has conferred upon me; yet, I have always had a

zeal for his glory, and for his truth. These are the holy seeds which he has the goodness to preserve in my heart, which in this time of desolation, begin to produce in me excellent truths, the sweetness of which affords me a pleasure, I am not able to utter and express. It is this happy condition in which I now am, which assures me that God will finish the work which HE hath begun in me. I believe, I may say, with his faithful apostles, I am confident, that neither angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate me from the love which God has shewn me, in his Son Jesus Christ."

"I can truly and sincerely say, Sir, that the prisons, and dark dungeons, in which I have been confined, for above these six months, and the chain which I now carry about my neck, have been so far from shaking the holy resolution which God hath put into my heart, that these things have only strengthened and confirmed it. I have sought God in quite a different method in my afflictions, than ever I did in a state of prosperity; and, I may say, that he has suffered himself to be found by me. He hath very delightfully communicated himself to me, by the sweetness of his consolations. In the midst of the transitory afflictions, which it is his will that I should suffer, he has made me to taste of solid good things. The evils with which I am threatened, do not at all terrify me. If they are violent,

N 2

violent, I am not in a condition to bear up long against them; and so a christian death will put a happy period to my afflictions; if they are moderate, I shall have reason to bless our God for it, who shall continue his favor and goodness towards me. These considerations, make me look upon the time to come with the eye of constancy and

assurance."

Hitherto, we have seen nothing but chicane on the side of the adversaries of Mr. Marolles, and, under all his sufferings, on his side, we have seen nothing but a disposition to trample the world under his feet, and not to allow his enemy time to recover new strength. In him, on all occasions, we shall still discover, that grace which bringeth salvation, and that made him more than a conqueror, in all his subsequent conflicts.

One of his friends informed him, that Mr. Morel, a rich farmer of the king's revenues, had promised to procure his deliverance from the chain the next day, if he would take even an unlimited time to apply himself in good earnest to get instruction. Other persons renewed the attack in

vain. reciting.

His own account of these assaults, is worth

"At La Tournelle, 'the seventeenth of July 1686, ten or twelve days before our departure, an advocate of the court of parliament came to see me, accompanied with a lady unknown to me; and with Madam Lamblieu,

Lamblieu, who had done me the honour of a visit in the prison at Châlons. She was the wife of a treasurer of France; and testified, by her tears, that she was sensibly touched with my condition, and that she wished with all her heart, that she could procure my deliverance. The discourse fell upon the proposal which had been made me some days before, namely, to go to the bishop of Meaux to be instructed. The advocate began to speak upon this point, and employed all his rhetoric, to prove that I ought to accept of that offer; and said, he did not believe, I could advance any sufficient reason to the contrary. I replied, that I thought myself very much obliged to do as I did, for the following reasons: I said, that in the conferences that I had with the Jesuits at Strasbourg, they had not given me any satisfaction to my objections; that the same answer, or an answer much to the same purpose, had been given me at Châlons, and that I had read the same things in the works of the famous Arnaud; adding, that since those things had not satisfied me in that author, they could not afford me more satisfaction elsewhere. I also observed, that I was very strongly persuaded of the truth of my faith, about which, I had no manner of doubt, and that I feared it was tempting God, to accept the offer which they had made me; that, on the other hand, the space of eight months, in which I had been confined, had, enured me to sufferings; that by such means, God had discovered to me the vanity of this life, and of all that is here

below;

below; that thereby, he had broken asunder most of the bands and ligaments, which had engaged me to the world, and had put into my heart a great disrelish for the earth, and an ardent desire after heaven. I said, that I esteemed this state sufficiently happy to think seriously how to preserve it. I added, that all the civilities which I was persuaded I should receive from so famous and noble a prelate, and the considerable alteration that his civilites would make in my condition, might lead me, in a few days, to forget all my miseries, and would root in my heart the love of the world, and the pleasures of life, more strongly, perhaps, than ever; and plunge me again into misery, without any certainty of receiving so much favor and assistance from God, as I have already received. I told him, for those reasons I had resolved to follow my vocation, and to end my days in suffering, if it was the will of God. That as to the rest, I did, with very great acknowledgments, and thankfulness, receive the tokens which he gave me of his charity and affection."

This is reasoning from revelation to revelation, and not reasoning, as many do, without revelation, or against it. The conduct of Mr. Marolles accorded with his sentiments. He informs us,

that the advocate came several times to see him, always supporting what he advanced with the strongest arguments he could produce. "The last time he saw me, (says Mr. Marolles,) which was Monday, the fifteenth of July, 1686, he told

Mr.

Mr. Le Roi, our head keeper, that he came by orders of the procurator general. The next day, the procurator general, himself, honored me with a visit, and told me, he came to try again, if before our departure for Marseilles, there were yet any room left to rescue me from the chain ; and asked me, if I found in myself no alteration. When I had returned him the thanks due to his civility, I told him, that all my misfortune had wrought no change in the disposition of my heart, no more than on my mind. He then departed.

We have given an idea of the piety and conflict of this good man; but we must lay him open on all sides, and view him in all the different occurrences and concerns of life. In the first place, his God possessed and wholly filled him, after which, the cares of his family, succeeded in their order. On his coming to la Tournelle, he acquainted his wife of his situation, with that freedom of spirit, which he generally manifested. To her, the fourteenth of May, 1686, he wrote thus: "I informed you, my dear child, that my judgment was confirmed this morning, by a sentence of the court, and that I am at present, at la Tournelle, with Mr. Le Fevre, which is no small comfort to me. Although I have a great desire to see you, yet the season is so hot, that I advise you to stay till to morrow morning; but send to me immediately de Marolles and his brother, that I may have the satisfaction to see them, and to receive a true and exact account of your state and condition. I

meet