others was to speak of God; and, as I was so young, this made him
ashamed; and then, out of that great goodwill he bore me, he
began to tell me of his wretched state. It was very sad, for he
had been nearly seven years in a most perilous condition, because
of his affection for, and conversation with, a woman of that
place; and yet he used to say Mass. The matter was so public,
that his honour and good name were lost, and no one ventured to
speak to him about it. I was extremely sorry for him, because I
liked him much. I was then so imprudent and so blind as to think
it a virtue to be grateful and loyal to one who liked me.
Cursed be that loyalty which reaches so far as to go against the
law of God. It is a madness common in the world, and it makes me
mad to see it. We are indebted to God for all the good that men
do to us, and yet we hold it to be an act of virtue not to break
a friendship of this kind, though it lead us to go against Him.
Oh, blindness of the world! Let me, O Lord, be most ungrateful
to the world; never at all unto Thee. But I have been altogether
otherwise through my sins.

10. I procured further information about the matter from members
of his household; I learned more of his ruinous state, and saw
that the poor man's fault was not so grave, because the miserable
woman had had recourse to enchantments, by giving him a little
image made of copper, which she had begged him to wear for love
of her around his neck; and this no one had influence enough to
persuade him to throw away. As to this matter of enchantments, I
do not believe it to be altogether true; but I will relate what I
saw, by way of warning to men to be on their guard against women
who will do things of this kind. And let them be assured of
this, that women--for they are more bound to purity than men--if