any regard to their Christian morality, condemns all those who do not agree with her in articles of faith, and, therefore, makes the attainment of salvation, through Christ, solely dependant on certain points of belief, and the observance of particular rites.

CHAPTER VIII.

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THE next morning, when Antonio met Henry, he gradually led the conversation to the Bible, and, at length, asked him, if he had read the New Testament. When Henry answered, that he had been familiar with it from his youth, Antonio expressed great joy, and added, that he hoped Henry would be able to answer several questions, which had, for some time, weighed on his mind. Not religious scruples?" asked Henry peevishly. "Certainly!" answered Antonio. "I can discover nothing of so many points, which, from my earliest youth, I have been taught to consider as necessary parts of Christianity, and am, therefore, very doubtful whether all these are true, and who may have introduced them. You would oblige me very much if you could give me some account and elucidation of this subject, which you, as you have received a liberal education, and have studied at the University, will certainly be able to do."

Henry. You require too much of me, Antonio; I have been educated in the Lutheran Church, and have only, a year ago, turned to the Orthodox Roman Church. I am, therefore, myself but a novice, who must seek instruction, and I cannot give you information upon every point.

Antonio. I know that you became a Roman Catholic last year. Then you have made a true salto mortale. I find it very difficult to continue a Roman

ance. This you will certainly be able to do, as all those scruples which agitate me, must likewise have presented themselves to your mind, and have been surmounted by you.

Henry. Go, dear Antonio, banish such scruples, and adhere to the faith of your fathers in pious simplicity.

Antonio. Pardon me; this advice you have your self not followed.

Henry. There you are right. But I had studied, and was, therefore, well versed in the learned controversies of theologians: you have no previous knowledge of the subject.

Antonio. Ah! since I have repeatedly read the New Testament, I do not find myself, by any means, as ignorant as I formerly was. I certainly meet with much that I do not comprehend, because I have not studied; but the discourses of Jesus I understand perfectly, and I see that it is by no means difficult to learn from Scripture, what we are to believe and to do, in order to become true Christians, and to obtain eternal life. (With animation.) I do not see at all, why, with us, the reading of the Bible is prohibited. *Henry. But many persons have, through the perusal of the Scriptures, become heterodox. Beware not to fill your head with idle surmises.

Antonio. Heterodox?-Does not that mean foolish in belief?

Henry. Not exactly that; but to believe otherwise than the established doctrines of the Church requires.

Antonio. Well, indeed, that has already happened to me, and just therefore I wished to have an explanation from you. But do not make yourself uneasy about my vain surmises. I assure you, that the doubts which have arisen in my mind, from the perusal of the New Testament, cause me no uneasiness; but, on the contrary, all that I have learnt from it, consoles, and, I think, improves me. At least, I have since been extremely cheerful. Have you not perceived that?. r

1 Henry. Well, and what have you learnt, that makes you so cheerful?.......

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Antonio. But You will, perhaps, smile at me. Henry. Now you are for once foolish in belief. Antonio. Well, then, you shall hear!-It is the passage in St. Matthew, chap. xix. 16-19. where it is said:" And behold one came and said unto him, good master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, why callest thou me good, there is none good but one, that is God: but if thou wilt enter unto life, keep the Commandments. He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said: Thou shalt do no murder, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness. Honour thy father and thy mother; and, thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." This passage has made me very cheerful. You shall hear how this happened.

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It was about six years ago that we celebrated, in Naples, the Passion Week and Good Friday. My heart was full of the sufferings and death of our Lord, and I was so melancholy and dejected, that I could not remain in the streets of the city, and, towards evening, I ascended Mount Elmo, which overlooks Naples and the sea. Then I lay down under a tree. All around me was hushed; the sun sank in silent majesty into the distant floods of the ocean, and the blue dome of heaven darkened above me. Yonder

thought I-the Redeemer is now in splendour and glory, and no earth-worm, in the form of Pharisee or Priest, is able to cloud his brightness. But where may that heaven be, which has received the Saviour, after his sufferings; that heaven, where I also am to enter to joy everlasting!-I gazed upward as far as my eye could reach, but I saw no boundary. My sight aspired higher and higher, my ideas struggled; but eternity lay before me. My thoughts were lost. An inexpressible longing for the life of the blessed re

fountain of light, had set; the roseate tints of evening grew pale; night arose in the east ;-now the evening star glimmered in the west, brighter and brighter, till it shone in the heavens in silver lustre, like a pure and consecrated taper. In this lovely star, thought I in my ignorance, perhaps heaven may be! The paradise of the blessed may display itself in such pure and silent brightness! My imagination soared from earth to this beautiful paradise, and I walked with angels and saints, and with my dear parents, amidst its groves. How happy I felt! I took of the tree of knowledge, and ignorance and folly fell like scales from my eyes. I ate of the tree of life, and felt that henceforth I should no more be subject to age, and that sickness and death had lost their power over me. I was blessed; I forgot the world,-it was the happiest moment of my life! But the chill of the night-dew awakened me from my dreams, and drew me down again to the earth. Then it seemed as if paradise were lost to me for ever;-I was Adam, when he had been driven from the garden of Eden. To enter there was the glowing desire which remained in my bosom.

-But where is the path that will lead me thither? Who can give me a pledge that I shall find it?"Alas!" I loudly and painfully exclaimed, "if thou, oh my Saviour, didst still walk here below, or if I had lived in the days of thy sojourning upon earth, then I might have inquired of thee, and have heard from thy lips, what I must do to obtain eternal life! It certainly was a foolish wish. I acknowledged this to myself. But still it continued fixed in my soul, and was often awakened anew at the view of the eveningstar, like a longing for home at the thoughts of our native land. But, behold! in the days when the Saviour sojourned among men, a youth had the same desire that I had, and approached the Lord with the question, "What must I do to inherit eternal life ?"How I bless the Holy Evangelist, that he has recorded the answer which the Redeemer returned. Now I