joy proved their heavenly origin by unbroken continuance in this trying
season. As she recovered, she found occupation in writing her
autobiography, and in composing hymns and sacred poems. Amongst the
latter is the charming _cantique_ given at the end of her Life, and
beginning--

"Grand Dieu! pour Ton plaisir
Je suis dans une cage,"

which has been happily Englished as follows:--

"A little bird I am,
Shut from the fields of air;
And in my cage I sit and sing
To Him who placed me there;
Well pleased a prisoner to be,
Because, my God, it pleases Thee.

Nought have I else to do,
I sing the whole day long,
And He whom well I love to please
Doth listen to my song.
He caught and bound my wandering wing,
But still He bends to hear me sing.

Thou hast an ear to hear,
A heart to love and bless,
And though my notes were e'er so rude.
Thou would'st not hear the less,
Because Thou knowest, as they fall,
That love, sweet love, inspires them all.

My cage confines me round,
Abroad I cannot fly;
But though my wing is closely bound,
My heart's at liberty.
My prison walls cannot control
The flight, the freedom of the soul.

Oh, it is good to soar
These bolts and bars above,
To Him whose purpose I adore,
Whose providence I love,
And in Thy mighty will to find
The joy, the freedom of the mind."

Her liberation from this imprisonment came from a remarkable quarter.
Madame de Miramion, a pious lady, often visited the convent with
charitable intent. Having heard much about Madame Guyon, she asked to
see her; and having seen her and conversed with her, she soon became her
warm friend, and pleaded her cause with Madame de Maintenon, who was now
at the height of her power and possessed supreme influence with the
king, whose wife she had become, by a private marriage, in 1685. Madame
de Miramion, having in this way procured Madame Guyon's release from her
convent prison, took her to her own house. It was a happy change for
this much-tried woman. She was once again among friends, and had the
society of her daughter. She went to St. Cyr--a royal institution for
the education of the daughters of the poorer aristocracy, in which
Madame de Maintenon took interest--to thank the great lady for her
kindness. The latter w