of a little child, the character of a sign of Providence. And though "bonds and afflictions" awaited her, she could add, with the apostle, that “none of these things move me; neither count I my life dear unto me, so that I might finish my course with joy." * 6. Their boat stopped for a short time at the town of Corbeil; a pleasant town of some size, seventeen miles from Paris. Her stay was short. But she met there the pious Franciscan, whose conversation had been so much blessed to her in the early part of her religious history. She had kept up a written correspondence with him for many years; and had long looked upon him as one of the most experienced and valuable of her religious friends. Their interview recalled many pleasant recollections, and was calculated to fill their hearts with gratitude. She related to him the dealings of God with her, which had resulted in her present design; a design formed, as she hoped, under a divine guidance. In the accomplishment of this design, she was now on her way to seek out and to labor with the rude inhabitants in the extreme eastern part of France. The Franciscan, now advanced in years and mature in judgment, approved her plans, and invoked the divine blessing upon them. 7. Once more upon the waters of the Seine, she saw with pleasure the impulse of oar and sail which bore her onward to Melun. The tree grew upon the banks; the flower bent its stalk to the waters; the breeze wafted odors; the birds sung in the branches. But there was nothing which she could dissociate from God; in all she heard God's voice; in all she saw God's glory. She saw the husbandman as he went to his home, his cottage beneath the trees on the river's bank; and she could not help thinking, in the secrets of her * Acts, xx. 24. heart, that earth had no home for her. But though a pilgrim, she was not alone; though homeless, she had a habitation not made with hands. In God, whose presence became to her a reality, wherever her foot trod and wherever her eye wandered, she found all embodied, and far more than all embodied, which she had ever found in home or country, in friends or kindred. 8. The state of her mind, as it existed at this period, is found delineated in her Poems, as well as in her Autobiography. Perhaps we shall find no more fitting occasion than the present, for the insertion of the following beautiful stanzas, which are evidently drawn from her own experience. No person but a Christian of confirmed and thorough piety could have written them. Poetry is the heart expressed; or if this be thought not to be strictly true, on the ground that this statement does not include enough, I think we can fully acquiesce in the reverse of the proposition, namely, that there is no poetry where there is no heart. The poetry of Madame Guyon, whatever defects may be thought to attach to it in some respects, has the merit of expressing precisely what she was, and what she felt. The stanzas which follow, conform to her situation as it then was, both inward and outward. They are emphatically the sentiments of the day and the hour; the spirit and voice of the world's wanderer and the world's benefactor; who, detached from the ties and influences of a partial locality, loses the earthly in the divine, whose home and centre is in God alone. GOD EVERYWHERE TO THE SOUL THAT LOVES HIM. Oh Thou by long experience tried, All scenes alike engaging prove, To me remains nor place nor time; While place we seek, or place we shun, Could I be cast where Thou art not, That were indeed a dreadful lot; But regions none remote I call, My country, Lord, art Thou alone; I hold by nothing here below; No frowns of men can hurtful prove Ah then! to His embrace repair; CHAPTER XXI. Arrives at the city of Lyons. Remarks. Proceeds from Lyons to Anneci, in Savoy, the residence of Bishop D'Aranthon. Her remarks on this journey. Religious services at the tomb of St. Francis de Sales. Arrives at Gex on the 23d of July, 1681. Death of her Director, M. Bertot. Appointment of La Combe in his place. Her inward religious state. Benevolent efforts. New views of the nature of the mission which God now imposed upon her. Sanctification by faith. Visit to Gex. Her personal labors with La Combe. Favorable results. THE boat stopped at Melun, a pleasant town, twenty-five miles south-east of Paris. Immediately on arriving there, she took passage, with her companions,—with the exception of Sister Garnier who stopped at Melun,-in one of the public conveyances, that travelled between Melun and Lyons. The city of Lyons, formerly the second city of France for beauty, commerce and opulence, is situated at the confluence of the Rhone and Soane, two hundred and twenty miles south-east of Paris. Distinguished as it was for its public structures, besides other objects of interest such as are most likely to be found in the most celebrated cities, she spent no longer time in it, than was necessary to recover a little from the exhaustion of her journey, having suffered much from fatigue. She had arrived at that state of religious experience, when she could not indulge the principle of curiosity, innocent as it is generally supposed to be in its action, except in subordination to the claims of religious duty and of God's glory. 2. From Lyons she took the most direct and expeditious route to Anneci, in Savoy, the residence of Bishop d'Aranthon, with whom she had recently formed an acquaintance at Paris. Speaking of this journey, she says, "It was very fatiguing. The toils of the day were followed by almost sleepless nights. My daughter, a very tender child and only five years of age, got scarcely any sleep, perhaps three hours a night. And yet we both bore so great a fatigue without falling sick by the way. My daughter showed no uneasiness, and made no complaint. At other times half this fatigue, or even the want of rest which I endured, would have thrown me into a fit of sickness. God only knows both the sacrifices which he induced me to make, and the joy of my heart in offering up everything to him. Had I been possessed of kingdoms and empires, I should have offered them all up with the greatest joy, in order to give him the highest marks and evidences of love. 3. "As we passed from town to town, I made it my practice, when we arrived at the public inn, to go into the nearest church, and spend my time in acts of devotion, till I was summoned to my meals. And when we were travelling, I did not cease to pray inwardly and to commune with God, although those who were with me, did not perceive, or at least did not comprehend it. My communion with God, and my strong faith in him, had a tendency to sustain my spirits and to render me cheerful. Disengaged from the world, and devoted exclusively to God's work and will, I found myself uttering the pleasure of my heart aloud in songs of praise. We passed through some dangerous places, especially between Lyons and Chamberri. And at one time our carriage broke down. But God wonderfully preserved |