this portion of
the building is itself an allegory. In spite of climate we must grow the
vine and the palm, emblems of eternity; the cedar, which by reason of
its incorruptible wood is sometimes thought to symbolize the angels; the
olive and the fig, emblems of the Holy Trinity and of the Word;
frankincense, cassia and _balsamodendron Myrrha_, a symbol of the
perfect humanity of Our Lord; the terebinth--meaning exactly what?"

"According to Peter of Capua, the Cross and the Church; but Saint Melito
says the saints. According to the monk of Clairvaux, it is the false
doctrine of the Jews and heretics; and as to the drops of resin, they
are Christ's tears, if we may believe Saint Ambrose," replied the Abbe
Plomb.

"And even so, our cathedral remains incomplete. We are but feeling our
way, without logical sequence. I admit that at the entrance we must
plant the purifying hyssop in the place of the holy-water vessel; but
with what can we build the walls unless we accept the alternative of a
real church having walls but unfinished?"

"Take the figurative sense of the walls and translate that; the great
walls are representative of the four Evangelists, Can you find plants
for them?"

Durtal shook his head. "The Evangelists are, of course, symbolized in
the fauna of mysticism by the animals of the Tetramorph; the twelve
apostles have their synonyms in the category of gems, and two of the
Evangelists are naturally to be found there: Saint John is associated
with the emerald, the emblem of purity and faith; Saint Matthew with the
chrysolite, the emblem of wisdom and watchfulness; but none, so far as I
know, has found a representative among either trees or flowers. And yet,
to be sure, Saint John has the sun-flower, signifying divine
inspiration; for he is represented in a window in the church of Saint
Remy at Reims, his head crowned with a nimbus surmounted by two of these
flowers."

"Saint Mark, too, has a plant--the tansy, so named in the Middle Ages."

"The tansy?"

"Yes; a bitter, aromatic plant with yellow flowers, which grows in stony
ground, and is used in medicine as an anti-spasmodic. Like Saint
George's herb, it is used in nervous maladies, the intercession of
Saint Mark being, it would seem, of sovereign efficacy.

"As to Saint Luke, he may be represented by clumps of mignonette, for
Sister Emmerich tells us that while he was a physician it was his
favourite remedy. He macerated mignonette in palm oil, and a