with other feelings, had summoned tears.

"Weep not," she said, "or rather, weep on, but weep as those who
have hope. Abjure the sins of pride and anger, which most easily
beset thee; fling from thee the accursed weapons, to the fatal and
murderous use of which thou art so easily tempted."

"You speak to me in vain, Catharine," returned the armourer: "I
may, indeed, turn monk and retire from the world, but while I live
in it I must practise my trade; and while I form armour and weapons
for others, I cannot myself withstand the temptation of using them.
You would not reproach me as you do, if you knew how inseparably
the means by which I gain my bread are connected with that warlike
spirit which you impute to me as a fault, though it is the consequence
of inevitable necessity. While I strengthen the shield or corselet
to withstand wounds, must I not have constantly in remembrance the
manner and strength with which they may be dealt; and when I forge
the sword, and temper it for war, is it practicable for me to avoid
the recollection of its use?"

"Then throw from you, my dear Henry," said the enthusiastic girl,
clasping with both her slender hands the nervous strength and
weight of one of the muscular armourer's, which they raised with
difficulty, permitted by its owner, yet scarcely receiving assistance
from his volition--"cast from you, I say, the art which is a
snare to you. Abjure the fabrication of weapons which can only be
useful to abridge human life, already too short for repentance,
or to encourage with a feeling of safety those whom fear might
otherwise prevent from risking themselves in peril. The art of
forming arms, whether offensive or defensive, is alike sinful in