200 PURIFIED GOLD. more mysterious do they appear; and yet I think they lose a little of their mysterious character if we try to regard them as helps and aids towards an end, and not ends in themselves. If the gold could speak, it would cry out when it felt the hot breath of the fierce flames lapping it round; but, when it has passed through the fire, how much brighter and purer it is, the dross is all burnt away, and nothing but pure metal remains. And so it will be with us; we cry out when we feel the pain and the sorrow, and say we cannot bear it; but, when it has passed away, it should leave us better and purer. "Sorrow is a test; as our worth is, so is our sorrow. Sorrow, more or less, is the portion of all; and it is impossible, my dear boys, to go far on in life without receiving a visit from the dark, tearful-eyed angel of sorrow. It would be contrary to human nature and all experience were I to expect you to welcome her with open arms; but, when she does come, as come she will, treat her well, and she will transform herself into an angel of light. "Sorrow arises from many causes-from disappointment, blighted hopes, or the loss of those near and dear to us, whose defection and death is like a great wrench to our nature-a great tugging at our heartstrings; but, from whatever cause it may arise, it comes to one and all, and leaves us better or worse. Listen, and I will tell you a fable, and do not despise it because a boy is not the hero. You may call it A GENTLEMAN'S STUDY. 201 666 THE PARIAN DOVE,' "In a gentleman's study, on a desk near the window, stood a beautiful Parian dove; its head was thrown back, its wings were outstretched, as though poising ready for flight into the blue depths of the sky. Behind, and on either side, books, arranged on shelves, reached from the floor up to the ceiling of the room, while others lay in confused heaps and piles on the carpet and on chairs. There were large, ponderous, and worm-eaten folios; generations of eyes, now closed for ever, had read their pages, and generations of fingers, long since crumbled into dust, had turned over their leaves; many active brains had pored over their contents, and innumerable hearts had gathered wisdom from them-wisdom that gave strength to character and beauty to life. "The last beams of the setting sun, as they stole in through the window, illumined St Augustine's 'City of God,' or the mystical words of Jacob Behmen. Sunbeams playing upon such books suggested strange fancies to the mind of the dove; it would dream of the real city of God, which would be illumined by purer rays than those of the sun, and where, too, all mystical things would be made clear. "In the hours of twilight, and through the hushed silence of the night, when the light of the moon, or of stars, shone into the room, the ideas and thoughts, 202 A BEAUTIFUL MAIDEN. which were folded up in the pages of the volumes, seemed, to the imagination of the dove, to take to themselves shapes and forms, and, gliding silently about the room, would hold converse with it, and breathe into it some of their own wisdom, so that, in process of time, the mind of the dove became burdened with fancies and thoughts, and rich with the lore of poets and philosophers. "At the close of an autumn day, when the wind had been boisterous, filling the air with red leaves, and driving masses of cloud across the sky, a maiden stepped into the study, not with an eager, buoyant step, but slowly, as though her limbs were clothed with heaviness. She was very beautiful, with masses of dark hair, some of which was twisted into a knot at the back of her head, while the rest fell loosely over her neck and shoulders; her cheeks were pale, and somewhat thin, either from sickness or sorrow; her brow was broad and white as marble, bringing into strong relief the finely marked and dark eyebrows, which shaded eyes whose brightness appeared to have been dimmed by tears, but from which the soul looked out upon the world. The mouth was small, the chin rounded and firm; altogether, the face conveyed the impression of character, and of a nature possessing great capacity for suffering. "But the most noticeable feature of all was the lips. Lips are sometimes very pathetic-this young creature's were so. It seemed as though her heart |