sentences and the quality assigned to the gems.

"Does not the emerald, which in this sequence is emblematical of
incorruptible purity, reflect in the sparkling mirror of its water the
_Mater Purissima_ of the Litanies to the Virgin? Is not the chrysolite,
the symbol of wisdom, a very exact image of the _Sedes Sapientiae_? The
jacinth, attribute of charity and succour vouchsafed to sinners, is
appropriate to the _Auxilium Christianorum_ and the _refugium
peccatorum_ of the prayers. Is not the diamond, which means strength and
patience, the _Virgo potens_?--the carbuncle, meaning fame, the _Virgo
praedicanda_?--the chrysoprase, for fervour, the _Vas insigne
devotionis_?

"And it is probable," said the Abbe, in conclusion, as he laid the book
down, "that if we took the trouble we could rediscover one by one, in
this rosary of stones, the whole rosary of praise which we tell in
honour of Our Mother."

"Above all," remarked Durtal, "if we did not restrict ourselves to the
narrow limits of this poem, for Conrad's manual is brief, and his
dictionary of analogies small; if we accepted the interpretations of
other symbolists, we could produce a ring similar to his and yet quite
different, for the language of the gems would not be the same. Thus to
St. Bruno of Asti, the venerable Abbot of Monte Cassino, the jasper
symbolizes Our Lord, because it is immutably green, eternal without
possibility of change; and for the same reason the emerald is the image
of the life of the righteous; the chrysoprase means good works; the
diamond, infrangible souls; the sardonyx, which resembles the
blood-stained seed of a pomegranate, is charity; the jacinth, with its
varying blue, is the prudence of the saints; the beryl, whose hue is
that of water running in the sunshine, figures the Scriptures elucidated
by Christ; the chrysolite, attention and patience, because it has the
colour of the gold that mingles in it and lends it its meaning; the
amethyst, the choir of children and virgins, because the blue mixed in
it with rose pink suggests the idea of innocence and modesty.

"Or, again, if we borrow from Pope Innocent III. his ideas as to the
mystical meanings of gems, we find that chalcedony, which is pale in the
light and sparkles in the dark, is synonymous with humility; the topaz
with chastity and the merit of good works, while the chrysoprase, the
queen of minerals, implies wisdom and watchfulness.

"If we do not go quite so far back into