And this peace God did give me ; God inspired me with the happy thought. "I will go to Mr. B—," said I to myself; "he is a man of profound learning. I will hear what he will say to me; perhaps he may have some word of consolation for me." But-a Roman priest to seek a Protestant minister!—and what if some one of the clergy should see me? If the bishop should hear of it? To this my heart replied, Has the bishop your salvation in his hands? He may punish, but he cannot give eternal life. Oh! fear not him who can only kill the body, but fear Him who can kill the soul. Thus strengthened by the word of Christ, and trusting in God, I turned my steps to the house of Mr. B. ages, can I continue to celebrate it? If, so, I am a hypocrite; and better had it been for me that God had never caused the light to shine on my soul, than that I should thus reject it, or pretend not to see it. When engaged in such reflections, the grace of Jesus, which was knocking at my heart, inspired me with courage to overcome every worldly obstacle, and publicly to confess the truth, by separating from Rome without more ado. Nevertheless, worldly considerations bound me to my existing position: the fear of the distress I should occasion to my beloved parents and brothers; the fear of losing the esteem and love of many excellent persons who honoured me with their regard; the fear of being deprived of the means of subsistence, and of pass- Sir, I had not then the honour of being ing from a life of comfort to one of acquainted either with you or with Mr. penury. All these considerations weighed B. All I wanted was a man learned so on my mind, that I lived years longer in the Word of God, godly and compaswithout having the resolution to confesssionate. What I wanted was a Christian Christ. Meanwhile, the sufferings of my heart, into which I could pour my own heart increased and multiplied in propor-expanding feelings. Not finding Mr. tion to the light which my mind drank B- I betook myself to you; and in in from the holy Word. Coward! I felt you, sir, I have found a true minister of the necessity of rejecting error, and of God. The gentleness, the power, the living in the truth. Every day I pro- unction, with which you spoke to my mised to myself, "To-morrow I will re- heart, resolved all my doubts, confirmed nounce the Pope;" and the morrow found my faith, and tranquilized my mind. me a greater coward than the day before. God spoke to my heart by your mouth. God might justly have abandoned me, in You counselled me to pray, to read the punishment of my baseness; but He did sacred Word with humility, and to do not. On the contrary, it pleased the in- nothing more than my faith required of finite mercy of my God to triumph over me. You will see immediately, sir, what my cowardice, and to vanquish my un- spiritual advantage I derived from that worthy slothfulness by the abundance of visit to you. You gave me several books, His grace. and I left you, edified by your conversaOne day when more than usually dis- tion, with my heart more calm, and more tressed-not by doubt, for now I believed disposed to separate from Rome. firmly in the Gospel-but ill at ease, will remember how I told you that the owing to my false position betwixt Christ office of the priesthood was my only and the Pope-in order to calm my rest-means of living, and that I should be reless mind, I took into my hand the Gos- duced to poverty whenever I should pel. I opened it; and my eyes fell on that retire from its functions. You bade me terrible saying of the Saviour's, "What is trust in God. A few days longer I cona man profited if he shall gain the whole tinued in the duties of my ministry, but world, and lose his own soul ?" These every time I approached the altar to celeterrible but precious words affected me brate mass, I felt all the sacrilege of powerfully; I felt myself chilled to the which I was guilty, in celebrating a rite heart; I shuddered; never in my life which I believed an insult to the divinity have I experienced such tremendous agi- of Christ,-a rite which now appeared to tations! From the depth of my soul I me a mere piece of idolatry and impostprayed God my Father either to take ure. Then, a few days after I had that away the light which was shining on my conversation with you, I ceased to take mind, or to give me courage to break part in the rites of the Romish Church; finally with Rome. The sun was about and, blessed be God, I felt myself immedto rise; with my heart a prey to agita-iately more calm, my faith enlarged, and tion, with a tempest of conflicting feelings my mind more cheerful. in my soul, I rushed out of my house. I rushed out to find peace-that peace which I sought everywhere, which I asked from man-which God alone could give. You Eight days after my conversation with you, some family matters obliged me to leave Turin for a time; and if it was thus providentially arranged, that being at a distance from Turin, I could more easily get quit of the duties of the priest-ideas so opposed to the faith of Rome.' hood, I was at the same time deprived of "Sir," said I, "although my dress do not the advantage of your instructions. On speak in favour of my principles, I hope my return to Turin, about the middle of you will at present believe the proverb, October, I hastened to your house. You'It is not the frock which makes the were not at home. Resolved to break monk.' Although my dress be that of a finally with Rome, and to separate from Popish priest, my heart is, nevertheless, her, that I might live in Christ, I deter- utterly opposed to the doctrines of Rome; mined to forsake my family and my my religious convictions are no longer country, and fly to France, England, or those of the Romish priesthood; I am a America, where I might join some Protestant, I am a Christian !" "You do Christian Church, and publicly renounce not then believe," said Jouard, "either Popery. My dread of encountering the in the mass, or in confession, &c. &c." distress of my family, and the indigna- "No," I replied, "I believe only in Jesus tion of my relations, drove me to the Christ! I have faith in nothing but in resolution of removing to some foreign His blood, which propitiated for me the country, where I might freely obey my justice of God, without any concurrence conscience. of my natural strength or good works. I believe that the Christian is saved only by the righteousness and by the work of Christ, and regenerated by His Holy Spirit alone by the free-will and goodness of God, not in virtue of any human work or particular ceremony. Such is my faith; that faith by which I believe firmly that Jesus Christ paid my whole debt to God; that faith by which I believe that hell was extinguished for me by the most precious blood of Christ, who is all my righteousness, all my redemption, all my salvation." "If, then," replied Jouard, "you believe in the grace of Christ alone, you can no longer remain a priest, nor exercise the functions of the Romish priesthood." "A most natural consequence," replied I," and I have just left family and country to be free to profess my faith; I have already renounced the mass, and all priestly functions, and nothing remains but to renounce the dress. At Paris I will procure the dress of a citizen, and throw away this Romish bark." Jouard warmly pressed my hand, and overjoyed to find a new brother, and to see in me a new triumph of divine grace, he thus addressed me:-" Sir, you will do me a great favour, a very great pleasure, if you will put off your journey to Paris; oblige me by spending some time with me in my house at Puligny; my wife will be overjoyed to welcome her countryman; and still more, to clasp the hand of a brother converted to Christ. There is something providential in our meeting; I cannot part with you so soon; accept my invitation in the name of that faith which makes us brethren in Christ. I confer no favour on you by inviting you, but you do on me by accepting; come, in my house you can immediately lay aside that costume, and dress yourself as a citizen. We will read together the Holy Word, we will pray, we will praise God together; you will be a brother to my wife, and to me a friend." I accepted. On the 20th October I left Turin, Italy, and all that were dear to me. I left the religion of Rome, a tranquil present, and a hopeful future, (in a worldly sense,) but with the faith of Christ in my heart. The day before my departure I again repaired to your house to communicate my determination to you, to receive your directions, and to beg of you some letter of recommendation to Christians in France and England. But whether it were by chance or God's disposal, I did not find you. On the 23d October, I arrived at Lyons. On the 24th, I embarked on the Soane for Chalons, on my way to Paris, alone, friendless, with only eight crowns in my pocket, without acquaintance, and without recommendation, either for Paris or London, and with very little knowledge of the French language. Among more than a hundred persons on board the steamer, I was as much alone as the palm-tree in the desert. God was my only comforter. But He did not fail me in my need. The necessity of finding the railway station at Chalons obliged me to address myself to a gentleman, whose benevolent countenance promised both courtesy and goodness of heart. Having exchanged salutations with M. Jouard-Pons, (you know him well, sir, as I have since been informed by himself and by his lady,) I begged him to direct me to the station when we should arrive at Chalons. He immediately promised to be my guide, and inquired my country. When he knew that I was a Piedmontese, he replied, "My wife is also Piedmontese, from Torre di Lucerna, and of the evangelical religion." "Well for you, sir," I replied," that you have a truly Christian wife." Astonished at this observation, so little in harmony with the priest's dress I wore, Jouard answered, "Sir, this is the first time that I have heard a priest give utterance so distinctly to Sir, I have now passed seventeen days | my heart that He was bringing me to under this most Christian and most hos- where, in our own sweet language, unitpitable roof, edified by the virtues of my ing my voice with yours, we might sing excellent host and his wife. As they are the hymn of thanksgiving and praise your own acquaintances and brethren in to God. Jesus Christ, you will rejoice with a holy joy, that I have afforded your countrywoman this opportunity of exercising her charity and Christian beneficence. for perfect joy; pilgrims on earth, we But this is not the region are travelling homewards,-one in spirit though absent in body; and perhaps it is other face to face till we are in the New ordered that we should not see each Jerusalem; nevertheless, if it be our heavenly Father's will that we should not commune with each other in spirit, and meet on earth, He permits us still to to feel united by the communion of saints, in the same desire, work, and aim, even our eternal salvation. O brother, what wondrous grace towards us!-what infinite goodness! Those favoured Christians, whom God has permitted to be born in the very bosom of the Church of Christ, are indeed objects of great mercy; but we, who are born in the midst of Popery, instructed in error, and brought up in utter darkness,-we, who were the ministers of Satan, and who served the man of sin far more than those who came to Christ at the first hour, are a testimony more visible, more eloquent, and I could even say, more decided, to the truth, that God is able, even of stones, to raise up children unto Abraham. And what should not be our gratitude to this abundant love with which our God hath loved us,-this mercy by which He hath given unto us to believe in Christ? For myself, I assure you, nothing is to me call to mind the past, as well as to conmore sweet, more comforting, then to sider the present. I look back upon chilling fear, tormenting unbelief, cruel misgivings; now I enjoy the certainty of salvation, faith which causes my soul to abound in perfect peace and calmness. caused either by the pride of the flesh, My past life was full of careful anxiety, desire of shining in the world, or love of praise; now, Christ is my glory; and Jesus, the more am I raised up. Once I the more I am humbled by faith in thirsted for knowledge, in the pride of human reason, even to the defying of the most High; now I feel happy in listening to a Christian child speaking on divine things according to God's The following extract has been taken Word. Such a change is the work of from a private letter lately written by grace. Forgive me, my dear brother, if, God's mighty arm, and His wonderful Ferrero to a fellow-countryman in Lon-against my wish, I have dwelt upon my don, also formerly a priest in Piedmont, own feelings; but how can I do otherSignor G. Fiorito: I have written you this letter, sir, with the earnest desire that you may be pleased to give it all possible publicity in any paper you think fit. Christian has the happiness of feeling in When a his heart the faith and the grace of Jesus Christ, he ought to have the courage to confess it before men. Oh! may it please the divine goodness that this writing of mine may help to edify believers, and to excite my former colleagues to acknowledge those truths which have brought peace to my soul; and may they know at last that "the blood of Christ Jesus cleanseth from all sin." O priests of Rome! if any one of you should find his own case described in this letter; if any one of you is groaning, sighing, and weeping in the secrecy of his own heart, being tormented by doubts respecting the faith of his church, see here the way to procure peace of mind,-read with a humble heart the Word of God. O my God, who with such unmerited goodness didst reveal thyself to my soul as my only Saviour,-oh! may thy Word, thy glad tidings, thy faith, which healed my soul, which nourished, comforted, strengthened it, be the light, the nourishment, the comfort, and the strength of my relations, my colleagues, and friends from whom I have separated myself, not from hatred or envy, not from any human motives, but solely in obedience to Christ, that I might have my portion in paradise with Christ. Accept, sir, the expression of esteem and Christian affection with which I have the honour to be, your most devoted and affectionate brother in Christ, GIO. FERRERO, Ex-Romish Priest, now Disciple of Jesus Christ. PULIGNY, (near CHAGNY,) SAONE ET LOIRE, 8th November 1852. "When I was told by Mr. T. that a Piedmontese and an ex-priest was residing at his house, I blessed God with all wise?-how can I be silent? constrained, my dear brother, by the love of Christ, which is shed abroad in us by faith in His precious blood, and which makes us zealous for God's glory, to present for your serious consideration an important subject, worthy of all your attention. In London you are in daily contact with a great number of Romish ex-priests, among whom I rejoice to believe that many are truly converted; yet there are some who, though they left the Pope, did not go to Christ; they shook off the yoke of Popery, but did not take Christ's upon them; they apostatized from the Romish Church, but did not embrace the Gospel; and now, without knowledge, or faith in life, they spend their days in distress of mind, and are a stumbling-block to the world. Brother, you, who through God's grace are born again in Christ; who, having put off the old man, have also put on the new; you, who have died to sin in Christ, and have risen in Him to a spiritual life, you might be an instrument of blessing to these unhappy people, who are still slaves to sin, although they have cast off the yoke of the law. Your words rendered powerful by the truth, the ex-' positions of God's Word; and yet more, your walk and conduct being as becometh the Gospel,-all these might be conducive to the triumphing of divine grace in the hearts of our unfortunate brethren. Forgive me, my dear friend, if the least of God's children ventures, at the first time of addressing you, to speak with such freedom; but is not this liberty the common privilege of all the followers of Christ ?” MEDICAL QUACKS, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE WORKING CLASSES. Ir is not easy to overstate the grievances done to the working classes by medical quacks. The loss of money to the operative is immense. He is fleeced and swindled in the most barefaced and audacious manner by those villains-for such they are in plain English. Thousands, we may safely say millions of pounds are annually paid, throughout this country, for stuffs called medicines, which, if they have not the merit of being harmless mixtures of flour and fat, or coloured spring water, are doses of slow poisons, which slay more victims than typhus or cholera. This is the greatest loss to the working man the loss of his health by quackery-and the entailing upon himself incurable disease, or if curable, only by the additional loss of money, or loss of time, which is the poor man's wealth. There are certain signs by which these quacks may be detected. The quack professes to cure every disease which flesh is heir to. Read his list! Is he not a clever fellow? Do you not suffer from some one of those diseases? If you have not palsy or rheumatism, you have at least headache, or dizziness, or palpitation at the heart. Ah! he is the very man to cure you. See, your very disease is in print! What a wonderful fellow to describe your cure so well; Be grateful! and "try Dr. M.'s pills, or Dr. C.'s extract." The quack perhaps confines himself to some one disease: but it is sure to be incurable by "all the doctors!" Ten to one it is consumption, or cancer, or dropsy. The poor sufferer has tried every other physician, and has failed. What harm can there be in his applying to the quack? If he does no good, he cannot make matters worse. If he cures, what a gain! He is worth trying, lottery though it be. The quack quite understands both you and human nature. He has laid his snare beautifully to catch you as he has done thousands. Very true, he never cured one case in his life, and neither will he cure yours; but you wont find this out till he has got your money, and then it matters little to him what your opinion is. The quack is infallible! Have you not read his list of wonderful cures ? He has printed a few only to convince the most sceptical; but he has "thousands more by him." There they are, day and date, with the very names and addresses of astonished and grateful men and women, who always order a few more boxes of the blessed "balm," or surpassing "pill." These people are un-jhe hopes to sell to his dupes? "But fortunately always far away, and never you wont buy his medicine, not you; too in the town where the quack lives; or, if there, they are utterly unknown, and never can be found out. The quack calculates, at all events, that no one will ever take the trouble to write or inquire about them. And if any one did so, and found that the quack was lying, what then?-will the discoverer publish to the world, and on every street corner, the lie? So the testimonials are believed by the ignorant, and the quack feathers his nest on the strength of them. Oh! for a sight of all the letters that could be written by those who were not cured! The quack advertises largely. Who pays for this?-You, the working men, do so! And why should not the quack risk a thousand pounds, if he can thereby bring into his coffers two, or may be ten thousand? In every newspaper, therefore, he flourishes; on every street corner his name appears! In red letters and blue, in small type and large, he advertises his lies and impudent assertions, his coaxing to try his medicines, and his promises of immediate cure. Men at last believe him, and they are duped and swindled. canny for that!" Ah! you little know the quack! Well or ill, depend upon it he will so frighten you by terrible descriptions of your disease, that he could make you spend all your money in his shop at once if you only enter it; but as this might possibly frighten you more than the complaint, he will take your cash from you by degrees, and ask you, therefore, to "come back again ;" and it is only when you can pay no more, that you will be dismissed as cured, or incurable. But perhaps you ask, "How is it that many, to their cost; but it is not easy to the quack is not found out ?" He is so by track him, or run him down. The fox has many dodges, and many holes into which he can bolt. For instance, the sick man often goes first of all to some educated and regular practitioner, who treats him faithfully and wisely. By and by the sufferer is advised by some neighbour to send for Dr. So-and-so, naming the quack, who calls himself" doctor of medicine" because he sells drugs, just as a chimney-sweep might call himself doctor The quack's medicines are always pure Well, "the doctor" comes, feels the paof divinity because he wears a black coat. and unadulterated. They are, by his own tient's pulse, looks at his tongue, puts a account, extracted from herbs or plants. number of questions, pretends to give a His are not the nasty coarse drugs which minute account of the disease, interlarddoctors give; but gentle innocents,sort of poetry of medicine,-like what a shakes his head, and wishes only that he -aing his speech with gibberish Latin, bee would suck out of a flower in spring! What a good, feeling, man to provide such "What a "simples" for the poor! Sometimes, too, the quack declares, in a confidential manner, that he has got the medicine or the "saw" as a great secret from some old soldier or sailor, who got it from some mysterious foreigner, or nobody knows who; and thus there is a mystery thrown over the cure. "It is perhaps a great discovery ?"-Yes, "perhaps" it is; and "perhaps," too, or rather no doubt it is, a great humbug and a pure invention ! The quack often gives his advice and attendance GRATIS. Oh! yes; gratis. Is he not a generous fellow? Why this generosity? Is it from benevolence to the poor; or is it that he makes sure of a very good profit by the medicine which had been sent for sooner. whose son was dying of consumption. |