y gate, and hold
every street and lane of your hearts and of your minds all around your
hearts. And all through the Prince of Peace, the Captain of all Holy
War, Jesus Christ Himself. No wonder, then, that in a strength--in a
kind and in a degree of strength--that passeth all understanding, this
stately palace of the heart is also here called a well-garrisoned castle.

3. And then for pleasantness the human heart is a perfect paradise. For
pleasantness the human heart is like those famous royal parks of Nineveh
and Babylon that sprang up in after days as if to recover and restore the
Garden of Eden that had been lost to those eastern lands. But even
Adam's own paradise was but a poor outside imitation in earth and water,
in flowers and fruits, of the far better paradise God had planted within
him. Take another Mystic at this point upon paradise. 'My dear man,'
exclaims Jacob Behmen, 'the Garden of Eden is not paradise, neither does
Moses say so. Paradise is the divine joy, and that was in their own
hearts so long as they stood in the love of God. Paradise is the divine
and angelical joy, pure love, pure joy, pure gladness, in which there is
no fear, no misery, and no death. Which paradise neither death nor the
devil can touch. And yet it has no stone wall around it; only a great
gulf which no man or angel can cross but by that new birth of which
Christ spoke to Nicodemus. Reason asks, Where is paradise to be found?
Is it far off or near? Is it in this world or is it above the stars?
Where is that desirable native country where there is no death? Beloved,
there is nothing nearer you at this moment than paradise, if you incline
that way. God beckons you back into paradise at this moment, and calls
you by name to come. Come, He says, and be one of My paradise children.
In paradise,' the Teutonic Philosopher goes on, 'there is nothing but
hearty love, a meek and a gentle love; a most friendly and most courteous
discourse: a gracious, amiable, and blessed society, where the one is
always glad to see the other, and to honour the other. They know of no
malice in paradise, no cunning, no subtlety, and no sly deceit. But the
fruits of the Spirit of God are common among them in paradise, and one
may make use of all the good things of paradise without causing
disfavour, or hatred, or envy, for there is no contrary affection there,
but all hearts there are knit together in love. In paradise they love
one another,