ary. He would, too, recite Swinburne's own lines
"deliberately directing them away from Swinburne's intention and
supposing them addressed to the new Christian Queen of life, rather
than to the fallen Pagan queen of death."

But I turn to her still; having seen she shall surely abide
in the end
Goddess and maiden and queen be near me now and befriend.

Nor was it only admiration for art that made him write--also in early
youth:

THE NATIVITY OF BOTTICELLI

Do you blame me that I sit hours before this picture?
But if I walked all over the world in this time
I should hardly see anything worth seeing that is not
in this picture.

Father O'Connor sees in _The Catholic Church and Conversion_ a hint
that Mr. Belloc had been of those who tried to hustle Gilbert in his
younger days. But on this profound reality of Mary's help they could
meet many years before Gilbert had finished the slow rumination of
mind and the painful effort of will that had held him so long. Here
is an early letter Belloc wrote to his friend:

Reform Club, Manchester.
11 Dec. 1907.

MY DEAR GILBERT,

I am a man afraid of impulse in boats, horses and all action though
driven to it. I have never written a letter such as I am writing now,
though I have desired to write some six or seven since I became a
grown man. In the matter we discussed at Oxford I have a word to say
which is easier to say on paper than by word of mouth, or rather,
more valuable. All intellectual process is doubtful, all
inconclusive, save pure deduction, which is a game if one's first
certitudes are hypothetical and immensely valuable if one's first
certitude is fixed, yet remains wholly dependent on that.

Now if we differed in all main points I would not write thus, but
there are one or two on which we agree. One is "Vere passus,
immolatus in cruce pro homine." Another is in a looking up to our
Dear Lady, the blessed Mother of God.

I recommend to you this, that you suggest to her a comprehension for
yourself, of what indeed is the permanent home of the soul. If it is
here you will see it, if it is there you will see it. She never fails
us. She has never failed me in any demand.

I have never written thus--as I say--and I beg you to see nothing
in it but what I say. There is no connection the reason can
seize--but so it is. If you say "I want this" as in your case to know