young friend.  But her confessor soon found out that some change was going on in her mind, and told her father.  There were only two ways to save her soul from utter ruin; one was to give her absolution and kill her before she got entirely out of the holy mother church; the other, was to send her to the Ursuline convent at Naples, where by the zeal and piety of those celebrated nuns, she might be secured from further heresy.

From this, the best friend of my school days, I learned more about God’s word, and virtue, and truth, and the value of the soul, than from all other sources.  There was a garden surrounded by a high wall, in which we frequently walked, and whispered to each other, though we trembled all the while for fear our confessor would by some means, find out that we looked upon the Romish church as the Babylon destined to destruction, plainly spoken of by St. John the revelator.

My young friend stood in great fear of the priests; she trembled at the very sight of one.

Her aunt had read to her the history and sufferings of the persecuted Protestants of Europe.  She was a frail, and timid girl, yet such was the depth of her piety and the fervor of her religious faith, that she often declared to me that she would prefer death to the abandonment of those heavenly principles she had embraced, which were the source of her joy and hope.  Her aunt gave her a pocket New Testament, in the Italian language, which she prized above all the treasures of earth, and carried with her carefully, wherever she went.  I borrowed it and read it every opportunity I had.  Several chapters I learned by heart.  I took much pains to commit to memory all I could of the blessed book, for in case of our separation, I knew not where I could obtain another.  My god-father who was a bishop, called to see me on my fifteenth birth day, and presented me with a splendid gold watch and chain richly studded with jewels, made in England, and valued at 200 scudi, saying that he had it imported expressly for my use.  I had also several diamond articles of jewelry, presents I had received from my father from time to time.  I had also, in my purse, 100 scudi in gold, which I had saved from my pin money.  All the above property, I should have cheerfully given for a copy of the Holy Bible, in my own beautiful Italian language.  A few months after I received the rich present from the Bishop, he called with my father and my confessor to see me.  My heart almost came into my mouth when I saw them alight from my father’s carriage, and enter the chapel door of the convent.  Very soon the lady porter came to me and said, “Signorina, you are wanted in the parlor.”