Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Gem.
spared thee , how wouldst thou rejoice that death had snatched her from thee ! Must I again repeat that happiness is not for man ? I have been possessed by thousands , but never by one of whom it coulcl be said that lie was trul y happy . Listen ! " continued the S pirit , " during the race of wickedness that stained the antediluvian world , 1 glittered upon the neck of beauty—on the brow ofthe obscene idol—or became the hoarded treasure of the priest . At last I was selected b y the virtuous Enoch
, and set with others in that mysterious triangle , which before the flood he buried deep within the cavemed womb of earth , destined to be a li ght unto a future world . " " Is it possible ? " demanded the young Englishman , who being a Freemason , perfectly understood the allusion to the Mystery . " Wert thou a portion of that ineffable secret—so long concealed from man ? " " As much a portion of it as the breath of which the words are framed . On my discovery and removal from the cavemed temple , I was set in the ephod of the high priest , ancl glittered on the breast of his successor , the virtuous Simeon . "
" Simeon the good , the just—was he unhappy ? " "No , " answered the Spirit ; "for he was as virtuous as is permitted the infirmities of earth . He was the onl y being in whom I have ever been deceived . So pure was his character , so perfect in the exercise of every virtue ; so placid—calm ; so removed from the strife , interests , passions of humanity , that even my subtle nature was in error , and for awhile I deemed him happy . "
"What undeceived thee ? " demanded Walter , deeply interested in the narrative of his mysterious visitor . " Thou shalt hear , " resumed the spirit . " On the day when it was the custom of the High Priest to enter the Holy of Holies , and offer sacrifice for the sins of the people , the virtuous Simeon arrayed himself in the sacred habit of his office . The ephod glittered on his breast ; the urim and thummin , whence issued miraculous oracles , were on the
bands which crossed his shoulders ; and the mitre upon his brow blazed with the ineffable name of the Most High . With a sad but firm step he approached the broidered veil which no mortal foot save his might pass . His garment tinkling at every step with the vibration of the golden bells and pomegranates upon its hem , ancl the life-line held by the attendant Levites , upon his loins , every voice was raised in supplication as he passed the mysterious folds , and stood befoie the LIGHT OF THE PRESENCE . "
" Could aught like doubt or sorrow reach him there—the favoured Servant of God ? " demanded Walter . " Not for himself he sorrowed ; but for his people . The very purity of his heart made the crimes of his nation a grievous burthen to him ; and he who had else been happy mourned the transgressions of his children as a mother mourneth for her young . " At the destruction of the Temple , and the fall of proud Jerusalem , became the of the victor
I spoil , and graced his barbarian triumph . Coldly did I smile at the shouts of the people—the satisfaction of the priests , as with eager hands they placed me , as an offering to Jupiter , in his temple in the Capitol . I foresaw the future—the hour whose approach should desolate their altars , prostrate their power , and leave their idols nothing but a name . Many were my changes of masters . I w ? first stolen from the Capitol by a centurion , and ' then given to a consul to escape punishment . From the judge I passed to the possession of a courtezan—the lovely Cecilia—tlie idol of Home , at whose feet the
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Gem.
spared thee , how wouldst thou rejoice that death had snatched her from thee ! Must I again repeat that happiness is not for man ? I have been possessed by thousands , but never by one of whom it coulcl be said that lie was trul y happy . Listen ! " continued the S pirit , " during the race of wickedness that stained the antediluvian world , 1 glittered upon the neck of beauty—on the brow ofthe obscene idol—or became the hoarded treasure of the priest . At last I was selected b y the virtuous Enoch
, and set with others in that mysterious triangle , which before the flood he buried deep within the cavemed womb of earth , destined to be a li ght unto a future world . " " Is it possible ? " demanded the young Englishman , who being a Freemason , perfectly understood the allusion to the Mystery . " Wert thou a portion of that ineffable secret—so long concealed from man ? " " As much a portion of it as the breath of which the words are framed . On my discovery and removal from the cavemed temple , I was set in the ephod of the high priest , ancl glittered on the breast of his successor , the virtuous Simeon . "
" Simeon the good , the just—was he unhappy ? " "No , " answered the Spirit ; "for he was as virtuous as is permitted the infirmities of earth . He was the onl y being in whom I have ever been deceived . So pure was his character , so perfect in the exercise of every virtue ; so placid—calm ; so removed from the strife , interests , passions of humanity , that even my subtle nature was in error , and for awhile I deemed him happy . "
"What undeceived thee ? " demanded Walter , deeply interested in the narrative of his mysterious visitor . " Thou shalt hear , " resumed the spirit . " On the day when it was the custom of the High Priest to enter the Holy of Holies , and offer sacrifice for the sins of the people , the virtuous Simeon arrayed himself in the sacred habit of his office . The ephod glittered on his breast ; the urim and thummin , whence issued miraculous oracles , were on the
bands which crossed his shoulders ; and the mitre upon his brow blazed with the ineffable name of the Most High . With a sad but firm step he approached the broidered veil which no mortal foot save his might pass . His garment tinkling at every step with the vibration of the golden bells and pomegranates upon its hem , ancl the life-line held by the attendant Levites , upon his loins , every voice was raised in supplication as he passed the mysterious folds , and stood befoie the LIGHT OF THE PRESENCE . "
" Could aught like doubt or sorrow reach him there—the favoured Servant of God ? " demanded Walter . " Not for himself he sorrowed ; but for his people . The very purity of his heart made the crimes of his nation a grievous burthen to him ; and he who had else been happy mourned the transgressions of his children as a mother mourneth for her young . " At the destruction of the Temple , and the fall of proud Jerusalem , became the of the victor
I spoil , and graced his barbarian triumph . Coldly did I smile at the shouts of the people—the satisfaction of the priests , as with eager hands they placed me , as an offering to Jupiter , in his temple in the Capitol . I foresaw the future—the hour whose approach should desolate their altars , prostrate their power , and leave their idols nothing but a name . Many were my changes of masters . I w ? first stolen from the Capitol by a centurion , and ' then given to a consul to escape punishment . From the judge I passed to the possession of a courtezan—the lovely Cecilia—tlie idol of Home , at whose feet the