a lost lamb is to be brought back to the fold--surely you may employ the authority which the law gives you for the salvation of that precious charge committed to you?
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.

Then, by parity of reasoning, it must be lawful for them to take the advantage which those same laws offer them, when by so doing the glory of God may be advanced."' Arsenius still hung back, with eyes brimming with tears; but Philammon himself put an end to the parley.
'What is the meaning of all this?
Are you, too, in a conspiracy against me?
Speak, Arsenius!' 'This is the meaning of it, blinded sinner!' cried Peter.

'That you are by law the slave of Arsenius, lawfully bought with his money in the city of Ravenna; and that he has the power, and, as I trust, for the sake of your salvation, the will also, to compel you to accompany him.' Philammon recoiled across the pavement, with eyes flashing defiance.