Page:Gesta Romanorum - Swan - Wright - 1.djvu/283

Rh

My beloved, these Egyptians are all worldly-minded men, who would deify and worship their vices, while they sedulously hide truth from the heart. The smaller image, is Fear of the world, which is ever instrumental in the suppression of truth.

relates, that an ancient custom formerly prevailed, in compliance with which, emperors, after death, were laid upon a funeral pile and burnt; and their ashes deposited in an urn. But it happened that one of them died, whose heart resisted the impression of fire. This circumstance created