possess yourself of it. I cannot say anything with regard to such unhappy persons. It is not for me to judge how far there may be Christians among them. The Lord knoweth them that are his,'" said Mr. Lorraine, gravely.

"Now there is one more question I want answered before I go. How do you account for really clever men leaving your Church and joining ours? They cannot do it from ignorance," inquired Raymond.

"I have no difficulty in accounting for it. They have not, as the Bible tells us, 'received the truth in the love of it, therefore God has sent them strong delusion that they may believe a lie.' 'God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the wise and prudent.' They are not under the power and influence of God's Holy Spirit, for his office is to 'guide into all truth.'"

Raymond rose to leave Mr. Lorraine as he spoke, for the hour was late, and he had heard so much that was new to him that he desired to think over it deeply ere he retired for rest. A cordial shake of the hand, and a mutual understanding that they were to meet next day, and they parted.

CHAPTER XIII.

"Behold those jewels on his breast,
Each as a signet graved!

Close to that bosom warmly prest

Lie those by Jesus saved;

And thou art saved, whoe'er thou art,
If Jesus has thy willing heart.

A golden lamp sheds forth its ray,
The Spirit is your guide;

He shows the new and living way,
The rent veil opens wide:

A sevenfold light that lamp imparts,

And courage gives to trembling hearts."

"The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined."-Isa. ix. 2.

"The Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve."-Isa. xiv. 3.

THERE was not that difficulty with Raymond that there is generally in convincing Romanists of their error, for, like Lydia, the Lord had opened his heart to receive the truth. From the moment he believed in God he had desired to live in accordance with his word, being firmly persuaded it must be the only true, infallible guide. The Church did not cast a shadow before that and his mind long, for he ever believed God's word before the decisions of the Church,

and only so far as she was in accordance with scripture did he acknowledge her power. This, certainly, is seldom the case with Romanists. The Church comes before God. They submit with implicit faith, believe all, and know nothing. They feel no desire to study the word of God, to "prove all things," (an expression that would never have been used had an infallible Church existed). What the Church decrees,

or rather the priest, is their law; if he caution against reading the Scriptures, they are perfectly ready to believe he is right in doing so. When a Romanist is once roused to see the necessity of living according to God's word there can be little fear of the result, where the aid of God's Holy Spirit is sought in the study. This Raymond had done; he was earnest and sincere in his search for truth. His mind was unfettered by narrow-minded bigotry, and unwarped by sectarian prejudice. The Church which came nearest to the apostolical one, Raymond was resolved should be his; and the more he heard, and the more he read his Bible, the more he felt that the Church of England came the nearest to that. Still there were many doctrines peculiar to his Church yet to be discussed, before his mind could be perfectly satisfied. Of one thing he was convinced,- that Christ, and Christ alone, could save him, and for faith a living, saving faith he earnestly prayed.

Next morning, almost as soon as he was up, Brightson brought a message from Mr. Lorraine, to say, as the day promised to be fine, he should be glad if he would walk with him to Chillon.

Raymond accepted the invitation at once, not considering how weak he really was, and unable to walk so many miles. His desire to know more absorbed every other consideration. He had visited

Chillon before, but the scene continued to possess a deep interest for him. He was a great admirer of Byron, whose class of mind was somewhat similar to his own; and whose keen sense of the beautiful, rich, fertile imagination, and powerful expression of sentiment, possessed an indescribable charm for Raymond. The day was pleasant; not a breeze stirred the richly-tinted trees, or ruffled the calm of the blue lake. The friends walked briskly through the town, which is singularly uninteresting, save for the beauty of its situation. The first part of their walk was much taken up by admiration of the lovely scenery around them. The charmingly - situated villages of Clarens and Montreux, the former so well described by Byron and so much admired by Rousseau; the latter, the most sheltered as well as the sweetest village on the banks of Lake Leman. Her. bert quite charmed his companion by his brilliancy of memory in reciting beautiful poetry on this farfamed spot, as well as his freshness and enthusiasm of feeling in description, so that they did not converse for some time on the subject which made them seek each other's society. At length Raymond awoke from his trance of admiration, and the scenery passed from his mind as his anxiety returned.

"But I cannot let any more time pass by. I hope you will kindly continue the subject of which we were speaking last night; that is, if I am not trespassing too much on you," he inquired.

"You will never do that, Mr. Raymond. It is a privilege and a pleasure always. But you must not expect too much from me. I only trust, with the blessing of God, I may be made the means of clearing up some of your doubts; but I cannot always think of everything I ought to say, so that you must

bear with me. Shall we speak of the sacraments first? I suppose you have been taught to believe

in seven?"

"Yes: ordained by Christ himself."*

"It is quite clear to me that Christ ordained but two-Baptism and the Supper of our Lord. When the first was instituted you will find in Matt. xxviii. 19; and the latter, in Luke, xxii. 19, 20. But in no other part of scripture will you find the other five spoken of as sacraments; and the statements of Romanism in proof are so vague and absurd that an intelligent reader of scripture must see their fallacy. In an authorised Catechism it is declared to be uncertain when three of the five were ordained.† The other two cannot be proved from scripture at all; the passages given in support of them do not, in the least, prove them sacraments. The statements made by different authorities of Rome are so contradictory, that it is difficult clearly to define what she does believe with regard to these sacraments. At all events, I think you will agree with me that, as they cannot be proved to be ordained by Christ, they are not means of grace, and, consequently, it is unscriptural to believe in them as such. An illustration of the real necessity for the two sacraments has often presented itself to my mind; for I do believe Baptism and the Supper of the Lord to be 'generally necessary to our salvation.' When our Saviour was pierced, blood and water flowed from his riven side. It has seemed to me a type of those sacraments-baptism, by the water; the Eucharist - the blood, which

* See Article III. in Creed of Pius IV.

See Dr. Doyle's Abridgment of Christian Doctrine.

See, for Penance, John, xx. 22, 23; for Holy Orders, Luke, xxii. 19.