Indeed, Miriam ventured to expound to him the principles of her faith, to which he listened respectfully and with attention.
"It sounds well," he said at length with a sigh, "but how do such maxims fit in with this world of ours?
See now, lady, I am not old, but already I have studied so many religions.

First, there are the gods of Greece and Rome, my own gods, you understand--well, the less said of them the better.

They serve, that is all.

Then there are the gods of Egypt, as to which I made inquiry, and of them I will say this: that beneath the grotesque cloak of their worship seems to shine some spark of a holy fire.

Next come the gods of the Phoenicians, the fathers of a hideous creed.