The Amulet

In the "Amulet," Hendrick Conscience has worked up an incident which

occurred at Antwerp, in the 16th century, into a story of great power

and deep interest. It was a dark and bloody deed committed, but swift

and terrible was the retribution, strikingly illustrating how God

laughs the sinner to scorn, and how the most cunningly devised schemes

are frustrated, when He permits the light of His avenging justice to

expose them in their enormity. On the contrary, it forcibly proves that

virtuous actions, sooner or later, bear abundant fruit even in this

world. If a man's sins bring upon his head a weight of woe, so do his

good deeds draw down the benedictions of heaven and serve as a shield to

protect him from his enemies.

S.J.F.

Baltimore