OR GOOD AND EVIL. 19

The two youths were much struck by
these lines; and, before they parted, both
agreed to make thé experiment by trying
to live according to the inscription.

I need not tell the details of their progress
im the trial: both found the task much more
difficult than they at first imagined. To
their surprise, they found that an observance
of the rule they had adopted required an
almost total change of their modes of life;
and this taught them, what they had not felt
before, that a very large part of their lives
——a very large share of their thoughts,
feelings and actions—were wrong, ,though :
they were considered virtuous young men
by the society in which they lived. ;

After a few weeks, the younger of_ the
two, finding that the scheme put too many
restraints upon his tastes; abandoned the
trial. The other persevered, and, at the
end of the year, presented himself at the
gateway of the garden. >

To his great joy, he was instantly admit-
ted; and if the place pleased him when seen
dimly through the trellis, it appeared far
more lovely, now that he could actually tread