Zanoni — Edward Bulwer-Lytton

“To quaff the inner life, is to see the outer life: to live in defiance of time, is to live in the whole. He who discovers the elixir discovers what lies in space; for the spirit that vivifies the frame strengthens the senses. There is attraction in the elementary principle of light. In the lamps of Rosicrucius the fire is the pure elementary principle.

Kindle the lamps while thou openest the vessel that contains the elixir, and the light attracts towards thee those beings whose life is that light. Beware of Fear. Fear is the deadliest enemy to Knowledge. Here the ciphers changed their character, and became incomprehensible. But had he not read enough? Did not the last sentence suffice ? — “ Beware of Fear!

It was as if Mejnour had purposely left the page open, — as if the trial was, in truth, the reverse of the one pretended; as if the mystic had designed to make experiment of his cowrage while affecting but that of his forbearance. Not Boldness, but Fear, was the deadliest enemy to Knowledge.

He moved to the shelves on which the crystal vases were placed; with an untrembling hand he took from one of them the stopper, and a delicious odor suddenly diffused itself through the room. The air sparkled as if with a diamond-dust. A sense of unearthly delight, —of an existence that seemed all spirit, flashed through his whole frame; and a faint, low, but exquisite music crept, thrilling, through the chamber.

At this moment he heard a voice in the corridor calling on his name; and presently there was a knock at the door without. “ Are you there, signor? ” said the clear tones of Maestro Paolo. Glyndon hastily reclosed and replaced the vial, and bidding Paolo await him in his own apartment, tarried till he heard the intruder’s steps deyart: he then reluctantly quitted

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the room. As he locked the door, he still heard the dying strain of that fairy music; and with a light step and a joyous heart he repaired to Paolo, inly resolving to visit again the chamber at an hour when his experiment would be safe from interruption. As he crossed his threshold, Paolo started back, and exclaimed, “ Why, Excellency! I scarcely recognize you! Amusement, I see, is a great beautifier to the young. Yesterday you looked so pale and haggard; but Fillide’s merry eyes have done more for you than the Philosopher’s Stone (saints forgive me for naming it) ever did for the wizards.” And Glyndon, glancing at the old Venetian mirror as Paolo spoke, was scarcely less startled than Paolo himself at the change in his own mien and bearing. His form, before bent with thought, seemed to him taller by half the head, so lithesome and erect rose his slender stature; his eyes glowed, his cheeks bloomed with health and the innate and pervading pleasure. Ifthe mere fragrance of the elixir was thus potent, well might the alchemists have ascribed life and youth to the draught! “You must forgive me, eosin: for disturbing you,” said Paolo, producing a letter from his pouch; “but our Patron has just written to me to say that he will be here to-morrow, and desired me to lose nota moment in giving to yourself this billet, which he enclosed.” “Who brought the letter? ” “ A horseman, who did not wait for any reply.” Glyndon opened the letter, and read as follows: —

“T return a week sooner than I had intended, and you will expect me to-morrow. You will then enter on the ordeal you desire, but remember that, in doing so, you must reduce Being as far as possible into Mind. The senses must be mor-

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tified and subdued, — not the whisper of one passion heard. Thou mayst be master of the Cabala and the Chemistry ; but thou must be master also over the Flesh and the Blood, — over Love and Vanity, Ambition and Hate. I will trust to find thee so. Fast and meditate till we meet!”

Glyndon crumpled the letter in his hand with a smile of disdain. What! more drudgery, — more abstinence! Youth without love and pleasure! Ha, ha! baffled Mejnour, thy pupil shall gain thy secrets without thine aid! “And Fillide! I passed her cottage in my way, — she blushed and sighed when I jested her about you, Excellency! ” “Well, Paolo! I thank thee for so charming an introduction. Thine must be a rare life.” “ Ah, Excellency, while we are young, nothing like adventure, — except love, wine, and laughter! ” “Very true. Farewell, Maestro Paolo; we will talk more with each other in a few days.” All that morning Glyndon was almost overpowered with the new sentiment of happiness that had entered into him. He roamed into the woods, and he felt a pleasure that resembled his earlier life of an artist, but a pleasure yet more subtle and vivid, in the various colors of the autumn foliage. Certainly Nature seemed to be brought closer to him; he comprehended better all that Mejnour had often preached to him of the mystery of sympathies and attractions. He was about to enter into the same law as those mute children of the forests. He was to know the renewal of life; the seasons that chilled to winter should yet bring again the bloom and the mirth of spring, Man’s common existence is as one year to the vegetable world: he has his spring, his summer, his autumn, and winter,

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