greatest advantage from it. This is what he wrote to Father Mumford in 1649: —
" I write, Father, to inform you of the miraculous and twofold cure of my son and my wife. During the holidays, whilst my office was closed, I set to work reading the book, ' Mercy Exercised towards the Souls in Purgatory,' which you have sent me to print. I was still engaged in reading the work when I was informed that my young son, four years of age, showed symptoms of a serious illness. The malady made rapid progress, the physician lost hope, and preparations for his burial were already thought of. It occurred to me that I might perhaps save him by making a vow in favour of the souls in Purgatory.
" I went to church early in the morning, and fervently besought God to have pity on me, promising by a vow to distribute a hundred copies of your book among the ecclesiastics and Religious free of charge, in order to remind them of the zeal with which they should interest themselves in behalf of the Church Suffering, and of the practices that are best suited to fulfil this duty.
" I acknowledge that I was full of hope. Upon my return home I found the child better. He already asked for nourishment, although for several days he had been incapable of swallowing even a single drop of liquid. The following day his cure was complete: he arose, went out for a walk, and ate with as good an appetite as if he had never been sick. Penetrated with gratitude, my most urgent desire was to fulfil my promise. I went to the College of the Society of Jesus and besought the Fathers to accept my hundred copies, to keep what they wanted for themselves, and to distribute the remainder among the other communities and ecclesiastics of their acquaintance, that the suffering souls, my benefactors, might be comforted by new suffrages.
" Three weeks later, another and not less serious accident happened to me. My wife upon entering the house was
