The Tales of the Heptameron, Vol. III | Page 6

she, her mistress, had had the power to deprive her of a
husband in the flesh, the man whom of all men she had loved the best,
and with that she must rest content, and not seek to sever her from One
who was immortal and invisible, for this Was neither in her power nor
in that of any creature upon earth.

The Marchioness, finding her thus steadfast in her resolve, kissed her
and left her, with great sorrow.
And thenceforward Pauline and her lover lived such holy and devout
lives, observing all the rules of their order, that we cannot doubt that
He whose law is love told them when their lives were ended, as He had
told Mary Magdalene: "Your sins are forgiven, for ye have loved
much;" and doubtless He removed them in peace to that place where
the recompense surpasses all the merits of man.
"You cannot deny, ladies, that in this case the man's love was the
greater of the two; nevertheless, it was so well requited that I would
gladly have all lovers equally rewarded."
"Then," said Hircan, "there would be more manifest fools among men
and women than ever there were."
"Do you call it folly," said Oisille, "to love virtuously in youth and then
to turn this love wholly to God?"
"If melancholy and despair be praiseworthy," answered Hircan,
laughing, "I will acknowledge that Pauline and her lover are well
worthy of praise."
"True it is," said Geburon, "that God has many ways of drawing us to
Himself, and though they seem evil in the beginning, yet in the end
they are good."
"Moreover," said Parlamente, "I believe that no man can ever love God
perfectly that has not perfectly loved one of His creatures in this
world."
"What do you mean by loving perfectly?" asked Saffredent. "Do you
consider that those frigid beings who worship their mistresses in silence
and from afar are perfect lovers?"
"I call perfect lovers," replied Parlamente, "those who seek perfection
of some kind in the objects of their love, whether beauty, or goodness,

or grace, ever tending to virtue, and who have such noble and upright
hearts that they would rather die than do base things, contrary and
repugnant to honour and conscience. For the soul, which was created
for nothing but to return to its sovereign good, is, whilst enclosed in the
body, ever desirous of attaining to it. But since the senses, through
which the soul receives knowledge, are become dim and carnal through
the sin of our first parent, they can show us only those visible things
that approach towards perfection; and these the soul pursues, thinking
to find in outward beauty, in a visible grace and in the moral virtues,
the supreme, absolute beauty, grace and virtue. But when it has sought
and tried these external things and has failed to find among them that
which it really loves, the soul passes on to others; wherein it is like a
child, which, when very young, will be fond of dolls and other trifles,
the prettiest its eyes can see, and will heap pebbles together in the idea
that these form wealth; but as the child grows older he becomes fond of
living dolls, and gathers together the riches that are needful for earthly
life. And when he learns by greater experience that in all these earthly
things there is neither perfection nor happiness, he is fain to seek Him
who is the Creator and Author of happiness and perfection. Albeit, if
God should not give him the eye of Faith, he will be in danger of
passing from ignorance to infidel philosophy, since it is Faith alone that
can teach and instil that which is right; for this, carnal and fleshly man
can never comprehend." (6)
6 The whole of this mystical dissertation appears to have been inspired
by some remarks in Castiglione's _Libro del Cortegiano_--which
Margaret was no doubt well acquainted with, as it was translated into
French in 1537 by Jacques Colin, her brother's secretary. This work,
which indeed seems to have suggested several passages in the
Heptameron, was at that time as widely read in France as in Italy and
Spain.--B. J. and D.
"Do you not see," said Longarine, "that uncultivated ground which
bears plants and trees in abundance, however useless they may be, is
valued by men, because it is hoped that it will produce good fruit if this
be sown in it? In like manner, if the heart of man has no feeling of love
for visible things, it will never arrive at the love of God by the sowing

of His Word, for the soul of such a heart is barren, cold and worthless."
"That," said Saffredent, "is the reason why most of the doctors are not
spiritual.