Page:Gesta Romanorum - Swan - Wright - 1.djvu/367

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OF PERFECT LIFE.
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ately and truly."—"Friend," said the Emperor, "thou hast answered well. Go, and labour earnestly in thy calling." Soon after this, the Emperor died, and Focus the carpenter, on account of his singular wisdom, was elected in his stead, by the unanimous choice of the whole nation. He governed as wisely as he had lived; and at his death, his picture, bearing on the head eight pennies, was reposited among the effigies of the deceased Emperors.


APPLICATION.

My beloved, the Emperor is God, who appointed Sunday as a day of rest. By Virgil is typified the Holy Spirit, which ordains a preacher to declare men's virtues and vices. Focus is any good Christian who labors diligently in his vocation, and performs faithfully every relative duty.