"Come in, sir," said M. ----, "and be seated," pointing to a chair placed near the table.
"No, sir," said he, "I prefer to remain here."
"But I prefer," said M. ----, "that you come in, and also your companions, and be seated."
Perceiving M. ---- to be firm in his determination, they complied, and were all seated among his nearest auditors.
M. ---- then, without any further remarks, having the Bible open before him, directed their attention to those words in Christ's Sermon on the Mount: "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad; for great is your reward in heaven; for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you" Matt. 5:10, 12.
M. ---- proceeded to set before them the sufferings of the apostles and primitive christians for the truth as it is in Jesus, and the constancy and firmness with which, in all circumstances, they endured these sufferings, on account of the love which they bore to their Saviour; that they had good reasons for so doing, for they were assured by Christ, in the words just read, that "great should be their reward in heaven." M. ---- then proceeded to show the immense responsibility which those assumed, and the enormity of their guilt, who, ignorantly or designedly, persecuted the followers of Christ. That they were but "heaping up to themselves wrath against the day of wrath." That the day was not far distant, when the awful realities of eternity would burst upon their view; and that every man would then be judged "according to the deeds done in the body."
When M. ---- had proceeded in this manner for ten or twelve minutes, bringing the truth to bear especially upon the minds of his new audience, he perceived the mayor wiping his eyes with the cuff of his sleeve, who, rising at that moment from his seat, exclaimed:
"Sir, I acknowledge that I have heretofore felt an enmity towards many of the people whom I here see before me; and have, as far as my influence extended in my official capacity, endeavoured to break up what I have considered their illegal assemblies, and to coerce them back within the pale of the mother church, which one after another of them have been abandoning for years past. But if all that you have expressed be true, and is in conformity with the sacred volume of God's word, and if the book which you hold in your hand is a correct translation of the original copy, I beg you to sell it me, that I may peruse it myself, and give the reading of it to others better able to judge of its contents: and if I there find the promises and threatening as stated by you to be correct, you may rely upon it that, so far from persecuting these in other respects harmless people, I will hereafter be their friend."
On hearing this, M. ---- immediately requested the widow to bring several Bibles from the case which he brought with him in the Diligence, and which had reached the house according to his direction; one of which he presented to the mayor, and one to each of his catholic associates. On the mayor's offering pay for the one put into his hand, M. ---- observed, that he had much pleasure in presenting it to him, as well as to his companions, in the hope that they would hereafter not only become the friends of this interesting people, but, what was of more importance, the friends of Jesus Christ, who is the "only Mediator between God and man."
With this they took their departure: M. ---- observing to them, that his heart's desire and prayer to God was, that, by a careful, humble, and prayerful perusal of that sacred volume, their understandings might become enlightened, and their hearts imbued with the riches of divine grace; that they might thereby be led hereafter to advocate the very cause which they had hitherto been attempting to destroy; and that, when they had done serving God their Saviour here below, they might find themselves among that happy number "whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life."