ey obtained access to the higher classes in the character of pedlars.
Having displayed their goods, chiefly of an ornamental kind, and a purchase
had been concluded, if the pedlar were asked, "Have you anything else for
sale?" he would reply, "I have jewels far more precious than these, and if
you will not betray me to the clergy I will make you a present of them."
Being answered satisfactorily on this point, he would proceed to say, "I
have a pearl so brilliant that by means of it one may learn to know God; I
have another so splendid that it kindles the love of God in the heart of
him who possesses it." And then he would proceed to quote various portions
of Scripture.

The following verses from a modern poet happily describes one of these
incidents--

"'O, lady fair! I have yet a gem,
Which a purer lustre flings
Than the diamond flash of the jewelled crown
On the lofty brow of kings;
A wonderful pearl of exceeding price,
Whose virtue shall not decay;
Whose light shall be as a spell to thee,
And a blessing on thy way.'

"The lady glanced at the mirroring steel,
Where her youthful form was seen,
Where her eyes shone clear, and her dark locks waved
Their clasping pearls between;
'Bring forth thy pearl of exceeding worth,
Thou traveller grey and old;
And name the price of thy precious gem,
And my pages shall count thy gold.'

"The cloud went off from the pilgrim's brow,
As a small and meagre book,
Unchased with gold or diamond gem,
From his folding robe he took:
'Here, lady fair, is the pearl of price;
May it prove as such to thee!
Nay, keep thy gold--I ask it not--
FOR THE WORD OF GOD IS FREE.'

"The hoary traveller went his way,
But the gift he left behind
Hath had its pure and perfect work
On that high-born maiden's mind;
And she hath turned from her pride of sin
To the lowliness of truth,
And given her human heart to God
In its beautiful hour of youth.

"And she hath left the old grey walls,
Where an evil faith hath power,
The courtly knights of her father's train,
And the maidens of her bower;
And she hath gone to the Vaudois Vale,
By lordly feet untrod,
Where the poor and needy of earth are rich
In the perfect love of God!"

But another mode of spreading the gospel in distant parts was by
colonizin