CHAPTER VI.

He went directly to the Bishop of Geneva, who till
then had manifested much esteem and kindness for
me, and persuaded him, “ that it would be proper to
secure me to that house, to oblige me to give up to it
the annual income I had reserved to myself; and to
engage me thereto, by making me prioress.” He had
gained such an ascendancy over the Bishop, that the
people in the country called him the Little Bishop.
Wherefore he drew him to enter heartily and with zeal
into this proposition, and to resolve to bring it about
whatever it should cost him.

The ecclesiastic, having so far carried his point, and
being swelled with his success in this first essay, no
longer kept any measures in regard to me. He began
with causing all the letters which I sent, and those
which were directed to me, to be stopped; in order to
have it in his power to make what impressions he
pleased on the minds of others, and that I should
neither be able to know it, nor to defend myself, nor to
give or send to my friends any account of the manner
in which I was treated. One of the maids I had
brought wanted to return, as she could have no rest in
this place, and the other that remained was infirm, and
too much taken up by others to help me in anything.
As Father La Combe was soon to come, I thought he
would soften the violent spirit of this man, and that he
would give me proper advice.

THE LIFE OF MADAME GUYON.

221

In the meantime they proposed to me the engage¬
ment, and the post of prioress. I answered, “that as
to the engagement it was impossible for me, since my
vocation wa3 elsewhere. And I could not regularly be
the prioress, till after passing through the noviciate, in
which they had all served two years before their being
engaged; that when I should have done as much, I
should see how God would inspire me.” The prioress
replied pretty tartly, “ that if I would ever leave them
it were best for me to do it immediately.” Yet I did
not offer to retire, but continued still to act as usual.
However, I saw the sky gradually thickening, and
storms gathering on every side. The 'prioress then
affected a milder air. She assured me, “that she had
a desire, as well as I, to go to Geneva; that I should
not engage, but only promise her to take her with me,
if I went thither.” She pretended to place a great
confidence in me, and prefessed a high esteem for me.
As I am very free, and have nothing but uprightness, I
let her know “ that I had no attraction for the maimer
of life of the New Catholics, by reason of the intrigues
from without. Several things did not please me, be¬
cause I wanted them to be upright in everything.”
She signified, “ that she did not consent to such things,
but because that ecclesiastic told her they were neces¬
sary to give the house a credit in distant parts, and to
draw charities from Paris.” I answered, “that if we
walked uprightly God would never fail us. He would
sooner do miracles for us.” I remarked to her, “that
when, instead of sincerity, they had recourse to artifice,
charity grew cold, and kept herself shut up. It is God
alone who inspires charity; how, then, is it to be drawn
by disguises ? ”

222

THE LIFE OF MADAME GUYON.

Soon after, Father La Combe came about the re¬
treats. This was the third and last time that he came
to Gex. The prioress, after she had been tampering a
good deal with me hereupon, haying written him a
long letter before his coming, and received his answer,
which she showed me, now went to ask him whether
she would one day be united to me at Geneva. He
answered her with his usual uprightness, “ Our Lord
has made it known to me that you shall never be estab¬
lished at Geneva.” And soon after she died. When
he had uttered this declaration, she appeared enraged
against both him and me, after a surprising manner.
She went directly to that ecclesiastic, who was in a
chamber with the house-steward; and they took their
measures together, to oblige me either to engage or
retire. They thought that I would sooner engage than
retire, and they narrowly watched my letters.

With a design to lay snares for him, he requested
Father La Combe to preach, which he did — on this text,
“The king’s daughter is beautiful within.” That eccle¬
siastic, who was present with his confidant, said, “It
was preached against him, and was full of errors.”
He drew up eight propositions, and inserted in them
what the other had not preached, adjusting them as
maliciously as ever he could, and sent them to one of
his friends in Eome, to get them examined by the
Sacred Congregation, and by the Inquisition. Though
he had very illy digested them, at Rome they were
pronounced good. That greatly disappointed and
vexed him. After having been treated in this manner,
and opprobriously reviled by him in the most offensive
terms, the Father, with much mildness and humility,
told him, “that he was going to Annecy about some

THE LIFE OF MADAME GUYON.

223

affairs of the convent; and that if he had anything to
write to the Bishop of Geneva, he would take care of
his letter. He then desired him to wait awhile, as he
was going to write. The good Father had the patience
to wait above three hours, without hearing from him;
though he had treated him exceedingly ill, so far as to
snatch out of his hands a letter I had given him for
that worthy hermit I have mentioned. Hearing he
was not gone, but was still in the Church, I went to
him, and begged him to send to see if the other’s
packet was ready; because the day was so far gone, that
he would be obliged to lodge by the way. When the
messenger arrived, he found a servant of the ecclesias¬
tic on horseback, ordered to go at full speed, to be
at Annecy before the Father. He then returned an
answer, “that he had no letters to send by him.”
This was so contrived, that he might gain time to pre¬
possess the Bishop for his purposes. Father La Combe
then set off for Annecy, and on his arrival found the
Bishop prepossessed, and in an ill humor. This was
the substance of the discourse which they had:

Bishop. — You must absolutely engage this lady to
give what she has to the house at Gex, and make her
the prioress of it.

F. La Combe. — My lord, you know what she has
told you herself of her vocation, both at Paris and in
this country. I therefore do not believe that she will
engage; nor is there any likelihood that, after quitting
her all, in the hope of entering Geneva, she should
engage elsewhere, and thereby put it out of her power
to accomplish the designs of God in regard to her.
She has offered to stay with those sisters as a boarder
If they are willing to keep her as such, she will remain

224

THE LIFE OF MADAME GUYON.

with them; if not, she is resolved to retire into some
convent, till God shall dispose of her otherwise.

Bishop. — I know all that; but I likewise know that
she is so very obedient, that, if you order her, she will
assuredly do it.

F. La Combe. — It is for that reason, my lord, that
one ought to be very cautious in the commands which
they lay on her. Can I induce a foreign lady, who, for
all her subsistence, has nothing but a small pittance
she has reserved to herself, to give that up in favor of
a house which is not yet established, and perhaps never
will be ? If the house should happen to fail, or be no
longer of use, what shall that lady live on ? Shall she
go to the hospital? And indeed this house will not
long be of any use, since there are no Protestants in
any part of France near it.

Bishop. — These reasons are good for nothing. If
you do not make her do what I have said, I will de¬
grade and suspend you.

This manner of speaking somewhat surprised the
Father, who well enough understands the rules of sus¬
pension, which is not executed on such things. He
replied:

“My lord, I am ready, not only to suffer the sus¬
pension, but even death, rather than do anything
against my conscience.” — Having said that, he retired.

He directly sent me this account by an express, to
the end that I might take proper measures thereon. I
had no other course to take but to retire into a convent.
I received a letter informing me that the nun to whom
I had entrusted my daughter had fallen sick, and desir¬
ing me to go to her for some time. I showed this
letter to the sisters of our house, telling them, “I had

THE LIFE OF MADAME GUYON.

225

a mind to go; but if they ceased to persecute me, and
would leave Father La Combe in peace, I would return
as soon as the mistress of my daughter should be
recovered.” Instead of this, they persecuted me more
violently, wrote to Paris against me, stopped all my
letters, and sent libels against me around the country.

The day after my arrival at Tonon, Father La
Combe set off for the valley of Aoust, to preach there
in Lent. He had come to take leave me, and told me
“ he should go from thence to Rome, and perhaps not
return, as his superiors might detain him there; that
he was sorry to leave me in a strange country, without
succor, and persecuted of everyone.” I replied, “My
father, that gives me no pain; I use the creatures for
God, and by his order. Through his mercy, I do very
well without them, when he withdraws them; and I
am very well contented never to see you, and to abide
under persecution, if such be his will.” He said he
would go well satisfied to see me in such a disposition?
and then took his leave and departed.

As soon as I got to the Ursulines, a very aged and
pious priest, who for twenty years past had not come
out of his solitude, came to find me. He told me,
“that he had a vision relative to me; that he had seen
a woman in a boat on the lake; and that the Bishop of
Geneva, with some of his priests, exerted all their efforts
to sink the boat she was in, and to drown her; that he
continued in this vision above two hours, with pain of
mind; that it seemed sometimes as if this woman were
quite drowned, as for some time she quite disappeared;
but afterwards she appeared again, and ready to escape
the danger, while the Bishop never ceased to pursue
her. This woman was always equally calm; but he

226

THE LIFE OF MADAME GUYON.

never saw her entirely free from him. From whence 1
conclude, added he, that the Bishop will persecute
you without intermission.”

I had an intimate friend, wife of that governor o!
whom I have made some mention. As she saw I had
quitted everything for God, she had a warm desire to
follow me. With diligence did she dispose of all her
effects, and settle her affairs, in order to come to me;
but when she heard of the persecution, she was dis¬
couraged from coming to a place, from whence she
thought I should be obliged to retire; and soon after
she died.

THE LIFE OF MAD AMR GUYON.

227