CHAPTER XIX.

Scarcely had I arrived at Paris, when I readily dis¬
covered the black designs entertained against both
Father La Combe and me. Father La Mothe who
conducted the whole tragedy, artfully dissembled,
according to his custom; flattering me to my face,
while he was aiming the keenest wounds behind my
back. He and his confederates wanted, for their own
interest, to persuade me to go to Montargis (my native
place), hoping, thereby, to get the guardianship of my
children, and to dispose of both my person and effects.
All the persecutions from Father La Mothe and my
family have been attended on their part with views of
interest; and those against Father La Combe have
sprung from rage and revenge, because he, as my
director, did not oblige me to do what they wanted;
as well as out of jealousy. I might enter into a long
detail on this head, sufficient to convince all the world
hereof; but I suppress, to avoid prolixity. I shall only
say, that they threatened to deprive me of what little I
had reserved to myself. To this I only replied “ That
I would not go to law, that if they were resolved to
take from me the little I had left (little indeed in com¬
parison of what I had given up) I would surrender it
entirely to them;” being quite free and willing not
only to be poor, but to be even in the very extremity
of want in imitation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I arrived at Paris on Magdalene’s eve, 1686, exactly

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five years after my departure from that city. After
Father La Combe arrived, he was soon followed and
much applauded. I perceived some jealousy in Father
La Mothe hereupon, but did not think that matters
would be carried so far as they have been. The greater
part of the Bamabites of Paris, and its neighborhood,
joined against Father La Combe, induced thereto from
several causes that particularly related to their order.
But all their calumnies and evil attempts were over¬
thrown by the unaffected piety he manifested, and the
good which multitudes reaped from his labors.

I had deposited a little sum of money in his hands
(with the consent of his superior) to serve for the
entrance of a nun. I thought myself obliged in conr
science to do it; for she had, through my means, quitted
the New Catholics. It was that young woman whom
I mentioned before, whom the priest of Gex wanted to
win over. As she is beautiful, though very prudent,
there always continues a cause for fear, when such an
one is exposed in the world. La Mothe wanted to
have that money, and signified to La Combe “ that, if
he did not make me give it to him for a wall, which he
had to rebuild in his convent, he would make him suf¬
fer for it.” But the latter, who is always upright,
answered, “that he could not in conscience advise me
to do anything else, but what I had already resolved,
in favor of that young woman.” Hence he and the
provincial ardently longed to satisfy their desire of
revenge. They employed all their thoughts on the
means of effecting it

A very wicked man who was employed for that pur¬
pose, wrote defamatory libels, declaring that the pro¬
positions of Molinos, which had been current for two

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years past in France, were the sentiments of Father La
Combe. These libels were spread about in the com¬
munity. Father La Mothe and the provincial, acting
as persons well affected to the Church, carried them to
the official, or judge of the ecclesiastical Court, who
joined in the dark design. They showed them to the
Archbishop, saying, “It was out of their zeal, and that
they were exceedingly sorry that one of their fraternity
was an heretic, and as such execrable.” They also
brought me in, but more moderately, saying, “ Father
La Combe was almost always at my house,” which was
veiy false; for I could scarcely see him at all except at
the confessional, and then for a very short time. Sev¬
eral other things equally false they liberally gave out
concerning both of us.

They bethought themselves of one thing further
likely to favor their scheme. They knew I had been
at Marseilles, and thought they had a good foundation
for a fresh calumny. They counterfeited a letter from
a person at Marseilles (I heard it was from the Bishop)
addressed to the Archbishop of Paris, or to his official,
in which they wrote the most abominable scandal.
Father La Mothe came to try to draw me into his
snare, and to make me say, in the presence of the peo¬
ple whom he had brought, that I had been at Marseilles
with Father La Combe. “ There are,” said he, “ shock¬
ing accounts against you, sent by the Bishop of Mar¬
seilles. You have there fallen into great scandal with
Father La Combe. There are good witnesses of it.”
I replied with a smile, “The calumny is well devised;
but it would have been proper to know first whether
Father La Combe had been at Marseilles, for I do not
believe he was ever there in his life. While I was

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323

there, Father La Combe was laboring at Verceil.” He
was confounded and went off, saying, “ There are wit¬
nesses of its being true.” He went immediately to ask
Father La Combe if he had not been at Marseilles. He
assured him he never had been there. They were
struck with disappointment. They then gave out that
it was not Marseilles but Seisel. Now this Seisel is a
place I have never been at, and there is no bishop
there.

Every imaginable device was used to terrify rae by
threats, forged letters, and by memorials drawn up
against me, accusing me of teaching erroneous doc¬
trines, and of living a bad life and urging me to flee
the country to escape the consequences of exposure;
but failing in all these, at length La Mothe took off the
mask, and said to me in the Church, before La Combe,
“It is now, my sister, that you must think of fleeing,
you are charged with crimes of a deep dye.” I was
not moved in the least, but replied with my usual tran¬
quillity, “If I am guilty of such crimes I cannot be too
severely punished; wherefore I will not flee or go out
of the way. I have made an open profession of dedi¬
cating myself to God entirely; and if I have done
things offensive to him, whom I would wish both to
love, and to cause to be loved by the whole world,
even at the expense of my life, I ought by my punish¬
ment to be made an example to the world; but if I
am innocent, for me to flee is not the way for my inno¬
cence to be believed.”

Similar attempts were made to ruin Father La
Combe. He was grossly misrepresented to the king,
and an order procured for his arrest and imprisonment
in the Bastile.

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Although on his trial he appeared quite innocent,
and they could not find anything whereupon to ground
a condemnation, yet they made the king believe he was
a dangerous man in the article of religion. He was
then shut up in a certain fortress of the Bastile for life;
but as his enemies heard that the captain in that for-
trees esteemed him, and treated him kindly, they had
him removed into a much worse place. God, who
beholds everything, will reward every man according
to his works. I know by an interior communication
that he is very well content, and fully resigned to God.

La Mothe now endeavored more than ever to induce
me to flee, assuring me that, if I went to Montargis, I
should be out of all trouble; but that if I did not, I
should pay for it. He insisted on my taking himself
for my director, which I could not agree to. He decried
me wherever he went, and wrote to his brethren to do
the same. They sent me very abusive letters, assuring
me that, if I did not put myself under his direction, I
was undone. I have the letters by me stilL One
father desired me in this case to make a virtue of
necessity. Nay, some advised me to pretend to put
myself under his direction, and to deceive him; where¬
as I abhorred the thought of deceit. I bore everything
with the greatest tranquillity, without taking any care
to justify or defend myself, leaving it entirely to God
to order as he should please about me. Herein he was
graciously pleased to increase the peace of my soul,
while every one seemed to cry against me, and to look
on me as an infamous creature, except those few who
knew me well by a near union of spirit. At Church I
heard people behind me exclaim against me, and even
some priests say, “ It was necessary to cast me out of

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325

the Church.” I left myself to God without reserve,
being quite ready to endure the most rigorous pains
and tortures, if such were his will.

I never made any solicitation either for Father La
Combe or myself, though charged with that among
other things. Willing to owe everything to God, I
have no dependence on any creature. I would not
have it said that any but God had made Abraham rich.
Gen. xiv. 23. To lose all for him is my best gain; and
to gain all without him would be my worst loss.
Although at this time so general an outcry was raised
against me, God did not fail to make use of me to gain
many souls to himself. The more persecution raged
against me the more children were given me, on whom
the Lord conferred great favors through his hand-maid.

One must not judge of the servants of God by what
their enemies say of them, nor by their being oppressed
under calumnies without any resource. Jesus Christ
expired under pangs. God uses the like conduct
towards his dearest servants, to render them conform¬
able to his Son, in whom he is always well pleased.
But few place that conformity where it ought to be.
It is not in voluntary pains or austerities, but in those
which are suffered in a submission ever equal to the
will of God, in a renunciation of our whole selves, to
the end that God may be our all in all, conducting us
according to his views, and not our own, which are
generally opposite to his. In fine, all perfection con¬
sists in this entire conformity with Jesus Christ, not in
Binning things which men esteem. It will only be seen
in eternity who are the true friends of God. Nothing
pleases him but Jesus Christ, and that which bears his
mark or character.

326

THE 1 IFE OF MADAME GUYON.

They were continually pressing me to flee, though
the Archbishop had spoken to myself, and bidden me
not to leave Paris. But they wanted to give the
appearance of criminality both to me and to Father La
Combe by my flight. They knew not how to make me
fall into the hands of the official. If they accused me
of crimes, it must be before other judges; and any
other judge would have seen my innocence; and the
false witnesses would have run the risk of suffering for
it. They continually spread stories of horrible crimes;
but the official assured me that he had heard no men¬
tion of any; for he was afraid lest I should retire out
of his jurisdiction. They then made the king believe
“that I was an heretic; vhat I carried on a literary cor¬
respondence with Molinos (I, who never knew there
was a Molinos in the world, till the Gazette had told me
of it) that I had written a dangerous book; and that
on those accounts it would be necessary to issue an
order to put me in a convent, that they might examine
me; that, as I was a dangerous person, it would be
proper for me to be locked up, to be allowed no com¬
merce with any one; since I continually held assem¬
blies,” which was very false. To support this calumny
my hand-writing was counterfeited, and a letter was
forged as from me, importing, that I had “great
designs, but feared that they would prove abortive,
through the imprisonment of Father La Combe, for
which reason I had left off holding assemblies at my
house, being too closely watched; but that I would
hold them at the houses of other persons. This forged
letter they showed the king, and upon it an order was
given for my imprisonment.

This order would have been putin execution Iwo

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327

months sooner than it was, had I not fallen very sick.
I had inconceivable pains and a fever. Some thought
that I had a gathering in my head. The pain I suf¬
fered for five weeks made me delirious. I had also a
pain in my breast and a violent cough. Twice I
received the holy sacrament, as I was thought to be
expiring. One of my friends had acquainted Father
La Mothe, (not knowing him to have had any hand in
F. La Combe’s imprisonment) that she had sent me a
certificate from the inquisition in Father La Combe’s
favor, having heard that his own was lost. This
answered a very good purpose; for they had made
the king believe that he had run away from the inquisi¬
tion; but this showed the contrary.

Father La Mothe then came to me, when I was in
excessive pain, counterfeiting all the affection and ten¬
derness in his power, and telling me “that the affair of
Father La Combe was going on very well, that he was
just ready to come out of prison with honor, that he
was very glad of it; that if he had only this certificate,
he would soon be delivered. Give me it then,” said he,
“and he will be immediately released.” At first I made
a difficulty of doing it. “ What ! said he, will you be
the cause of ruining poor Father La Combe, having it
in your power to save him, and cause us that affliction,
for want of what you have in your hands.” I yielded,
ordering it to be brought and given him. But he sup¬
pressed it, and gave out that it was lost. It never
could be got from him again. The Ambassador from
the Court of Turin sent a messenger to me for this cer¬
tificate, designing the proper use of it to serve Father
La Combe. I referred him to Father La Mothe. The
messenger went to him and asked him for it. He

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denied I had given it to him, saying, “Her brain is
disordered which makes her imagine it.” The man
came back to me and told me his answer. The per¬
sons in my chamber bore witness that I had given it to
him. Yet all signified nothing; it could not be got out
of his hands; but on the contrary, he insulted me, and
caused others also to do it, though I was so weak that
I seemed to be at the very gates of death.

They told me they only waited for my recovery to
cast me into prison. He made his brethren believe
that I had treated him ill. They wrote to me; “that
it was for my crimes that I suffered; and that I should
put myself under the conduct of Father La Mothe,
otherwise I should repent it; that I was mad and ought
to be bound; and was a monster of pride, since I would
not suffer myself to be conducted by Father La Mothe.”
Such was my daily feast in the extremity of my pain;
deserted of my friends, and oppressed by my enemies;
the former being ashamed of me, through the calum¬
nies which were forged and industriously spread; the
latter let loose to persecute me; under all which I kept
silence, leaving myself to the Lord.

There was not any kind of infamy, error, sorcery, or
sacrilege, of which they did not accuse me. As soon
as I was able to be carried to the Church in a chair, I
was told I must speak to the prebend. (It was a snare
concerted between Father La Mothe and the Canon at
whose house I lodged). I spoke to him with much
simplicity, and he approved of what I said. Yet, two
days after they gave out that I had uttered many
things, and accused many persons; and from hence
they procured the banishment of sundry persons with
whom they were displeased, persons whom I had never

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329

seen or heard of. They were men of honor. One of
them was banished, because he said, “ my little book is
a good one.” It is remarkable that they say nothing
to those who prefixed their approbations, and that, far
from condemning the book, it has been reprinted since
I have been in prison, and advertisements of it have
been posted up at the Archbishop’s palace, and all over
Paris. In regard to others, when they find faults in
their books, they condemn the books and leave the
person at liberty; but as for me, my book is approved,
sold and spread, while I am kept a prisoner for it.

The same day that those gentlemen were banished,
I received a lettre de cachet, or sealed order to repair
to the Convent of the Visitation of St Mary’s, in a
suburb of St. Antoine. I received it with a tranquillity
which surprised the bearer exceedingly. He could not
forbear expressing it, having seen the extreme sorrow
of those who were only banished. He was so touched
with it as to shed tears. And although his order was
to carry me off directly, he was not afraid to trust me,
but left me all the day, desiring me to repair to St.
Mary’s in the evening. On that day many of my
friends came to see me, and found me very cheerful,
which surprised such of them as knew my case. I
could not stand, I was so weak, having the fever every
night, it being only a fortnight since I was thought to
be expiring. I imagined they would leave me my
daughter and maid to serve me. My daughter was
most at my heart, having cost me much care in her
education. I had endeavored, with divine assistance,
to root out her faults, and to dispose her to have no
will of her own; which is the best disposition for a
child. She was not yet twelve years of age.

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