made men bound who would otherwise be
free; and he had said to Paul once that he prayed the best who lived
nobly and generously, and made most perfect whatever gift he had; who
was kind and courteous, and used all men the same, whether old or young,
great or little; adding, "That is my creed, and not the creed of the
priests--but I would not have you take it from me thus--a man may not
borrow the secret of another's heart, and wear it for his own. All
faiths are good that make a man live cleanly and lovingly and
laboriously; and just as all men like not the same music, so all men are
not suited with the same faith; we all tend to the same place, but by
different ways; and each man should find the nearest way for him."
Paul, after that, had followed his own heart in the matter; and it led
him not wholly in the way of the priests, but not against them, as it
led Mark. Paul took some delight in the ordered solemnities of the
Church, the dark coolness of the arched aisles, the holy smell--he felt
there the nearer to God. And to be near to God was what Paul desired;
but he gave up praying at formal seasons, and spoke with God in his
heart, as a man might speak to his friend, whenever he was moved to
speak; he asked His aid before the making of a song; he told Him when he
was disheartened, or when he desired what he ought not; he spoke to Him
when he had done anything of which he was ashamed; and he told Him of
his dreams and of his joys. Sometimes he would speak thus for half a day
together, and feel a quiet comfort, like a strong arm round him; but
sometimes he would be silent for a long while.

Now this night he spoke in his heart to God, and told him of the sweet
and beautiful hope that had come to him, and asked Him to make known to
him whether it was His will that he should put forth his hand, and
gather the flower of the wood--for he could not even in his secret heart
bring himself that night to speak, even to God, directly about the
maiden; but, in a kind of soft reverence, he used gentle similitudes.
And then he leaned from his window, and strove to send his spirit out
like a bird over the sleeping wood, to light upon the tower; and then
his thought leapt further, and he seemed to see the glimmering maiden
chamber where she slept, breathing evenly. But even in thought this
seemed to him too near, as though the vision were lacking in that awful
reverence, which is the herald of love. So he thought that his spirit
sho