f my powers. "How
can that be," said I, "even if I possessed all the powers in the world,
seeing that I am engaged in the cause of our Lord Jesus?"

'The same kind of sneer again came on his countenance, but he almost
instantly observed, that if I chose to forsake this same miserable cause,
from which nothing but contempt and privation was to be expected, he
would enlist me into another, from which I might expect both profit and
renown. An idea now came into my head, and I told him firmly that if he
wished me to forsake my present profession and become a member of the
Church of England, I must absolutely decline; that I had no ill-will
against that church, but I thought I could do most good in my present
position, which I would not forsake to be Archbishop of Canterbury.
Thereupon he burst into a strange laughter, and went away, repeating to
himself, "Church of England! Archbishop of Canterbury!" A few days
after, when I was once more in a solitary place, he again appeared before
me, and asked me whether I had thought over his words, and whether I was
willing to enlist under the banners of his master, adding that he was
eager to secure me, as he conceived that I might be highly useful to the
cause. I then asked him who his master was; he hesitated for a moment,
and then answered, "The Roman Pontiff." "If it be he," said I, "I can
have nothing to do with him; I will serve no one who is an enemy of
Christ." Thereupon he drew near to me, and told me not to talk so much
like a simpleton; that as for Christ, it was probable that no such person
ever existed, but that if He ever did, He was the greatest impostor the
world ever saw. How long he continued in this way I know not, for I now
considered that an evil spirit was before me, and shrank within myself,
shivering in every limb; when I recovered myself and looked about me, he
was gone. Two days after, he again stood before me, in the same place,
and about the same hour, renewing his propositions, and speaking more
horribly than before. I made him no answer; whereupon he continued; but
suddenly hearing a noise behind him, he looked round and beheld Winifred,
who had returned to me on the morning of that day. "Who are you?" said
he fiercely. "This man's wife," said she, calmly fixing her eyes upon
him. "Begone from him, unhappy one, thou temptest him in vain." He made
no answer, but stood as if transfixed: at length, recovering himself, he
departed, muttering, "W