ity, and of the
theological virtues. Four typifies the cardinal virtues, the four
Greater Prophets, the Gospels and the elements. Five is the number of
Christ's wounds, and of our senses, whose sins He expiated by a
corresponding number of wounds. Six records the days devoted by God to
the creation, determines the number of the Commandments promulgated by
the Church, and, according to Saint Melito, symbolizes the perfection of
the active life. Seven is the sacred number of the Mosaic law; it is the
number of the gifts of the Holy Ghost, of the Sacraments, of the words
of Jesus on the Cross, of the canonical hours, and of the successive
orders of priesthood. Eight, says Saint Ambrose, is the symbol of
regeneration, Saint Augustine says of the Resurrection, and it recalls
the idea of the eight Beatitudes. Nine is the number of the angelic
hierarchy, of the special gifts of the Spirit as enumerated by Saint
Paul; and it was at the ninth hour that Christ died. Ten is the number
of laws given by Jehovah, the law of fear; but Saint Augustine explains
it otherwise, saying that it includes the knowledge of God, since it may
be decomposed into three, the symbol of a triune God, and seven,
figuring the day of rest after the Creation. Eleven, the same saint
explains as an image of transgressing the law and an emblem of sin; and
Twelve is the great mystic number, the tale of the patriarchs and the
Apostles, of the tribes, the minor prophets, the virtues, the fruits of
the Holy Ghost, and the articles of faith embodied in the _Credo_. And
this might be repeated to infinity. Hence it is quite evident that the
artists of the Middle Ages added to the meaning they assigned to certain
creatures and certain things, that of quantity, supporting one by the
other, emphasizing or moderating a suggestion by this added-means,
working back sometimes on a former idea, and expressing this duplication
in a different form or concentrating it in the energetic conciseness of
a cipher. They thus produced a whole at once speaking to the eye and, at
the same time, giving synthetical expression to the complete text of a
dogma in a compact allegory."

"But what hermetic concentration!" exclaimed Durtal.

"Very true; these various meanings of persons and objects, resulting
from numerical differences, are at first very puzzling."

"And do you suppose that, on the whole, the height, breadth, and length
of a cathedral reveal a specialized idea, a particular