is
true."

Vincent paused; his voice was trembling with emotion; he was answered
by the tears of the assembly. It was decided that at any cost the
Foundling Hospital must be supported. The work was saved. The
practical question of expenses, however, remained yet to be faced, and
although the King increased his subscription, the funds were still
insufficient. But the Ladies made still greater sacrifices; the
Sisters of Charity limited themselves to one meal a day, and Vincent,
who had already reduced himself to the direst poverty, strained every
nerve to help.

The Foundling Hospital was thus kept going until some years after
Vincent's death, when the State took over the responsibility, and the
work ceased to depend on voluntary support.

Of all the good works on which he had spent himself, this was the one,
it is said, that appealed to him the most strongly. He knew every baby
in the Foundling Hospital by name; the death of any one of them caused
him a very real sorrow, and he would appear among them at the most
unexpected hours. Their innocence and happiness rejoiced him, and he
delighted in watching their pretty baby ways. At the sight of his
kind, homely face, they would gather round him, clinging to his hands
or his cassock, certain of a smile or a caress. He came across much
that was neither innocent nor attractive in his dealings with the
world; he was one who never judged harshly, and who could always see
in man, however depraved, the image of his Maker; yet the innocence
and purity of his own soul found their best solace in the company of
these little creatures whom he had rescued from a double death. They
were his recreation in the moments of depression which all who work
for the welfare of mankind must experience and which are more intense
in proportion as the zeal is stronger.

He was blamed one day, when the difficulty of providing for the
foundlings was at its height, for having spent upon them alms destined
for the support of the Mission.

"Ah!" he cried, "do you think Our Lord will be less good to us because
we put the welfare of these poor children before our own? Since that
merciful Saviour said to His disciples, 'suffer the little children to
come unto Me,' can we who wish to follow Him reject these babies when
they come to us?"

But if the foundlings had a large share of Vincent's heart, it was
great enough for all who were in suffering or distress. The misery in
the provinces of Lorraine and