Christian History Institute Presents Pastwords #118: A Short Account of the Life and Writings of the Lady Guion printed by Luke Hind ©2007

GUYON, JEANNE MARIE BOUVIER DE LA MOTTE (1648-1717), French mystic, is best known for her advocacy of Quietism. Born at Montargis, April 13, 1648, she was married in 1664 to Jacques Guyon. After his death in 1676 she devoted herself to religion and went, in 1681, to Savoy to work for a foundation of New Catholics, where she was inspired by the teaching of a Barnabite friar, Francois Lacombe (1643-1715). As her spiritual director he encouraged her particular convictions about the nature of prayer; an emphasis on passivity and an indifference even to eternal salvation. The dissemination of these doctrines aroused the suspicions of the bishop of Geneva and, with Lacombe in attendance, Mme Guyon set out on a period of wandering which took her to Turin and Grenoble. In 1685 she published the most influential of her writings: Moyen court et tres facile de faire oraison. In 1687 Lacombe was recalled to Paris, imprisoned and remained so until his death. Mme Guyon herself was arrested in 1688, but was released after a few months at the intervention of Mme de Maintenon, who introduced her into the royal circle and allowed her to teach in the girls' school at St. Cyr. She began to correspond with Fenelon, who was attracted by a teaching which solved some of his own problems as a spiritual director. The enthusiasm with which Fenelon propagated doctrines coloured by Quietism disturbed J.B. Bossuet, who by 1694 became thoroughly alarmed. Mme Guyon asked to be cleared of the accusations against her and in 1695 a conference convened at Issy, where Fenelon undertook her defense. The result was a condemnation of the Quietist teaching. Mme Guyon was arrested; the controversy between Bossuet and Fenelon continued in a pamplet war; Quietism received papal condemnation in 1699; but it was not until 1703 that her imprisonment ended. Her last years were spent at Blois, where she died on June 9, 1717. THE ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA

he Lady aforemention'd, who espous'd and cherish'd the Doctrine of PURE LOVE, in France, was call'd Madame Jeane Marie Bouviers, de la Mothe Guion, She was born at Montargis, of a good Family: At fifteen Years of Age she was married to a Gentleman of the same Place, and continu'd there till her Widowhood, preserving always the Reputation of a pure and unspotted Virtue.

Her married State was accompany'd with great Crosses, but these rather augmented than Slacken'd her Love of God, and Zeal for Religion. She often found her Heart inflam'd with the Love of God, and had great Desires and Longings in her Soul for a closer Communion with him. When her Mind was uneasy and troubled about her State and Condition, she would make it known to her Confessors; but they were Strangers to the Way in which God was leading her; for instead of directing to him, who sometimes, in the secret of her Heart, smote her with his gentle Corrections, and at other times enamour'd her with his Beauty, they set her to saying of Prayers, and repeating daily the Office, as 'tis call'd, of the Blessed Virgin. But all this did nothing for her: It heal'd not the Wound, which was Inward, nor did it ease her Mind, which could find no Rest 'till she had found Him whom her soul loved.

At length, God who heard her Sighs and secret Groans, and knew the sincerity of her Heart, was pleas'd to send her sudden Relief. O my Divine Love, says she, the Desire which I had to please Thee, the Tears which I shed, the great Pains and Labours I underwent, and the little Fruit I reap'd from them, mov'd Thee with Compassion. Thou gavest me in an Instant through Thy Grace and Goodness alone, what I could never have given myself by all my Efforts and Endeavours. The Thing happen'd as follows: God permitted a very religious Man, who was just come out of a five Years Solitude, to pass by my Father's Habitation, and make him a Visit: My Father knowing the religious Concern I was under, advis'd me to make my Condition known to him; which I had no sooner done, signifying the Difficulties I had about Prayer, but he presently reply'd, 'Tis Madam, because you seek without what you have within, accustom yourself to seek God in your Heart, and there you will find Him. When he had spoke these Words, he left me; but they were like the Stroke of a Dart, which pierc'd my Heart in two. They brought to my Heart what I had sought for so many Years, or rather they help'd me to discover what was there, but for want of knowing it, I had not enjoy'd it. O my God, Thou wert in my Heart, and requiredst nothing but a turning of my Mind inward to Thee to make me feel Thy Presence. O infinite Goodness! Thou wert so near, and I ran hither and thither to seek Thee, but found thee not. My Life was a Burthen, while my Happiness was within me. I was poor in the midst of Riches, and starving with Hunger near a Table spread with Dainties, and a continual Feast. O Beauty, ancient and new, why did I know Thee so late? Alas! I sought Thee where Thou wert. 'Twas for want of understanding these words of the Gospel, The Kingdom of God cometh not with Observation; neither shall they say, Lo here, or Lo there, for behold the Kingdom of God is within you. This I now experienced, for then Thou becamest my King, and my Heart was thy Kingdom, where Thou reignest as Sovereign, and didst what Thy Will was to had done.

This effectual Reach of God's Love to her Soul, was about the 20th Year of her Age. The Person who was instrumental to it, brought her afterwards acquainted with on Genevieve Granger, Prioress of the Benedictines, a Woman of singular Piety, and she was very afflicting to her in the Way he had turn'd her. But her Confessor did what he could to hinder her from inward Prayer and Retirement, and persuaded her Mother in Law, and her Husband, to molest her in the Practice of it: And the method they took, she says, was to watch what she did from Morning to Night. She was not allow'd to go out of the Chamber of her Mother in Law; nor to stir from her Husband's bedside, who was often afflicted with the Gout. Sometimes, she says, I carry'd my Work to the Window, under pretence of seeing better, that I might have a few Moments Repose, but they would look if I did not Pray Instead of Working. And when my Mother in Law and my Husband play'd at Cards, if I did but turn myself towards the Fire, they would look whether I shut my Eyes, and if they saw that I did, they would be angry with me for hours together. But what is still more strange, when my Husband was well, and could go abroad, he would not that I should pray in his Absence. He would look at my Work when he came in, to see if it went on, and sometimes would turn back very quickly when he went abroad, and if he found me in my Closet at Prayer would be very angry: And I would say to him, Sir, what signifies it what I do in your Absence, as long as I am diligent in tending you at Home; but this did not satisfy him, he would not have me pray in his Absence no more than in his Presence. I believe there is hardly any Torment equal to the being strongly and inwardly drawn to Retirement, and not to be able to be made to hinder me from loving Thee, did but augment my Love; and when they strove to hinder me from speaking to Thee, Thou drewest me into an inexpressible Silence; and by how much they endeavor'd to keep me from Thee, by so much the closer didst Thou unite me to Thyself.

The peculiar Property of Inward Prayer is to give a Strong Faith. Mine was without limits, as was also my Trust and Reliance on God; and the Love I had for his Will, and the Disposition of his Providence towards me. Then is felt the Truth of these Words, My Yoke is easy, and my Burthen is light. I had a secret Desire given me, from that Time, to be wholly resign'd to God's Will come what would come: And I said within my self, O my Love, what couldst thou desire me to offer up to Thee that I could not willingly do? O Spare me not. I could scarce here speak of God, or our Lord Jesus Christ, without being just ravish'd out of myself: But what I most wondred at, was the great Difficulty I had to say the vocal Prayers I was us'd to do. As soon as I open'd my Mouth to pronounce them, the Love of God seiz'd me so strongly, that I was swallow'd up in a profound Silence, and in such a Peace as I am not able to express. I made repeated Tryals to do the same, but could not go on with them. And as I had never heard speak of such a State, I knew not what to do: But the Inability of performing that Task increas'd, because Love became every Day more strong, more violent and more absorbing: There was made in me, without the found of Words, a continual Prayer, which seem'd to me, to be the Prayer of our Lord Jesus Christ himself, a Prayer of the Word, which is made by the Spirit, which according to St. Paul, asketh for us what is Good and Perfect, and conformable to the Will of God.

But that inward Prayer, that profound Peace, that Communion with God and Christ, which made her practice what was Good with ease, was often interrupted, and sometimes quite gone. 'My Passions, says she, were not mortified and they quickly occasion'd new Struggles: I was too vain of my Person, and that Inclination which seem'd dead while I was smitten with the Love of God, reviv'd again; which made me sigh and cry to God continually, that he would be pleas'd to take that obstacle out of my Way, and make me ugly. I would have chosen to be deaf, blind and dumb, so that nothing might divert me from My Love.

When I was at Paris, my Confessor seem'd to wonder, seeing me so young. After I had confessed, they told me, I could not sufficiently thank God for the Graces he had bestow'd on me, and if I knew them, I should be amaz'd at them, and that if I was not Faithful, I should be the most ungrateful of Women. Some would acknowledge that they never knew a Woman which God held so closely, and in so great a Purity of Conscience. What made it so, was the continual Care Thou, O my God, hadst over me, making me feel they Intimate Presence, according as Thou hast promised it us in thy Gospel, If a Man love me, we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. The continual Experience of Thy Presence in me, was what preserv'd me. I witness'd what thy Prophet said, Except the Lord keep the City, the Watchman waketh but in Vain. Thou, O my Love, wert that Faithful Keeper, who didst defend it continually against all sorts of Enemies, preventing the least Slips; or correcting them, when a Vivacity of Nature had caus'd them to be committed. But Alas, my Dear Love! When Thou Thy self ceasedst to watch, how weak was I, and how did my Enemies get Advantage over me! Let others ascribe their Victories to their own Faithfulness, as for me, I will ascribe them only to they Paternal Care. I have too often found my own Frailty and Weakness, and too much to my cost, experienced what I should be without Thee, to presume in the least upon my own Care and Watchfulness. 'Tis to Thee I owe all, O my Deliverer! And I greatly rejoice that I do owe it to Thee.

He operates what He speaks in the Soul. This ineffable Word communicates to the Soul in which it resides a Facility of speaking without Words. 'Tis the Speech of the Word in the Soul; the Speech of the Soul by the Word, the Speech of the Blessed in Heaven. O how happy is the soul to whom this ineffable Speech is communicated! A Speech which makes itself understood in the same manner to Souls, so that amongst them it expresses it self without speaking, and this Expression causes Union of Grace, Peace and Sweetness, and is productive of such Effects as Experience only can declare: O if Souls were pure enough to speak in this manner, they would participate beforehand of the Language in Heaven!

She having from the Time of her Conversion, or being turn'd to God in herself, being then somewhat above twenty Years old; went through many Trials and Proving both inward and outward, at Home and Abroad, it pleased God when she was Twenty Eight years of Age to deprive her of her Husband, and leave her a solitary widow.

During her Abode and Retirement in the remote Parts of France, she writ several Pieces, which express'd the Ardor and noble aspirings of her Love to God, in a lively and feeling manner: They were at first handed about in Manuscript, then copied and dispersed without her Knowledge. A Friend of hers caused one of them, entitled, A short and easy Method of Prayer, to be printed at Grenoble, one Chapter of which, being address'd peculiarly to Pastors and Preachers, we thought the Salutary and excellent Advice contain'd in it, deserv'd a Translation, and is as follows; If those who are concern'd with the Conversion of souls strove to win their Hearts, by directing them to silent Prayer and an inward Life, they would make many durable and lasting Conversions: But so long as they lay hold of them only by the Outside, and instead of drawing Souls to Christ by an Occupation of the Heart in Him, load them with abundance of Precepts about exterior Exercises and Performances, very little Fruit comes of it, and that but of small Duration. If the Country Curates were zealous in instructing their Parishioners after this manner, they very Shepherds in tending their Flocks would have the Spirit of the ancient Anchorets: And Plowmen in following the Plough would hold a blessed Communion with God. Handicraftsmen fatigued with Labour would from hence gather eternal Fruits: All sorts of Wickedness would soon be banished, and the whole Parish would become spiritual.

Ah! When the Heart is once gain'd, all the rest is soon amended. Therefore it is God principally calls for the Heart. By this Means only Drunkenness, Cursing and Swearing, Uncleanness, Hatred, Theft, Things which too much abound amongst Country People, would be taken away: Jesus Christ would Reign in Peace everywhere, and the Face of the Church would be renewed. Heresies sprung up in the World when this inward Way was lost; and were that but renewed and re-establish'd, it would quickly put an End to them. Error lays hold of Souls only for want of Faith and Prayer: If our Erring Brethren were taught singly to believe and betake themselves to inward and silent Prayer, instead of disputing with them, they would easily be brought to God.

O the inexpressible Losses caused by a neglect of this Inward Way! O what Account will these Persons have to give to God, who take the Charge of Souls, but neglect to discover this hidden Treasure to those whom they serve with the Ministry of the Word!

Some excuse themselves by saying, there is danger in this Way, or that simple People are incapable of Things spiritual: But the Oracle of Truth assures us the Contrary, saying, The Lord loveth the Simple. But what Danger can there be in walking in the only Way which is Jesus Christ, giving ourselves unto Him, Eying Him continually, putting our whole Confidence in Him, and striving with all our might after his purest Love.

So far is it from being true, that simple People are incapable of this Degree of Perfection, that they are more fit for it, because they are more teachable, humble, and innocent; and as they reason but little, they are therefore not so much wedded to their own Understanding. And being also without Learning, they let themselves be more easily moved by the Spirit of God; whereas others who are clogg'd and blinded by their Self-sufficiency, resist the divine Inspiration a great deal more. And God has also told us, that, Tis to his little ones that He gives the Understanding of the Law. And he assures us likewise, That he loves to converse familiarly with the Simple. The Lord preserveth the Simple: I was brought low and He helped me. Let therefore spiritual Fathers take care they hinder not little Children from coming to Jesus Christ. Suffer said He, to his Apostles, little Children, and forbid them not to come unto me; for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus Christ had not said this to His Apostles, but because they would have hindred the Children from coming to Him. The Remedy is often apply'd to the Body, when the Malady is in the Heart.

The Reason why so little Reformation is made among the People, especially the Working Sort, is, because they are set about outward Performances, and every thing of That Kind soon passes away: But if at first one gave them the Knowledge or Key of the Inward Way, the outside would afterwards be reformed most easily and naturally. And this is very easy to be done: Do but teach them to seek God in their hearts; to think on Him; to return to Him finding themselves gone astray; to do and suffer all things with a Design to please Him, this is directing them to the Source of all Graces, and helping them to find there all that's necessary for their Sanctification.

You are therefore most earnestly intreated, O all you who have the Charge of Souls, straightways to put them into this Way, which is Jesus Christ, and 'tis He who intreats it of you, by the Blood which He has shed for those Souls He has intrusted you with. Speak ye to the Heart of Jerusalem. O Dispensers of His Graces! O Preachers of His Word! O Ministers of His Sacraments! Establish His Kingdom, and to establish it truly, make Him Reign over Hearts! For since 'tis the Heart only which can oppose itself to his Empire, 'tis by the Subjection of the Heart, that His Government is mostly honoured. Give ye Glory to God's Holiness, and He shall become your sanctification. Make ye particular Catechisms, to teach them to pray, not by Reasoning and Method, (simple People not being capable of this) but a Prayer of the Heart, and not of the Head; a Prayer of the Spirit of God, and not of Man's Invention.

Alas! Men will be making studied Prayers; and while they seek to adjust them too much, they render them impossible. They have driven away the Children from the best of Fathers, in trying to teach them a Language too refin'd. Go poor Children, speak to your heavenly Father in your natural Language, how course and mean forever it be, 'tis not so to Him. A Father loves a Supplication which Love and Fear may put in disorder, better than a dry vain and empty Speech well studied. O how some Glances and Looks of Love charm and ravish Him! They express infinitely more than any Language or Reasoning can do.

Men, going about to teach, by Method, how to love even Love himself, have lost in a great measure this very Love. O how unnecessary it is to teach an Art to love! The Language of Love is unintelligible and barbarous to him who does not love, but very plain and natural to him who loves, and we cannot learn better how to love God than by loving Him. In this Science the dullest often become the most expert, because they go more simply and cordially about it. The Spirit of God does not want our Adjustments; He takes when He will Shepherds and makes Prophets of them, and is so far from shutting the House of Prayer against any one, as some imagine, that he leaves the Door open to everybody, and Wisdom is bid to cry in public Places. Whose is Simple let him turn in hither; as for him that wanteth Understanding, the faith unto him, come eat of my Bread and drink of the Wine which I have mingled. And does not Jesus Christ thank his Father, That He hath hidden His Secrets from the Wise, and hath revealed them to Babes.

We have heard, what Advice and Instruction, this Lady has given to Pastors and Teachers, and how ardently she invites Persons of all Ranks and Degrees, to Taste how good the Lord is, to turn their Minds inward to Him, but above all to love Him; to this we think proper to annex the Advice she gave, in a Letter, to one who was design'd to be a Preacher, in answer to one of his.

Sir, Your Simplicity and Candour mightily please me, What you write to me concerning your State and Condition, adds to the Dislike I always have of those who put their Children into Employments and Callings, before they are capable of choosing for themselves. But since you are not at Liberty to disengage your self from your present State, you must endeavour to make some use of it. Now I cannot think that you are obliged to preach often: However, to make Use of your State, such as it is, I would observe these particulars.

1. Not to preach Controversy: For it often happens that such preach Falsehood, when they believe they are preaching the Truth; besides, nothing dries and narrows the Heart so much as that.
2. Never preach to make Ostentation of your Learning and Knowledge, nor your Eloquence; but preach the Gospel simply, above all, the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. Give them to understand that the Kingdom is near at Hand; that the Source of all the Disorders which are in the World, (among those who profess to believe the Gospel) is their neglect and forgetfulness of that Saying of Jesus Christ. Had they but given heed to it, they would have seen it their incumbent Duty, to have fought for this Kingdom in the Place where Jesus Christ told us it was, that is, within us. Whenever we seek it there in simplicity, and with a real Introversion of our Minds to God, we never fail of finding it there.
3. This Introversion of our Minds, is the Beginning of the Ways of God, which all Christians should be first taught. Then teach them to recollect themselves often and be Silent, and seek as David says, the Face of the Lord. There are hardly any Persons that are desirous to seek God in their Hearts, in a sincere and upright manner, but what find him there. We all of us, are the Temples of the Living God, where he desires to dwell more than in Temples made by Men's Hands. 'Tis the Temple he himself has built, in which He exercises a perpetual Priesthood.
4. O! How Men are to be pitied who are ignorant of these great Truths. They honour God with their Lips, but their Heart is far from Him. Thus being turn'd outward, they know nothing but what affects their Senses; they are given up to their Enemies, which are unclean Spirits, the Lust of the Flesh, the Lust of the Eye, and the Pride of Life; and they are led and acted by Covetousness, Vanity, and a boundless Ambition. They live as without God, and as if they were born only for this World. If they pay any Worship to God, 'tis so very superficial that it makes no Impression on them; and all their Lives long they forget that God, who is so near them, as that they might enjoy and possess Him every Moment. God has created them on purpose to make them infinitely happy by possessing Him, and they make themselves extremely miserable, by striving to possess all things out of Him; but yet they possess nothing in those things which they believe they possess, because, whatsoever is out of us is not truly possess'd, and whatsoever may be taken from us, or that we may lose, is not really ours; but that which is in us, and in which we are. This Happiness is so great, and the Possession so certain, that Jesus Christ assures his Apostles, that No man can deprive them of their joy.
5. O! What Good you would do with such Sermons. But to render them efficacious, they must be the Product of your Love and entire Obedience to the Spirit of God, and must flow from a real inward Experience. They must not be the Fruits of a dry and mere Speculative Study, which causes us to deceive our selves by the glimmering Lights of our own Minds, and unwillingly to deceive others. I pray God to give you not only the Knowledge of what I tell you, but moreover, to put you in a Situation the most convenient for his Glory and your own good. 'Tis an excellent Thing in the Beginning, and for a good time afterwards, to keep a close Retirement, in order to be fill'd with the Spirit of God, and then to communicate of it to others; For no Man can give what is but barely necessary for himself, not being yet arrived to the Source where he that is arrived, may always give, and shed abroad without being empty'd. But O! The Fruit a Man produces, when in preaching he lets himself be mov'd by the Spirit of God! The greatest good of all is to gain souls to Him, who has redeem'd them with His Blood: But the Misery of it is, Men do not profit with this precious Blood for want of knowing how to use it. If you preach in this manner, you will find that your Sermons, far from exhausting you, will fill you more and more with God, who loves to give abundantly of what we shed abroad for his Glory only, without seeking ourselves.

To this excellent and salutary Advice for a Preacher, we shall subjoin part of another Letter which she writ to a Person of some eminence in the Church; by which the Extensiveness of her View, the Vastness of her Spirit, and the strong Desire she had to see the Reign of Christ establish'd in all Hearts, will clearly be discern'd.

Sir, The Primitive Disciples of Christ, were all of them inward and spiritual, and when Jesus Christ said to them, It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you: He intended thereby to draw them off from that which was sensible, tho very Holy, and to prepare their Hearts to receive the Fullness of the Holy Spirit, which he look'd upon as the One thing necessary. Nor did He give them many Prayers as John did his Disciples. And 'twas not but at their solicitation that he gave them that One, which contains the whole spiritual Progress in a very wonderful manner: And he even then prevents and stops them from using it, saying, When thou prayest, enter into thy Closet, (which is nothing but the Heart), and when thou hast shut thy Door, (which signifies inward Retirement), pray to thy Father which is in secret. And in another Place, He tells them, they should speak but little, because the Father knows what they want before they ask him.

O Sir! How much it is to be wish'd that all might live in and by God. We may hope that this one Day, come to pass, since we see already, that in those Persons who are become inward and spiritual, and in whom Jesus Christ reigns, every thing that is outward falls from their Hand, without taking the least Notice of what is transient, but contenting themselves with what is wrought in them.

'Tis Sir, of very great Consequence to prepare Souls for the Reign of God in them, making them to look upon him as present in them, and not to let themselves be diverted from that Great Object, but as little as possible. And when the Weakness, and Rovings of their Thoughts and Imagination, divert them from it, they must retire inwards, by an Act of Desire and Love. If Souls were accustom'd to that, they would soon become spiritual. But alas, Pastors tell them not a Word about it, but on the Contrary, turn those aside who have a Drawing towards it.

If Souls were thus turn'd, there would be none, but what, in their Conversion from sin to Grace, would become inward and spiritual. We have seen this Experiment try'd, and in Places where such Pastors have been, All, even to the very Children, have been spiritual.

This then is the Way that Pastors, in what Part of the World soever they be, ought to direct Souls, that so they may prepare, as St. John did, The Way of the Lord: Every Mountain and Hill is brought low, by taking away all Love of our own Excellence, which has a great liking to extraordinary Ways and Performances, in which the Devil and Nature rest satisfy'd, and find their Account. Every Valley is fill'd by being occupied in God, and Jesus Christ only; for every thing that is not God, tho' it seem to fill the Heart, leaves but a sad Vacuity very different from the Humility and Annihilation which the real Fullness of God works. For we ought to know that the more God fills the Soul with Himself, the more he empties it of every thing that is not himself; so that all other Objects disappear to the Eye of the Soul, and the Soul finds a Void in which the Pure Light is. Every thing that stops or bounds the Light, gives it a Reflection and Distinction; but that which bounds it not, gives it an immense clearness and purity. 'Tis therefore said, That the Lord would dwell in the thick Darkness; because the Excess of his Light puts the Soul as it were in Darkness, not letting it discern any thing; and 'tis that which defends it from all Error.

I therefore conjure you, Sir, to aid and assist Souls as much as you can, and to prepare as afar off, the Reign of God in them. For we must not persuade our selves, that the Reign of God will be established by something that is Outward and splendid, but by little and little, by the inward Way. An Union of all Wills in Love, will make an Union of all the great Bodies dispers'd, which can never be united any other Way. This is the Spirit of the Church which must be spread over All according to the Predictions of the Royal Prophet. Thou sendest forth thy Spirit, they are created; and thou renewest the Face of the Earth. Psal. Civ, 30.

There are some who looking for a Reign that is outward and splendid, have remained outward themselves, and have not let Jesus Christ reign in them; and by waiting for an Event which will never happen in that manner, they do not renounce and deny themselves; they become not inward and spiritual, and so block-up the Way of that which they expect and look for. O that I could at the Expense of my Life make all the World see the Necessity of subjecting ourselves to Jesus Christ, of resigning up our Liberty, and giving Him an entire Power over us!

The Reader now sees the main Scope and Tendency of this Lady's Writings; the ardent Desire of her Soul, the Mediation of her Heart, and the Burthen of her song. All her writings Verse and Prose tend only to the Establishing Pure Love, and the Reign of Christ in the Heart. For this she travel'd in divers Places of France, conversed with the learned and the unlearned, with Bishops and Doctors, with Abbots and Abbesses; and her Travels and Conversation were often bless'd and crown'd with Success, which we shall take Notice of hereafter. But some will be curious to know since she sets so little by that which is outward in Religion, what she thought of the Invocation of Saints, and the Eucharist; Things in so high esteem with those whom she lived among and had her Education.

As to the Invocation of Saints, says she, One Day as I was thinking in my self, whence it came that the Soul which begins to be united to God tho' it finds it self united to the Saints in God, has nevertheless scarce any instinct to invoke them? It was presently put into my Mind that Domestick Servants had occasion for Recommendation and Interceders; but that the Spouse obtain'd every thing from her Husband without so much as asking any thing of him, for he prevented her by his infinite Love. O Lord how little art thou known! They examine my Actions; they say that I repeat not the Chaplet; that 'tis because I pay no Devotion to the Holy Virgin. O Holy Mary, thou knowest how much my Heart is united to thee in God, and the Union which God has made between us in himself! Yet notwithstanding I can do nothing but what Love causes me to do. I am entirely devoted to him, and whatsoever He wills.

In another place, she says, The very deep and profound Sense of God I was in, swallow'd up every Thing, I could neither see the Saints nor the Holy Virgin out of God, but I saw them all in God, not being able without difficulty to distinguish them from Him; and though I tenderly loved certain Saints, as St. Peter, St. Paul, St. Magdalene, St. Teresa, all who were inward and spiritual, yet I could not figure to my self any Ideas or Images of them, nor invoke them out of God.

At the Time wonderful Conversions were wrought, and People came from all Parts to hear and see this Lady, a Friend of hers taking Notice what an universal Esteem Persons had for her, she answer'd, "Mind what I now say to you, you will hear Cursings out of the same Mouths you have heard Blessings." How truly this was verify'd, the following Narrative will sufficiently manifest.

She was no sooner arrived at Paris, but there came Letters from the Country, exclaiming against her Doctrine, and loading her with Calumnies. Counterfeit Letters were produc'd, and she was confin'd to the Monastery of Nuns of the Visitation, in the Street St. Antoine, in the Month of January, 1688, being then about forty years old. How she was handled there will appear from Passages we shall transcribe from her Letters.

Letter, 158

They examine me about my Book, altho' I have given it up to them, to do with it what they think fit, and protect that I submit my self and my Writings, yet they don't cease to interrogate me, and I answer what the Lord inspires me with: But I am sometimes so astonish'd, to see how much the Inward Way is opposed, that I hardly know where I am, or what I do.

I can assure you, that your Soul is very precious to me, and there is not a Day passes but what I offer up my Prayers to the Lord for it. There is nothing I could not suffer that it might be reign'd to God without reserve. Let me have then this Consolation in my Trouble, that you be entirely resign'd to God without any reserve. I seek you sometimes in Him, and 'tis there I find you often: And it will be your own Fault if I don't find you there still more.

I am a Prisoner, and always kept under Lock and Key; without being suffered to speak to any body without or within, unless it be the Woman who is so kind as to tend on me: but nothing can confine an Heart that has found God, nor can any thing trouble it, because it has in every place what it loves and desires. I suffer sometimes on your Account, fearing left at an Age so tender, you should fly from God: However I resign you, as I do every thing else into His Hand, never ceasing to beg Him in the most pressing manner for your Soul. 'Tis a great Happiness to be thoroughly resign'd to Providence. 'Tis the very Repose of Life.

I recommend my Daughter to your Care: They will not so much as let me know where she is, but I hope God will take care of her. If I were a Criminal condemned to Death, they could not give more rigorous Orders: But all that does not serve to unite us more together.

We find in one of her Letters, which bears no Date, but appears to have been written to some Lady, while she was in Custody of the Person that arrested her, a very Remarkable Passage which we thought well worth the transcribing. As I have, says she, resign'd my self up to God, I am under no Concern for what they will do with me. I neither fear a Prison nor Death. The Infamy they have cast upon me would be a much greater Pain, if I took Part with my self. But fear not, if they should put me to Death, come and see me die, and do as Mary Magdalene did, who never left Him that taught her the Science of Pure Love.

By the Passage we see how perfectly she was resign'd to the Will of God, come what would come; and also the heroic Courage, which the Love of God and her own Innocence inspir'd her with: The following short Narrative is a Recapitulation of her Sufferings, and a Description of her Inward State and Condition, in the several Periods of her Life, but principally towards the latter part, and during her Imprisonment.

I shall not, says she, enter into a particular detail of that long Persecution which has made so great Noise, nor of the ten Years Confinement in Prisons, and an Exile almost as long, and which is not yet Ended, by reason of the Oppositions, Calumnies, and all sorts of Sufferings as could be thought on. There are some Facts belonging to divers Persons, too odious to be mention'd, which Charity constrains me to hide, and in this Sense it is, That Charity covers a multitude of Sins. There are others belonging to those who were seduc'd by ill minded People, whom I respect for their Piety and other Reasons, tho' they show'd too bitter a Zeal against Things they had not a true Understanding of. I shall say nothing of this sort of Respect, nor of the other out of Charity: But what I can say is, That in so long a Series of Crosses, which my Life has been full of, 'tis plain the greatest were preserv'd till last; and God who has not rejected me, by a pure Effect of his Goodness, was not willing to let the latter Part of my Life pass without a greater Conformity to that of Jesus Christ.

He was carried before several Tribunals: God was pleas'd to let me be so likewise. He suffer'd Revilings and violent Outrages without complaining, God assisted me to do so likewise: How could I do otherwise from the Sight he gave me of His Love and Goodness? By being thus made conformable to Jesus Christ, I look'd on those Things as Favours which the World looks upon as strange Persecutions. The inward Peace and Joy I felt, hinder'd me from seeing my most violent Persecutors, otherwise than as Instruments of the Justice of my God, which to me has always been adorable and lovely.

My Prison was to me a Place of Delight and Refreshment, for such a Deprivation of all Creatures gave me an Opportunity to be quite alone with God. And a Deprivation of what is counted the most necessary Things of Life, gave me a Relish of outward Poverty, which otherwise I might not have tasted. Thus I look'd upon all these great Evils in Appearance, and the universal Outcry against me, as the greatest Good of All. It seem'd to me, to be the Work of God's Hand, who was pleas'd to cover his Tabernacle with the Skins of Beasts, to hide it from the Eyes of those to whom he would not manifest it. I labour'd under * mortal Languishings, heavy and painful Sickness without Intermission. And God was pleas'd to prove me yet further, by totally forsaking me, so that for the Space of six Months, I could only say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? 'Twas then I was made willing to side with God, and to undergo all the Austerities I could devise. And when I saw God and every Creature against me, I was glad to be of their Side against my self: How then can I bewail my self, for what I suffer'd with a Love so refin'd from all Self Interest? Shall I now be concern'd for, and side with my self, after such an entire Sacrifice of Self, and all that belongs to it? No, I had much rather consecrate all my Sufferings to silence. But if God, for His Glory, would permit something of it to be known hereafter, I should adore his Judgements; but as for me, I have done with what regards my self personally.

*She takes Notice of a very malicious Attempt, on a certain Time, against her Life, by giving her something, which her Physicians, upon Inspection into what she cast up from her stomach, said was Poison; after which she had these mortal Languishings: And 'tis to be fear'd one or two or her Friends were serv'd in the like manner.

But in Relation to Prayer, I must ever contend for the Truth of its Ways. I have defended my Innocence with so much Force and Truth, as to leave no more Doubt in People's Minds, that all the Calumny that is thrown upon those who Practice it truly, and with a sincere Love, is quite false; and the Discourses of those who Calumniate them are rash, and contrary to all manner of Truth and Justice. The Stronger the Calumny is, the more happy and content is the Heart which Loves God, and he whose Conscience does not reproach him. Persecution and Calumny are only a Weight which plunges the Soul deeper in God, and makes it taste an inestimable Happiness.

I will only just take Notice, as I go along, of the State and Disposition I found my self in, during my Imprisonments. While I was at Vincennes, and under the Examination of Mr. De la Reinie, I enjoy'd as most sweet Peace, and could have been very well content to have pass'd my Days there, if it had been the Will of God. I compos'd Hymns, which the young Woman who tended me learnt by Heart as I compos'd them, and we sang, O God! They Praise together, I look'd upon my self as a little Bird which thou kept'st in a Cage for they Pleasure, and which was to sing out its Time there. The Stones of the Tower where I was, seem'd to me to be Rubies, that is, I valu'd them more than all the magnificent Things in the world. O my god, my Joy was founded upon thy Love, and the Pleasure I had in being Thy Prisoner; tho' I made not these Sort of Reflections but in composing the Hymns. My very Heart was full of that Joy which Thou givest those that Love Thee, in the midst of the greatest Trials and Sufferings.

When Things were carried to the greatest Height and Extremity, I was then in the Bastile, and when I understood how great and terrible the Outcry was against me, I said to Thee, O my God, if Thou hast a Mind to make me once more, a Spectacle to Men and Angels, Thy will be done. All that I crave of Thee is, That Thou would'st preserve Thine, and not let them be separated from Thee. Let not Principalities nor Powers, nor the Sword, ever separate us from the Love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord! As to my particular, what matter is it what Men think of Me? What matters is what they make me suffer, since they are not able to separate me from Christ Jesus, who is engraven at the Bottom of my Heart? If I displease Him, tho' I should please all Men, it would be of less value that Dirt to me. Let then all Men despise and hate me, provided I am pleasing to Him. Their strokes will but polish and refine what is defective in me, that I may be presented to Him, for whom I die Daily, 'till such Time as he comes to finish this Death: And, O my God, I pray'd to Thee to make me an Offering pure and clean in thy Blood, that I might ever long be offer'd up to Thee.

We shall now wind up this Lady's Narrative of her Life, in the Words of the Author we have several Times quoted before. "Tis observable, says he, that in this same Verbal Process, wherein Matters are carried in so outrageous a Manner against Monsieur de Fenelon, the Bishops assemble give Testimony of the Purity of Madam Guion's Life and Conversation, declaring, That as to the Abominations which were look'd upon as the Consequences of her Principles, her Innocence was never call'd in Question, that she had always testified a Detestation of them.

We shall now wind up this Lady's Narrative of her Life, in the Words of the Author we have several Times quoted before. "Tis observable, says he, that in this same Verbal Process, wherein Matters are carried in so outrageous a Manner against Monsieur de Fenelon, the Bishops assemble give Testimony of the Purity of Madam Guion's Life and Conversation, declaring, That as to the Abominations which were look'd upon as the Consequences of her Principles, her Innocence was never call'd in Question, that she had always testified a Detestation of them.

This authentic Testimonial will be an Eternal Monument to that Lady's Innocence because the Bishops assembled did not give it her, till after she had been five Years in Prison. There had been strict Enquiries made during that Time, in all the Places where she had been since her Youth: All Persons of her Acquaintance in the Provinces far and near had been examin'd: Threatening, Promise and Prisons had been employ'd to engage her tow Maid Servants, Witnesses for many Years of her Conduct, to say something to her disadvantage. She her self had been carried from Prison to Prison, in Order to shake her Resolve oblig'd to undergo divers captious Interrogatories before different Judges. She had been carried from Prison to Prison, in Order to shake her Resolution; from Vincennes to Vaugirard, from Vaugirard to the Bastile. Notwithstanding this, the Verity of her Answers, the Purity of her Manners, and the Uniformity of her Conduct for so many Years together, forc'd this Acknowledgement of her Innocence from a Numerous Assemble of Bishops, under the Guidance of Monsieur de Meaux.

She remain'd however, three Years in Prison, Sick and in a Suffering Condition; after the Persecution against Monsieur de Cambray was over. She continually begg'd that her Crime might be specify'd and prov'd. But her Enemies not being able to make any Thing appear against her, She was at length discharg'd out of Custody and exil'd to Blois. She liv'd there near twelve Years, honour'd and respected for her good Understanding, sincere Piety, pure and modest Virtue, even by those who had the strongest Prejudices against her. Monsieur de Cambray continued always to have the same Friendship and Esteem for her, and the same Confidence in her. She died at length at Blois to the tender Regret of her Family, and all of her friends.

We are persuaded some of our Readers will be glad to hear the last Expressions of this excellent Lady, nay, we think they will even be ravish'd, to hear how melodiously, she sang of the Dealing of the Lord to her Soul; and how prophetically she spake of the Reception which People of another Climate, and a different way of Worship should give to Pure Love and the inward Worship of God in Spirit and in Truth, which her own Nation and People had rejected the offers of, and set at naught.

The Following, which we hope was very much if not more peculiarly intended for our Nation, is a most remarkable Ejaculation of her Soul, and worthy our greatest Notice: 'Tis a pathetic Discourse or rather the Voice of an Angel just about to be enrob'd with Light and Immortality, address'd to a People of a different way of Worship from those amongst whom she liv'd; in which she compares her self to the Samaritan Woman, to whom Christ manifested Himself, in so particular and eminent a Manner at Jacob's Well; inflaming her Heart so with the Love of Himself That she left her Water-pot and went her way into the City, and saith to the Men, come see a Man which told me all Things that ever I did: Is not this the Christ? And her Words had so great a Reach, and took such Place with the Samaritans, that they went out of the City and came unto him? After which, They said unto the Woman, now we believe, not because of thy Saying; for we have heard him our selves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the World, And they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there Two Days.

Wonderful Effect this, says the famous Quesnelle, of one Word of our Saviour upon the Heart of a Woman, who becomes the Apostle of her Country, He must certainly have spoke to other Ears than those of the Body, since He is more a Master of her Heart than her self, and since she forgets every Thing to bear the Tidings of Him to her Country-men. He follows her with Mind and Heart, He acts in her Heart; He is occupied with the Zeal that hurries her to the Town, He is upon her Tongue to bless the Word of Eternal Life, which she declares to them of her own Experience; He seeks among that People, those whom his Father had given him, that He might draw them to Himself; He offers them up to His Father; He prays for them; He operates in their Hearts, to make them Docile and Obedient to the Voice of this Woman.