You love the Faith, and would not willingly suffer a single thought
contrary to it to enter your mind; but the moment one so much as occurs to
you you are saddened and troubled by it.

"You are too jealous of your purity of Faith. You fancy that everything
that touches it must taint it.

"No, my daughter, let the wind blow, and do not think that the rustling of
the leaves is the clash of arms. A little while ago I was standing near
some beehives, and some of the bees settled on my face. I wanted to brush
them off with my hand. 'No,' said a peasant to me, 'do not be afraid, and
do not touch them, then they will not sting you at all; but if you touch
them they will half devour you.' I took his advice, and not one stung me.

"Believe me, if you do not fear these temptations, they will not harm you;
pass on and pay no heed to them."


UPON CONFIDENCE IN GOD.

On this subject I must relate a charming little instance of our Blessed
Father's perfect confidence in God, of which he told me once with his
accustomed simplicity, to the great consolation of my soul, and one which
I was delighted afterwards to find related in a letter addressed to one of
his most intimate friends.

"Yesterday," he said, "wishing to pay a visit to the Archbishop of Vienne,
I went on the lake in a little boat, and felt very happy in the thought
that my sole protection, besides a thin plank, was Divine Providence. The
wind was high, and I was glad, too, to feel entirely under the command of