admonitions of Madame de M—— and Sœur
Geneviève,—for so I will call the proselyting nun of
Sacré Cœur,—that during my retraite in this Convent,
I would become thoroughly acquainted with the
Catholic doctrines, and the requirements of my own
soul at the same time, caused me to determine on
making this retraite. It was evident to me that I
never could have a better opportunity of clearly testing
not only the principles of the Catholic, as of the
Protestant church, and of making fully clear to
myself the respective merits and failings of both, and
that such an occasion I ought not to despise. I have
candidly told my kind Catholic friends that I shall not
be converted to the Catholic faith, but that, desiring to
obtain more enlightenment on various of their
doctrines, I shall be obliged to them,—that is to say, my
friends,—if they will aid me in this matter. The
thing is now, therefore, decided, and as soon as I have
paid sundry visits, and have arranged my small
worldly affairs, I enter, for an undetermined period,
the Convent Sacré Cœur, where Sœur Geneviève will
will become my instructress, and Père Marie Louis,
the Carmelite monk, my spiritual teacher.
When I leave the Convent, I shall not return hither, to my home on the Corso, but take up my abode on the Capitoline Hill, where I have engaged rooms for myself.
“You'll be converted to Catholicism!” says every one, with a shake of the head, to whom I have communicated my retraite; “these priests are so cunning!”
I reply, “No, I shall not; but I shall be the better
