ME GUYON

I.

HER BIRTH AND BRINGING-UP.

[Illustration:]

Jeanne Marie Bouvieres de la Mothe, afterwards Madame Guyon, was born at
Montargis, about fifty miles south of Paris, on April 13, 1648. Her
father, who bore the title of Seigneur de la Mothe Vergonville, was a
man of much religious feeling. Although Jeanne was a child of delicate
health, her mother does not seem to have bestowed much trouble upon her,
sending her, when only two years and a half old, to an Ursuline seminary
a short time, and then committing her almost entirely to the care of
servants, from whom, as a matter of course, her mental and moral culture
at that highly-receptive age did not receive much attention. 'When four
years old, she was transferred to the care of the nuns in a Benedictine
convent. "Here," she says in her autobiography,[1] "I saw none but good
examples; and as my natural disposition was towards the good, I followed
it as long as I met with nobody to turn me in another direction. I loved
to hear of God, to be at church, and to be dressed up as a nun."

[Footnote 1: _La Vie de Madame J.M.B. de la Mothe-Guyon, ecrite par
elle-meme,_ premiere partie, ch. ii., 6. The edition from which I quote
was published at Paris, in three volumes, by the "Associated
Booksellers," in 1791. See also Life by J.C. Upham (Sampson Low &
Co., 1872).]

Now, as her opening mind drank in such instruction as came to her, she
deeply felt the claims of God upon her love and service. Under the
influence of a remarkable dream, she openly expressed her determination
to lead a religious life; and one day, with unguarded frankness, she
avowed her readiness to become a martyr for God. Her fellow-pupils at
the convent, like Joseph's brethren, did not appreciate either her dream
or her avowal. With girlish jealousy they laid her devout aspirations at
the door of pride, and proceeded to test her professions in a cruel
manner. They persuaded her that God had taken her at her word and called
her suddenly to undergo the martyrdom for which she had declared her
readiness. Her courage did not give way at their summons. So, after
allowing her a short time for preparatory prayer, they led her into a
room made ready for the purpose, where a cloth was spread on the floor,
and an older girl stood behind her, lifting a large cutlass, and
seemingly prepared to chop off the child's head. Who can wonder that at
this too realistic sight the little girl's valour gave way? She cr