ld of innocence. And
now I am satisfied that she was the go-between, and that her naivete was
a mere mask concealing an unparalleled hypocrite. I imagined that truth
and purity still dwelt in the simple rustic world--but everything is
perverted and corrupt. The world of simplicity is base; aye, far worse
than that of corruption!"

"I am not arguing about individuals. I think you mistaken in regard to
Walpurga; but admitting that you are right, of this at least we can be
sure: morality does not depend upon so-called education or ignorance,
belief or unbelief. The heart and mind which have regained purity and
steadfastness alone possess true knowledge. Extend your view beyond
details and take in the whole--that alone can comfort and
reconcile you."

"I see where you are, but I cannot get up there. I can't always be
looking through your telescope that shows naught but blue sky. I am too
weak. I know what you mean; you say in effect, 'Rise above these few
people, above this span of space known as a kingdom: compared with the
universe, they are but as so many blades of grass or a mere clod
of earth.'"

Gunther nodded a pleased assent: but the Queen, in a sad voice, added:--

"Yes, but this space and these people constitute my world. Is purity
merely imaginary? If it be not about us, where can it be found?"

"Within ourselves," replied Gunther. "If it dwell within us, it is
everywhere; if not, it is nowhere. He who asks for more has not yet
passed the threshold. His heart is not yet what it should be. True love
for the things of this earth, and for God, the final cause of all, does
not ask for love in return. We love the divine spark that dwells in
creatures themselves unconscious of it: creatures who are wretched,
debased, and as the church has it, unredeemed. My Master taught me that
the purest joys arise from this love of God or of eternally pure nature.
I made this truth my own, and you can and ought to do likewise. This
park is yours; but the birds that dwell in it, the air, the light, its
beauty, are not yours alone, but are shared with you by all. So long as
the world is ours, in the vulgar sense of the word, we may love it; but
when we have made it our own, in a purer and better sense, no one can
take it from us. The great thing is to be strong and to know that hatred
is death, that love alone is life, and that the amount of love that we
possess is the measure of the life and the divinity that dwells
within us."