44 HISTORY OF 



nishment of the whole town. He gave them to 

 understand, that about three or four months be- 

 fore he had heard the sound of the bells, for the 

 first time, and was greatly surprised at this new 

 and unknown sensation. After some time, a 

 kind of water issued from his left ear, and he 

 then heard perfectly well with both. During 

 these three months he was sedulously employed 

 in listening, without saying a word, and accus- 

 toming himself to speak softly, so as not to be 

 heard, the words pronounced by others. He 

 laboured hard also in perfecting himself in the 

 pronunciation, and in the ideas attached to 

 every sound. At length, having supposed him- 

 self qualified to break silence, he declared that 

 he could now speak, although as yet but im- 

 perfectly. Soon after, some able divines ques- 

 tioned him concerning his ideas of his past 

 state ; and principally with respect to God, his 

 soul, the morality or turpitude of actions. The 

 youth, however, had not driven his solitary spe- 

 culations into that channel. He had gone to 

 mass indeed with his parents, had learned to 

 sign himself with the cross, to kneel down and 

 assume all the grimaces of a man that was pray- 

 ing : but he did all this without any manner of 

 knowledge of the intention or the cause ; he saw 

 others do the like, and that was enough for him ; 

 he knew nothing even of death, and it never en- 

 tered into his head ; he led a life of pure animal 

 instinct, entirely taken up with sensible objects, 

 and such as were present ; he did not seem even 

 to make as many reflections upon these as might 



