_All that he claimed (and this surely was within his rights) was to be at least sincere in his perceptions and expressions of spiritual truth. His power, as he was at pains to tell me, was no more than a particular development of a faculty common to all who possess a coherent spiritual life. To one Divine Truth finds entrance through laws of nature, to another through the medium of other sciences or arts; to my friend it presented itself in directly sensible forms. Had his experiences, however, even seemed to contravene Divine Revelation, he would have rejected them with horror: entire submission to the_ _Divine Teacher upon earth, as he more than once told me, should normally precede the exercise of all other spiritual faculties. The deliberate reversal of this is nothing else than Protestantism in its extreme form, and must ultimately result in the extinction of faith._ _For the rest, I can add nothing to his own words. It is of course more than possible that here and there I have failed to present his exact meaning; but at least I have taken pains to submit the book before publication to the judgment of those whose theological learning is sufficient to reassure me that at least I have not so far misunderstood my friend’s words and tales, as to represent him as transgressing the explicit laws of ascetical, moral, mystical, or dogmatic theology._ _To these counsellors I must express my gratitude, as well as to others who have kindly given me the encouragement of their sympathy._ _R. B._ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Contents PAGE THE GREEN ROBE 1 THE WATCHER 15 THE BLOOD-EAGLE 29 OVER THE GATEWAY 49 POENA DAMNI 65 CONSOLATRIX AFFLICTORUM 77 THE BRIDGE OVER THE STREAM 95 IN THE CONVENT CHAPEL 107 UNDER WHICH KING? 127 WITH DYED GARMENTS 145 UNTO BABES 159 THE TRAVELLER 181 THE SORROWS OF THE WORLD 203 IN THE MORNING 227 THE EXPECTED GUEST 241 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Green Robe ------------------------------------------------------------------------