Page:The Mysterious Warning - Parsons (1796, volume 1).djvu/210

 by fears or doubts must inhabit the bosom of a religious man."

"Most true," replied Ferdinand; "but that man must be detached from worldly cares, must have no dear connexions that twine about the heart; no wife, no children; no agonizing apprehensions for those he loves; no distracting doubts he cannot comprehend. The man who secludes himself from society, who can devote his days to religious duties only, must have a heart and mind at ease, ere he can embrace such a life as you have chosen."

"Alas! my son, and does not religion hold out comfort to the afflicted?"

"Undoubtedly, that is the rock on which we must erect the foundation of all our hopes and expectations both here and hereafter; but a monastic life I still aver, should be sought for only by those free from the ties that nature binds about the heart, and who have ceased to be solicitous for worldly objects."