"Naturally!" said Lacoste, with a loud laugh. "As the jews burn gold out of old garments, so also out of the most hardened, callous and heartless sinner, a little spark of religion may he extracted by burning. The best and most supportable of all this, is that they massacre and inflict martyrdom on one another for the sake of this faith of love, and each treats the other as heretic, each curses the other and gives him up to hell, but, however much all parties may rage against one another, they still invariably agree in my damnation." "A sign," said the youth, "that though all may err in themselves, with regard to you, they still possess the truth."
"I envy them not their possession," replied the old man; "my life, all my sorrows, even when I became wicked and and with justice so, I have only to thank this egoism, which calls itself humility, inspiration, love, or religion; I was rejected, persecuted, nay to use the silly expression, misunderstood, for what man knows another,
