f darkness; and I was
living, perfectly living. But I wept, for at the bottom of that gulf I
saw the extreme of misery from which I had been saved by an infinite
mercy; and I shuddered at the sight of my iniquities, stupefied,
melted, overwhelmed with wonder and with gratitude. You may ask me how
I came to this new insight, for truly I had never opened a book of
religion nor even read a single page of the Bible, and the dogma of
original sin is either entirely denied or forgotten by the Hebrews of
to-day, so that I had thought so little about it that I doubt whether I
ever knew its name. But how came I, then, to this perception of it? I
can {222} answer nothing save this, that on entering that church I was
in darkness altogether, and on coming out of it I saw the fullness of
the light. I can explain the change no better than by the simile of a
profound sleep or the analogy of one born blind who should suddenly
open his eyes to the day. He sees, but cannot define the light which
bathes him and by means of which he sees the objects which excite his
wonder. If we cannot explain physical light, how can we explain the
light which is the truth itself? And I think I remain within the
limits of veracity when I say that without having any knowledge of the
letter of religious doctrine, I now intuitively perceived its sense and
spirit. Better than if I saw them, I FELT those hidden things; I felt
them by the inexplicable effects they produced in me. It all happened
in my interior mind, and those impressions, more rapid than thought
shook my soul, revolved and turned it, as it were, in another
direction, towards other aims, by other paths. I express myself badly.
But do you wish, Lord, that I should inclose in poor and barren words
sentiments which the heart alone can understand?"

I might multiply cases almost indefinitely, but these will suffice to
show you how real, definite, and memorable an event a sudden conversion
may be to him who has the experience. Throughout the height of it he
undoubtedly seems to himself a passive spectator or undergoer of an
astounding process performed upon him from above. There is too much
evidence of this for any doubt of it to be possible. Theology,
combining this fact with the doctrines of election and grace, has
concluded that the spirit of God is with us at these dramatic moments
in a peculiarly miraculous way, unlike what happens at any other
juncture of our lives. At that moment