Essays on Life 



Joachim was in the desert, an angel came to 

 him in the guise of a fair, civil young gentle- 

 man, and told him the Virgin was to be born. 

 Then, later on, the same young gentleman 

 appeared to him again, and bade him "in 

 God's name be comforted, and turn again to 

 his content," for the Virgin had been actually 

 born. On which St. Joachim, who seems to 

 have been of opinion that marriage after all 

 was rather a failure, said that, as things were 

 going on so nicely without him, he would stay 

 in the desert just a little longer, and offered 

 up a lamb as a pretext to gain time. Perhaps 

 he guessed about his mother-in-law, or he 

 may have asked the angel. Of course, even in 

 spite of such evidence as this, I may be mis- 

 taken about the Virgin's grandmother's sex, 

 and the sacristan may be right ; but I can 

 only say that if the lady sitting by St. Anne's 

 bedside at Montrigone is the Virgin's father 

 well, in that case I must reconsider a good 

 deal that I have been accustomed to believe 

 was beyond question. 



Taken singly, I suppose that none of the 



figures in the chapel, except the Virgin's grand- 



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