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On this Page 6
From tlie
: Curate to the Convent.
CHAPTER XLV.
, A VISIT-IN -WHIOH MOEE THAN, ONE INTEEEST-
. ING PACT IS ANNOUNCED.
'i ; :It :was_ Sunday evening. Mr. ; Steele j had
: finished- his evening servioe, had conversed with
somo of his people in the vestry,- on business and
on higher Bubjocts, and was retiring from the
, ch'urch alone,, Mrs. Steele having preceded him
houioi when he was folio wod by a person who had
evidently been waiting for him — a tall dark
gontleman, wearing spectacles, and buttoned up,
the collar of his coat raised, and his hat brought
down to meet it, as though he would conceal as
much of his face as , possible. When he came up
with Mr. Steele he raisod his hat and bowed
gracefully, showing at once that he was a gentle
man, and. from his manner of doing it, a foreigner.
Mr. Steele recognised in him the Frenoh master
of the Grammar School, whom he had seen
frequently walking abont, and had been intro
duced to in Mr. Montague's house. Julia Gold-
ing had kept him informed of her conversations
with the " interesting foreigner " at the Monta
gues', and of her progress with bim in the study
of the Romish controversy. She considered Mr.
Steele entitled to her confidence in this matter,
both because he was her pastor, and also because
her- knowledge of the controversy was entirely
derived from him. By this also she was enabled
to avail herself of Mr. Steele's extensive informa
tion on the subject, and to have difficulties
removed which Signor Sforza suggested in answer
to her reasonings and faots. This brought Mr,
Steele and his former pupil into frequent inter
course at Captain Golding's, . Christ Church
Parsonage, and other plaoes.
Mr. Steele was not much surprised when
Sforza asked him if he oould let him have a few
minuteB conversation with him in some retired
place, where they would be alone and unob
served. Indeed, from what he had heard Julia
say, he rather expected a visit from her " interest
ing foreigner" on more accounts than one, and
therefore, now having heard his request, he
turned back promptly with him into the church,
and proceedod to the vestry, where, having given
orders that no one should intrude on them, ho
requested Sforza to be seated and make his com
munication with all assurance that he might use
perfect freedom, and that what he said would be
regarded as strictly confidential.
Sforza had, it was evident, made groat progress
'in the acquisition of the English language, so he
found no difficulty in making himself understood.
Of oourse he still spoke with idiomatic incorrect
ness and a strong foreign pronunciation, but ho
reould' sustain a conversation very successfully.
SHe -had come to make a statemont regarding
himself to Mr. Steele, and he was at no loss for
- words to do it. He proceeded to say that, being
a foreigner and placed in trying circumstances, he
needed a friend able and willing to counsel and
Help him, and he had come to the conclusion,
from observation and the representation of others,
. that Mr. Steele conld aot in both capacities, and
i th'at he would.
Mr. Steele assured him that be made no mis
take in coming to that conclusion.
L Sforza bowed and proceeded. He was, he said,
.by parentage and family an Italian, but by birth
: a Frenchman ; hiB later years, however, had been
; spent in Italy, where his father, Count Guiooiar-
dini, held considerable property inherited from
his ancestors, to the enjoyment of which he
returned on surrendering his diplomatio employ
ment in France. A few years before his father
and mother had taken up their residence for
some months in Rome, and during that time he
(Sforza) waB taken much notice of by a professor
of the Irish College there, the Rev. Peter Curwen,
and by him persuaded to enter the Sooiety of
Jesus when he was only eighteen years of age.
His father and mother were at first averse to this
step, but Professor Curwen soon reconciled them
to it. As a Jesuit he waB of oourse soul and body
at the disposal of the general of the order, who
resides at Rome, and he, finding that he had an
aptitude for languages, and manners Buited to
good sooiety, determined to employ him in
foreign missions, and to make England hiB first
field of labour, as the general was then throwing
all his strength into that mission, from which, in
the then condition of the National Church, he
looked for the happiest results.
Sir John Pottinger, who then resided in Rome,
being about to return to England, consented, at
the request of his friend Professor Curwen (who ;
was going to England also), to take young Storza .
Guicciardini, ostensibly as tutor to his children, j
but really as an agent of the Jesuits, to be j
employed by them in any way that might appear :
most suited to his talents and opportunities, on
his arrival among the heretics whom he was
going to convert. Sir John found and reported |
that he was particularly suited for dealing with
the young, and this he judged from his success I
with his own children. The education of the t
young, therefore, it was decided should be his
department, and, accordingly, when a vacancy ;
occurred in the Grammar School, he was ordered |
to apply, for the appointment, and, aB wo have |
seen, he obtained it, the committee of the school 1
not objeoting to his being a Roman Catholic— a I
fact which might have proved disastrous to the |
Bchool, but did not, providentially, no thanks to
them. It was arranged that his surname should
be dropped, and his Christian name substituted
for it. St. Alphonsus Liguori, his patron saint,
provided him a new Christian name, so he passed
in England as Alphonsus Sforza.
Julia Golding was the instrument selected to
frustrate the designB of the Jesuits, and to tiirn
their wisdom into foolishness. Sforza, previous
to his coming to England, had stored his mind
with as much information about the country of
his future sojourn as he could. Thus he was
well posted up in her religion, laws, institutions,
commerce, political and social condition, and the
character of her people: Ho was also quite au j
fait aB regarded the causes, and effects of the
Reformation in England, the history and constitu
tion of the National Church, and the secessions
which had taken place from her ranks from time
to come. 'Tho more he studiod these subjects,
the more deeply was. ho interested in them, and
the bettor prepared .was he to judge of tho coun
try and the people. One groat difficulty he
encountered : it was the great prosperity of
England, an heretioal country, as contrasted with
the politioal and. social degradation of continental
lands, oh which the' Papal sun sheds its pure and
prolifio rays all the !yoar :round. Why the one
should flourish under the Holy Father's curse,
and the others should .wither under hiB blessing,
was a problem ..which -the -young Jesuit, with all
hiB ethical learning, 'found it impossible to solve.
When.he. arrived in England, and had seen the
. effects of. civil .and : religious 'liberty on the man
ners and habits of the ;people, tho general respect
for law and rorder,, the practioal Christianity
exemplified in the transactions of ovory-day l"e>
the care of tho . poor, tho pecuniary li b oral ity o
tho-.riob,' and the numberless institutions to
alleviating human suffering in its various features,
.he thought of the "statements made in us,0
country pf tho' condition; of things in England,
different' from what ho witnossed with his
eyes, and he was puzzled to account for it.
the truth of Popery in its religious aspect lie

no doubt. He should doubt Christianity itself if
he doubted that, because it represented the only
fcind of Christianity he was acquainted with, but
be began to question the superiority of the
political phase - that Popery assumed in dealing
with mundane things, and thought it possible
that an antagonistic system might well admit of
more national freedom, more social advancement,
and more individual intelligence and indepen
dence.
Then came Julia ; and her very appearance on
the stage of religious controversy, with all the
confidence of a practised polemic, and all the
gentleness of a school-girl, still further startled
and perplexed him. Ho had never Been anything
like it in France or Italy ; as a rule women there
do not reason, especially on religious topics. They
leave it all to their confessors. They are not
taught or encouraged to inquire or draw deduc
tions for themeelveB ; they are taught simply to
believe, not God, but the Church — that is, the
priest. To his surprise he found a young girl
who dared to think for herself, yea, and to draw
conclusions which he was not prepared to rebut.
There was no use trying to paint the face and tire
the head of Popery to impose upon her ; she was
well ablo to strip the foul harlot of her adorn
ments, and to show what a disgusting Jezebel the
world had eo long putj up with. She knew too
and could tell him where the strength of En gland
lay ; it was in her Protestantism, and that was
found in her Bible. It was Jesus Christ, the
nrnmfied and risen One. aanlnat a Lnaf. nf rlonrl

men and dead women, stone and wooden images,
rags, stiokB, stones, iaails, bones, and all that
trumpery, exercised from the regions of dark-
ness to cast their black shadow across the sinner's
path, lest the rays of the Sun of Righteousness
should shine on his soul.
Sforza retired from every conversation with
Julia stunned, bewildered, Borne would say ;
bewitched— well, in one sense he waB. He had
not come from the land of poetry and song to!
look for hours into such a sweet face as Julia's,
and to listen to her gentle voice, without feeling
the power of loveliness, tenderness, and intelli
gence. He had not week after week and month
after month had - his finger, as it were, upon her
pulse, and found it beat with undeviating regu
larity for God and His cause, for Christ and the
objects of His love, for the Holy Spirit's teaching
and testimony to the love of God in Christ,
without seeing God's work in her, and feeling
that, whatever men said of her creed or of her
ecclesiastical position, there could be no doubt
that Bhe had found favour with God, and bad in
ner daily walk the true marks of oonBeoration to
His service. He compared her with the devout
women of his communion, and discerned a marked
contrast between their ignorant barren fanaticism
and her intelligent, practical piety, which, free
from the trammels of- priestcraft, bore sterling

irum lu vjtuu o giory uuu man s present ana eternal
welfare, and be could not help perceiving that, if
the two parties are fair exponents of their respeo-
live faiths, then the religion of Julia Golding
must be immeasurably superior to that of tiie
female devotees whom he had encountered in
France and Italy.
Moreover, Julia spoke to him of the sufficiency
of Christ, a subject quite new to him, and which,:
by God's grace, specially arrested his attention.!
He had been taught to regard the Church — that,
is, the Church of Rome — as the standard of all
truth and the ground of all confidence; he;
learned from her to believe that to be a usurpa- !
tion. It was dethroning the Son of God, and set- .
ting up a monstrous figment of man's invention
in His stead. No one knew the character of the
counterfeit of Christ better than Sforza; ho had'
seen it in the Pope, in the cardinals, in the:
bishops, and in the. priests of Rome, and was pre--
pared to constrast with it the Holy One of God
when He was fairly and honestly set before him.
This waB done by Julia ; and after many and
severe strupoles he saw and bRlinvnd. TTnw/<nnld

he, under these circumstances, continue a Roman!
Catholic ? A Roman Catholic believes in the
Christ of the Church, juBt as he believes in the
Madonna of the Church, or the Peter of . the
Church, or the priesthood of the Churoh — fabul
ous oharaoters of human invention. A Christian
believoB in Jesus, God's appointed and all- suffi
cient Redeemer and Intercessor, because He sees
Him in God's Word, finds all he wants in Him,
and does not need to " look for another."
The object of Sforza'B present visit to -Mr.
Steele was twofold : first, to inform him of his
happy deliverance from RomiBh bondage, and,
secondly, to consult him about Julia. That he
was desperately in love with the ..young heretic
was now evident, and Mr. Steele was consulted as
to the course which prudence suggested under
both circumstances. Mr. Steele had listened
with deep interest to his statement, and, having .
beard it, invited the young convert to unite with
bim in prayer to God for HiB guidance, and
piaise for His wonderful deliverance. They knelt
together, and Mr. Steele commended the matter
with great earnestness to'jthe Lord, after which
they talked a little more over it. Mr. Steele
thought that Sforza should avoid all precipitation
ln making his change known. He was not now
residing at the Hall, bb ho had wished for somo
time to be more private, and perhaps had other
reasons ; therefore ho was occupying lodgings in
the town, near to- the Grammar School, where he
was in daily attendance. He told Mr. Steele
that lie sometimes quietly visited poor Major
Knox, who, he _ was glad to find, was Blowly
- recovering, and intending, for the full establish-
mea- k's health, to spend some time in Rome
r Naples. Ho was evidently reluctant to say
much about the proceedings or occupants at the
m ai?d blr. Steele did not press him.
The interview ended very satisfactorily. Mr. ,
Steele saw exactly how matters stood, and more
ban Buspocted that Julia would not in the pre
sent case provo a very ruthless ladylove.' In fact,
or some time he had had his suspicious that her
interesting foreigner " would prove a conquest
w8 'han one, and that, if vanquished in
i,- 'd of controversial encounter, he would find
liia t od uPn to offer a trophy of victory to
tri„ Jau con(3?eror- David, in-' token of his
felWPr vorTahath' carried off the head of his
hear? J.0- Jul'? wuk! bo content with the
swim? f rB| ttn- cs David used the enemv's own
Bforrn .aocmpli8h his object,; -tho help of
as oelg|m? '" "ib gobtlo seizure might
Bed v he calculated on. Mr. Steele promi-
ll ("T. rlMd'-tllat ho would use his in-
felt an i!??' -l? " 1,ight dirootion. although he
internal conviction that there was already

an influence of a- more potent kind than any he
could employ, at work iu the heart which he
desired to win.
When matters reach this point between two
yoang people, the future may easily be anticipa
ted ; only in this case there were difficulties
which could not be overlooked. Sforza was in
one sense a stranger to Captain Golding, and
although the latter had the highest opinion of
him and the greatest confidence in Julia, he waB
bound to make some inquiries concerning the
object of her affeotion, whioh it wa9 natural for
her, in her admiration of the man of her choice, to
neglect or regard, as unnecessary ; but how were
thsBO inquiries to be made? The only parties
who knew anything of his antecedents were the
people at the Hall, Sir John Pottingsr and Priest

Ourwen, just the last persons who would be likely
to give any reliable information on the subject.
It was therefore considered advisable by Captain
Golding and Mr. Steele that no step should be
taken for the present, but that Sforza should be
left to himself to make such a public avowal of
his change of religious views as would prove his
sincerity, and give suoh a satisfactory account of
himself and his family,' relations, and circum
stances as would justify J ulia's father in enter
taining his proposals . for a union with his daugh
ter. As, however, there was no reason to doubt
J ulia's discretion, no restriction was imposed on
the intercourse of the lovere.
(To be Continued.)

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