would do my duty
in the spirit as well as letter. He pointed out how by nature and
position I was eminently fitted to take my part in the world; to marry;
become the ruler of a little kingdom, as it were; the father of sons and
daughters. He was growing old, he declared, and certainly in the last
year had greatly changed. An expression on his face told me he was not
far from heaven. He felt his own end approaching.

"All this only strengthened my resolve. If anything could have made me
more in favour of a religious life, it was the quiet ecstasy with which
he contemplated passing to celestial regions. Nothing could be more
saintly and beatific than his last days. He was in perfect happiness,
and frequently said so. I was permitted to be with him when his eyes
looked their last upon the world. I was the last object they rested on;
my name was on his lips as his soul winged its flight to heaven. For the
fourth time the hand of affliction was laid upon me. My last link with
the world was severed. I stood alone.

"In due time I took upon myself the vows of the Church. Never for a
moment had I contemplated the cloister. Mine must be a life of energy
and activity. Whether it be a weakness or not, I have ever loved to
command; to rule mankind; to have the ordering of things. There I feel
in my element. I have a capacity for organisation which will not lie
dormant. It has been my lot to have it more or less fully exercised.
With all humility, and giving the sole glory to Heaven, I may say that I
have succeeded in every work or mission I ever undertook; advanced every
cause in which I have been concerned. The great moral, the great secret
of my life, is this: I have first of all been convinced of the soundness
of my intentions; I have held decided views; I have never entered upon a
single act of importance without first placing it under the guidance of
Heaven, as Hezekiah went up into the Temple and spread the letter before
the Lord. And then I have gone forward, nothing doubting. Paul may plant
and Apollos may water in vain, if they trust to their own strength. That
has been my rule and conviction through life. I have constantly
endeavoured to have no will of my own; no personal ends and aims and
prejudices; but to obey the great Master, whose I am and Whom I serve."

Here Delormais rapidly sketched his life in the Church. He described
every office he had held in succession; the difficulties he had
contended with; the evils h