{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_10831/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_10831","id":"gutenberg_10831","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10831","summary":null,"tags":["Bible -- Publication and distribution","Category: Historical Novels","Category: Religion/Spirituality"],"text":"THE VILLAGE IN THE MOUNTAINS;\n\nCONVERSION OF PETER BAYSSIERE;\n\nAND\n\nHISTORY OF A BIBLE.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\nTHE VILLAGE IN THE MOUNTAINS.\n\n\nM. ----, a merchant, at the head of one of the first commercial houses\nin Paris,[1] had occasion to visit the manufactories established in\nthe mountainous tracts of the Departments of the Loire and the Puy de\nD\u00f4me. The road that conducted him back to Lyons traversed a country\nrich in natural productions, and glowing with all the charms of\nan advanced and promising spring. The nearer view was unusually\ndiversified; not only by the fantastic forms of mountains, the\nuncertain course of small and tributary streams, and the varying\nhues of fields of pasture, corn, vines, and vegetables, but by the\ncombinations and contrasts of nature and of art, and the occupations\nof rural and commercial industry. Factories and furnaces were seen\nrising amidst barns and sheep-cotes, peasants were digging, and\nploughs gliding amidst forges and foundries; verdant slopes and\ngraceful clumps of trees were scattered amidst the black and ugly\nmouths of exhausted coal-pits; and the gentle murmur of the stream\nwas subdued by the loud rattle of the loom. Sometimes M. ---- and his\nfriend halted amidst all that is delightful and soothing; and after\na short advance, found themselves amidst barrenness, deformity, and\nconfusion. The remoter scenery was not less impressive. Behind them\nwere the rugged mountains of Puy de D\u00f4me; the lofty Tarare lifted\nits majestic head beside them, and far before appeared the brilliant\nsummit of Mont Blanc.\n\n[Footnote 1: An American gentleman then residing in that capital.]\n\nIn this state of mind he arrived at the skirts of a hamlet placed on\nthe declivity of a mountain; and being desirous of finding a shorter\nand more retired track, he stopped at a decent-looking dwelling-house\nto inquire the way. From the windows several females were watching the\nmovements of a little child; and just as M. ---- inquired for a road\nacross the mountains, the infant was in danger of being crushed by a\ncoal-cart which had entered the street. The cries and alarms of the\nfemales were met by the activity of the travellers, and the companion\nof M. ---- set off to snatch the infant from danger, and place him in\nsecurity. An elderly female from the second story, gave M. ----, who\nwas still on his horse, the directions he desired; and, at the same\ntime, expressed her uneasiness that the gentleman should have had the\ntrouble to seek the child.\n\n\"Madam,\" interrupted M. ----, \"my friend is only performing his duty:\nwe ought to do to another as we would that another should do to us;\nand in this wretched world we are bound to assist each other. You are\nkind enough to direct us travellers in the right road, and surely\nthe least we can do is to rescue your child from danger. The Holy\nScriptures teach us these duties, and the Gospel presents us the\nexample of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, when we were in ignorance and\ndanger, came to our world to seek and to save that which was lost.\"\n\n\"Ah! sir,\" replied the good woman, \"you are very condescending, and\nwhat you say is very true; but your language surprises me: it is\nso many years since in this village we have heard such truths, and\nespecially from the lips of a stranger.\"\n\n\"Madam,\" resumed M. ----, \"we are all strangers here, and sojourners\nbound to eternity; there is but one road, one guide, one Saviour, who\ncan conduct us safely; if we feel this, young or old, rich or poor,\nwe are all one in Christ; and however scattered on earth, shall all\narrive at the heavenly city, to which he is gone to prepare mansions\nfor us.\"\n\n\"These doctrines, sir,\" exclaimed the female, \"support the hearts of\nmany of us, who have scarcely travelled beyond our own neighbourhood;\nand it is so rare and so delightful to hear them from others, that, if\nit will not be an abuse of your Christian politeness, I would request\nyou to alight and visit my humble apartment.\"\n\n\"I shall comply most cheerfully with your request,\" replied M. ----;\n\"for though time is precious, I shall be thankful to spend a few\nminutes in these mountains, among those with whom I hope to dwell for\never on Mount Sion.\"\n\nM. ---- mounted to the second story, followed by his companion.\nHe found the female with whom he had conversed, surrounded by her\ndaughters and her grand-daughters, all busily employed in five looms,\nfilled with galloons and ribbons, destined for the capital and the\nmost distant cities of the world. The good widow was between sixty and\nseventy years of age; her appearance was neat and clean; and all the\narrangements of her apartment bespoke industry, frugality, and piety.\n\n\"Ah! sir,\" she exclaimed, as M. ---- entered, \"how happy am I to\nreceive such a visitor!\"\n\n\"Madam,\" replied M. ----, \"I am not worthy to enter under this roof.\"\n\n\"Why, sir,\" exclaimed the widow, \"you talked to us of Jesus Christ\nand--\"\n\n\"Yes, madam, but I am a poor guilty sinner and hope only for salvation\nthrough the cross. I was yesterday at St.----, where they were\nplanting a cross with great ceremony; were you there?\"\n\n\"No, sir; for it is of little use to erect crosses in the streets, if\nwe do not carry the cross in our hearts, and are not crucified to the\nworld. But, sir, if you will not he offended, may I ask what you are\ncalled?\"\n\nM. ----, giving a general sense to the French phraseology, answered,\n\"My name, madam, is M----.\"\n\n\"Thank you, sir, I shall not forget; but this is not what I meant; I\nwished to know whether you are protestant or catholic, a pastor or a\npriest?\"\n\n\"Madam, I have not the honour to be either; I am a merchant; I desire\nto be a Christian, and to have no other title but a disciple of\nChrist.\"\n\n\"That is exactly as we are here, sir,\" exclaimed the good widow,\nand added, \"but, as you are so frank, are you, sir, catholic, or\nprotestant?\"\n\n\"Catholic,\" replied M. ----.\n\nMadam looked confused, and observed, \"that it was rare for the\ncatholics to talk as her visitor had done.\"\n\n\"I am a catholic,\" resumed M. ----, \"but not a member of the _Roman_\nCatholic church. I love all that love our Lord Jesus in sincerity.\nI do not ask in what fold they feed, so that they are guided and\nnourished by the good Shepherd and Bishop of souls.\"\n\n\"O what a favour the Lord has granted us to meet with a Christian like\nourselves,\" said the affected widow, looking round her: \"we desire to\nlive in charity with all mankind; but, to be frank also, sir, we\ndo not go to mass, nor to confession, for we do not learn from our\nTestament, which is indeed almost worn out, that we are required to\nconfess to sinners like ourselves, nor to worship the host, nor to\nperform penance for the salvation of our souls; and we believe we can\nserve God acceptably in a cave, or in a chamber, or on a mountain.\"\n\n\"I confess, madam, in my turn,\" said M. ----, \"that I am exceedingly\nastonished to find such persons on such a spot; pray how many may\nthere be of your sentiments?\"\n\n\"Here, sir, and scattered over the mountains, there are from three to\nfour hundred. We meet on Sabbath evenings, and as often as we can,\nto pray to Jesus, to read the Testament, and to converse about the\nsalvation of our souls. We are so much persecuted by the clergy, that\nwe cannot appear as publicly as we wish. We are called _beguines_[2]\nand fools; but I can bear this, and I hope a great deal more, for Him\nwho has suffered so much for us.\"\n\n[Footnote 2: Religious enthusiasts.]\n\nWhile the conversation, of which this is a sketch; was passing, the\nrooms had filled; the neighbours had been informed and introduced, at\nthe request of the worthy hostess, and as many as could quit their\noccupations pressed to hear of the things of the kingdom of God. M.\n---- desired to see the New Testament. It was presented. The title\npage was gone, the leaves were almost worn to shreds by the fingers of\nthe weavers and labourers, and M. ---- could not discover the edition.\nA female of respectable appearance approached M. ----, and said, \"Sir,\nfor several years I have sought every where a New Testament, and I\nhave offered any price for one in all the neighbouring villages, but\nin vain. Could you, sir, possibly procure me a copy, I will gladly pay\nyou any sum you demand--\"\n\n\"Madam, I will not only procure you _one_,\" replied M. ---- eagerly,\n\"but, in forty-eight hours I will send you half a dozen.\"\n\n\"Is it possible?\" exclaimed the astonished villagers. \"May we, sir,\nbelieve the good news? May we rely on your promise? It appears too\ngreat--too good--we will pay for them now, sir, if you please.\"\n\n\"You may depend on receiving them,\" said M. ----, \"if God prolongs my\nlife. But I entreat you to do me the favour to accept them, as a\nproof of my Christian regard, and an expression of my gratitude for\nhaving been permitted to enjoy, in this unpromising spot, the\nrefreshing company of the followers of Christ.\"\n\nThe conversation then turned on the value of the sacred volume, and\nthe sinfulness of those who withhold it from perishing and dejected\nsinners. After some time, the hostess inquired, \"Pray, sir, can you\ntell us if any thing extraordinary is passing in the world? We are\nshut out from all intercourse; but we have an impression that God is\ncommencing a great work in the earth, and that wonderful events are\ncoming to pass.\"\n\n\"Great events have taken place, and news is arriving every day,\" said\nM. ----, \"from all parts of the world, of the progress of the Gospel,\nand the fulfilment of the Holy Scriptures. He then gave to his\nattentive and enraptured auditory an outline of the moral changes\naccomplished by the diffusion of the Bible, the labours of\nmissionaries and the establishment of schools; but only such an\noutline as was suited to their general ignorance of the state of what\nis called the religious world. And when he had concluded, they all\njoined in the prayer: Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth, as\nit is done in heaven.\"\n\nAnxious as was M. ---- to pursue his journey, he devoted three hours\nto this interview. He exhorted them to receive and practise only what\nthey found in the Scriptures, and to cleave to the Lord with full\npurpose of heart.\n\nThe termination of this extraordinary meeting was most affecting:\ntears of pleasure, gratitude, and regret streamed from the eyes of the\nmountaineers; and the traveller, though more deeply moved by having\nseen the grace of God than by all the scenes through which he had\npassed, went on his way rejoicing, and following the directions of\nthe good widow, he arrived at the town of S----. In this town he had\ncorrespondents among the principal inhabitants and authorities, and\nunder the impression of all he had witnessed, he inquired, as if with\nthe curiosity of a traveller, the name of the hamlet he had passed on\nthe mountains, and the nature of the employments, and the character of\nits inhabitants.\n\n\"The men,\" said the mayor, \"work in the mines, drive the teams, and\nlabour in the fields; and the women and children weave. They are a very\ncurious people, _ou r\u00e9s illumin\u00e9s_, (new lights,) but the most honest\nwork-people in the country--probity itself. We have no occasion to\nweigh our silk, either when we give it out or take it in, for we are\nsure not to lose the value of a farthing; and the kindest creatures in\nthe world: they will take their clothes off their backs to give to any\none in distress: indeed, there is no wretchedness among them, for,\nthough poor, they are industrious, temperate, charitable, and always\nassist each other; but touch them on their religion, and they are\nalmost idiots. They never go to mass nor confession--in fact, they are\nnot christians, though the most worthy people in the world; and so\ndroll: imagine those poor people, after working all the week, instead\nof enjoying the Sunday, and going to a f\u00eate or a ball to amuse\nthemselves, meeting in each other's houses, and sometimes in the\nmountains, to read some book, and pray, and sing hymns. They are very\nclever work-people, but they pass their Sundays and holidays stupidly\nenough.\"\n\nThis testimony, so honourable to his new acquaintance, was confirmed\nto M. ---- from several quarters; and he learned from others, what\nhe had not been told by themselves, that, besides their honesty and\ncharity, so great is their zeal, that they flock from the different\nhamlets, and meet in the mountains, in cold and bad weather, at eight\nor nine o'clock at night, to avoid the interruption of their enemies,\nand to sing and pray.\n\nThese accounts were not calculated to lessen the interest excited in\nthe breast of M. ----, and immediately on his arrival at Lyons, he\ndispatched six copies of the New Testament, and some copies of the\nTract entitled, \"_Les Deux Vieillards_,\" (The Two Old Men.) Some\ntime after his return to Paris, M. ---- received, through one of his\ncorrespondents at Lyons, a letter from the excellent widow with whom\nhe had conversed. Of this letter a literal translation is subjoined,\nthe modesty, dignity, and piety of which not only evince the influence\nof true religion, but will satisfy the reader, that in this narration\nno exaggerated statement has been made of the character of these\nmountaineers.\n\n\n\"Sir,--I have the honour to write you, to assure you of my very humble\nrespects, and at the same time to acknowledge the reception of the\nsix copies of the New Testament which you had the goodness and the\ngenerosity to send us. My family, myself, and my neighbours know not\nhow, adequately, to express our sincere gratitude; for we have nothing\nin the world so precious as that sacred volume, which is the best food\nof our souls, and our certain guide to the heavenly Jerusalem.\n\n\"As we believe and are assured that the Spirit of our Lord Jesus\nChrist could alone have inspired you with the desire to distribute\nthe sacred Scriptures to those who are disposed to make a holy use of\nthem, we hope and believe that the Divine Saviour will be himself your\nrecompense; and that he will give to you, as well as to all of us,\nthe grace to understand and to seek a part in his second coming; for\nthis ought to be our only and constant desire in the times of darkness\nand tribulation in which we live.\n\n\"It is with this view, sir, that I entreat you to have the goodness to\nsend six more copies of the sacred volume for several of my friends,\nwho are delighted, not only with the beauty of the type, but\nespecially with the purity of the edition; for it is sufficient to\nsee the name of Monsieur le Maitre de Sacy, to be assured that this\nedition is strictly conformable to the sacred text. Sir, as the\npersons who have charged me to entreat you to send six more copies of\nthe New Testament would be sorry to abuse your generosity, they also\ncharge me to say, that if you accomplish their wishes, as your truly\nChristian kindness induces them to hope, and will mark the price on\nthe books, they shall feel it to be a pleasure and duty to remit you\nthe amount, when I acknowledge the arrival of the parcel. Could\nyou also add six copies of the little Tract, entitled _'Les Deux\nVieillards'_?\n\n\"I entreat you, sir, to excuse the liberty I have taken, and to\nbelieve that, while life remains, I am, in the Spirit of our Lord\nJesus Christ,\"\n\n\"Your very humble servant,\"\n\n\"The Widow ----.\"\n\nThe reception of this letter revived in M. ---- that lively interest\nwhich he had been constrained to feel for the prosperity of these\nhappy villagers. Often had he called to mind the Christian kindness\nwith which they received him, and often had he presented his ardent\nprayer to the God of grace, that he who \"had begun a good work in\nthem,\" would carry it on to \"the day of Jesus Christ.\"\n\nInstead of complying with the request of this venerable woman to send\nher six copies of the New Testament, he sent her twenty, authorizing\nher to sell them to such as were able to pay; but to present them, at\nher own discretion, to those who were desirous of obtaining them, and\nhad not the means to purchase, \"without money and without price.\"\nWith these he also presented to the widow, as a mark of his Christian\naffection, a Bible for her own use, together with a dozen copies of\nthe Tract which she had requested, and several other religious books.\nIn acknowledging this unexpected bounty, she thus replied, in a\nletter, dated July 17, 1821:\n\n\"Respected friend and brother in our Lord Jesus Christ,--It is\nimpossible to describe the satisfaction that my heart experienced on\nthe arrival of the kind communications which you have been pleased\nto send me. I could not help reading over and over again the letters\nenclosed, which afford fresh proof of the desire of yourself and your\nfriends to contribute to the advancement of the reign of the Divine\nRedeemer. I cannot find words to express the happiness I have derived\nfrom perusing the entire copy of the Old and New Testament, which you\nbeg me to accept as an expression of your christian affection. I was\nmore gratified and edified by this mark of your regard, as it was my\nintention to have requested, in my last letter, some copies of the Old\nTestament; but I dared not execute my design, for fear of abusing your\nChristian kindness and charity. The Old and New Testament, properly\nunderstood, are but one Testament; such is the connection of the\nsacred books--for the New Testament is the key to the Old, and the Old\nthe same to the New. In innumerable passages of the Old Testament, the\nbirth, death, and glory of our Divine Redeemer are announced, in terms\nmore or less distinct. In reading the prophecies of Jeremiah and\nIsaiah, we perceive that those prophets spoke of our Saviour almost as\nthough they had lived with him on the earth. His second coming is also\nforetold in many passages, especially in the prophecies of Ezekiel and\nDaniel.\n\n\"The box which your christian generosity has sent, has excited\nuniversal joy in the hearts of all our friends in this district.\nImmediately after they learned the agreeable news, they flocked to see\nme, and to have the happiness and advantage of procuring the Testament\nof our Redeemer; and in less than _five days_ the box was emptied.\nI gave copies of the Gospel of St. Matthew to those who had not\nthe satisfaction and consolation to procure a complete copy of the\nTestament. The whole was so soon distributed that many could have\nnothing; and there are also many who do not yet know of the arrival\nof the second box. I intend to lend the copy of the Bible, and of\nthe books which I have reserved for myself, among our friends in the\nneighbourhood, in order that the books we have may be as useful as\npossible.\n\n\"As I hope you will do me the honour and the christian kindness to\nacknowledge the receipt of this, I request you to inform me how I can\nremit you sixty francs, which I have received for fifteen of the New\nTestaments. As our brethren and sisters in Jesus Christ, who, through\nhis grace altogether free and unmerited, look for his second coming to\nsalvation, are delighted and edified by the truly Christian salutation\nwhich you have sent through me, they desire me to express their\ngratitude, and to request you to accept theirs in the same spirit. I\nunite with them in beseeching you and your respectable friend ----,\nand all your friends, not to forget us in your prayers to the Father\nof Lights, that he may give us grace to persevere in the same\nsentiments, and grant us all the mercy to join the general assembly,\nthe heavenly Jerusalem. Amen. Expecting that happy day, I entreat you\nto believe me your very humble servant and friend in Jesus Christ,\"\n\n\"The Widow ----.\"\n\nIt may well be supposed that the reception of this interesting letter\nproduced an effect on the mind of M. ----, as well as on the minds of\nmany of his Christian friends at Paris, of the happiest kind. M. ----\ninformed the widow of the great satisfaction with which he had learned\nthe eagerness of the villagers to obtain the word of God, and that\nhe had directed his friend, the publisher of the New Testament of De\nSacy, to send her fifty copies more; at the same time promising her a\nfresh supply, if they should be needed. He also expressed to her the\nhope, that, as he expected his business would, within a few months,\ncall him again to S----, he should be able, Providence permitting, to\navail himself of that opportunity and enjoy the happiness of another\nvisit at her residence. To this communication she some time afterwards\nreturned the following reply:\n\n\"Dear sir, and brother in our Lord Jesus Christ,--May the grace and\nunmerited mercy of our Divine Saviour be our single and only hope in\nour pilgrimage here below. I beseech you and your dear friends to pray\nfor us, that the celestial Comforter promised in the Scriptures, would\nvouchsafe to visit our hearts and warm them with his love; for without\nthe aid of this Divine Light, even though we should commit to memory\nthe Old and New Testament, it would avail us nothing; but rather tend\nto our greater condemnation in the sight of our Sovereign Judge.\n\n\"I am now able to acknowledge the receipt of the box which you had the\ngoodness and christian charity to send me, containing fifty copies of\nthe Testament of our blessed Saviour, which did not arrive until the\n25th of last month, on account of its having been detained in the\npublic store at S---- for several days without my knowledge. As soon\nas I learned it was there, I sent one of my daughters to inquire for\nit, as I was then so ill as to keep my bed, and to induce a belief\nthat I was about to quit this land of exile. I have felt myself\nso much better for a few days past, that I begin to think that my\npilgrimage will be prolonged for some time, and that I may yet have\nthe pleasure and consolation of again seeing you, and conversing with\nyou upon the things which regard our eternal peace. It is with such\nfeelings that I would beg an interest in your prayers, that the\nprecious blood which the Divine Saviour has been willing to shed for\nus and other sinners, may be found efficacious to me in that moment\nwhen I shall depart from this vale of tears; for my age admonishes\nthat this time is not far distant. Believe me, my dear brother in\nChrist, that I shall never forget you in my prayers, however feeble\nthey may be; for I can never forget the day when, urged by Christian\nfriendship, you entered my house, and imparted that truly spiritual\nnourishment which serves for time and eternity, and we discoursed\ntogether upon the second coming of our Divine Redeemer, and the\nrestoration of the covenant people.\n\n\"I look forward to the happy moment when I shall have the honour and\npleasure of seeing you again; and in the meantime beg you to believe\nme your very humble and affectionate friend and servant in Jesus\nChrist,\n\n\"The Widow----.\"\n\nIn a letter received soon after the above, M. ---- was informed that\nthe Bibles and Testaments had all been disposed of within _two days_\nfrom the time of their arrival, and that many, who earnestly desired\na copy, were yet unsupplied: the distribution having only created an\nincreased demand. M. ---- resolved not to neglect their wants, as\nlong as it was in his power to supply them; and the day being not far\ndistant, when he proposed to repair to S----, and to make a second\nvisit to the Village in the Mountains, he prepared a case of a hundred\nNew Testaments and a hundred octavo Bibles, which he forwarded to\nLyons by the _roulage acc\u00e9l\u00e9r\u00e9_, or baggage wagon, to meet his arrival\nthere; and soon after took his departure from Paris.\n\nThere were some interesting incidents in the progress of this tour,\nwhich so delightfully point to the hand of God, that the reader may be\ngratified in becoming acquainted with them. On his arrival at Lyons,\nM. ----, finding no other way of transportation except the common\n_Diligence_, a public stage-coach, was obliged to resort to this\nconveyance. The case of Bibles and Testaments which he had forwarded\nwas so large, that the only method by which it could be carried was to\nset it up on end in the basket attached to the back of the Diligence;\nand such was the weight and size of the box, that it was with no small\ndifficulty, and by the assistance of several men, that it was safely\nadjusted. At first the passengers objected to taking their seats with\nsuch a weight behind, lest they should meet with some accident, or be\nimpeded in their progress. After much persuasion, however, and after\npresenting a number of Religious Tracts to each passenger, and\nrequesting the conductor to drive slow, they were prevailed on to\nproceed on their journey. The course they were pursuing led through a\npart of the country solely inhabited by _Roman Catholics_, where, the\nyear before, M. ---- had distributed a number of Bibles and Tracts,\nthe reading of which, he had subsequently ascertained, had been\nforbidden by the priests, who had not only demanded them, but\nconsigned most or all of them to the flames. M. ---- thought\nnecessary, in this journey, to suspend his distributions in this\nimmediate vicinity. But the providence of God had other views, and\nso ordered it, that, without the instrumentality of men, the sacred\nrecords should be scattered among that people. On reaching the place\nof his destination at the foot of the mountains, and alighting from\nthe Diligence, M. ---- discovered that the case had opened at the top,\nand that not a few Bibles and Testaments had been scattered along the\nway. Travellers were soon seen coming up, some in wagons and some on\nhorseback, some with a Bible and some with a New Testament under\ntheir arm. They informed him, that, for eight or ten miles back, the\ninhabitants had been supplied by the Diligence, as the books had\nfallen out whenever they descended a hill, or travelled over rocky and\nuneven ground.\n\nWhile taking the case from the Diligence, several more persons came\nup, each bringing his Bible or Testament, which they most readily\noffered to return to M. ----, but which he as cheerfully requested them\nto accept, observing to them, that they had been destined for their\nperusal by that Providence whose unseen hand directs all human events.\nThough ignorant of the contents of the volume which God had thus given\nthem, they expressed many thanks to M. ---- for his generosity, and\nwere about to proceed on their way, apparently rejoicing, when M. ----\ndismissed them by saying: \"My friends, I feel peculiarly happy in thus\nbeing the instrument of putting into your hands that volume which\ncontains the records of eternal life, and which points you to\n'the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.' If you\nfaithfully read it, and imbibe its glorious and precious truths, and\nobey its precepts, it will render you happy in this life, and happy\nduring the endless ages of eternity.\"\n\nHaving opened the case, M. ---- found that forty-nine Bibles and\nTestaments had been thus distributed. Some of his fellow-passengers\nwere ready to believe that the box had been intentionally left open,\nbut M. ---- assured them that it had been carefully secured in the\nusual manner, and that not until his arrival at the spot where\nthey alighted, had he known that any had fallen out. Having made\narrangements to have the case forwarded to the widow, and having\naddressed to her a note informing her of his intention to proceed to\nthe large village of S----, where he proposed tarrying a few days,\nduring which time he hoped once more to visit her and her friends, M.\n---- resumed his seat in the Diligence, and arrived at S---- the same\nnight. On the next day but one after his arrival, he was agreeably\nsurprised, at an early hour in the morning, to find the hotel where\nhe lodged surrounded by fifty or sixty persons, inquiring for the\ngentleman who had, a day or two before, presented to a number of their\ncitizens THE BOOK, which, as they said, \"contained a true history of\nthe birth, life, sufferings, death, resurrection, and ascension of our\nLord and Saviour Jesus Christ.\" Others of them called it by its proper\nname, the New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. All\nof them were anxious to purchase a copy of it. As soon as M. ----\nascertained the object of their visit, he appeared on the balcony, and\nexpressed his regret that he had no more of those interesting volumes\nwith him; informing them that, if it pleased God he should return to\nParis, he would forward a hundred to his correspondent in that place,\nthat each of them might be furnished with a copy. This was accordingly\ndone immediately after his return to Paris. And during his residence\nthere, M ---- had the satisfaction to see, that more or less\nindividuals from S----, who came to solicit orders for their\nmanufacturing establishments, also brought orders for an additional\nsupply of the sacred volume. And the number of Bibles and Testaments\nwhich were introduced into a dense catholic population, in consequence\nof the apparently trivial circumstance of the opening of the case in\nthe Diligence, will probably never be ascertained until the great\nday of account; nor will it be known to what extent they have been\ninstrumental in reclaiming and saving the souls of deluded men.\n\nOn the day following M---- received a deputation from the Village in\nthe Mountains, anxiously desiring to hear on what day and hour they\nmight hope to enjoy his long-expected visit. He proposed to be at the\nwidow's house the following morning, at 11 o'clock. Furnished with a\ncarriage and horses by one of his friends, he set out accordingly;\nand, on reaching the foot of the mountain, was met by a deputation of\ntwelve or fifteen of these faithful followers of the Lamb, who greeted\nhis approach with demonstrations of joy. He immediately descended from\nthe carriage, and was conducted to the house of the widow with every\nexpression of the most sincere Christian affection, some taking him by\nthe sleeve, and others by the skirts of his coat, some preceding and\nothers following him. But what was his surprise, on arriving at the\nhouse, to find an assembly of from sixty to eighty, who, with one\nvoice, desired him to _preach_ to them! M. ---- observed to them,\nthat he was an unworthy layman, and totally unqualified for such a\nresponsible duty, and the more so at that time, as his mind had been\noccupied in his secular business; and he felt the need of himself\nreceiving instruction, instead of attempting to impart it to others.\nBut a chair had been placed for him in a suitable part of the room,\nand a small table, covered with a green cloth, placed before it, on\nwhich was laid the copy of the Bible which M. ---- had, some months\nbefore, presented to the widow. M. ---- saw he could not avoid\nsaying something to this importunate company, and looking to God for\nassistance and a blessing, took the chair which had been set for him,\nand resolved to attempt to draw from the Bible, for their benefit,\nsuch instruction and consolation as he might be enabled to impart.\n\nTo the eye of M. ---- every thing gave beauty and solemnity to this\nunexpected scene. The room into which he was conducted was filled with\nthe villagers, all conveniently accommodated on benches. A large door\nopened, in the rear of the house, and discovered the declivity of the\nmountain on which it stood, skirted also with listening auditors.\nWhile, at a distance, the flocks and herds were peacefully feeding,\nthe trees, covered with beautiful foliage, were waving in the breeze,\nand all nature seemed to be in harmony with those sacred emotions\nwhich so obviously pervaded this rural assembly.\n\nAfter addressing the throne of grace, M. ---- read a part of the\nfourth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. He turned their attention\nmore especially to that interesting passage in the twelfth verse:\n\"_There is none other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we\nmust be saved_.\" He endeavoured to point out to them the exceeding\nsinfulness of sin, the awful consequences of violating the law of God,\nthe inefficacy of all those expedients which the ignorance, the pride,\nor the self-righteousness of men had substituted for the \"only name,\"\nChrist Jesus. He spoke of the necessity of this great sacrifice on the\ncross, of the love of God in sending his Son into the world, of the\nfullness and all-sufficiency of the mighty redemption, and of the duty\nof sinners to accept it and live. \"It is through Christ alone,\" said\nhe, \"that you can have hope of pardon and salvation. You must take up\nthe cross and follow Christ. You must renounce your sins and flee to\nChrist. You must renounce your own righteousness, and trust alone in\nChrist. You must renounce all other lords, and submit to Christ. If\nyou had offended an earthly monarchy to whom you could have access\nonly through his son, would you address yourselves to his _servants_,\nrather than his _son_? And will you then, in the great concerns of\nyour souls, go to any other than the _Son_? Will you have recourse to\nthe _Virgin Mary_, or some favoured _servant_, rather than address\nyourselves to Him who is 'the way, and the truth, and the life?' and\nwhen God himself assures us, that _'there is none other name under\nheaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved_?'\"\n\nHaving thus proceeded for the space of fifteen or twenty minutes, and\nat a moment when the greater part of his audience were in tears, the\nwidow suddenly came running to M. ----, saying, with great agitation,\n\"_Monsieur! Monsieur_\"\n\n\"What, madam, what?\" said M. ----.\n\n\"I perceive,\" said she, \"at a distance, the deputy mayor of a\nneighbouring village, in company with several women, approaching with\na speedy step towards my house. These people are among our greatest\npersecutors--shall I not call in our little band of brothers and\nsisters, and fasten the doors?\"\n\n\"No, madam,\" said M. ----; \"on the contrary, if it be possible, open\nthe doors still wider; trust in God our Saviour, and leave to me the\ndirection of this matter.\" By this time considerable alarm seemed to\npervade the whole assembly, and some confusion ensued, in consequence\nof several leaving their seats. M. ---- begged them to be composed,\nand to resume their seats, saying, that the object for which they were\nassembled was one which God would accept of and approve, which angels\nwould delight in, and at which Satan trembled; and that they had\nnothing to fear from the arm of flesh. By this time the mayor made his\nappearance at the threshold of the door, together with his attendants.\n\n\"Come in, sir,\" said M. ----, \"and be seated,\" pointing to a chair\nplaced near the table.\n\n\"No, sir,\" said he, \"I prefer to remain here.\"\n\n\"But I prefer,\" said M. ----, \"that you come in, and also your\ncompanions, and be seated.\"\n\nPerceiving M. ---- to be firm in his determination, they complied, and\nwere all seated among his nearest auditors.\n\nM. ---- then, without any further remarks, having the Bible open\nbefore him, directed their attention to those words in Christ's\nSermon on the Mount: \"_Blessed are they which are persecuted for\nrighteousness' sake; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are\nye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all\nmanner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice and be\nexceeding glad; for great is your reward in heaven; for so persecuted\nthey the prophets which were before you_\" Matt. 5:10, 12.\n\nM. ---- proceeded to set before them the sufferings of the apostles\nand primitive christians for the truth as it is in Jesus, and the\nconstancy and firmness with which, in all circumstances, they endured\nthese sufferings, on account of the love which they bore to their\nSaviour; that they had good reasons for so doing, for they were\nassured by Christ, in the words just read, that \"great should be\ntheir reward in heaven.\" M. ---- then proceeded to show the immense\nresponsibility which those assumed, and the enormity of their guilt,\nwho, ignorantly or designedly, persecuted the followers of Christ.\nThat they were but \"heaping up to themselves wrath against the day of\nwrath.\" That the day was not far distant, when the awful realities of\neternity would burst upon their view; and that every man would then be\njudged \"according to the deeds done in the body.\"\n\nWhen M. ---- had proceeded in this manner for ten or twelve minutes,\nbringing the truth to bear especially upon the minds of his new\naudience, he perceived the mayor wiping his eyes with the cuff of his\nsleeve, who, rising at that moment from his seat, exclaimed:\n\n\"Sir, I acknowledge that I have heretofore felt an enmity towards\nmany of the people whom I here see before me; and have, as far as my\ninfluence extended in my official capacity, endeavoured to break up\nwhat I have considered their illegal assemblies, and to coerce them\nback within the pale of the mother church, which one after another of\nthem have been abandoning for years past. But if all that you have\nexpressed be true, and is in conformity with the sacred volume of\nGod's word, and if the book which you hold in your hand is a correct\ntranslation of the original copy, I beg you to sell it me, that I may\nperuse it myself, and give the reading of it to others better able\nto judge of its contents: and if I there find the promises and\nthreatening as stated by you to be correct, you may rely upon it that,\nso far from persecuting these in other respects harmless people, I\nwill hereafter be their friend.\"\n\nOn hearing this, M. ---- immediately requested the widow to bring\nseveral Bibles from the case which he brought with him in the\nDiligence, and which had reached the house according to his direction;\none of which he presented to the mayor, and one to each of his\ncatholic associates. On the mayor's offering pay for the one put into\nhis hand, M. ---- observed, that he had much pleasure in presenting\nit to him, as well as to his companions, in the hope that they would\nhereafter not only become the friends of this interesting people, but,\nwhat was of more importance, the friends of Jesus Christ, who is the\n\"_only_ Mediator between God and man.\"\n\nWith this they took their departure: M. ---- observing to them, that\nhis heart's desire and prayer to God was, that, by a careful, humble,\nand prayerful perusal of that sacred volume, their understandings\nmight become enlightened, and their hearts imbued with the riches of\ndivine grace; that they might thereby be led hereafter to advocate the\nvery cause which they had hitherto been attempting to destroy; and\nthat, when they had done serving God their Saviour here below, they\nmight find themselves among that happy number \"whose names are written\nin the Lamb's book of life.\"\n\nThey left the house, all of them in tears, and as it appeared, deeply\nimpressed with the truths which had been exhibited.\n\nAfter he had concluded these remarks, M. ---- requested that some of\nthe remaining Bibles and Testaments might be brought and laid before\nhim on the table. These he distributed gratuitously to all present who\nhad not before been supplied, and who were unable to purchase them.\nWhile he was doing this, many who had previously received the sacred\nvolume, came forward and manifested their gratitude by laying upon the\ntable their various donations of from two to ten francs[3] each, till,\nin a few moments, the table was well nigh covered. M. ---- told them\nhe was unwilling to receive money in that manner, and wished them to\nput their gifts into the hands of the widow, accompanied by the names\nof the donors, that they might be regularly accounted to the Bible\nSociety. This they consented to with some reluctance, when the widow\nbrought from her drawer a purse containing a hundred and seventy\nfrancs, saying to M. ----, that he could not refuse that money, as\nit was the proceeds of Bibles and Testaments which she had sold in\ncompliance with his directions. M. ---- replied to her, that he had\nindeed requested her to sell these volumes to such as were able to\npurchase, that he might ascertain whether there were persons in that\nneighbourhood who sufficiently appreciated the word of God to be\nwilling to pay for it; but, that object having been accomplished, it\nwas now his privilege, on his own personal responsibility, to place\nthe hundred and seventy francs in the hands of the widow, to be\ndistributed, in equal portions, to the three unfortunate families whom\nthey had mentioned us having recently lost their husbands and fathers\nby the caving in of a coal-pit.\n\n[Footnote 3: Five francs are nearly equal to one dollar.]\n\nOn hearing this, they together, spontaneously as it were, surrounded\nM. ----, and with tears streaming from their eyes, loaded him with\ntheir expressions of gratitude and their blessings, rendering it the\nmost touching scene which M. ---- ever witnessed.\n\nAmidst all these tokens of their Christian affection, M. ---- was\ncompelled to prepare for his departure, and imploring the richest of\nheaven's mercies upon them, bade them an affectionate farewell.\n\nThe whole company followed him to the carriage, and just as he had\nreached it, he once more addressed them, saying, \"My dear friends, if\nany of you have not yet submitted yourselves to God, and are out of\nthe ark of safety, I beseech you 'give not sleep to your eyes, nor\nslumber to your eye-lids,' until you flee to the Saviour. And those of\nyou who have tasted that the Lord is gracious, live near to God, bear\ncheerfully the cross of your Redeemer, follow on to know the Lord and\ndo his will, and by his grace reigning in your hearts, you shall come\noff conquerors, and more than conquerors!\"\n\nWhen he had said this, and had again commended them to the God of all\nmercy through a crucified Redeemer, he drove off amid their prayers\nand blessings, to see them no more till that day when they shall meet\nin the kingdom of their Father, where sighs and farewells are sounds\nunknown, and where God shall wipe away all tears from every eye. After\nM. ----'s return to Paris, he had the pleasure to learn from the widow\nthat all the Bibles he had left with her were disposed of, and that\nmany, in various directions from the village, were earnest to obtain\nthem, but could not be supplied. In the meantime a deep interest in\nthe spiritual welfare of these villagers had diffused itself beyond\nthe limits of Paris, or even of France. The first sixteen pages of\nthis Tract having found its way to England, had been published by\nthe Religious Tract Society of London, and had obtained a very wide\ncirculation. A parish in one of the interior towns of England had\nforwarded to M. ---- twenty pounds sterling for the purchase of\nBibles, to be presented to the widow for gratuitous distribution; and\na family of Friends from Wales, having read the narrative, visited M.\n---- at Paris, and proceeded thence to the Village in the Mountains,\nwhere they tarried no less than three weeks, assuring M. ----, on their\nreturn to Paris, that it had been the most interesting three weeks of\ntheir lives.\n\nAs the proceeds of the twenty pounds, M. ---- forwarded to the widow\nfifty Bibles and fifty Testaments, with a selection of several other\nchoice books and Tracts. These Bibles, Testaments, and Tracts, were\nall actually disposed of in _eight days_, of which the widow gave\nearly information, accompanied by letters to M. ----, and to the\nbenevolent donors in England, expressing, in the most cordial manner,\nher gratitude, and that of those who had thus been supplied with the\nword of life. She gave a particular statement of the eagerness with\nwhich they had been read; of their distribution in many Catholic\nfamilies, and the conversion of some to the truth as it is in Jesus.\nShe informed that many individuals and families were still unsupplied;\nand for herself, and those around her, expressed her thanksgivings\nto God for the wonders of his love in inspiring the hearts of his\nchildren to unite their efforts in Bible and other benevolent\ninstitutions, and to contribute of their substance to extend to the\ndestitute a knowledge of the Gospel.\n\nThe last letter which M. ---- received from the widow, before he left\nthe country, contained two hundred francs, which she and her children\nhad contributed as a donation, in acknowledgment of the Bibles and\nTestaments which he had, from time to time, forwarded.\n\nM. ---- replied to her that it gave him more joy than to have received\ntwenty thousand francs from another source, as it testified their\nattachment to the word of God. He returned her the full amount of\ntheir donation in Bibles, with two hundred and fifty Testaments from\nthe Society, together with fifty from himself, as his last present\nbefore his departure, and also six hundred Tracts and several other\nreligious hooks. Pointing out to her an esteemed friend in Paris,\nto whom, if further supplies should be needed, she might apply\nwith assurance that her requests would be faithfully regarded, and\nexhorting her to remain steadfast in the faith, and to fix her eye\nalways upon the Saviour, M. ---- commended her to God, in the fervent\nhope, that, through the unsearchable riches of his grace, he should\nhereafter meet her, and her persecuted associates in that world where\n\"the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest.\"\n\nNOTE.--The original letters of the widow, in French, are deposited in\nthe archives of the American Tract Society.\n\n\n\n\nCONVERSION OF PETER BAYSSIERE\n\nFROM THE ROMISH CHURCH\n\nTO THE PROTESTANT FAITH.\n\nIN A LETTER TO HIS CHILDREN.\n\n* * * * *\n\nTRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH.\n\n\n\n\nCONVERSION OF PETER BAYSSIERE\nIN A LETTER TO HIS CHILDREN.[4]\n\n\n\n\n[Footnote 4: This Narrative was originally entitled, \"A letter to my\nchildren, on the subject of my conversion from the Romish church, in\nwhich I was born, to the Protestant, in which I hope to die. By Peter\nBayssi\u00e9re, Montaigut, Department Tarn and Garonne.\" (France.) \"As much\nof the interest of this Narrative,\" says the preface to the London\nedition, \"depends upon its authenticity, the reader is referred to the\nsubjoined extract of a letter from the Rev. Francis Cunningham, Rector\nof Pakefield, dated May 20, 1829, which will probably remove any\ndoubts on the subject.\n\n\"......The autograph of Bayssi\u00e9re's letter I saw when I was in the\nSouth of France, in the year 1826. It had just then been received by\nM. Audebez, the minister of N\u00e9rac; who, as appears by the Tract, was\nwell acquainted both with Bayssi\u00e9re and his circumstances. Confident\nof the genuineness of the account, I am very glad it has been\npublished in French, and translated into English. It cannot but be\ninteresting and profitable to all lovers of the truth.\"\n\n\"FRANCIS CUNNINGHAM.\"]\n\n\nMY DEAR CHILDREN--I purpose to give you, in this letter, an account of\nmy conversion to the true Christian religion--that religion which was\nestablished by our Lord and his apostles, professed by their followers\nduring the first two centuries of the church, and which is now\nfollowed by the protestant or reformed Christians. I am conscious that\nneither my abilities nor my education qualify me for this task. A mere\nmechanic, and possessing but few advantages of education, I find it\nvery difficult to express, as I could wish, the thoughts and feelings\nwhich crowd upon my mind. But how great and numerous so ever may be\nthe difficulties which I must encounter in such an undertaking, I am\nimpelled to it by the tender affection I bear you, and by the earnest\ndesire and hope of being useful to you. May God be my helper; may he\nnot suffer me to be deterred by any obstacle; and may he grant me the\nblessing of accomplishing that which I consider as a sacred duty.\n\nIt _is_ my imperative duty to make you acquainted with the real\nmotives which have produced the most important, solemn, and decisive\nstep in my life.\n\nIt is my duty to give glory to God for the unspeakable mercy which\nhe has deigned to show me, in calling me from darkness into his\nmarvellous light; in opening to me the treasures of his infinite\ncompassion, and in giving me the hope of salvation by faith in his\nSon, who only \"has the words of eternal life,\" being alone \"the way,\nthe truth, and the life.\"\n\nIt is my duty to endeavour to render my experience profitable to you,\nto show you the path by which it has pleased God to lead me to truth,\nand to the fountain of living waters; and, above all, to labour in\nprayer for you, that you may be partakers of the peace and joy with\nwhich my spirit is filled under the influence of his blessed word.\n\nMay this paper, my dear children, by the blessing of God, contribute\nto the triumph of the Gospel, and to the glory of our great God and\nSaviour Jesus Christ, by filling your hearts with the love of truth,\nand by leading you in the way of true religion.\n\nIt was in the thirty-third year of my age, in the present year,\n(1826,) that I openly embraced and professed the Protestant religion,\nafter having given it the most serious and attentive examination,\nand being convinced that it was indeed the true religion of Christ,\nagreeable, in every respect, to the revelations of his Gospel.\n\nLike you, my dear children, I was born in the Romish church; but birth\nhas, in fact, very little to do with religion; the utmost that it can\neffect is to predispose the mind, or to serve as a pretext to timid,\ninterested, or indifferent persons, to justify their external\nadherence to a form of worship in which their hearts do not unite.\n\nAs our Saviour declares to his disciple Peter, it is not flesh or\nblood that can make known to us the true God, the Creator, Preserver,\nand Saviour of men. Faith, through which alone we can become children\nof God, and true members of the church of Christ, is a gift of the\nHoly Spirit, and by no means transmitted to us with our existence\nby our parents. St. John teaches us this when he says, \"As many as\nreceived him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to\nthem that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of\nthe will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.\" John, 1:\n12, 13.\n\nThus you see that we are neither Catholics nor Protestants by birth;\nand it is a great error for any one to feel himself bound to either\nchurch, because he has been born within its pale. Religion, like every\nthing else, must be studied and examined; and no one is truly a member\nof a church, further than as he understands and acknowledges its\ndoctrines. His adherence on any other ground only proves him\ncredulous, ignorant, and superstitious; the slave of prejudice and\nhabit.\n\nAs for me, my children, although born in the Romish church, I can\nassure you that I never participated in its belief. It would be\nforeign to the end I have in view, to relate here the various\ncircumstances of my childhood and youth, which preserved me from being\nbrought into the bosom of the Catholic church by the usual rites\nand ceremonies. God so ordered it, that I made no vow by which _I\nmight_[5] have afterwards felt myself bound to the church of Rome.\n\n[Footnote 5: \"_I might have_,\" but I am far from supposing that I\n_ought_ to have fell myself indissolubly tied to the Roman Catholic\nchurch by any sacrament that I might have received, or by any\nengagement that I might have entered into: on the contrary, I lay it\ndown as an incontestable principle, that every vow and every oath are\nnull, and neither can nor ought to bind any one to a church in which\nhe has discovered errors, or doctrines and habits opposed to the word\nof God, and contrary to his own conscience. Truth alone, and the full\nconviction of truth, constitute a tie which can inviolably connect\nus with any church whatever. From the moment that this conviction no\nlonger exists, and that error is discovered, it is an imperative duty\nto abandon a mode of worship which does not accord with our true\nsentiments; and he who perseveres against this conviction becomes a\nhypocrite, contemptible in the eyes of men, and condemned before God.]\n\nUnknown to me, that is, at an age when I could have no idea of what\nwas done to me, I was doubtless received into the church by the\nusual ceremony; but as this act was performed without any consent or\nco-operation on my part, I have never regarded it in the light of an\nengagement to the Catholic church.\n\nWith regard to what is called \"the first communion,\" (which is\nconsidered as the public ratification and confirmation of the vow of\nmy parents,) this I never received in the Romish church, nor did I\nreceive what is called the Sacrament of confirmation.\n\nBefore I could be united by the sacred bond of marriage to your\nvirtuous and beloved mother, it was necessary that I should confess.\nThis I did with extreme reluctance, feeling that nothing could be at\nonce more absurd, more tyrannical, or more degrading, than to oblige a\nman to prostrate himself at the feet of a priest, a mortal, a sinner,\na child of corruption like himself, and there to make confessions to\nhim, which offended Deity alone could have a right to require: and to\nreceive absolution from him for faults with which he had no concern.\nI could not, however, marry without confession, and therefore I was\nobliged to submit; but no power on earth could have constrained me to\ngo further. The Sacrament, as the Roman Catholics receive it, had,\nfrom infancy, excited in me feelings of disgust. My mind had always\nrevolted at the idea, that the great God of heaven could allow himself\nto be _eaten_ by his creatures in the form of a little flour. Under\nvarious pretences, therefore, I contrived to avoid the ceremony, and\nobtained the nuptial benediction without it.\n\nThe Lord, who never leaves himself without the witness of his numerous\nmercies to us, even when we are offending him in so many ways, was\npleased to bless our marriage. Your birth, my dear children, crowned\nour joy, and left us nothing to wish but to see you grow and prosper,\nand to devote ourselves to your happiness. Alas! little did we\nsuspect, whilst thus delightfully engaged, that this joy was to be so\nsoon disturbed, and that death would deprive us of her who had given\nyou birth. But our great God, whose ways and whose designs, though\noften inscrutable, are always full of wisdom, saw good to separate\nus; you from a tender and excellent mother, and me from a beloved\ncompanion and inestimable friend. She died February 11, 1821, after a\nfew days' illness, leaving me in a state of affliction which it would\nbe in vain to attempt to describe.\n\nNevertheless, terrible as was the stroke, and heart-rending as was the\nseparation, I can now acknowledge, my children, that it was a salutary\nchastisement, sent by sovereign love; and one of the links of that\nchain of Providence by which the Lord saw good to deliver me from the\nmiserable state in which I was then living; and to lead me to the\nfountain of grace and true peace.\n\nIn fact, the death of your poor mother gave rise to a train of\ncircumstances, which, by drawing my attention to subjects that I had\nhitherto totally disregarded, and by exciting in my mind a degree of\nenergy of which I could not have supposed myself capable, ended by\nengaging me most unexpectedly in the serious study of religion. The\nparticulars I am about to give you respecting these things, will\nconvince you that God can overrule the wickedness of men for good, and\nwill show you that a Romish priest was the means of directing me to\n_the way_, (I mean the perusal and free examination of the word of\nGod,) which led me, eventually, to the Protestant church.\n\nYour mother's funeral was conducted with Catholic ceremonies, and,\naccording to my means, I spared nothing to honour her remains. I\nlikewise consented, either from conformity to custom, or from a wish\nto please my relatives, who were influenced by the fear of purgatory,\nor perhaps from participating myself in the false notion that bought\nprayers can mitigate the sufferings of the dead--from one or all of\nthese causes, aggravated by the sorrow which filled my heart and\ninflamed my imagination, I consented to the performance of the nine\ncustomary masses for the rest of the soul.\n\nThe priest to whom I first went, told me that he was too busy to\nundertake the whole, but that I might depend upon him for three. From\nhim I went to another, who engaged to say the remaining six, and did\nso without delay. Sunday after Sunday, for a considerable time, I went\nto the first, to inquire whether my three masses would be said in the\nfollowing week. He always found some excuse, saying that \"there were\nothers more urgent than myself--that he was previously engaged--that\nhe had undertaken more than was in his power to perform,\". From\nFebruary to June, I was thus put off under various pretexts. Worn out,\nat length, by so many fruitless efforts, I resolved to put an end to\nthem, and mentioned the subject to your aunt, your mother's sister,\nexpressing to her my extreme annoyance. She asked me if I had offered\nthe priest the amount of the masses which he had promised to say?\n\"No,\" I said, \"the idea never occurred to me; but even if it had, I\nshould not have dared to do it, for fear of offending him. It is not\nusual\", I added scornfully, \"to pay before one is served. No one ever\npays me for a saddle before I make it.\" \"No matter,\" replied your\naunt, \"my advice to you is to return to the priest, and offer to pay\nfor the masses which you have ordered.\"\n\nI did as she advised me, and this time my request was favourably\nreceived. The priest seized the six-franc piece which I laid on the\ntable, looked at me and said, \"Do you wish me to say six?\" \"No,\"\nI replied, with a feeling of indignation which I could hardly\nrepress--\"No, sir, I only want three. Return to me the rest of the\nmoney; poor folks cannot afford to spend so much at once.\"\n\nI left the priest, thoroughly ashamed of having contributed to gratify\nhis cupidity, and very much disposed to think the religion we were\ntaught was nothing but a tissue of fables and impostures, to which the\nthirst of gold and silver had given birth. I cannot tell you all the\nsad and painful reflections that occupied my mind during the remainder\nof that day; I was overcome by them, and rejoiced to see the night,\nhoping to find relief in sleep. I went to bed, but could not close my\neyes. Still haunted by the remembrance of what had so disgusted me,\na multitude of thoughts crowded on my imagination. I knew that the\npriests claimed the word of God as their authority for all their\ndoctrines and ceremonies, which word I also knew was contained in the\nOld and New Testaments, although, to my misfortune, I did not then\nregard them as a divine revelation. In fact, I believed no more in\nthe Holy Bible _as the word of God_, than I did in the doctrine of\npurgatory; still I felt a desire to search and to ascertain whether\nthis _lucrative_ doctrine was contained in the Gospel, and in what\nmanner it was there established: at the same moment I recollected that\nthere was, on the chimney-piece of my room, a New Testament, in which\nI had learnt to read, but which I had never opened since I was nine\nor ten years old. I jumped out of bed, and hastily dressing myself,\nresolved to begin, without delay, my researches on the subject of\npurgatory.\n\nWith this sole object in view, I read through the Gospels, the Acts of\nthe Apostles, the Epistles, and the Revelation of St. John; confining\nmy attention exclusively to those points that tended either to\nestablish or controvert this doctrine. This perusal of the New\nTestament, which, from my eagerness to satisfy my curiosity and\nresolve my doubts, I accomplished without once stopping, except for\nrefreshment, proved to me that the doctrine of purgatory was not to\nbe found in the Gospel, but must have been derived from some other\nsource.\n\nIndeed, my dear children, I did not find a single passage which\nestablished it, either directly or indirectly: on the contrary, I was\nstruck with many declarations completely opposed to it. Thus I read in\nSt. Matthew: \"The wicked shall go away into everlasting punishment,\nbut the righteous into life eternal.\" Matt. 25:46. This absolutely\ndestroys the idea of any intermediate abode between heaven and hell.\n\nI read the song of Simeon, by which it clearly appears that the good\nold man had no idea that he was to stop in the road to heaven, or that\nhe would have to undergo any _purging fire_ before he could get there;\nfor he exclaims, holding the infant Jesus in his arms, \"Lord, now\nlettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy\nsalvation.\" &c. Luke, 2:29, 30.\n\nI read the promises which Jesus made to the thief on the cross, when\nhe said to him, \"Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.\"\nLuke, 23:42, 43. If there were such a place as purgatory, and if any\none were likely to be subjected to its fires, surely it would have\nbeen this malefactor, condemned by human, laws, and probably guilty\nof many crimes: yet our Saviour replies, \"Verily, I say unto thee,\n_to-day_ thou shalt be with me in Paradise.\"\n\nI read in the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans, that \"there is now\n_no_ condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.\" Rom. 8:1. A\ndoctrine altogether opposed to that of purgatory, which teaches that\nChristians are, after this life, subjected to a process of torments\nbefore they are free from condemnation.\n\nI read in the Epistle to the Hebrews, that \"it is appointed to men\nonce to die, but after this the judgment,\" Heb. 9: 27, which clearly\nproves that the destiny, both of the bad and good, is irrevocably\nfixed from the moment of their death; and that there is no purgatory,\nfrom which masses, prayers, or rather gold and silver, can deliver any\none.\n\nI read also in the first Epistle of St. John, that \"the blood of Jesus\nChrist,\" the Son of God, \"cleanseth us from _all_ sin,\" 1 John,\n1:7, which excludes all other kinds of purification, and formally\ncontradicts the doctrine of purgatory. Finally, I read in the book of\nRevelation, that \"blessed are the dead which die in the Lord, from\nhenceforth: yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their\nlabours, and their works do follow them.\"\n\nHere is another declaration which confirms what the preceding and\nmany other passages establish in so convincing a manner. Not having\ndiscovered a single text of the New Testament which told in favour\nof purgatory; but, on the contrary, having observed and meditated on\nthose which I have quoted, and many other equally opposed to this\ndoctrine, I was fully persuaded that it never had been thought of by\nthe writers of the Gospel. You may easily believe, my dear children,\nthat this discovery in no way tended to strengthen the bonds which\nheld me to the Romish church, nor to confirm me in their faith.\n\nStill, however, I was dissatisfied, and still longed to know\npositively _from whence_ the priests had derived their vain system.\nThis desire filled my mind for some days, and at last it struck me\nthat _the Pope_ must have been the inventor of it. I then naturally\nbegan to wish to discover _who_ the Pope was, and what right he had\nto impose such a doctrine. I had often read and heard, both in\nconversation and from the pulpit, that St. Peter was the chief and\nhead of the Apostles; that he had been the first pope at Rome; and\nthat all succeeding popes had inherited his rights and prerogatives.\n\nI conceived a wish to know what the New Testament said upon this\nsubject, and I immediately undertook a second perusal of it; in the\nsame state of mind as before, that is to say, absorbed by one sole\nobject, and having nothing in view but to find out whether St. Peter\nhad really been set over all the other apostles, and placed at Rome as\nhead of all the churches.\n\nThis examination, which was pursued with a degree of attention of\nwhich I should now be scarcely capable, ended in convincing me that\nthe supremacy of St. Peter was no better established by the New\nTestament than the first doctrine which I had sought for, and that\nundoubtedly the papacy was without scriptural authority.\n\nI found in St. Matthew the _calling of_ Simon, who was afterwards\ncalled Peter; Matt. 4:18, 19,20; but it did not appear to me to differ\nfrom that addressed to Andrew his brother, and all the other apostles.\n\nIn the tenth chapter of the same Gospel, I also observed that the\nfirst _mission_ which Jesus Christ gave to his apostles, was given\nto all, without any particular prerogative to Peter. It is true that\nPeter is the first named, but this is merely an accidental priority,\nwhich implies neither distinction nor superiority; one must have been\nmentioned first. I made the same observation on the last mission which\nthey received on the day of their Master's ascension, and which is\nrelated by St. Matthew, 28:19, 20; by St. Mark, 16:15; and in the Acts\nof the Apostles, 1:8. This mission, though variously expressed in the\nthree places, is the same in substance. It is given indiscriminately\nto all; the promises by which it is accompanied are for all; and on\nall, the same powers are, equally conferred.\n\nThe 18th and 19th verses of chapter 16 of St. Matthew, where it is\nsaid, \"Thou art Peter, and on this rock I will build my church,\"\nstartled me for a moment, and I was on the point of mistaking the true\nmeaning of this declaration. But having reflected that Jesus Christ\nasked the question in the 15th verse, of _all_ his disciples, and that\nPeter expressed the sentiment of _all_ in his animated reply in the\n16th verse, I considered that the words which Christ addressed to\nPeter, were applicable to all disciples; and that no supremacy could\nbe attributed to him from this passage, more than from any of the\npreceding.\n\nI was confirmed in this opinion, when I read in the Gospel of St.\nJohn, that Jesus, _speaking to all_ had made them nearly the same\npromise: \"Whose so ever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them,\nand whose so ever sins ye retain, they are retained,\" (John, 20:23;)\nand also by what St. Paul says to the Ephesians, \"Ye are built upon\nthe foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself\nbeing the chief corner-stone; in whom all the building, fitly framed\ntogether, groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord.\" Ephes. 2:20, 21.\n\nI was still more strengthened, when I found in the Revelation, that\nSt. John says, \"the wall of the city had _twelve foundations_, and in\nthem the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.\" Rev. 21:14.\n\nBy these passages, and many others which I think it unnecessary to\nquote, I discerned that Jesus Christ is the true _foundation_, the\n_corner stone_ on which the Christian church rests: that all the\napostles and prophets are indeed mentioned as its foundation, but only\nbecause all their doctrines refer to Him; and I was convinced that St.\nPeter was in no degree more distinguished or more elevated than his\nfellow-labourers. Although I did not then understand, at least not so\nfully as I do now, the evangelical meaning of the 18th and 19th verses\nof chapter 16 of St. Matthew, yet I was persuaded that the papacy or\nsovereignty of St. Peter could not reasonably be deduced from them\nFinally my conviction that St. Peter was not above the other apostles,\nwas completed by observing what he says himself in his first epistle,\n\"The elders which are among you I exhort, who am _also an elder_\" 1\nPet. 5:1; by what St. Paul says to the Corinthians, \"I was not a whit\nbehind the very chiefest apostles,\" 2 Cor. 11:5; by noticing that\nSt. Paul, according to his own account, \"withstood him to the face,\nbecause he was to be blamed;\" Gal. 2:11; and that he severely and\npublicly reprehended him, because \"he constrained the Gentiles to be\ncircumcised;\" by seeing how the common disciples of the church of\nJerusalem made no scruple of reproving Peter, because \"he went in\nunto men uncircumcised, and did eat with them,\" Acts, 11:3; how they\nrequired from him an explanation of his conduct, and how the apostle\nhastened to justify himself, by relating to them exactly how the thing\nhad happened. Finally, by observing that \"when the apostles which were\nat Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, _they\nsent_ unto them Peter and John.\" Acts, 8:14.\n\n\"There can be no doubt,\" thought I, as I perused and re-perused all\nthese testimonies, \"that Peter was in every respect equal to the other\napostles; that he had no superiority nor jurisdiction over them. Had\nhe been, had he thought himself, or had others thought him, the prince\nof the apostles and sovereign pastor of the church, would he have\ncalled himself an elder like unto the other elders? Is it possible\nthat St. Paul would have declared himself to be 'not a whit behind\nhim;' that he would have 'withstood him to his face,' and blamed him\npublicly? Is it probable that mere believers, common members of the\nchurch, should have ventured to dispute with him, to require an\nexplanation of his conduct, or that he should have thought it\nnecessary to satisfy them by giving one?[6] Is it likely that he would\nhave been sent by the other apostles, or have received their orders,\nwhen it would have been his part, had he been their chief, to command\nand to send them?\"\n\n[Footnote 6: The popes, his pretended successors, have not been so\nobliging; they have been always solicitous to make their authority\nfelt.]\n\nI needed no more evidence to be thoroughly convinced that all which is\ntaught by the Romish church of the supremacy of St. Peter, and of\nthe sovereignty of the popes, his pretended successors, was a fable\ndestitute of the slightest foundation; at all events, a doctrine no\nmore to be found in the Gospel than that of purgatory.\n\nIf I were surprised at this, I was no less so when I observed, that in\nthe whole New Testament there was not one word which gave reason to\nimagine that St. Peter had ever preached, or had even ever been, at\nRome, where the Roman Catholics assert, and believe as an article of\nfaith, that he was the first pope. The Acts of the Apostles maintains\nthe most profound silence on this subject, and affords no ground\nwhatever for the supposition. All the Epistles leave it equally in\ndarkness. Those of St. Paul to the Galatians, to the Ephesians, to the\nPhilippians, to the Colossians, the second to Timothy, and the Epistle\nto Philemon, all written from Rome at different periods, and that to\nthe Hebrews, written from Italy, make no mention of Peter's being\nthere. In the last four, the apostle speaks of his companions in\nsuffering, in labour, and in the work of the Lord, but says not a word\nof Peter as being with him. Undoubtedly he would have mentioned him,\nas he mentions Tychicus, Onesimus, Aristarchus, Demas, Prudens,\nLivius, Claudia, &c. had he been at Rome; but neither his name, nor\nany allusion to his abode in the capital of the world, is to be\ndiscovered in any part of St. Paul's Epistles. In my opinion, there is\nno proof of his ever having been there, much less of his having held\nthe bishopric. Finally, his own two Epistles furnish no evidence for\nsuch a supposition: the first, and in all probability, the second\nalso, is written from Babylon, 1 Peter, 5:13, and addressed, not to\nthe Romans, but \"to the strangers (that is to say, the converted Jews)\nscattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,\"\n1 Peter, 1:1, countries where, it would appear, that he exercised\nhis ministry, after having for some years preached to the church at\nAntioch.\n\nThus, my children, I discovered that these two primary doctrines of\nthe Romish church, viz. purgatory and the supremacy of St. Peter, had\nnot, at any rate, been inculcated by the writers of the Gospel. I\ncannot tell you what interest I felt in the new ideas I had acquired.\nThe New Testament, which I was still far from regarding as a divine\nrevelation, appeared to me a collection of precious documents, in\nwhose authority I then began to feel some degree of confidence. Though\nI found this study novel and difficult to a poor uneducated artisan\nlike myself, it was at the same time so attractive to me, that I was\ninduced to continue my researches.\n\nI have already mentioned to you, my dear children, the invincible\nrepugnance which I had always felt to receiving the sacrament as\nadministered in the Romish church. I have said that nothing in the\nworld could have forced me to this act, by which it is profanely\npretended that the _creature_ EATS _his Creator_!! I could never even\nthink of it without shuddering. This doctrine, which asserts that\nJesus Christ is present, in body and in spirit, in the consecrated\nwafer, and that every communicant is actually nourished by his flesh\nand blood, is, of all the tenets of popery, that which contributed the\nmost to alienate me from the Christian religion, to which I attached\nit, and to drive me to infidelity.\n\nThis, therefore, now attracted all my attention; and again I began to\nread the New Testament, entirely occupied, as previously, by the one\nobject which I had in view.\n\nI found nothing in the three Gospels of St. Matthew, St. Mark, or St.\nLuke, which gave me the least reason to suppose that their author had\nrecognized the real and corporeal presence of Jesus Christ in the\nsacrament of the holy supper. The words of the institution, as related\nby the first, Matt. 26:26, 27, 28, by the second, Mark, 14:22, 23, 24,\nand by the third, Luke, 22:19, 20, reported with slight variations by\nthe three Evangelists, and which I took great pains to collate\nand compare, conveyed no other idea than that of a _commemorative\nceremony_, designed to preserve and call to remembrance the\nsufferings, the passion, and the death of Christ. In my then wretched\ncondition of unbelief, the magnitude, the sanctity, and the power of\nthe sacrament did not strike my mind; but, excepting that, I imbibed\nfrom the consideration of these passages the views which I still hold.\nSo far, then, I had not discovered the doctrine of the real presence;\nbut I thought I _had_ indeed found it specifically established when I\nread these words: \"I am the living bread which came down from heaven:\nif any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever; and the bread\nthat I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the\nworld. The Jews, therefore, strove among themselves, saying, How can\nthis man give his flesh to eat? Then Jesus said unto them, Verily,\nverily, I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and\ndrink his blood, we have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh and\ndrinketh my blood, hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the\nlast day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.\nHe that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I\nin him.\" John, 6:51-56. These words appeared to me to be undoubtedly\nthe foundation of the Romish faith on this head. I even thought that\nthe writer of them had the establishment of this doctrine especially\nin view. At that moment I was tempted to stop, and to carry no further\nmy researches on a doctrine which I thought I had found clearly\nset forth, but the absurdity of which had never appeared to me\nso palpable. I then felt an utter disgust towards the Gospel;\nnevertheless, internally spurred on by an invisible power, which was\nthen unknown to me, but which I now recognize to have been the Holy\nSpirit, the author of all divine revelation; and attracted, as it\nwere, in spite of myself, by the Spirit of God, who graciously\npurposed to teach me to appreciate, and in time to receive, the truth\nof his word, I resumed my New Testament, which I had for a moment\nthrown aside, and recommencing the perusal of the sixth chapter of St.\nJohn, I read it to the end, which I had not done before.\n\nWhen I reached the sixty-third verse, I was struck as by a flash of\nlight, which instantaneously discovered to me the mistake that I had\nat first made in the meaning of the six verses transcribed above, and\nimparted a new value to the Gospel. When I read \"It is the Spirit that\nquickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing--the words that I speak unto\nyou, they are Spirit, and they are Life,\" John, 6:63, I had, as it\nwere, the key of the chapter, and no longer discerned in it the\ndoctrine of the real presence. I perceived that it in no way referred\nto swallowing and digesting, with our corporeal organs, the body and\nblood of Christ: I saw that the expressions of eating and drinking\nwere used figuratively, and that they really signified nothing\nbut knowing Christ, coming to him, and believing in him, as it is\nexplained in the thirty-fifth verse of the same chapter, where Jesus\nChrist says, \"I am the bread of life; he that cometh to me shall never\nhunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.\"\n\nIt was, then, as clear to me as the day, that Jesus Christ used the\nterms _eating_ and _drinking_ only in a spiritual manner; and (as I\nnow understand them) as referring to that faith, which, while it is\nliving and active in our hearts, unites us to him in an inexplicable\nmanner, and clothes us in his merits at the same time that it purifies\nand sanctifies our views, our sentiments, and our desires. After\nhaving thus discovered my error, I found myself more than ever\ninclined to persevere in my reading, and to search and see whether the\ndoctrine of the real presence would not he better established in\nthe subsequent parts of the book. The further I advanced, my dear\nchildren, the more reason I had to be convinced that neither Jesus nor\nhis apostles ever intended to convey such an idea. I should be too\ntedious were I to point out to you all the passages which I found\nexpressly contradictory to this revolting tenet; it will be sufficient\nto quote a few.\n\nI found in the Acts, that the apostles saw Jesus Christ ascend on\nhigh, carried upward by a cloud which concealed him from their sight,\nand that two angels appeared and said unto them, \"Men of Galilee, why\nstand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus which is taken up from\nyou into heaven, shall so come in _like manner_ as ye have seen him\ngo into heaven.\" Acts, 1:9, 11. \"There never was a priest,\" said I,\n\"there never was a Roman Catholic, administering or receiving the\nsacrament, that ever saw Christ descending from heaven, in this\nmanner, to enter into the bread. Nevertheless, the angels declared\nthat he should descend from heaven in the same manner as he went up\ninto heaven.\"\n\nI found, in the same book, \"that the heavens must receive Jesus Christ\ntill the time of the restitution of all things.\" Acts, 3:21. \"He is\nthen,\" said I, \"no longer corporeally on the earth.\" I found, in the\nEpistle to the Colossians, that \"Christ sitteth on the right hand of\nGod;\" chap. 3:1; from whence I drew the inference that he certainly\ncannot be actually present on so many altars, or in so great a number\nof wafers, as the doctrine of the real presence necessarily supposes.\n\nI found, in the Epistle to the Hebrews, chapters 9 and 10, the\nstrongest declarations, not only against the real presence, but\nagainst the whole system of the mass, by which it is pretended daily\nto renew the passion and sacrifice of our Saviour. When the apostle\nsays that \"Christ is entered into heaven itself;\" Heb. 9:24; when he\nsays that \"unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time\nwithout sin unto salvation;\" ver. 28; lastly, when he says it is the\nwill of God to sanctify us \"through the offering of the body of Jesus\nChrist once made,\" chap. 10:10, and that \"this man, after he had\noffered one sacrifice for sins, for ever sat down at the right hand of\nGod,\" ver. 12, having \"by one offering perfected for ever them that\nare sanctified,\" ver. 14, it appeared to me to prove, with the most\nunanswerable evidence, that the doctrine of the real presence, and all\nconnected with it, was as far removed from the creed of the apostle as\nthe east is from the west, or as heaven from hell.\n\nFinally, my dear children, the very words of the institution of the\nLord's Supper, related by St. Paul, 1 Cor. 11, and to which I paid\nparticular and repeated attention, did not leave a shadow of doubt on\nmy mind that the doctrine of the Romish church, on the subject of the\nEucharist, is utterly devoid of any foundation in the Gospel, and\nmust, consequently, have been derived from some other source. In fact,\nall that our Saviour says on the occasion of instituting the Lord's\nSupper, clearly shows that it was a _memorial of himself_ which he\nestablished, and which he wished to leave behind him. After having\ntaken, blessed, and broken the bread, he commands that it should be\neaten _in remembrance of him._ Having given them the cup to drink, he\nadds, \"This do ye, as oft as ye drink it, _in remembrance_ of me.\" The\nwords, \"this is my body--this cup is the New Testament in my blood,\"\nappeared to me only what they really are, figurative expressions,\nsignifying that the bread _represented_ his body, and the wine his\nblood. These words do in no degree change or modify the principal\nidea, that of _commemoration_, which runs throughout this action of\nour Lord.\n\nHad it even been possible that these words had deceived me; had\nI taken them in their literal meaning, I should soon have been\nundeceived by those which immediately follow, which in themselves\nutterly overthrow the doctrine of the real presence, and the whole\nsystem of the mass. These are the words: \"As often as ye eat this\nbread and drink this cup, ye do _show_ the Lord's death _till he\ncome.\"_ 1 Cor. 11:26. After this declaration, connected with so many\nothers, what further proof was wanting that St. Paul never believed\nthat the bread and wine contained the actual body of Christ? I clearly\nsaw that in this passage he meant that it is really bread we eat, and\nwine we drink, in the sacrament, and not the actual body and blood\nof the Son of God. I perceived that he taught that the Lord is not\nactually present in that ceremony according to the sense of the Romish\nchurch, because he distinctly says, \"that by participating in it, we\ndo _show_ the Lord's death _till he come_\"\n\nIn short, I was convinced that, according to St. Paul, it is not the\nbody and blood of Jesus Christ that the priests hold in their hands,\nand which they offer as a sacrifice in the mass.\n\nHere, my children, I suspended my researches, convinced, as much as\nit is possible to be convinced of any thing, that the doctrine\nof transubstantiation is not to be found in the New Testament. I\nconcluded that it must have the same origin as those of the papacy and\nof purgatory.\n\nDiverted as I had been from my usual occupation, during the time that\nI had thus devoted to study and meditation; obliged to maintain myself\nand you by the sweat of my brow, and having no other immediate subject\nof perplexity, I returned to my daily labour, and discontinued the\nperusal of the Gospel. My New Testament had certainly gained much in\nmy esteem; but without stopping to consider exactly in what way I\nvalued it, I think I may say that it was _not_ as containing the Word\nof God, and the knowledge which is unto salvation.\n\nThus not being really or heartily interested in it, I replaced it a\nsecond time on the spot it had so long occupied on the chimney-piece\nof my room, and eighteen months or two years passed without my\nthinking of consulting it anew.\n\nDuring this period I married again: your tender age, and the care you\nrequired, which my business and absence prevented my giving you, were\nthe motives which induced me to take this step. God in his fatherly\nkindness mercifully directed my choice, though I had never thought of\nasking him to do so; and you have found a second mother in her who has\never been to me the most estimable and best of friends. During this\nperiod also, I thought more of religion than ever before. Though I had\nread the Gospel only to satisfy my curiosity on the three points of\ndoctrine that I have mentioned, and although my attention had been\nexclusively directed to these points, it is probable, notwithstanding,\nthat I had almost unconsciously imbibed some of the impressions which\nthe word of God is calculated to produce, and that even then I was in\nsome measure under its secret influence. One thing I am sure of, that\nfrom that time some idea of religion, although then comparatively\nvague and confused, never left me; I frequently caught myself musing\non the origin of the universe, on the vicissitudes of nature, and on\nthe future condition of those numerous beings, who are seen for a\nshort time on the earth and then disappear. My own destiny, also,\nfrequently engaged my thoughts. But I was far from referring it to\nHim, on whom I now see that it entirely depends. In all these thoughts\nGod was excluded from the place he ought to have held. With nothing\nbut false and uncertain notions of him, I was far indeed from\nregarding him as the vivifying principle, which, to the eye of the\nChristian, animates and embellishes every thing, and as that pure\nlight \"which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.\"\n\nI am bound to tell you, my children, what was the real state of my\nsoul at that time. I was in so deplorable a condition of blindness and\nignorance, that sometimes I thought there was no God, but that he was\nan imaginary being; and sometimes confounding him with the works of\nhis almighty hands, I attributed divinity to the material world. \"The\nfool hath said in his heart, there is no God,\" and I dare not deny\nthat these words of David were for a long time, and even perhaps at\nthe period of which I am speaking, applicable to me. But while I\nacknowledge that the natural corruption of my heart, and the bad books\nI had read, were in part the causes of the sad state I have described,\nI cannot help also attributing the greatest part of them to the\n_abuses_, the _superstition_, and the _errors_ which disfigure\nChristianity in the Romish church, and which had so disgusted me that\nthey had driven me into total infidelity.\n\nSuch, then, being in fact my religious state, you may well believe, my\nchildren, that I was not happy; for it is impossible to be so without\ntrusting in God, who is the source of supreme good and true peace.\nI was assiduous in my occupation; I frequented the society of my\nfriends; but, my heart empty and incessantly craving after something\nwhich I could not obtain, was never content. My mind, restless and\nagitated, could no where find an object to fix and satisfy it.\nListlessness followed me every where, and seemed to increase upon\nme. O how unhappy, and how pitiable are those, who are, as was then,\nwithout God, without Christ, without hope in the world!\n\nI was in this wretched state when it pleased God to have pity upon me,\nand to cause a ray of light to penetrate my mind. One evening, after\nthe labours of the day, instead of going as usual to the club which I\nfrequented, I went alone upon the public walk, where I remained till\nthe night was far advanced: the moon shone clear and bright: I had\nnever before been so struck by the magnificence of the heavens, and\nI felt unusually disposed to reflection. \"No,\" I said, (after\ncontemplating for a long time the impressive scene before me,) \"no,\nnature is not God,\" (for till then I had entertained this opinion,)\n\"God is certainly distinct from nature: in all this I can only\nrecognise a _work_ replete with harmony, order, and beauty. Although I\ncannot perceive the Author, whose power, intelligence, and wisdom are\nevery where so strongly imprinted on it; still, both my reason and my\nfeeling combine to convince me of his existence.\"\n\nThis conclusion, which I sincerely adopted, was the result of the\nreflections in which I had been that evening absorbed.\n\nSome days after this, the examination of a watch, its springs, its\nvarious wheels, and its motions, brought me afresh to the same\nconclusion, and for ever confirmed me in the belief of a God, the\nCreator of all things. \"If this watch,\" I argued, \"could not make\nitself, and necessarily leads us to suppose an artist who made each\npart, and so arranged the whole as to produce these movements--how\nmuch stronger reasons have we for concluding that the universe has a\nContriver and Maker?\"\n\nI was no sooner fully satisfied of the existence of a God, than I\ntrembled at the thought of his attributes, and my relationship to him.\nThe sense of my unworthiness and sinfulness deeply affected me. When\nI called to mind the many years I had passed in forgetfulness of\nthis great God; in indifference to, or in a culpable unbelief of\nhis existence; I felt that I must indeed be, in his sight, the most\nungrateful, and the most sinful of his creatures. My next feeling was\nan anxious desire to amend my conduct, and I determined to lay down\nsuch a plan for my future life, as I hoped might not be unworthy of\nthat Being whose eye I then felt was upon me. After having made many\nefforts to recall the best maxims of wisdom and rules of virtue that\nI had met with in the course of my reading, I at length came to a\nresolution of examining what moral precepts the New Testament might\ncontain, and whether it might not afford me the rules I was seeking\nfor the regulation of my conduct.\n\nThis was the motive which brought me again to the New Testament, and\ninduced me to undertake a fourth time the perusal of it. I wish it\nwere in my power to recount to you, my dear children, all the effects\nthat the eternal word of God produced upon my heart; for from that\ntime I recognised it to be, what it is in fact, the revelation of\nsovereign wisdom; the genuine expression of the Divine will; the\nmessage of a tender and compassionate Father, addressed to his\nungrateful and rebellious children, soliciting them to return and find\nhappiness in him. I wish I could retrace all the impressions that this\ndivine message produced on my mind, the vivid emotions I experienced,\nand the thoughts and feelings (never, I trust, to be forgotten)\nexcited by that reading.\n\nI was like a man born blind, who should suddenly recover his sight in\na magnificent apartment, splendidly illuminated. My feelings at least\ncorresponded with those of a man under such circumstances, were they\npossible. How glorious was the light of the Gospel to me! I sought for\nmorality, and I found _there_ the most simple, clear, complete, and\nperfect system of morality that could be conceived; and _there_ I\nfound precepts suited to every circumstance that could present itself\nin life, as a son, a brother, a father, a friend, a subject, a\nservant, a labourer, a man, a reasonable creature: my duty in every\nrelation of life I there found inculcated in the most admirable\nmanner. I could not imagine one moral duty for which I did not there\nfind a precept; not one precept unaccompanied by a motive; and no\nmotive that did not appear to me to be dictated by reason, or enforced\nby an authority against which I felt that I had nothing to object. I\nobserved two kinds of precepts which, though tending to the same end,\ni.e. perfection, produced a different effect upon me. The _positive_\nprecepts presented to my mind an idea of the high degree of holiness\nat which that man would arrive who could keep them without a single\nviolation. The _negative_ precepts, by leading me to a close\nself-examination, impressed me with a deep sense of my corruption, and\nconvinced me that the authors of them must have possessed a profound\nknowledge of the human heart in general, and of my heart individually.\n\n\"Who then,\" said I, \"were the writers of this book?\" And when I\nreflected that they were poor, uneducated mechanics like myself,\nthe question immediately presented itself--how could fishermen,\ntax-gatherers, and tent-makers, acquire such extraordinary sagacity,\npenetration, wisdom, and knowledge? \"Ah!\" I exclaimed, \"this is indeed\na problem, which can only be solved by admitting their own assertion,\nthat the Spirit of God directed their pens, and that all they wrote\nwas divinely inspired.\" Such, my children, was my conclusion after\nthis examination of the morality laid down in the Gospel.\n\nThus I recognised the divine origin of the New Testament, and took my\nfirst step toward Christianity.\n\nWhen I had once acknowledged the divine origin of the _morality_ of\nthe Gospel, reason and personal experience combined to convince me\nof the truth and divine source of the _doctrines_ on which it was\nfounded.\n\n\"If God inspired the apostles, and enabled them to give to the world\nthe purest and most perfect system of morality that can be conceived,\nis it to be supposed that in the remainder of their writings he would\nleave them to themselves, and permit error or imposture to be mixed\nand confounded with truth?\" No: from the same source cannot proceed\nsweet waters and bitter. As the moral precepts of the Gospel are\ndivinely inspired, so, likewise, _must_ be its doctrines. This\nreasoning appeared to me incontrovertible, and I received with full\nconviction the whole contents of the New Testament, as dictated by the\nSpirit of truth.\n\nFrom that time Jesus Christ, his history, his divine character, his\nmiracles, the end for which he came into the world, his sufferings and\ndeath, attracted and absorbed my whole attention. At the account of\nhis passion, which, till then, I had read with indifference, my heart\nwas melted, and my eyes overflowed with tears. In short, I found\nand felt such a suitableness between the wants of my sinful soul,\ndestitute as it was of all peace and comfort, and the work which the\nSaviour had accomplished by his death on the cross, that I no longer\ndoubted that the promises of the Gospel were personally addressed to\nme. I believed that Jesus Christ had offered himself a sacrifice for\nme, to expiate my sins, and to reconcile me unto God; and from that\nmoment I have enjoyed an inward peace, the source of which I believe\nto be faith in Christ alone--a peace which the world can neither give\nnor take away, and which, as I myself have frequently experienced, is\nalone able to support and strengthen us through all the sufferings and\nafflictions of life.\n\nIn this manner you see how, a sinner and prodigal as I was, our\nheavenly Father met me, and received me to the arms of his mercy; how\nhe made known to me his free grace and heavenly gift, of which I was\nutterly unworthy. It is his grace that has accomplished all in me. He\nit was who began, who carried on, and who, I trust, will perfect this\nwork of salvation.\n\nWithout his intervention, that is to say, without the aid of his\nSpirit operating upon my heart, it never could have experienced a\n_real_ conversion. To him also do I ascribe, with gratitude, my\nadmission into the protestant church, of which I have now the\nprivilege of being a member--as I shall proceed to tell you.\n\nHaving found, as I have already said, peace and joy in that word of\nGod which I had received with my whole heart, I immediately felt the\ndesire and the need of intercourse with gospel Christians; I was\nconvinced that such there were, because the Saviour had promised \"that\nthe powers of hell should never prevail against his church.\" But not\nfinding them in the Roman Catholic church, which presented to me\nnothing but a religion of tradition, equally degenerate in doctrine\nand worship, I was greatly at a loss where to find the real Christians\nfor whom I was in search.\n\nFor the first time in my life the thought occurred, Is it possible\nthey may be among the protestants? But instantly I repelled an\nidea which early prejudice had rendered revolting to me. In places\ninhabited exclusively by Roman Catholics, where the doctrines and\nworship of the protestant Christians are little known, the term\nprotestant is regarded by most as synonymous with heretic, blasphemer,\nand reprobate. The people generally are imbued with these prejudices,\nwhich are diligently kept up and disseminated by some among them, and\nI myself was at that time too much under their influence to admit, at\nonce, that the protestants could be the true Christians for whom I was\nseeking.\n\nSoon, however, the thought returned; and as I reflected on that\ndeclaration of St. Paul, \"All that will live godly in Christ Jesus\nshall suffer persecution,\" 2 Tim. 3:12, possibly, said I, these\nprotestants may be calumniated on the very ground of their religion\nbeing more in accordance with the Gospel. Many other passages of\nScripture presented themselves to my mind, which led me to believe\nthat this supposition might be correct. I therefore determined to lose\nno opportunity of clearing my doubts upon this point.\n\nAs there were no protestants either in our town or neighbourhood, whom\nI could consult, I determined to write to the only one I knew; and\nthough but little acquainted with her, I ventured to request that I\nmight be apprised of, her pastor's next visit, signifying that I was\nanxious to consult him on a subject of importance. Either she did not\nunderstand my letter, or from some other motive, her answer, though\nobliging was not satisfactory on that point which most interested me.\n\nI waited patiently for some time, and applied myself diligently to\nreading and meditating on the word of God, which had become like\nnecessary food to my soul. In all my prayers I entreated the Lord that\nhe would condescend to direct me to those true Christians of whom his\nchurch was composed, and permit me to become one of their number. I\nfelt a confidence, from all that I had experienced, that my divine\nBenefactor would grant my request whenever he saw it good for me; this\nconfidence quieted me, but could not remove my desire to ascertain\nwhat the protestant religion really was.\n\nOne day, particularly, this anxiety became stronger than ever, and\ndegenerated, I acknowledge, into real impatience. I was unhappy at\nmy lonely and isolated situation, without a friend to whom I could\ncommunicate my dearest interests; I believe I could have gone a\nhundred miles to have found any one who thought and felt as I did. It\nwas at this moment of perplexity and weariness, on my return home, at\nthe close of a day's work, that the thought struck me of consulting my\nwife, your present mother, and I had a presentiment that through her I\nshould discover what I so long wished to know. She is, as you know, a\nnative of Libos, and I remembered having heard her say that there were\nprotestants residing in that town and neighbourhood.\n\nWhen the supper was ended, and we were seated by the fire, each in our\nchimney-corner, she took her work, and I began the conversation nearly\nin the following words:\n\n\"Annette,\" said I, \"have I not heard you say that there are many\nprotestants in Libos and the neighbourhood?\"\n\n\"Yes, Bayssi\u00e8re,\" she replied, \"there are a great many, but they are\na good deal scattered about the country. They belong to the church of\nMont Flanquin, where their priest or minister resides.\"\n\n\"And do you know any of them? Have you ever spoken to them, or been at\ntheir houses?\"\n\n\"O yes, I was acquainted with many families; I knew Mr. ----, and\nMr. ----, &c. &c. (I suppress names.) I have been employed in their\nhouses, and seen them frequently.\"\n\n\"Well, then, can you tell me what sort of people they are, and what\ntheir characters and habits?\"\n\n\"O yes, I can assure you that they are the best set of people in the\nworld. They are esteemed, loved, and respected by every one: I never\nheard any thing but good of those I knew, and they always appeared\nto me to conduct themselves irreproachably.\"\n\n[Illustration: PETER BAYSSIERE]\n\nI continued to question your mother on the manner in which the\nprotestants brought up their children; how they treated their\nservants, strangers, and the poor. I asked if domestic harmony\nprevailed among them, and how they conducted themselves as parents and\nchildren, brothers and sisters.\n\nAll her answers tended to convince me that pious protestants lived\nunder the influence of the word of God; and at each disclosure she\nmade, (though unconscious of the value I attached to it,) I said to\nmyself, \"_This is_ the morality of the Gospel.\"\n\nSatisfied on this point, I turned to another:\n\n\"How do the protestants spend their Sabbaths and festivals,\" I asked,\n\"separated as they are from each other and their church? Do they ever\nassemble for prayer, or do they live without worship?\"\n\n\"O, no! they don't live without worship; they have their divine\nservices; they are at too great a distance from their minister and\neach other to meet every Sunday, but they have a church in the country\nwhere they assemble many times in a year, I believe once a month; and\nat other times they meet for prayer at their own houses.\" \"Oh! then\nthey have a church near Libos? I should very much like to know,\" said\nI, \"how they conduct their worship, and what they do at their church?\"\n\n\"I can tell you perfectly,\" replied your mother, \"for I was present at\none of their assemblies. There is nothing grand or striking in their\nchurches; they contain neither altar, chapel, images, nor any ornament\nwhatever, but consist simply of four whitewashed walls. At the lower\nend is a pulpit, like that used by our priest, in front of which is a\ntable, and around it are seats occupied by the elders. The rest of\nthe church is fitted up with benches, placed in order, on which the\ncongregation seat themselves as they enter.\n\n\"I observed that most of them, before they sat down, leaned upon the\nback of the seat before them, and seemed to be in the act of prayer.\nTheir service was as simple as the building, devoid of ceremony. When\nthe congregation had assembled, one of the elders ascended the pulpit\nand prayed aloud in French; then he gave notice that he was about to\nread the word of God; and having requested their attention, he did\nread, for some time, from a great book, which they told me was the\nHoly Bible. He then offered prayers, and preached a sermon, which gave\nme great pleasure at the time, but which I now forget. I well remember\nthat throughout the service there was no noise nor disturbance of any\nkind in the church, and one feeling seemed to pervade the whole: this\nstruck me forcibly.\"\n\nIn this description of the protestant worship, imperfect as it was,\nI thought I could recognise those traits of simplicity that\ncharacterized the worship of the primitive christians: and when your\nmother had finished, I said to myself, \"This is indeed like the\nworship recorded in the Acts of the Apostles.\" But I added, without\nallowing her to perceive the extreme satisfaction that this\ninformation afforded me, \"Is this all you know of the protestant\nworship? Did you never see them receive the sacrament?\"\n\n\"Yes, I have,\" she replied, \"on that same day, which was the only time\nI ever entered their church.\"\n\n\"Do tell me, then, how was it conducted?\"\n\n\"I told you, if you remember, that there was a table in front of the\npulpit: this table was their altar; it was covered with a very white\ncloth: in the middle of it were a plate of bread and two chalices of\nwine. When the minister had finished preaching, he took a book, and\nread from it some beautiful passages on the communion, sufferings, and\ndeath of Christ; he also spoke of the duty of communicants; then\nevery one stood up while he prayed: after which he descended from the\npulpit, and came in front of the holy table; he here repeated aloud\nsome words which I have forgotten, and took a small piece of bread and\nate it; this done, he took the two cups in his hands, and again saying\nsomething that I did not hear, he drank some of the wine. The elders\nthen approached the table, and each received a piece of bread, which\nthey ate, and drank a little of the wine from the cup which was\npresented to them. The rest of the congregation did the same, the\nwomen after the men; and when all had communicated, the minister\nre-ascended the pulpit, gave another exhortation, offered a concluding\nprayer, and closed the whole by urging upon them the care of the\npoor.\"\n\n\"This,\" thought I, \"is indeed the supper of the Lord!\"\n\nThe conformity that I had already observed between the practices of\nthe protestants and those of the primitive christians, created in me a\nfeeling of joy which I had never before experienced. I desired, with\nrenewed ardour, to search to the bottom of their doctrines, and\nfrom that time I anticipated that I might myself become a decided\nProtestant. This expectation, my children, soon increased into a\ncertainty.\n\nOn the tenth of February last, two pamphlets fell into my hands; one\nwas published by a Roman Catholic priest, and contained an attack on\nthe protestant religion: the other was an answer, in defence of that\nreligion, written by a protestant minister: these were the first words\nof religious controversy I had ever read, and eagerly did I devour\nthese two little works. That of the first (which had been written on\nthe occasion of a respectable family having recently embraced the\nProtestant faith) contained nothing that was solid, or that I could\nnot have refuted in the very words of Christ and his Apostles;\ntherefore I did not dwell upon it. But the second, under the title\nof _A Letter to Malanie_, was the very thing I wanted, and was so\nanxiously desiring to find--an exposition of the protestant creed, or\nat least of its most essential points. It taught me that the Gospel\nwas their only rule of faith, worship, and conduct: that they admitted\nall that they found established by the Holy Scriptures, but rejected\nevery thing else, and especially prohibited the invocation of saints,\nthe worship of images, of relics, and of the holy Virgin. It taught\nme that they worshipped God alone, through Jesus Christ his Son;\nthat their only hope of salvation was in his mercy, revealed in the\nsacrifice of the cross of Christ; that they recognised no other\nMediator, no other Advocate, and no other Intercessor with God, than\nhim who gave himself as such, and who alone has the right of saying to\nsinners, \"Come unto me and I will give you rest.\" It taught me that\nthey believed no more than myself in purgatory, in the supremacy of\nthe pope, or in the real presence, &c. In short, it taught me that\nthe protestants received and professed no other than primitive\nChristianity.\n\nIt would be impossible for me to tell you how rejoiced I was to find\nmy most intimate feelings expressed by a minister of a religion\nfounded on the Gospel. From this, and from all that your mother had\ntold me, I clearly saw that the Protestants were unjustly accused and\nmisrepresented by the wicked or the ignorant, and that they were in\ntruth those christians, according to the word of God, to whom the\npromises of the Gospel are made. From that time I acknowledged them\nas my true brethren in Christ Jesus, and my chief desire was to be\nadmitted into their communion.\n\nI clearly foresaw, my children, that by making an open avowal of my\nreligious principles, and by publicly declaring myself a Protestant, I\nshould raise many violent passions against myself, and expose myself\nto a thousand trials; but the truth was dearer to me than life, and\nconscience spoke louder than the fear of man. I resolved, therefore,\nwithout hesitation, to confess my Saviour before men, let the result\nbe what it might, and I immediately wrote to Mr. ----, the pastor\nat N\u00e9rac, and the author of the letter I had read, requesting the\nassistance of his experience and kind advice. In short, after I had\nbeen eleven months in correspondence with this excellent minister of\nthe Lord; after I had visited him, in order to acquaint him more\nfully with the state of my mind, and to enjoy the privilege of his\ninstruction; after I had frequently attended the performance of\nProtestant worship and their different religious ordinances; after I\nhad carefully compared these, as well as their doctrines, with the\nonly standard of truth, the word of God, and was fully convinced of\ntheir perfect accordance, I no longer saw a motive for delay, but\nrequested admission, and was received as a member of the Protestant\nchurch.\n\nOn the twenty-third of the December following, I went to N\u00e9rac, and on\nChristmas day, in the presence of the whole congregation, having, as I\ntrust, first given my heart unto the Lord, I became publicly united to\nhis saints, and received the sacred _symbols_ of the body and blood of\nmy Saviour at the Lord's Supper, and pledged myself to remain faithful\nto him till death. I trust that he will vouchsafe to me his assistance\nfor the fulfilment of this promise, and manifest his strength in my\nweakness.\n\nThus it was, my beloved children, that I became a member of\nthe Reformed Church of Christ. I have now explained to you the\ncircumstances and motives that have led me to its sanctuary. In the\npresence of God I attest the truth of all I have now written. The\nranks of the true church are not recruited by means of bribery,\ndeceit, fraud, false miracles, or compulsion; all means are rejected\nbut _instruction, reason_, and persuasion. This church has been\nformed, and still exists, notwithstanding the blows that have been\nlevelled at it; and it will for ever continue, in spite of all the\nrage of hell; sustained by the simple exhibition of that Gospel which\nis its only guide and support.\n\nMay it please that God whom I supplicate for the salvation of all men,\nand more especially for the conversion and prosperity of my enemies,\nto give his grace to you, my children, that you may be found among the\nnumber of those who shall be saved. Happy should I be, not only to be\nyour natural father, but also your spiritual father! Happy, indeed,\nshould I be, if at that great day, when we shall appear before God\nto receive the sentence of our eternal destiny, I might be able to\npresent myself and you, without fear, and say, \"Here, Lord, am I, and\nthe children thou hast given me.\"\n\nP. BAYSSIERE.\n\n_Montaigut, Dec_. 31, 1826.\n\n\n\n\nTHE HISTORY\n\nOF A\n\nBIBLE.\n\n\n\n\nHISTORY OF A BIBLE.\n\n\nAfter remaining a close prisoner for some months in a bookseller's\nshop, I was liberated, and taken to the country to be a companion to a\nyoung gentleman who had lately become major. The moment I entered the\nparlour where he sat, he rose up and took me in his hands, expressing\nhis surprise at the elegance of my dress, which was scarlet,\nembroidered with gold. The whole family seemed greatly pleased with my\nappearance; but they would not permit me to say one word. After their\ncuriosity was satisfied they desired me to sit down upon a chair in\nthe corner of the room. In the evening I was taken up stairs, and\nconfined in the family prison, called by them the library. Several\nthousand prisoners were under the same sentence, standing in rows\naround the room; they had their names written upon their foreheads,\nbut none of them were allowed to speak.\n\nWe all remained in this silent, inactive posture for some years. Now\nand then a stranger was admitted to see us: these generally wondered\nat our number, beauty, and the order in which we stood; but our young\njailor would never allow a person to touch us, or take us from our\ncell.\n\nA gentleman came in one morning and spoke in high commendation of some\nArabians and Turks who stood at my right side; he said they\nwould afford fine entertainment on a winter evening. Upon this\nrecommendation they were all discharged from prison, and taken down\nstairs. After they had finished their fund of stories, and had not\na word more to say, they were remanded back to prison, and one, who\ncalled himself Don Quixotte, was set at liberty. This man, being\nextremely witty, afforded fine sport for William, (for that was our\nproprietor's name.) Indeed, for more than a fortnight he kept the\nwhole house in what is called good humour. After Quixotte had\nconcluded his harangues, William chose a \"Man of Feeling\" for his\ncompanion, who wrought upon his passions in a way which pleased him\nvastly. William now began to put a higher value upon his prisoners,\nand to use them much more politely. Almost daily he held a little\nchit-chat with one prisoner or another. Mr. Hume related to him the\nhistory of England down to the Revolution, which he interspersed with\na number of anecdotes about Germany, France, Italy, and various other\nkingdoms. Dr. Robertson then described the state of South America when\nfirst discovered, and related the horrid barbarities committed by the\nSpaniards when they stole it from the natives. William wept when he heard\nof their savage treatment of Montezuma. Rollin next spoke; he related to\nhim the rise and fall of ancient empires; he told him that God was supreme\ngovernor among the nations; that he raises up one to great power and\nsplendour, and putteth down another. He told him, what he did not know\nbefore, that God had often revealed to some men events which were to\nhappen hundreds of years afterwards, and directed him to converse with me,\nand I could fully inform him on that subject. William resolved to\nconverse with me at a future period, but having heard some of his\nrelations speak rather disrespectfully of me, he was in no hurry.\nAt length my prison door was unlocked, and I was conducted to his\nbed-room.\n\n[Illustration: HISTORY OF A BIBLE.]\n\nMy first salutation struck William. In the beginning, said I, God made\nthe heavens and the earth; and then proceeded to make man, whom he\nplaced in a garden, with permission to eat of every tree that was in\nit, except one. I then related the history of Adam, the first man:\nhow he was urged and prevailed upon by the devil not to mind God's\nprohibition, but to eat of the forbidden tree; and how by this\nabominable act he had plunged himself and posterity into misery.\nWilliam not relishing this conversation, closed my mouth, desiring me\nto say no more at that time.\n\nA few days afterwards he allowed me to talk of the wickedness of\nthe old world: how God sent Noah to reprove their iniquity, and to\nthreaten the destruction of the whole world, if they did not repent\nand turn to the Lord; that the world were deaf to his remonstrances;\nand that God at last desired Noah to build an ark of wood, such as\nwould contain himself and family; for he was soon to destroy the\ninhabitants of the earth by a deluge of water. This conversation was\nrather more relished than the former.\n\nThe next opportunity, I gave him a history of the ancient patriarchs,\nshowing the simplicity, integrity, and holiness of their lives,\nextolling their faith in God, and promptness in obeying all his\ncommandments. William became much more thoughtful than I had seen him\nupon any former occasion. What I told him he generally related to his\nfriends at table. Their conversation was now more manly and rational;\nformerly they conversed only about horses, hounds, dress, &c. now\nabout the history of the world, its creation, the remarkable men\nwho had lived in it, the different changes which had taken place in\nempires, kingdoms, &c.\n\nHe was wonderfully taken with the account I gave of that nation whom\nGod had chosen for his own people, viz. the Jews. I told him how\nwonderfully God had delivered them from captivity in Egypt; how he\ndrowned in the Red Sea an army of Egyptians, with their king at their\nhead, who were pursuing the Jews. But when I told him of the holy law\nof God, and expatiated a little upon it, he shrugged up his shoulders\nand said it was too strict for him. Well, William, said I, cursed is\nevery one who continueth not in _all things_ written or commanded in\nthat law. He pushed me aside, ran down stairs, and soon became sick\nand feverish. His mother begged of him to tell her of his sudden\ndistress. He said I had alarmed him exceedingly; that he found himself\na great sinner, and saw no mercy for him in the world to come. His\nmother came running up stairs, and in the heat of passion locked me\ninto my old cell, where I remained in close confinement for some days.\nBut William could not dispense with my company; accordingly I was sent\nfor. I found him very pale and pensive; however, I faithfully told\nhim, that the imaginations of the thoughts of the heart are only evil,\nand that continually. He said he lately began to feel that; he had\ntried to make it better, but could not. Upon this a stranger entered\nthe room, and I was hid at the back of a sofa, because the family were\nquite ashamed that I should be seen talking with William. The stranger\nremarked that he had seen him talking with me, assured him that I\nwould do him much more harm than good: that I had occasioned great\nconfusion in the world, by driving many people mad. On this, they all\njoined in scandalizing my character, and I was again confined to my\nold cell.\n\nBut when my God enables me to fix an arrow in any sinner's heart, the\nwhole universe cannot draw it out. William was always uneasy when I\nwas not with him; consequently he paid me many a stolen visit. I told\nhim one day not to trust in riches, for they often took to themselves\nwings, and flew from one man to another, as God directed them. Job\nonce possessed houses, lands, sheep, a flourishing family, all of\nwhich were taken from him in a few hours; but God never forsook him.\n\nWilliam's friends got him persuaded to take a tour for a few weeks, to\nremove the gloom which hung upon his mind. He did so; but he returned\nmore dejected than ever. The moment he arrived I was sent for to talk\nwith him. I directed him to behold the Lamb of God who taketh away the\nsins of the world: I said there was no other name given under heaven\namong men, but the name of Jesus, by which they could be saved; that\nGod so loved the world as to send his Son into it, to save it by his\ndeath. I then went over the whole history of the Saviour, from\nhis birth at Bethlehem to his death on Calvary; describing his\nresurrection, and pointing out the evidence of it; then led his\nattention to Bethany, describing the marvellous circumstances\nattending his ascension to his Father; and testified to him the\nwonderful effects which followed in the immense increase of\nconversions to the faith. I then enlarged upon Christ's commission\nto his apostles, commanding them to publish to every creature under\nheaven the glad news that Christ had died for the _ungodly_; had\nfinished redemption, and ascended up on high to receive gifts for men,\nand to bestow them on all who believed God's testimony concerning him.\n\nGod opened the mind of William to perceive the importance and truth of\nthese things. He began to hope in God, through the offering of his Son\na sacrifice for sin. I advised him now to follow holiness, without\nwhich no man shall see the Lord in heaven, or can continue to see\nhis glory on earth; to have no fellowship with wicked men; to be a\nfaithful steward of whatever God had given him. I told him how Christ\nrewarded those who overcame all their enemies through faith in his\nblood, and by believing the word of his testimony. This conversation\nmade him very happy, and he left me, rejoicing in the Lord.\n\nSometime after, he came with a sorrowful heart, complaining that he\ndid not feel the Lord's presence; that God had forsaken him. I assured\nhim that was impossible; for God expressly says he will _never_ leave\nnor forsake his people; and that he changes not in his love to them. I\nwarned him to be cautious how he spoke against God, for such language\nis calling God a liar. I told him likewise, that the church had once\npreferred a similar complaint against her God; upon which Jehovah\nprotested that it was possible for a mother to forsake her infant\nchild, but impossible for him ever to leave or to forsake his people;\nfor he had pledged his _word_ to the contrary. Wherefore I warned\nhim to be no more faithless, but believing; and by doing so he would\nglorify God greatly before men: it would tend to make men think more\nfavourably of God, and probably lead some to seek an interest in his\nfavor, who otherwise would not. Upon this he cried out with tears,\nLord, I believe, help thou my unbelief. I change in my love, but thou\nchangest not. William left me, determined to rejoice evermore, and to\npray without ceasing.\n\nAt first his friends thought religion had made him less happy than he\nwas before; now they declared they had never seen him in such good\nspirits, and so truly happy. They began to wish they were like him.\nWilliam longed for the coming of the Lord, while they trembled at the\nvery thought of it: they rather wished he might never come. This was a\ngreat advantage he had over them by the grace and tender mercy of\nthe Lord. He exhorted them to come to the same Saviour, and he would\nreceive them also with open arms.\n\nWilliam was afterwards brought into great affliction. I told him God\nsent it to him for good, to make him more holy, humble, dead to sin\nand the world, and more fit for heaven. He believed me, and praised\nGod for his attention to him, to send this messenger of affliction to\ndo him good. A person who came in, expressed sorrow at seeing him so\npained. William replied, don't sorrow for me; rejoice rather, because\nGod has said that our light afflictions, which are but for a moment,\nwork out for us a far more exceeding and an eternal weight of glory. I\nam willing to be sick, or to die, or to recover, just as God pleases;\nwhatever pleases him pleases me.\n\nI was never from him during his sickness; he praised God daily that he\nhad ever seen me. He was happy only when he talked with me or about\nme. He recommended me to all who came near him, declaring that my\nwords created a heaven in his soul. He found me to be the mouth of God\nto him.\n\nWilliam was completely recovered from his indisposition, by which his\nknowledge of God, and experience of his faithfulness and love, was\nmuch increased. I continued his bosom companion for many years. He\ntalked in the fear of God, and in the comforts of his Holy Spirit,\ntill at length he entered, with triumph, into the eternal joy of his\nLord.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAfter conducting William to the gates of the New Jerusalem, I was sent\nfor to reside with a young man in the middling ranks of life, who had\nreceived a liberal and religious education from his parents, lately\nremoved from this poor world. The effects of their example and counsel\nwere evident in all his conduct. He lived what men call a _good\nmoral life_, his deportment was very agreeable, and his sobriety was\ncommended by many. He regularly conversed with me twice every day, and\nprayed in his closet morning and evening. On Sabbath I talked to him\nfrom dinner to tea, and from tea to supper.\n\nAn old uncle of his perpetually exhorted him to go abroad to amass a\nfortune. He did not at first relish the advice. One day he consulted\nme. I bluntly told him to be content with such things as he had; not\nto hasten to be rich, for he would thereby pierce himself with many\nsorrows: that numbers were ruined through the deceitfulness of riches.\nLabour not for the meat that perisheth, said I, but for that which\nendureth to everlasting life. After this conversation, he reasoned\nwith his uncle against leaving his country and friends merely to make\nmoney in a foreign land: he declared that the object was a pitiful one\nto an immortal creature, who must soon bid an eternal adieu to the\naffairs of time. However, after standing his ground for some months,\nhe consented to go a voyage to the West Indies.\n\nHe set sail from Liverpool, and took me along with him. As there were\nseveral passengers in the ship, all of whom were profane sinners, he\nwas ashamed to let me be seen; of course I was hid in a corner of the\nstate-room, completely masked. On the first Sabbath morning, he took\na single peep at me before the other passengers awoke. I hastily told\nhim to remember the Sabbath to keep it holy; that God was every where\npresent to witness the works of men. He resolved to abide by my\nadvice, and to keep at as great a distance from those on board as he\nwell could. They asked him to take a hand at cards, but he refused.\nPho! said they, we have got one of your superstitious Christians along\nwith us; we shall have nice sport with him. They teased him with his\nreligion the whole day, and poor George could not well bear it. One\nbold sinner asserted, that before they reached their destination, they\nwould have all his enthusiasm hammered out of him.\n\nGeorge having none to encourage or countenance him, and not possessing\nfirmness sufficient for confessing me before men, resolved to dispense\nwith his religion during the voyage, and to comply with their\nabandoned customs, while he continued in the ship. Thus he fell before\ntemptation.\n\nOne day in the midst of his merriment, he recollected an advice which\nI had solemnly given him. It was this: When sinners entice thee,\nconsent thou not. Immediately he rushed out of the cabin, threw\nhimself on his bed, and wept bitterly. He cried out, (but not so loud\nas to be heard,) I have ruined my soul, O what would my worthy mother\nhave said, had she witnessed my conduct for days past. On his return\nto the cabin, the sadness of his countenance was observed by the\ncompany; they laughed heartily and assured him that his reluctance to\njoin them in what they termed sociality, arose from the prejudices of\neducation: that he must endeavour to banish all his fears of futurity,\nand mind present enjoyment. These and similar observations gradually\nunhinged the principles of young George, and before reaching their\ndestined port, his checks of conscience were almost gone. What a\ndreadful state, when man's conscience ceases to be his reprover! Men\nare often glad when they obtain this deliverance, but the infatuation\nis as shocking to a pious mind as to see a man in flames rejoicing in\nthe heat which will infallibly consume him. After the arrival of\nthe ship, we all went ashore; and George was soon fixed in a very\nadvantageous situation for money making. When the first Sabbath\narrived, he protested against transacting business on that day,\ndeclaring that he had never been accustomed to any thing of that kind.\nThey advised him to labour hard seven days in the week, that he might\nreturn sooner to the country from whence he came; and at length\nprevailed on him to conform to their infidel practices. I told him\nthat for all these things God would bring him into judgment; that he\nwas like the rest of the wicked, who waxed worse and worse; that\nhe did not love Jesus Christ, else he would keep his commandments,\nnotwithstanding all the raillery and reproach to which he was exposed.\nI warned him that whoever was ashamed to confess Christ before men,\nof him would he be ashamed in the presence of his Father and the holy\nangels.\n\nIn a few months he became as wicked and abandoned as any on the\nisland. He made a present of me to a poor native, who could read a\nlittle English. I frequently conversed with him, but he could\nnot understand what I said. He often desired me to speak to his\ncompanions. A few were greatly affected with what I said. They often\ncalled upon me. Sometimes they pleasantly said my words made them very\nhappy, they desired to go to that happy world which I commended so\nhighly. They fervently prayed to Jesus to take them to it. An old\nslave creeped in one day, inquiring if Jesus could do any thing for\nvery bad people. I replied, It is a faithful saying, that Christ Jesus\ncame into the world to save sinners, even the chief. He is able to\nsave unto the very uttermost all who come unto God through him. The\nblack man, bathed in tears, exclaimed, Good book! tell me good news!\nLike the Ethiopian eunuch, he went away rejoicing.\n\nAfter some years I was sent for in great haste to visit my old\nproprietor George, who by his intemperance was brought to the gates\nof death. In his affliction he remembered me. I told him fools make a\nmock at sin, but sin finds them out. God had been long angry with him\nevery day. He confessed he had been a great sinner. He said that bad\ncompany had been his ruin: that by following their example he had\ndestroyed a fine constitution; that in his distress his bottle\ncompanions had all forsaken him; they could not bear the thought of\ndeath. Had I my days to begin again, said he, I would flee from a\nswearer or a drunkard, as I would from the plague. He prayed fervently\nthat God would forgive his iniquity for the sake of his Son Jesus\nChrist. His fever increased, and in a few days he went the way of all\nthe earth.\n\nAfter this I became the inmate of a respectable family which had\nlong been on the island. The master and mistress were professors of\nreligion, but during their residence in the island they had neglected\nmany of its most important duties.\n\nAt length one of their children became ill and died. They came to me\nfor consolation. I gave them to understand, that it was because they\nhad gone astray that they were afflicted, and that their affliction\nwas designed to call them back to duty. They were at length persuaded\nof their error, and praised God that he had loved them so much as to\nchastise them. They now strove to serve God with all their hearts.\nThey listened to me when I told them that they should instruct their\nchildren in religion on every proper occasion, both when they sat in\nthe house and when they walked by the way. The youth of that family\nbecame at length distinguished throughout the island for every\nvirtuous and amiable quality.\n\nBut what did more to make religion respected in that house, was the\npractice of family prayer. I was brought out night and morning, and\npermitted to speak before all the family, which was seated around the\nroom in a respectful and attentive attitude. I seldom spoke with more\neffect than on these occasions. I addressed every member of the family\nin their turn. I commanded the parents to treat their children with\nmildness, and the children to obey their parents. I told the little\nones that Christ took little children in his arms and blessed them;\nand bade the servants do their duty to their master, and the master to\nbe kind to his servants. And when my instructions were finished, all\nin the house united in singing a hymn to God; and I believe they\nsometimes made melody in their hearts. When they had sung, my master\nwould kneel and offer up a humble prayer to God. These exercises\ncaused harmony to prevail throughout a numerous family. I observed\nalso that although the inhabitants of the island did not relish my\nmaster's piety, yet he every day obtained more and more of their\nrespect, as his piety increased.\n\nI have lived many years, and have seen all those children grown up (I\nbelieve through my instructions) in the fear of the Lord. I was by the\nbed-side of their parents when the messenger Death came to call them\naway. I spoke to them of the joys of heaven, and of its inhabitants,\nwho sing praise to the Lamb, and cease not day nor night. They cried,\n\"Lord Jesus, come quickly,\" and ascended to glory.\n\nI have always been a faithful friend to all who have sought\nacquaintance with me. I will be faithful to thee, reader! I will show\nthee the only path that leads through this world to heaven. Follow my\ninstructions, and you will arrive there in safety.\n\n\n\nEND","title":"The Village in the Mountains; Conversion of Peter Bayssi\u00e8re; and History of a Bible","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":23371}