Page:Gesta Romanorum - Swan - Wright - 1.djvu/256

82 The Emperor hearing this, ever after regulated himself and his subjects with greater wisdom, and finished his life in peace.

My beloved, the Emperor is any Christian, whose duty it is to raise a fair structure,—that is, a heart prepared for the reception of God. If he dig deep, led onward by sincere contrition for past offences, he will find a golden sarcophagus,—that is, a mind gilded with virtue and full of the divine grace. Three golden circlets will ornament it, and these are faith, hope, and charity. But what is written there? In the first place, "I have expended." Tell me, my beloved, what have you expended? The good Christian may reply, "Body and soul in the service of God." Whosoever of you, thus expends his life, will secure the rewards of eternity. The second legend saith, "I have kept." Tell me, my beloved, what have you kept? The good Christian may answer, "A broken and contrite spirit." The