"Charmides, when he reached home, took out the manuscript. He recognised it as a copy of the letter which he had partly heard at the meeting. He was somewhat astonished to find that it was written by a man of learning, who was evidently familiar with classic authors, but surely never was scholarship pressed into such a service! The confusion of metaphor, the suddenness of transition, the illogical muddles were bad enough, but the chief obstacle to comprehension was that the author's whole scope and purpose, the whole circle of his ideas, were outside Charmides altogether. He was not attracted any more than he was at the meeting, but he was a little piqued because Paul had certainly been well educated, and he determined to attend the meeting again. This time he was late, and did not arrive till it was nearly at an end. His friend was there, and again he sat down next to her. When they went out it was dark, and he walked by her side. "'Have you read the letter?' "'Yes, but I do not understand it, and I have brought it back.' "'May Christ the Lord open your eyes!' "'Who is this Christ whom you worship?' "'The Son of God, He who was crucified; the man Jesus; He who took upon Himself flesh to redeem us from our sins; in whom by faith we are justified and have eternal life.' "It was all pure Hebrew to him, save the phrase 'Son of God,' which sounded intelligible. "'You are Greek,' he said, for he recognised her accent although she spoke Latin. "'Yes, from Corinth: my name is Demariste;' and she explained to him that, although she was a slave, she was partly employed in teaching Greek to the children of her mistress. "'If you are Greek and well brought up, you must know that I cannot comprehend a word of what you have spoken. It is Judaism.' "'To me, too,' she replied, speaking Greek to him, 'it was incomprehensible, but God by the light which lighteth every man hath brought me into His marvellous light, and now this that I have told you is exceedingly clear--nay, clearer than anything which men say they see.' "'Tell me how it happened.' "'When I first came to Rome I had a master who desired to make me his concubine, and I hated him; but what strength had I?--and I was tempted to yield. My parents were dead; I had no friends who cared for me--what did it matter! I had read in my books of the dignity of the soul, but that was a poor weapon with which to fight, and, moreover, sin was not exceeding sinful to me. By God's grace I was brought amongst these Christians, and I was convinced of sin. I saw that it was not only transgression against myself, but against the eternal decrees of the Most High, against those decrees which, as one of our own poets still dear to me has said-- "'[Greek text].' {1}