in order that souls may go untainted by these seductions into the kingdom of heaven. I would rather see a wilderness occupied by wolves and snakes, than a prosperous and happy people under the delusions of Satan’s joys.”
Nicolas had inherited some of his father’s love of splendor and of dignity, and desired that his dukedom should furnish as much of both as possible. The ambition of Brother Tertius to create a wilderness for wolves and snakes did not suit his taste; and he there fore asked: “How does your reverence reconcile your principles with the love of gain, luxury, splendor, and dominion of the brethren who have rendered the holy monastery of the ‘Thorn Crown,’ established by my father, a center of wealth and power such as few houses in Bohemia or elsewhere can boast of? How do you know that Satan is not now tempting the cowled brethren to that mode of life that leads to destruction?”
Brother Tertius would not surrender his position.
“I fear that many if not all of those houses of the regular clergy,” he replied,”'are becoming or have become already the nurseries of vice, and that Satan reigns there under the power of the very, seductions I have described.” The conversation had developed into an unexpected and unwelcome direction, and Brother Tertius and Nicolas retired. The guard, in slight self-forgetfulness, hummed a song, and at length broke forth in an undertone.
“Sing tra ta la, boys, sing;
To-morrow to the winds let us fling;
