clergy of France.
De Berulle was quick to recognize holiness and merit, and he and
Vincent soon became fast friends.

But it did not seem to be God's will that our hero should prosper in
Paris; he fell ill, and one day while he was lying in bed waiting for
some medicine which had been ordered, his companion went out, leaving
the cupboard in which he kept his money unlocked. The chemist's
assistant, arriving shortly afterwards with the medicine and opening
the cupboard to get a glass for the patient, caught sight of the
purse, slipped it into his pocket, and made off.

No sooner had the judge returned than he went to the cupboard and
discovered the theft. Turning furiously on the sick man, he accused
him of having stolen his property and overwhelmed him with insults
and abuse. Vincent, unmoved by his threats, only answered gently that
he had seen nothing of the money and did not know what had become of
it; but his companion, refusing to listen to reason, rushed out and
accused him to the police. This led to nothing, as neither witness
nor proof could be brought forward by the judge, who, furious at the
failure of his accusation, went about Paris denouncing Vincent as a
thief. So determined was he to ruin the poor priest whose room he had
shared that he obtained an introduction to Father de Berulle for the
express purpose of making Vincent's guilt known to him. As for the
latter, he bore the affront in silence, making no attempt to justify
himself beyond his first declaration that he was innocent. "God knows
the truth," he would reply to all accusations.

The true thief was only discovered six months later. The chemist's
assistant had fallen ill and was lying at the point of death at a
hospital, when, repenting of his crime, he sent to implore
forgiveness of the man he had robbed. The judge, stricken with
remorse, wrote at once to Vincent, offering to come and ask his
pardon on his knees for the wrong he had done him.

Vincent was then living at the Oratory with Father de Berulle, who
had never doubted his innocence. He hastened to assure his old
roommate that he desired no such apology and begged him to say no
more about the matter. Such was his treatment of the man who had done
him so grievous an injury.

It was during these years that Vincent de Paul had another strange
experience in which he showed heroic courage and steadfastness. He
made the acquaintance of a learned doctor of the Sorbonne who was so
tormente