as well as the relation of David's answer to his servants on the death of his child, (2 Sam. xii. 22, 23.*) Meditating on these passages, I came to the conclusion that there existed no purgatory, that the infallibility of the Church was more than doubtful, and that many other doctrines of the kind were mere human inventions: such as auricular confession, prayers for the dead, communion in one kind only, the invocation of saints, the veneration of images, the adoration of the cross and of relics, celibacy of the priests, monastic vows, pilgrimages, rosaries, jubilees, indulgences, the sale of holy things, the supremacy of the Pope, &c. The man who had reached these conclusions was in the way of emancipation. But as all Papal biography testifies, the soul that has been once thoroughly subdued is long in recovering itself, and obstinately clings to the very fetters which had galled it. His own account of the matter of Transubstantiation is very affecting: the customary ceremonies were performed, and when I returned to my chamber, I unfolded my handkerchief on the table, holding a pin in my hand with which to pierce the wafer. But then, reflecting that the blood of Jesus Christ was about to flow, a shudder passed over me, I could hardly stand, and I felt as though my eyes would close for ever. At this critical moment I ran toward the room of my confessor, with the intention of acknowledging the crime I had intended to commit. When I reached his door, I said to myself, No, I will return; why should I fear? If the blood flows, I will be a priest of Rome, and men will be converted by my words, for all will perceive this miracle. If the blood does not flow, I will this day leave this house of error and falsehood.—I went back, and, taking up the pin, I stuck it very gently into the wafer . . . . the blood did not flow! I stuck it again, and again, till the wafer was broken into pieces. Then seeing that the bread was still bread, after it had been in the priest's hands as before, on the same day, the 14th of September, 1841, at ten o'clock in the morning, I went to the room of the superior, to perform that which fear had prevented my doing before. I requested him to make out a certificate of my good conduct. After much hesitation he did so, and gave it to me; and I left the I was on the point of leaving the seminary; but, incredulous as I was with regard to the inventions of Rome, I still hesitated to deny that the host contained the body, blood, soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ. I did not dare to test the truth of this by mak-seminary at that moment. ing an experiment which seemed to me horrible. One day, nevertheless, I took courage, and resolved, by committing what Rome calls the most horrible sacrilege, to dispel the ignorance in which I was lying, and to embrace with eagerness, in the struggle in which I was engaged, the side which this test would make victorious. On the 14th of September, 1841, I came to the communion with the rest. Having received the wafer on my tongue, I returned to my seat, and secretly took it from my mouth with my handkerchief. I remained whilst It was by means of these passages that I argued against the infallibility of the church, denying the existence of a purgatory, &c., in the discussion already spoken of. This is very fine, and beautifully exemplifies the workings of an upright spirit. The publication of such facts, always seasonable, is peculiarly so at the present moment. But, freed from thraldom, and introduced to the liberty of the Gospel, from this moment he was exposed to affliction and persecution. Let us hear him on leaving the Seminary: Here bell itself seemed to be let loose upon me. Persecution came upon me from all sides, and a new exile was prepared for me. As soon as I had left the seminary, I began to follow the trade of a barber, as I had learned it in the convent, where it was my duty to perform the tonsure of the monks. Thus I earned my bread, without the necessity of importuning any one. I received one day in my shop a visit from a distinguished ecclesiastic, who came to endeavour to persuade me to retrace my steps, and become reconciled to the church. He was the chaplain of General Cabrera. He informed me that the archbishop had sent him to try to induce me to return to the seminary. He argued with me for some time, saying that I had been deceived and seduced, assuring me that he had the most friendly feelings towards me. read, with the greatest astonishment, a formal address to the archbishop, declaring that he felt himself compelled, by a sense of duty, to renounce his ecclesiastical office and all connection with Rome, whose doctrines and practices he had discovered to be contrary to the Word of God. This letter he afterwards sent to the archbishop. When I had read this, he addressed me in the most affectionate terms. "You have rendered me the greatest service in the power of man; I love you like a father." We afterwards spent much time together in studying the Scriptures. "A word fitly How interesting and beautiful a pic"You are young and inexperienced," ture is here presented! and how illussaid he; "you know not what trials await you, if you persevere in your in-trative of the scripture, considerate and ruinous course. The Spaniards will insult and injure you. Your parents and relatives will be exceedingly distressed unless you return; and they will cast you off, so that you will be left friendless and destitute." "Vaya!"* replied I; " do you think to deter me by such means from doing my duty? Do you not know what Jesus says: Fear not them that kill the body?"" I then went on, with my Bible in my hand, reading the texts which had produced the strongest effect on me, and preaching the truth to him as God enabled me, dwelling particularly on the doctrine that no man can forgive our sins, but that Christ alone has made atonement for them all. He was struck by the passages which I repeated; and when I inquired of him whether he had not known all this before, he replied: "I have read a little in the Bible, but I do not remember these things. Can you lend me that book?" I hesitated, for I supposed he only desired to burn it; and I led him to the house of the Rev. Mr. Sandoz, to procure one for him. He then left me, and I saw him again in two weeks, but his manner was very different. "Ramon," said he, "you will not be alone in your sufferings; here is one ready to suffer with you; read this." He handed me a letter, in which I * A Spanish exclamation, equivalent to "See!" spoken, how good it is!" It may be supposed that their course, from this moment, was cruelly and maliciously watched, and no opportunity lost to work evil to them. Trap succeeded trap. Their very lives were in danger. They were watched in the night, in a place which might have been convenient to maim or assassinate them; but timely notice had been given to Ramon, which enabled him to avoid the danger. Not so his friend Garcia, who was attacked by a set of ruffians, and so injured that for a time he could not leave his room; and when he could, the Archbishop induced the civil authorities to force him to quit the city. The Archbishop, who had been, or who professed to have been, apprized of the intention of parties to stab Ramon, sent a Spanish Colonel to inform him, that he might flee. He, however, unwisely went in person to the Archbishop, to thank him, but intimated that he had no fear, and intended to remain; when his Right Reverence flew in a passion, apprizing him that if, within twenty-four hours, he did not leave, he would find other means to make him. Ramon then coolly re- trade, but none dared employ him, and plied, "Sir, if you wish me absolutely to go, it depends on you; settle a pension of three francs per day on me, and I will go whither you choose, providing it be not to a seminary." He imposed silence on me, saying that I had insulted him; and, commanding me to leave the apartment, went immediately to the prefect, and requested him to give me a passport for some distant place, with the order to leave directly.* The prefect could not satisfy him. "I have received no complaint," said he, "from the police relative to this man; and consequently I cannot make him leave the station assigned to him, unless he asks for his passport of his own accord." Thus his troubles grew upon him, and nothing would satisfy the Archbishop but his removal. He was, however, obstinate and fearless,-more so, we think, than consisted with discretion. However, the police and prefect brought him to his senses; and with eighteen francs in his pocket-all his fortune !— he set out, not knowing whither he went. He was the object of pity and scorn as he passed along; the finger being pointed to him, "There goes the Spanish Monk! Look at the Seminarist who turned Protestant!" They drove him from Besançon, thinking him bewitched. Having arrived at Langres, he went forth in quest of labour, for his eighteen francs were speedily spent. He visited all the barbers in the town, seeking employment, and at last found it, " without other payment than his meals." But the demon of persecution followed, and soon found him. He was now obliged to consider himself a prisoner, without the bread which the law grants to such. He knew only one *This I afterwards learned of the subprefect. he was not at liberty to seek employment elsewhere. His difficulties now thickened upon him. He was reduced to the utmost straits. Let us hear the poor sufferer: From the time of my leaving the seminary till the month of March, 1842, I was in a state which it is impossible to describe. I had scarcely any religious feeling in my heart. I protested against Rome, because I saw that its instructions were contrary to those of the Bible, although I was not very fond of reading that holy book. When I attempted to read a chapter of it for the purpose of finding consolation, I almost always closed it before I had read a verse. I was dead in my sins; I could not pray; I could not believe; or if I believed, my faith was not watered by the Holy Spirit. It was a dead faith! Finally, I was without God and without hope, and yet, astonishing fact! I endured all manner of persecution for the sake of the love I bore to the truth contained in the Bible. One night, my countrymen, not knowing what more to do to insult me, came with their guitars before my window, to give me a mock serenade. When I attempted to say a few words to them, praying them to leave me in peace, I received a violent blow on my forehead from a stone. I then shut myself up in my room, and passed that night in the greatest anguish of mind. On the next morning I went to take a walk in the environs of the city. I sat down by the side of a fountain. My mind was agitated and pensive. I took up a Spanish Testament which I had with me, to read a chapter, and thus to drive away the evil thoughts that my sad situation suggested to me, and to seek in it some consolation. I could not distinguish a single letter. opened the sacred volume, but my eye My mind was not disposed to the study and meditation of the holy Word of God, which is "profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness," (2 Tim. iii. 16.) Finding that I was thus without consolation, I gave way to despair. simple soldier. On my way I passed through Dijon, and the prefect of that city, at the request of the Protestant pastor, made me another, which gave me more liberty in choosing my road.jects, in which she put her trust, my He also granted me the pay of an officer. In that city I was received at the communion by the pastor, Mr. De Frontin, who, after three weeks of religious instruction at his house, authorized me to approach, for the first time, the table of the Lord, on the day of Pentecost, the 15th of May. I then pursued my journey towards my native country. All was thus settled between him and the Father of mercies; but a great question was still to be adjusted between him and his earthly parents, to whom he wrote, and from whom he received a reply which deeply saddened his heart; and to add to his misery, the reply was from the lips of his mother, who, in the frenzy of bigotry, exclaims, no more; we want no tidings of thee." mother added to them one hundred dollars, on the express condition that I would wear this chain. But He who said to Satan, "Thou shalt not te mpt the Lord thy God," gave me strength, by his example, to send back to my mother those pretended supernatural objects, and also the money which accompanied them. But, oh, my beloved mother! how bitterly must you weep, on seeing that all your measures are useless! You spend much money in having masses said in one chapel and another; you spare no sum in burning lamps before the altars of Mary and St. Francis; I know it, my mother! You pray together, father, mother, brothers and sisters, for that Lazarus, whom you think already under the reign of corruption! Oh, no! it is not so; he is the beloved of Jesus. Yes, that Saviour has brought him forth from the grave, and now he walks beneath the rod and the staff of the Good Shepherd. But to whom do you pray, dear parents? You pray to the god of the Athenians-an unknown god. The true God will not be petitioned through the intercession of any creature. He grants only through Jesus Christ. I perceive that I drag you to the grave, oh, my mother! and that your hairs are whitening by grief and sadness; but you know that I love you, and would not for the world shorten your life by a single moment. God knows how I pray that he may deign to be your helper in your old O Rachel! be comforted; thy age. son is not dead. O Shunamite! if thou hast faith in Jesus Christ, thou wilt see thy child rise from the dead, and wilt arise with him in the last day. These heart-rending words induced him to make a further attempt, if possible, to soothe the wounded spirit of a misguided parent; but in vain. Her grief actually rose to something like ferocity, and it may be doubted whether, mother though she was, she would not have stood by with composure and beheld him assassinated for the glory of I am convinced, beloved parents, that if you treat me with such bitterthe Church! His deportment towards ness in your letters, it is not that you his parents was beautiful. The follow-hate me; far from me be that thought. ing is an example of the strains in which he addressed her. He says, My mother sent me a golden chain, to which was attached a cross and a medal of the Virgin Mary, also in It is because you love me tenderly that you have acted thus towards me. You have given me a proof of it in the gifts which you have sent me. Thus, one while by offers, another while by remonstrances, you endeavour to sepa the Lord had testified his love to me, in delivering me from the dangers to which I had been exposed, and considering also the indifference with which I had received these proofs of his solicitude and the various calls of his grace, I could neither sleep nor take my meals. I took up again and again the Bible, thinking to find some consoling invitation, but it was in vain. Whichever chapter I might choose, I read in each my condemnation, and soon I closed the book. I took it up again, but it was always without prayer, for I thought myself unworthy of addressing the least request to a God whom I had so much offended. I think that if the Lord had allowed me to groan a few days longer under the weight of my sins, my end would have been similar to that of Judas. But it was not thus. He soon testified it to me, when, on my knees before him, in the deepest conviction of my sins, he relieved my soul by these words of mercy: Thy sins are forgiven; go, and sin no more.” plied that I feared nothing. They shedding,-all these crimes were arthen perceived that I had lost all self-rayed before me. In recalling to mind control; but nothing could console the numerous circumstances in which me; I wept with rage. The son came up to me in the most affectionate manner, and by chance touched one of my pistols. On seeing it, he exclaimed: "What, my friend! are you going to commit an evil action ?" I did not hesitate to acknowledge it to him; and when he attempted to seize my hands, and his mother came to snatch the fatal weapons from me, I turned with violence to the door. But the son, more nimble, closed it before I reached it. Then I heard these words in a solemn tone from my benefactress: "Sir, you have had the courage to renounce father, mother, honour in the world, to become despised of all men in forsaking a vocation in which you might have been happy all your life; you have suffered all manner of persecution, and recently another exile; and why all this courageous conduct? You said that it was to stand by the Word of God alone. Is it, then, the Word of God which commands you to act thus ?" My conscience, or rather the direct voice of God, answered within me: "No! no! the Word of God neither commands thee nor even allows thee to do thus; on the contrary, it says to thee: Thou shalt not kill; thou shalt love thine enemies."" That which could not have been effected with a dagger at my throat, the very mention of the sharp and twoedged sword performed in an instant, and pierced my hardened heart. Then, with my eyes full of tears of repent-"no condemnation" to me, being in ance, and yielding the two pistols to her who had disarmed me by these Christian words, "Engage a place for me in the stage," I said, "and I will return immediately to Langres;" which I did. During the first seven days after my arrival, I saw in a peculiar manner that I was guilty and condemned in the sight of God, "being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder,—in a word, "a hater of God," (Rom. i. 29, 30.) The sins which I had committed in Spain, the blood which I had shed, and that which I had been on the point of The moment of deliverance had arrived at last; it was the 22nd of March, 1842. The Lord permitted me to understand his Word, and receive his free salvation. My heavenly Father revealed to me that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and God himself. The Spirit bore witness with my spirit that I was a child of God, and taught me that there was Christ Jesus. (Rom. viii. 1 and 16.) God be praised for his unspeakable gift! With what joy did I then seize that Testament which I had lately torn! What consolation I felt in reading it! Ah! then my soul was tranquil; it had the peace of God. I loved all my enemies, and prayed for those who persecuted me. The Lord, who had taken pity on me, and had adopted me as his child, did not forsake me; unexpected relief came from all directions. A few days after, I asked for a passport for Spain; it was granted me; but assigning the places through which I was to pass, and giving me merely the pay of a |