The works of John Dryden, $c now first collected in eighteen volumes. $p Volume 16 by John Dryden
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page 140 of 503 (27%)
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him to keep silence. He published, in all places, the bounty of his
benefactor; and the pieces of gold were found to be so pure and fine, that it was not doubted but they were miraculous. But perhaps nothing is more admirable, than what passed betwixt the Father and John Duro, or Deyro, as some have called him. He was a man of about five-and-thirty years of age, who had formerly borne arms; afterwards became a merchant and owner of a ship, very wealthy and fortunate in all his traffic; all which notwithstanding, he was ill satisfied with the world, uneasy to himself, unquiet in the midst of all his wealth, and persuaded that God alone could content his soul. He went one day to see the holy man, and told him, that for many years he had a desire of changing his condition, and of serving God as perfectly as he was able, but that two reasons had always hindered him: the one was, that he never yet could meet with any person, who was capable of shewing him the way of perfection; the other was, that he was afraid of falling into poverty. He added, that he was now out of pain concerning those two points. That for the first, he hoped he should walk surely in the way of heaven, having so able a guide as he; and for the second, he had got sufficiently for his maintenance in an honest and comfortable way, during the remainder of his life. He begged leave of Father Xavier, that he might follow him, and promised, on all occasions, to defray his charges. The Father made Deyro understand, how far he was yet from the kingdom of heaven; that, to arrive at perfection, he must perform what our Saviour counselled the young man, who seemed willing to follow him, that is to say, he must practise these words in the literal sense, "sell all thou hast, and give it to the poor." Deyro, thus undeceived, immediately desired the Father to take all his goods, and distribute them amongst the poor; but the Father would neither do what Deyro had proposed to him, nor |
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