is more particularly concerned with prayer; for that part
of it which relates to forms, and injunctions as to worship, is itself
symbolism, symbolism is the soul of it. In fact, the limit-line of the
two branches is not always easy to trace, so often are they grafted
together; they inspire each other, intertwine, and at last are almost
one.

"In the Future.--By going to Solesmes I shall complete my education; I
shall see and hear the most perfect expression of that Liturgy and that
Gregorian chant of which the little convent of Notre Dame de l'Atre, by
reason of the limited number of the Brethren, could only afford a
reduced copy--very faithful, it is true, but yet reduced.

"By adding to this my own studies of the religious paintings removed now
from the sanctuaries and collected in museums, and supplementing them by
my remarks on the various cathedrals I may explore, I shall have
travelled round the whole cycle of mysticism, have extracted the essence
of the Middle Ages, have combined in a sort of sheaf these separate
branches, scattered now for so many centuries, and have investigated
more thoroughly one especially--Symbolism namely, of which certain
elements are almost lost from sheer neglect.

"Yes. Symbolism has lent the principal charm to my life at Chartres; it
occupied and comforted me when I was suffering from finding my soul so
importunate and yet so low."

And he tried to recapitulate the science, to view it as a whole.

He saw it as a thickly branched tree, the root deep set in the very soil
of the Bible; from thence, in fact, it drew its substance and its
nourishment: the trunk was the Symbolism of the Scriptures, the Old
Testament prefiguring the Gospels; the branches were the allegorical
purport of architecture, of colours, gems, flowers, and animals; the
hieroglyphics of numbers; the emblematical meaning of the vessels and
vestments of Church use. A small bough represented Liturgical perfumes,
and a mere twig, dried up from the first and almost dead, represented
dancing.

"For religious dancing once existed," Durtal went on. "In ancient times
it was a recognized offering of adoration, a tithe of light-heartedness.
David leaping before the Ark shows this.

"And in the earliest Christian times the faithful and the priesthood
shook themselves in honour of the Redeemer, and fancied that by choric
motion they were imitating the joy of the Blessed, the glee of the
Angels described by Saint Basil as e