IV THE DIDOT PERCEVAL
Without instituting in the present stage of the question more than a parallel, the Quest of the Graal is the adventurous mission of those who go forth out of earthly houses, who depart from tables of wonder, from the enchantments and illusions of magicians after the manner of Merlin--when Merlin was not at his highest--and issue into strange lands, some unprepared enough, but some under spiritual guidance, observing the ordinances of instructors and looking for a mystical place. Few are destined for the perfect fulfilment of their object, but that which opens for these is the path of heaven. Though time and place are imputed, and this of necessity, it can be said scarcely that such limits are native to this manner of research. There is, according to the Hebrews, a palace at the centre which sustains all things, and in the terms of another symbolism it is the sanctuary of that which in later times was called the Holy Graal. The first consideration which must be kept present to the mind, as if here were also an implicit, in dealing with our whole subject, is that nothing on its surface differs in doctrine or in specific institutes from the beaten tracks of the faith delivered to the saints, and yet all undergoes a great transfiguration. There are many quests in folk-lore which, in their bare outlines, are analogous to this quest, with due allowance for the distinction of motive and all that belongs to the class of voided marvels. There is also the great debate concerning initiation and its purport, which seems to hold a middle place between that which is below--and is nothing--and that which is above--and is all, tending to the same term as the higher, and exhibiting after what manner that which is mortal puts on immortality in virtue of high election. It is well to recall these things, because