drawing us to
Himself, and though they seem evil in the beginning, yet in the end they
are good."

"Moreover," said Parlamente, "I believe that no man can ever love God
perfectly that has not perfectly loved one of His creatures in this
world."

"What do you mean by loving perfectly?" asked Saffredent. "Do you
consider that those frigid beings who worship their mistresses in
silence and from afar are perfect lovers?"

"I call perfect lovers," replied Parlamente, "those who seek perfection
of some kind in the objects of their love, whether beauty, or goodness,
or grace, ever tending to virtue, and who have such noble and upright
hearts that they would rather die than do base things, contrary and
repugnant to honour and conscience. For the soul, which was created for
nothing but to return to its sovereign good, is, whilst enclosed in the
body, ever desirous of attaining to it. But since the senses, through
which the soul receives knowledge, are become dim and carnal through the
sin of our first parent, they can show us only those visible things that
approach towards perfection; and these the soul pursues, thinking to
find in outward beauty, in a visible grace and in the moral virtues, the
supreme, absolute beauty, grace and virtue. But when it has sought and
tried these external things and has failed to find among them that which
it really loves, the soul passes on to others; wherein it is like a
child, which, when very young, will be fond of dolls and other trifles,
the prettiest its eyes can see, and will heap pebbles together in the
idea that these form wealth; but as the child grows older he becomes
fond of living dolls, and gathers together the riches that are needful
for earthly life. And when he learns by greater experience that in all
these earthly things there is neither perfection nor happiness, he
is fain to seek Him who is the Creator and Author of happiness and
perfection. Albeit, if God should not give him the eye of Faith, he will
be in danger of passing from ignorance to infidel philosophy, since it
is Faith alone that can teach and instil that which is right; for this,
carnal and fleshly man can never comprehend." (6)

6 The whole of this mystical dissertation appears to have
been inspired by some remarks in Castiglione's _Libro del
Cortegiano_--which Margaret was no doubt well acquainted
with, as it was translated into French in 1537 by Jacques
Colin, her brother's secretary