midnight
`` As one whom his mother comforteth ! '' Oh , tender and wonderful consolation ! It is the mother that turns the bitter waters of life into wine . Bram talked his sorrow over to his mother 's love and pity and sympathy ; and when she parted with him , long after the midnight , she said cheerfully , `` Thou hast a brave soul , _ mijn zoon , mijn Bram _ ; and this trouble is not all for thy loss and grief . A sweet memory will this beautiful Miriam be as long as thou livest ; and to have loved well a good woman will make thee always a better man for it . '' -LSB- Illustration : Chapter heading -RSB- '' _ The town 's a golden , but a fatal , circle , Upon whose magic skirts a thousand devils , In crystal forms , sit tempting Innocence , And beckoning Virtue from its centre .