A fourth and not a less interesting source of information has been our own memory. Father Ignatius was most communicative to his brethren; indeed he might be said to be transparent. We all knew him so well. He related the anecdotes that are given in his memoir to us all; and when each Father and Brother gave in his contribution, the quantity furnished would have made a very entertaining life of itself. Their thanks must be the consciousness of having helped to keep him yet amongst us as far as was possible. These, then, are the sources from which the following pages have been compiled. The facts related may therefore be relied upon as perfectly authentic. We possess the originals of the matter quoted--vouchers for every opinion advanced, and the anecdotes can be corroborated by half a dozen of witnesses. {xxii} Seeing that his life had been so diverse, and that the changes of thought which influenced the early portion of it were so various, it was thought best to divide it into four distinct books. The first book takes him to the threshold of the Anglican ministry; the second into the fold of the Church; the third into the Passionist novitiate; and the fourth follows him to the grave. We shall let the details speak for themselves, and only remark that there is an identity in the character as well as in the countenance of a man which underlies all the phases of opinion through which he may have passed. It will be seen that, from childhood to old age, Father Ignatius was remarkable for earnestness and reverence. Whatever he thought to be his duty he pursued with indomitable perseverance. He was not one to cloak over a weak point, or soothe a doubt with a trumped-up answer. He candidly admitted every difficulty, and went with unflagging zeal into clearing it up. This was the key to his conversion. He had, besides, even in his greatest vagaries, a reverential spirit with regard to his Creator, which formed an atmosphere of duty around him, outside which he could not step without being stung by conscience. A sting he never deadened. These were the centripetal and centrifugal forces that kept his life balanced on an axis that remained steady in the centre during his every evolution. {xxiii}