R. HATHAWAY writes to us as follows:
“The movement among priests in France still continues, and seems indeed to be a work of God, as in many cases it appears to take place with very little of direct human agency.
“Last year, I heard that the priest of a village near here had left the Romish Church, on account of its errors; and I therefore invited him, through a friend, to come and stay with me for a few weeks. This he did; and I was pleased to find him a man of remarkable frankness and simplicity, a genuine Nathanael. Strange to say, he had never been brought into close contact with a Protestant in his life, and knew very little about what they hold; but simply by the work of the Spirit on his conscience, he had been led to feel the unsatisfactoriness of Romish doctrine, and was sincere enough to refuse to go on teaching what he could not honestly believe himself. I am thankful to say that, in a few days’ time, by the means of our daily Bible reading and prayer, together with the help of a few books that I lent him, he was able to lay hold of Christ Jesus as his own Saviour, and to pass gently and quietly from darkness into light. His joy and peace were very touching, as well as the simple manner in which he related his experience, at one of our cottage meetings.
“While staying with us, he wrote a letter to a religious magazine, of which the following is a free translation:
“My parents were strict Catholics. I was brought up in a religious college, and afterwards ordained priest. Till now, I never had the opportunity of making the acquaintance of those whom the Romish Church brands as ‘heretics’ and ‘tools of the devil.’ I mean Protestants. It is quite recently that I have left the Romish Church, which I did from the craving that I felt for the real truth, which truth I could not find in the precepts of the Church, nor in the decrees of bishops.
“‘How I used to suffer, for instance, when I was called to the bedside of one who was dying, and yet felt unable to tell him anything about the one important matter of his soul’s salvation. I used to go home intensely miserable, and in such trouble of soul that I certainly should have finished by drifting into absolute skepticism, if the light of salvation had not at last shone upon me. The Romish Church does a great deal to put purgatory and hell before her children; but when it is a question of heaven, all she can say is ‘Perhaps, perhaps.’ But is there any question which demands such absolute certainty? And yet it is just here where the Romish Church is most vague. For instance, how can a Catholic ever be sure that the amount of his good works is sufficient? Who can tell him? Even if he has procured all the ‘indulgences’ possible, he is still in doubt on this one important point. And the priest, when he is questioned, can only answer with a melancholy ‘Perhaps.’
“But shortly after giving up my position as priest, I received a kind invitation from a Protestant family at Chasseneuil. To speak the honest truth, I must confess that I felt great misgivings when the day actually came for my going to stay with these people, for was still a slave to the prejudices in which I had been brought up, so that it is only just now that I have at last shaken off the chains in which I had been so hopelessly held prisoner.
“‘But, oh, what a change has since taken place in me! My soul has at last found the peace after which it so longed. The helpful example and the strong faith of these friends with whom I am staying, have greatly assisted me in my search after the truth. Their prayers have been answered, and God has been gracious to me.
“I can hardly explain what I felt when for the first time in my life I heard real prayer. I was intensely astonished to hear even young Christians, with little secular education, speak to God in all boldness, and with wonderful faith and simplicity of heart. I can now understand why people speak about Roman Catholics always going over the same prayers that have been composed by other people, and which cannot be the exact expression of one’s personal feelings and wants.
“‘I thank the Lord for having allowed me to take part in such meetings, which have helped me, I believe, into a new view of things; and my desire now is to see my fellow priests courageous enough to enter such places of worship, and to be present at such meetings, from which they have been shut out, under pain of excommunication. They would be as touched as I am, by seeing the faith with which these Christians pray. New ideas would open up before them, and they would carry away with them the conviction that peace and trust are indissolubly linked with assurance of salvation in Christ.’
“Sufficient time has now elapsed to prove the reality of this dear man’s conversion, and he is at present in training to be himself a messenger of the gospel to others.
“Nor did his visit end with his own conversion. He wrote the good news to a fellow priest, with whom he had often had long conversations about the unsatisfactory state of things in the Romish Church. The result was that this other priest also came and stayed a day or two with us, and was himself, in turn, led boldly to come out of Romanism, after writing to his bishop a full statement of his reasons for doing so; and he is now endeavoring to set forth the truth in the very village, where he was preaching error for so long a time.
“I do not print the names of these two, as I find that English Jesuits are so active that they at once get hold of such information, and do much mischief; but I shall be happy to give full particulars to any who may like to write to me.”