"If you are right," said Edmond "what do you counsel those, who are thus gifted? This state must be a most critical one; but how disembarrass yourself of it?"
"By simplicity of conduct," replied the old man, "by estrangement from all passion and pride, and by pure prayer for the deliverance from this error, and from the deluding gift."
"That signifies," answered Edmond passionately and bitterly, "I ought to entreat the Lord to withdraw from me, I ought to pray to him to remain far away from me; in order to become godly, I must commence with consummate impiety. ls it thus that a priest of the Lord can exhort and counsel? but thus they are, thus they speak, these persecutors. And if they be but consistent, they must also entirely deny the miracles of their church, nay, even censure sacred Scripture as a lie."
"You have not indeed completely understood me, young man," answered the priest. "May not the ardour of love
