 | THE FOURTH PICTURE. Adrian, the neophyte |  |
THE LIVING DEATH.
On either side, and around the foot of the altar,
were grouped circling bands of dark-robed priests;
beyond were the temple aisles, thronged by laughing
groups of carnival revellers, in their fantastic
costumes, and garish attire, and at the further nave
of the church, the morning sunlight fell warmly
and brightly over the altar of white with the marriage
procession winding up its flower-strewn steps,
in bright and magnificent array, their jewelled attire
glittering in the light, and their happy faces
glowing with the smiles of vacant joy.
“It is past—thy month of trial!” said the venerable
Abbot, laying his withered hands upon the
brown locks of the neophyte. “And now take one
long and earnest gaze around thee, at the gay world
which thou art about to leave forever! Disease
has not weakened thy young limbs, nor sorrow
dimmed thine eye, and yet in the full glow of
youth and health, thou passeth from this gay scene,
to the shadows of Eternal Solitude! Canst thou
resign the world without a sigh?”
“I can!”
The Neophyte turned his face to the Altar of
Black, with its iron cross and its grinning skull.
“And dost thou here in the presence of the gay
and glittering world, in the name of God, in the
name of his blessed Son, in the name of the Awful
Spirit, before the Virgin ever worthy of adoration
and in presence of the Saints, vow a solemn vow
by the safety of thine eternal soul, to set thyself
apart from the world, apart from the faces of men,
apart from human hope and human consolation,
now and forevermore! Dost thou take this solemn
and irrevocable vow?”
“I do!”
The Neophyte placed his hand upon the cross and
the skull.
“Adrian, Sacred and Set-apart, turn thee and
look upon the world for the last time!”
Adrian turned and looked. His glance was fixed
and unwavering, and yet he beheld not the throng
of dark robed monks clustering around the altar,
he saw not the sea of upturned faces, he heard not
their voices, he knew not of their presence in the
cathedral aisles.
| THE FOURTH PICTURE. Adrian, the neophyte | |