From that
day I never saw him--never have seen him again. I can bear no
witness to his recovery,--your news came from persons at Rouen, and
not from me. I am as unconscious of having healed the child as I am
innocent of having any part in the disappearance of the man Claude
Cazeau. The whole thing is as complete a mystery to me as it is to
Your Holiness or to any of those who have heard the story. I fully
and freely admit, as I have always fully and freely admitted, that I
condoned and forgave the sin of the Abbe Vergniaud, and this, not
only because the man was dying, but because we are strictly
commanded to forgive those who truly repent. And on this point, I
cannot even to you, Most Holy Father, admit that I have been wrong.
"And now coming to the last part of Your Holiness' expressed desire,
wherein you ask me to part from the boy I rescued,--the child
Manuel, who is all alone in the world,--I cannot acknowledge it to
be a Christian act to desert anyone whom we have once befriended.
The boy is young, and far too gentle to fight the world or to meet
with such love and consideration as his youth and simplicity
deserve. I will not disguise, however, from Your Holiness that I
have been often much troubled in mind regarding his companionship
with me,--for foolish as you may judge my words, I feel that there
is something in him not altogether of earth,--that he speaks at
times as a wise prophet might speak,--or as an Angel sent to warn
the world of swiftly-coming disaster! Of the strangely daring spirit
in which he addressed himself to Your Holiness at the Vatican it is
not for me to discourse--I cannot explain it or condone it, for I
was overcome with amazement and fear, and realized the position no
more than did Your Holiness at the time, or than did those of your
confidants immediately around us.
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