CHAPTER XVHL

Alter such adventures, and others which it would be
tedious to recite, I arrived at Verceil. I went to the
inn, where I was very badly received. I sent for
Father La Combe, who I thought had been already
apprised of my coming thither, by the ecclesiastic
whom I had sent before, and who would be of so much
service to me. This ecclesiastic was only a little while
arrived. How much better on the road should I have
fared, if I had had him with me ! For in that country
they look upon ladies, accompanied with ecclesiastics,
with veneration, as persons of honor and piety. Father
La Combe came in a strange fret at my arrival, God so
permitting it. He could not hide it from me. Ho
said that every one would think I was come after him,
and that would injure his reputation, which I found in
that country was very high. I had had no less pain to
go thither. It was necessity only which had obliged
me to submit to such a disagreeable task. The father
received me with coolness, and in such a manner as let
me sufficiently see his sentiments, and indeed redoubled
my pain. I asked him if he required me to return,
adding, “that, if he did, I would go off that moment,
however oppressed and spent, both with fatigues and
fastings.’' He replied, “he did not know how the
Bishop of Verceil would take my arrival, after he had
given over all his expectations of it, and after I had so
long, and so obstinately, refused the obliging offers he

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had made me; since which he no longer expressed any
desire to see me.”

It seemed to me then as if I were rejected from the
face of the earth, without being able to find any refuge
in it, and as if all creatures were combined to crush
me. I passed that night without sleep, not knowing
what course I should be obliged to take, being perse¬
cuted by my enemies, and a subject of disgrace to my
friends.

When it was known at the inn, that I was one of
Father La Combe’s acquaintance, they treated me with
the greatest respect and kindness; for they esteemed
him as a saint. The father knew not how to tell the
bishop of my arrival, and I felt his pain more than my
own. As soon as that Prelate knew that I was arrived,
he sent his niece, who took me in her coach, and carried
me to her house; but these things were only done out
of ceremony; and the bishop, not having seen me yet,
knew not what to think of a journey so very unex¬
pected, after I had thrice refused, though he sent
expresses on purpose to bring me to him. He was out
of humor with me. Nevertheless, as he was informed
that my design was not to stay at Verceil, but to go to
the Marchioness of Prunai’s house, he gave orders for
me to be well treated. He could not see me till Easter
Sunday was over, for he officiated all the eve and all
that day. After it was all over, he came in a chaise to
his niece’s house to see me; and though he understood
French hardly any better than I did Italian, he was
very well satisfied with the conversation he had with
me. He appeared to have as much favor for me as he
had of indifference before. The second visit gained
him entirely.

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He conceived as strong a friendship for me as if I
had been his sister; and his only pleasure, amidst his
continual occupations, was to come and pass half an
hour with me in speaking of God. He wrote to the
Bishop of Marseilles to thank him for having protected
me in the persecutions there. He wrote to the Bishop
of Grenoble; and he omitted nothing to manifest his
affectionate regard for me. He now seemed to think
alone of finding out means to detain me in his diocese.
He would not hear of my going to see the Marchioness
of Prunai. On the contrary, he wrote to her to come
and settle with me in his diocese. He sent Father La
Combe to her, on purpose to exhort her to come;
assuring her that he would unite us all to make a con¬
gregation. The Marchioness entered into it readily,
and so did her daughter. They would have come
with Father La Combe, but that the Marchioness was
sick. The bishop was active and earnest in collecting
and establishing a society of us, and found several
pious persons and some very devout young ladies, who
were all ready to come to join us. But it was not the
will of God to fix me thus, but to crucify me yet
more.

The fatigue of travelling made me fall sick. The
girl also whom I brought from Grenoble fell sick. Her
relations, who were a covetous set of people, took it in
their heads that, if she should die in my service, I
would get her to make a will in my favor. They were
much mistaken; for, far from desiring the property of
others, I had given up my own. Her brother, full of
this apprehension, came with all speed; and the first
thing he spoke to her about, although he found her
recovered, was to make a will. That made a great

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noise in Verceil; for lie wanted her to return with him,
but she refused. I advised her to do what her brother
desired her. He contracted a friendship with some of
the officers of the garrison, to whom he told ridiculous
stories, as that I wanted to use his sister badly. He
pretended she was a person of quality, while she was
only of a low birth. They gave out what I was still
afraid of, viz., that I was come after Father La
Combe. They even persecuted him on my account.
The bishop was much troubled at it, but could not
remedy it. The friendship he had for me increased
every day; because, as he loved God, so he did all those
whom he thought desired to love him. As he saw me
so much indisposed, he came to see me with assiduity
and charity, when at leisure from his occupations. He
made me little presents of fruits and other things of
that nature. His relations were jealous of it, saying,
“I was come to ruin him, and to carry off his money
into France,” which was a thing the farthest from my
thoughts. The bishop patiently bore these affronts,
hoping still to keep me in his diocese, when I should
be recovered.

Father La Combe was his prebend and his con¬
fessor. He esteemed him highly. God made use of
him to convert several of the officers and soldiers, who,
from being men of scandalous lives, became patterns of
piety. In that place everything was mixed with crosses,
but souls were gained to God. There were some of
his friars, who, after his example, were advancing
toward perfection. Though I neither understood their
language nor they mine, the Lord made us understand
each other in what concerned his service. The Rector
of the Jesuits took his time, when Father La Combe

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was gone out of town, to prove me, as lie said He
had studied theological matters, which I did not under¬
stand He propounded to me several questions. The
Lord inspired me to answer him in such a manner, that
he went away both surprised and satisfied He could
not forbear speaking of it.

The Bamabites of Paris, or rather Father de la
Mothe took it in head to try to draw Father La Combe
from thence to go and preach at Paris. He wrote to
the Father-general about it, saying, “ They had no one
at Paris to support their house, that their Church was
deserted; that it was a pity to leave such a man as
Father La Combe in a place were he only corrupted
his language; that it was necessary to make his fine
talents appear at Paris, where he himself could not
bear the burden of the house, if they did not give him
an assistant of such qualifications and experience.”
Who would not have thought all this to be sincere ?
The Bishop of Verceil, who was very much a friend to
the Father-general, having advice thereof, opposed it,
and answered him, “ that it would be doing him the
greatest injury to take from him a man who was so
exceedingly useful to him, and at a time when he had
the greatest need of him.”

The Father-general of the Bamabites would not
agree to the request of Father de la Mothe, for fear of
offending the Bishop of Yerceil. As to me, my indis¬
position increased. The air, which is there extremely
bad, caused me a continual cough, with frequent re¬
turns of fever. I grew so much worse that it was
thought I could not get over it. The Bishop was much
afflicted to see it, but, having consulted the physicians,
they assured him that the air of the place was mortal

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315

to me, whereupon he said to me with many tears, “ I
had rather have you live, though distant from me, than
see you die here.” He gave up his design of establish¬
ing his congregation, for my friend would not settle
there without me; and the Genoese lady could not
easily leave her own city, where she was respected.
The Genoese besought her to set up there what the
Bishop of Verceil had wanted her to set up near him.
It was a congregation almost like that of Madame de
Miramion. When the Bishop had first proposed this
affair, however agreeable it appeared, I had a present¬
iment that it would not succeed, and that it was not
what our Lord required of me, though I submissively
yielded to the good proposal, were it only to acknowl¬
edge the many special favors of this prelate, being
assured that the Lord would know well how to prevent
what he should now require of me. As this good pre¬
late saw he must resign himself to let me go, he said
to me, “You were willing to be in the diocese of Gen¬
eva, and there they persecuted and rejected you; and
I, who would gladly have you, cannot keep you.” He
wrote to Father La Mothe that I should go in the
Spring, as soon as the weather would permit; that he
was exceedingly sorry to be obliged to let me go; that
he had looked upon me as an angel in his diocese;” and
other things, enough to have thrown me into confusion,
if I could have attributed anything to myself. Yet he
still hoped to have kept Father La Combe, which prob¬
ably might have been, had not the death of the Father-
general given it another turn, as I shall relate.

Here it was that I wrote upon the Apocalypse, and
that there was given me a greater certainty of all the
persecutions of the most faithful servants of God, ac-
10

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cording to what I wrote thereof, in respect to future
times. Here also I was strongly moved to write to

Madame De Ch - . I did it with great simplicity;

and what I wrote was like the first foundation of what
the Lord required of her, having been pleased to make
use of me to help to bring her into his ways, being one
to whom I am much united, and by her to others.

The Bishop of Yerceil’s friend, the Father-general
of the Bamabites, departed this life. As soon as h«
was dead, Father La Mothe wrote to the Vicar-general
who now held his place till another should be elected
renewing his request to have Father La Combe as ai.
assistant. The father, hearing that I was obliged on
account of my indisposition to return into France, sent
an order to Father La Combe to return to Paris, and
to accompany in me my journey thither, as his doing
that would exempt their house at Paris, already poor,
from the expenses of so long a journey. On the
receipt hereof, Father La Combe, who did not pene¬
trate the poison under this fair outside, consented
thereto; knowing it was my custom to have some eccle¬
siastic with me in travelling. Father La Combe went
off twelve days before me, in order to transact some
business, and to wait for me at the passage over the
mountains, as the place where I had most need of an
escort. I set off in Lent, the weather then being
very fine. It was a sorrowful parting to the Bishop.
I pitied him; he was so much affected at losing both
Father La Combe and me. He caused me to be attend¬
ed, at his own expense, as far as Turin, giving me a
gentleman and one of his ecclesiastics to accompany
me.

As soon as the resolution was taken that Father La

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317

Combe should accompany me, Father La Mothe re¬
ported everywhere “ that he had been obliged to do it,
to make him return into France.” He expatiated on
the attachment I had for Father La Combe, pretending
to pity me for it. Upon this everyone said, “that I
ought to put myself under the direction of Father La
Mothe.” In the meantime he deceitfully palliated the
malignity of his heart, writing letters full of esteem to
Father La Combe, and some to me of tenderness,
“ desiring him to bring his dear sister, and to serve her
in her infirmities, and in the hardships of so long a
journey; that he should be sensibly obliged to him for
his care;” with many other things of the like nature.

I could not resolve to depart without going to see
my good friend, the Marchioness of Prunai, notwith¬
standing the difficulty of the roads. I caused myself
to be carried thither, it being scarcely possible to go
otherwise on account of the mountains. She was ex¬
tremely joyful at seeing me arrive. Nothing could be
more cordial than what passed between us. It was
then that she acknowledged that all I had told her had
come to pass; and a good ecclesiastic, who lives with
her, told me the same. We made ointments and plas¬
ters together, and I gave her the secret of my remedies.
I encouraged her, and so did Father La Combe, to
establish an hospital in that place; which was done
while we were there. I contributed my mite to it
which has ever been blest to all the hospitals, which
have ever been established in reliance on Providence.

I believe I had forgotten to tell, that the Lord had
made use of me to establish one near Grenoble, which
subsists without any other fund than the supplies of
Providence. My enemies made use of that afterwards

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to slander me, saying, “I had wasted my children’s
substance in establishing hospitals;” though, far from
spending any of their substance, I had even given them
my own; and all those hospitals have been established
only on the fund of divine Providence, which is inex¬
haustible. But so it has been ordered for my good,
that all our Lord has made me do to his glory has ever
been turned into crosses for me. I have forgotten to
particularize a great number both of crosses and indis¬
positions. They have been so many as to render the
suppressing of some of them in a manner inevitable.

As soon as it was determined that I should come
into France, the Lord made known to me, that it was
to have greater crosses than I ever yet had. Father
La Combe had the like sense. He encouraged me to
resign myself to the divine will, and to become a vic¬
tim offered freely to new sacrifices. He also wrote to
me, “Will it not be a thing very glorious to God, if he
should make us serve in that great city, for a spectacle
to angels and to men?” I set off then with a spirit of
sacrifice, to offer myself up to new kinds of punish¬
ments, if pleasing to my dear Lord. All along the
road something within me repeated the very words of
St. Paul, “I go bound in the Spirit unto Jerusalem,
not knowing the things which should befall me there,
save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth, saying, that bonds
and afflictions abide me. But none of these things
move me; neither count I my life dear unto myself, so
that I might finish my course with joy.” (Acts xx. 22,
23, 24.) I could not forbear to testify it to my
most intimate friends, who tried hard to prevail on me
to stop, and not to proceed any further. They were
all willing to contribute a share of what they had, for

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319

my settlement there, and to prevent my coining to
Paris. But I found it my duty to hold on my way,
and to sacrifice myself for him who first sacrificed him¬
self for me.

At Chamberry we saw Father La Mothe, who was
going to the election of a Father-general. Though he
affected an appearance of friendship, it was not diffi¬
cult to discover that his thoughts were different from
his words, and that he had conceived dark designs
against us. I speak not of his intentions, but to obey
the command given me to omit nothing. I shall neces¬
sarily be obliged often to speak of him. I could wish
with all my heart it were in my power to suppress what
I have to say of him. If what he has done respected
only myself, I would willingly bury all; but I think I
owe it to truth, and to the innocence of Father La
Combe, so cruelly oppressed, and grievously crushed
so long, by wicked calumnies, by an imprisonment of
several years, which in all probability will last as long
as life. Though Father La Mothe may appear heavily
charged in what I say of him, I protest solemnly, and
in the presence of God, that I pass over in silence many
of his bad actions.

m

the LIFE OF madams guyon.