the rest?" "Yes, of the English also."
Afterwards, when he continued to question me, and I saw that he had no
other object than to try me, I assured him, this is my faith, and to
this faith will I hold, whether it is worth any thing in your estimation
or not. I then asked him if he was willing to hold a discussion on the
subject; but he would not permit it in any shape. He afterwards
requested me to tell my faith again without fear and without
concealment. I referred them to the priest that was about to be
ordained, saying, that I had conversed with him on all points
particularly, and that he was able to make answer for me. The priest
then bore testimony on the spot, that I had said before him that I
believed the pope to be infallible, while I never said this to him at
any time. Afterward, when I was in his company privately, I inquired how
he could bear such testimony as he had done. He confessed in the fullest
terms, that he knew it was a falsehood, but that he said what he did,
that they might cease talking with me. The same night I had resolved on
quitting them; so at about midnight I left the convent, committing
myself to the protection of God, who never deserts them who put their
trust in him, and arrived at Beyroot, on the morning of Thursday, March
2, 1826.

Here then I remain at present, not that I may take my views from the
English, or from the Bible men, nor that I may receive my religion from
them. No, by no means; for I hold to the word of God. This is beyond all
danger of error. In this I believe; in this is my faith; and according
to it I desire to regulate my life, and enjoy all my consolations. By
this I wish to show what I believe and not to confer with flesh and
blood, that I may not run now nor hereafter in vain; for I know and am
persuaded, that the true religion is not according to the teaching of
men, but according to the inspiration of God: not according to the
custom of education, but according to the truth, which is made manifest
by the word of God. I therefore say to myself now, as I did in the
convent with the patriarch, where I wrote thus:

"Far from me be all the commandments of men. Nothing is to come into
comparison with the teaching of Jesus by reading the New Testament. If
our _hearts are not transformed_, there is the greatest danger that we
die in our sins. If any thing in the doctrine of Jesus seems burdensome,
let us pray that he may make it light; and if there is any thing that we