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62 THIRD PERIOD. II. PRIDE OF STATE.
§ xli. Let us hear two stories of those rougher times.
At the debate of King Edwin with his courtiers and priests,
whether he ought to receive the Gospel preached to him by
Paulinus, one of his nobles spoke as follows:
" The present life, O king ! weighed with the time that is
unknown, seems to me like this. When you are sitting at a
feast with your earls and thanes in winter time, and the fire is
lighted, and the hall is warmed, and it rains and snows, and
the storm is loud without, there comes a sparrow, and flies
through the house. It comes in at one door and goes out at
the other. While it is within, it is not touched by the winter's
storm; but it is but for the twinkling of an eye, for from
winter it comes and to winter it returns. So also this life of
man endureth for a little space; what goes before or what
follows after, we know not. Wherefore, if this new lore bring
anything more certain, it is fit that we should follow it." *
That could not have happened in a Renaissance building.
The bird could not have dashed in from the cold into the heat,
and from the heat back again into the storm. It would have'
had to come up a flight of marble stairs, and through seven
or eight antechambers; and so, if it had ever made its way
into the presence chamber, out again through loggias and corridors innumerable. And the truth which the bird brought
with it, fresh from heaven, has, in like manner, to make its
way to the Renaissance mind through many antechambers,
hardly, and as a despised thing, if at all.
§ xlii. Llear another story of those early times.
The king of Jerusalem, Godfrey of Bouillon, at the siege
of Asshur, or Arsur, gave audience to some emirs from Samaria and Naplous. They found him seated on the ground on a
sack of straw. They expressing surprise, Godfrey answered
them : " May not the earth, out of which we came, and which
is to be our dwelling after death, serve us for a seat during
life?"
It is long since such a throne has been set in the reception-
* Churton's "Early English Church." London, 1840.
| Title | The stones of Venice - 3 |
| Creator | Ruskin, John |
| Publisher | J. Wiley |
| Place of Publication | New York |
| Date | 1889 |
| Language | eng |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Title | 00000076 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | 62 THIRD PERIOD. II. PRIDE OF STATE. § xli. Let us hear two stories of those rougher times. At the debate of King Edwin with his courtiers and priests, whether he ought to receive the Gospel preached to him by Paulinus, one of his nobles spoke as follows: " The present life, O king ! weighed with the time that is unknown, seems to me like this. When you are sitting at a feast with your earls and thanes in winter time, and the fire is lighted, and the hall is warmed, and it rains and snows, and the storm is loud without, there comes a sparrow, and flies through the house. It comes in at one door and goes out at the other. While it is within, it is not touched by the winter's storm; but it is but for the twinkling of an eye, for from winter it comes and to winter it returns. So also this life of man endureth for a little space; what goes before or what follows after, we know not. Wherefore, if this new lore bring anything more certain, it is fit that we should follow it." * That could not have happened in a Renaissance building. The bird could not have dashed in from the cold into the heat, and from the heat back again into the storm. It would have' had to come up a flight of marble stairs, and through seven or eight antechambers; and so, if it had ever made its way into the presence chamber, out again through loggias and corridors innumerable. And the truth which the bird brought with it, fresh from heaven, has, in like manner, to make its way to the Renaissance mind through many antechambers, hardly, and as a despised thing, if at all. § xlii. Llear another story of those early times. The king of Jerusalem, Godfrey of Bouillon, at the siege of Asshur, or Arsur, gave audience to some emirs from Samaria and Naplous. They found him seated on the ground on a sack of straw. They expressing surprise, Godfrey answered them : " May not the earth, out of which we came, and which is to be our dwelling after death, serve us for a seat during life?" It is long since such a throne has been set in the reception- * Churton's "Early English Church." London, 1840. |
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