I had scarcely descended from the coach, upon my arrival at that delightfully picturesque town, before I beheld my former companion, who, with a countenance beaming with exultation, simultaneously saluted me, and pressed into my hand that of a most respectable and venerable looking sire; he was her uncle, of whom she had spoken on her journey from Rouen-an old man of a more engaging appearance can scarcely be conceived; he walked, it is true, with a long cane for a staff, but spare and tall in his person, his mien was graceful and erect; whilst the white locks which ornamented his temples, appeared in beautiful keeping with his character as the Abbé of St Lo.

An invitation was immediately made to pass straightway to their house and there remain during my stay in St Lo. From this there was not the possibility of making a successful appeal. The half of a sentence begging declension from their kind offer, was not allowed to be lisped, ere it was overruled by that persuasive eloquence of voice and ges.. ture which baffles the power of refusal.

We had not proceeded many steps, before, in language overflowing with gratitude and Christian feeling, the Abbé uttered his thanks for the invaluable present, for which he stated, he felt confident, he was indebted to

me.

In fact, I had written from Caen to a Protestant gentleman of my acquaintance in Cherbourg, who possessed a few copies of the Bible for the purpose of distribution, and he had, in accordance with my direction, despatched such a copy as I had described, so that it had reached its destination two days prior to my arrival at St Lo. The treasure had been prized as a gift from God; and the affectionate niece having guessed the medium through which it had been obtained, and having communicated her sentiments to her enraptured uncle, they had been anticipating my arrival as that of an angel from heaven.

And O, the happy and tranquillizing effect which the word of life had produced upon the mind and the heart of the venerable Abbé.

We had no sooner passed the steps which lead to his clean and quiet residence, ere he again took me by the hand, and conducted me to a table, upon which lay open the sacred book." Ah! that book," said he, "has effected a revolution, indeed, in the sentiments, and in the feelings of this heart. Long, long, O how long, have I lived in darkness, and without that light which can alone be communicated through the medium of that volume!" And pointing to one passage, and then to several others which had been perused, and which had been accompa nied in the perusal with that heavenly influence, which produces in the mind of the disciple of truth, so much extacy and yet so much calm, he declared that he could not sufficiently admire the goodness of his God, in allowing him before he departed hence, to obtain the blessed record, which taught him the way of a sinner's ac ceptance, through faith in Jesus Christ alone.

It was an affecting and soul-stirring scene, such an one indeed, as alone more than amply compensated me for having undertaken a journey into Normandy.

A few months prior to the period of which I now speak, the politeness of the Abbé had induced him to accost in the Church of St Lo, an English gentleman, who was gently gliding through the aisles, with a view to examine the pictures and the tombs with which the building is decorated. The object of the amiable Abbé, whose heart was so full of benevolence, that he embraced every opportunity of communicating to the pleasure and information of his fellows, was to point out and describe to the stranger, all that was worthy of his observation about the sacred edifice. Little, however, did he think what would be the result of that interview. Having conducted the gentleman through the Church, invited him to a glass of wine in his house, and walked with him about the neighbourhood, he did not quit his company, until, from the coach window, the gentleman waved his hand, bade him farewell, and drove away on the road to Paris. But the truth is, that the conversation of the stranger had acted as a spell upon the mind of the Abbé. The gentleman was a Protestant;

with all the wariness of Christian wisdom, he had introduced the subject of faith alone in Jesus Christ, as necessary to salvation, present and to come; and he had intimated to him the book in which this important truth was to be learned, and the spirit in which it is to be received.

Divine light dawned upon the humble and inquiring mind of the Abbé. Night and day, at home and when engaged in the public ceremonials of his office, he experienced a turmoil of heart, and a dissatisfaction in the discharge of his duties, which he had never before known. Various were the means which he adopted to restore himself to that attitude of security and self-approval in which he had heretofore remained; but nothing availed; neither fasting, more frequent retirement to the crypt which contained the picture of his favourite saint, the more devoted and attentive use of his beads and his missal, all seemed to mock the unquiet of his mind, and the distress of his heart.

It was now several weeks since the occurrence of the incident which gave rise to all