approbation, have since learnt to love and to respect his memory. But those who opposed and revolted from their allegiance to him, and whose consciences are stained with the guilt of his blood, have had but too much justice in their plea, that they could not depend upon his word; and that in his dealings with them, truth and uprightness were wantonly sacrificed. It would be difficult to account for such a want of truth in one who was, undoubtedly, in other respects a good man, and a man of principle; did we not know that the leaven of that church, which is apostate to the truth, was widely and secretly working in all the avenues of his court; and that that lovely and royal lady to whom he was so unadvisedly united in marriage, and who was herself a member of the church of Rome, was also the victim and the tool of the worst party in that church, the Jesuits. The king's devoted affection to her, and her blind obedience to the wily and domineering power of those false Jesuits, were the fatal snares which bewildered his conscience, and so entangled and enthralled him, that even the sense of right and wrong seemed for a while to have been confused and obscured, and that which the world would call his greatest calamity was doubtless appointed by God to be the means of awakening him and restoring him both to himself and to his God. Awful, however, must be the doom of those who willingly lent themselves to accomplish the crafty designs of Rome! to delude and corrupt the mind of our late beloved king, and to involve him in that complicated web of deceit, from which he was never extricated till he came to die. Truly, it had been good for them that they had never been born. Long, long, have the Jesuits been endeavouring to carry on their iniquitous machinations in this land d; and, fair and calm as the present aspect of things appears, I would not have you trust too surely to it.

I fear it will prove but short-lived. I may not live to see the evils that I dread; but some of you will certainly see them, and therefore it is that I urge upon you, not only to be harmless and blameless, but to be wise as serpents; to love and to rememberand this I say, more especially to my dear brethren who are pastors to Christ's flock,-that, having this ministry, the ministry of Him in whose mouth guile was not found, we must strive so to preach, and so to live, that we may say with His faithful apostle, and no man shall be able to gainsay our words : 'we have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.' And I would say to all, love the truth as it is in Jesus, as you love your lives; nay, love and prize it far beyond. And if needs be, count not your life in the body dear unto yourselves for the testimony of the truth, but be faithful even unto death, as you would receive a crown of glory in that kingdom where falsehood and fraud can never enter, and where He that is faithful, He that is true, sits enthroned in all the glory of eternal truth.”

I have done poor justice, my Henry, to what was said by this wise and holy servant of God, whom you and I love so truly. I cannot describe to you the gentleness, the earnestness, and even fervour with which he spoke. "He could not, and he would not," he said, "suppose that all Romanists were dishonest men: he believed that very many, in spite of the errors of their system, were true men; and he cited Mr. Avenel, of Avenel Court, as an example of an upright, excellent man, and one whose integrity was established; but he referred again to the Jesuits as a set of men whose influence was alike destructive to the common morality both

of individuals and of communities: men who were truly described by the apostle's words as speaking lies in hypocrisy, and of whom the best that could be said of them, on their own shewing, was, that they did evil that good might come."

He showed us a copy of a treatise, which made much noise some years ago, when Sir Edward Coke brought it forward at the trial of the conspirators in the gunpowder plot : a rare and curious document; one of the volumes printed, it might be, at Southwell's private printing-press; it is entitled "A Treatise of Equivocation," wherein is largely discussed the question, whether a Catholicke or any other person before a magistrate being demanded uppon his oath, whether a Preiste were in such a place, may (notwthstanding his perfect knowledge to the contrary), wthout perjury, and securely in conscience answere, No; wth this secret meaning reserved in his mynde, that he was not there, so that any man is bounde to detect it." I have copied the exact title for you. Two manuscript copies of this notorious treatise; one of them, with corrections, in Father Garnet, the Jesuit's own handwriting, were found within the desk of Francis Tresham, in his chamber, in the Inner Temple. Garnet's corrections were made, it would seem, to preface that copy for the press. On Mr. Davenant's printed volume is the imprimatur of the Jesuits; "Permissu Superiorum." I have found a passage in Pascal's Letters to a Provincial, (I bought the book when in London,) which is an admirable comment upon that said treatise.

"I wish to speak to you," says the Jesuit Father, "of the facilities we have introduced for avoiding those sins which relate to conversation and worldly intrigues." One of the most embarrassing points connected with the subject is, to avoid falsehood, especially when we wish that to be believed which is

false; for this purpose our doctrine of equivocation serves admirably, by which we are permitted to use ambiguous terms, causing them to be understood in a different sense from that in which we ourselves understand them; as says Sanchez, "This I know, my father," said I to him. "We have proclaimed it so repeatedly," he continued, "that every one is well acquainted with it. But do you know what is to be done when equivocal terms cannot be found?" "No, my Father,"-"So I suspected," he replied: "this is a new point; it is the doctrine of mental reservation. Sanchez cites it in the same place. One may swear, he says, that one has not done a thing, though one has actually done it; by understanding in one's own mind that one has not done it on a certain day, or before one was born. This is convenient in many circumstances, and is most especially justifiable for the preservation of health, honour, or property."

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'How, my Father, and is not this either falsehood or perjury?"

"No," he replied. "Sanchez proves it in the same passage; because, he says, it is the intention which regulates the character of the action; and he gives another and more sure means of avoiding falsehood; which is, after saying aloud, I swear that I did not do this, or that, to add in a low voice -to-day; or after saying aloud, I swear; to add that, I say, and then add aloud, that I did not do So. You see clearly, that this is speaking the truth?"

"Certainly it is," I replied, "but might we not term this speaking the truth in a whisper, and a lie aloud?"

I could not resist sending you this extract as you have not seen these Provincial Letters, and I wish you to observe how well the "Treatise of Equi

vocation," by the English Jesuit, agrees with the language of his French brother. They are two foxes from the same cover: no wonder the book. was burnt in the one country, and kept out of sight in the other.

CHAPTER III.

PERSIS.

PERSIS CLARETON was a rare example of early piety. So warm and animated were her religious feelings in every period of life, that they might perhaps have been regarded as enthusiastic had they not been under the control of true delicacy and sound discretion. Her countenance was one-you may remember, my reader, in the course of your past life to have seen once or twice, and scarcely more than once or twice, such a countenance-one that you have never forgotten. I do not speak of mere beauty of features and of complexion; but of that peculiar loveliness of expression which is the combined result of intelligence, cheerfulness, and benevolence; calm, modest, full of sweetness, and above all, so expressive of ingenuousness and truth, that you have felt not only that you would take that countenance on trust without a single misgiving, but that you could not be mistaken in the impression it conveyed of goodness and truthfulness. Fanciful as the following description may seem, it is the portrait given by one whose lot was afterwards closely allied with the original. She was at the time about thirteen years of age, and it is copied from his own words. It would

have described Persis at the same age.

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They say there is a young lady in

who is