" When, on the contrary, it fails not to meditate
on wisdom, and to nourish itself with Divine know-
ledge, it becomes pure and bright, and becomes
united with the fountain of light and truth. And
as, when the collision of the steel and flint com-
municates motion to the tinder, a spark appears,
the fire is kindled, and gradually acquires full
power and development. The fire in the beginning
is but a little spark. So it is with knowledge,
when it attaches itself to the soul, from the good
eflfects which it produces, and from the increase
and force which it acquires. It is like the spark
which grew into an increasing and extending fire.
" Knowledge is a trace of the intelligence, which
attaches itself to the noble soul. The soul receives
it, then it purifies itself, and increases, until it
becomes a spiritual figure. A man, when he is
bom, knows not from what state he has proceeded,
but when he has reached maturity, and when his
reason is developed, he has the knowledge and



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186 INSPIRATION.
understanding of what condition he has passed.
And so, he who labours to instruct himself, neither
knows his previous ignorance, nor the learning he
has acquired, until he has reached the higher
degrees of knowledge.
" But to return to what we were saying about
the flint and the tinder, and to their signification
in the language of wisdom. The flint and the
tinder are as a conjugal couple, male and female.
