ltered him.

So great is the lust for gold, and so small the love of moral beauty
among the fallen race of man, that of all the varied productions of
Hesperus, the golden apples alone have been mentioned in tradition and
poetry. But in truth, these were far inferior to the precious roses
which grew in the very centre of this paradise, and which were endowed,
not only with exquisite form, hue, and fragrance, but with certain magic
properties, invaluable to their possessors. If the bosom on which the
flower rested were candid, pure, and kind, the rose bloomed with still
richer loveliness, and emitted a delicious sweetness: and a grace was
shed over the person of its owner, which grief and sickness could not
dim, and old age itself was powerless to destroy. This indescribable
something shone out in the eye, spoke in the voice, made the plainest
features pleasing, and imparted an irresistible charm to the manner. It
was as far superior to mere external beauty as the latter is to
revolting ugliness. Nothing could destroy it: once gained, it was a
lasting heritage. But on the other hand, if this rose were possessed by
the false-hearted, the sensual, and the selfish, it sickened and paled
day by day, giving forth a fainter fragrance continually, until it was
completely withered. And in proportion as it lost its bloom, did the
hideous heart of the wearer imprint itself upon the countenance, until
the eye would turn away in disgust from the most brilliant complexion
and chiselled regularity of features. It acted as a moral test, making
evident to the dull eye of man, ever prone to think only of outside
show, the beauty or the deformity within. Until the time of our story no
roses had been dipt from the magic tree; and men, always ready to look
to the bright side of the wonderful unknown, thought merely of the charm
it could impart, and not of the danger incurred by the unlovely in heart
and life.

I will not attempt to fix the date of my tale with historic accuracy. It
is sufficient to say that the events occurred in that period of
unreasoning faith, when the myths of Greece and Rome were mingled in the
popular mind with the fairy legends of the north; and both were baptized
in the waters of Christianity. It was a charming period for all lovers
of romance: it was the childhood of modern Europe. But I must warn you
that it is in vain to search for the names of my emperors in
chronological tables. They lived at a time when the hi