FLORIDA DAYS.


 Devil! A good woman once said that Jacob
 her voice was lowered a little -Jacob was
 mean! This hanging upon the edge of Biblical
 criticism, this venturing an opinion of her own,
 had the flavor of atheism; but it was delightful.
 They visited the sick and dying, the good
 nuns, and they had. their embroidery, and the
 excitement of confession; often searching the
 soul, no doubt, for some possible sin,--for any
 sharp temptation or tearing grief cannot be im-
 agined within these placid walls. One wonders
 if there was any slightest difference between
 confession to the mother superior and the good
 priest who said Mass in the chapel.
 There are two passions of the soul which
 are so much alike that they shade impercep-
tibly into each other; it must have been hard
for the sincerest Penitent to know her own
motives in choosing who should absolve her.
Spenser says:
 "Sweet saint, it is no sin or blame
 To love a man of virtuous name "
A little sophistry like that would make it all
s enright, surely.