,transcriber's note3 ,i dedicate this transcription to the ,very ,reverend ,richard ,trout of ,corpus ,christi ,parish1 ,celebration1 ,florida4 ,his gentle and moving homilies are perfect examples of the style and content recommended by this author4 ,as the preface observes1 the many references to nineteenth century ,france may not all apply to our times1 but people and cultures are remarkably similar over time and distance4 #c ,the ,clergy ,and ,the ,pulpit ,in ,their ,relations ,to ,the ,people4 ,by ,m4 ,l',abb ,isidore ,mullois1 ,chaplain ,to ,the ,emperor ,napoleon ,,iii41 ,and ,missionary ,apostolic4 ,translated ,by ,george ,percy ,badger1 ,late ,chaplain ,in ,the ,diocese ,of ,bombay1 ,author ,of ,the ,nestorians and ,their ,rituals1 ,etc4 ,first ,american ,edition4 ,new-,york3 ,the ,catholic ,publication ,society1 ,lawrence ,kehoe1 ,general ,agent1 #abf ,nassau ,street4 #ahfg4 #d ,john ,a4 ,gray ,green1 ,printers1 #af and #ah ,jacob ,street1 ,new-,york4 #e ,preface ,to ,the ,american ,edition4 ,this excellent translation of the now celebrated work of the ,abb ,mullois is presented to the ,american public with every assurance that it will meet with a most cordial welcome4 ,it is a live book2 full of earnest words1 fresh from the heart no less than from the head of the devout and zealous author4 ,it has gained an unwonted popularity in ,france1 where it has already passed through many editions4 ,no less than twenty thousand copies are said to be in the hands of as many ecclesiastics4 ,we judge it to be one of the most timely books that could be offered to our own clergy1 who will find much in these pages to encourage and stimulate them in their arduous pastoral duties4 #f ,the sceptical spirit which pervades a large mass of the ,french people1 hardly yet recovered from the fearful shock which their faith received in the ,revolution1 is one which1 happily1 we in ,america have not to contend with2 and the suggestions of the author in reference to this are1 of course1 of no practical moment to us3 but the principle that underlies every subject of which the author treats is a universal one1 applicable at all times and to every nation3 ,to address men well1 they must be loved much4 ,this is the title of the first chapter1 and the key to the whole work4 ,it is written in a pleasing1 familiar style1 with an unction that endues every sentence with an irresistible power of conviction and persuasion4 ,its perusal cannot fail of exerting a most healthful influence upon the character and tone of the discourses which the reader may be called upon by virtue of his office to deliver for the instruction and edification of the people committed to his spiritual care4 ------ #g ,author's ,preface4 ,it is surprising that whereas1 during the last three centuries1 many books have been published on the mode of preaching to the higher classes1 scarcely any thing has been written on the same subject with reference to the people1 or lower orders4 ,it seems to have been thought that the latter ought to be satisfied with the crumbs which might fall from the table provided for the educated portion of society4 ,nevertheless1 nothing could be more opposed to the spirit of the ,gospel2 which is specially addressed to the poor and humble--,he hath anointed ,me to preach to the poor4 ,the ,fathers of the early ,church did not consider it beneath their genius to write treatises on the manner of communicating religious instruction to the people4 ,the people form nearly the whole of the population4 #h ,in ,france1 they number twenty-three out of a total of twenty-five millions2 yet1 strange to say1 they are quite overlooked4 ,the educated two millions appear to have assumed that they constitute ,france1 and that ,france has so willed it4 ,but if a few men were to arise capable of laying hold of the instincts of the multitude1 were it only of one of the emotions which stir them1 they would soon undeceive those who fancy that the people are under their guidance4 ,we know something by experience on that score4 ,there is a prevailing conviction among the well-disposed that nothing but religion can save us2 that ,france must either once more become ,christian or perish4 ,but in order that religion may exercise a beneficial influence over the masses1 it must be brought into contact with them2 and that can only be done by the preaching of the ,word1 agreeably with the inspired declaration3--,faith cometh by hearing4 #i ,it is much more difficult than is imagined to preach to the common people1 because they are so little conversant with spiritual things1 and so much absorbed in what is material4 ,it is more difficult to address them than the wealthier classes2 for1 in addressing the latter1 one has only to fall in with the current of their ideas2 whereas in preaching to the former1 we have to bring high and sublime thoughts within the grasp of feeble intelligences4 ,besides1 there exists among the masses a certain amount of knowledge more or less superficial1 and none is more difficult to direct than a half-taught man4 ,the foregoing considerations have led us to indite this little treatise2 wherein our object has been not to lay down any specific rules1 but simply to set forth the teachings of experience4 ,what we most need nowadays is a popular religious literature to meet the temper and wants of the people4 ,such a literature does not exist4 ,it should be based entirely on the national character and on the precepts of the ,gospel4 ,invested with those two qualities1 it would become an irresistible agency for good1 and would act as powerfully on the educated few as on the unlettered many4 #aj ,it might inaugurate the regeneration of our literature by restoring to it vitality1 naturalness1 and dignity4 ,the time has come for taking up the cause of the people in earnest4 ,the community generally is impressed with that conviction1 and manifests a praiseworthy desire to encourage every effort for ameliorating their moral condition4 ,upward of one hundred thousand volumes specially designed for them are sold every year4 ,worldly-minded men1 too1 are anxious to foster the movement2 finding that those who show a disposition to benefit the masses are sure to meet with countenance1 sympathy1 and even veneration4 ,moreover1 we are at present in the enjoyment of profound calm4 ,heretofore1 the apology for delay was3--,let us wait to see the upshot of passing events2 for who knows what may become of us2 who knows but that we may be driven from our own homes8 ,the evil-disposed have had their day2 let us see what honest folk may and can do4 ,let us mutually co-operate1 piously and charitably1 to become once more a united people and country--a ,france with one heart and one soul4 ',twill be the beginning of blessedness4 #aa ,contents4 ,page ,preface ,to ,the ,american ,edition1 #e ,preface ,by ,the ,author1 #g ,chapter ,i4 #ae ,to ,address ,men ,well1 ,they ,must ,be ,loved ,much4 ,the ,gospel enjoins universal ,benevolence4 ,the ,men of the present ,age have a special ,claim to our ,love4 ,the success of ,preaching depends upon our loving them4 ,wherein true ,apostolical ,eloquence consists4 ,chapter ,,ii4 #dj ,the ,people4 ,the actual ,state of the ,people4 ,their good and bad ,qualities4 ,the ,people in large ,cities4 ,the ,people in small ,towns4 ,the ,people in rural ,districts4 ,how to benefit these ,three ,classes of the ,people4 ,one powerful ,means is to act upon the ,people through the upper ,classes1 and upon the latter through the former4 ,chapter ,,iii4 #aah ,the ,order ,of ,a ,sermon4 ,the ,exordium4 ,divisions4 ,proofs4 ,are there many ,unbelievers in ,france8 ,manner of refuting ,objections4 #ab ,chapter ,,iv4 #acf ,the ,sermon ,should ,be ,popular4 ,what constitutes true ,popularity8 ,popularity in ,words1 in ,thought1 in ,sentiment4 ,one of the most popular ,sentiments in ,france is ,patriotism4 ,means to utilize that ,sentiment4 ,the ,relationship between ,popularity and ,genius4 ,demosthenes4 ,saint ,john ,chrysostom4 ,daniel ,o',connell4 ,chapter ,v4 #afj ,the ,sermon ,should ,be ,plain4 ,an obscure ,sermon is neither ,christian nor ,french4 ,abuse of philosophical ,terms4 ,philosophical ,speculations not popular amongst us4 ,the ,french mind is clear and logical4 ,plainness of ,speech4 ,plainness of ,thought4 ,starting from the ,known to the ,unknown4 ,metaphors4 ,similes4 ,parables4 ,facts4 ,pre ,lejeune4 ,m4 l',abb ,ledreuil4 ,chapter ,,vi4 #ahc ,the ,sermon ,should ,be ,short4 ,the ,discourses of the ,fathers were short4 ,the ,french ,mind is quick to apprehend4 ,sermons are generally too long4 ,sermons of ,ten1 ,seven1 and of ,five ,minutes4 ,chapter ,,vii4 #aig ,tact ,and ,kindliness4 ,we should assume that our ,hearers are what we wish them to be4 ,reproaches to be avoided4 ,how to address ,unbelievers4 ,special ,precautions to be taken in small ,towns and ,rural ,districts4 ,how to treat ,men during times of public ,commotion4 ,forbearance due to the ,church for being obliged4 to receive ,money from the ,faithful4 #ac ,chapter ,,viii4 #bbb ,interest4 ,emotion1 and ,animation4 ,we should endeavor to excite ,interest by ,thoughts1 by ,sallies or ,epigrams1 by ,studies of ,men and ,manners4 ,the ,truth should be animated4 ,the ,pre ,ravignan4 ,the ,pre ,lacordaire4 ,the ,heart is too often absent4 ,chapter ,,ix4 #bdc ,the ,power ,and ,accent ,of ,conviction4 ,the ,divine ,word has always been the first ,power in the ,world4 ,the ,gospel still the first of ,books4 ,there can be no ,christian ,eloquence without the ,accent of personal ,conviction4 ,chapter ,x4 #bed ,action4 ,action should be3 first1 true and natural2 secondly1 concentrated2 thirdly1 edifying4 ,it should be cultivated4 ,how cultivated by the ,society of ,jesus ,suggestions4 ,chapter ,,xi4 #bge ,study4 ,study a ,duty4 ,the ,state of the ,world calls for ,knowledge on the part of the ,clergy4 ,knowledge has always been one of the ,glories of ,religion4 ,all the eminent ,men in the ,church were ,men of ,study4 ,reasons adduced for not studying1 answered3 ,want of ,leisure1 ,natural ,aptitude1 ,the ,plea of having already studied sufficiently2 ,that one is fully equal to the ,requirements of the ,people committed to his ,charge4 #ad ,chapter ,,xii4 #bhg ,zeal4 ,the ,excellency of ,zeal4 ,love for the ,body should be coupled with ,love for the ,soul4 ,the ,zeal of the ,wicked4 ,how ,zeal should be exercised4 ,associations3 of ,apprentices1 of ,operatives1 ,conferences of ,saint ,vincent de ,paul1 of ,domestics1 of ,clerks1 of the ,young4 ,circulation of good ,books4 ,happy ,results of the same4 ,the ,advantages and ,difficulties of ,opposition4 ,great ,occasions4 ------ #ae ,the ,clergy ,and ,the ,pulpit ,in ,their ,relations ,to ,the ,people4 ---- ,chapter ,i4 ,to ,address ,men ,well1 ,they ,must ,be ,loved ,much4 ,the ,gospel enjoins universal ,benevolence4 ,the ,men of the present ,age have a special ,claim to our ,love4 ,the ,success of ,preaching depends upon our loving them4 ,wherein true ,apostolical ,eloquence consists4 ,many rules of eloquence have been set forth1 but1 strange to say1 the first and most essential of all has been overlooked1 namely1 ,charity4 444 ,to address men well1 they must be loved much4 ,whatever they may be1 be they ever so guilty1 or indifferent1 or ungrateful1 or however deeply sunk in crime1 before all and above all1 they must be loved4 ,love is the sap of the ,gospel1 the secret of lively and effectual preaching1 the magic power of eloquence4 444 ,the end of preaching is to reclaim the hearts of men to ,god1 and nothing but love can find out the mysterious avenues which lead to the heart4 #af ,we are always eloquent when we wish to save one whom we love2 we are always listened to when we are loved4 ,but when a hearer is not moved by love1 instead of listening to the truth1 he ransacks his mind for some thing wherewith to repel it3 and in so doing human depravity is seldom at fault4 ,if1 then1 you do not feel a fervent love and profound pity for humanity--if in beholding its miseries and errors you do not experience the throbbings1 the holy thrillings of ,charity--be assured that the gift of ,christian eloquence has been denied you4 ,you will not win souls1 neither will you ever gain influence over them1 and you will never acquire that most excellent of earthly sovereignties--sovereignty over the hearts of men4 ,i may be mistaken1 but it seems to me that the tradition of this great evangelical charity has declined among us4 ,i hasten to add1 however1 that this is the fault of the age1 of its injustices and sarcasms4 ,it has dealt so hardly with ,christianity1 and has been so ungrateful toward it1 that our souls have become embittered1 and our words have been sometimes cold and dry3 like the mere words of a man and nothing more4 ,but that bitterness is passing away4 #ag ,religion in ,france1 at the present day1 is in the condition of a mother who meets with indifference and abuse from her son4 ,the first outburst of her heart is one of pain and repugnance2 but soon the better part of her nature gains the ascendency1 and she says within herself3 ,after all1 it is true that he is wicked2 it is also true that he fills me with grief1 and is killing me with anguish2 nevertheless1 he is still my child1 and ,i am still his mother4 444 ,i cannot help loving him1 so great is his power over me4 ,let them say what they will1 ,i still love him4 444 ,would to ,god that he had a desire to return6 ,would that he might change6 ,how readily would ,i pardon every thing and forget all6 444 ,how1 then1 can ,i enjoy a moment's happiness whilst knowing that he is wicked or wretched8 444 ,this is what ,religion and those who represent it have felt4 ,we have been wounded2 we have been made to suffer cruelly4 ,yes1 men have been unjust and ungrateful3 but these same are our brethren still1 still our children4 ,and can we be happy while we see them wicked and miserable8 ,have they not already suffered enough8 4444 ,the question is not to ascertain what they are worth1 but to save them such as they are4 ,our age is a great prodigal son2 let us help it to return to the paternal home4 ,now is the time to recall the admirable words of ,fenelon3--,o ye pastors1 put away from you all narrowness of heart4 ,enlarge1 enlarge your compassion4 ,you know nothing if you know merely how to command1 to reprove1 to correct1 to expound the letter of the law4 ,be fathers1 444 yet that is not enough2 be as mothers4 #ah ,this large love for men1 alike for the good and the evil1 is the pervading spirit of the ,gospel4 ,it is the true spirit of ,christianity4 ,its power was felt by our fathers in the sacred ministry1 and it governed their lives4 ,look at ,saint ,paul1 that great missionary of the ,catholic ,church4 ,a stream of love flows from his apostolic soul4 ,he did not suffer himself to be disconcerted by the failings1 the vices1 or the crimes of men4 ,his heart uplifts him above such considerations1 and he overcomes human prejudices and errors by the power of his charity4 ,let us hear him3--,o ye ,corinthians1 our mouth is open unto you1 our heart is enlarged4 ,ye are not straitened in us1 but ye are straitened in your own bowels4 444 ,be ye also enlarged4 ,for though ye have ten thousand instructors in ,christ1 yet have ye not many fathers3 for in ,christ ,jesus ,i have begotten you4 ,i seek not yours1 but you1 444 and ,i will very gladly spend and be spent for you2 though the more abundantly ,i love you1 the less ,i be loved4 ,and1 again3--,would to ,god ye could bear with me a little in my folly3 and1 indeed1 bear with me4 ,for ,i am jealous over you with godly jealousy4 ,wherefore8 because ,i love you not8 ,god knoweth4 ,footnote #a ,footnote #a3 #b ,cor4 vi4 #ac4 ,i ,cor4 iv4 #ae4 #b ,cor4 xii4 #ad1 #ae2 xi4 i1 #b1 #aa4 #ai ,i say the truth in ,christ that ,i lie not1 saith he to the ,romans2 ,i have great heaviness1 and continual sorrow in my heart4 ,for ,i could wish that myself were accursed from ,christ for my brethren4 ,footnote #b ,footnote #b3 ,rom4 ix4 #b1 #c4 ,and addressing the ,galatians1 he says3--,brethren1 be as ,i am2 for ,i am as ye are4 ,ye know how through infirmity of the flesh ,i preached the ,gospel to you at first4 ,and my temptation1 which was in my flesh1 ye despised not1 nor rejected4 ,where is1 then1 the blessedness ye spake of8 ,for ,i bear you record1 that1 if it had been possible1 ye would have plucked out your own eyes1 and have given them to me4 ,am ,i therefore become your enemy because ,i tell you the truth8 444 ,my little children1 of whom ,i travail in birth again until ,christ be formed in you4 ,footnote #c ,footnote #c3 ,gal4 iv4 #ab-af1 #ai4 444 ,and1 again1 writing to the ,philippians3--,it is meet for me to think this of you all1 because ,i have you in my heart4 ,for ,god is my record1 how greatly ,i long after you all in the bowels of ,jesus ,christ4 444 ,yea1 and if ,i be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith1 ,i joy1 and rejoice with you all4 ,footnote #d ,footnote #d3 ,philip1 i4 #g1 #h2 ii4 #ag4 ,alas6 in this our day we see around us the same men1 the same frailties1 the same passions4 ,let us aim at possessing the same apostolical heart4 #bj ,in like manner ,saint ,chrysostom4 444 what love1 what charity1 what devotedness dwelt in the heart of that ,christian orator6 ,and as regards the people with whom he had to deal2 what laxity1 what vices1 what baseness had he not to contend against6 ,nevertheless1 his heart is inflamed with charity1 his yearnings are kindled4 ,exclamations of pain1 the plaintive accents of pity escape from him2 and even when he grows angry1 he entreats1 he sues for pardon4 ,i beseech you1 said he to the faithful1 to receive me with affection when ,i come here2 for ,i have the purest love for you4 ,i feel that ,i love you with the tenderness of a father4 ,if occasionally ,i reprove you rather sharply1 it arises from the earnest desire which ,i have for your salvation4 444 ,if you reject my words1 ,i shall not shake off the dust of my feet against you4 ,not that herein ,i would disobey the ,saviour1 but because the love which ,he has given me for you prevents my doing so4 444 ,but1 and if you refuse to love us1 at least love yourselves by renouncing that sad listlessness which possesses you4 ,it will suffice for our consolation that we see you becoming better1 and progressing in the ways of ,god4 ,hereby1 also1 will my affection appear still greater1 that while having so much to youward1 you shall have so little toward me4 444 ,we give you what we have received1 and1 in giving it1 ask nothing but your love in return4 ,if we are unworthy of it1 love us notwithstanding1 and perchance your charity may render us deserving4 #ba ,you love me and ,i love you1 said he1 addressing the believers1 and ,i would willingly give you my life1 and not merely that small service which ,i render by preaching the ,gospel unto you4 ,in consequence of sickness he had been obliged to go into the country4 ,on his return he thus addressed his audience3--,you thought of me1 then1 during my absence4 ,for my part1 it was impossible for me to forget you4 444 ,even when sleep closed my bodily eyes1 the strength of your affection for me opened the eyes of my mind insomuch that while sleeping ,i often fancied that ,i was addressing you4 444 ,i have preferred to return with the remains of my ailment rather than by staying longer away to do any injury to your charity2 for while ,i was in the country you were unremitting in the expression of your grief and condolence4 ,this was the subject of all your letters2 and ,i am not less grateful for your grief than for your praise1 since one must be capable of loving in order to grieve as you have done4 444 ,hence1 as ,i am no longer ill1 let us satisfy one an other2 if1 indeed1 it be possible that we should be satisfied2 for love is insatiable1 and the continual enjoyment of it by those whom it endears only inflames it still more4 ,this is what was felt by ,saint ,paul1 that foster-child of ,charity1 when he said3 ',owe no man any thing but to love one another2' for that debt is always being paid1 yet is never discharged4 ,footnote #e ,footnote #e3 ,second ,homily on ,repentance4 #bb ,also the following passage1 which is quite to the purpose here3 ,you are to me in the place of father1 mother1 brothers and children4 ,you are every thing to me1 and no joy or sorrow can affect me in comparison with that which concerns you4 ,even though ,i may not have to answer for your souls1 ,i should not be the less inconsolable were you to perish2 just as a father is not consoled for the loss of his son1 although he may have done all in his power to save him4 ,that ,i may some day be found guilty1 or that ,i may be justified before the awful tribunal1 is not the most pressing object of my solicitude and of my fear2 but that you may all1 without exception1 be saved1 all made happy forever1 that is enough3 that is also necessary to my personal happiness1 even if the divine justice should have to reprove me for not having discharged my ministry as ,i ought2 although1 in that respect1 my conscience does not upbraid me4 ,but what matters it by whom you are saved1 provided that you are saved8 ,and if any one is surprised to hear me speak in this manner1 it is because he knows not what it is to be a father4 ,footnote #f ,footnote #f3 ,homily iii4 on the ,acts4 #bc ,on the other hand1 if men ever ought to be loved1 if1 above all1 the heart of the ,christian priest ought to be touched1 moved even to tears with deep compassion for humanity1 this is preminently the time4 ,doubtless1 humanity is deserving of blame1 but it is also most worthy of pity4 ,who1 indeed1 can be bold enough to hate it8 ,let us rather grieve for it3 grieve for the men of the world who are truly miserable4 444 ,what truths can they lay hold of to resist themselves1 to fill the void in their souls1 to control themselves under the trials of life8 ,all have been assailed1 shaken1 denied1 overturned4 ,what are they to do in the midst of this conflict of affirmations and negations8 ,hardly has a powerful and divine truth been presented to them1 than one of those so-called talented men has come forward to sully it by his gainsaying or scornful derision4 ,above all1 the rising generation calls for our pity1 because it has so long been famished4 ,the half of its sustenance has been withheld from it by the cruelty of the age4 ,but let us do it justice3 youth appreciates sincerity and candor above every thing4 ,it is straightforward1 and hates nothing so much as duplicity and hypocrisy4 ,well1 when a young man awakens into life1 what does he see around him8 ,contradiction and inconsistency1 a very ,babel of tongues3 a discordant1 a hellish concert4 ,one bawls out to him1 ,reason6 another ,faith6 here some bid him ,suffer6 there others tell him to ,rejoice6 but soon all join in the chorus1 ,money1 my son1 money6 ,what1 we ask1 is a youth of eighteen1 with all his besetting passions1 to do in the midst of confusion like this8 #bd ,it were well if even the domestic hearth afforded an asylum from this turmoil2 but1 unhappily1 it assumes there its most flagrant form in father and mother4 ,there we find one building up1 and the other destroying4 ,the mother prays1 the father is prayerless2 the mother is a communicant1 the father is not2 the mother confesses1 the father does not2 the mother speaks well of religion1 the father derides it4 444 ,what1 we ask again1 is a youth to do with his affections under circumstances like these8 ,reason tells him that if there is a truth1 it must be the same for all2 if there is a rule of morals1 it should apply to all2 that if there is a religion1 it should be the religion of all4 ,next1 he is tempted to believe that he is being made sport of1 and that the words vice1 truth1 and virtue are nothing but bare words after all4 ,such is the aspect of things presented to the rising generation2 and were it not that there is something naturally good and generous in the hearts of the young1 how much would they despise their predecessors in life6 444 ,they are told of the existence of duties1 laws1 and other subjects of vast importance1 and yet they see men who ought to be serious spending their time in material pursuits1 in hoarding money1 or in sensual gratifications4 #be ,is there not in all this enough to distress a sensitive mind1 and to lead it to utter the complaint1 ,o ,god6 wherefore hast ,thou placed me in the midst of such contradictions8 ,what am ,i to do8 ,my father1 the man whom ,i am bound to resemble most on earth1 can ,i condemn him8 ,can ,i any the more blame my mother1 or charge her with weakness--my mother1 whose influence over me is so strong8 ,what1 then1 am ,i to do8 ,what must ,i become8 ,is life a desert wherein ,i am lost8 ,is there no one to guide me8 ,those who should direct are the first to mislead me4 ,my father says3 ,do as ,i do2 follow my example4 ,my mother1 with all the power of maternal affection1 says3 ',no1 no1 my son2 do not follow your father1 for if you do you will perish'4 ,what shame should we take to ourselves for a state of things like this1 and how much should we pity those who are its victims6 ,and then the lower classes--the people1--who do penance under our eyes in toil and suffering1 how can we help loving1 how avoid compassionating1 them8 ,undoubtedly1 they have their faults1 their frailties1 and their vices2 but are we not more blameworthy than they8 ,the people are always what they are made4 ,is it their fault if the pernicious doctrines and scandals of the higher orders have stained the lower classes of society8 ,moreover1 they have been treated without pity and without mercy4 #bf ,they have been despoiled of all3 even that last resource1 hope1 has been taken from them4 ,they have been forbidden to dream of happiness4 ,heartless men have interposed between them and heaven1 and have said to them1 ,listen2 your toil1 your trials1 your rags1 your hunger1 the hunger of your wives and children--such is your lot4 ,you have nothing else to hope for2 except1 perchance1 the pleasures of revelry4 ,they have been deprived of every thing3 they had hopes of a better future1 which have been taken from them2 they had ,god above1 who has been robbed from them1 and they have been told that heaven consisted in the enjoyments of earth4 ,meanwhile1 they are miserable2 and being miserable are1 as it were1 doomed already3 yet1 what have they done to merit this8 ,yes1 there has been no pity shown to the people2 for has not the present age regarded ,christianity as a delusion8 ,christianity ought to have been respected among the people1 because it benefited them1 because it alleviated their wretchedness4 ,but no1 a cruel age has had the fell courage to snatch it from them4 ,a tale is told of a prisoner who became deeply attached to a spider1 which served to while away the tedium of his captivity4 ,he fed it with his own food1 and it was his delight to see it scamper about his cell2 but the jailer1 noticing this innocent gratification1 crushed the insect4 444 #bg ,the spider was undoubtedly an insignificant thing2 but the jailer's conduct was harsh1 and all would denounce it as a gratuitously brutal act4 ,well1 then1 if religion among the people had been regarded merely as the spider of this poor prisoner1 it ought to have been respected1 because it might have done them good4 ,on the contrary1 the laborer has been denied the hope that there will be a time of rest2 the sufferer1 that some day there will be consolation2 the wronged has not been allowed to anticipate that hereafter justice will be meted out2 the mother who deplores the loss of her child has been denied the hope that some day she shall behold him again4 ,every thing has been taken from the people1 and nothing has been left them but material pleasures to be enjoyed at rare intervals4 ,what a field is here opened out for the exercise of love1 of compassion1 and of pity6 ,o ye poor people whom ,christ loved6 is it that all your struggles and trials are merely a foretaste of eternal misery8 ,if you are to suffer here1 and to suffer also after death1 then you must needs suffer forever6 ,but that we cannot allow1 and after the example of ,christ1 we should say to ourselves3--,i have pity upon the multitude1 for if ,i send them away fasting they will faint by the way4 ,lastly1 on this ,charity depends the success of evangelical preaching4 #bh ,to be co-workers with ,christ in regenerating and saving mankind1 we must love it as ,he loved4 ,he first did men good1 then ,he addressed them4 ,hence it was that the people1 unmindful of their most urgent wants1 followed ,him exclaiming3 ,never man spake like this man4 ,let us never forget that the object of preaching is to turn men from wrong-doing1 and to lead them to that which is good4 ,this is the great aim of the ,christian orator4 ,but where is the seat of good and evil1 and where are both elaborated8 ,according to the divine word1 out of the heart proceed evil thoughts1 murders1 adulteries1 fornications1 thefts1 false witness1 blasphemy4 ,the heart1 then1 must be touched1 moved1 laid hold of4 ,it is the heart which receives or rejects the truth2 which says to it3 ,come1 ,i welcome you2 or1 ,begone1 you annoy me2 and it is love alone that can reach the heart and change it4 ,an ,arab proverb runs thus3--,the neck is bent by the sword2 but heart is only bent by heart4 ,if you love1 you yourself will be loved2 the truth from you will be loved2 even self-sacrifice will be an act of love4 444 ,what we most want nowadays is not additional knowledge1 for nearly all of us know full well what we ought to do4 ,what we really want is the courage to act1 the energy to do what is right4 #bi ,truth has sadly diminished amongst us1 and its characteristics also4 ,what we need1 then1 is a style of preaching which enlightens and sustains1 which threatens and encourages1 which humbles and exalts1 and which throughout speaks to individuals1 saying1 ,i love thee4 ,it is not by essays of reasoning1 any more than by the sword1 that the moral world is to be swayed4 ,a little knowledge1 much sound sense1 and much more heart--that is what is requisite to raise the great mass1 the people1 and to cleanse and purify them4 ,to be able to reason is human1 very human1 and one who is a man and nothing more may possess that ability as well as you1 perhaps in a higher degree4 ,but to love1 to devote one's self1 to sacrifice self1 is something unearthly1 divine1 possessing a magic power4 ,self-devotion1 moreover1 is the only argument against which human malevolence can find no answer4 444 ,you may employ the most splendid reasonings1 clothed in the grandest phraseology1 and yet the mind of man will readily find wherewith to elude them4 ,who knows but that ,french wit1 by one malicious word1 may not upset all at once your elaborate structure of arguments8 ,what is required in sacred eloquence is something new1 something unexpected4 ,ask you what it is8 ,it is love2 for loving1 you will surprise1 captivate3 you will be irresistible4 #cj ,for it is useless to disguise the fact that in ,france nowadays there is scarcely any belief in disinterestedness4 ,even the people are beginning to think that no one acts without a motive of self-interest2 and their thought is aptly expressed in the frank and original reply of a poor devil who was brought before the correctional police for having inscribed some ,legitimist sentences on a wall4 ,the president1 observing his tattered garments1 and his any thing but aristocratic appearance1 asked him if he was really a ,legitimist4 ,by no means1 ,monsieur le ,president1 was the answer2 ,i merely do as others1 as you do1 as all do nowadays--,i work for those who feed me4 ,but when the people meet with real affection1 a thorough devotedness1 then they are overcome at once and yield heartily4 ,you visit a poor family1 or one of the working-classes in a large town1 where the people are generally frank1 and hardly know how to conceal their thoughts4 ,do not be surprised1 then1 if something like the following dialogue should take place3 ,well1 sir1 but who pays you for visiting us8 ,nobody4 ,what interest1 then1 have you in coming8 ,none whatever1 beyond that of wishing to benefit you and your little ones1 whom ,i love4 ,i can scarcely believe it4 ,there must be something underhand in this4 #ca ,but when such persons are convinced that you entertain a sincere affection for them--that there is nothing underhand in what you do--you become all-powerful4 ,the disclosure breaks in upon them like a divine revelation1 and they may be said to love the truth even before knowing it4 ,then you may speak1 entreat1 or command2 you will be listened to1 you will be believed1 obeyed4 ,what else1 indeed1 could any do who love you1 and also inspire love on your part8 ,it is quite right to reason and to appeal to the intellect1 but it is not enough4 ,human malice will never be at a loss for a reply to your arguments4 ,you may be acute1 logical1 endowed with learning and talent1 the right may be most clearly on your side1 and yet your efforts will be unproductive2 nay1 you will often be defeated1 insomuch that it may be affirmed that he who uses reason only shall perish by reason4 ,on the contrary1 love causes things to be regarded from a different point of view1 removes difficulties1 and imparts light and courage simultaneously4 ,you say to a worldly woman3--,if you were to occupy yourself a little in good works1 such as visiting the poor4 444 ,forthwith she starts a thousand objections against the suggestion3--,what1 ,i1 in my position6 444 ,i really have no leisure4 ,i have my house1 my children1 my servants1 and so many other things to attend to4 ,then1 my health is so wretched1 and my husband cares for nothing4 444 ,besides1 it is a woman's first duty to look after her domestic concerns4 #cb ,in a word1 she instantly bristles up with good reasons4 ,you encounter a pointed defence everywhere1 and no gap to admit your arguments4 ,beware1 therefore1 of reasoning with her4 ,go straight to her heart1 beget charity within her1 make her to feel1 to love1 and soon you will hardly recognize her as the same individual1 for the change will be almost instantaneous1 and every subsidiary stumbling-block will disappear4 ,then she will go and come1 suffer1 be humble1 self-denying1 examplary4 ,woman is called the feeble sex4 ,true1 when she does not love2 but when love takes possession of her soul1 she becomes the strong1 the able1 the devoted sex4 ,she then looks difficulties in the face which would make men tremble4 ,an orator of high intellectual powers occupies a pulpit1 and leaves scarcely any results behind him4 ,he is succeeded by one of ordinary attainments1 who draws wondering crowds and converts many4 ,the local sceptics are amazed4 ,this man's logic and style1 say they1 are weak2 how comes it that he is so attractive8 ,it comes from this1 that he has a heart2 that he loves and is loved in return4 ,so when a venerable superior of missionaries ,footnote #g wished to learn what success a priest had met with on his tour1 he generally asked1 ,did you really love your congregations8 ,if the answer was in the affirmative1 the pious man remarked--,then your mission has been a good one4 ,footnote #g3 ,this clearly refers to ,home ,missionaries4 ,,ed4 #cc ,have a heart1 then1 in dealing with the people2 have charity2 love1 and cause others to love1 to feel1 to thrill1 to weep1 if you wish to be listened to1 and to escape the criticisms of the learned as well as the ignorant4 ,then let them say what they like1 let them criticise and inveigh as they please1 you will possess an invincible power4 ,what a grand mission1 what a glorious heritage is that of loving our fellow-men6 ,let others seek to lord it over them1 and to win their applause2 for my part1 ,i prefer holding-out a hand to them1 to bless and to pity them1 convinced by a secret instinct that it is the best way to save them4 ,i have already remarked that our language has not always breathed this broad and tender charity4 ,the injustice and unreason which we have had to encounter have made us somewhat querulous1 and we have become champions when we should have remained fathers and pastors4 ,we have followed the world too much into the arena of discussion4 ,we have fancied that it was enough to prove a truth in order to secure its adoption into the habits of life4 ,we have forgotten that ,saint ,franois de ,sales converted #gj1jjj ,protestants by the sweetness of his charity1 and not one by argument4 #cd ,nevertheless1 strange enough1 much is urged on the young clergyman as regards the necessity and mode of proving a truth and of constructing a sermon1 but scarcely any thing on the necessity and manner of loving his audience4 ,just look at the young priest on his entrance upon the sacred ministry4 ,he is armed cap--pie with arguments1 he speaks only by syllogisms4 ,his discourse bristles with now1 therefore1 consequently4 ,he is dogmatic1 peremptory4 ,one might fancy him a nephew of one of those old bearded doctors of the middle ages1 such as ,petit ,jean or ,courte-,cuisse4 ,he is disposed to transfix by his words every opponent1 and to give quarter to none4 ,he thrusts1 cuts1 overturns relentlessly4 ,my friend1 lay aside a part of your heavy artillery4 ,take your young man's1 your young priest's heart1 and place it in the van before your audience1 and after that you may resort to your batteries if they are needed4 ,make yourself beloved1--be a father4 ,preach affectionately1 and your speech1 instead of gliding over hearts hardened by pride1 will pierce even to the dividing of the joints and marrow2 and then that may come to be remarked of you which was said of another priest by a man of genius who had recently been reclaimed to a ,christian life3--,i almost regret my restoration1 so much would it have gratified me to have been converted by so affectionate a preacher4 #ce ,i do not mean to say that the truth should not be set forth with power and energy4 ,god forbid6 but it should be seasoned throughout with abundant charity4 ,it is only those1 indeed1 who love much and are themselves beloved1 who possess the prerogative of delivering severe truths in an effectual manner4 ,the people pardon every thing in those to whom they are attached1 and receive home1 without recoiling1 the sternest truths and reproofs addressed to them by a beloved preacher4 ,let your preaching1 then1 be the effusion of a heart full of love and truth4 ,skilfully disconnect vices and errors from individuals4 ,place the latter apart1 and then assail the former3 be merciless1 close up all loop-holes1 allow no scope for the resistance of bad passions2 tread the evil under foot4 ,but raise up the vicious and erring1 stretch out a hand to them1 pour confidence and good-will into their souls1 address them in language such as will make them hail their own defeat3--,brethren1 ,i speak to you as ,i love you1 from the bottom of my heart4 ,permit us to declare unto you the whole truth2 suffer us to be apostles2 suffer us to address you in words enlivened by charity2 suffer us to save you4 444 ,thus have we endeavored to describe the nature1 the power1 and the triumphs of apostolical preaching2 which should be the same now as it was in olden time4 #cf ,but apostolical eloquence is no longer well understood4 ,it is now made to consist of ,i hardly know what3 the utterance of truths without any order1 in a happy-go-lucky fashion1 extravagant self-excitement1 bawling1 and thumping on the pulpit4 ,there is a tendency in this respect to follow the injunctions of an old divine of the sixteenth century to a young bachelor of arts3--,percute cathedram fortiter2 respice ,crucifixum torvis oculis2 nil diu ad propositnm1 et bene prcedicabis4 ,it is evident that any thing so congenial to indolence cannot be apostolical eloquence1 which consists of an admixture of truth1 frankness1 and charity4 ,to be an apostle one must love1 suffer1 and be devoted4 ,for1 what is an apostle8 ,to use the language of one who was worthy to define the meaning of the word1 and who exemplified the definition in his own life3 ,footnote #h ,an apostle is fervent charity personified4 444 ,the apostle is eager for work1 eager to endure4 ,he yearns to wean his brethren from error1 to enlighten1 console1 sustain1 and to make them partakers of the happiness of ,christianity4 ,the apostle is a hero2 he is a martyr2 he is a divine1 a father2 he1 is indomitable1 yet humble2 austere1 yet pure2 he is sympathizing1 tender4 444 ,the apostle is grand1 eloquent1 sublime1 holy4 ,he entertains large views1 and is assiduous in carrying them out for the regeneration and salvation of mankind4 ,footnote #h3 ,pre ,ravignan4 #cg ,we must return1 then1 to this broad and tender benevolence4 ,let our congregations feel it1 read it2 see it in our persons1 in our features1 in our words1 in our minutest actions4 ,let them understand that the priest is1 before all others1 their best1 their most faithful friend4 ,nothing must disconcert our charity4 ,our heart must be enlarged1 and soar above the frail ties1 the prejudices1 and the vices of humanity4 ,did not ,saint ,paul say3 ,i could wish that myself were accursed from ,christ1 for the sake of his erring brethren8 ,and did not ,moses elect to be blotted out from the book of life rather than see his cowardly1 ungrateful1 fickle countrymen stricken by the hand of the ,almighty8 ,the weaker men are1 the more need have they to be loved4 ,such love does good to all4 ,it cheers the heart of the preacher4 ,it also creates sympathy1 and those electric currents which go from the speaker to the hearts of the faithful1 and from the hearts of the faithful back to the speaker4 ,it reveals what should be said1 and1 above all1 supplies the appropriate accent wherein to express it4 ,saint ,augustine writes3 ,love first1 and then you may do what you choose4 ,we may subjoin3 ,love first1 and then you may say what you please2 for affectionate speech fortifies the mind1 removes obstacles1 disposes to self-sacrifice1 makes the unwilling willing1 and elevates the character as well as the mind4 #ch ,charity is the great desideratum of the present time4 ,it is constantly being remarked that the age in which we live requires this and that4 ,what the age really wants is this3--,it needs to be loved4 444 ,it needs to be drawn out of that egotism which frets and consumes it4 ,it needs a little esteem and kindly treatment to make good all its deficiencies4 ,how silly we are1 then1 to go so far in search of the desired object1 overlooking the fact that the kingdom of ,god is within us--in our hearts4 ,be it ours1 therefore1 to love the people4 444 ,is it not to that end that we have no family ties8 444 ,let us prevent their hate1 which is so harmful to them4 ,let love be present with us always1 according to the saying of ,saint ,augustine3--,let us love in speaking1 and speak in love4 ,let there be love in our remonstrances 444 love also in our reproofs4 ,let the mouth speak1 but let the heart love4 ,yes1 let us learn to love1 to endure1 to be devoted4 ,what6 do we not belong to the same family as those excellent and self-denying men who leave country and home to seek and to save souls beyond the ocean8 ,were we not brought up at the same school8 ,they love infidels1 they love pagans and savages sufficiently well to sacrifice every thing for them4 444 ,are not our pagans in ,france worth as much as the pagans of ,oceania8 ,are not our ,french little ones as deserving of compassion as ,chinese children8 #ci ,true1 their parents do not expose them on the highways2 but they abandon them to shame1 to vice1 to the education of the streets4 444 ,it is right that we should commiserate the heathen1 that devotion should be manifested on their behalf2 but let us have compassion on our own children also1 on our brothers in ,france1 that they be not suffered to perish before our eyes4 444 ,yes1 ,i invoke pity for this people2 pity for their sufferings1 their miseries1 their prejudices1 their deplorable subjection to popular opinion1 their ignorance1 their errors4 ,let us1 at least1 try to do them good1 to save them4 ,therein lies bur happiness2 we shall never have any other4 ,all other sources are closed to us2 there is the well-spring of the most delectable joys4 ,apart from charity1 what remains8 ,vanity1 unprofitableness1 bitterness1 misery1 nothingness4 #dj ,chapter ,,ii4 ,the ,people4 ,the actual ,state of the ,people4 ,their good and bad ,qualities4 ,the ,people in large ,cities4 ,the ,people in small ,towns4 ,the ,people in rural ,districts4 ,how to benefit these ,three ,classes of ,people4 ,one powerful ,means is to act upon the ,people through4 the upper ,classes1 and upon the latter through the former4 ,we shall now assume that you love the people4 ,but1 besides that1 in order to address them pertinently1 you must understand them well1 know their good qualities1 their failings1 instincts1 passions1 prejudices1 and their way of looking at things2 in a word1 you must know them by heart4 ,to a profound acquaintance with religion must be joined a profound knowledge of humanity as it exists at the present day4 ,but1 to speak frankly1 the people are not known2 not even by the most keen-sighted1 not even by our statesmen4 ,they are only studied superficially1 in books1 in romances1 in the newspapers1 or else they are not studied at all4 #da ,judgment is mostly formed from appearances4 ,one sees a man mad with rage1 who insults1 blasphemes1 or who staggers through the streets1 and he says3 ,there2 behold the people6 ,another sees one who risks his own life to save a fellow-creature1 or who finds and restores a purse or a pocket-book to its owner1 and he exclaims exultingly1 ,behold the people6 ,both are mistaken1 for both substitute an exception for the rule4 ,in order to understand the people well1 we must probe beyond the surface1 and take them as they are when they are most themselves4 ,they must be studied in the spirit1 as it were1 and not on the outside2 for they often appear worse than they actually are4 ,still less should we arrest our researches1 as is frequently done1 at a point where they clash against ourselves4 ,on the other hand1 ,i feel bound to state that if we do not know the people1 they1 in turn1 do not know the classes of society above them2 and it is on that account that we do not love each other as we ought4 ,at first sight1 the ,french people--the lower orders--are a real mystery3 an inconceivable medley of weakness and of courage1 of goodness and ill-will1 of delicacy and rudeness1 of generosity and egotism1 of seriousness and of frivolity4 ,it may be said that they possess two natures3 one endowed with good sense1 which is generous1 feeling1 and contrite2 the other unreflecting1 which raves and drinks1 curses and swears4 ,on one side they are frivolous1 vain1 weak1 scornful1 sceptical1 credulous1 headstrong4 #db ,in their frivolity they jeer at every thing2 at what is frivolous and what is serious1 at what is profane and what is sacred4 ,their weakness under temptation is lamentable3 they have no restraint over themselves4 ,but1 above all1 their credulity is unbounded4 ,this is their weak1 their bad side2 the source of one portion of our evils4 ,alas6 what may not this people be led to believe8 ,there is no lie so great1 no absurdity so gross1 the half of which they may not be made to swallow when their passions dictate that any thing may be gained thereby1 or they conceive that their interests are assailed4 ,at certain seasons of blind infatuation they may be made to believe any thing2 even that which is incredible1 even what is impossible4 ,unfortunately this is to some extent the case among the higher classes4 ,the people surrender themselves to the first comer who has a glib tongue and can lie adroitly4 ,their credulity1 as already stated1 knows no bounds2 especially as respects the rich and the clergy1 whom they regard as the cause of all the ills which befall them4 ,accidents wholly independent of human volition are placed to their account4 ,is there a dearth8 ,they create the scarcity of corn4 ,is there stagnation in trade8 ,they restrain the capitalists4 ,undoubtedly they had some hand in the cholera2 and it is not quite certain but that there exists some damnable connivance between them and the caterpillars and weevils4 444 ,poor people6 yet how they are deceived6 ,thereupon their good sense disappears1 their heads reel1 reflection abandons them1 and then they rise up in anger3 strike1 pillage1 kill4 444 ,they become terrible4 #dc ,but ,i hasten to say that if there is evil in the ,french people1 there is also good3 much good4 ,they are witty1 frank1 logical1 generous1 amiable1 and above all1 they have hearts4 ,this is undeniable2 and we should never despair of a man who has a heart1 for there is always something in him to fall back upon4 ,when all else is lost to this people1 their heart survives1 for it is the last thing which dies within them4 ,it has been said that frivolity is the basis of the ,french character2 but that judgment is incorrect4 ,more truly it should be said that the ,french character is frivolous outwardly1 but at the bottom it is generous1 combined with exquisite good sense4 ,very few are aware how much generosity and sympathy toward all suffering are hid under the jerkin and smock-frock4 ,the people possess an inexhaustible store of sentiment1 of the spirit of self-sacrifice and devotedness4 ,why1 then1 are they not better understood8 ,the mischievous1 indeed1 know them too well2 for when they would mislead or stir them up1 they appeal to their sense of justice1 to their love of humanity4 ,they point out to them grievances which should be redressed1 oppressions to be avenged4 #dd ,then are their passions lit up1 and they are carried away 444 we need not tell the rest4 ,the motive on their part was almost always praiseworthy at the outset1 in some measure at least2 but once led beyond themselves they hurried headlong into extremes4 ,the heart1 then1 is the better side of the ,french people2 their honorable and glorious side2 their genius4 ,others may claim the genius of extensive speculations in science and industry2 to them belongs the genius of heart1 of love1 of sympathy1 of charity4 ,endowed with so goodly a portion1 what have they to complain of2 for is not dominion over mankind achieved thereby8 ,hence1 when ,providence designs to spread an idea throughout the world1 it implants it in a ,frenchman's breast4 ,there it is quickly elaborated2 and then that heart so magnanimous and communicative1 so fascinating and attractive1 gives it currency with electric speed4 ,if noble aspirations spring from the heart1 they nowhere find a more fertile soil2 and1 strange to say1 this excellent gift is found in all classes1 and under all conditions4 ,a man may be worse than a nonentity in a moral point of view1 but he has a heart still4 ,would you do him good8 aim at that4 ,but you will say3 ,look at those coarse fellows1 those besotted clowns sunk in materialism1 those men stained with crime and degraded by debauchery1 where is their heart8 ,they have none4 ,i say they have a heart still3 go direct to the soul1 pierce through that rough and forbidding crust of vices and evil passions1 and you will find a treasure4 #de ,proof in point is to be met with everywhere2 even in the theatres1 where its manifestation has been noticed by observant spectators4 ,the galleries are generally occupied by persons of all conditions2 mechanics1 profligates1 vagabonds1 loose women1 and even men1 who1 to use their own indulgent expression1 have had a weakness3 that is1 have spent some years in prison1 or at the treadmill4 ,it is gratifying to witness the conduct of that mass during the performance of some touching scene or generous action4 ,they are often moved even to tears--they applaud and stamp with enthusiasm4 ,on the contrary1 when mean or heinous actions are represented1 they can not hoot or execrate enough3 they shake the fist at the scoundrel or traitor1 hurl abuse at him1 and not unfrequently more substantial missiles4 ,it will be said that all this feeling is transitory4 ,so it may be2 still it shows that there remain in such breasts1 chords which may be made to vibrate1 hearts not yet dead1 good sentiments which are capable of cultivation4 ,such are the ,french people taken in the mass2 such their merits and defects4 ,the head is not their better part1 and they might almost be described as having a good heart but a bad head4 #df ,in order to lead them1 they must be seized where they present the best hold4 ,to do this effectually requires sound sense and a kindly heart1 moderate reasoning1 and very little metaphysics4 ,an opposite course1 however1 is too frequently pursued4 ,crotchets1 fancies1 theories1 vapid ideas--such is the stuff wherewith attempts have been made to influence them4 ,is it surprising that they have not always yielded to such guidance8 ,on points of wit1 argument1 and right1 the ,frenchman is acute1 punctilious1 headstrong4 ,on points of generosity and devotedness he is tractable1 liberal1 admirable4 ,demand any thing from him as a right1 and he will refuse it4 ,ask the same thing of him1 appealing to his heart1 and he will often grant it with the best possible grace4 ,but1 above all1 if you wish to restore him to equanimity and a right mind1 get him to perform an act of charity4 ,to prove that the heart rarely disappears1 and that it always retains a hold on the mind1 ,i must be permitted to cite an example combining the good and the bad qualities which are to be met with in the lower grades of society4 ,i shall frequently refer to facts2 for in morals1 as in many other matters1 they bring us sooner to the point aimed at4 #dg ,it was in one of the most wretched quarters of ,paris that a priest went to visit a rag-woman who was dangerously ill4 ,she was lying on straw so damp that it was fit only for the dung-hill4 ,the visitor had reached the landing-place1 and was reflecting how he might best minister to the poor woman's wants1 when he heard the cry of another female from the end of a dark corridor1 exclaiming3 ,help6 murder6 ,he ran toward the spot1 and pushing open a door saw two young children crying4 ,extended on the floor lay the unfortunate woman1 while a tall man with a sinister countenance1 and clad only in a pair of pantaloons and a ragged shirt1 stood over her1 kicking her4 ,her face was already black and blue from his violence4 ,the priest sprang towards the man and said3 ,wretch6 what are you about8 ,will you not desist8 ,he did desist1 but it was to attack the speaker4 ,he seized him suddenly by the breast1 thrust two fingers under his cassock1 and then1 without uttering a word1 lifted him as if he had been an infant1 and carried him to an open window4 ,there he angrily told him that he would not have priests intermeddling with his affairs1 and disturbing the peace of his household1 and that he intended to pitch him out of the window forthwith4 ,in fact1 he was preparing to put the threat into execution2 but1 as if wishing to gloat over his victim1 he continued to glare at him with the eyes of a tiger1 holding him all the while as with an arm of steel4 #dh ,the priest was alarmed1 but ,god enabled him not to betray it4 ,he regarded his antagonist calmly1 and said almost with a smile3 ,gently1 my friend2 you are much too hasty4 ,do you really mean to throw me out of the window8 ,is that the most pressing business on hand8 ,you who are always talking about fraternity and charity2 do you know what was taking place while you were beating your wife8 ,another woman was dying on a dung-heap in your house4 ,i am sure you would be horrified at such a thing4 ,now1 let us both see what we can do on her behalf2 for you are by no means such a bad fellow as you wish to appear4 ,i will pay for some clean straw1 if you will go and fetch it4 ,terror1 combined with the desire of winning over his assailant1 made the priest eloquent1 and he had hardly ended his appeal before the lion was tamed4 ,the man's countenance rapidly changed1 and he relaxed his hold at once2 then taking off his shabby cap and placing it under his arm1 he assumed a respectful attitude1 like that of a soldier in presence of a superior officer1 and replied3--,if you talk in that style1 sir1 the case is different4 ,i have always been humane1 and will readily help you to assist the poor woman4 ,i will1 in fact1 do any thing you please2 for it won't do to let a fellow-creature die in that plight4 ,thereupon the priest gave him the money1 and he went out to purchase two bundles of clean straw4 #di ,in the mean time the women of the neighborhood1 attracted by the altercation1 had rushed to the spot1 and on seeing the priest expostulated with him in these terms3--,what are you about8 ,do you know where you are8 ,you are in the clutches of the worst man in the quarter4 ,he is so outrageous that even cut-throats are afraid of him1 and he has often said that nothing would give him more pleasure than to break a man's neck1 especially if that man were a priest4 ,these remonstrances were by no means encouraging2 but those who urged them little knew the power of charity4 ,the sturdy fellow soon returned with the bundles on his shoulder4 ,he was calm1 and his countenance had become almost honest4 ,on entering the room where the poor woman lay1 he took half a bundle of straw and spread it on the floor4 ,the most touching part of the scene followed4 ,he lifted the sufferer in his arms with the tenderness of a mother1 placed her on the clean straw1 then made her bed1 and finally laid her upon it1 just as a mother would her child4 ,a female wished to help him1 but he pushed her aside1 remarking that he was well able to do a humane act unassisted4 ,the man was in tears1 and the priest perceiving that he wished to address him1 retired toward the window4 ,but his new acquaintance could not utter a word2 emotion choked him4 ,the priest gave him his hand1 and the stalwart workman squeezed it as in a vice1 in token of his affection4 #ej ,well done1 my friend1 said the priest1 well done2 ,i quite understand you4 ,i knew full well that you were not as bad as you wanted to make me believe4 ,i knew you were capable of doing a good action4 ,you have done it all1 was the reply2 four men could not master me1 and yet you have overcome me with as many words4 ,you must be a true pastor4 ,the priest hastened to turn this favorable opportunity to profit1 by pleading the cause of the wife1 and rejoined3--,but1 my friend1 you have done something which is not becoming4 ,you have ill-used your wife2 and a man does not marry a woman to beat her4 ,i have no doubt she has her failings1 and you also have yours4 ,you should bear with one another4 ,come1 promise me that you will never strike her again4 ,at these words1 his face assumed somewhat of its former sullenness1 and dropping the priest's hand he said frankly3--,i am very sorry that ,i cannot do as you wish4 ,i will not promise because ,i should not keep my word4 444 ,the priest returned to the charge1 and among other remarks which made some impression on the man1 he was quite brought to bay by the following3--,so you won't promise not to beat your wife8 ,that is simply because you don't reflect4 ,surely1 you who have just done an act of kindness to a strange woman1 cannot1 with any decency1 continue to beat your own wife4 #ea ,after much hesitation1 he pledged his word1 backing it with a tremendous oath4 ,since then1 he has never been intoxicated1 neither has he once struck his wife4 ,you should have seen with what gratitude the woman welcomed her preserver on his next visit4 ,what a blessing my acquaintance with you has proved1 said she4 ,since your last visit you have saved me from two floorers4 ,my husband does not drink now1 but he still goes into violent passions4 ,he raises his fist1 and ,i fear he is about to strike me2 but he forbears4 ,he calms down at once1 and says3 ',tis well for you that that abb came1 otherwise ,i would have floored you again4 ,not long after1 he was reclaimed to a ,christian life2 he confessed and communicated1 and it is now rare to find a man of more exalted sentiments4 ,he refused assistance from every one1 saying that he was able to earn his own livelihood1 and to provide for his family4 ,to do this1 he worked all day and part of the night also4 ,peace and comfort were restored to his home1 which his wife now likens to a paradise4 ,to give an instance of his noble disposition1 ,i may mention that toward the end of last ,december he called on the priest1 to whom he had become greatly attached1 and said to him with his characteristic frankness3--,i am very sad to-day1 ,monsieur l',abb4 #eb ,why1 my friend8 ,because ,i am poor4 ,in the course of my lifetime ,i have suffered misery enough4 ,i have cursed the rich1 and that ,providence which gave them their wealth4 ,nevertheless1 ,i don't believe ,i ever felt the wretchedness of being poor as much as ,i do to-day2 although it is for a different reason4 ,what is it1 then1 my good friend8 ,well1 it is this4 ,here we are close upon the beginning of a new year1 and ,i wished to make you a small present--for you have been very kind to me and ,i have no money4 ,however1 be assured of this1 at least1 that you have in me a devoted friend1 and that ,i am always at your service4 ,send me wherever you please2 ,i would walk barefoot and beat a steam-engine to serve you4 ,then1 taking the priest's hand1 he added with unspeakable kindness and energy3--,monsieur l',abb1 should there ever be another revolution1 and any assault be made on the clergy1 come and take refuge with me2 come and hide in our quarter1 and ,i vow that many heads shall be broken before a hair of yours is touched4 ,such are the people1 taken as they are with the good and the bad which is in them4 ,i have again selected my illustrations from among the least favorable specimens1 and ,i may further add that it rarely happens that a priest meets even with abuse from the most depraved4 ,the instance above adduced is exceptional1 and arose out of the anger of the moment4 #ec ,such1 then1 are the people generally2 but their characteristics are modified by circumstances of locality1 intercourse1 and education4 ,there are the people of the large cities1 those of small towns1 and the people in rural districts4 ,there are also the people who work1 and those who are always looking for work and never find it2 with whom the true people are often confounded4 ,the ,people in large ,cities4 ,the people in large cities possess1 in a high degree1 all the merits and defects which we are about to notice4 ,they are fickle1 vain1 braggart1 improvident1 mad after pleasures1 and not very moral4 ,the ease with which they may be duped is astounding4 ,they are readily excited1 they clamor1 are carried away1 strike for nothing whatever1 and then they reflect4 ,they live from hand to mouth4 ,when work is plentiful1 they squander2 when it is scarce1 they fast and suffer4 ,they love money for the pleasures which it procures2 and in their estimation a debauch is one of the greatest enjoyments of life4 #ed ,this latter tendency they have borrowed from the present age2 which is somewhat sensual1 not to say gluttonous--that term would not be parliamentary--as it would have been called in former times4 ,nowadays a good dinner is not a matter of indifference to others besides men of high standing4 ,a person of exalted rank was once told that his cook had the talent of adding considerably to his own wages4 ,i know it1 was the reply2 but ,i hold that we cannot pay a man too handsomely for making us happy twice a day4 ,in fact1 in these times1 one who can thus serve you out two rations of happiness per diem is regarded as a treasure4 ,despite the vices1 however1 which exist in large cities1 there are many virtues also to be found among the resident people4 ,they are sincere1 generous1 disinterested1 amiable1 and withal extremely witty4 ,in the midst of their hardships1 or when exposed to danger1 they will often utter sparkling sallies1 or laugh good-naturedly at their miseries4 ,they are not rich2 but what matters that8 ,they are ever ready to help those who are poorer than themselves4 ,in case of an accident1 they will run1 work1 expose themselves to save others at the risk of their own lives4 ,they are ready to sacrifice themselves for whatever they deem just and right4 ,unfortunately1 in their opinion1 the authorities are always in the wrong1 and they are never backward to take part against the law4 #ee ,the more ,i study the people1 the more incomprehensible they appear to me4 ,they are at once sceptical and religious4 ,watch them in a public-house there they curse and swear1 and indulge freely in ribald talk2 but if a funeral happens to pass by1 they immediately doff their caps1 and make the sign of the cross4 ,to-day they will thrash one of their comrades unmercifully2 the day after they will adopt an orphan4 ,no class ever had so much need of guidance2 of benevolent sympathizing guidance4 ,they drift with the wind under the influence of good or evil counsels4 ,they may become sublime or atrocious1 angels of heaven or demons4 ,the people themselves feel their own weakness and fickleness1 and are occasionally dismayed at it4 ,some time back1 one of them1 while looking at the stains of blood which had been shed in a church in the month of ,september1 #agib1 was seized with a sudden horror1 and1 laying hold of the arm of the priest who accompanied him1 exclaimed with a shudder3--,i fear those times may return2 for1 you see1 we are unfortunate4 ,we are ill-advised1 and are as ready to kill with one hand as we are to embrace with the other4 ,they require1 then1 to be under constant guidance ,they always need to have some one near who will sustain and keep them in the right way by appealing to the better dictates of their hearts4 #ef ,in one respect1 such guidance is easier here than elsewhere4 ,you tread on ground which is perfectly well-known4 ,these people can hide nothing4 ,as the saying is1 when an idea tickles them1 they must scratch it until it finds utterance4 ,their frankness is occasionally foul-mouthed1 and they do not hesitate to blurt it out to your face4 ,nevertheless1 such a style rather pleases me than otherwise4 ,you know1 at least1 with whom you have to deal2 and when such an one says that he is attached to you1 he is sincere4 ,god grant that the feeling in every case may be abiding6 ,they are not tenacious either of their errors1 their prejudices1 or their passions4 ,it is true that they are disposed to assume airs1 to repine1 and to threaten4 ,they declare that they will do this and that2 but it is by no means difficult to prevent them from doing it at all4 ,ridicule their prejudices and their foibles fairly1 and with sound sense1 and they will surrender them1 and you will overcome them all4 ,moreover1 they will not be the last to laugh at their own folly4 ,some weeks after the revolution of ,february1 when men's brains were all in a whirl1 and every one fancied himself called upon to present us with a better world than that which ,providence has given us1 ,monseigneur ,d',amata1 ,bishop of ,oceania1 happened to be in ,paris4 ,one day he passed by a club in full session4 ,the attendance was numerous1 and all ears were bent and all eyes fixed on an orator who was dilating on the benefits of communism4 #eg ,he wound up with the usual phrases3 ,no more poor nor rich2 no more great nor small2 no more palaces nor hovels2 but perfect equality and happiness for all4 ,after which peroration there was a tremendous outburst of applause4 ,the bishop then asked leave to speak1 which being granted1 he mounted on a table which served for a rostrum1 and spoke to the following effect3 ,citizens1 you have just been hearing about communism1 and a great deal of good has been attributed to it4 ,i am entitled as much as any man to have my say on the subject4 ,for a long time past ,i have resided in a country where communism is carried out into practice thoroughly4 7,increased attention47 ,there every thing is common3 the land1 the forests1 rivers1 fish1 game1 and women4 ,but let me tell you how matters go on there4 ,nobody works2 the fields are untilled2 and the inhabitants live on fish and game4 ,when these fail1 as the people must eat1 they hunt one another4 ,the stronger catches the weaker1 roasts him on a spit1 and then eats him4 ,reflect1 therefore1 before establishing communism1 whether such a state of existence would suit you4 ,should you persist1 ,i would advise you to lay in a good supply of spits1 and to sharpen them well1 for they will be the most valuable stock under the reign of communism4 ,whereat there followed an outcry of ,down with communism6 ,away with communism6 #eh ,the ,people in small ,towns4 ,in small towns1 the scene changes and assumes smaller proportions4 ,little things play the part of great things4 ,a small town is the home1 the real classical soil of petty ideas1 petty vanities1 petty triumphs1 and gross backbiting4 ,they all know1 salute1 and criticise each other4 ,none is more slanderous than the male resident in a small town1 except it be his wife4 ,the chief authority of the place is neither the mayor1 nor the sub-prefect1 nor even the prefect himself4 ,it is public opinion1 flanked by its inseparable companion1 routine4 ,the local virtue is not independence of character1 but timidity4 ,every one fears his friends as well as his enemies1 neighbors as well as strangers2 he fears for his own amour propre1 and he fears to give others cause for talking about him4 ,all this has exercised a pernicious influence over the people in such localities4 ,they are extremely timid1 niggardly1 insincere1 rather hypocritical1 and inordinately obsequious4 ,they may be well-disposed to discharge their religious duties2 but should there happen to be a free-thinker among them1 one who takes the lead in the finance or trade of the place1 who might traduce or turn such conduct into ridicule1 or bespatter it with some of the blasphemies picked up from among the off-scourings of the eighteenth century1 they do not dare to perform them2 they tremble at the idea1 so abject is their state of dependence3 they have not even the courage to brave sarcasm4 #ei ,this servile deference1 which has been ignominiously expelled from our great cities1 has taken refuge in our small towns and country districts1 where it exercises a tyrannical sway4 ,on the other hand1 the people in small towns are more moral1 more provident1 less turbulent1 and more faithful to family obligations than those in large cities4 ,they1 above all others1 should not be judged by appearances3 by that cold and lifeless indifference which characterizes them4 ,hence it is that they are so little understood1 even by those who come into closest contact with them4 ,in order to win them1 you must attack them boldly4 ,promote concurrence toward some benevolent object1 by grouping your men together1 so that they may not feel isolated4 ,then they will take courage1 and will get to understand that it is no disgrace to practise religious duties2 or1 at least1 that in attending to them1 they are in fair and goodly company4 ,to that end1 organize a society of ,st4 ,vincent de ,paul2 or1 should one exist already1 develop it still further4 ,it is no longer allowable that a small town1 or even a village1 should be without a branch of that institution4 ,the attempt has succeeded in many hamlets2 and1 surely1 there is no inhabited locality so unfortunate as not to possess at least three zealous ,christians4 #fj ,if so1 they must be created forthwith2 otherwise1 what are we good for8 ,have also a ,society of ,saint ,francis ,xavier1 and an ,apprentices ,association4 ,occupy yourself chiefly with the men2 leave the faithful flock in order to seek after the lost sheep2 and1 above all1 let it not be said of you as it is said of certain small towns1 that religion there is engrossed with the distaff4 ,the ,people in ,rural ,districts4 ,the people in the country are the reverse of the people in large cities4 ,there1 every thing moves slowly4 ,results are tardily obtained1 but they are more durable4 ,the peasant is bound to routine2 he is diffident1 dissembling1 susceptible1 cunning1 and somewhat avaricious4 ,above all others1 usage and custom are a law to him4 ,he never risks any thing novel1 or trusts to new faces1 but with reserve4 ,he possesses few ideas2 but those he has he adheres to as tenaciously as he does to his little bit of land4 ,he seldom comes straight to the point2 he is incapable of saying yes or no frankly1 and he must be very acute who can penetrate his thoughts4 ,he will listen to you1 and appear to approve all you say2 but in fact1 he disagrees with you4 #fa ,he has1 moreover his grain of vanity2 why should he not8 ,is he not a child of ,adam1 like the rest of mankind8 ,has he not1 like them1 preserved the tradition of his noble origin8 ,hence he is prouder of being mayor of his commune1 or an officer in the ,national ,guard1 than either a prefect or a marshal of ,france is of his dignity4 ,and as regards deference1 no man is more exacting than a peasant who has risen to the rank mayor1 or become an enriched shopkeeper4 ,lastly1 the peasant does not possess much acquired knowledge2 but he makes up for the deficiency by consummate shrewdness4 ,he must be a sharp person indeed1 who can overreach him where money is concerned2 unless he can manage to play upon his credulity or his dread of spells and witchcraft4 ,nothing can be more perverse1 more astute1 or more cunning than an old peasant of ,normandy or ,lorraine4 ,he will expend more craft in disposing of an unsound horse than our diplomats would in formulating one of those protocols destined to preserve the balance of power in ,europe4 ,he will haggle for half-an-hour to gain sixpence on a sheep which he wants to buy or to sell4 ,in other respects1 the peasant is generally good-natured1 laborious1 sober1 full of good sense1 and religious as well as moral1 up to a certain point2 were it not for the public house4 ,his life is capable of easy adaptation to precepts of the ,gospel4 #fb ,in order to lead him1 you must first secure his confidence1 take hold of him by his better side1 or even by his weak side--which is1 his vanity4 ,ought we not to become little with the little1 that we may save all8 ,but the best way of gaining that confidence is to do him a good turn4 ,the peasant1 undoubtedly1 relishes kind words1 but he likes kindly actions still better2 and therein ,i agree with him4 ,in other respects1 he is by no means exacting4 ,a little forethought on his behalf1 a little politeness1 a salutation1 a manifestation of interest1 or a trifling present to his child1 will be enough to open his heart1 and to make him well-disposed4 ,when he is bent on doing a thing1 never oppose him directly1 otherwise he will become restive and obstinate2 and if you attempt to lead him to the right1 he will show a malicious pleasure in going to the left4 ,beware still more of pushing him to extremes2 for he may become obstreperous1 spiteful1 pitiless1 and perchance atrocious4 ,take the peasant by the heart2 for1 after all1 it is the most healthy part of the community generally4 #fc ,on the ,way of doing some little ,good to these ,three ,classes of the ,people4 ,such are the people1 with whom we have to deal1 and who need to be restored to vital ,christianity2 seeing that they are1 unfortunately1 sadly deficient in practical religion1 and their manner of life is often far removed from evangelical morality4 ,still1 let us beware of judging that the religious sentiment is extinct among them4 ,the people in ,france are naturally ,christian4 ,there is more religion in the little finger of the people than in the superb bodies of our demi-savants4 ,the people1 ,i say1 are still capable of comprehending and of appreciating religion2 and whenever their hearts are brought into contact with the ,gospel1 they allow themselves to be penetrated1 ruled1 elevated by its influence4 ,look at them in the presence of a preacher who speaks to the souls of his hearers4 ,their attention is suddenly riveted1 their countenances become animated1 their eyes glisten4 ,they listen with an attention and good-will1 which one often wishes to see in the most pious audiences4 ,they welcome without a frown the severest truths1 and even applaud those passages which bear most against themselves4 ,those are1 therefore1 mistaken who think that religion has no longer any influence over the masses4 ,it is true that at first1 owing to the prejudices and sarcasms of a past age1 the cassock is a scarecrow to certain classes4 #fd ,they begin by suspecting4 ,but when the same persons come to know the priest well1 when they are once won over by his address1 there is no man in the world--neither tribune1 nor popular orator1 nor demagogue--who ever acquires so powerful a hold over them4 ,it is on that very account that those who distrust the clergy express their apprehensions1 and say3--,their influence is excessive2 their preaching should be interdicted2 otherwise they may proceed to abuse it1 and then we shall all be upset4 ,this ascendency is often obtained over the most stubborn and vicious4 ,condemned felons1 despite their vices and their crimes1 have been amazed to find themselves amenable to its power4 ,those who had been confided to the mission of ,toulon1 remarked3--,how strange it is that we who require armed soldiers to make us obey1 nevertheless cheerfully do whatever the priests bid us6 ,and when the mission referred to terminated1 no less than #bhjj of the prisoners partook of the holy communion4 ,no1 the people are not so much estranged from ,god and ,christianity as is thought4 ,we were made to understand each other2 but evil passions have interposed between us and them4 ,they still possess good sense and an inward instinct which draws them toward religion4 ,they feel their need of it1 because they feel the need of hope4 ,religion belongs preeminently to them2 they are linked to it by their sympathies4 ,let us1 moreover1 do them this justice3 they1 the people1 did not give up religious practices till long after the other classes4 #fe ,they held out for more than a century4 ,errors and scandals descended upon them from a sphere above them1 yet they did not succumb4 ,the churches were closed to them1 their priests were driven away1 even their ,god was hunted1 yet they did not yield4 ,they were pursued even into their cottages1 their huts1 and their workshops with licentious books and pamphlets1 and they resisted still4 ,at length1 religion was covered with ridicule1 the mantle of derision was thrown over it1 as it was over ,christ1 and they were bade in scorn to behold their religion6 ,then they gave way4 444 ,but the crash did not come till #ahcj1 as the whole world can testify4 ,the people were assailed on their weak side1 with taunts and sneers which they were the least capable of withstanding4 ,but though deficient in evangelical morality1 religious sentiment has still clung to them4 ,as a pious and illustrious prelate1 ,footnote #i who knows the people well1 who loves them1 and is beloved in return1 remarked to the ,emperor1 on his way to ,moulins3--,i thank your ,majesty for having understood that the ,french nation1 left to its natural tendencies1 preserves the character of the most ,christian nation1 and that1 in spite of many rude shocks1 the faith of their fathers is the first want of their hearts4 ,footnote #i3 ,monseigneur de ,dreux-,brz1 ,bishop of ,moulins4 #ff ,a dignitary of religion is always venerated by the people4 ,they run to see him and to solicit his benediction4 ,the visits of ,monseigneur the late ,archbishop of ,paris to the faubourgs1 tenanted by a population regarded as the most irreligious and immoral of the capital1 may be adduced in illustration of this statement4 ,crowds of men and women flocked to him1 bent under his paternal hand1 and held up their squalid and half naked children to receive his blessing4 ,in like manner1 they brought him from all sides chaplets1 images1 and medals2 while those who did not possess such pious articles brought halfpence1 that he might bless them2 and these they afterward preserved as sacred relics4 ,the same soothing influence followed the devout prelate in the streets1 the workshops1 and the public places4 ,his words had a magic effect everywhere among those hardened and redoubtable denizens of the faubourgs4 ,it was in a quarter as poor in spiritual as in temporal things that an immense crowd thronged to him1 and like the ,good ,shepherd--like the blessed ,saviour--unwilling to send them away fasting1 that is1 without a few affectionate words1 he mounted some steps1 and stood on a landing1 which served him for a pulpit4 ,among the crowd was a group of those men who are at perpetual war with society1 keepers of smoking-dens1 and worse places too2 blacklegs1 and setters-up of barricades4 ,they looked at him without removing their caps1 and with a sneer on their lips4 #fg ,no sooner had the prelate begun to speak than there was silence4 ,as he proceeded1 one cap was doffed1 then two or three more1 and soon all heads were bared1 in accordance with the rules of ,french politeness4 ,when the sermon was ended1 these men shouted louder than the rest3--,vive ,monseigneur6 ,vive la ,religion6 ,it cannot be denied that the manners of the people are often painful in the extreme2 but1 then1 they have so little to fall back upon1 and are surrounded by so many temptations4 ,ignorance frets them1 debauchery degrades them1 and1 besides1 having constantly to struggle against the pinchings of want1 it is not surprising that they become1 as it were1 linked to a necessity which weighs upon them so heavily4 ,even we1 with all our education1 our science1 the superior moral atmosphere which we breathe1--are we always blameless8 ,when the people look above them1 do they always find good examples in the higher classes of society8 ,what would you have them think when they see men who ought to be patterns of virtue1 when they see1 to use their own expression1 respectable scoundrels1 with money in their hands and lying words on their lips1 endeavoring to seduce their wives or their daughters8 #fh ,nevertheless1 they have not lost the courage of truthfulness3 a rare thing nowadays4 ,they have still moral energy enough to condemn themselves1 to condemn their own mode of life1 and to admit that they are wrong-doers4 ,a notorious reprobate1 after hearing a sermon1 remarked to his companion3 ,all right2 religion1 after all1 is not such a humbug as it has been represented4 ,scarcely any but the people retain such ingenuousness4 ,elsewhere the truth is not relished1 is not recognized1 is rather thrust aside as an intruder4 ,where1 ,i should like to know1 among other classes1 will you hear the admission3--,i am misled2 ,i am in the wrong8 ,the people scarcely ever attempt to justify their failings by reasoning1 or to reduce their vices to a system2 for there exists in them a sense of justice and integrity which1 when they are calm1 leads them to confess that they are unworthy to live4 ,a man ,footnote #aj who was in the habit of mixing with the least moral class in ,paris1 relates that he one day had the following conversation with the father of a family whose union had not been blessed by religion4 ,footnote #aj3 ,m4 ,gossin1 ,manuel de la ,socit de ,saint-,franois ,rgis1 p4 #adc4 #fi ,i must apologize1 he remarks1 for reproducing this colloquy in all its original crudity2 but ,i shall invent nothing2 ,i shall merely repeat what was actually said by both parties the first time this argmnentum ad hominem was employed4 ',i regret to find that we cannot understand each other4 ,what6 you persist in maintaining that in seducing the woman at your side eighteen years ago you did nothing wrong8' ',nothing at all4 ,i am an honest man2 ,i have never stolen nor committed murder4 ,i was rather gay when young2 but there is no harm in that4 ,as to the woman1 ,i did not compel her4 ,why did she allow herself to be enticed8' ',let us speak on another subject4 444 ,are all these your children8' ,no1 sir2 we have another at home1 a young lass named ,seraphine4' ',i am sorry you have not produced her4 ,i should have been very glad to see her4' ',it is very civil of you to say so1 sir4' ',is she grown-up8' ',tolerably3 she is twelve years old4 ,she is getting on nicely with the ,sisters1 which is very satisfactory4 ,she sews well already1 and is a promising girl4' ',your boys here are comely and well-behaved1 and do credit to the mother's care4' #gj ',yes1 it cannot be denied that what she does for them she does thoroughly4 ,she keeps them well washed1 and one hears nothing in the morning but let me comb you2 let me wash you4 ,you should see how she souses and scrubs them4' ',is ,seraphine as comely as her brothers8' ',do you hear that1 missis8 ,what a goose you are2 won't you answer8 ,well1 ,i will decide for both4 ,on my honor1 ,seraphine is better looking than any in this house1 though we have eighteen lodgers1 who have a jolly lot of damsels among them of all shades4' '7,then looking fixedly at the man7--',in two or three years1 ,seraphine1 who is still a child1 will be a very attractive and modest young woman1 and she will be a comfort to you4 444 ,but what would you say if a working-man1 doing as you did by her mother1 should seduce and dishonor the poor girl8' ,he sprang up almost beside himself1 and said3--',what should ,i say8 ,i would say nothing2 but ,i would murder the villain who dared to inveigle my daughter4' ',you would be wrong2 for the man1 according to what you yourself have just said1 would be1 in your opinion1 a perfect man2 for he would neither have killed1 nor stolen1 nor forced your daughter4 ,he could only be charged with having wished to amuse himself a little2 which you say is not a crime4 ,still beside himself with rage1 he said3--',nevertheless1 ,i would murder the wretch4' #ga ',but1 my friend1 recall to mind what you have done yourself1 and then judge4' ,with tears in his eyes1 and pressing the hand of his interlocutor1 he said3--',forgive me1 sir2 ,i lied to myself when ,i said what ,i did4 ,i was boasting just as many others of us do2 but ,i am better than my stupid speeches4' ,i may add1 as a characteristic trait of the human heart1 that after this dialogue1 the father's emotion at seeing his faults placed naked before him was so strong1 that he was seized with a fever which lasted several days2 that he subsequently thanked me most warmly for having opened his eyes2 and that ,i have now reason to believe in his complete and sincere conversion4 ,are we certain that we should find the same frankness and courage elsewhere8 ,the people1 notwithstanding the bravado common to their class1 deplore their failings1 and if intimate with them1 you will often hear them expressing their regret in some such style as this3--,pity me1 for ,i am most wretched4 ,do you think it does not make me uncomfortable to see my wife and children miserable1 and to know that ,i am the cause of their misery8 ,i have made good resolutions a thousand times over1 and have broken them as often4 ,my passions and my habits have become so inveterate that ,i am unable to resist them4 444 ,they are right2 for left to themselves they will never be able to persevere in well-doing4 #gb ,they need the aid of religion1 which ought to be afforded them1 and which is by no means an impracticable task4 ,let us hear no more of those incessant excuses that nothing can be done with them on that score4 ,away with all discouragement6 ,away with all despair6 ,those who indulge in such feelings do us infinite mischief4 ,they are a most dangerous class in our midst2 they will do nothing themselves1 and will not allow others to do any thing4 ,they try to prevent all good by ceaselessly repeating3--,it will never succeed4 444 ,there are so many obstacles to be encountered4 444 ,it is headstrong to attempt it4 ,this is one of the most hideous sores of the age4 ,such men accuse others1 and yet never seem to reflect that despair is the greatest possible crime in the sight of ,god4 ,nothing can be done with the ,french people6 ,what1 then1 have we come to8 ,we admit that something can be done for felons in the hulks1 for the pagan ,chinese1 for ,american savages1 for the cannibals of ,oceania4 ,we believe it1 for we send them help and missionaries2 and yet nothing can be done for our ,france1 for the nation beloved of ,god and ,his ,church1 which sheds its blood and spends its gold for the conversion of the infidels1 and where so many heroic virtues still exist6 #gc ,it is a calumny against ,france4 ,in order to justify your own neglect1 you slander your brethren1 you expose your ignorance of your country1 you ignore the power of the ,gospel and the virtue of the ,cross4 444 ,know1 then1 that we may yet regenerate the people4 444 ,yes1 we can1 and if we cannot we ought1 for it is a sacred duty2 and he who does not discharge his own duty in that respect1 has no right to give an opinion about the duty of others4 ,but what are the means which should be employed to bring the people nearer to the ,gospel8 ,religion must first be exhibited to them as it really is--beautiful1 good1 and lovely2 and then you may hold it up to them as true1 divine1 and obligatory4 ,you must first attract them by the senses and the imagination1 by sentiment1 and by the heart4 ,the people like to be interested1 touched1 moved4 ,they are fond of sentiment1 of festivals1 and shows4 ,after a week spent in absorbing material drudgery their poor souls require the breath of the ,divine word to animate and cheer them4 ,to them especially religion should be glad tidings--should bring them mental repose1 refreshment1 and peace4 ,we should set out by making them to feel1 to love1 and to bless2 instead of which we begin with reasoning1 and end with the same4 ,we have a mania1 a rage for reasoning2 but make the people love first1 then you may reason1 and will be understood4 #gd ,i say that in order to make religion lovely in the eyes of the people1 you should exhibit it under its most attractive aspect4 ,point out the good which it does on all sides1 to orphans1 to children and their parents1 to the forsaken1 to the people themselves1 their wives1 their daughters1 and their fathers4 ,appeal to their good sense and to their heart4 ,ask3 ,is it not true8 ,i refer the decision to your own judgment4 ,say to the people1 but with overflowing affection3--,my dear friends1 do what you will1 you will never find a better resource than religion2 religion will always be your best stay4 444 ,when you have spent your all1 when the world will have nothing more to do with you1 when your bodies shall be worn out by old age and sickness1 when from dread of you men will flee from you as from a contagion1 you will still find by your bedside a priest or a sister of charity to care for you and to bless you4 ,footnote #aa ,footnote #aa3 ,le ,manuel de ,charit4 ,but in order to make religion beloved1 you must secure some love for the priest also2 for the people confound our cause with that of ,god4 ,in their estimation1 religion is what the priest is2 and if they do not love the one1 they will hardly entertain any love for the other4 #ge ,the priest1 then1 should appear to them surrounded with a halo of charity4 ,he must make himself known2 he will always gain by being known4 ,he has been depicted in such dark colors that a true view of him will effectually remove many prejudices1 and give occasion to the oft-recurring remark3--,would that all priests were like this one4 ,but if the people no longer come to us1 we must go to them4 ,we don't mind going after the heathen of ,america and ,asia2 we cross the seas to get at them2 whereas there are in our midst--in our workshops1 our cottages1 and throughout the country--tens of thousands1 perhaps millions1 of practical pagans4 ,we know this well1 we confess it1 we deplore it1 and yet we hesitate to cross the distance which separates us from them6 ,poor ,french souls6 ,can it1 indeed1 be that you are not of so much value as the souls of ,chinese8 ,to come to us the people must know the value1 the necessity of religion4 ,but do they entertain any such idea8 ,surrounded as they have been with so many passions and prejudices1 is it surprising that they are now insensible and mistrustful8 ,should we be better than they if we had breathed the same pestiferous atmosphere8 ,if they are weak in the faith1 it is our duty to pity them1 according to the apostolic injunction3--,we that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak1 and not to please ourselves4 #gf ,but one replies3--,i cannot go to the people1 for ,i don't know what to say to them1 how to address them4 ,well1 ,i will tell you4 ,the best way of winning them1 and others too1 is to know how to listen4 ,that is one of the greatest talents in the direction of human affairs4 ,the man to whom you have listened attentively will always go away satisfied with himself1 and with you also4 ,you do the people good by the bare fact of listening to them4 ,let them1 therefore1 complain and talk nonsense to their hearts content4 ,overlook their errors1 prejudices1 outbursts of passion1 and their profanities1 too4 ,let them discharge all the gall which is in their hearts1 and then they will be far more tractable4 ,they will tell you that they have no time to practise religious duties2 that they have no need of religion2 that it is enough to be honest2 that they don't believe in another life2 that ,providence is unjust1 bestowing all the comforts on one class1 and all the miseries on the other4 ,you may also expect to meet with opprobious personalities4 ,they will tell you that priests are just like other men2 that they only work when they are paid1 and so forth4 ,overlook all such remarks2 they are enemies which are taking their departure1 and you will have fewer to encounter4 ,hear all1 and be not disconcerted at any thing that you hear2 on the contrary1 after such an explosion1 redouble your kindness1 assail the heart where your attack is least expected1 sympathize cordially with them1 give them a hearty shake of the hand1 and on leaving say with candor3--,well1 well1 ,i perceive that there is good in you4 ,at all events1 you are frank1 and ,i like frankness4 ,you are not as bad as you think4 ,i will call again to-morrow and have another chat with you4 ,in this way you may baffle the most diabolical ill-will4 #gg ,then1 when a friendly footing has been established1 you may refer to the most salient objections and errors1 and your words will be like so many gleams of light4 ,who knows but that the individuals themselves will not be the first to say3--,i know what you are referring to2 but make yourself easy on that score1 for much that ,i said the other day was in order to get rid of you4 ,occasionally you will have to deal with a blunt and surly character4 ,ask such an one1 in an affectionate manner1 after he has expended his curses and oaths3--,is that all that you have to urge against religion and society8 ,it is all you know1 perhaps2 but ,i could tell you a great deal more4 ,you have forgotten this and overlooked that1 till at length he will be induced to say3--,i perceive that you are bantering me2 and he will never afterward repeat his objections or his imprecations4 ,but1 good ,god6 why are we so much startled and horrified when we hear such profanities8 ,it is the very way to increase the evil4 ,are we ignorant of what a man is who is vicious1 or ignorant1 or passionate8 #gh ,does he always know the drift of his words8 ,the man of the present age has a special claim to the pardon which the ,saviour prayed for on the cross4 ,besides1 the profane man is not always so far from ,god as is thought2 such an one is not the most difficult of conversion4 ,a very witty man1 speaking of another whose restoration to religion has since gladdened the ,church1 remarked3--,i begin to have hope of him2 for when one talks about ,christianity to him he is annoyed1 and blasphemes4 ,we have the besetting foible of readily believing those who tell us that they have no faith4 ,they must1 indeed1 regard us as most credulous simpletons when they see us approach them with a cart-load of argument to prove to them what they already know as well as we do1 or what they would know if their poor hearts were a little less diseased4 ,here1 again1 we see that charity must initiate and direct our efforts4 ,as to subsequent measures1 if you would win over the people1 if you would acquire an irresistible influence over them1 busy yourself in what concerns them1 and be unremitting in your care of their poor4 ,i will even go so far as to say1 make a semblance of taking this interest in them1 and you will gain a great ascendency over them1 your words will have a magic effect upon them1 and they will be ready to overlook every thing else in you1 even the fact of your being a priest4 444 ,this is a subject deserving the serious consideration of those who have a hearty desire to labor for the salvation of souls4 #gi ,a priest enters a workshop1 say1 of gunsmiths4 ,on perceiving the cassock1 those blackened figures immediately become blacker still4 ,they purposely turn their backs1 in order to give him no inducement to address them1 and should he do so1 the reply is generally a curt ,yes1 sir1 uttered in as dry and morose a tone as possible4 ,he walks through the establishment1 and meets everywhere with a similar reception4 ,meanwhile1 one of the workmen whispers something to the foreman1 which the priest fancies may be a suggestion for his immediate expulsion2 but he is speedily reassured4 ,what passed is transmitted from one group to another1 and suddenly the countenances and hearts of all undergo a change4 ,instead of turning their backs1 the workmen now move sideways1 as if to invite a colloquy as the visitor moves along1 and before he utters a word1 they all stand ready1 with cap in hand1 to welcome his address4 ,the men become at once polite1 amiable1 charming--,frenchmen1 in fact1 in the best meaning of the word4 ,the whispered sentence was the sacramental saying of the poor3--,this priest is kind to the unfortunate2 he loves the people2 he is not a proud man4 ,o wondrous power of charity6 how little art thou understood8 and yet thou canst thus tame even the most unruly6 ,we hear much on all sides about the best means of enlightening and reforming the people1 and of preventing them from harboring envy and hatred4 ,what is really required to that end is1 as we have been endeavoring to show1 the exercise of charity4 #hj ,but1 further1 would you acquire an unlimited sway over the people8 ,would you exert a divine power over them8 ,become poor1 and live in an humble dwelling4 ,herein ,i no longer insist on duties and obligations2 ,i merely give the counsels of charity1 and the reader may1 if he pleases1 skip over the next few lines4 ,yes1 unfurnish your house for the poor2 send your silver plate1 if you have any1 to the money changer2 send your fauteuils and your couches to the fancy warehouse2 give one of your mattresses to him who has none2 send your clock to the pawnbroker1 and let your watch go and exchange places with it occasionally4 ,contend for your left-off clothes and linen with your old housekeeper1 who will threaten to be seriously vexed if you attempt to rob her of her perquisites4 ,accustom yourself to privations4 ,have a room like that of the ,cardinal ,cheverus3 a small table and a chair constituted the furniture1 a truck bedstead covered with a light mattress formed his couch1 and the most miserable room in his palace was that which he chose to occupy4 ,footnote #ab ,footnote #ab3 ,vie du ,cardinal1 p4 #caf4 #ha ,do this1 and then speak and act1 and you will be listened to1 believed1 blessed1 worshipped4 ,your heart will overflow with joy1 so much so that you may be induced to say3--,i fear lest ,i am receiving my reward here1 and that none awaits me in heaven4 ,such voluntary poverty not only impresses the people1 it exercises also a powerful influence on the highest intellects1 transforming and disposing them to acknowledge the truth4 ,a person who had taken a prominent part in public affairs made the following remarks after an interview with an eminently pious man3--,what most impressed me was not his language1 which1 nevertheless1 was powerful and keen2 but it was his furniture1 his wretched pallet1 his three rush chairs and rickety table--all which formed a most appropriate frame1 so to speak1 to his anchorite figure4 ,i returned home saying3--',i have seen something divine4' ,these are the ways of doing good which cost little1 and are within the reach of every one4 ,but to return4 ,as ,i was remarking1 the priest must be known and loved1 in order that1 through him1 religion may be known and loved4 ,to attain this1 let him first appear to the people as full of grace1 and afterward as full of truth4 ,let love precede truth1 and then the latter will enter into the heart as into its own domain4 #hb ,argument must be avoided1 lest we drive the man of the people to the miserable vanity of setting himself up as an enemy to ,christianity4 ,above all1 we must be on our guard against humiliating any one2 for it is very easy to reduce a man to silence by a witticism1 or to make him fall into inconsistency when he is not a ,christian4 ,with the reason of ,god it is always possible to nonplus the reasoning of men4 ,in a word1 we should consult our hearts much1 and our heads only a little4 ,yes1 let us love the poor people1 who have been so little loved during their lives4 ,are not the people the most notable part of our family8 ,i mean of the priest's family2 for we have no other to love4 ,it is true that we do not find its members very amiable at first2 but we soon get attached to them3 we even become enthusiastic about them1 and experience a sincere pleasure in associating with those dear mauvais sujets4 ,especially must we bear with the weak1 with the smoking flax and the bruised reed4 ,we must have a kindly word for all3 a smile for this one1 a salutation for that one1 a picture for the little child of the more depraved4 ,that child will love us2 the mother will like nothing better than to do the same1 and perchance the father may follow4 444 ,in a word1 we must bring into play all the assiduities and the holy wiles of charity4 #hc ,i conceive that the blessed ,saviour lived and acted in this way1 in the midst of that wicked nation which put him to death4 ,he began by doing good--coepit facere2 and then ,he taught--docere4 ,he healed1 ,he comforted1 ,he pitied1 ,he ate with sinners1 ,he took the part of the guilty woman1 ,he deplored the impending ruin of ,his country4 ,seize every opportunity of mixing with the people and of showing them kindness2 even those who seem the least promising4 ,are not all a source of good to those who love8 ,you are a priest1 and in walking along hear some one imitating the cry of a raven4 ,such an occurrence is less frequent now1 but it happens occasionally4 ,you recognize a human voice1 for you hear the accompanying remark3--,it will be foul weather today1 and some misfortune will befall us1 for the ravens are on the wing4 ,take no notice of the ill-nature1 and do not assume a proud or disdainful demeanor4 ,it is vulgar to do so1 and by no means ,christian4 ,the first chance comer could do no more4 ,but1 with a gracious smile on your countenance1 and fervent charity in your heart1 and1 above all1 avoiding anything like irony1 accost the man somewhat in this style3--,so1 my friend1 it seems to amuse you to cry like a raven4 ,i am glad of it4 ,there is so little enjoyment in the world that ,i am gratified to have given you a moment's pleasure4 ,besides1 you are quite right2 our dress is as black as the raven4 ,nevertheless1 if you knew us well1 you would discover that we are not as bad as our dress is black4 #hd ,but1 what are you doing here8 ,this will lead to conversation1 explanations will follow1 a good understanding and mutual esteem will be the result1 and you will take leave of each other with a hearty shake of the hand4 ,thus1 an embittered spirit may be restored to calm and to a better judgment2 you will have made a friend yourself1 and perhaps gained one over to ,god2 for who can tell to what a favorable issue such simple beginnings may lead8 ,god be praised6 many souls have been reclaimed to religion and to society by similar means4 ,i must forewarn you1 however1 that success will not always attend your efforts4 ,you will often encounter obstacles1 and even opprobrium2 but what then8 ,to a ,christian1 that will not be the worst feature in the case4 ,thereby1 in the first place1 you will learn to be more a man2 for one who has never known strife and conflict1 victory and defeat1 is not a man3 he has not lived3 he does not know himself1 he does not know others2 he is ignorant of the science of life4 ,he is an imperfect man3 a man who has come short of manhood3 because he has never fallen back upon himself to discover the treasures which ,providence has hidden there4 ,he will never be a man to initiate1 or a man of action4 ,it is only obstacles and contests which form useful as well as great men4 ,there is1 somehow1 a most unreasonable tendency in us always to be sure of success2 and yet our blessed ,lord expired in anguish1 ,he4 4 4 4 #he ,as to jeers and sarcasms1 you may fully reckon on them4 ,occasionally1 moreover1 you will be made to act the part of a dupe or ninny4 ,so much the better2 such experience will serve as a useful counterpoise to our natural arrogance4 ,such things are trifles compared with what our missionaries have to endure among the infidels4 ,they brave the sword1 and we are afraid of needles' points1 and call our fear prudence4 ,but why this dread of being derided8 ,can it be that we are ignorant of the ,french people8 ,are we not aware that they must banter or ridicule some one1 even though it be a benefactor8 ,what else can we expect8 ,it is their nature2 but they are sterling at bottom4 ,join1 then1 to all your other benevolent actions1 that of allowing them occasionally to sneer at you4 ,should an opportunity offer1 say to them1 in the words of ,st4 ,chrysostom3--,i give you leave to turn me into ridicule2 ,i will forgive all the evil which you may say of me1 on the express condition that you become less wicked and less unhappy4 ,here1 then1 we have another means of touching the heart2 for even revilers will find it difficult to help loving one who thus throws himself upon their mercy1 and sacrifices self for their welfare4 #hf ,a priest who was in the habit of visiting prisons1 acting like a clever man1 generally addressed the most obstinate of the inmates1 and made it a point to enter into conversation with the groups which appeared to be the most vicious and ill-disposed1 knowing that if these were converted the rest would probably follow4 ,he was specially gracious to the more impious1 so much so that the remark was often made to him by one and another3--,don't you remember that it was ,i who abused you the other day8 ,of course ,i do1 he replied2 but do you imagine that ,i care for abuse8 ,on the contrary1 ,i consider myself rather lucky when ,i get a good round of it1 and feel to like the abuser the more4 ,besides1 ,i was fully convinced that you were better than your language might lead one to believe4 ,when he retired1 the observation was frequently made3--,there's a priest unlike the rest4 ,he acts up to his religion4 ,i don't know but that ,i shall confess to him2 and the veiled intent was often carried into practice4 ,act in this way1 and you will be loved more and more2 and when men have learned to love the servant on earth1 they may perchance learn to love his ,master who is in heaven4 ,this done1 you will have made a good beginning1 and you must persevere by presenting religion under its most attractive aspect4 ,generally1 however1 religion has been exhibited to the people in a manner which imposes too great a restraint on individual liberty4 #hg ,we should talk less about what religion forbids1 and a little more of the benefits which it imparts4 ,don't be always saying3--,religion forbids this1 and that1 and the other thing2 for you will turn the people against it1 and will be charged with insisting on what is impossible4 ,we ,frenchmen are very children of ,adam--and of ,eve too4 ,it is quite enough for a thing to be forbidden to induce us to do it4 ,we have a ravenous taste for the forbidden fruit4 ,for instance1 a man curses and swears in your presence4 ,don't tell him that it is a sin1 an abominable habit2 for he will then take a malicious pleasure in repeating his profanity4 ,tell him rather that it is unseemly1 that it is vulgar1 that it shows bad taste1 and he will abstain2 for all1 even the most depraved1 wish to be thought well brought up4 ,let us therefore talk less of vices and more of virtues4 ,let us now suppose that you are brought in contact with a crafty and narrow-minded class of persons4 ,disconcert all their manoeuvres by a straight forward and sincere address1 and by a still more frank demeanor1 always combined with discretion4 ,then there will be no gratification in deceiving you4 ,above all1 never resort to underhand measures1 and carefully avoid slander4 ,the people hate them3 and ,god and ,his truth have no need of a secret police4 #hh ,when you have to deal with an egotistical and slanderous set1 never speak of egotism or slander2 but scatter love broadcast among them1 make the good chords of their hearts vibrate1 filling them with the holy palpitations of charity toward their brethren4 ,thus slander and egotism will vanish1 according to the saying of ,st4 ,franois de ,sales3--,when there is a fire in the house1 every thing is thrown out through the windows4 ,in large cities1 where the people are quick1 bustling1 and petulant1 your speech should be lively1 frank1 bold1 winning1 and irresistible1 that it may cause their hearts to thrill with emotion1 and excite their interest by occasionally drawing a smile from them4 ,in small towns1 on the contrary1 be less bold and more circumspect1 and let it be your first aim to acquire the confidence of the people4 ,study your ground well1 the prevailing prejudices1 and even the local routine4 ,novelties often engender distrust4 ,to gain currency for them1 you must secure the affections of your charge1 and soar above petty ideas and feelings4 ,be impassible and kind in the midst of the puerile interests which surround you4 ,be just1 for the people love justice3 they even love a severe man who is just2 how much more1 then1 will they regard such an one if he is benevolent also8 ,confidence once restored1 go to the main point2 stir up men's consciences1 appeal to the better part of human nature1 and throw routine overboard4 #hi ,bring religion into close contact with those hearts which seem so cold1 and you will witness things unknown to those who believe these people to be indifferent or hostile1 simply because1 as is often the case1 the people in small towns are not known4 ,they are looked at too near1 they are judged by the exterior1 and almost always by those characteristics wherein they clash against ourselves4 ,there is another reason why you should keep aloof from the narrow-mindedness above mentioned4 ,one frequents certain excellent families of the locality who are devoutly inclined and are munificent to the ,church4 ,there is no harm in that2 but it often happens that these worthy persons have rather contracted views1 and are not altogether exempt from petty passions4 ,they are fond of hearing and repeating some ill-natured gossip1 or the least edifying news of the day2 and as we are all apt to acquire some of the ideas of those with whom we associate1 one comes at length to look at things with their eyes1 and finally adopts some such style as this3--,my parish is this1 my parish wishes that2 whereas1 if matters were closely analyzed1 it would turn out that the alleged wish of the parish is confined to a few of those aforesaid pious souls4 #ij ,the next false step is to adopt a self-conceited course of action and of religious teaching1 wholly irrespective of the ,catholic ,church3 nothing is thought of what may be done elsewhere4 ,success can only be achieved in such a way1 becomes the expression of this self-sufficiency2 while those who fall into it grow exclusive and empirical1 and forget that1 thanks be to ,god1 the ways of doing good are multifarious1 and among them such as are suited to all dispositions and characters4 ,nay1 it will be fortunate if this conceit does not assume to have done all that could be done1 and to deny the possibility of others doing better or more4 ,happy indeed is the man who can truly bear such a testimony to himself6 ,we war against prejudices3 let us therefore beware of entertaining any ourselves1 for they are not the easiest enemies to be dislodged4 ,yes1 we sometimes circumscribe1 we confine the beautiful ,catholic religion within the small town where we ourselves reside2 we recognize it there1 and there only2 it is taught as it should be only there2 no good can be done except what is done there1 whether that said small town be called ,quimperl or ,saint-,pierre-de-,chignac4 ,as regards the people in rural districts1 who are dull1 timid1 susceptible1 and rather gross1 you must strive to open out their souls in order that religion may penetrate them4 ,they are not over-exacting1 not having been spoilt on that score1 and a very little attention satisfies them4 #ia ,a token of good-will1 a salutation1 an act of politeness1 a trifling gift bestowed on their children1 will suffice to attract them toward religion2 for1 generally speaking1 when it is properly presented to them1 they are attached to it3 they love it1 they are proud of their ,church and of their cur1 and are ready to fight to prove that he is the most accomplished priest in the kingdom4 ,the peasant must never be provoked or pushed to extremes4 ,when he resists1 don't attack him in front1 but turn the difficulty by laying hold of one of his weaker points1 some one of the good fibres of his heart2 otherwise1 the more you talk and threaten the more he will consider it a duty not to listen to you4 ,never be at variance with any one4 ,the priest should have no enemies1 and should not be content while he has any4 ,i do not like to hear the remark3 ,that man is my enemy4 ,christ never said so2 but ,he did say3--,father1 forgive them1 for they know not what they do4 ,one of the most effectual ways of gaining over the peasant1 as well as the people generally1 is to show great confidence in him1 and to raise him in his own eyes4 ,don't be chary either of encouragement or commendation when he has but partially deserved them4 ,suppose him to be all that you could wish2 you will thereby pave the way to impart some useful truths to him4 ,exalt his good qualities in his own estimation4 ,he has fallen so low that you need not be afraid of making him vain1 or of raising him too high4 #ib ,may you rather succeed in exalting him to heaven6 ,did not ,christ come to raise the fallen8 ,carrying about with him1 as man does1 the remembrance of his noble origin1 he finds it very hard to resign himself to being a nonentity on the earth4 ,for my part1 ,i prefer a little vanity to the mania of envy and hatred4 ,in this respect also1 timidity has led to our passive cooperation with the malevolent4 ,we have suffered the people to be too much depressed4 ,we have allowed them to be practically told that they are nothing and the rich every thing2 that the lot of the disinherited poor is toil1 misery1 and contempt2 that of the rich1 affluence1 enjoyment1 and honors4 ,rather raise the people by telling them1 in the accents of truth1 that they are great in the estimation of ,god and the ,gospel2 that they have their share of dignity and honor1 and have no cause to envy others4--,my friends1 the rich have their advantages and you have yours4 ,they have their joys and so have you4 ,beware of envying them4 ,a good workman6 why1 such an one is the spoilt child of ,providence4 ,you are mistaken in thinking that wealth alone brings happiness4 ,the rich happy1 indeed6 ,how can any one be led into such a delusion8 ,you know not what they have to suffer3 their sufferings are fearful2 and if ,i wished to discover the most poignant sorrows on earth1 ,i should not knock at the hut or cottage to seek for them4 #ic ,i should knock at the gates of those splendid mansions which adorn our squares4 ,it is there1 behind those triple curtains1 that ,i should find them with their claws of iron embedded in broken hearts4 444 ,my friends1 with a stout heart and two strong arms you may be as deserving1 as happy1 as great1 as noble as any one4 ,but this must not only be said2 the people must be treated in such a manner that they may understand it4 ,we must respect them much1 in order that they may learn to respect themselves2 showing them always due deference3 as1 indeed1 we should show all men4 ,in a word1 we should practise1 in our dealings with the people1 all the decorum and refined politeness of the drawing-room2 with greater sincerity1 to boot4 ,for1 indeed1 they have more need of such treatment than others4 ,as manifested toward them it would be novel and efficacious2 elsewhere it is generally vain and barren4 ,this kind of politeness charms and raises them out of that moral degradation1 the remembrance of which besets and weighs them down4 ,so treated they will cease to hate1 to envy1 or chafe2 and will learn to love1 to be resigned1 to have better aspirations3 and1 withal1 they will bless you4 #id ,the best way to direct1 to benefit1 and to reclaim the people to religion1 is to develop the good sentiments which lie dormant in the recesses of hearts2 the foremost of which is charity1 or the spirit of self-sacrifice4 ,france is the home of charity3 it exists among the high1 the low1 and the middle classes4 ,the people are naturally sympathizing4 ,as already remarked1 it is a pleasure to see their readiness to oblige4 ,the rich class are charitable2 but are they more so than the popular classes8 ,i will not judge2 ,i prefer saying to all3 ,well done2 onward6 ,if you wish to inspire a man of the people with good-feeling1 calm1 and a love of the truth1 prevail on him to perform a charitable act4 ,get him to comfort or to relieve some one1 even though you undertake to compensate him for so doing4 ,when you meet with a hasty or passionate man1 do not adopt the ill-timed and absurd method of arguing with him4 ,is he capable of understanding you8 ,he is drunk with rage1 and such intoxication is more terrible and brutifying than that with wine4 ,in attempting to argue with him1 you are like the woman who sermonizes her husband on his return home with his reason drowned in liquor4 ,rather take the man1 and induce him to undertake an act of charity4 ,talk to him about humanity1 get him to help a fellow-creature1 and after that you will hardly recognize him as the same individual4 ,that act of generosity will transform him2 will raise him in his own eyes1 will give him holy joys1 will draw him toward ,god1 will reconcile him to himself and to humanity4 ,god be praised for having brought down charity to our earth6 ,it blesses him who receives1 and him who bestows it4 #ie ,the people are specially capable of appreciating disinterestedness1 the spirit of self-devotion4 ,it is their element1 and constitutes the largest share of their happiness4 ,but latterly they have been treated harshly and cruelly4 ,wants1 aspirations1 and desires have been fostered in them which can never be gratified1 and their life has been poisoned thereby4 ,much has been said about ameliorating their condition4 ,so far well2 but that amelioration has been made to consist1 in a great measure1 of material enjoyments1 of more to eat and drink3 in fact1 of feasting4 ,in former times they lived on rye bread and were not unhappy4 ,now they have wheaten bread1 and meat with it1 and even coffee2 yet they complain and are not content4 ,a want should not be created among the people1 unless there is a certainty of its being amply and always provided for4 ,the people1 however1 are not always won over through their appetites2 they prefer being led by the nobler instincts of the human heart4 ,they like what is grand1 what is costly1 and what is obtained by great sacrifices4 ,they have not1 in any degree1 the bourgeois tastes1 the bourgeois petty calculations1 the bourgeois love of little comforts4 #if ,they are much more disinterested than is thought4 ,we must not attempt to gain them over by their material interests solely3 that would be to ruin them and ourselves also2 but1 allowing them a due share of such inducements1 we should rely mainly on their generosity and devotedness2 for the people really admire great actions1 great achievements1 and the great characters who bear sway over the destinies of mankind4 ,they entertain a species of worship for them2 they refuse them no sacrifice4 ,they attach themselves to their good or evil fortune1 and with them they are always popular1 always abiding4 ,the wars of the ,revolution and of the ,empire have weighed heavily upon ,france1 have levied the tax of blood on many families2 nevertheless1 the name of the ,emperor is still surrounded with a magic halo4 ,moreover1 in the east of ,france1 the marches and counter-marches of armies1 with two successive invasions1 have devastated the country1 overburdened the peasantry with imposts1 and altogether ruined many of them4 ,for all that1 enter any cottage there1 and you will find the picture of ,napoleon by the side of the image of the ,virgin4 ,even on the field of battle1 amid showers of shot and shell which decimated their ranks1 the brave children of the people exclaimed in death3 ,vive l',empereur6 ,such are the ,french people at heart3 if there is a tendency in them to seek their own interests1 there is a tendency in them1 equally strong1 toward devotion and self-sacrifice4 #ig ,if1 then1 you would give them a right guidance1 speak to them of other than petty ideas and material enjoyments3 the more so1 because1 if you attempt to win them over by such low motives1 they will become insatiable2 their appetites will get the mastery over them and plunge them into every kind of excess4 ,material enjoyments1 indeed6 ,it may be questioned whether ,france1 with all its fertility1 and all the resources of its advanced civilization1 would suffice1 in that case1 to furnish their first repast4 ,in order to elevate1 to control1 and to satisfy this great colossus1 the people1 you must be provided with something more than human1 something mysterious1 surpassing human views and human reason2 otherwise1 you will continue powerless1 and will never bring about any moral improvement in the world4 ,what has become of our great men1 who trusted in man1 who appealed to reason only1 however exalted that reason may have been8 ,where is now their ascendency8 ,where the devotion which they have kindled8 ,where are the masses who have clung to their good or evil fortune8 ,they fall1 and their fall is regarded with indifference4 #ih ,even in prosperity1 do they secure attachment8 ,do they acquire a permanent sway over the hearts of men8 ,not in the least2 respect1 and esteem1 and even fidelity are meted out to them according to their characters1 or according to the benefits which they are judged to have conferred on us4 ,that man is worth so much3 he possesses so much learning1 so much talent1 and may be so far profitable to me4 ,he only deserves so much consideration2 ,i owe him nothing more4 ,that is his account fully made up4 ,a halo of superhuman radiance should surround him who would govern the masses--something divine1 infinite1 presaging immortality1 heaven1 hell1 eternity 444 otherwise1 you will continue to have a degraded1 besotted1 or savage people1 a people who1 in the country1 are sunk in materialism1 encroach on their neighbor's field1 or become the prey of usurers2 who1 when their asses are diseased1 will call in a veterinary surgeon1 but will let their wives suffer rather than pay a doctor to attend them2 who will weep over the break-down of one of their horses1 but find no tears for the death of an aged parent2--a people who1 in towns1 find all their pleasures and happiness in rioting and debauchery2 who are never well2 who accuse others of their sufferings2 and who1 after squandering their own substance1 appeal to others1 with hate on their lips and a sword in their hands1 saying3 ,now we will share with you4 #ii ,the best means of reclaiming them to religion is1 first1 to get possession of their ideas1 their instincts1 and their good feelings4 ,we must enter in at their door1 and make them go out by ours4 ,bind1 rivet religious thought to their thought--to those sentiments which cause their hearts to vibrate most1 and then elevate their souls2 wean them from the prepossessions of earth1 from indifference and evil passions1 and impart to them the joys of religion and charity4 ,take advantage of any occurrence1 of any great event1 of a fire1 a calamity1 an illness4 444 ,a fire reduces a poor family to ruin1 ,appeal for aid1 placing yourself at the head of the movement1 and the result will surprise you4 ,a laborer falls sick1 and his fields remain untilled4 ,call his fellow-laborers together1 and they will be glad1 they will forget their own interest1 to come to the assistance of their suffering comrade4 ,the people of ,france are not known2 the spirit of self-sacrifice and generosity which is in them is not known4 ,it may require some great occasion to develop it4 ,well1 it is for you to bring it about4 ,for instance1 you wish to restore a church or to build a new one1 and require a considerable sum of money for the purpose4 ,so much the better2 out of that requirement1 you may draw treasures of charity and religion4 #ajj ,enter the pulpit and state your object2 be like a father in the midst of his family4 ,set the whole case before them1 your fears1 your hopes1 your need1 and then add3--,we rely upon you4 ,you will aid me1 will you not8 for ,i shall take the lead1 and this will be our church4 ,you will then witness how the old ,french and ,christian enthusiasm may be rekindled in the hearts of the people1 insomuch that you will be tempted to ask3--,are we really in the nineteenth century8 ,are we not still in the middle ages8 ,all will cooperate3 the poor man will offer his two arms1 work men will give their day's labor1 the agriculturists1 if there be any1 will supply carts2 this one will give money1 another wood1 a third stone2 here windows1 and there ornaments will be presented4 ,who knows but that some1 who have never been accustomed to work1 will offer to aid in the building8 ,the little bourgeois ,voltairien1 who has been known to speak evil of ,god and of ,his cur1 even he may wish to have a hand in the erection of the church2 so that all will thereby be brought nearer to ,god1 nearer to the truth1 and nearer salvation4 ,similar things have occurred in every part of ,france2 though few have any conception of the existence of such a spirit among the people4 ,we have even heard venerable pastors exclaim on witnessing it3--,i have held this parish for twenty-five years without knowing of it4 ,i could not have believed that my parishioners had so much good in them4 #aja ,haymon1 abb of ,saint-,pierre-sur-,dives1 ,footnote #ac tells us that in the middle ages1 kings and mighty men of the time1 renowned and wealthy1 nobles of both sexes1 stooped so low as to lay hold of the ropes attached to the carts laden with provisions and materials for building churches1 and drag them to the house of ,god4 ,and what appeared most astonishing was1 that1 although owing to its size and heavy burden1 the cart was sometimes drawn by upward of a thousand persons1 so profound was the silence maintained that nobody's voice was heard above a whisper1 and the eye alone could recognize particular individuals in that vast multitude4 ,footnote #ac3 ,manuel de ,charit1 p4 #bdd4 ,similar spectacles may be witnessed again4 ,scenes akin to them occur frequently in the least religious parts of the country1 and under the most adverse circumstances4 ,one such took place during the present year at the prison of ,st4 ,plagie4 ,two years ago1 a new parish was formed in one of the most miserable quarters of ,paris1 where the people were almost pagans4 ,an appeal was made to their charity1 and five hundred francs1 in sous1 were collected after the sermon4 ,moreover1 the poor brought gifts of bread1 and wished to help in the erection of the church4 #ajb ,two poor women brought the fire-wood which had been given to them by the ,bureau de ,bienfaisance4 ,many brought their rings and wedding presents4 ,working men clubbed together to ornament the church2 and1 what is better still1 now that it is built1 they go there to pray4 ,o people whom ,christ loved1 how little are ye known6 how little beloved6 ,ye would be saved4 444 ,to sum up3 in order to benefit the people1 they must be cared for2 they must be loved1 must be made to love all that is good and great1 and then you may lead them where you will4 ,charity is popular in ,france4 ,above all1 succor the unfortunate2 do so bountifully1 and you will gain an ascendency which nothing will be able to wrest from you4 ,you may then defy the criticisms of wits1 of the press1 and of hate1 and retain possession of the most glorious sovereignty in the world--that over the hearts of men4 ,we must insist1 therefore1 on the necessity of giving the people a right direction2 not the dry and cold direction of a metaphysical argument1 or of a sword's point1 but a benevolent1 sympathetic1 devoted impulse4 444 ,we have not busied ourselves as we ought about the people1 about their moral amelioration4 ,we have abandoned them to the intriguing and ambitious1 and then we complain of and reproach them4 ,have they not as much reason to murmur against and to upbraid us8 ,the people are what they are made4 #ajc ,they are like those unclaimed lands which belong to the first occupant3 they are good or bad according as they are well or badly managed2 and1 looking at the manner in which the people have progressed for the last ten or twelve years1 it would hardly seem that they have been under the direction of honest men4 ,what have we done8 ,what masters have we given them8 ,to what school have we sent them8 ,to the school of the tavern1 the liquor-vaults1 and debauchery4 ,and who have been the masters of this great ,french people8 ,men over head and ears in debt1 bankrupt tradesmen1 briefless barristers1 peddling tipstaffs--such have been their educators2 and yet forsooth1 we have the face to complain that they have been badly brought up6 ,what ought to surprise those who know the temptations and allurements to which they have been exposed1 and the kind of literature which has been put into their hands--no less than eight millions of mischievous books every year by colportage alone--is1 not that the people are so bad as they are1 but that they are no worse4 ,their nature must be good at bottom1 and ,christianity must still survive in their hearts1 to have withstood as they have done4 ,i deplore the good which is ours no longer2 but ,i bless ,providence for that which still subsists4 #ajd ,we have1 in truth1 played into the hands of designing and malevolent2 for when we have seen them set on the people1 overwhelming them under a crushing load of errors1 prejudices1 and antipathies1 instead of taking part in the contest1 we have too often stood aloof1 and contented ourselves with the vain deprecation1 uttered perhaps with a smile of disdain3--,they are being taught what is unreasonable and will not bear examination6 ,very true2 but do the people examine8 ,when a bad press has been active1 lavish1 and amusing withal--when it has followed them into their workshops1 their cottages1 in fact1 everywhere--how did we act8 ,why1 we gave them some wearisome treatises which were either puerile or crammed full of metaphysics4 ,good heavens6 when shall we be brought to understand that the people do not reflect1 that they look1 listen1 and then go forward8 ,they need some one to guide them1 and if honest men do not undertake the mission1 they will find others who will4 444 ,to aid us in affording that guidance1 we should invoke the cooperation of the higher classes1 inducing them to exert themselves for the moral amelioration of the people4 ,here1 again1 we have another rich mine to be worked which has been greatly neglected1 but whereby all may be benefited4 ,the people must be morally reformed by the rich1 and the rich by the people4 #aje ,alas6 we often have to deplore the little effect which our words produce on the higher classes4 ,but why should you expect them to understand us8 ,they have no longer the ,christian sense2 they do not wish to endure1 their aim is to enjoy themselves4 ,they are devoured by sensualism and hardened by egotism4 ,to remedy this1 begin by dipping their souls in the waters of charity2 teach them the way of self-sacrifice and devotion2 enlist them in efforts for the moral benefit of the people1 their children1 and the poor1 and then you will be listened to4 ,this kind of charity is readily understood in ,france4 ,all of us have some sort of pretension of wishing to do something for the moral welfare of the people1 even though we may not be strictly consistent in our own morality4 ,but the ,french mind is so logical that it cannot play such a part for any length of time without being bettered thereby1 were it only for shame's sake or out of self-respect4 ,something within will say3--,before attempting to reform others1 ,i shall do well to reform myself4 ,then charity will attract heavenly blessings1 and the heart will open itself to the inspirations of the ,gospel4 ,if1 therefore1 you wish to convert or reform a man1 set him to reform one somewhat worse than himself4 ,you will succeed much more readily in that way than by argument4 ,take the case of a young man whose virtue is more than wavering1 and the flights of whose imagination cause you anxiety4 ,set him at work to reform others1 or to make the effort on some notorious offender4 #ajf ,he will do his part wonderfully well2 his own virtue will be strengthened and confirmed thereby1 and you will have given beneficent scope to an exuberant vivacity which the youth himself did not know how to utilize4 ,it is related that a president of the ,society of ,saint ,vincent de ,paul had reason to fear that some of its members failed to discharge their ,paschal obligations4 ,there were1 at the same time1 several poor families to be converted1 and he committed the task to the suspected defaulters4 ,the result was that they were the first to partake of the ,holy ,communion4 ,the thing was simple enough3 before leading others to the confessional1 it was necessary that they themselves should show them the way4 ,every effort made by the higher classes to benefit those below them1 revives and sustains in the former the spirit of compassion1 of benevolence1 and of self-sacrifice--the best sentiments of the human heart4 ,it imparts life to them2 for to live is to feel1 is to love1 is to be loved1 and to cause love in others4 ,to have sympathy with and fellow-feeling for the poor--that is to live2 but to be wholly absorbed in business matters1 in advancing one's own fortune1 or in concocting intrigues--that is not to live2 rather it is to become brutish and to go to ruin4 ,nothing is more immoral and contrary to nature than to be always taken up with self4 #ajg ,moreover1 the course which we are recommending tends to draw the different classes closer together1 to teach them to know and esteem each other1 and to assuage mutual jealousies and antipathies4 ,the people are fond of being thought of1 of having interest manifested toward them4 ,under such treatment they readily yield1 and are glad to be reconciled4 ,they become even proud of the tokens of benevolence bestowed on them by some wealthy individual2 it is a kind of safeguard to them against evil passions4 ,they say to themselves3-,we are loved and esteemed3 let us by honest and ,christian conduct continue to deserve such consideration4 ,further1 it cannot be denied that there is a tendency in the spirit of the people to fancy themselves despised by the rich4 ,even suspicion on that point must be rendered impossible1 for it may lead to serious evils4 ,the people are implacable on the subject of contempt3 they are even cruel1 and they cannot pardon it1 whatever else they may be ready to overlook4 ,they forgive those who deceive and those who rob and over-work them2 but they do not forgive those who despise them4 ,to be despised is to them the last indignity3 and perhaps there is some reason in that popular instinct4 ,it is surprising that our blessed ,lord complained but once during ,his passion4 444 ,he suffered1 ,he died1 without a murmur2 but when the affront of contempt was inflicted on ,him1 ,he complained1 and uttered that speech which revealed a heart profoundly bruised3--,if ,i have spoken evil1 bear witness of the evil2 but if well1 why smitest thou me8 #ajh ,but when the people meet with benevolence and cordiality among the rich1 jealousy and hate give way1 and they may be heard to say3--,if all the rich were of that sort1 they would be adored2 we should be ready to die for them4 ,moreover1 they are led thereby to have more faith in ,god and in the reality of a ,providence4 ,some few years ago there lived an artisan's wife who was notorious for her hatred toward society1 toward the rich1 and even toward ,god4 ,she hated them with an implacable1 a woman's hate4 ,her malignity was specially directed against the rolls of silk and bundles of stuff--so she designated the females of the upper classes--and she was known to be in the habit of saying to her children3--,i have brought you up for the democracy 444 to humble the rich and to reestablish equality2 and if you do not become democrats1 ,i will disown you4 ,a priest commissioned a young marchioness1 as virtuous as she was accomplished1 to attend to this poor creature4 ,she began by listening with kindness to all her grievances and insults1 and even allowed herself to be called a coquine4 ,nevertheless1 by dint of patience1 she soon succeeded in calming her embittered soul4 #aji ,one day1 the marchioness1 who was about to absent herself for several weeks1 went to bid farewell to her protge4 ,she took her affectionately by the hand1 and then1 moved thereto spontaneously by her kind heart1 and doubtless by the grace of ,god also1 cordially kissed her1 saying1 as she left3--,i shall soon see you again4 ,the poor woman was stunned with amazement1 and moved even to tears1 and forthwith went to the priest2 but instead of first saluting him1 she began by exclaiming3--,is it possible8 ,you will not believe me2 nevertheless it is true4 ,she kissed me6 4444 ,yes1 the lady marchioness kissed a miserable creature like me4 444 ,ah6 ,i have frequently declared that there was no good ,god2 now ,i say there is1 because that lady is one of ,his angels4 ,i have said1 too1 that ,i would never confess2 now you may confess me as often as you please4 ,since that time she has been an exemplary ,christian4 ,the day after1 the priest wrote as follows to the excellent lady whom ,god had made the instrument of this good work3--,you may1 indeed1 consider yourself happy4 444 ,we priests are at great pains to preach1 and do not always succeed in converting our hearers2 but you succeed with an embrace6 ,oh1 if women only knew6 ,oh1 if they would1 what good they might do1 what evil they might prevent6 4444 #aaj ,moreover1 the existence of real virtue in a woman of the world depends upon her coming out of self1 and devoting herself assiduously to works of charity4 444 ,for1 you may rest assured of this1 that without self-denial on her part you will never be able to keep her in the right way4 444 ,take the case of a light1 worldly1 and gay woman--and there are many such2 you will never acquire any influence over her except through the medium of charity4 ,she will make promises1 but she will take care not to keep them3 you can never rely on her being faithful to them4 ,it will be vain for you to address her in the most conclusive speeches1 to ply her with refined and smart essays on good breeding--in vain that you assail her foibles and waywardness with irony and sarcasm--in vain that you hold up before her the terrors of death1 hell1 and eternity4 ,she will find loopholes by which to elude all that1 and to deceive herself4 ,it will not prevent her in the least from being vain and excessively addicted to pleasure1 from baring her shoulders immoderately1 and from going a-begging for idolatrous incense in fashionable circles4 ,before all1 she must be made to feel1 to love1 to be loved1 to devote herself4 ,charity filling her soul will set fire to the house1 and then every thing else will be thrown out of the window4 #aaa ,strive1 therefore1 to enlist all--women1 men1 and even children--in searching out the distressed1 and in the moral improvement of the people4 ,make charity honorable2 let there be benevolent enterprises in your locality in which all can take part1 so that there may not be a man or woman who has not his or her poor1 or who is not engaged somehow in works of charity4 ,this is the case already in several towns in ,france1 where a person can scarcely decline being a member of some benevolent association without suffering a loss of respect4 ,you must overcome all repugnances on this subject1 more especially that of amour propre4 ,there are those who will raise the following objection1 which is by no means rare3--,how can ,i1 a man in my position1 a woman of my standing1 busy myself about a set of beggarly people like these8 ,to such reply3--,and why not8 ,in the great cities1 men the most eminent by fortune1 talent1 and reputation1 do it4 444 ,even ladies who are fted and sought after in the world--the young and beautiful1 countesses1 marchionesses1 and princesses--even such do not disdain the task4 ,there are women in ,paris1 possessing every thing that heart can desire1 with a rental of from two hundred thousand to three hundred thousand francs1 who deprive themselves of legitimate pleasures to occupy themselves in making clothes for the poor1 visiting the most wretched hovels1 and nursing the indigent sick4 #aab ,tell them all this with gentleness and kindness2 make the grand ladies of certain small towns--such as the wives of lawyers1 judges1 advocates1 merchants1 commission agents1 and viscounts--ashamed of themselves4 ,it will tend to wean them from that spirit of contempt and sensualism1 and that pride of shabby finery1 which consists in thinking one's self superior to a rival because she has had the signal honor of finding a better dressmaker4 ,tell them that1 if they affect the fashions and usages of ,paris1 they would do well to imitate the charity1 zeal1 and devotion which are exercised there4 ,to cite but one instance1 that of ,donoso ,corts1 whom we may now praise1 for ,god has just called him to ,himself4 ,he disappeared every day from home at certain hours4 ,no one knew where he went2 but it was afterward discovered that it was the time of his visits to the poor4 ,m4 de ,montalembert1 who knew him well1 tells us that he loved the poor passionately1 but1 withal1 discreetly4 ,in fact1 in order to benefit the people1 that is how they must be loved4 ,thereby alone can you hope to succeed in restoring them to the path of ,gospel self-denial and self-sacrifice4 ,be on your guard1 moreover1 against another excuse often urged by certain of the wealthier classes4 ,they say3--,but the people distrust us2 it is quite enough for us to attempt to lead them in one way to make them determined to follow another4 #aac ,the people distrust the wealthy classes6 ,if it be so1 whose fault is it8 ,is it all theirs8 ,they do not know those classes2 they seldom see them except at a distance1 and from a lower standing4 ,their estimate of them is founded on slander2 how1 then1 can they have confidence in them8 444 ,their confidence must be won1 it must be raised by dint of benevolence1 charity1 and self-devotion1 and the task is by no means impracticable4 ,what6 the possessors of fortune1 and talent1 and a name1 and yet unable to gain that confidence on the part of the people which a schoolmaster1 a village lawyer1 a tipstaff1 a man without any intellectual or moral worth1 is able to secure6 ,of what avail1 then1 is it to spend so many long years in study8 ,what does a good education mean1 and of what use is it8 ,surely a very false idea has been formed of education4 ,it will soon be made to consist in knowing how to train a horse1 or to turn a compliment1 or in instilling vanity into brains which need no addition of that quality4 ,knowledge1 talent1 position1 and birth are not bestowed on us for the benefit of self1 but for the welfare of all2 and it therefore behoves those who are endowed with a greater capacity--who possess more knowledge1 more time1 more influence1 and more heart than others--to share their advantages with those who have less1 or who have not the leisure to acquire them4 #aad ,that the influence of which we are speaking may be secured is proved by the fact of its existence throughout ,france4 ,there are parts of the country where the rich man is king and father of his commune2 which then resembles one great family4 ,there1 the tenant of the cottage exchanges smiles with the proprietor of the mansion1 and the joys and sorrows of both are warmly reciprocated4 ,no important step is taken by those who are below without knowing first what those above them think of it4 ,under such circumstances1 how many evils are avoided1 how many quarrels adjusted1 how many animosities appeased6 ,oh1 what a glorious mission6 ,how sad to reflect that it is not carried out everywhere6 ,nevertheless1 strive to make it understood by persuasion4 ,make frequent appeals to the hearts of the rich1 to their love of humanity4 ,invoke them to aid us in stopping the misery at its source4 ,invoke their pity on the masses who toil and suffer beneath us2 their pity for those poor children whose fathers devour their bread2 pity on behalf of the aged who pine in cold and hunger2 pity for the woman who spends her ,sunday evenings in tears1 expecting every moment to encounter the brutality of a husband who reels home with his reason and heart drowned in liquor4 ,appeal even to their sense of shame1 and tell them that1 if it is right to protect animals1 it is still more so to cherish human beings--that their words1 coupled with a good example1 would be all-powerful to remedy these miseries--that it is the rich and great of the earth who sow good or evil in the hearts of men1 and that if matters do not progress to their satisfaction1 they should begin by taking the blame to themselves4 444 ,your efforts will be appreciated by many4 444 ,you will be blessed by all4 #aae ,such are the ,french people2 such1 it appears to us1 is the way to do them good4 ,it is well to study books3 it is indispensable2 but it is not enough4 ,we must also study the hearts1 the minds1 the manners of those with whom we have to deal1 otherwise our knowledge will be like gold buried in the mountains of ,america4 ,the good shepherd knows his sheep1 and is known of them4 ,is that saying always realized amongst ourselves8 ,there is one particular point1 however1 on which we must be thoroughly convinced1 namely1 that what sufficed in former times will not suffice now4 ,a great revolution has taken place among the masses4 ,a century ago1 ,christianity bore all away in its strong current4 ,passions broke loose1 no doubt2 but sooner or later all bowed before the ,gospel4 ,nowadays1 attempts are made to justify human weaknesses4 ,formerly1 scarcely any other guidance was permitted but that of the ,christian pulpit4 ,now1 there are platforms everywhere1 and within a century we have between fifteen and eighteen millions more who can read--from fifteen to eighteen millions of men who may easily be led astray4 #aaf ,it is a common saying that ,france is very sick4 ,then1 ,i beseech you not to treat it as if it were in perfect health4 ,would you make an end of it8 ,christianity alone can save us1 is another common remark4 ,very true2 but it must be brought in contact with the masses1 and if they do not come to us1 we must go to them4 444 ,we have been unsuccessful in the ministry of the word2 let us try the ministry of charity4 ,is it not the aim of ,christian eloquence to win over the hearts of men1 and to dispose them toward that which is good8 ,avail yourselves1 then1 of your position to carry out that object4 444 ,be persuaded that the world is tired of fine speeches2 it wants actions3 and of that demand1 who can complain8 444 ,to study and to argue is to act well2 to act and to love is better still4 ,but the most formidable argument against ,christianity is this3--,we admit that ,christianity has rendered great benefits to mankind by endowing the world with admirable institutions2 but its sap is exhausted2 its ascendency over the masses is lost4 ,let us prove that this is false1 not by words merely1 but by deeds3 by self-denial and self sacrifice4 ,those arguments are unanswerable4 #aag ,but in order to remedy the evils which beset us1 we must not rely on the systems of the learned or on human laws4 ,good heavens6 if reasonings and codes of law sufficed to secure the peace and happiness of a people1 ,france ought to be the most prosperous country in the world4 ,neither must we rely upon the power of the sword4 ,it is easily used2 but1 as ,de ,maistre has said1 to rely on force is like lying down on the sail of a windmill to obtain quiet sleep4 ,then1 again1 the adoption of force leads to the most terrible excesses4 ,those who invoke it know not what they do3 they have never witnessed civil war or barricades1 they have never seen ,french blood flow in the streets1 they have never heard the roar of cannon or the crash of grapeshot4 4 4 4 ,may ,god preserve us from a recurrence of such experience6 ,rather by dint of persuasion1 of devotion1 and of love1 let us strive to reconcile all hearts1 and make ,france the foremost people in the world--the most ,christian and divinely blessed nation4 #aah ,chapter ,,iii4 ,the ,order of a ,sermon ,the ,exordium4 ,divisions4 ,proofs4 ,are there many ,unbelievers in ,france8 ,manner of refuting ,objections4 ,after getting to know the people and to be known of them1 to love them and to be loved by them in return1 the next step is to lead them to the knowledge and love of ,god and ,his ,gospel by means of oral teaching4 444 ,in carrying this out1 use plain speech1 and aim straight at your object1 which is to expound the truth proposed to be treated in such a way as shall cause it to be listened to with interest4 ,let it be perceived at once what the subject is1 and what you intend to say4 ,sketch out your truth in a few sententious words1 clearly and emphatically enunciated4 ,let there be none of those vague and halting considerations which give the speaker the air of a man who is blindfolded1 and strikes at random1--none of those perplexing exordiums wherein every conceivable fancy is brought to bear upon a single idea1 and which frequently elicit the remark3--,what is he driving at8 what topic is he going to discuss8 #aai ,let the subject-matter be vigorously stated at the outset1 so that it may rivet the minds and engage the attention of the audience4 ,generally speaking1 at the commencement of a discourse1 there is profound silence1 and all eyes are fixed on the preacher4 ,avail yourself of that opportunity to arrest the imagination of your hearers1 to attract their attention1 which you should maintain throughout1 and to withdraw their minds from the things of earth and from themselves1 in order that they may live your life for the space of half-an-hour4 ,let your onset be bold and vigorous1 that your audience may catch a glimpse of the strength of your position1 your means of defence1 and the triumph of the truth which you are about to handle4 444 ,i prefer1 says ,montaigne1 those discourses which level the first charge against the strongest doubt4 ,i look for good and solid reasons to come after4 ,this should be followed by a word of appeal to the heart1 to restrain its evil promptings--something genial and earnest1 calculated to open out the soul1 and which1 coupled with a simple and modest demeanor1 shall at once bespeak the preacher as sincerely attached to his audience4 #abj ,if preaching on the duty of charity toward the poor1 you might say3--,i come before you on the present occasion to plead a cause which will secure me against all adverse criticism1 for ,i know your charity4 ,i have not to address you to-day in language of censure or rebuke1 but in words of encouragement and blessing4 ,if a severe truth is to be urged on the congregation1 it might be introduced thus3--,you will permit me to declare the truth unto you2 for you love the truth4 ,the people have never been hostile to it4 444 ,you yourselves would not be satisfied with half truths2 you desire something better4 ,therefore ,i shall deem it my duty to tell you the whole truth with the freedom of an apostle1 but at the same time1 with all ,christian charity4 ,in a word1 you should exhibit that gentle admixture of power and benignity which so well befits him who speaks in the name of the ,most ,high2 exciting the love of your hearers as with the influence of a mother4 ,or1 following therein the example of ,saint ,paul1 being like one who serves1 and not like one who rules2 condescending toward all2 striving to withdraw them from the sorrows and passions of life1 that you may lead them to the truth1 to virtue1 and to heaven4 444 ,on great occasions it is usual to recite the ,ave ,maria before the sermon4 ,it is a venerable and edifying practice which ought to be followed2 but forbear invoking the ,holy ,spirit or the blessed ,virgin unless you do it devoutly and sincerely4 #aba ,it is frequently otherwise3 one appeals to heaven1 and fixes his eyes on the earth3 another1 instead of the posture of prayer1 assumes the attitude of menace1 and looks very much like a man who demands your money or your life4 ,there should be order in the sermon1 and the ideas should be linked together1 and should mutually support each other4 ,but it should not be laid down as an invariable rule always to follow those categorical divisions which necessarily cut up a truth into two or three parts1 these to be cut up again into two or three sections of truth1 giving the speaker the air of a man who is amusing himself with pulling a machine to pieces1 and then putting it together again4 ,the ,fathers did not ordinarily follow that course4 ,indeed all discourses cannot be so subdivided2 for not every subject will bear it without losing much of its interest4 444 ,most sermons seem to be modelled on the same pattern1 so much so1 that the hearer is disposed at the very outset to remark3--,i have heard that already twenty times over1 set forth just in the same way4 ,what use is there in my listening to it again8 ,this is one drawback1 in addition to the consideration that it is not prudent to take the audience into your confidence as to the conclusion to which you intend to lead them4 444 ,or another listener will say3--,alas6 we are still at the second subdivision of the first part4 #abb ,what a long sermon it will be6 ,he is seized with ennui1 and then farewell to all feeling of interest in the ,divine word1 and to all hope of any benefit to be derived from it4 ,it is preferable to have a range of ideas known to yourself alone1 with intervening pauses4 ,in that way you will carry the hearers along with you4 ,they will listen1 will be moved1 will forget how time passes1 and at the conclusion will not feel tired with having followed you4 ,it appears that the mania for subdividing every thing is a complaint of long standing4 ,la ,bruyre has passed his judgment upon it2 which1 apart from exaggeration--the inseparable companion of criticism--is not inapplicable at the present day4 ,speaking of preachers he says3--,they hold three things to be of indispensable and geometrical necessity1 and to deserve your admiring attention4 ,they will prove a certain proposition in the first part of their discourse1 another in the second part1 and an other in the third4 ,thus1 you are to be convinced1 first1 of a certain truth--that is their first point2 then of a third truth--which is their third point2 so that the first reflection is to instruct you on one of the most fundamental principles of religion2 the second1 on another not less so2 and the third1 on a third and last principle1 the most important of all1 but which1 nevertheless1 must be postponed for lack of time to another occasion4 ,finally1 in order to resume and sum up these divisions1 and to form a plan4 444 #abc ,what6 you are ready to exclaim1 more yet6 ,and are these merely the preliminaries to a discourse of forty-five minutes duration which is still to follow6 ,why1 the more they attempt to digest and throw light upon the subject1 the more they confuse me6 ,i readily believe you1 for it is the most natural effect of that heap of ideas1 which always turns upon one and the same thought1 with which they pitilessly burden the memory of their hearers4 ,it would seem1 to witness their obstinate adherence to this practice1 as if the grace of conversion was attached to these preposterous divisions4 ,i heartily wish that they would pause in their impetuous course to take breath1 and give a little breathing-time to others4 ,vain discourses6 ,words thrown away6 ,the time of homilies exists no longer2 our ,basils and ,chrysostoms will fail to reclaim them2 people will pass over into other dioceses to be beyond the reach of their voice and familiar instructions3 for men in general like set phrases and finely turned periods1 admire what they don't understand1 consider themselves edified thereby1 and rest satisfied with deciding between the first and second points of a discourse1 or between the last sermon and that which preceded it4 ,division must not be sought for2 it must present itself1 and spring out of the subject which you are about to discuss1 or the object which you have in view4 #abd ,for instance1 you intend to treat on deference to man's opinion4 ,establish these two points3--#ast4 ,that there is no disgrace attached to the practice of religion2 and #bnd4 ,that even if there were1 in the estimation of some men1 it is our bounden duty to brave it4 ,when a dogma of the faith is to be treated either before the people or others1 never propound the truth in a hypothetical form1 which is fraught with danger4 ,thus1 do not say3--,does the soul die with the body or does it pass to another life8 444 ,is ,jesus ,christ a mere man2 or is he the ,son of ,god8 ,always use the affirmative form3--,the soul does not die with the body2 the soul will live for ever4 444 ,jesus ,christ is the ,son of ,god2 he is ,god ,himself4 ,otherwise1 you will seem to question those verities1 and may give rise to doubts4 ,such was the result in the cause of an artisan1 who remarked1 after listening to a sermon3--,for my part1 ,i was quite sure that there was another life2 but ,i learn from what the preacher has stated to-day1 that there is something to be said against as well as in favor of the doctrine4 ,the people like a strong1 self-reliant1 and fearless affirmative1 declared boldly and sincerely in the name of ,god1 which admits of no buts1 or ifs1 but which descends from on high1 claiming the ready assent of all without distinction4 #abe ,discussion is not the way to teach ,christianity4 ,it must be fully understood that the truth of the ,gospel is not the conclusion of an argument2 that it depends neither on the talents of the preacher1 not yet on the acceptance of the hearer2 that all such accidents do not affect it in any way4 ,christianity must be expounded just as it is2 but in a noble and energetic manner1 such as shall cause it to be readily understood and loved in spite of all opposition4 ,nevertheless1 in condescension to human infirmity1 you may occasionally justify ,god1 as the ,divine word says1 by pointing out the fitness of a ,catholic truth2 but this must be by the way only4 ,resume quickly the high standing of a man who speaks in the name of ,god--tanquam potestatem habens--who is himself controlled by a truth which he cannot modify in the least degree4 ,call in frequently the aid of faith2 prove1 without stating that you are going to prove2 and1 in order the better to combat men's errors1 confront human authority with the authority of ,god4 ,men will raise such objections as these3--,but the ,gospel itself declares4 444 ,those great men who are called the ,fathers on account of their piety and genius have said 444 ,the ,catholic ,church1 armed with its infallible authority1 says 444 ,god ,himself has declared 444 ,and as against these witnesses what is the word of a mere man to me8 ,moreover1 ,i will not submit2 ,i will not bow down to human authority4 ,am not ,i a man as well as he8 ,am ,i not endowed with reason8 ,he affirms1 ,i deny2 he denies1 ,i affirm2 my word is as good as his1 even were he what is called a man of genius4 #abf ,granted that genius commands respect--and ,i respect it when it yields to what is superior to it--but1 as compared with the law of ,god1 what is a man of genius8 ,a poor pigmy1 who labors and drudges for forty years to acquire some traces of a superior mind2 who more frequently possesses the amour propre of a silly woman2 and who1 while pretending to govern the world from his study1 allows himself to be led by his own female domestic4 ,for my part1 ,i require something better than that2 a greater1 a higher authority1 and one much more self-reliant4 ,you will best restrain and meet these objections by having ,god always at your side4 ,entrench yourself behind the ,divine authority2 efface the man and hold up ,god2 impose silence on the earth and let ,him speak1 but with power and loving-kindness4 ,unhappily1 we have not maintained this high standing4 ,the ,divine word has been brought down too much to a human level2 it has been made too much to reflect man's image4 ,the incessant attacks of the enemies of religion1 and1 it may be1 our own scholastic studies also1 have inspired us with a combative1 and querulous humor4 ,christianity is now discussed1 proved1 philosophically demonstrated4 ,you constantly meet men who are going to prove this to you1 then to prove that1 and then again to prove something else4 ,in ,god's name1 don't repeat this so often1 but do it a little better4 #abg ,these attempts to prove certain propositions generally result in obscuring and confounding them4 ,a preacher states a truth2 you understand and enjoy it4 ,he demonstrates it2 and you understand it less1 and perchance begin to doubt it4 ,some years ago especially1 we were seized with the malady of dogmatic conferences4 ,every one wished to hold conferences to prove the reasonableness of ,christianity4 ,the epidemic has abated1 but we are not wholly free from it4 444 ,that there should still be one or two of these conference-men in certain large towns is all well enough2 yet even that is to be regretted1 for the genus is an offshoot of the misfortune of the age1 and is by no means apostolic4 ,in order to treat ,christianity in that way1 extraordinary talent is required1 together with a thorough knowledge of the dogmas of our religion1 a knowledge equally profound of the human heart1 of philosophical systems and errors1 and a mathematical precision of language4 ,we may rest assured that the control over antagonisms and passions1 so as to preclude doubt or suspicion from creeping into the mind1 must always proceed from an elevated standing1 and that men possessing the necessary qualifications1 or even some of them in a high degree1 are extremely rare4 #abh ,this consideration has been sadly overlooked4 ,very soon we shall have every one attempting to philosophize ,christianity4 ,there are scarcely any1 down to the youngest priest1 who does not take up the most difficult dogmas1 and who does not seek to do battle with those who are styled unbelievers--that is the current word nowadays1 because1 as it would seem1 the old term 7infidel7 has been worn out by long usage1 and1 therefore1 it has been thought necessary to create a new one4 ,all this is very deplorable4 ,until quite lately there was hardly a discourse1 addressed even to the people exclusively1 which did not contain passages intended for unbelievers1 or tirades against unbelievers1 or apostrophes to unbelievers4 ,the believers who were present were neglected for the sake of the unbelievers who were absent4 ,it is not rare1 indeed1 to meet with men who call themselves unbelievers1 who assert it1 and who write themselves such2 but will you find men who are seriously unbelievers1 and who do not falter in their negations8 ,a pious priest1 who was frequently called upon to attend the sick in the higher classes of society in ,paris1 was once asked whether he often met with men who had ceased to believe4 ,he replied1 good-naturedly3--,pray1 don't allude to the subject4 ,though ,i have been long accustomed to minister to great sinners1 ,i have never yet had the good fortune to lay my hand on one who was even a little unbelieving4 ,as regards the faith1 men in general are better than their words or their writing either4 #abi ,as has been well remarked3--,the man who1 even in all sincerity1 says3 ',i don't believe1' often deceives himself4 ,there is in the depths of his heart a root of faith which never dies4 ,real unbelief cannot prevail in ,france4 ,there is too much good sense1 too much rectitude in the ,french mind1 and too much moral beauty in the ,gospel1 to render absolute unbelief possible4 ,these pretensions to unbelief are generally based on a little ignorance combined with a large amount of feeble-mindedness2 so that when one tells you that he does not1 that he cannot believe1 you should understand him to mean that he is weak and timid4 ,let us be on our guard against taking such men at their word1 for we should thereby show how little knowledge we possess of the human heart4 ,a priest who was called in to attend a person who had spoken and written much against religion1 put this question to him3--,when you wrote were you quite sure of your own unbelief8 ,the other replied1 ,alas6 ,monsieur l',abb1 444 in a deprecating tone1 which seemed clearly to imply3--,how young you are1 and how little you know of the human heart6 ,no2 the question between the world and ourselves is not whether the miracles and mysteries of ,christianity are believed1 but whether the morality of the ,gospel is practised4 #acj ,that is the real question at issue4 ,so true is this1 that scholars and honest men will not hesitate to say frankly3--,the matter is not one of argument2 only retrench from your religion several small commandments of ,god and the ,church1 which we need not specify1 and then we will be on your side4 ,that is the secret of unbelief4 ,it is not faith that is wanting1 but the courage to do what is right4 ,how1 then1 are we to get rid of those preachers who are always taken up with unbelievers8 ,how delivered from those endless sermons addressed to unbelievers8 ,they do us much harm and very little good4 ,the whole thing1 besides being ill-judged1 is a mistake4 ,by incessantly speaking to men about unbelief1 we may end in making them unbelievers2 just as we may make a dolt of a man by dint of telling him that he has no sense4 ,besides1 what a blow it is to ,christianity to give the people to understand that a notable portion of a great nation has seriously contested its ,divine origin6 ,is not this to suggest the temptation that they too should become unbelievers1 since1 by so doing1 they would be in so numerous and goodly a company8 ,instead of such a course1 begin by telling your audience--but in the accents of profound conviction--that there is not one unbeliever among them2 that they all have faith2 that they believe as you do2 that they are better than they judge themselves to be2 that not every one who wishes it can become an unbeliever2 that ,jesus ,christ is too eminent in history and in the world to be regarded1 in earnest1 as a mere man3 444 tell them this1 and you will do them good1 and1 besides1 you will be telling the truth4 #aca ,they all believe1 but their faith is imperfect1 wounded4 ,so true is this1 that ,voltaire himself1 as all the world knows1 could not rid himself entirely of his faith1 all ,voltaire that he was4 444 ,what6 ,voltaire1 with all his wit1 and1 if you will1 his genius1 ,voltaire1 with his demon pride1 his satanic hatred of ,christ1 his half century of blasphemies1--,voltaire1 the head of the most redoubtable cohort of enemies that ,christianity ever had1--even he could not wholly divest himself of his belief2 and yet it is pretended that our pigmies of the nineteenth century1 with their limited knowledge and petty malice1 are able to stifle their faith when that giant of impiety was unable to strangle his in his eagle's clutch6 444 ,only a little reflection is needed to convince ourselves on this point4 ,for what is unbelief8 ,it is the conviction that ,christianity is false4 ,now1 how can such a conviction be arrived at against eighteen centuries of genius and virtue1 against the authority of the ,gospel1 against ,christ ,himself8 ,how can any man reasonably attain the position of being able to confront those eminent men and facts1 and say3--,i am quite sure that you have deceived the world 444 you have lied8 #acb ,it is impossible4 ,it may be said and written in a moment of passion2 but such assurance is not1 cannot be attained4 ,we shall1 therefore1 be acting truly as well as wisely in not descanting so much about unbelievers4 ,for1 after all1 of what use is it8 ,for the most part1 these alleged unbelievers are not present to listen to you4 ,neither is that the worst feature in the case4 ,these kinds of sermons are by no means calculated to convert them4 ,generally speaking1 they show too little regard for the amour propre of such characters2 who1 as is well known1 do not pique themselves on their humility4 ,if we would benefit them we must pass quickly from the mind to the heart3 that is their weak point4 ,we must not keep ourselves so much on the defensive1 but carry the war into the enemy's country4 ,our tactics should be to do good abundantly to all men that we may save all1 and then there will be no doubt about their believing in the divinity of ,christianity4 ,all the parts of a sermon need not be equally good and powerful4 ,two or three more elaborate and striking passages will suffice to ensure success2 but those passages should be such as effectually to overthrow prejudices and errors1 and should be conclusive against all gainsayers4 #acc ,there should also be intervals to break monotony--that stumbling-block of many sermons2 to give the mind rest2 to allow time for the hearts of the audience to be penetrated by what has been said2 to introduce familiar topics which do the soul so much good2 to soften the asperities of any great emotion2 to bind up the wounded2 in a word1 intervals for the preacher to become the father after having represented the ,king1 to attract the hearts after having gained the minds of his hearers4 ,it is a mistake to aim at making every part of a sermon equally powerful and equally prominent4 ,it is an attempt against ,nature4 ,moreover1 we should not aspire to adduce every available proof in support of a particular truth4 ,one or two will suffice1 and the strongest is not always the most convincing to your audience4 ,select those likely to produce the greatest impression1 and forbear when that end is attained4 ,the victory is yours1 retain it1 and do not expose yourself to a reverse4 ,there are men who do not think they have proved a thing until they have brought together1 pell-mell1 all the known proofs in the world4 ,the consequence is that1 after listening to one of their sermons1 the question discussed appears more confused to you than ever4 #acd ,as regards objections to be refuted1 you should never adduce any but such as are current in the locality where you are speaking2 and it is dangerous to give them a too salient form1 for you may thereby wound the faith of your audience4 ,but the objection once stated1 refute it at once in a few sharp and decisive words4 ,let your reply be in language as prompt1 striking1 and decisive as that of the objection4 ,avoid all circumlocution and hesitation in meeting it4 ,show it no pity1 but let it expire forth with in the presence of your audience4 ,let every word tell like the cut or thrust of a sword1 or1 at least1 like the stroke of a mace which shall effectually silence the objection4 ,you may then justify1 easily1 the blows which you have dealt3 but strike first and explain afterward2 otherwise1 never attempt to place an objection before the people4 ,if1 as is too often done1 you begin by saying3--,before refuting this objection1 two principles must first be laid down1 or1 three reflections must be made1 the minds of your hearers will go a wool-gathering2 they will not listen to your reflections2 they will retain nothing of your discourse beyond the objection2 you will have lost your time1 and may have done harm into the bargain4 ,in sermons to the people1 the peroration should be energetic1 captivating1 fervent2 not a fervor of the head or throat1 but of the soul1 accompanying something to enlighten the minds of the hearers1 to gain the assent of their hearts1 to subdue their passions1 and to electrify their spirits4 #ace ,let us be on our guard against those vapid perorations which are nothing more than the ending of a discourse which we are at a loss how otherwise to wind up4 ,the audience must not be dismissed with a wrong impression2 therefore be more affectionate at the conclusion1 the more severe the truths have been which you have enunciated4 ,in a word1 the peroration should be sympathetic and vibrating4 ,it should comprise all the power1 all the marrow1 and all the energy of the sermon4 ,it should contain some of those keen thoughts1 some of those proverbial phrases1 which recur to the mind again and again like the strains of a familiar song which we sing involuntarily1--or a single thought1 which when once entertained leads one to say3--,were ,i to live a hundred years1 ,i shall never forget it4 #acf ,chapter ,,iv4 ,the ,sermon ,should ,be ,popular4 ,what constitutes true ,popularity8 ,popularity in ,words1 in ,thought1 in ,sentiment4 ,one of the most popular ,sentiments in ,france is ,patriotism4 ,means to utilize that sentiment4 ,the ,relationship between ,popularity and ,genius4 ,demosthenes4 ,saint ,john ,chrysostom4 ,daniel ,o',connell4 ,the language of the ,christian orator whose object is to make religion known and loved1 should possess the following characteristics3-- ,it should be1 #ast1 popular2 #b;dly1 plain2 #c;dly1 short4 ,all eloquence to be effectual must be popular4 ,an orator is essentially the man for all1 and is specially made for the people4 ,the people are the best judges of true eloquence1 and are themselves the best soil to be cultivated thereby4 ,cicero says that the most infallible token of an orator is to be esteemed as such in the opinion of the people4 ,he was so persuaded of this that he remarks in another place3--,i wish my eloquence to be relished by the people4 #acg ,this is still more true as regards the ,christian orator4 ,he appeals to all3 to the little1 to the poor and the ignorant as well as to the great1 the wealthy1 and the learned1 and his speech should be understood and enjoyed by all4 ,he is not free to deprive any one of the truth4 ,all men are people before the ,gospel1 and that ,gospel speaks in unison with the souls of all4 ,it stoops to raise1 to comfort1 and to enlighten all4 ,hence the truly popular preacher proclaims himself at the outset as no ordinary orator1 but one about to be powerful1 and to rise into a giant1 before whom even the most learned will be obliged to bow1 because his soul is linked with the ,divine word1 and with the hearts of the people4 ,this popularity of ,christian discourses has become rare1 more especially in our towns4 ,instead of being satisfied with the life1 the sap of that ,gospel which has moved the world1 preachers have deemed themselves obliged to call in the aid of philosophy1 metaphysics1 and distorted phraseology and rhetoric4 ,the exception has been taken for the rule4 ,the ,divine word has been bound1 imprisoned in a terminology1 which many do not understand4 ,the preacher speaks1 but the man remains impassible and cold4 ,painful reflection6 ,the word of ,god passes by and says nothing to the mind1 the soul1 or even to the ears of the audience4 #ach ,but ,i hasten to observe that the popularity of a sermon does not consist in using common1 trivial1 or vulgar language4 ,the people do not like such a style1 and regard it as derogatory to their intelligence and dignity4 ,they have much more tact than is generally supposed4 ,they know perfectly well what befits each1 and have an exquisite sense of propriety4 ,the people wish their preacher to speak better than they do1 and appreciate dignified language4 ,hence1 whenever they have to name any thing mean before you1 they are careful to preface it with the proverbial apology3 saving your presence4 ,in fine1 the object of preaching being to elevate the people1 the language adopted should be superior to theirs4 ,the style of speaking has an important bearing on the morals of life4 ,we may1 however1 occasionally borrow some of their most striking and picturesque1 and even some of their quaint expressions1 put them into a good framing1 and make them the starting-point for a felicitous sally or thought4 ,they have then a powerful effect4 ,the people perceive thereby that you are acquainted with them1 that you must have visited among them1 that you know their life1 their toil1 their sorrows1 and even their foibles1 and they will open their hearts to you at once4 ,they feel themselves to be on familiar ground1 where they find1 as it were1 an old friend4 ,there is a strange instinct among the people which leads them to reason thus3--,that man knows us1 therefore he loves us2 whereupon they readily give you their confidence4 #aci ,then1 again1 it is not very difficult to maintain a style of speaking at once dignified and popular4 ,look at the lady of fashion dealing with the petty tradesman1 or even with a fish-woman--a character by no means celebrated for choice or polite expressions4 ,the price of the article treated for is discussed1 the bargain is struck1 both parties come to a satisfactory understanding1 and the language of the woman of the world has been sober throughout1 and perfectly becoming4 444 ,but popular speech consists not so much in the expressions used as in the thoughts and sentiments conveyed thereby4 ,we have already remarked that the people have good sense1 ready wit1 and above all a heart4 444 ,we must lay hold of those points in them to effect an entry into their minds as well as their hearts1 thereby preparing the way for religion to follow4 ,the people have a certain aggregate of ideas and thoughts1 and their own way of apprehending and appreciating things4 ,all this should be studied1 for it constitutes the best holdfast of humanity4 ,we should make ourselves of the people1 as it were1 in their mode of thought1 joining thereto superior knowledge2 study those ideas which they do not adequately estimate1 put them into expressive and proverbial language such as they relish1 and then engraft religious thought into their thoughts in order to elucidate and elevate them4 #adj ,but the people possess1 above all1 an inexpressible richness of sentiment1 together with admirable instincts4 ,these must be laid hold of1 cultivated1 and profoundly stirred1 and then ,christianity should be brought in and fused1 so to speak1 with those good instincts and noble sentiments4 ,dive down to the bottom of the souls of the people 444 touch the best chords of their hearts 444 be inspired with their aspirations 444 be animated with their passions2 ,i had almost said be agitated with their anger4 ,possess yourself of what is best in them1 and return it to them in vivid expressions and glowing effusions of the soul1 that they may think1 feel1 will1 as you do2 that their thought may seem to have anticipated yours1 while1 at the same time1 you exercise sway over them4 ,then your sermon will be the outward expression of the best sentiments of the human heart1 ennobled by the ,divine word4 ,such1 we take it1 is true popularity2 such also is the real power of ,christian eloquence4 ,in this way you may lead men onward to the highest speculations1 and raise them even to heroism4 ,you may then use the language of scholars1 provided that you continue to be of the people in heart4 #ada ,one noble and powerful sentiment which should be cultivated--a sentiment which may be made to call forth the sublimest aspirations and the most heroic transports--is patriotism4 ,the people love ,france1 they love the glory of ,france1 they love all that concerns ,france4 ,if1 then1 you wish to interest them1 to induce them to listen to you1 to stir them up1 to enlarge their hearts1 speak well of ,france to them2 dilate to them of their earthly country1 and then you will find it much easier to raise them to that country which is in heaven4 ,an admirable example of this was afforded by ,monseigneur the ,archbishop of ,paris1 during his visitations1 and he produced one of those magic effects which seem hardly to belong to our times4 ,the venerable prelate visited a school of adults1 consisting of about four hundred youths1 all in the flower of their age and the heyday of their passions4 ,on taking his seat1 the whole assembly intoned a harmonious and popular hymn1 full of patriotic sentiments4 ,the archbishop made this the starting-point of his lecture1 and soon there was such a thunder of applause that the floor of the hall shook1 to say nothing of the ears of the spectators4 ,the speaker himself must have been stunned1 but he resumed with animation3-- ,do you know1 my children1 why this magic word 'country' electrifies your hearts8 ,it is because one's native country is the sacred home of man1 of his duties and his privileges4 ,it is his life1 his cradle1 his tomb2 it is every thing to him after heaven1 from whence he comes1 and whither he must return2 and which is on that account the glorious country1 the kingdom of all righteousness1 the fruition of all privileges1 the communion of all souls1 of all happiness1 of all good4 ,chaunt1 therefore1 your earthly country1 but be not forgetful of that country which is beyond the skies4 #adb ,yes1 sing it1 and love it well4 ,it has need of all your filial love and useful prowess4 ,it has bled much2 it still suffers4 ,respect it1 comfort it1 for it is your mother4 ,you are indebted to it for birth1 instruction1 employment1 and a livelihood4 ,it behoves you to show yourselves worthy of these benefits1 to merit them1 to win them1 and to preserve them4 ,young citizens1 be men6 ,young men1 be ,christians6 ,i recognize in your ardor the descendants of those warriors who1 on the approach of the enemy1 gained the frontier at a bound1 and as one man4 ,they were workmen when they left2 workmen less fortunate and educated than you are4 ,they returned1 as you know1 conquering heroes1 or they fell covered with glory4 ,were the country again menaced1 and an appeal made to your courage1 ,i should have no misgivings2 for1 hardly should ,i have blessed the tricolored standard over your heads1 than it would take the eagle's flight and echo a reply by a brilliant victory1 either from the summits of the ,alps or from the borders of the ,rhine4 #adc ,we must renounce all attempts to describe the sensation which this discourse elicited1 and which it at the same time restrained1 that the speaker might not be interrupted4 ,it broke out at last2 the hurricane burst through all bounds1 and then suddenly subsided as if in remorse at its own violence4 ,this intelligent silence seeming to say3 ,go on1 the archbishop proceeded3-- ,i doubt not that you would easily triumph over the enemy3 but would you overcome yourselves also8 would you subdue your passions1 calm your impetuosity1 be ,christians1 be virtuous8 ,footnote #ad ,footnote #ad3 ,visites ,pastorales1 p4 #acf4 ,yes1 yes6 exclaimed these noble youths4 ,their hearts were touched1 and they were ready for any sacrifice4 ,the prelate then rapidly set forth the virtues which they ought to practise1 the temptations which they should avoid1 the vices they should subdue1 and the passions which they should curb4 ,thereupon1 the explosion of enthusiasm was redoubled1 showing that these brave youths were not irretrievably wedded to their errors and foibles2 for though in reality undergoing a partial defeat1 they applauded as if they had been the conquerors4 ,we repeat it3 one of the best means to popularize religion among the people is to speak always in favorable terms of their native country4 #add ,there can be no doubt that deplorable excesses in the history of the last seventy years have wounded the hearts of the clergy1 and imparted a savor of bitterness and sarcasm to our language respecting ,france4 ,but it is wrong3 one should always love one's country and one's times1 though it may be a duty to combat their prejudices and their errors4 ,on this subject ,i commend the words of one of our own statesmen1 endeared both to religion and to his country3-- ,footnote #ae ,footnote #ae3 ,m4 de ,falloux4 ,do not misunderstand what ,i am about to say2 do not imagine that ,i wish to unduly criticise the era in which we live4 ,no2 my country and my contemporaries will find in me rather an impassioned advocate then a prejudiced detractor4 ,i love my country and my time1 for ,i cannot separate the one from the other4 ,i believe that one cannot be loved without the other4 ,he who does not acquiesce in the age in which he lives1 its responsibilities and its dangers1 does not wholly love his country3 does not love his country except in times which either exist no longer1 or in those which have not yet come4 ,to do this1 is to discourage1 to lessen the power which we should hold at its service4 ,the age in which each of us lives is simply the frame wherein ,god sets our duties2 the career which ,he opens to and imposes upon our faculties4 ,to study one's age is to search out what ,god desires and demands of us4 #ade ,then1 again1 we are bound to be just4 ,if ,france has done wrong1 how much good has she not done2 how much is she not still doing every day6 ,the words ,gesta ,dei per ,francos have not ceased to be true as regards ourselves4 ,is not the blessed institution of the ,propagation of the ,faith the work of ,france8 ,is not1 also1 the ,archiconfrrie for the return of sinners to the paternal home1 the work of ,france8 ,is not the society of ,saint ,vincent de ,paul likewise the work of ,france8 ,that society numbers eight hundred confraternities throughout the world1 and of these1 five hundred are claimed by ,france4 ,and wherever any good work is to be wrought for the ,church1 is it not accomplished by the words1 the money1 the prayers1 and even by the sword of ,france8 ,surely1 the citizen of such a country1 the child of such a fatherland1 has a right to speak well of his mother2 more especially when the object is to lead souls to virtue4 ,reawaken1 then1 the old ,french and ,christian enthusiasm1 filling all hearts with the sacred emotions of earthly patriotism1 and with holy love for that better home which is eternal in the heavens4 ,such is true popularity2 such the power of speech4 ,one is strong when he has on his side the reason and will of the multitude2 when he has sympathy with humanity1 and possesses the hearts of the masses4 #adf ,let others say what they please3 the many possess more mind than one person1 whoever he may be2 and popular speech has more weight than the speculations or fancies of a man of science1 or even a man of genius4 ,further1 there is a sort of relationship between popularity and genius1 so that one cannot exist with out the other4 ,for1 what is a man of genius8 ,he is one who has learnt to seize the thoughts1 the aspirations1 the wants of his own times1 and has profoundly traced them in brilliant1 energetic1 sympathetic pages2 a man who astonishes and revivifies the age in which he lives1 by telling it aright what it is1 what it thinks1 what it wants1 and what it suffers4 ,moreover1 as has been remarked long ago1 the finest conceptions of genius are always grasped by the people4 ,on the other hand1 the most sublime pages are always popular4 ,i shall cite but one example1 which is familiar to all4 444 ,the prophet ,isaiah is describing the fall of the ,king of ,babylon3-- ,how hath the oppressor ceased6 444 ,the whole earth is at rest1 and is quiet2 yea1 the fir-trees rejoice at thee1 and the cedars of ,lebanon1 saying3--,since thou art laid down1 no feller is come up against us4 ,hell from beneath is moved for thee1 to meet thee at thy coming2 it stirreth up the dead for thee1 even all the chief ones of the earth2 it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations4 ,all they shall speak and say unto thee3 ,art thou also become weak as we8 art them become like unto us8 #adg ,thy pomp is brought down to the grave1 and the noise of thy viols2 the worm is spread under thee1 and the worms cover thee4 ,all the kings of the nations 444 lie in glory 444 but thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch1 and as the slain1 thrust through with a sword1 that go down to the stones of the pit2 as a carcase trodden under feet4 ,how art thou fallen from heaven1 ,o ,lucifer1 son of the morning6 ,for thou hast said in thine heart1 ,i will ascend unto heaven1 ,i will exalt my throne above the stars of ,god1 ,i will also sit upon the mount of the congregation1 in the sides of the north4 444 ,i will be like the ,most ,high4 ,yet thou shalt be brought down to hell1 to the sides of the pit4 ,they that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee1 and consider thee1 saying3--,is this the man that made the earth to tremble1 that did shake kingdoms1 that made the world as a wilderness8 444 ,thou hast destroyed thy land and slain thy people4 ,the seed of evil-doers shall never be renowned4 ,prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers1 that they do not rise nor possess the land4 7,isaiah xiv4 #d-ba47 ,as might be expected1 all great orators have been popular2 for one cannot be truly an orator by one's own power or by dint of study2 there must be1 besides1 a multitude to inspire you1 and to stimulate you by their criticism and opposition4 #adh ,demosthenes1 the greatest orator of ancient times1 was pre-eminently a popular orator1 and that popularity was the chief element of his glory4 ,the people of ,athens were all for him1 for he loved them and knew them thoroughly3 knew their frivolity1 their vanity1 their generosity1 and their happy impulses4 ,he invoked all that was great and good in the heart of man2 not by vain declamations1 but by energetic appeals to sentiments which one would blush not to possess4 ,he drew his inspirations from the noblest patriotism1 and his politics--a rare exception--had their source in the deepest affections of his heart4 ,hence it was that the people were so much attached to ,demosthenes1 and that he1 on his part1 could place such unbounded confidence in them4 ,a,eschines had complained that ,demosthenes had reproached him with being the host of ,alexander4 ,he answered him in these terms3--,i reproach you with being the host of ,alexander6 ,i reproach you with ,alexander's friendship6 ,how could you attain it8 ,by what means8 ,no1 ,i cannot call you either the friend of ,philip or the host of ,alexander2 ,i am not so foolish4 ,are reapers and hirelings called the hosts of those who pay them8 ,he is nothing1 nothing of the kind4 ,first1 a mercenary of ,philip1 he is now the mercenary of ,alexander2 that is what ,i and all our hearers call you4 ,if you doubt it1 ask them 444 or1 rather1 ,i will do it for you4 ,men of ,athens1 what1 then1 is your opinion8 ,is ,a,eschines the host1 or the mercenary of ,alexander8 444 ,do you hear their reply8 #adi ,so likewise ,saint ,john ,chrysostom1 who was1 perhaps1 the most popular of orators4 ,we do not find that he amused himself with vain speculations4 ,he did not wander far and wide to hunt up topics whereon to address his hearers1 for they themselves supplied all that he wanted4 ,he found ample materials for his purpose in the depths of their minds and hearts1 and under his masterly treatment the simplest things acquired an accent of eloquence which gratified and moved his audience1 which the people understood and the learned admired4 ,surrounded by his congregation1 he seems like a father in the midst of his family4 ,he converses1 he questions1 he even consults1 and he always loves4 ,it was the custom in his time for the audience to applaud the preacher during the sermon4 ,they did not spare him that manifestation1 and these are the terms in which he complains of it3-- ,believe me--the more so because ,i would not say it were it not true--that when you applaud my discourses1 ,i am seized with a certain infirmity1 and feel quite contented and happy4 444 ,but1 on returning home1 ,i reflect that all fruit of my speaking is lost through these applauses and commendations2 #aej and ,i say to myself3 ,of what avail is my labor if my hearers do not profit thereby8 ,i have even thought of making a rule positively to forbid all applause1 that you may listen to me in silence1 with proper decorum and reserve4 444 ,i pray and conjure you to suffer me to establish such a rule forthwith4 444 ,let us now order that no hearer shall make any noise while the preacher is speaking2 and that if any one wishes to admire1 let it be by keeping silence4 7,applause47 ,why do you still applaud me1 even while ,i am making a law to prohibit the abuse8 ,though you will not suffer me to speak to you on the subject1 nevertheless1 let us enact the law1 for it will be to our advantage4 444 ,however1 ,i do not wish to be too rigorous1 for fear of appearing uncivil in your estimation2 so that if you find so much gratification in applauding1 ,i shall not hinder it2 but ,i will suggest to you a much superior motive for eliciting still greater applause on your part1 namely1 that you carry away with you what you hear1 and practise it4 ,when condemned to his first exile1 the people flocked round their pastor1 determined to proceed to extremities rather than let him depart4 ,he then addressed them the following touching farewell3-- #aea ,a violent tempest surrounds me on all sides2 but ,i fear nothing1 because ,i stand on an immovable rock4 ,the fury of the waves cannot sink the vessel of ,jesus ,christ4 ,death cannot terrify me2 it would rather be a gain to me4 ,do ,i fear exile8 ,all the earth is the ,lord's4 ,do ,i fear the loss of goods8 ,naked ,i was born into the world1 and naked ,i shall return4 ,i despise the scorn and the flattery of the world4 ,i have no desire to live but for your welfare4 ,the people remained with him eight days to defend him1 and the holy pastor1 in order to prevent an insurrection1 escaped by a secret door1 and delivered himself up to his enemies4 ,the ,empress ,eudoxia1 however1 was soon obliged to recall him4 ,we shall lose the empire1 said she1 unless ,john is recalled4 ,then1 again1 ,o',connell1 that orator who acquired so wide an influence1 how popular he was6 ,but ,i shall let ,m4 de ,cormenin describe him3-- ,look at ,o',connell with his people--for they are truly his people4 ,he lives of their life1 he smiles with their joys1 he bleeds with their wounds1 he groans with their pains4 ,he transports them at his will from fear to hope1 from slavery to liberty1 from the fact to the right1 from the right to duty1 from supplication to invective1 and from anger to mercy and pity4 ,he directs the people to kneel on the ground and pray1 and they all kneel and pray2 to raise their faces to the skies1 and they raise them2 to curse their tyrants1 and they curse them2 to sing hymns to liberty1 and they sing them2 to bare their heads and swear on the holy ,gospels1 and they uncover1 raise the hand1 and swear2 to sign petitions for the reform of abuses1 to unite their forces1 to pardon their enemies1 and they sign1 they forget1 they embrace1 they forgive4 #aeb ,that which makes him incomparable among all the orators of this or any other country1 is that1 without any premeditation1 and by impulse alone1 by the sole force of his powerful and triumphant nature1 he enters wholly into his subject1 and appears to be more possessed by it than of himself4 ,his heart overflows2 it goes by bounds1 by transports1 bringing into play all its pulsations4 ,like a high-bred charger1 suddenly pulled back on its nervous and quivering haunches1 even so can ,o',connell arrest himself in the unbridled course of his harangues1 turn short and resume them--such versatility1 spring1 and vigor is there in his eloquence4 ,you imagine at first that he is staggering1 and about to succumb under the weight of the divinity which inwardly agitates him2 but he rises again with a halo on his brow1 an eye full of flame1 and his voice1 unlike that of a mortal1 begins to resound in the air1 and to fill all space4 ,he is lyrical as a poet1 and familiar even to playfulness4 ,he draws his audience to him1 and then transfers them to the floor of the theatre2 or descends himself and mixes with the spectators4 ,he never allows the stage to be without speech or action for a single moment4 #aec ,he distributes the parts to each4 ,he himself sits as judge3 he arraigns and he condemns2 the people ratify1 upraise the hand1 and seem to believe that they are joining in a verdict4 ,some times ,o',connell adapts the interior drama of a family to the external drama of political affairs4 ,he calls up his aged father1 his ancestors and the ancestors of the people4 444 ,he disposes and extemporizes narratives1 monologues1 dialogues1 propoeia1 interludes1 and peripatetics4 ,knowing that the ,irish are both light-hearted and melancholy1 that they are fond of metaphor1 flourish1 and sarcasm1 he stifles laughter with tears1 the grandiose by the grotesque4 ,he attacks the ,house of ,lords1 and1 chasing them from their aristocratic lairs1 tracks them one by one like wild beasts4 ,he is always popular1 be his speech grave1 sublime1 or jocular3-- ',ireland6 oh1 how that name alone sticks in the ,saxon throat4 ,my friends1 my heart and my mind are known to you1 and ,i wish you to understand this1 that ,i have power enough to prevent either ,peel or ,wellington from treading on the liberties of ,ireland4 ,i have only to say this to them3 ,we will entrench ourselves behind the law and the constitution2 but do not attempt to put our patience to the test beyond bounds1 for if there is danger in exasperating cowards1 there is a thousand times more danger in exasperating those who are not4' 7,applause47 #aed ',i told you at the outset that ,i did not feel disposed to speak3 this is not a speech1 it is history which ,i am making at this moment4 ,the people have placed unlimited confidence in me4 ,i might1 perhaps1 say with affected modesty that ,i do not deserve it4 ,i will be more frank4 ,i believe that ,i do deserve it4' 7,applause3 yes6 yes67 ',mine is a strange fortune4 ,i believe ,i am the only man1 living or dead1 who has enjoyed uninterrupted confidence and popularity for forty years4 ,a voice4--,may you enjoy them twice as long6 ,o',c4--',that is impossible4 ,long before then1 ,i shall be summoned before my ,maker to give an account of all the actions of my public and private life4' ,a voice4--',you have always done your duty6' ,o',c4--,may such be the judgment of the ,most ,high6' 7,applause47 ',kindly spare me these interruptions4' 7,laughter47 ',our first duty is to obey the law4 ,don't think that in giving you this advice ,i intend that you should submit to unlawful outrage4 ,after all1 violence is not what ,i fear--,i who am alone in the world4' 7,cries of no1 no1 you are not alone67 ',pardon me1 my friends1 ,i am alone2 for she for whom ,i might have entertained fears1 but whose courage would certainly never have failed1 has been taken from my affections4' 7,o',connell pronounced these last words with deep emotion1 in which the whole assembly seemed to participate4 ,several ladies present raised their handkerchiefs to their eyes47 #aee ',were they to put a gag in my mouth or handcuffs on my wrists1 ,i would still point out the safest and wisest course for you to follow4 ,i trust there will be no conflict3 let us close our ranks1 shoulder to shoulder1 let us rally round the constitution1 that ,ireland may not be delivered over to her enemies by the folly1 the passions1 or the treachery of her children4' 7,applause47 ,he knows how to excite the laughter of his audience1 and to enliven them with racy comparisons1 which are sometimes1 however1 of a kind unsuited to ,christian discourses4 ,there was formerly a fool in ,kerry--a rare thing there4 ,this fool having discovered a hen's nest1 waited till the hen had quitted it1 and then took the eggs and sucked them4 ,after sucking the first1 the chicken which had been in the shell began to cry out while descending the fool's throat4 ',ah1 my boy1 said he1 'you speak too late4' 7,laughter47 ,my friends1 ,i am not a fool2 ,i know how to suck eggs4 7,laughter47 ,should ,england now be disposed to tell me that she is ready to do us justice1 ,i would say to ,england as the ,kerry fool said to the chicken3 ,my darling1 you speak too late4 7,laughter and applause47 #aef ,he then continued1 in the most sublime and rapturous accents3-- ,in the presence of my ,god1 and with the most profound feeling of the responsibility attached to the solemn and arduous duties which you ,irishmen have twice imposed on me1 ,i accept them1 relying not on my own strength1 but on yours4 ,the people of ,clare know that the only basis of liberty is religion4 ,they have triumphed because the voice raised in behalf of the country was first uttered in prayer to ,god4 ,songs of liberty are now heard throughout our green isle1 their notes traverse the hills1 they fill the valleys1 they murmur with the waves of our rivers and streams1 and respond in tones of thunder to the echoes of the mountains4 ,ireland is free6 ,one may readily conceive the magic of this speech4 ,i borrow once more from the pen of ,m4 de ,cormenin4 ,eloquence does not exercise all its power1 its strong1 sympathetic1 moving power1 except upon the people4 ,look at ,o',connell1 the grandest1 perhaps the only orator of modern times4 ,how his thundering voice towers over and rules the waves of the multitude6 ,i am not an ,irishman1 ,i have never seen ,o',connell2 ,i believe ,i should not understand him4 ,why1 then1 am ,i moved by his discourses even when translated into a strange tongue1 discolored1 stunted1 and deprived of the charm of voice and action more than with all ,i have ever heard in my own country8 #aeg ,it is because they are utterly unlike our jumbled1 wordy rhetoric2 because it is true passion that inspires him3 passion which can and does say all that it has to say4 ,it is1 that he draws me from the shore1 that he whirls with me1 and drags me with him into his current4 ,it is that he shudders1 and ,i shudder2 that he utters cries from the depths of his soul which ravish my soul2 that he raises me on his wings and sustains me in the sacred transports of liberty4 ,under the influence of his sublime eloquence1 ,i abhor1 ,i detest with furious hatred1 the tyrants of that unfortunate country1 just as if ,i were ,o',connell's fellow-citizen2 and ,i seem to love green ,ireland as much as my own native land4 ,here we have an orator who should be constantly studied by all those who wish to benefit the people4 ,there is a wide difference between such powerful speeches and those dreary metaphysical sermons1 those finely-spun phrases1 that quintessence of reasoning1 so common amongst us4 ,for1 what do we often take for an orator or preacher8 444 ,one who wraps himself in his own conceptions1 and soars into sublime regions1 while the poor audience is left on the plain below to gaze at him or not1 to grow weary1 to sleep or to chat1 when they cannot decently go away4 ,and yet it is so easy to be popular in ,france4 ,the native mind is prompt and readily roused to the noblest sentiments4 #aeh ,moreover1 we are bound to do the higher classes this justice1 that they always tolerate and even admire the preacher who addresses the people4 ,they mingle with the crowd to join in their applause1 and1 what is better1 to profit by what they hear4 ,yes1 strange to say1 under the influence of such eloquence1 scholars and wits throw aside their arguments and their prejudices1 and become one with the people--think1 feel1 and commend as they do4 444 ,there are two powerful ways of leading men3 to take up with the higher classes or to go to the masses4 ,the latter appears the more powerful nowadays1 for opinion and strength always prevail with those whose wills are feeble4 ,we must retrace our steps1 then1 and resume a popular style of address1 which1 to use a homely comparison1 consists simply in entering in by the door of the people1 and making them go out by ours2 for to be truly popular is3 to love the people ardently1 to throw our souls into theirs1 to identify ourselves with them2 to think1 feel1 will1 love1 as they do2 to rouse their instincts of justice1 generosity1 and pity2 to fill their souls with the noblest thoughts2 to exalt with the breath of the ,gospel their holiest aspirations1 and to send these back to them in burning words1 in outbursts and sallies of the heart2 and then1 as with a back-stroke of the hand1 to crush their errors and destroy their vices1 and to lead them onward after you1 while they shall believe that they are still leading the way2 to abase them to the lowest depths1 and then to raise them to heaven4 #aei ,in all this1 making them to play so prominent a part that1 after hearing you1 they may almost be led to say with secret satisfaction3--,what an excellent sermon we have delivered6 ,then will your words be invested with the two greatest powers in the world3 they will be the voice of the people and the voice of ,god4 #afj ,chapter ,v4 ,the ,sermon ,should ,be ,plain4 ,an obscure ,sermon is neither ,christian nor ,french4 ,abuse of philosophical ,terms4 ,philosophical ,speculations not popular amongst us4 ,the ,french mind is clear and logical4 ,plainness of ,speech4 ,plainness of ,thought4 ,starting from the ,known to the ,unknown4 ,metaphors4 ,similes4 ,parables4 ,facts4 ,pre ,lejeune4 ,m4 l',abb ,ledreuil4 ,the sermon should be plain4 444 ,this truth has been partially demonstrated in the course of the foregoing remarks4 ,it follows1 moreover1 as a consequence from the nature and design of the ,gospel4 ,the religious discourse which is not plain is neither ,christian nor ,french4 ,the ,divine word should be understood by all1 even by the poor woman who crouches into a corner of the church2 for she too has a soul to save1 and her soul is as precious in the sight of ,god as the soul of a rich or learned man3 perhaps more4 ,this is one of the glories of ,christianity4 ,human lore is only within the reach of those who are able to comprehend it1 or who have money enough to pay for it4 #afa ,the word of ,god is for all2 and none can be deprived of it1 as far as the preacher is concerned1 without a grave dereliction of duty on his part4 ,severe censure is passed upon those professors who1 to further their own ambitious views1 take great pains with some of their pupils and neglect others4 ,this is called a crying injustice1 plundering the parents1 and so forth4 ,but the matter under consideration involves something far more serious than a pecuniary robbery4 ,we are all bound to preach the ,gospel4 ,now1 the ,gospel is remarkably plain4 ,when it was first announced1 or while the facts which it narrates were extant or palpable1 it must have been surpassingly so4 ,hence it is not surprising that the multitude upon whom our blessed ,lord had been pouring forth the torrents of ,his ,divine eloquence1 exclaimed3--,never man spake like this man6 ,further3 he who does not use plain speech does not speak ,french2 for the ,french language is naturally plain1 limpid1 and simple1 insomuch that obscure speech is not really ,french3 it is ,teutonic1 a jargon1 or a patois2 but it is by no means the language of the great ,frank people4 ,all our most celebrated and popular writers and orators had a clear and impressive style4 ,their weakest passages are those which are most obscure4 #afb ,voltaire possessed this perspicuity in a high degree2 and it was partly on that account that he acquired so much influence and popularized so many errors4 ,his speech was true ,french1 both in expression and conception2 but there was no heart in it4 ,he had perfectly mastered his own tongue1 and had equally learned to know the people with whom he had to deal4 ,he who does not use plain speech proves that he possesses neither a knowledge of men nor a knowledge of the ,gospel2 nor even of his primary duties4 ,but it will be said3--,is it not occasionally allowable that one should clothe his thoughts in language above the common1 in order thereby to raise religion and the preacher in the eyes of the people1 who admire what they do not understand8 ,i do not object1 if you believe that any good is to be done in that way1 and if you feel incapable of exciting interest by a simple exposition of the beauties of ,christianity4 ,but ,i tell you that the idea savors strongly of charlatanism1 and that ,christianity has no need of such an auxiliary4 ,whenever such a course is adopted1 it should be regarded as a tolerated exception2 but on this point1 also1 the exception has too frequently been taken for the rule4 ,nowadays1 the ,gospel is almost entirely overlooked1 there are so many other matters to be attended to4 ,we must needs discuss and argue1 and treat all kinds of philosophical and humanitarian questions4 #afc ,hence a great part of our time is taken up with talking philosophy to pious men and women1--and after what fashion8 ,the pulpit resounds with such words as these3 rationalism1 philosophism1 ,protestantism1 materialism1 pantheism1 socialism2 and it will be lucky if all this does not ultimately get mixed up with fetishism1 anthropormorphism1 ,vishnooism1 ,buddhism1 ,kantism1 ,hegelism1 etc4 ,no wonder that a woman of fashion once exclaimed1 in a fit of petulance3--,the ,lord deliver us from these preachers of isms6 ,i repeat1 it is all well enough that a few eminent men should treat such questions before select audiences2 but now every one seems bent on talking philosophy1 or on philosophizing about every thing4 ,we have the philosophy of theology1 the philosophy of the sacraments1 the philosophy of the liturgy2 and to what does it all tend8 ,to prove that ,god might have occupied a prominent place among the thinkers of these times3 which would be proving very little in ,god's favor4 ,there has1 indeed1 been quite a mania to make philosophy about every thing4 ,we have heard a treatise on the philosophy of the hand-grenade4 ,as a malicious wag once remarked3--,we shall soon have the philosophy of boots and shoes4 ,hence it is that the ignorance respecting religion everywhere prevailing1 among high and low1 even among those who constantly hear sermons1 is truly deplorable4 #afd ,society in general is much less instructed in matters of religion1 and even in philosophical questions1 than is usually supposed2 for religion is no longer taught4 ,we demonstrate1 argue1 philosophize1 but we do not evangelize4 444 ,there is so much ignorance among men1 otherwise well-informed1 on the subject of religion1 that they would certainly be deemed unfit for confirmation even in a country district4 ,neither is the community more proficient in philosophical than in religious questions2 and much less attention is bestowed upon them than is imagined4 ,we meet with certain systems in special books1 or among a particular class of persons1 and we may think that those systems are about to make a great stir in the world4 ,but do the masses trouble themselves about them8 ,for the most part1 even intelligent men hardly know what to say when referred to on such subjects4 ,some years ago1 a preacher delivered several discourses in one of the principal towns of ,france on the subject of rationalism4 ,he decried it in good set terms1 and was judged to have spoken very ably4 ,but the wife of a councillor in the ,court of ,appeal1 tired of hearing so much about rationalism without being able to make out what it was1 asked her husband1 who was a great admirer of the discourses1 to explain to her what rationalism meant4 #afe ,the husband stammered out a few words in reply1 but was obliged at last to say3--,sincerely1 ,i know nothing about it2 but inquire of ,m4 le ,cur1 for he ought to be able to give you the information4 ,instead of dragging all these systems into the pulpit1 it would have been far better to leave them immured in books and in the schools4 ,they are not dangerous in ,france while restricted to the formulae in which they were originally conceived1 because philosophical speculations are by no means popular amongst us4 ,the ,french mind is too precise and active to be taken up with such like dreams and crude systems4 ,a proof of this is afforded by the old ,chamber of ,deputies4 444 ,when a speaker was practical1 and entered into the gist of the question in debate1 there was profound silence2 but if he attempted lofty flights1 and soared into the region of philosophical speculations1 the attention of the hearers flagged1 and a great uproar ensued1 insomuch that the luckless orator was frequently driven to call upon the ,president to enforce silence and order2 who1 on his part1 reiterated that he could not interfere4 444 ,altogether such scenes presented a curious study4 ,generally speaking1 the ,frenchman is essentially a practical man4 #aff ,it is true that ever and anon we pretend to great depth2 but the malady is momentary and does not last long4 ,we are1 in fact1 like certain eminent men who affect a speciality to which they have no just claim1 and who consider themselves more honored by a compliment for an acquirement which they do not possess1 than by any which may be paid them for a talent for which they are really conspicuous4 ,in combating this tendency and these systems1 we must be on our guard against assailing them with hazy tirades or dull metaphysics4 ,we should drag them into the full light of the ,gospel1 and dissect them by translating them into plain ,french1 and then they will soon disappear altogether4 ,we must further bear in mind that the truth1 and especially evangelical truth1 is only rightly apprehended by the heart2 whereas there is a general disposition amongst us to be always reasoning4 ,are we not aware that bare reason is foolishly vain1 dishonest1 stern1 and sometimes pitiless1 and that to be constantly appealing to its authority is to lose our time1 and to engender the most deplorable ignorance in matters of religion8 ,the people are very fond of understanding what is addressed to them1 for it raises them in their own eyes1 and is1 moreover1 a real gratification to them4 ,therein they are active1 whereas when merely astounded they are simply passive2 to say nothing of the additional fact that they go away as ignorant as they came4 #afg ,a preacher who had been specially appointed to deliver a course of sermons in one of our towns1 was accosted while walking out by a poor woman1 upon whom his presence seemed to produce a lively impression of joy1 which was forthwith manifested in these words3--,how delighted ,i am to have met you6 ,i must tell you that ,i attend your sermons and understand them4 ,yes1 believe me1 even ,i understand your sermons4 ,every body says that you are a savant1 but for my part ,i don't believe it2 because1 whenever our rector or his curates preach1 ,i don't understand anything they say2 whereas when you preach ,i understand all4 ,if you were a savant1 an ignoramus like me would not be able to understand you4 444 ,we must retrace our steps1 then1 and return to a clear1 plain1 simple1 and vivifying exposition of the ,gospel2 for when religion is set forth in that way it is always attractive4 ,we may have to study much to attain it1 but when once ,christianity is rightly understood1 and we get thoroughly to know those with whom we have to do1 we shall find it possible to acquire an influence over their minds and hearts1 and easy to adapt our style to the intelligence of all4 ,you should see the working classes when addressed by one of our great preachers3 their countenances brighten1 their eyes glisten1 their bosoms glow4 ,they understand1 they are moved1 they applaud4 #afh ,to attain this plainness--speech being the vehicle of thought--words should never be used which are not generally understood4 ,there are terms in language which are common to the literary and non-literary2 only such should be adopted1 and all scientific1 philosophical1 technical1 theological1 and even devotional terminology should be discarded4 ,our age is not strong in spiritual matters3 they speak a language which it does not even care to learn1 for it does not feel the need of it4 ,use none of those set phrases1 those trite expressions1 which follow one after another in all sermonizers for the last half century4 ,they form a threadbare language which no longer conveys any meaning1 and which is quite unfit for the transmission of thought4 ,drive them from your pen and lips2 try to acquire a disgust1 a hatred for them3 they are more unintelligible than either ,latin or ,greek4 ,you would do well to abstain entirely from perusing such sermonizers1 because one unwittingly picks up their hackneyed phraseology2 which will recur to you when you are at a loss what else to say4 ,moreover1 they prevent you from being natural4 444 ,it is desirable1 doubtless1 that you should read ,bourdaloue for doctrine1 ,bossuet for touch and for the sublime1 ,massillon for style and form2 but let that suffice4 #afi ,then read the ,scriptures1 the ,fathers1 books of devotion1 and such other works as will make you acquainted with the wants and tendencies of the age1 and teach you how to combat its passions and its errors4 ,you must beware1 however1 of attempting to preach like ,bossuet1 ,bourdaloue1 or ,massillon4 ,they addressed courtiers1 and the elite of society of their times1 when men had more knowledge of religion than they have now4 ,besides1 if those eminent preachers lived in these days1 there is every reason to believe that they would not always speak now as they did then4 ,plain speech should be coupled with plain thought4 ,the thoughts which serve as starting points1 should always be simple1 natural1 and popular4 ,the people do not understand abstractions or the speculations of reason1 which are to them a strange language4 ,you should start from the known to lead them to the unknown4 ,that is the mathematical and logical method4 ,you must begin with sensible1 visible1 and above all with actual things1 in order to draw them gently toward spiritual and invisible things1 and to the life that is to come4 ,by adopting this course1 you may conduct them far onward1 and elevate them to great heights1 even to the sublimest aspirations of heart and soul4 444 ,as we have already said by way of example3 first exhibit religion to them as grand1 good1 and lovely1 then as true and divine2 winding up by fervently and energetically insisting on the necessity of submission to its moral law4 #agj ,it is an excellent plan to adopt the ordinary expressions in every-day use among the people1 and to apply them in a religious sense4 ,thus1 you might tell them to lay up in the ,savings ,bank of ,heaven1 to become members of the ,refuge ,fund of ,eternity1 and you will be understood4 ,monsigneur the ,archbishop of ,paris1 during some of his visitations1 furnishes us with a delightful model of this style of addressing the people3-- ,my children1 said he to the operatives who had assembled in a courtyard to see and hear him1 my children1 while attending to your worldly interests and material welfare--for the increase of which you have my sincere wishes--think also sometimes of that ,god who created us1 and in whom we live1 and move1 and have our being4 ,do you know what that man resembles who lives without ,god and without hope8 ,he is like a piece of wheel-work out of gear1 or a faulty machine1 which only mars what it ought to make1 wounds the hand which it should help1 and obliges the owner to break it up and throw it aside4 ,maintain1 then1 my beloved children1 the sentiments1 and practise the duties which belong to your dignity as men4 ,as workmen1 be industrious1 honest1 and temperate1 and your condition will be as happy as it can be here below1 remembering that rest will come after toil2 for we are all the day-laborers of a gracious ,god1 and life is but a day1 at the end of which we shall receive ample wages1 and be abundantly recompensed for all our pains4 #aga ,my children1 ,i am glad to see that my words affect you4 ,i regret being obliged to separate from you2 but before going ,i give you my benediction as an earnest of my paternal tenderness1 and of all the ,divine graces which ,i invoke upon you1 upon all who are dear to you1 upon your families and your labors4 ,we should begin1 then1 by exhibiting the material aspects of religion1 proceeding from thence to doctrines and duties1 without ceasing to be simple1 true1 and natural throughout4 ,this1 however1 is not the usual course pursued3 we start with metaphysics1 move onward through a redundant phraseology1 and end by making religion more unintelligible than ever4 ,but we must be fair3 preachers are not wholly to blame in this matter2 for if one tries to be simple1 true1 natural1 and evangelical1 they will tell him in certain districts that his style is not sufficiently high-flown1 that it does not do honor to the pulpit4 ,this actually occurred to one of our best preachers4 ,a member of the congregation came to him and said3-- ,you speak admirably2 but there is one drawback to your sermons1 they are too well understood4 ,so that the poor preacher1 in order to carry out the views of his adviser1 felt that he would be obliged to invoke the ,holy ,spirit to give him grace to say unintelligible things6 444 #agb ,what they wanted was something bombastic1 academical1 and highly seasoned2 and such is what is generally regarded as constituting a profound1 dignified1 and useful sermon4 ,look at our blessed ,lord3 surely ,he knew what real dignity was4 ,or1 let us study the ,gospel3 do we find there any of these fine airs1 this inflated and consequential tone8 ,it is simple1 clear1 and profound throughout4 ,we hear it occasionally said of certain individuals3--,he cannot adapt himself to the capacity of every one2 his knowledge is far too high and deep for that2 which means1 that the poor man indicated has heaped up in his brains1 pell-mell1 a mass of ill-digested ideas which he is unable to call forth with anything like order3 and that is all4 ,the truly profound man1 on the contrary1 is always clear4 ,he moves calmly through the highest regions of science1 and is as much at his ease there as if he were at home4 ,he sees things1 and he narrates them4 ,he turns his thoughts over and over again1 putting them into a thousand forms1 so as to be able to place them within reach of the feeblest intellects4 ,take ,m4 ,arago as an example of this wisdom and simplicity combined4 ,he succeeds in rendering the highest problems of astronomy intelligible1 and that in a few words1 even to very young children4 444 #agc ,herein1 also1 a wrong estimate has been formed of the ,french mind2 since even those who move in the highest circles of society much prefer what is simple1 clear1 and natural4 ,there is a well-known preacher in ,paris who gives familiar lectures--they are real sermons--even when appointed select season-preacher4 ,he has been preaching for the last twenty years without ever sparing himself1 readily responding to every call4 ,crowds of the elegant world1 notwithstanding1 press round his pulpit1 and there is always the same affluence of hearers4 ,the most eminent of preachers1 who adopted a different style of address1 would have been used-up long since4 ,a priest1 full of the ,spirit of ,god1 died some years ago in the flower of his age4 ,he was remarkable in the art of giving plain and simple lectures4 ,after his death1 these lectures1 in a mutilated form1 were collected and published by a female1 and obtained as wide a circulation as the most celebrated discourses4 ,plain speech pleases and benefits all2 whereas what is called sublime speech only amuses a few1 and benefits fewer still4 ,but one of the most effectual ways of making the truth understood by the people is by metaphor and simile4 ,they speak an analogous language themselves and readily understand it2 more especially when the comparisons are drawn from visible1 present1 or actual things1 and when they are striking or popular4 ,the ,sacred ,scriptures are full of expositions of this nature1 and the sermons of ,pre ,lejeune also contain a rich mine of the same class4 #agd ,o',connell did not overlook this means of influencing the people1 and he sometimes employed it in the most picturesque and characteristic fashion4 ,he was one day assailing the hereditary peerage4 ,what are the lords8 said he4 ,because the father was considered a good legislator1 therefore the son must be the same6 ,just as if a man who proposed to make you a coat should answer the question3 ,are you a tailor8 by saying that his father before him was4 ,is there any of you who would employ such an hereditary tailor8 ,this principle of common sense as regards the lords will become popular in time4 ,we want no hereditary legislators or tailors4 ,do you ask who will make this principle popular8 ,i reply1 the lords themselves1 who show themselves to be very bad tailors4 ,above all1 similes drawn from actual things make a still greater impression4 ,thus1 steam-engines and railroads are a common topic of conversation nowadays1 and form a rich source from whence to derive matter for stirring similes and for profitable instruction4 ,for example1 you wish to point out the necessity of mastering the passions1 and of restraining them by the laws of ,god4 ,the heart of man may be likened to a steam-engine of terrific power1 which we should mistrust1 and which requires to be under the most vigorous control4 #age ,look at the locomotive confined within its iron furrows4 ,it is a wonderful thing2 it approximates distances1 develops commerce1 and contributes to the welfare of man4 ,there is much in it to call forth gratitude to a beneficent ,providence4 ,but look at it when thrown off the line4 ,o ,god6 what do ,i hear and see8 ,i hear the most piercing and heart rending screams2 ,i see blood flowing1 limbs broken1 heads crushed2 and ,i turn from the spectacle1 and almost curse the inventor4 444 ,in like manner1 the heart of man1 when restrained by the law of ,god1 is worthy of all admiration2 it begets the noblest and sublimest virtues1 and scatters the blessings of a good example all around4 ,it brings joy and gladness to the domestic hearth1 rendering all those happy who love it2 and on seeing such results ,i am proud of being a man4 ,but once beyond the bounds of that law--thrown off the rails1 as it were--,o ,god6 what do ,i hear and see8 ,i hear bitter lamentations1 the harrowing cries of mothers1 wives1 and children4 ,i see vice1 and crime1 and shame mantling on the brow of those who indulge therein2 and at the sight of so much misery and degradation ,i am tempted to utter imprecations1 and almost blush that ,i am a man4 #agf ,finally1 another way of simplifying truth is by narrative1 of which the people are very fond4 ,they cast every thing1 even spiritual things1 into tales1 legends1 and facts1 which they take pleasure in learning to recite4 ,we should imitate them1 by putting a moral or dogmatic truth into action1 connecting it with a fact1 and then narrate it2 in short1 give it the form of a little drama4 ,when skilfully employed1 this method has a powerful effect upon the people1 and even upon educated men4 ,the ,paroles d'un ,croyant owed a part of the notoriety which it acquired to this feature4 ,the people must have facts1 and often nothing but facts4 ,in like manner the ,gospel narrates1 but seldom argues4 ,the ,holy ,scriptures are full of truths rendered palpable1 as it were1 by scenic representation4 ,thus the prophet ,isaiah exposes the folly of idolatry in these words3-- ,who hath formed a god or a graven image that is profitable for nothing8 444 ,he heweth him down cedars1 and taketh the cypress and the oak from among the trees of the forest2 he planteth an ash1 and the rain doth nourish it4 444 ,he burneth part thereof in the fire2 with part thereof he eateth flesh2 he eateth roast and is satisfied2 yea1 he warmeth himself1 and saith1 ,aha6 ,i am warm1 ,i have seen the fire4 ,and the residue thereof he maketh a god1 even his graven image2 he falleth down to it1 and worshippeth it1 and prayeth unto it1 and saith1 ,deliver me1 for thou art my god4 ,they have not known nor understood1 for he hath shut their eyes that they can not see1 and their hearts that they cannot understand4 #agg ,and none considereth in his heart1 neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say1 ,i have burned part of it in the fire2 yea1 also ,i have baked bread upon the coals thereof2 ,i have roasted flesh and eaten it2 and shall ,i make the residue thereof an abomination8 ,shall ,i fall down to the stock of a tree8 ,he feedeth on ashes2 a deceived heart hath turned him aside1 that he cannot deliver his soul1 nor say1 ,is there not a lie in my right hand8 ,pre ,lejeune1 apart from certain quaint and obsolete modes of expression1 has some charming things of this sort1 which must have produced a marvellous effect4 ,he is attempting to point out the heinousness of sin1 and to describe the punishment of ,adam and ,eve3-- ,picture to yourselves1 then1 the unfortunate pair1 staff in hand1 going forth from the earthly paradise1 carrying nothing with them but two skins1 given them out of compassion by the ,judge1 to cover their nakedness4 ,they found themselves in the fields as if they had fallen from the clouds1 exposed to the inclemency of the weather1 to wild beasts1 and to their own natural infirmities1 without shelter1 bed1 linen1 bread1 covering for their hands or feet2 without thread or needle1 knife or hammer1 destitute of any implements beyond their own feeble arms4 #agh ,they collect stones as best they may1 and cement them together with mud to form a low room1 and cover it with branches of trees1 which they are obliged to break off with their hands2 for they had neither saw nor hatchet4 ,they gather leaves for their couch1 and fruits and wheat for their subsistence2 but if they wanted any in years to come1 they must till the ground1 or rather they must dig it up with sticks1 having no other kind of spade4 ,think1 then1 of the woman1 and of the straits to which she must have been put on being seized with the pangs of labor1 which she had never before experienced1 and on being confined with her first child4 ,when she saw her firstborn ushered into the world in its natural state1 moaning and trembling with the cold1 and found herself utterly destitute of linen1 cradle1 cap1 bandages1 and all the other requisites for a new-born babe1--when she was called to bear all this1 how poignantly she must have recognized the enormity of her offence6 ,but when both parents saw their son ,abel1 a youth as beautiful as a star1 gentle as a lamb1 and devout as an angel1 stretched stark dead upon the ground1 wounded and weltering in his blood1 a ghastly spectacle to behold2 the bloom on his face gone1 his lips livid1 the light of his eyes utterly extinguished1--on first beholding all this1 they could have no idea that he was dead1 for they had never witnessed death2 but drawing near they say3--',abel1 what dost thou here8 ,who hath done this8' ,the dead are silent4 #agi ',my beloved ,abel1 why speakest thou not8 ,my son6 my soul6 ,i pray thee speak8 ,but ,abel has no more words1 no more voice1 no sight1 no motion4 ,decay soon sets in1 and ,abel becomes foul and corrupt1 and father and mother are obliged to cover him with earth4 ,when at length they learn that it was their sin which had given entrance to death1 what grief1 what tears1 what anger against the fatal tree1 against the tempter1 against themselves1 and against everything which had contributed to their disobedience1 must have agitated the wretched pair6 ,why did we pluck of that tree8 ,why did we not burn it rather than be tempted to gather its fruit8 ,why did we not quit the earthly paradise1 and flee to the end of the world to avoid the risk of so tremendous an evil8 ,why did ,i not pluck out my eyes rather than look upon that which ,i was forbidden to know8 ,ill-advised that ,i was1 why did ,i suffer myself to be amused with talking to the serpent8 ,liar1 thou didst assure me that we should be as gods1 and behold we are more humiliated and miserable than the beasts of the field6 ,in like manner1 when you are in hell1 you will regret1 and lament1 and resolve2 but it will then be too late4 ,you will be maddened with spite and rage against everything that has conspired to your condemnation4 ,alas6 why did ,i not cut out my tongue when preachers told me that my oaths would damn me8 ,why did ,i not smite to death this scandalous bosom of mine8 #ahj ,why did ,i not destroy the papers of that lawsuit which ,i prosecuted so unjustly1 and the schedule and bond of that poor man who could not pay the usurious interest which ,i charged him for money lent8 ,why did ,i not leave the town and province1 and bury myself in the wilds of ,canada1 rather than remain where there was an occasion of my falling into sin8 ,in concluding1 ,i must be permitted to quote a more recent example1 premising that ,i only adduce it as a model of familiar conversation with the working classes4 ,m4 l',abb ,ledreuil1 in an address to operatives1 is endeavoring to convince them that they have no reason to envy the rich1 since the working man has his share of joy and happiness as well as they4 ,he expresses himself somewhat as follows1 though ,i must apologize for abridging1 and therefore for disfiguring his lecture3-- ,my friends1 do not envy the rich1 and don't believe them happy because they have nothing to do4 ,the rich must work1 after their fashion1 under pain of being unhappy and of leading a miserable existence4 ,hence it is that1 for the most part1 they condemn themselves to work as you do4 444 ,and do you know how one of this class passes his life who does not work8 ,i will tell you3 he thinks everything a bore1 and he yawns4 #aha ,in the morning1 he no sooner begins to dress than he stops short4 ,he is so tired6 ,he stretches his limbs1 and--he yawns4 ,he next sets about his toilet1 which is a very formidable affair to him2 enters into his dressing-room quite a perfumery shop in its way--looks around him1 and then--he yawns4 ,breakfast-time comes4 ,he goes to the breakfast-room1 surveys the different dishes1 knows not which to choose1 for the poor man is not hungry1 and--he yawns4 ,after breakfast1 he takes up a paper and skims over it4 ,pugh6 politics are so uninteresting4 ,then more than ever--he yawns4 ,toward noon1 or one o'clock1 he must go out1 and asks himself3 ,where shall ,i go to-day8 ,shall ,i go to ,madame ,so-and-so8 ,no1 she is at the waters4 ,i will go to ,mr4 ,so-and-so4 ,by the way1 he is in the country2 and then--he yawns4 ,for something better to do1 he seeks the promenade1 where he meets a friend of his own stamp4 ,they shake the tips of each other's fingers1 not to hurt their hands1 touch the brims of their hats1 and then together1 one more than the other1--they yawn4 ,he next takes a chair1 adjusts his feet on the bars1 places himself at his ease1 thinks of nothing1 looks vacantly into the air1 or bites the head of his cane1 and then--he yawns4 #ahb ,in the evening he goes to the theatre1 extends himself at full length in his box1 gazes around him1 listens1 and then--he yawns4 ,he returns home very late4 ,he is quite worn out and needs sleep1 and ends the day as he began it--he yawns4 ,not so the laborer3 he rises early1 goes to his work betimes1 and he sings or whistles4 ,the breakfast-hour arrives4 ,he loses no time in examining which dish he will partake of1 for there is only one4 ,he does not yawn over it1 but eats with a good appetite1 and in the same cheery mood he passes the remainder of the day4 ,my friends1 don't be discontented with your lot4 ,don't say3--',if ,i were rich ,i would take my ease2 for work is a blessing4 ,don't envy the rich1 but be thankful for what ,god has given you4 ,the honest and industrious workman1 who has a good heart1 and loves virtue1 is the spoilt child of ,providence4 #ahc ,chapter ,,vi4 ,the ,sermon ,should ,be ,short4 ,the ,discourses of the ,fathers were short4 ,the ,french ,mind is quick to apprehend4 ,sermons are generally too long4 ,sermons of ,ten1 ,seven1 and of ,five ,minutes4 ,long sermons bore us1 ,footnote #af says ,m4 de ,cormenin2 and when a ,frenchman is bored1 he leaves the place and goes away4 ,if he cannot so retire1 he remains and talks4 ,if he cannot talk1 he yawns and falls asleep4 ,anyhow1 he declares that he will not come again4 444 ,footnote #af3 ,nous ennuient4 ,it is useless to attempt giving the full force of the ,french ennui in any one ,english word4 ,that above adopted appears to me the nearest approach to it which our language affords2 still it comes far short of the expressive original4 ,translator4 ,the sermon should be short4 ,at all events1 it must not bore4 ,bore or ennui is fatal in ,france1 and is never pardoned4 ,it has been said1 there are two things which are not permitted in ,france1 namely1 to ridicule and to bore4 #ahd ,unhappily the former is allowed nowadays1 for there are many who use it1 and many who abuse it2 but on the article of bore society is still inflexible and implacable4 ,the man who is deemed a bore is shunned and detested4 ,we1 the clergy1 must beware of exciting this antipathy on the score of religion2 the more so1 because most minds secrete a stock of the sentiment1 which is readily called forth when they are brought in contact with any thing serious4 ,on the other hand1 why preach so long8 ,i know not how we have allowed ourselves to be led into these lengthy discourses4 ,what is the good of it8 ,what is the object8 ,we speak in ,god's name4 ,now1 power and majesty are always chary of words2 yet such words are not the less efficacious for being few4 ,the instructions of our blessed ,lord1 who is the ,divine ,master of us all1 were uniformly short4 ,even the ,sermon on the ,mount1 which has revolutionized the world1 does not appear to have lasted more than half an hour4 ,the homilies of the ,fathers also were short1 and ,saint ,ambrose says3--,nec nimium prolixus sit sermo ne fastidium pariat2 semihorae tempus communiter non excedat4 ,saint ,franois de ,sales1 too1 recommends short sermons1 and remarks that excessive length was the general fault in the preachers of his time4 ,he says3--,the good ,saint ,franois1 in his rules to the preachers of his ,order1 directs that their sermons should be short4 #ahe ,believe me1 and ,i speak from experience1 the more you say1 the less will the hearers retain2 the less you say1 the more they will profit4 ,by dint of burdening their memory1 you will overwhelm it2 just as a lamp is extinguished by feeding it with too much oil1 and plants are choked by immoderate irrigation4 ,when a sermon is too long1 the end erases the middle from the memory1 and the middle the beginning4 ,even mediocre preachers are acceptable1 provided their discourses are short2 whereas even the best preachers are a burden when they speak too long4 ,is not long preaching very much like an attempt to surpass these men1 who were so highly imbued with the spirit of ,christianity8 ,on the other hand1 we have to deal with the most intelligent1 keen1 and sensible people in the world4 ,they understand a thing when only half stated1 and very often divine it4 ,you hardly speak before they are moved to accept or to reject2 and yet we overcharge them with long and heavy dissertations4 ,to act in this way1 is to evince an utter unacquaintance with one's people1 and to display our own ignorance1 in spite of all the learning which we may possess4 ,moreover1 it tends to excite antipathy4 #ahf ,the ,frenchman does not care to be treated like a ,german3 he does not wish to be told every thing1 thereby depriving him of the pleasure of working out the truth for himself4 ,open the vein1 lance his imagination and feelings1 let them flow on the road to truth1 and he will pursue it alone2 perchance more quickly and further than you4 ,nothing impairs intelligence1 sentiment1 and the effusion of thought so much as redundancy of words and even of ideas4 ,a sharp working man1 who had been listening to a sermon1 was once asked-- ,what did the preacher say8 ,what do you remember of his sermon8 ,nothing at all4 ,how's that8 ,surely you heard him8 ,perfectly4 ,how is it1 then1 that you did not understand any thing8 ,ah1 replied he1 in an original language1 which only the people can command1 because all he had to say was hid behind a mass of words4 ,there is too much reminiscence of our philosophical and scholastic studies in our sermons4 ,it often appears as if we were speaking to a meeting of young bachelors in theology4 ,we seem to believe--and the notion is generally taken for granted--that we have not adequately developed an idea unless we discuss it for an hour or for three-quarters of an hour at the least4 #ahg ,thus the audience is overwhelmed under the weight of a ponderous erudition4 ,it is not sufficient that they should have one proof set before them1 they must submit to any conceivable number on the same subject4 ,or1 to use ,m4 de ,cormenin's language1 preachers keep on using the flat side of their sword with weak proofs1 after they have given a decisive thrust with the weapon's point4 ,what has been said a thousand times before is repeated1 and what everybody knows1 or what nobody needs to know1 is dilated upon to no purpose4 ,a man must be endowed with extraordinary genius who can bring forcible thoughts to bear upon one and the same subject for the space of a whole hour4 ,but this consideration does not appear to occasion the least embarrassment4 ,the vacuities of thought are filled up with words1 and that is called developing an idea4 ,for the most part1 we are all convinced that others speak too long1 but we are beguiled by the world's flattery4 ,we preach1 and people are delighted1 and send intimations to us that we have acquitted ourselves to admiration2 that they would gladly have listened to us much longer1 and so forth4 #ahh ,but we know better than any one else that the world does not always speak the truth1 and that we ourselves have frequently denounced its want of sincerity4 ,how comes it1 then1 that we are deluded by such fine speeches8 ,in flattering us1 the world simply plies its trade2 but it is our duty not to give heed to its blandishments4 ,moreover1 there prevails at present a strong and universal conviction that1 generally speaking1 our sermons are too long4 ,ask whom you please1 enemies and friends1 ask even the most fervent ,christians--thanks be to ,god there are intelligent men1 and men renowned for their charity among the sincerely religious--ask them1 ,i say1 and they will tell you that our sermons and services are too long4 ,and if pious and intelligent men are of that opinion1 what must the masses think8 ,undoubtedly1 the intention is praiseworthy4 444 ,we aim at securing a greater good by lengthening out the services and sermon4 ,still1 it is equally certain that in so doing we discard both prudence and charity4 ,it resembles the ordinary treatment of wives1 who insist on giving their sick husbands good strong broth1 on the plea that it will do them more good than all the chemist's medicines4 ,the intention is unquestionably a kind one2 but it is no less true that the regimen1 instead of benefiting the patients1 is most likely to kill them outright4 ,alas6 the same result has followed a similar injudicious treatment of men's souls4 #ahi ,a man of high intellectual attainments1 recently converted1 declared that the manner in which he was bored by sermons during his youth1 had kept him from listening to them for twenty years4 ,we complain1 and with reason1 that the masses have ceased to frequent the church1 and that sermons nowadays are not popular4 ,but do not we assist in driving them away8 ,the services are longer now than they were in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries1 when there was more faith abroad among the people generally4 ,religion would most probably be greatly promoted if the sermon and the services also were abridged4 ,this might readily be affected as regards the latter4 ,pitch your music out of the window1 or rather out of the door1 as the former might not be considered parliamentary4 ,or1 take care at least that the polkas with which your organist embellishes the ,magnificat shall not occupy more than a quarter of an hour4 ,with respect to the sermons1 they might easily be shortened without injuring them in the least4 ,lop off all commonplace considerations from the exordium1 all useless discussions from the body of the discourse1 and all vague phrases from the peroration4 ,prune away all redundant words1 all parasitical epithets1 using only those that triple the force of the substantive4 ,be chary of words and phrases2 economize them as a miser does his crown-pieces4 #aij ,the people affect those thoughts which are formulated in a single word4 ,they like such expressions as the following3--vive6 444 bas6 444 mort6 444 vengeance6 444 libert6 444 justice6 ,these simple words often move men more than a long discourse4 ,in this respect1 however1 there has been a marked improvement in many of our churches4 ,there are parishes in ,paris where a rule prevails that no one shall preach more than forty minutes4 ,in some popular meetings1 preachers are not allowed to speak beyond fifteen minutes1 and it is there that the most good is done4 ,nowadays1 brevity is one of the first conditions of success1 and of promoting the welfare of souls4 ,the preacher who was most frequented at ,paris during the ,lenten season this year1 hardly ever exceeded half-an-hour4 ,there are1 undoubtedly1 many other rules to be observed1 but brevity will not injuriously affect any of them4 ,the people are easily impressed3 they like to be moved2 but nothing passes away so quickly as an emotion4 ,in order to bring them back to the church1 we must have sermons of ten1 seven1 and even of five minutes duration4 ,the ,mass and the sermon together should not exceed half-an-hour4 #aia ,this plan has been attempted4 ,the experiment was made1 and produced the most happy and unexpected results4 ,intelligent and zealous pastors1 distressed at seeing that the greater part of their flock scarcely ever heard the word of ,god or went to church1 established a low ,mass1 announced as specially designed for the men1 with a lecture of from ten to five minutes duration every ,sunday4 444 ,crowds flocked to the church1 which was sometimes found too small to hold them4 ,nor was this all3 many attended high ,mass also1 and even went to the confessional2 which they had not done1 some for twenty1 some for thirty1 and some for forty years4 ,this success was obtained in irreligious as well as religious districts1 and under the most unfavorable circumstances2 even in populous manufacturing towns4 ,and the same plan is practicable everywhere4 ,frequently1 nothing more is required than a man to take the initiative with a right good will1 in order to attract crowds to the church and to religion4 ,but it will be objected3 ,what can be said in ten or seven minutes8 ,much1 much more than is generally thought1 when due preparation is made1 when we have a good knowledge of mankind1 and are well versed in religious matters4 444 ,have not a few words often sufficed to revolutionize multitudes1 and to produce an immense impression8 #aib ,the harangues of ,napoleon only lasted a few minutes1 yet they electrified whole armies4 ,the speech at ,bourdeaux did not exceed a quarter of an hour1 and yet it resounded throughout the world4 ,had it been longer1 it would have been less effective4 ,in fifteen weeks1 with a sermon of seven minutes every ,sunday1 one might give a complete course of religious instruction1 if the sermons were well digested beforehand4 ,footnote #ag ,footnote #ag3 ,we have chosen the seven minutes sermon1 because experience has taught us that it attracts the greatest numbers4 ,if1 then1 you wish to be successful1 in the first place fix the length of your sermon1 and never go beyond the time2 be inflexible on that score4 ,should you exceed it1 apologize to your audience for so doing1 and prove in the pulpit of truth that you can be faithful to your word4 ,in your course of instruction1 do not follow the old method which commences with metaphysical questions and principles2 but adhere to the plan which we have indicated3 start from the known to the unknown4 444 ,in the first place1 disconnect religion from all prejudices and passions1 and from every thing uncongenial4 ,discard all objections and antagonisms4 ,exhibit it as good and lovely1 then true1 then divine1 then as obligatory1 proceeding onward from thence to ,god's commandments and to the sacraments4 ,if you apprehend that the term ,god's commandments does not sufficiently strike your hearers1 you may call them the duties of an upright man4 #aic ,when about to compose your sermon1 study your subject thoroughly1 grasp the salient points1 and then write4 444 ,but do not stop there2 begin afresh4 ,supposing that you have written four pages1 reduce them to two1 taking care that all the strong thoughts and sentiments remain4 444 ,use those terms which belong to a single thought1 those expressions which imprint themselves--or1 as the ,scripture says1 engrave the truth as with a pen of steel--on the hearts of men1 and which scatter it abroad full of life and exultation4 ,nothing is so profitable as this exercise3 it cultivates and supplies the intellect1 gives us a deeper insight into ,christianity and mankind1 and it teaches us how to think1 and how to write4 444 ,during the reading of the ,gospel1 ascend the pulpit and be quite ready4 ,place your watch by your side and begin thus3--,last ,sunday we said so and so4 ,to-day we continue4 444 ,then enter fully into your subject1 enlightening the minds of your hearers or stirring up their hearts as may be suitable1 during the discourse4 ,when the allotted time arrives1 stop short and conclude4 ,but do speak more at length 444 you are wrong in being so brief 444 you only tantalize your audience 444 you deprive them of a real pleasure4 ,expostulations like these will pour in upon you2 but don't listen to them3 be inflexible1 for those who urge them are enemies without knowing it4 #aid ,be more rigid than ever in observing the rule which you have prescribed for yourself4 ,then your sermon will be talked of--it will be a phenomenon--every body will come to see a sermon of seven minutes duration4 ,the people will come2 the rich will follow4 ,faith will bring the one1 and curiosity will attract the other1 and thus the ,divine word will have freer course and be glorified4 444 ,if the men do not come1 appeal to the women1 and ask them to help you4 ,if you want to attract the women1 announce that you intend preaching specially for the men4 ,you will find this method infallible2 the men will follow4 ,moreover1 go yourself and find them out3 visit the workshops1 factories1 and wharves4 ,be particularly attentive to those who are shabbily dressed and ill-favored4 ,on taking your departure1 tell them with a smile that ,french politeness--in which you feel quite sure they are not deficient--demands that visits received should be returned3 that you will dispense with their coming to you personally1 but will expect to see them at the seven minutes sermon4 ,the result will not disappoint you4 #aie ,when you have many male hearers1 you should reserve a space for them4 ,the women will complain that thereby they are placed further away2 but you must appease them with a compliment4 ,tell them that you know their charity1 and are persuaded that they would not certainly wish to hinder the word of ,god from being heard by those who need it most4 ,when you have well cultivated your congregation1 when a strong current of sympathy and charity has set in from them to you and from you to them1 when a number of conversions shall have been made1 then you may think of sending some of them to high ,mass and to ,vespers4 ,don't fail to felicitate such3--,you have come hither to hear me4 ,so far well1 and ,i am greatly rejoiced at it4 ,still you may do something better3 you may attend high ,mass1 adding your reasons1 and then conclude somewhat in this style3--,now1 ,i hope that those who are rightly disposed will attend high ,mass4 ,i only want the badly disposed1 poor downright sinners1 at my sermons4 ,you will be obeyed by some1 and you will thereby do much toward repopularizing religion2 and when those who are not converted fall sick they will say3--,send for the man who preaches the seven minutes sermon2 ,i don't want any other4 ,thus ,god will be blessed and glorified4 444 ,here1 then1 you have a very simple and cheap means of restoring the people to religion4 ,it may be put into practice everywhere3 in great cities1 in small towns1 and even in hamlets4 ,the subject is one for serious reflection4 #aif ,even in our most religiously disposed towns1 hardly a third of the inhabitants habitually hear the word of ,god4 ,elsewhere1 matters are still worse2 and yet all are sheep of the same ,divine pastor1 all have a soul to save4 ,moreover1 according to all theologians1 every parish priest of a cure is required1 sub gravi1 to preach at low ,mass1 whenever the faithful generally do not attend high ,mass4 ,hence1 by pursuing the course above indicated1 we may not only save others but shall also exonerate ourselves4 #aig ,chapter ,,vii4 ,tact and ,kindliness4 ,we should assume that our ,hearers are what we wish them to be4 ,reproaches to be avoided4 ,how to address ,unbelievers4 ,special ,precautions to be taken in small ,towns and rural ,districts4 ,how to treat ,men during times of public ,commotion4 ,forbearance due to the ,church for being obliged to receive ,money from the ,faithful4 ,in ,france1 it is not enough to say good things1 they must also be well said4 ,this remark applies to all1 but more especially to him who speaks in behalf of the ,gospel2 for he is bound to follow the ,divine injunction3--,be ye wise as serpents1 and harmless as doves2 which ,i should prefer to see carried out as commented upon by ,st4 ,franois de ,sales3--,ah6 my dear ,philothea1 ,i would give a hundred serpents for one dove4 ,it is especially in this respect that we should endeavor to reduce to practice what has already been advanced on the importance of becoming thoroughly acquainted with the people1 and the necessity of loving them in order to our being qualified to address them to good purpose4 #aih ,we must make ourselves ,sisters of ,charity to the souls of men2 having all their pliancy and kindness1 so as to be capable of conforming ourselves to those light1 weak1 vain1 and fickle characters--to say nothing of the suspicious and malevolent--with whom we may have to deal4 ,our age is arrayed in prejudices from head to foot1 and no sooner is one destroyed than another is ready to take its place4 ,for the most part1 a great mistake is made as regards this necessity of exercising tact in our intercourse with the people4 ,it is remarked3--,we have to do with little people1 such circumspection is therefore uncalled for4 ,why should we give ourselves so much trouble on their account8 ,very true2 but little people are often very susceptible people everywhere2 not among the laity only1 but among the clergy likewise4 ,the people have certain formalities1 courtesies1 and politenesses of their own which we should learn to respect1 for when once outraged1 they are more difficult to be appeased than the educated and genteel classes4 ,complaints are often made of our congregations2 but have they not sometimes cause on their part to complain of their preachers8 444 ,are these latter always prudent and conciliatory in their mode of procedure8 ,and yet success depends on this mixture of tact and kindliness4 #aii ,in our sermons1 we should start with assuming that the people are what we wish them to be2 thereby raising them in their own estimation1 and laying hold of them by their better part4 444 ,you will then feel yourself quite at ease1 and in spite of any desire on the part of your hearers to oppose you1 they will be restrained from doing so by an exquisite sentiment of respect4 ,a religieux who was engaged on a mission in a rural district1 had announced that a particular gallery1 which had previously been occupied by the men1 would in future be reserved for the ladies forming the choir4 ,now1 the men were much attached to the said gallery1 and were determined to keep it4 ,accordingly1 the day after1 long before the sermon1 they installed themselves in it as usual4 ,on ascending the pulpit1 the preacher noticed that his directions had not been attended to4 ,what would he do8 ,command or scold8 ,a vulgar man might have done so under the circumstances1 but he got over the difficulty by a compliment4 ,turning toward the occupants of the gallery1 he addressed them in a kindly tone as follows3--,my dear friends1 you are aware that the gallery was set apart for the ladies4 ,now1 ,french politeness calls upon us always to give place to the ladies1 and not to deprive them of it4 ,from what ,i already know of you1 ,i feel persuaded that you will not be behindhand in that respect4 444 ,we have put our foot into it1 whispered the men one to another2 and can hold out no longer4 #bjj ,ah6 the crafty fellow1 he has outwitted us1 and we must go4 ,the gallery was evacuated forthwith and made over to the ladies2 to the satisfaction of all1 even of those who had been worsted in the affair4 ,that is the way to deal with the people4 ,the preacher might have asserted his absolute authority on the occasion2 but1 like a wise man1 he preferred the exercise of prudence and charity4 ,we repeat it3 the most effectual way of communicating the truth to the people1 of putting them in the right way1 and of reforming them1 is not to be chary of complimenting them when they have deserved it ever so little2 and to show that we have confidence in them4 ,this course tends to gladden their souls2 disposes them to what is good1 exalts1 elates them4 ,it should never be neglected1 for it is capable of transforming the most obstinate characters4 ,subsequent to the revolution of #ahdh1 an association of unemployed operatives was formed at the church of the ,carmelites2 amongst whom was a number of sharpers1 makers of barricades1 and workmen always on the look-out for work--men clothed in rags and in a state of complete destitution4 ,there were about twelve hundred of them4 ,a meal was first served out to them1 which was followed by a lecture4 #bja ,the priests who addressed them soon acquired an irresistible ascendency over this formidable body2 so much so that certain parties took umbrage at it1 as a dangerous power to be wielded by the clergy1 and accordingly hired a set of roughs to hiss and otherwise disturb the congregation4 ,the preacher1 who was apprised of this on entering the pulpit1 did not manifest the least discomposure4 ,before beginning the sermon1 however1 he looked round upon the sinister figures and tattered habiliments of his hearers with a benevolent countenance1 and then said in a sonorous voice3--,what a pleasant meeting this is1 my friends6 ,what an excellent audience6 what silence6 what attention6 ,therein ,i recognize the people4 444 ,pre ,lacordaire preaches at ,notre-,dame to the noble and wealthy1 and it is found necessary to station constables there to maintain order4 444 ,none but men of the people are here1 and yet we have no constables amongst us4 ,we do not want them1 for the people are their own police2 the people are discreet4 444 ,he then delivered his sermon1 which was listened to amidst the most profound silence4 ,never was an audience of nuns more attentive than those men2 their deportment was admirable4 ,the roughs took the hint1 saw that their game was up1 and that those who had engaged them would lose their money4 ,they accordingly moved toward the door4 #bjb ,when the sermon was over1 however1 a few hisses were attempted2 but fifty stalwart arms instantly seized the intruders1 and administered a castigation to them which was by no means fraternal4 ,by laying hold of men in this manner we may lead them onward a great way on the road to improvement4 444 ,one should be very cautious not to assume that his hearers are wicked1 impious1 or unbelieving4 ,the people do not relish such imputations3 they don't like reproaches2 neither do you1 dear reader4 ,they rarely do any good1 and often much harm4 ,if it is deemed desirable to censure a fault1 a vice1 or a scandal1 such delinquencies may be treated of in a general way1 and energetically denounced4 ,in applying the lesson to your hearers1 you might say in a subdued tone--,malpractices like these are committed elsewhere4 ,it is even stated that you are not wholly free from them2 but perhaps it is only the malevolent who say this of you4 ,however1 if you have really been guilty of them1 ,i am sure you will abandon them in future4 ,it is always a duty to prove that the malevolent are in the wrong4 ,you may further add3--,i will do you this justice1 that whenever ,i have given you any advice1 ,i have always had the satisfaction of finding that some at least have profited by it4 #bjc ,it shows a want of charity as well as tact--and it is1 moreover1 deplorably vulgar--to address a congregation in such a style as the following3--,all my preaching1 and all the trouble which ,i take in your behalf are in vain1 for you are not a whit better4 ,faith is departing from ,france4 444 ,i must abandon you to your fate4 ,no matter how ,i preach1 none the more come to the sermons4 444 ,i say this mode of address is as vulgar and contemptible as it is derogatory to the minister of the ,gospel4 ,saint ,john ,chrysostom1 as already remarked1 did not talk in that style3--,if you reject my words1 said he1 ,i shall not shake off the dust of my feet against you4 ,not that herein ,i would disobey the ,saviour2 but because the love which ,he has given me for you prevents my doing so4 444 ,if sermons are not attended1 whose fault is it8 ,it is our duty to look into that question4 ,at all events1 if only a few come it is not certainly their fault1 and therefore they should be spared all reproaches2 otherwise some captious hearer--and such are to be met with everywhere--may slip into a corner of the pulpit1 and say3--,take care1 ,mr4 ,preacher2 you are speaking ill of the absent1 and you know better than ,i do that such a proceeding is improper4 444 #bjd ,if your audience is scanty1 ,i can quite fancy that you would like to comment upon it1 and also to express a little annoyance at the fact2 but you may do something better4 ,begin by congratulating those who are present1 thank them heartily for coming to listen to you1 and tell them afterward1 in an affectionate manner1 that it would be a praiseworthy act if they could induce one or two of their comrades to accompany them to the next meeting4 ,instead of uttering reproaches against the erring absentees1 which your hearers might report to them1 charge the latter to communicate words of kindness to them3-- ,tell those dear brethren who do not attend the lectures1 that we bear them no ill-will2 that we love all of them2 that they too are our children2 and that we never cease praying for them4 ,thereby all will be edified1 and ,god will be less offended4 444 ,further1 it is highly imprudent to say to one's audience3--,i have preached to you a long time1 and yet you are still the same3 ,i see no improvement in you4 ,on the contrary1 evil increases every year4 ,i wash my hands of you2 you will be lost3 you will be damned4 444 ,now1 the people do not like to be damned1 or to be discouraged4 ,besides1 such a course is highly dangerous4 444 ,might they not say3--,as it seems that we are damned already1 let us at least enjoy life while it lasts4 ,moreover1 may there not still be a portion for the pastor1 even from among the erring flock8 ,a pastor once recapitulated in the pulpit the results of his ministrations in this language3--,my time is thrown away upon you1 for you become more and more ungodly4 #bje ,the first year of my cure there were only five persons who did not communicate at ,easter4 ,the second year there were eleven4 ,the third year there were thirty4 ,and the number has gone on increasing1 so that at present there are eighty non-communicants4 ,after ,mass1 a mischievous peasant approached the speaker1 and said1 in a low voice3--,monsieur le ,cur1 take my advice1 and don't make so much stir about this matter4 ,according to your own testimony1 we were in a satisfactory condition when you took charge of us1 so that we must have deteriorated under your reign4 ,neither should such commonplace and infelicitous remarks as the following be made3--,faith is departing from among men4 444 ,hell is let loose on earth2 444 everybody is abandoning religion2 444 for observations like these only tend to induce others to abandon it2 and the people will hardly feel disposed to practise a religion which the rest of the world is alleged to be giving up4 ,they would rather prefer being lost with the multitude4 ,on the contrary1 you should say something to this effect1--,go to6 faith is not extinct1 for there are many godly men to be found in all ranks of society4 #bjf ,you would be convinced of this if you only knew what takes place in our large towns1 where numbers of the young1 the rich1 and the learned belonging to the higher classes1 and others occupying distinguished positions1 may be seen devoutly frequenting the services of the church1 partaking of the holy communion1 visiting the poor1 and practising confession with the docility of little children4 ,moreover1 what exemplary women there are amongst us6 444 ,you might then add3--,brethren1 we should strive to imitate such men1 and should not allow ourselves to be outdone by them4 ,representations like these will induce the people to think more highly of religion1 and will make it more attractive to them4 ,we have already discussed the most appropriate method of warning the people against the bad example and pernicious talk of those who affect infidelity2 but a few additional remarks may not be out of place here4 ,in general1 we should not evince any fear of such antagonism1 nor attach much importance to it4 ,we should rather cause the impression to be produced that ,god having bestowed mind and talent upon mankind1 is a proof that ,he can be in no dread of those endowments4 ,above all1 we should lay great stress on such reflections as these3--that those who call themselves unbelievers are1 in fact1 nothing of the kind1 and are better than their words would imply2 although1 perchance1 they might not be greatly disappointed if they could attain to infidelity2 that they have as good reason for fearing hell as others have of being in dread of the police2 and that by dint of repeating that they are unbelievers1 they have been led to imagine that they are so in reality4 #bjg ,you might liken them to some of those old soldiers of the empire1 who1 from having travelled a good deal in foreign countries1 are generally allowed the license of embellishing and even of inventing a little4 ,as everybody knows1 they make free use of the privilege1 and concoct a number of tales wherein they themselves are made to play a prominent part4 ,these they repeat incessantly1 until at length they succeed in persuading themselves that such stories are true1 and that the incidents actually occurred as they have narrated them4 444 ,it is the same with those who wish to pass themselves off as unbelievers4 ,hence we should not allow ourselves to be moved by their words2 for at heart they are better men and nearer to ,god than is thought1 and you should insist on the duty of praying for them4 ,if you pursue this course1 none will be hurt or offended1 and the wives1 daughters1 or mothers of these pretended unbelievers will return home from your sermons happier at the thought that all hope for those whom they love is not wholly lost4 #bjh ,the sterner the truths which you have to set forth1 the more should tact and kindliness be brought into play1 that the souls of the hearers be not depressed4 ,this1 however1 is a very common error4 ,we are terrible in the pulpit2 we thunder and storm there2 whereas in the confessional we are gentle and paternal4 ,that was all well enough in times of faith2 but an entirely different course is called for nowadays1 otherwise you will estrange the hearts of your people4 ,be paternal in the pulpit1 be paternal in the confessional as well2 but at the same time uncompromising in your principles4 ,there are many things which terrify at a distance1 but which1 nevertheless1 are readily assented to in the familiar intercourse of the confessional4 ,we sometimes hear such language as this1 uttered in a tone of great self-conceit1 after a long tirade or vehement declamation3--,i have driven them into a corner4 ,i have now fairly crushed them4 ,you have crushed them1 have you8 ,so much the worse1 for in so doing you have altogether misapprehended your duty4 ,god has not called you to crush men1 but to raise and save them4 ,moreover1 there is much cause to fear that those whom you have crushed will not run the less eagerly in the way of evil4 ,hence all strong admonitions should be tempered with such deprecations as these3--,brethren1 why am ,i constrained to tell you these stern truths8 ,you will pardon me for doing so1 because it is my duty4 ,it pains me as much as it does you to have to say them4 #bji ,or1 something to this effect3--,if ,i wished to pain you1 or if it was not rather my heart's desire to spare you1 or if ,i did not love you1 ,i might inflict on you the chastisement of irony and defeat2 ,i might say this or that1 and speak truly and justly4 ,but no2 ,i leave you to your own consciences1 which will tell you of your faults and failings more forcibly than ,i can4 ,for my part1 ,i prefer holding out a hand to you1 ,i prefer to pity1 to save you4 444 ,we must become the servants of all4 444 ,that was the course pursued by ,saint ,john ,chrysostom4 ,a man1 says he1 who is only bound to serve one master1 and to submit to one opinion only1 may discharge his duty without trouble2 but ,i have an infinity of masters1 being called to serve an immense people who hold many different views4 ,not that ,i bear this servitude with any sort of impatience1 nor that by the present discourse ,i would defend myself against the authority which you exercise over me in the capacity of masters4 ,god forbid that ,i should entertain such a thought6 ,on the contrary1 nothing is so glorious to me as this servitude of love4 ,the same feelings ought to pervade the heart of every ,christian priest1 who should be able to say as ,st4 ,paul did to the ,corinthians3--,out of much affliction and anguish of heart1 ,i wrote unto you with many tears2 not that ye should be grieved1 but that ye might know the love which ,i have more abundantly unto you4 #baj ,you become aware1 for instance1 of a prevailing disposition to ill-will1 and have cause to apprehend the ridicule of certain parties4 ,under these circumstances1 throw yourself into the hands of your audience2 make them your judge1 and rest assured you will be treated with indulgence4 ,as ,saint ,augustine has said3--,if you fear ,god1 cast yourself into ,his arms1 and then ,his hands cannot strike you4 ,in like manner1 if you fear the wit and ridicule of the ,french people1 throw yourself into their hearts1 and then the sallies of their tongues will fail to reach you4 ,there are certain thoughts and expressions which have a great hold on the ,french mind1 such as progress1 liberty1 enlightenment4 ,these you should never meddle with unless absolutely obliged4 ,we ought to respect even the illusions of our brethren1 when they do nobody any harm4 ,when we are forced to combat them1 it should be done with courtesy1 with gentle irony1 or with profound ability4 ,we1 too1 may speak of enlightenment1 of progress1 and of liberty1 and point out that they can only be effectually attained through the instrumentality of religion4 444 ,matters have undoubtedly improved on this score2 proving that1 if we correct our own errors1 the effect will not be lost upon others4 ,we are now far removed from the time when nothing but the future was talked of1 the philosophy of the future1 the happiness of the future1 when it used to be said that the time was big with the future1 big with a new philosophy2 nay1 even with a new religion2 whereas1 in truth1 it was big with nothing but misery1 as the event fully proved4 444 #baa ,we must not assail these delusions directly1 nor imitate the bold preacher who is reported to have said--,so we are supposed to be living in the era of light6 ,if so1 then it is the devil who holds the candle4 ,on the contrary1 you should enter into the current of the ideas of the age1 and strive vigorously to turn it in favor of religion1 by taking advantage of prevailing errors and delusions to edify your hearers4 ,one of the lectures of the ,rev4 ,pre ,ventura supplies a fine model of this style of preaching2 which but for the sacredness of the place where it was delivered1 would undoubtedly have elicited roars of applause4 ,he had been showing that the attempt to introduce ,german philosophy into ,france was a great mistake1 inasmuch as it was altogether unsuited to the positive1 sensible1 and ,christian mind of the ,french people4 ,he wound up as follows3--,frenchmen1 it is your bane that you do not value yourselves as you ought1 that you wish to imitate foreigners2 whereas you are rich enough in resources of your own4 ,last century you imitated ,english politics and were not very successful4 ,why do you now wish to borrow a philosophy from ,protestant ,germany8 ,frenchmen1 be yourselves4 444 #bab ,what6 are you not rich enough in mind1 in your wonderful talent for comparison and for development1 and in your extreme quickness at deducing consequences from the most remote premises8 ,not rich enough in the truth which eighteen centuries of ,christianity have poured into your bosoms1 and to which you owe your civilization and grandeur4 ,frenchmen1 forbear aping others2 you have only to be yourselves in order to be great4 7,prolonged sensation47 ,we should become all things to all men1 without ever being rude2 being always simple1 natural1 true1 and upright4 ,these are qualities admired alike by all2 by the little1 and especially by the great4 444 ,the wealthy residents in towns frequently go to spend a part of the fine season in the country1 where the cur1 in order to exalt religion in their eyes--and the pastor a little as well--thinks himself called upon to be at the expense of some grand phrases and flights of fancy4 ,now1 such a course is neither adroit nor apostolic4 ,as to grand phrases1 the visitors hear enough of them in the towns4 ,besides1 they may judge that you have talked at them1 and may be offended4 ,moreover1 it is not at all unlikely that they may think you have mistaken your profession4 444 ,instead of acting in this way1 do not seem to be aware of their presence1 but speak boldly to your people in your usual style4 #bac ,avail yourself1 nevertheless1 of any fitting occasion to tell them some useful truths2 to draw their attention to some striking parable1 like that of the poor man with the ewe lamb and the prophet ,nathan1 which may afford you a good opportunity of reaching the rich over the shoulders of the peasant4 ,be careful1 however1 always to do this in a kindly manner2 both rich and poor will then be more satisfied with you1 and ,god ,himself will concur in the same opinion4 ,remember that you have a difficult part to play in a small town4 ,there1 you may not say all that may be said in a large city4 ,there1 the most paltry things assume huge proportions4 ,one of our best preachers entirely failed of success through having omitted to repeat the ,ave ,maria after the exordium1 and for not having allowed his audience time to cough1 to expectorate1 and to take breath4 ,it is a wonder that he escaped without having his orthodoxy suspected4 ,moreover1 the residents in small towns are excessively fond of finely-turned phrases1 rhetorical displays1 and pomposity4 ,they call such rodomontade poetry1 and think it sublime4 ,you may adopt it occasionally by way of accompaniment4 ,nevertheless1 don't be led into the delusion that any essay in that style will prevent the sturdy bourgeois from slandering his neighbor1 from cheating him if he can1 and from doing many other things of a similar kind4 #bad ,good manners have great weight in ,france1 and many things are excused in him who says them cleverly4 ,a celebrated preacher was expected to preach a charity sermon in one of the ,paris churches4 ,a crowded audience had already assembled1 when1 to their surprise and disappointment1 they saw the parish priest enter the pulpit1 and heard him announce that1 owing to the sudden indisposition of the eminent preacher1 he was obliged to supply his place4 ,thereat the congregation rose and began to leave the church4 ,meanwhile the priest1 seeing the crowed on the move1 and the anticipated collection disappearing with them1 suddenly arrested them with a bon mot4 ,my brethren1 said he1 when everybody has left the church1 ,i will begin4 ,this so delighted the audience that they remained where they were2 the priest preached an excellent sermon1 and the collection was most liberal4 ,we should endeavor to acquire and practise all the breeding and politeness of good society1 with sincerity superadded4 ,by birth1 we are for the most part children of the people2 that is neither a fault nor a disgrace2 it forms an additional resemblance between ourselves and the ,apostles4 ,but our primary education was neglected1 and we should fill up the gap by retaking from the world those forms which it has borrowed from ,christianity1 and fill them up with the substance4 ,then we shall be powerful men4 #bae ,the present age has given us a great model of this tact1 kindliness1 and urbanity of speech in the person of the ,cardinal de ,cheverus4 ,he generally spoke1 says ,m4 ,hamon1 ,footnote #ah with such tact and moderation1 and so much to the purpose1 that1 far from offending any one1 his audience always went away gratified4 ,some were convinced1 others were staggered1 and all disabused more or less of their prejudices4 ,when he addressed persons of a different communion1 his kind and affectionate words were the utterances of a heart overflowing with benevolence and charity4 ,he made his audience feel by the accents of his voice and his whole deportment that it was a friend who was addressing them2 not merely a sincere1 but a tender and devoted friend1 who wished them all possible good2 and this persuasion1 by disposing them to welcome his words1 opened the way for him to their hearts4 ,footnote #ah3 ,histoire du ,cardinal de ,cheverus4 ,his usual course was this3 he first stated the question clearly1 expounding carefully the true doctrine of the ,church2 eliminating therefrom all the erroneous interpretations1 wherewith heretics have travestied it in order that they might decry it4 ,he then adduced his proofs in a form so simple and natural1 combining them with reasons so completely within the reach of ordinary intelligences1 that no effort of the mind was required to feel their force4 #baf ,he adhered above all to those proofs which speak to the heart2 setting forth all that is lovely and affecting1 noble and excellent in the ,catholic creed4 ,it is almost unnecessary to add that his efforts were often crowned with deserved success4 ,but the exercise of tact and kindliness on our part1 is specially called for in times of public commotion1 when men's minds are disturbed and their passions inflamed4 ,under such circumstances1 we should endeavor to be perfectly self-possessed ourselves1 in order that we may be the better able to control others4 ,before all1 we should be just4 ,the people1 on their part1 have an exquisite sense of justice4 ,in depicting their faults or their excesses1 abstain from all exaggeration2 rather say too little than too much1 and they will accuse themselves unsparingly4 ,outstep the limits of truth1 and they will rebel1 and you will forfeit all your influence over them4 ,further1 take pains to explain to them in detail how matters stand2 show them that you are not an enemy1 but a sincere friend and adviser1 and they will resign themselves1 even to suffering4 ,a great orator has left on record a perfect model of this style of address4 ,he is so little known that ,i cannot resist the desire of quoting him4 ,some time prior to the ,revolution of '#hi1 the dearness of bread had excited public indignation at ,marseilles1 excesses had been committed1 and still greater outrages were apprehended4 #bag ,mirabeau caused a notice1 containing the following passages1 to be put up on all the walls of the town3-- ,my good friends1 ,i am about to tell you what ,i think of the occurrences which have taken place in this superb city during the last few days4 ,listen to me3 ,i shall not deceive you2 my only wish is to be of use to you4 ,every one of you desires what is right1 for you are all honest people2 but every one does not know how he ought to act4 ,a man is often deceived1 even with respect to his own interests4 ,you complain chiefly of two things3 of the price of bread and the price of meat4 ,let us consider the subject of the bread first2 other matters will come after4 ,bread is the most indispensable article of food1 and there are two requisites regarding it3 first1 that there should be an adequate supply2 and1 secondly1 that it should not be too dear4 ,well1 my good friends1 ,i have some cheering news to tell you4 ,there is no deficiency of wheat at the present moment4 ,there are #ej1jjj loads in the city1 which will furnish bread for three months and twelve days4 ,but1 my good friends1 that is not all2 your administrators and the merchants still expect a large additional supply4 444 #bah ,be calm1 therefore2 be perfectly calm4 ,thank ,providence for giving you what others are deprived of4 ,you have heard it reported1 and you yourselves know1 that the seasons generally have been bad throughout the country4 ,the people have to suffer elsewhere much more than you do here2 yet they bear it patiently4 ,i trust1 therefore1 that you will be contented and quiet1 and that your example may promote peace on all sides4 ,then1 my good friends1 it will be said everywhere3 ,the ,marseillaise are a brave people4 ,the ,king will hear it--that excellent ,king whom we should not afflict1 whom we unceasingly invoke--even he will hear of it1 and will esteem and love you the more4 ,as might have been expected1 this address produced the happiest results4 ,the people do not1 cannot resist such appeals1 unless some mischievous demagogue interferes to rekindle their passions4 ,lastly1 ,i must say a few words on a subject which should be candidly explained to the people4 ,i allude to the money taken for the use of chairs in our churches1 and the difference which exists in the celebration of marriages and funerals for the rich and the poor4 #bai ,this is a matter which causes great estrangement from religion1 and he who is not aware of the fact shows his ignorance of the feelings prevailing among the people4 ,it is desirable that all should be set right on this point1 both rich and poor2 even the most pious amongst us4 ,faith is no longer large enough to comprehend these exigencies1 and there is a wide-spread suspicion abroad that the ,church is following the ruling passion of the multitude--love of money4 ,besides1 the people entertain strong views on the subject of equality1 and expect it in matters of religion1 if they do not meet with it anywhere else4 ,hence it is not uncommon to hear reflections such as the following among the operatives of our work shops3--,religion nowadays is no longer the religion of the ,gospel4 ,the ,gospel loves and prefers the people2 but religion as practised at present prefers the rich and encourages felons4 ,take1 for example1 two men of humble parentage4 ,the one remains a workman and maintains his integrity all his life2 he toils on and dies poor4 ,the other becomes rich by very questionable means1 defrauds right and left1 and dies wealthy4 ,he is then placed in the centre of the church1 and surrounded with burning tapers and chanting priests4 444 ,the poor devil of a workman1 on the contrary1 who has been upright all his life1 is borne in the rear of the parish priest1 accompanied by two or three assistants1 with as many tapers1 and is then pitched into a corner4 4 4 4 ,and you would have me believe that this is the religion of ,christ8 ,it is no such thing2 it is the religion of the priests3 it is the religion of money4 4444 #bbj ,arguments like these have a powerful effect on persons who are incapable of sober reflection and who scarcely ever look beyond the present state of existence4 ,they harrow up the popular instincts2 and with the people instinct is everything4 ,the man who secures the command over their instincts may do any thing with them2 he who fails in that respect cannot manage them at all4 444 ,it is most desirable1 then1 that the inequality complained of should be kindly and frankly explained4 ,in doing so1 we might say something to the following effect3-- ,dear friends1 this subject is quite as painful to us as it can be to you2 but you are aware that there are some stern necessities in life4 ,the ,church is poor nowadays1 and yet has many expenses to meet4 ,the sacred fabrics must be maintained1 the wages of employs paid1 suitable furniture provided1 and we ourselves1 brethren1 even we1 the clergy1 must live4 444 ,would you like us to go begging our bread8 ,say1 would you wish that8 ,certainly not2 for if you knew we were in need1 you would be the first to succor us1 even though you had to stint yourselves4 #bba ,moreover1 it is our duty to visit the poor2 and would you condemn us to the greatest possible misery1 that of witnessing want without being able to relieve it8 ,say1 would you inflict such torture upon us8 ,well1 then1 brethren1 the money in question goes to defray these expenses1 to give us bread1 and to enable us to alleviate the necessities of the poor4 ,instead of complaining1 therefore1 be content that the weddings and burials of the wealthy should be made to provide for these requisites4 ,moreover1 brethren1 let us lift up our souls and look beyond the present life4 ,thank ,god1 we are not destined to spend all our existence on earth4 ,you know full well that this life is not all our life4 ,there is another to follow1 where all the inequalities which we see here will be perfectly adjusted1 and when every one shall receive according to his works and not according to his good fortune4 ,why1 then1 attach so much importance to these matters8 ,surely you do not think that ,god troubles ,himself about them2 that ,he counts the number of tapers1 or carpets1 or chairs8 444 ,god looks to see whether a man has been upright and honest1 faithfully discharging his duties as a citizen and a ,christian4 ,be all that1 my brethren1 and ,he will not fail to give you a blissful abode in heaven2 which will be far better than the most magnificent place in the church1 either at your wedding or your funeral4 #bbb ,chapter ,,viii4 ,interest1 ,emotion1 and ,animation4 ,we should endeavor to excite ,interest by ,thoughts1 by ,sallies or ,epigrams1 by ,studies of ,men and ,manners4 ,the ,truth should be animated4 ,the ,pre ,ravignan4 ,the ,pre ,lacordaire4 ,the ,heart is too often absent4 ,we remarked in a former chapter that the preaching of the ,divine word1 especially on ,sundays1 should be to the people1 wearied with the toil and cares of the week1 a rest1 a joy2 or1 as the ,scripture says1 a refreshment4 444 ,it should be to them what a spring of water surrounded with verdure is to our soldiers worn out with marching1 and scorched by the sun and burning sands of ,africa4 ,under its breath1 the souls of men should dilate1 blossom1 as it were1 and feel less unhappy2 for is not the ,gospel glad tidings8 ,was it not proclaimed at the ,nativity of ,christ3--,i bring you glad tidings of great joy8 #bbc ,christian pulpit instruction should be a sort of paternal intercourse enlivened with faith and charity--a family meeting where the different members come to talk over their labors and their trials1 their fears and their hopes1 and the bounty of that ,father who is in ,heaven1 in such a way that each may go away benefited and less unhappy1 saying within himself3--,i feel all the better now4 ,the words of the preacher have cheered me4 ,why did he not speak a little longer8 ,while he spoke1 my soul was on fire4--,did not our heart burn within us1 while ,he talked with us by the way8 ,unfortunately1 this is no longer the case4 ,the sermon is looked upon as something cold1 official1 and tedious2 or merely as a necessary accompaniment of the service4 ,it is thought wearisome to listen to1 but must needs be endured for the sake of example4 ,generally speaking1 moreover1 the greater part of the faithful are absent1 and the majority of the pious souls present consists of females4 ,these place themselves as much at their ease as possible on a couple of chairs1 and resign themselves to undergo the sermon4 ,when it is over1 they remark that it was either a good or an indifferent discourse1 and then depart absolutely as they came2 none feeling in the least bound to practise what has been enjoined4 #bbd ,preaching1 indeed1 is a sorry trade4 ,the preacher studies and meditates on his subject1 composes his sermon1 and then commits it to memory4 ,what a task6 ,he then goes into the pulpit1 and is grieved to perceive that the minds of his audience are abstracted--that they look like persons who are being bored2 so much so1 that he is glad if even by a nod of assent they do not prove that they have been doing anything else rather than listening to him4 ,for the sermon is undoubtedly regarded in the light of an infliction2 a species of forced labor4 ,when the faithful learn that there is to be no sermon1 they hail the announcement with pleasure1 and seem to say with great glee3 ,another sermon got over6 ,hence one frequently hears the remark3--,i shall not go to such a mass because there is preaching there4 ,truly1 all this is sad1 very sad1 as regards the preaching of the ,divine word4 ,but who is to blame1 ourselves or the faithful8 ,in the first place1 it is quite certain that in ,france there is a decided distaste for any thing serious1 or that requires attention and mental effort4 ,nothing is cared for nowadays but what is amusing2 hence the most highly remunerated people amongst us are those who cater for the amusement of others1 some of whom make fabulous incomes4 ,how to be amused is1 in fact1 the great question of the day1 insomuch that you hear the remark on all sides3--,i will not go there again1 for the entertainment did not amuse me4 ,the malady of ennui pervades the social atmosphere and all who move in it1 while any thing serious suggests wearisomeness and disgust4 ,this state of mind is the result of excessive selfishness4 ,for three-fourths of their time1 men are bored about themselves personally4 ,they then feel the want of some excitement to get rid of the incubus1 and generally resort to whatever is romantic in search of it4 #bbe ,again1 there is scarcely any prevailing love of the truth2 on the contrary1 it is rather dreaded1 and men manifest a strange pusillanimity when confronted with it4 ,whenever a stern truth is addressed to others1 they readily applaud1 and think it quite right that this and that vice should be strongly reprehended2 but when it is brought home to themselves1 they frown1 question the propriety of the censure1 and can see no harm in their own delinquencies4 ,besides which1 there is a universal tendency to pass judgment on every thing sacred and profane1 and a sermon is criticised as if it were nothing more than an ordinary literary production4 444 ,these are shortcomings on the part of the congregation1 but are they wholly responsible for them8 ,the blame is sometimes cast on the world1 on the absorbing passion for frivolity1 and on the literature of the day2 but may there not be a little fault elsewhere8 ,it is our duty to look into this subject2 and as we are called upon to proclaim the truth to others1 it behoves us to administer it in the first place to ourselves4 ,this will be a real charity2 the more so1 because if we are not told it to our faces1 we may rest assured that it will be repeated with additions behind our backs4 #bbf ,i hasten1 then1 to state it4 ,there is a large amount of talent in ,paris1 and no lack of clergymen who know how to draw1 to interest1 and to direct an audience4 ,in the provinces1 too1 how many preachers are there1 who1 though little known1 do a vast amount of good6 ,christian eloquence is still one of the glories1 one of the purest and most indisputable glories of ,france4 ,as a witty writer has said3--,god has evidently made ,france ,his spoilt child4 ,the misfortune is that the child does not always profit by the parent's indulgence4 ,unquestionably1 there are still apostolic preachers amongst us1 whose words are effectual in stirring up and saving the souls of men2 nevertheless1 is it not equally sure1 that our usual style of preaching is deficient in interest and perspicuity1 is too monotonous and didactic1 is made up of a misuse of reasoning and rhetorical phraseology1 is wanting in heart and soul1 and1 above all1 in that tone of conviction which lends to speech its paramount power8 444 ,in the first place1 we must interest our hearers2 for that is an indispensable condition of benefiting them4 444 ,people generally require to be interested4 ,they may be rather exacting on that point3 it may be a weakness on their part2 but what is to be done8 ,must we not become all things to all men8 ,must we not take them as they are8 ,it is constantly being repeated that society is unsound2 then1 should we not overlook some things in those who are ailing8 #bbg ,after all1 the question is not to discover whether they are right or wrong4 ,the vital question is to save them1 and how to get them to listen to us1 and to cause ,gospel truth to reach their ears1 their minds1 and their hearts to that end4 ,why should we take so much trouble in preparing sermons if they are not to be listened to8 ,in that case1 it becomes nothing more than a disheartening1 profitless labor4 ,as somebody once remarked3--,they teach me to compose magnificent sermons4 ,i only wish they would also teach me how to make people come and hear them4 ,our aim then should be to secure a hearing4 ,to attain that1 we must first excite interest4 444 ,there are different ways of doing this4 ,we may interest our hearers by well-digested studies of men and manners1 conveyed in various styles of unsophisticated and sympathetic language2 by spirited sallies2 by metaphors drawn from the incidents of every-day life2 and by heart-stirring impulses and emotions4 444 ,in the first place1 in order to interest an audience you must never lose sight of them1 but keep them always in your wake4 ,they should be made to think and feel with you1 and even to anticipate or divine your train of thought2 for that will gratify them4 ,at other times1 prepare a surprise for them1 and that too will please them4 #bbh ,when you perceive that the attention of your hearers is flagging1 it may be stimulated by a lively speech or sally2 such as shall gladden their hearts1 and draw from them that gentle smile which bespeaks approving assent4 ,frenchmen are delighted with this style of address2 and surely there is nothing to urge against it4 ,with so many depressing cares to battle with1 one should rejoice to see them inspirited a little under the breath of the ,divine word4 ,moreover1 it may be made a useful medium for communicating some wholesome truths4 ,sallies of this kind are greatly relished by the ,french people1 even when directed against themselves4 ,all great orators have employed them4 ,saint ,chrysostom himself1 always so grave and dignified1 did not disdain to use them4 ,he thus wittily derides the vanity of the male sex of his time3--,look at that young man4 ,he walks delicately on the tips of his toes for fear of soiling his shoes4 ,my friend1 if you dread the mud so much on account of your shoes1 put them on your head and they will be safe4 ,in another place he assails the vanity of the women4 ,why are you so proud of your fine clothes8 ,you reply3 ',only look at this stuff and see how beautiful it is3 touch it1 and feel how silky it is4' ,true3 but that is no merit of yours4 ',but how exquisitely this dress fits me6' ,true1 again1 but the merit of that is due to the sempstress4 #bbi ,alas6 for human weakness1 he exclaimed2 it takes the produce of a plant1 an animal1 or a vile insect1 bedizens itself therewith1 then goes abroad and asks the world's admiration1 saying3 ,look at me1 for ,i am worth something to-day4 ,all our great modern orators1 both of the tribune and pulpit1 abound in trenchant sallies2 which almost always carry conviction1 because they are universally understood4 ,france1 says ,m4 de ,falloux1 repels equally those men who can do every thing1 and those who can do nothing4 ,the ,rev4 ,pre ,lacordaire excels in epigrams of this kind4 ,he has a peculiar talent in that line1 and has succeeded in winning over many of his hearers by his pithy humor4 ,one day his object was to show that rationalism does not possess that charity which distinguishes the ,christian faith and ministry4 ,instead of entering into a long dissertation on the subject1 he expressed himself thus3-- ,i shall only say a few words about rationalism in connection with the topic before us4 ,i have never heard of a rationalist having been beaten by the ,cochin-,chinese4 ,minds like theirs are too highly polished and too ingenious to risk encountering such distinction in behalf of the truth4 ,it will1 therefore1 be time enough to trouble ourselves about them1 when the next vacancy occurs in the ,academy4 ,we are too well bred to offer them any thing else than a laurel branch1 which they unquestionably deserve4 #bcj ,on another occasion he remarked with a smile1 addressing those who affected unbelief3--,yes1 sirs1 ,i admit that you have mind1 that you have plenty of mind2 but know this1 that ,god has endowed you with it--a clear proof that ,he entertains no fear of it4 ,even the ,rev4 ,pre ,ravignan1 who is generally so austere1 ever and anon adopts a similar style4 ,one day1 in recapitulating the philosophical errors of the present time1 he remarked3--,rationalism is another error1 and has the largest following4 ,it comprises a class of thinkers who are devoid of faith2 men who are eternally seeking but never find2 jaded in their search by the oscillations of doubt1 the sport of grand and pretty phrases4 ,according to them1 the day is at length about to dawn2 the solution of all questions is at hand4 ,if1 by any chance1 we may have still to wait a long time for it 444 in that case1 you must exercise patience2 the religion of the future will come at last2 then1 taking off his cap and bowing ironically1 he added1 for which1 of course1 we are much obliged4 #bca ,similar points are to be met with throughout the discourses of ,m4 ,lecourtier4 ,addressing wives1 he says3--,do not play the master at home4 ,i know of no one so ridiculous as the wife who does so1 unless it be the husband who obeys her4 ,sallies like these are treasured up1 and serve to recall to memory a whole discourse4 ,moreover1 they enlarge the heart and dispose it to subsequent nobler impulses4 444 ,to do children good1 says a well-known writer1 they must be interested3 they must be made to laugh1 to cry1 and then sent away happy4 ,are not the people still children8 ,are we not all children still1 in more than one respect8 ,let it not be supposed that in what has been said above1 it is intended that any person whatever should be ridiculed or held up to contempt4 ,on the contrary1 irony should never be employed except against prejudices1 vices1 and crimes4 ,another way of exciting interest is by lively1 skilful1 witty1 and delicate sketches of men and manners4 444 ,the ,frenchman is fond of being spoken to about himself1 about his occupations1 his characteristics1 his trials1 even his foibles and caprices4 ,this fact is too much lost sight of4 ,we descant on the ,hebrews1 the ,jews1 the ,egyptians1 ,midianites1 ,philistines1 and other nations of the past4 ,set all that aside1 and speak more freely of the ,gospel and ,frenchmen1 and of ,frenchmen and the ,gospel2 of ,frenchmen of the present age1 of their virtues and vices4 ,do this1 and you will not fail to interest your hearers3 you will interest them in spite of themselves4 #bcb ,m4 ,lecourtier transcends in such portraiture4 ,hence1 as before remarked1 his sermons always attract crowded audiences2 and he is never listened to with more attention then when delineating the inner history of a man or woman of the nineteenth century4 ,occasionally some are offended1 and declare that they will not come to hear him again2 but they seldom keep their word1 for they find his discourses so interesting that they cannot stay away4 ,humility is not our forte2 on the contrary1 we are all very fond of engaging the attention of others4 ,indeed1 we prefer ill-usage to neglect2 an instance of which is afforded by a letter addressed to a celebrated man by an obscure author1 wherein he wrote3--,i entreat you to be kind enough to refute me1 and1 if need be1 to abuse me1 for that will bring me into notice4 ,studies of men and manners are well-timed everywhere4 ,they are understood by and interest all1 because they draw forth a repetition of the speech made by the woman of ,samaria3--,i have seen a man who hath told me all things that ever ,i did4 ,nevertheless1 we must not stop there4 ,after depicting what is evil1 we must combat1 and overcome1 and drive it away by the force of logic1 and by the impulses of thought and heart combined4 ,in this1 also1 we may find it easy to excite interest4 #bcc ,every truth should be proved4 ,the ,french mind is pre-eminently logical2 but it is also prompt and quick1 and likes neither that which is long1 nor that which is heavy2 nor that which affirms without proving1 nor yet that which proves too much4 ,state your principles1 therefore1 in a clear and concise form1 and then demonstrate them in prompt and vigorous language2 making your audience feel from the outset that you are master of the situation2 thereby precluding the possibility of resistance on the part of the ingenuous or even of the disingenuous1 and that while listening to you they may be led to repeat the remark of the great ,cond when he saw ,bourdaloue ascending the pulpit3--,attention6 voil l'ennemi4 ,such however1 is far from being the case with ourselves4 444 ,the faithful are fed with nothing but frigid1 precise1 dogmatic and even unintelligible discourses1 which are supposed to convey solid instruction4 ,but what if it be so1 if the discourses are neither listened to nor understood8 ,dry bread is also solid1 yet nobody likes it only1 any more than you do yourself2 and if you provide nothing but such food at your table1 rest assured that you will find but few guests4 ,we should animate or impassion reason itself4 ,demosthenes did this1 and so did all great orators4 ,the ,rev4 ,pre ,ravignan1 whose reasoning is always so forcible and logical1 gives sensation and life to his arguments in a masterly manner4 #bcd ,in his sermon on the divinity of the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 after demonstrating that we must admit the mystery of the ,incarnation or else submit to many other mysteries1 he subjoins3--,but the objection is raised that a mystery is inexplicable1 insolvable4 ,so be it2 nevertheless not to admit it1 is to throw every thing into the most frightful chaos4 444 ,then is ,christianity false2 the world believes what is false2 has been converted1 regenerated1 civilized1 by what is false2 there is falsehood in the faith1 in the love1 and in all the other inspirations of the ,christian religion2 falsehood in all the blessings which have been conferred upon humanity in the name of ,god the ,redeemer2 falsehood in the heroism of innumerable martyrs2 falsehood in all the master-minds who have adorned ,christianity2 falsehood in the whole chain of science1 zeal1 devotion1 and superhuman virtues2 falsehood in the entire series of the ages of the ,church1 in all its monuments1 in all its testimonies2 falsehood in the ,catholic priesthood and in the sacred ministry of all centuries2 falsehood in the happiness springing from faith and a pure conscience2 falsehood in the pulpit2 falsehood on my lips and in my heart4 ,what6 does your light and disdainful tongue find a lesser mystery in all these consequences which necessarily result from your principles8 ,,me ,,they ,,terrify4 #bce ,we should1 moreover1 attempt in some way to put the truth into action1 making it to come and go1 to speak1 question1 and reply2 and should always keep the scene so fully occupied that the minds of the audience may not be diverted therefrom for an instant4 ,in this respect also1 the ,rev4 ,pre ,lacordaire supplies us with an excellent model4 ,in his discourse on the ,intellectual ,society founded by the ,church1 he points out the efforts which have been made by the world to destroy the immutability of her doctrine1 in a style truly dramatic3--,when every thing else on earth is subject to change1 what a weighty prerogative must the possession by others of an unchangeable doctrine be in the estimation of those who do not themselves possess it6 ,a doctrine which some feeble old men1 in a place called the ,vatican1 keep secure under the key of their cabinet1 and which1 without any other safeguard1 has resisted the progress of time1 the conceits of sages1 the machinations of sovereigns1 the downfall of empires1 and maintained throughout its unity and identity4 ,a standing miracle this1 and a claim which all ages1 jealous of a glory which disdained theirs1 have attempted to gainsay and silence4 ,one after another they have approached the ,vatican1 and knocked at the gate with buskin or boot4 ,whereat ,doctrine has come forth under the form of a feeble and decrepit septuagenarian1 and has asked3-- ',what do you want of me8' ',change4' #bcf ',i change not4' ',but every thing in the world has changed4 ,astronomy has changed2 philosophy has changed2 empire has changed2 why are you always the same8' ',because ,i come from ,god1 and ,god is always the same4' ',but know this1 that we are masters4 ,we have a million of men under arms1 we will draw the sword1 and the sword which demolishes thrones may easily be made to behead an old man like yourself1 and to tear into fragments the leaves of a book4' ',attempt it4 ,blood is the aroma which gives me new youth4' ',well1 then1 accept half of my purple2 join in a sacrifice to peace1 and let us go shares4' ',keep thy purple1 ,o ,caesar2 to-morrow we will bury you in it1 and will chant over you the ,alleluia and ,de profundis1 which never change4' ,this is something which everybody can understand1 and which will always be listened to with pleasure1 and with profit to the truth4 ,but further3 ,it is not enough to speak to the mind4 ,that goes a very little way1 however powerful our speech may be2 for the mind is merely the vestibule of the soul4 ,we must penetrate to the sanctuary of the temple1 namely1 to the heart4 ,the heart is nearly the whole man1 and we are hardly any thing apart from the heart4 ,it is the heart which believes--with the heart man believeth--and it is the heart which begets virtues4 ,moreover1 the heart is what ,god demands from us4 #bcg ,but in order to speak to the heart1 we must have a heart ourselves1 and make use of it too4 ,now1 it is questionable in these days whether many preachers have a heart4 ,no one can perceive it in them2 so great is the care which they take not to expose even a corner of it1 lest by so doing they might derange the massive chain of their arguments4 ,and1 besides1 who knows but that it might subject them to the charge of being deficient in dignity8 ,in fact1 the heart appears to have come down from the pulpit1 and fears to occupy it again 444 it is no longer allowed to play a part there1 lest it might prove disconcerting4 ,it is now regarded with suspicion1 and ,god must have been mistaken when he said3--,my son1 give me thine heart4 ,the general notion seems to be1 that nothing more is required in order to do men good than clearly or obscurely to demonstrate the truth to them4 ,but knowing and doing are as widely apart as heaven and earth1 and the distance between the two can only be surmounted by the heart4 444 ,nothing1 indeed1 profits an audience so much2 nothing is so successful as the windings1 the boundings of the heart1 even when introduced in the middle of an argument4 #bch ,all those who heard the discourse of ,pre ,ventura on the ,philosophical ,reason of ,modern ,times1 will recall to mind the profound and sympathetic impression which he produced when1 after having spoken of a well-known philosopher1 he added3--,but1 after all1 he was endowed with a rare intellect1 a genial heart1 and a noble disposition4 ,deceived and led astray as he had been by the false doctrines of the day1 he nevertheless eventually recognized and avowed that he had made a sad bargain when he exchanged the tenets of the faith for the vain conceptions of science4 ,some moments before death1 he shed tears over his beloved daughter1 who had just partaken of the holy communion for the first time4 ,let me believe that his avowal and tears were acts of faith1 of repentance1 and of love1 which availed toward his salvation at the hands of a merciful ,god4 ,let me1 ,i say1 believe this2 for it is a consolation to me to believe that my brethren have found again1 even in death1 that grace which ,i hope to find myself with a benevolent ,god4 ,yes1 if we appealed to the heart we should frequently discover how good1 true1 and sincere it is1 and how little is required to change it3--often nothing more than a word1 a reminiscence1 a tear1 a look1 a sigh4 ,and yet how sadly has this easy and effectual means been neglected6 444 ,every body does not understand a fine dissertation1 but every body does understand a good sentiment4 #bci ,to sum up3 the sermon should be interesting1 animated1 vivifying2 ten years of a lifetime should be comprised in a sermon of thirty minutes duration4 ,speak to the mind1 to the good sense1 to the imagination1 to the hearts of men1 in words that breathe and thoughts that burn2 laying hold of them1 as it were1 by whatever stirs the lively and profound emotions of the soul3 by grief and by joy1 by hatred and by love1 by tears and by consolations1 by hell and by heaven4 ,let your speech be always powerful and triumphant4 ,whatever you attempt1 do well4 ,if you reason1 let your reasoning be sharp1 to the point1 and decisive4 ,if you exercise charity1 let it flow in broad streams1 that it may inundate and cheer all around4 ,if you give vent to anger1 let it escape in glowing and irresistible sallies4 ,if you are ever at a loss what other influence to invoke1 then appeal to pity4 ,after such outbursts1 there should be intervals of calm to tone down asperities1 to smooth to softness any bitterness1 and to express regret for having used them2 but in reality to make a deeper impression by touching a different chord of the heart4 ,these contrasts of thought and sentiment always produce a powerful effect4 ,m4 ,berryer is well aware of this1 and often avails himself of them with the greatest success4 #bdj ,in the celebrated discussion on the affairs of the ,east1 after having exhibited the humiliation of ,france1 he added3--,let no more be said upon what has been done2 above all1 let us never1 never again recall the humiliating admissions which have reached us both from ,london and ,constantinople4 7,profound sensation47 ,let that despatch1 wherein ,lord ,palmerston is stated to have said that ,france would yield1 and that the ,eastern question would be settled in accordance with the wishes of ,england1 be buried in oblivion4 444 ,is there a country whose ambassadors have cognizance of such language1 and not only retain their posts1 but become ministers8 7,bravo1 bravo67 ,that country is certainly not ,france4 7,renewed applause47 ,england cannot have said so4 ,those who saw us even at ,waterloo could not say such a thing4 444 ,but after this suspension of arms1 we must return to the charge with redoubled nerve and bravery1 implanting our weapon in the heart1 and turning it again and again within the wound4 ,in other words1 our train of thought should be still more energetic1 our sentiments more powerful2 embodied sometimes in a dramatic or tragic form1 wherein truth and error are brought together in a fierce and obstinate hand-to-hand struggle2 truth being made to overthrow error and to triumph over vice1 and then to raise the erring and the transgressor1 to embrace them1 and to bear them away with herself to virtue1 to happiness1 to heaven4 444 #bda ,the following extract from ,m4 de ,cormenin furnishes an admirable summary of the foregoing chapter3-- ,select with a quick and confident instinct1 from among the methods available to you1 the method of the day2 which may not be the most solid1 but which1 considering the disposition of men's minds1 the nature of the matter in hand1 and the peculiarity of concomitant circumstances1 is the best adapted for making an impression upon your audience4 ,take strong hold of their attention4 ,stir up their pity or indignation1 their sympathies or their antipathies1 or their pride4 ,appear to be animated by their breath1 all the while that you are communicating yours to them4 ,when you have1 in some degree1 detached their souls from their bodies1 and they come and group themselves of their own accord at the foot of the pulpit1 riveted beneath the influence of your glance1 then do not dally with them1 for they are yours2 your soul having1 as may be truly said1 passed into theirs4 ,look now how they follow its ebb and flow6 how they will as you will6 how they act as you act6 ,but persist1 give no rest2 press your discourse home1 and you will soon see all bosoms panting because yours pants2 all eyes kindling because yours emit flame1 or filling with tears because you grow tender4 ,you will see all the hearers hanging on your lips through the attractions of persuasion2 or1 rather1 you will see nothing1 for you yourself will be under the spell of your own emotion2 you will bend1 you will succumb1 under your own genius1 and you will be the more eloquent the less effort you make to appear so4 #bdb ,be clear1 exact1 concise1 impartial4 ,do not attempt to say everything1 but what you do say1 say well4 #bdc ,chapter ,,ix4 ,the ,power and ,accent of ,conviction4 ,the ,divine ,word has always been the first ,power in the ,world4 ,the ,gospel still the first of ,books4 ,there can be no ,christian ,eloquence without the ,accent of ,personal ,conviction4 ,hitherto1 we may be said to have treated merely of human instrumentality2 we must now consider our subject in a higher point of view4 ,reason1 imagination1 and sentiment are necessary qualifications to success in our vacation2 but we require besides these the power of ,god1 because our aim is to lay hold of and to direct the souls of men4 ,now1 as that mighty genius ,bossuet has remarked3--,there is nothing so indomitable as the heart of man4 ,when ,i see it subdued1 ,i adore4 ,and why8 ,because he recognized in such submission a superhuman agency4 ,this power we possess in the ,word1 which is the power of ,god2 before which every head must bow1 and every knee bend1 whether on earth1 in heaven1 or in hell4 ,armed with the ,divine word1 our power is immense2 only1 in order to wield it1 we must ourselves be thoroughly penetrated thereby1 and1 above all1 be able to convince others that we are so4 ,it must be felt1 seen1 and acknowledged that ,god is with us4 #bdd ,the ,divine word is the foremost power in the world4 ,it has withstood and overcome every other power4 444 ,it has uttered its voice everywhere3 in the catacombs1 at the foot of the scaffold1 under the axe of the executioner1 and within the jaws of wild beasts4 ,it has spoken while the feet of the speakers have been drenched in blood4 444 ,during the middle ages1 mighty barons1 sheltered behind impregnable strongholds1 had cast the network of their sway over the whole of ,france1 and silence was imposed on all lips4 ,nevertheless1 on more than one occasion did the ,divine word1 in the guise of a priest or monk1 venture to ascend the steps of those redoubtable fortresses2 and its voice alone sufficed to inspire fear in the breasts of men clad in armor of steel4 ,there was a king in whom power seemed incarnate4 ,that king was ,louis ,,xiv4 ,he dared to say3--,l'tat1 la ,france1 c'est moi4 ,under his inspiring look1 military genius triumphed in war2 poetry begat the sublimest conceptions2 canvas spoke2 marble was animated2 and the arts replenished even the gardens of his royal abode with master-piece s of skill4 #bde ,one ,sunday1 ,louis ,,xiv41 surrounded by his court1 took his seat in the chapel at ,versailles1 when the preacher boldly uttered from the pulpit those terrible words3 ,woe to the rich6 ,woe to the great6 whereat the monarch lowered his eyes and the courtiers murmured4 444 ,after the sermon1 there was some talk of reprimanding the priest for his temerity2 but the ,king remarked1 with a justice which does him honor3--,gentlemen1 the preacher has done his duty2 it behoves us now to do ours4 ,we may recognize herein the power of the ,divine word2 and it is that same word which is on our lips4 ,what1 indeed1 is the word of man even in the mouth of the boldest orator1 even when set forth in all the brilliancy of its power1 when compared with the ,divine word8 444 ,much has been said of the force of ,mirabeau's famous apostrophe3--,the communes of ,france have decided on deliberating4 ,we have heard of the designs which have been suggested to the ,king2 and you1 who are not allowed to be his organ with the ,national ,assembly--you who possess neither the standing nor the option1 nor the right of speaking--go and tell your master that we are here by the power of the people1 and that it shall not be wrested from us except at the point of the bayonet4 ,footnote #ai ,footnote #ai3 ,the authenticity of this statement has been questioned4 #bdf ,this speech has been eulogized as grand1 bold1 and even audacious2 but1 what does it amount to8 ,any priest might do as much1 and say something far better1 with greater truth and less arrogance2 for there is no priest1 however poor and humble he may be1 who might not say3--,we are here in ,god's name1 and here we intend to remain1 and we will speak in spite of guns and bayonets4 444 ,but the fact is1 we are not adequately convinced of our own power1 and of the superiority which we possess over every thing around us2 for1 with nothing else in our hands but that little book which is called the ,gospel1 we may bring the world to our feet2 inasmuch as the ,gospel is1 and will continue to be1 as regards mankind generally1 the first of books4 ,there are not wanting those who taunt us in this style3--,ye men of a past age1 ye retrogrades1 follow in the wake of your own age2 strive to progress4 ,we1 on our part1 have been constantly advancing1 especially within the last two centuries 444 we have gained ground4 444 ,to this we are justified in replying3--,very true2 the human mind has developed2 you have worked hard2 you have stirred up thought2 you have filled our libraries with first-rate books2 there have been some profound thinkers and sublime geniuses among you2 and you have given birth to many admirable ideas4 ,all this we admit2 nevertheless1 show us a book superior to our ,gospel1 or one which will even bear comparison with it4 ,tell us where it is to be found4 ,you talk of progress1 and bid us follow you2 but it is we who are in advance1 and you who are behind4 444 ,begin your studies afresh2 do something better2 and then come to us again1 and we will see4 ,in the meantime1 we occupy the foremost place1 and are determined to hold it4 #bdg ,our power1 we maintain1 is far above that of any earthly weapons2 for the ,christian preacher is backed by eighteen centuries of learning and virtue1 which believed what he declares by more than ten millions of martyrs1 who died to attest the truth of what he proclaims2 and1 behind all that1 he is supported by the mighty voice of ,god which says to him3--,speak1 and be not afraid1 for ,i am with thee4 ,it behoves us1 therefore1 to be thoroughly persuaded of the power which the ,divine word confers upon us4 ,but1 besides this1 we must make our hearers feel that we are so endowed4 ,they must be impressed1 while listening to us1 that we verily and indeed speak in ,god's name--that we are not men who have merely cogitated or mused in their studies1 and then come forth to propound their own ideas2 but that we are commissioned from on high to proclaim to mankind the laws and promises of ,god1 before whom we ourselves profoundly bow4 ,they must read all this in our whole deportment1 in our voice1 our gestures1 and1 above all1 in our charity4 ,in a word1 we must possess the accent of conviction1 that accent which believes1 speaks1 arrests1 and alarms4 #bdh ,the accent of conviction is made up of a mixture of faith1 power1 and love combined2 the combination forming a characteristic which is at once simple1 pious1 and grand1 redolent of inspiration and sanctity4 ,it is the power1 the life of speech2 the sacred fire1 or what ,mirabeau styles divinity in eloquence4 ,i have never heard any one speak1 said he1 referring to ,barnave1 so long1 so rapidly1 and so well2 but there is no divinity in him4 ,the accent of conviction is the magic of speech 444 that which puts argument to silence1 withdraws all attention from the preacher1 and fixes it solely on what he says2 or rather1 on what ,god says through him4 ,unhappily1 we are very backward in this respect4 ,there is faith undoubtedly in our souls2 but it is not always manifest in our speech4 444 ,how1 then1 can we expect to make others believe what we do not seem to them to believe ourselves8 ,we have to deal with a light1 reasoning1 and somewhat sceptical world1 accustomed to regard every one as merely acting a part 444 and if you do not possess the accent of conviction1 it will either suspect you of hypocrisy1 or will brand you by admiring how well you ply the trade1 and how cleverly you play your game4 #bdi ,there is a remark very common nowadays1 which is much to be regretted4 ,if one speaks of a preacher1 he is immediately asked3 ,has he faith8 which means3 ,does he appear to believe what he says8 ,should the reply be3 ,no2 444 but he is a fine speaker2 the rejoinder generally is3 ,then ,i shall not go to listen to him2 for ,i want to hear somebody who has faith4 ,this observation is not intended to imply any doubt of the inward faith of the preacher1 but that he preaches as if he did not believe what he utters4 ,let us1 however1 do the world this justice1 that when it meets with the accent of conviction--the bold accent of faith1 as ,saint ,chrysostom calls it1--it is deeply impressed thereby4 ,the preacher who believes and speaks out of that belief1 astounds1 staggers1 and overcomes the gainsayers4 ,a few words uttered with the accent of conviction go much further than many long sermons4 ,how1 indeed1 can any prevail against one in whom ,god is felt to dwell8 444 ,fine language1 talent1 imagination1 brilliant argumentative powers--all these are common enough amongst us1 and we are quite accustomed to them2 but what is rare1 what is unlooked for1 what carries every thing before it1 is the language of a faith and of a heart which seems to echo the voice of ,god ,himself4 #bej ,two years ago1 the late pious and gallant ,captain ,marceau was present at a meeting of operatives in ,paris1 many of whom were unbelievers and wrong-headed men4 ,he felt moved to address them1 and the impression which he produced was almost magical4 ,he had never before spoken in public2 nevertheless1 he did so on the occasion referred to with that accent of conviction and candor which finds its way at once to the heart1 overcoming all resistance1 and sometimes seeming to take away one's breath4 ,my friends1 said he1 there are doubtless some among you who are not yet ,christians1 and who have no love for religion4 ,i was once as ungodly as you are--perhaps more so2 for no one has hated ,christianity more cordially than ,i have done4 ,i am bound1 however1 to do it this justice1 that while ,i was not a ,christian1 that is1 till ,i was twenty-three years old1 ,i was unhappy1 profoundly unhappy4 444 ,up to that period1 my friends1 ,i had not lived4 ,no1 it was not living 444 ,i worried myself1 or1 rather1 my passions drew or drove me hither and thither1 and carried me away2 but ,i did not live 444 ,i was a machine 444 but ,i was not a man4 444 ,strange to say1 scarcely any attention is paid to this accent of conviction1 which is the soul of all eloquence2 more especially of sacred eloquence4 ,those destined to proclaim the ,divine word are instructed in every thing else but this4 444 ,hence the language from the pulpit is often cold1 monotonous1 turgid1 stiff1 cramped1 conventional1 perfunctory2 savoring of a formal compliment1 but of nothing to indicate the effusion of a genial soul1 and without any of those felicitous sallies of the heart1 those insinuating and familiar tones1 as ,fnlon calls them1 which produce in you almost a ,divine impression4 #bea ,and yet there are many pious priests amongst us1 many who are truly men of ,god4 ,still1 such is the deplorable power of routine1 that their piety seems sometimes to abandon them when in the pulpit--the very place where it should be most conspicuous4 ,like myself1 you have1 doubtless1 in the course of your life1 often met with one of these estimable priests1 full of faith and charity4 ,his countenance alone did you good1 and his words cheered you alike in familiar conversation and in the confessional4 444 ,the same individual occupies the pulpit3 you are delighted to see him there1 and forthwith set yourself to listen to him with earnest attention2 but1 alas6 you no longer recognize him3 he is no longer the same2 what he utters is no longer the word of life4 ,you exclaim3 ,what has become of my model pastor1 my saint8 444 for you hear nothing now but declamation1 or a sing-song speech 444 a uniform tone which utters the denunciation3 ,depart ye cursed into ever lasting fire1 and the invitation3 ,come1 ye blessed of my ,father1 in the same strain4 444 ,you hear what you have heard a hundred times before--a poor man who1 with a painful sense of effort1 is doing his best to evoke refractory thoughts and phrases1 and are almost led to doubt whether he is not acting a part4 #beb ,this monotony1 this dull uniformity1 this mannerism must be abandoned1 and we must resume our personality--our own minds and hearts--enlarged and inspired by the breath of ,god2 444 otherwise1 by persisting in that dismal tone1 that frigidly philosophical style1 that finely spun phraseology1 that speech without emphasis1 which characterizes the generality of our sermons nowadays1 we shall wholly lose our time1 our pains1 and perchance our souls also4 444 ,can it1 indeed1 be that we are wanting in a just sense of our mission1 and that we do not adequately estimate the object which those who speak in ,god's name should have in view8 ,the end of preaching is to bring back the souls of men to the ,creator4 ,in this respect also1 it is to be feared that the philosophical spirit1 and a tendency to controversy1 have turned us aside from our proper aim and the end of all our efforts4 ,take away the accent of conviction from a sermon1 divest it of energetic faith1 and what is left thereof to the hearers8 ,mere sounding phrases1 and nothing more4 ,now1 let me ask1 are you aware of the enemies with whom you have to deal1 and the difficulties which you have to contend against8 ,the object set before you is to redeem the hearts of men1 who in their thirst1 their rage for happiness1 have given themselves up to the sensual1 visible1 intoxicating things which surround them4 #bec ,you will have to do battle with the human passions3 to say to pride1 be abased2 to voluptuousness1 be accursed2 to the love of gold1 renounce your avarice and be bountiful 444 and you fancy that you will succeed in the encounter by the use of mere phrases2 forgetting1 perchance1 that those passions can make better phrases than yours4 ,they know how to give them life1 and will hurl them at you1 glowing with a fire which will speedily devour your cold and meagre speeches 444 ,nothing can restrain and subdue the passions but the inspiration1 the power of ,god4 444 ,it is high time that we should resume the accent of conviction in our ministrations4 ,having that1 the soul is perfectly at ease1 and1 feeling sure of its footing1 cherishes the widest benevolence4 444 ,why should it be troubled1 knowing that it is secure in the ,power on which it relies8 ,it is only those powers which doubt their own strength that are suspicious and wavering4 ,and when ,god is with us1 we cannot fail to entertain profound pity for the weaknesses1 the prejudices1 the profanities1 and the false reasonings of humanity4 #bed ,chapter ,x4 ,action4 ,action should be3 first1 true and natural2 secondly1 concentrated2 thirdly1 edifying4 ,it should be cultivated4 ,how cultivated by the ,society of ,jesus4 ,suggestions4 ,action is not mere gesture1 neither is it motion nor sound4 ,it is the manifestation of the thoughts and sentiments of the soul through the bodily organs4 ,it is the soul which1 unable to reveal itself1 makes its material exterior the medium of communicating its conceptions of truth and love to the souls of others4 ,the principle of action should be the heart4 444 ,action itself may be in the voice1 in gesture1 in the face1 in the hand1 in demeanor generally1 and even in silence4 444 ,action plays a conspicuous part in eloquence4 ,we are familiar with what ,demosthenes said on the subject4 ,being asked three times what was the first quality in an orator1 he thrice replied3--,action4 ,this is an exaggerated judgment2 but ,demosthenes probably estimated action in proportion to the pains which its acquirement had cost him3 nevertheless1 it is certain that action adds greatly to the clearness1 the weight1 the impressiveness1 and the power of thought4 #bee ,it is the charm of eloquence4 ,saint ,franois de ,sales writes3 ,you may utter volumes1 and yet if you do not utter them well1 it is lost labor1 ,speak but little1 and that little well1 and you may effect much4 ,only a few are capable of appreciating the intrinsic value of a discourse2 whereas all can see whether you speak from an inward sense of the truth--from the heart and from personal conviction4 ,it is more especially upon the people that action produces a powerful effect2 it attracts1 it transports them4 ,a preacher who possesses sterling and noble ideas1 who has genuine sentiment and true action1 is irresistible with them4 ,such weapons will assuredly do great havoc among them2 or1 as ,i should rather say1 will save many4 ,they may not always admit their discomfiture3 but they will not hesitate to confess that your words are weighty and true1 and tell against them4 ,but in order to be impressive1 action must be3 first1 true and natural2 secondly1 concentrated2 thirdly1 edifying4 444 #a4 ,in the first place1 the preacher should be himself1 and should speak like a man4 ,it is preeminently in the pulpit that every thing should be genuine3 that every accessory should harmonize with the thoughts2 that the eye1 the look1 and the hand should corroborate what is uttered by the lips4 #bef ,strange to say1 hardly any attention is paid to this point4 ,once in the pulpit1 it seems to be taken for granted that no effort is required to give the truth distinctness4 ,words are strung on to words1 and any tone of voice is deemed appropriate4 444 ,the preacher speaks as nobody in the world ever spoke3 he bawls1 chants1 or sings without modulation and without feeling4 ,hence1 a malicious wag on hearing a preacher pronounce those terrible words3 ,depart ye cursed6 in a bland tone1 turned to his companion1 and said3 ,come here1 my lad1 and let me embrace you2 that is what the preacher has just expressed4 ,everywhere else1 men speak2 they speak at the bar and the tribune2 but they no longer speak in the pulpit1 for there we only meet with a factitious and artificial language1 and a false tone4 444 ,this style of speaking is only tolerated in the ,church1 because1 unfortunately1 it is so general there2 elsewhere it would not be endured4 444 ,what would be thought of a man who should converse in a similar way in a drawing-room8 ,he would certainly provoke many a smile4 ,some time ago1 there was a warden at the ,pantheon--a good sort of fellow in his way--who1 in enumerating the beauties of the monument1 adopted precisely the tone of many of our preachers1 and never failed thereby to excite the hilarity of the visitors1 who were as much amused with his style of address as with the objects of interest which he pointed out to them4 #beg ,a man who has not a natural and true delivery1 should not be allowed to occupy the pulpit2 from thence1 at least1 every thing that is false should be summarily banished4 444 ,but is it so very difficult to be one's self8 ,assume your usual voice1 your usual manner1 modifying them according to the number of your hearers1 and the truth which you are about to set forth4 ,let your speech be frank1 sincere1 cordial1 revealing a true and affectionate soul4 ,be yourself1 and be persuaded that to be so suits you best4 ,make manifest your heart1 your soul2 for there is nothing so attractive as a soul4 ,saint ,catherine of ,sienna said that if a soul could be seen1 she believed that people would die of happiness at the sight4 ,look at the man who has a cause to plead1 or one who is moved with a strong passion2 he is always true--true even to grandeur4 ,in these days of mistrust1 every thing that is false should be set aside2 and the best way of correcting one's self in that respect1 as regards preaching1 is frequently to listen to certain monotonous and vehement preachers4 ,we shall come away in such disgust1 and with such a horror of their delivery1 that we shall prefer condemning ourselves to silence rather than imitate them4 #beh ,the instant you abandon the natural and the true1 you forego the right to be believed1 as well as the right of being listened to4 #b;dly4 ,action should be concentrated3 that is to say1 it should proceed from a soul which is itself convinced1 penetrated1 fervent2 which puts a restraint upon itself that it may not say all that it feels3 unless it be from time to time1 like the flames which escape at intervals from a volcano4 ,inward fervor harmonizes with the sacred word1 whereas excessive noise and motion are wholly unsuited to it4 ,if a passionate outburst sometimes escapes us1 it should be repressed forthwith4 ,pre ,ravignan is admirable in this respect3 after thundering at his audience1 he immediately resumes the most benignant countenance4 ,in the first place1 the preacher should be calm2 master of himself as well as of his subject4 ,he should have a steady demeanor1 should keep his forces well in hand1 not relinquish his hold over them1 unless it be designedly1 and never lose self-control3--be carried away and yet possess himself1 and retain self-possession while allowing himself to be carried away4 ,vocal power and bodily motion are frequently very much abused4 #bei ,the more a man shouts1 the greater effect he is believed to produce1 and the greater orator he is held to be4 ,often1 however1 it is quite the reverse4 ,genuine passion--passion driven to extremities--speaks low1 says little1 and that little in a few detached words4 ,the most captivating eloquence is that which says much in a few words1 and that noiselessly4 444 ,the vocal power is the animal part of man2 he shares it in common with the brute creation1 who often possess it in a high degree4 ,but the distinguishing sign of intelligence is the consonant4 ,well-educated men attend less to sound than to articulation4 ,the vowel is the letter that kills2 the consonant is the spirit which vivifies4 ,bodily motion should be moderate2 too much motion wearies the preacher and the audience likewise1 and distracts their attention4 ,one may be eloquent without much gesticulation4 ,there is a famous preacher who generally speaks with his hand in his robes1 whose discourses1 nevertheless1 are very powerful4 444 ,here1 also1 the same reflection which was made above recurs to us2 namely1 that a profound passion is scarcely ever accompanied with agitation2 it is unmoved1 prostrate1 and does not manifest itself except by occasional sudden outbursts4 ,mistakes are often made on this score1 and that is thought to be a fervent sermon which is delivered with much bawling and much gesticulation4 #bfj ,it is true1 as ,m4 de ,cormenin remarks1 that the people are fond of expressive gestures1 such as are visible at a distance1 and above the heads of the congregation2 that they also like a powerful and thrilling voice2 444 but all this cannot be kept up long1 for preacher and hearers soon1 grow tired of it4 ,then1 again1 the people are fond of variety1 and a monotonous voice sends them to sleep4 ,that the delivery of a sermon should sometimes be accompanied with significant gestures1 and that emotion should occasionally vent itself in an outburst1 is all well enough2 but compress such power as much as possible1 so that it may be felt that you possess within your own soul a force threefold greater than you outwardly manifest4 444 ,the more vehement you wish your sermon to be1 the more you should restrain the air in its passage1 forcing it to make its way in thrilling explosions and a resounding articulation4 ,then many will fall by the sword of the word4 #c;dly4 ,action should be edifying4 ,the bearing of a man who speaks in the name of the ,gospel should be full of grace and truth4 ,it is most desirable that he should possess knowledge and talent1 but those endowments do not suffice2 he must possess1 in addition1 a virtuous1 yea1 even a holy exterior4 ,frenchmen are much more sensitive on this point than is usually thought4 ,a godly man at once inspires their respect and veneration2 and were a saint to appear in our midst1 it is certain that he would reproduce many of the scenes of the middle ages4 ,a saint is essentially a man beloved by the people1 because he is surrounded with a ,divine halo4 #bfa ,the ,christian orator makes his appearance with simplicity and modesty4 ,he kneels and bows profoundly1 rises up1 and then looks round upon his audience with a kindly expression1 devoutly makes the sign of the cross1 and then begins his sermon1 thinking only how to arrest the attention of his hearers4 ,the time is happily long gone by when the preacher used to enter the pulpit with great formality1 a flushed countenance1 and hair most carefully got up2 then place by his side a fine white handkerchief1 sometimes of costly silk1 which ever and anon he methodically passed over his face4 ,these airs no longer suit the times3 the preacher nowadays must not be engrossed with self1 with his handkerchief1 or his surplice1 or his hair2 neither must he cause others to be taken up with such trifles4 ,in the pulpit the man should disappear1 and the apostle alone be seen4 444 ,the people1 who have an exquisite notion of propriety1 are very sensitive on all such matters2 and ,god often derides our affected words and actions by rendering them vain and barren1 and by making use of the most insignificant things to convert the souls of men4 #bfb ,a converted ,parisian operative1 a man of a wilful but frank disposition1 full of energy and spirit1 who had often spoken with great success at the clubs composed of men of his own class1 was asked by the priest who had reconciled him to ,god to inform him by what instrumentality he who had once been so far estranged from religion had eventually been restored to the faith4 ,your doing so1 said his interrogator1 may be useful to me in my efforts to reclaim others4 ,i would rather not1 replied he2 for ,i must candidly tell you that you do not figure very conspicuously in the case4 ,no matter1 said the other2 it will not be the first time that ,i have heard the same remark4 ,well1 if you must hear it1 ,i can tell you how it took place1 in a few words4 ,a religicuse had pestered me to read your little book--pardon the expression3 ,i used to speak in that style in those days4 ,on reading a few pages1 ,i was so impressed that ,i felt a strong desire to see you4 ,i was told that you preached in a certain church1 and ,i went to hear you4 ,your sermon had some further effect upon me2 but to speak frankly1 very little1 comparatively1 indeed1 none at all4 #bfc ,what did much more for me was your open1 simple1 and good-natured manner1 and1 above all1 your ill-combed hair2 for ,i have always detested those priests whose heads remind one of a hair-dresser's assistant2 and ,i said to myself3 ,that man forgets himself on our behalf2 we ought1 therefore1 to do something for his sake4' ,thereupon ,i determined to pay you a visit1 and you bagged me4 ,such was the beginning and end of the affair4 ,the thought should never be absent from our minds that we preach the ,gospel1 and that the ,gospel is preeminent in inculcating love toward humanity4 ,away1 then1 with all domineering and dictatorial airs6 ,away with all violent language6 ,the people regard it as the ebullition of anger1 and are not at all edified thereby4 ,on the other hand1 in order to succeed1 the heart of the preacher must first be penetrated with what he teaches2 an appropriate accent will follow of itself4 ,there are men who carry about with them something godlike4 444 ,such men are eagerly listened to1 they are believed1 and then loved4 ,from what has been said1 it is obvious that we should train ourselves to obtain proficiency in action4 #bfd ,action is the manifestation of the thoughts of the soul through the medium of the body4 ,but the body often rebels and weighs down the soul2 and in this1 as well as in many other things1 requires to be suppled1 mortified1 disciplined to obedience4 ,however strong the soul may be1 it rarely gets the mastery over the body at the outset1 and does its part very inefficiently4 ,it is the same with soldiers4 ,when a young conscript first joins his regiment he is heavy and awkward1 and his military arms seem a burden to him4 ,six months later all this is changed3 he is quick and smart1 and carries his arms with quite a ,french grace4 ,the same transformation may be effected as regards public speaking4 ,one who has had considerable experience in the direction of seminaries1 has written the following2 which ,i feel it a duty to transcribe entire3-- ,it is incumbent on a preacher to possess oratorical action1 and to practise himself therein until he has acquired it4 ,conscience1 indeed1 must tell him that he ought not to neglect a matter on which the success of his ministry depends2 and that if1 to the mischief of men's souls1 theatrical actors spare no pains to attain perfection in action1 the preacher should strive1 with at least an equal zeal1 to become proficient in that respect for the good of men's souls4 ,what6 shall the ministers of ,god weaken by vicious action the force of all they say1 while the ministers of ,satan1 by consummate skill in action1 redeem the vanity of their speeches1 and impassion the souls of their audience6 ,surely1 this would be a disgrace to the clergy1 and an outrage on the word of ,god4 #bfe ,if it be objected that in the case under consideration art is useless1 because nature teaches what is needful1 we reply1 with ,quintilian3--,nihil licet esse perfcctum1 nisi ubi natura cur juvatur4 ,all talents are rude and unformed until the precepts of art refine and impart to them that polish which makes them valuable4 ,demosthenes had few natural gifts for public speaking2 but exercise and experience gave what nature had denied him4 ,if it be objected1 further1 that the ,apostles never learnt the rules of action1 we reply that they received the power of miracles--a more than adequate compensation for human eloquence4 ,that1 moreover1 they received the gifts of the ,holy ,spirit1 which enabled them to proclaim the ,gospel worthily4 ,that1 inspired by that ,divine ,spirit1 they were eloquent in action as well as in speech2 and that ,st4 ,paul would not have been listened to on the ,areopagus unless he had been able to captivate the eloquent people whom he addressed1 as well by external action as by the sublimity of his language4 ,saint ,charles directed that the candidates for holy orders in his seminary should be exercised several times a week in public speaking2 and the ,church has always followed the same practice4 ,the ,fathers also bestowed much attention on the formation of speech4 ,deprive me of every thing else1 says ,saint ,gregory of ,nazianzen1 but leave me eloquence1 and ,i shall never regret the voyages which ,i have made in order to study it4 ,footnote #bj ,footnote #bj3 ,trait de la ,prdication4 ,by ,m4 ,hamon1 ,cur de ,saint-,sulpice4 #bff ,what we are most deficient in is articulation--that powerful articulation which isolates1 engraves1 and chisels a thought 444 which fills the ear with harmony and the soul with truth2 which gives the orator an extraordinary power of animation1 by bringing into play the whole nervous system4 ,we have already remarked that the force of a word is entirely in the consonant1 whereas it is often laid on the vowel4 ,the emission of the vowel is the rude block2 the consonant is the artist's chisel1 which works it into a masterpiece4 444 ,it appears to be frequently imagined that it requires as much effort to discharge waves of air as to hurl a heavy club into space2 but it is not so in the least4 ,what is needed is that the air should be compressed and triturated1 and reduced into expressive and harmonious sounds4 ,it is from misapprehension on this score that so many preachers fume and tire themselves and others1 and that some appear like men who disgorge words which they have swallowed by mistake4 ,a little practice would prevent them from falling into these and similar aberrations4 #bfg ,at the same time1 we should not practise1 as is often done1 upon every sermon which we preach1 for by so doing we shall be apt to deliver them very badly4 ,it is scarcely in nature to prepare sentiments beforehand4 ,as ,m4 de ,cormenin satirically puts it3--,be impassioned1 thunder1 rage1 weep1 up to the fifth word1 of the third sentence1 of the tenth paragraph1 of the tenth leaf4 ,how easy that would be6 above all1 how very natural6 ,the course to be pursued is this3--we should practise ourselves in the delivery of the several parts of a discourse1 such as the expository1 the demonstrative1 and especially those which give expression to the different passions4 ,that done1 and when once in the pulpit1 such studies should cease to occupy the mind4 ,the exercise thus insisted on is practised in other professions4 ,men who devote themselves to the theatre1 cultivate their voices and their limbs4 ,young law students and advocates have their conferences1 where they train themselves to plead at the bar2 and yet those who are called to save souls neglect to cultivate the talents which ,god has given them6 ,this is the usual process3--,a young man composes a sermon while at college1 which is generally made up of odds and ends and quotations1 and in putting them together he does his best not to be himself4 ,with this stuff he mounts the pulpit1 it may be of a town church or even of a cathedral2 and behold him a full-fledged preacher6 ,and then1 forsooth1 astonishment is expressed because the faithful are bored1 and do not come to listen to us6 ,the wonder is that so many attend our sermons4 #bfh ,but let us be just3 all do not entertain this idea of sacred eloquence4 ,by certain religious orders1 the ,jesuits for example1 it is regarded in quite a different light4 ,i crave pardon for revealing their family secrets2 but it is for the good of souls4 ,a novice among the ,jesuits1 no matter what he may have been previously--whether a lawyer1 author1 preacher1 canon1 grand vicar1 bishop1 or even a cardinal--must attend a reading-class three or four times a week4 ,there he is made to read like a child1 is taught to articulate and accentuate1 and every now and then is stopped while those present are called upon to point out the merits and defects in his reading4 ,this training is persisted in until his pronunciation is perfect1 and he is free from all disagreeable accent4 ,but that is not all3 every ,monday during his noviciate1 or during the term of his studies1 that is1 for five1 six1 eight1 or ten years1 he has to undergo a training in the tones1 which consists in his being made to recite what is called the formula of the general tones--a short discourse1 comprising all the tones ordinarily used in oratorical compositions2 such as the tone of persuasion1 of menace1 of kindness1 of anger1 of the mercy and justice of ,god1 of prayer1 and of authority4 #bfi ,thereby the young preacher is taught how to supple1 to break in his own organism1 and to adapt it to those different tones4 ,after these come the special tones4 ,this consists of a short discourse1 to be composed in two hours on a given text1 and must contain certain specified strokes of oratory4 ,three or four of the younger novices are exercised in this way1 exclusive of the sermons which are preached in the refectory4 ,but the most profitable part of the exercise is this1 that after reciting his tones1 the preacher must remain in the pulpit while the master of the novices asks some of the spectators what they think of its substance1 form1 expression1 etc41 the poor patient being present and obliged to hear all his faults detailed4 ,this1 however1 is done in all charity2 and moreover1 his good qualities are pointed out in a similar way4 ,these are most interesting meetings4 ,they comprise1 besides young lawyers and ecclesiastics1 men of general experience1 logicians1 poets1 and preachers1 who are all invited to express their opinion with the greatest freedom4 ,the youngest are interrogated first2 for the young are naturally fastidious1 and generally find much to blame4 ,time1 however1 will correct them of that fault4 ,after these come the older novices1 then the ,jesuits well trained to preaching2 and lastly1 the master of the novices1 who sums up the different opinions elicited1 and then proceeds to expound the science4 #bgj ,it sometimes happens1 however1 that the judgments passed are so well formulated and so well based1 that1 despite his desire to criticise or to applaud1 the master is obliged to modify his own opinions4 ,when the young preacher leaves the pulpit1 he retires to note down his defects and merits1 which he is subsequently expected to read over from time to time4 ,one excellent feature in this exercise is the encouragement which it is designed to impart2 for besides pointing out defects1 no efforts are spared to develope in the novices the talents which ,god has given them4 ,they are made to understand that a man may do good even though he be subject to half a dozen drawbacks4 ,mistakes are often made on this score4 ,one qualification only may suffice to render a man a remarkable orator1 whereas another may be free from all obvious defects1 and yet be a sorry speaker4 ,the ,lord deliver us from a faultless preacher6 for he is generally a very bore1 as incapable of a trait of genius as he is of a blunder4 ,always intent on guarding against this and that defect1 he loses his personality4 ,he is no longer a man2 he is no longer a priest3 he is merely a scholar doing his recitation4 444 #bga ,in order to form a young speaker into a good preacher1 he should first be set to address the lower classes4 444 ,among such audiences he will be better able to discover his own special talent1 and to utilize his qualifications4 ,the ,jesuits pursue a similar course4 ,the young ,jesuit is sent to address the inmates of prisons and hospitals2 if in orders1 he is charged with missions in rural districts2 if unordained1 he is put to catechise2 but always accompanied by the indispensable socius1 who is not chary of criticising or applauding him4 ,it is doubtless owing to this training that the members of the ,society of ,jesus have acquired that standing1 power1 and unction for which they are so conspicuous4 ,another advantage of this training is that it teaches the science of life1 and imparts wisdom in forming opinions4 ,if a young priest has not thoroughly studied the difficulties of public speaking1 he is apt to think that the art of preaching consists in composing a sermon1 learning it by rote1 and then delivering it without tripping4 ,if he finds that he is considered to have acquitted himself tolerably well1 he is thenceforward disposed to dogmatize remorselessly1 and to tolerate no appeal from his irrevocable verdicts1 with all the stateliness of a man who has the satisfaction of not knowing what he says4 #bgb ,but when a man has studied and labored1 say1 for fifteen years1 he becomes more indulgent and moderate1 and begins to understand that there may be other ways of doing good besides his own4 ,a priest who was once called upon to preach before several others of the same profession1 complained that their presence rather embarrassed him4 ,whereupon one of our most celebrated orators remarked3--,it is far better for you to have to deal with a dozen of our first-rate preachers than with an equal number of curates or even collegians4 ,practice1 therefore1 is indispensable4 ,but it will be urged3 ,where is the time to come from8 ,one has so much to do during the four years passed at college1 and afterward in the work of the ministry4 ,very true2 still we are bound to pay attention to the most essential requirements of our vocation3 and should not preaching be of the number nowadays8 ,we learn dogmatic theology1 designed to serve as the ground-work for solid lectures2 but if nobody comes to hear them1 or if they send the audience to sleep8 444 ,ethics also are learnt1 and the solution of difficulties which occur at the confessional3 but what if the people do not come to confession8 444 ,it should ever be borne in mind that the object and aim of our studies is propter nos homines et propter nostram salutem4 ,then1 again1 might we not talk less about past heresies and errors1 and be more taken up with the time present8 #bgc ,might we not also devote less attention to those doubtful questions which are the great temptation as well as the great bane of professors of theology and philosophy1 who dilate at great length on the opposite opinions held regarding them1 never omitting to add their own1 and generally wind up somewhat in this style3 ,decide as you please8 ,i submit these considerations to the wisdom and piety of the directors of our colleges1 who are well aware that a priest should not be learned for himself only1 but should be capable of communicating what he knows to others1 and of securing their attachment to it4 ,things are taken for granted which no longer exist4 ,it is supposed that the churches are full1 that careless ,christians attend the services1 and that the confessionals are frequented2 all of which are often mere gratuitous assumptions4 ,something must be done before such notions are borne out by facts2 namely1 our priests must be taught how to attract men to the church and the confessional1 and then to instruct them when they are there4 ,lastly1 the young students might meet together during the vacations1 and mutually aid one another by their common experience4 ,parish priests might also meet in a similar manner1 and communicate to each other their reflections and the progress of their labors1 in all simplicity and charity1 just as young lawyers do4 #bgd ,then we might anticipate the happiness of seeing every thing that is false1 borrowed1 factitious1 artificial1 stiff1 vehement1 trite1 and noisy1 together with all unmeaning action1 monotony1 and ennui1 descend from the pulpit2 and of seeing their places occupied by the true1 the simple1 the natural1 the powerful3 in a word1 by the ,gospel4 #bge ,chapter ,,xi4 ,study4 ,study a ,duty ,the ,state of the ,world calls for ,knowledge on the part of the ,clergy4 ,knowledge has always been one of the ,glories of ,religion4 ,all the eminent ,men in the ,church were ,men of ,study4 ,reasons adduced for not studying1 answered3 ,want of ,leisure1 natural ,aptitude1 the ,plea of having already studied sufficiently1 that one is fully equal to the ,requirements of the ,people committed to his ,charge4 ,from what has been said above1 it will readily be inferred that much study is called for on our part--study of the sciences and study of mankind1 study of books and study of the human heart4 444 ,in order to attain a noble simplicity1 to acquire ease1 and to be natural1 a man must possess profound knowledge4 ,i even venture to say that a little study leads us away from the natural1 whereas much study conducts us to it4 ,but there are other and still stronger motives for study on our part3 namely1 duty1 and the salvation of mankind4 ,it has been said1 and that truly1 that piety is the first and most essential requirement4 ,we admit that it is so2 but genuine piety consists in the faithful discharge of the duties of one's station4 #bgf ,now1 it is absolutely impossible for a priest at the present day1 whatever position he may occupy1 to discharge his duty without an adequate amount of learning4 ,for1 what is a priest8 ,he is the depositary of the science of life1 and is debtor therein to every man4 ,he is bound to trace out the way for all2 for the small and great1 the young and aged1 the learned and ignorant1 the humble and proud together4 ,he is bound to confront human passions and errors1 to expose their wiles1 to withstand the assaults of vice1 and to enlighten the minds and win over the hearts of men by the power of the ,gospel4 ,a priest's need of knowledge is truly paramount4 444 ,hence the ,church has always recommended study4 ,the ,fathers were men of study2 the men whose genius has made them illustrious1 were studious men4 ,look at ,bossuet6 we boast of his fluency2 yes1 he was fluent2 but the thought of the life which he led up to a very advanced age is enough to make one tremble4 ,he generally rose at two in the morning1 to continue a task hardly interrupted4 ,let us not deceive ourselves in this matter3 the labors which have redounded to the glory of the ,church have been dearly bought4 #bgg ,bossuet's intense devotion to study was notorious4 ,one day his gardener accosted him thus3 ,monseigneur1 ,i am very much put out2 for ,i dig away and plant flowers1 and you do not take the least notice of them4 ,if ,i could plant some ,john ,chrysostoms or some ,saint ,augustines in my garden ,i should be much more successful4 ,even in our own times1 those priests who effect any real good are unremitting in their studies4 ,the rule which ,pre ,maccarthy prescribed for himself is appalling3--,my recreations1 said he1 must be short4 ,it is generally enough for me to walk about with a book in my hand1 or while ,i am reciting my prayers4 ,unprofitable talk and time misspent are crimes in a priest4 ,at the age of fifty1 he could no longer work seated1 owing to an infirmity brought on by doing a charitable act4 ,he lay down on a sheepskin spread in the centre of his room1 and there worked from ten to twelve hours a day4 ,we admire his success2 but we here see what it cost him4 ,we complain that the faithful do not come to our sermons2 have we made any such efforts as these8 ,let us do the men of our time this justice1 that whenever they come in contact with a priest possessing piety and knowledge--sound knowledge which is not acquired from books alone--he never fails to make a lively impression upon them4 ,on the other hand1 the men of the present day crave after knowledge3 it is one of their fancies4 ,are they right in this1 or are they to blame8 ,you may think as you please on the subject2 but we are1 nevertheless1 bound by the obligation of charity to become all things to all men1 that we may save all2 and among the means thereto1 knowledge is one of the most efficacious4 #bgh ,there are but two powers in the world nowadays3 namely1 the power of wealth and the power of talent4 ,the prestige of a name1 of authority1 and of dignity1 has passed away4 ,the fact is to be deplored2 but it is true4 ,what are we to do in consequence8 ,we must take men as they are1 in order to better them4 ,as regards the power of wealth1 we do not possess it2 and we are certainly not the worse for that4 ,we are for the most part poor1 the offspring of humble parents2 and what ,saint ,paul said of the first ,christians is applicable to us3--,not many mighty men1 not many noble1 are called4 ,we must array ourselves1 therefore1 on the side of the power of talent4 ,therewith we may secure a hearing1 and may succeed in reclaiming some to the faith4 444 ,there are two ways leading to religion3 many are led thereto by love1 and through the heart1 and many likewise by knowledge2 but when the two are conjoined1 incalculable good is the result4 ,a priest who is notoriously ignorant is already condemned3 he is morally dead1 whatever other excellent qualities he may possess4 ,he is stigmatized with some such remark as this3--,he is a worthy man1 but he knows nothing4 444 ,thenceforward1 what can you expect him to effect1 even among peasants1 who have heard that fatal verdict8 #bgi ,the world calls for knowledge from us1 and we are bound to supply it4 ,to that end1 we must study1 ,i do not say all human sciences1 but we should acquire some thoroughly1 especially those which bear upon our special duties2 and1 as regards others1 should not be what may be called ignorant of them4 ,it would be disgraceful1 for example1 if we were obliged to refer to laymen to explain to us the beauties of our church architecture1 or the symbols which decorate our ornaments4 ,frenchmen like a bold1 animated1 lively--a telling style of speech2 let us endeavor1 therefore1 to attain it4 444 ,the world comes to us2 let us meet it half way4 ,let us partake of its science1 and it will partake of our religion4 ,further1 knowledge has always been one of the greatest glories of the ,church4 ,at the period of the ,revolution of '#ic1 even according to the testimony of occasionally prejudiced historians1 there was an immense number of men among the clergy of ,france who were eminent for learning and talent4 ,nowadays1 we are called an admirable clergy--the first clergy in the world4 ,that sounds very well2 but it is a mere compliment3 that is1 we do not merit the eulogy4 ,let us lose no time in proving our claim to it in every respect4 #bhj ,but there is no lack of plausible reasons adduced for our dispensing with study4 ,good ,god6 the egregious mistakes and infirmities which speech has taken under its patronage ought to be well known by us4 ,on the point under consideration1 the reasons urged are various4 ,the first is3 ,we would gladly do it1 but1 really1 we have no time4 ,now1 let us be fair here4 ,this is quite true in some cases4 444 ,the labors and anxieties of the sacred ministry are absorbing1 and1 besides1 they cut up the little leisure which is left us after a conscientious discharge of our duty4 444 ,i say1 this is true sometimes2 but very often1 if we only had the will6 444 ,how is it with us1 whenever we have a strong desire for any thing8 444 ,put the question to the weakest among men1 and you will learn even from them1 that when they have the will they always find the way4 ,come along with me1 and ,i think we may succeed in picking up some scraps of time1 and1 perchance1 a large supply4 444 ,and1 first1 as regards those long dinners3 if you were to curtail a little from the commencement1 a little from the end1 and a small portion from the middle1 methinks what remained would be amply sufficient for that meal4 #bha ,dignity is brief in words1 and at dinner likewise2 feeling that it is endangered by exhibiting itself too long and too near in the midst of meats and drinks1 which savor little of ,gospel mortification3 without taking into account the poor1 who do not see us sitting down at sumptuous tables1 while they are hard at work and fare scantily4 444 ,and what shall we say of the numberless visits received and returned1 the cares which are self-imposed1 travelling1 certain kinds of reading1 and inordinate sleep8 ,in all these there is much scope for economy4 ,place an old academician1 or a compiler of works which nobody reads1 or a decipherer of illegible manuscripts1 or a bird-stuffer1 or the eternal collector of coins and butterflies1 in the same position1 and you will see how he will contrive to save therefrom five hours a day at least4 444 ,and we who are called to save men's souls6 444 ,oh1 idleness6 idleness6 ,that1 too1 is another of our calamities4 444 ,the serpent of indolence1 one of the vilest beasts in creation1 glides in everywhere4 444 ,what restrains us is this1 that we do not plunge into study2 that we have not the taste1 the passion for study4 ,we can only attain such a temper by hard work4 ,let us break through the first difficulties1 then the taste will come1 and ample time will be found4 444 ,the fact of a man having studied a good deal during his lifetime1 is another plea on the same side4 ,it may not be expressed1 but the flattering notion is nevertheless entertained that we have already acquired a certain amount of knowledge2 that the public are aware of it1 and have more than once complimented us on that score4 #bhb ,yes1 one has studied a good deal1 learnt a good deal1 and1 we may add1 forgotten a good deal4 444 ,nothing is so soon forgotten as a science which is not cultivated4 ,a strange habit obtains in this respect4 444 ,we judge of a man's abilities by what he was at college4 ,he had ability then2 but subsequently he learnt nothing1 and has forgotten much of what he did learn4 ,his knowledge has dwindled down to the wretched just enough3--a fact which is patent4 ,for all that1 he is still regarded as an able man4 444 ,another was rather backward at college1 but since then has worked1 striven1 and succeeded in enlarging his talents4 ,why should such an one be spoken of as unapt1 while we venture to think that we ourselves are well up in every thing1 because we were believed to know something fifteen years ago8 ,moreover1 it never seems to be borne in mind that college education merely gives us the key to knowledge and the taste for study4 ,but one is naturally endowed with great ingenuity2 what need is there1 then1 for so much application8 ,the ,lord deliver us from these gifted men6 ,they are long-winded1 tedious1 monotonous1 bombastic1 and any thing but natural2 bearing out what we said above1 that a little study removes us from the natural1 whereas much study draws us toward it4 #bhc ,our aim should be to have it remarked of our discourses3--,really1 all that is very simple1 and precisely what ought to have been said4 ,it is just what ,i should have said myself had ,i been called upon to speak4 ,but we shall not attain that stage without much painstaking4 ,sermons generally are worth what they cost2 and our most able men are those who study most4 ,the course sometimes pursued of restricting study to one special subject is a sorry habit4 ,it reminds one very much of a young man whose chief aim is to get his bachelor's degree4 ,but it is further urged3--,no complaints are made2 on the contrary1 people have been pleased to tell us that they are quite delighted with us4 ,good ,god6 and has not every one experienced the same6 ,who1 indeed1 has not been deluged with compliments8 ,do you know any one to whom the like has not happened8 ,it would be a great curiosity to discover a preacher1 however wretched1 tiresome1 and insipid he may be1 who has not found a few pious souls to bestow on him the alms of a small compliment1 or a small lie4 ,he is to be congratulated1 indeed1 if in addition thereto1 after having listened to one of our good preachers1 some of them do not come to him and say1 with all the subtlety of the serpent3--,yes1 his sermon was very grand1 it was magnificent2 still1 we like your excellent and charming little discourses much better4 #bhd ,there is no doubting one's ability after that2 and one is tempted to believe himself a ,ravignan1 or an unrecognized ,lacordaire4 444 ,one sees1 of course1 that there is some exaggeration in all this3 nevertheless he is fain to believe the half of it at least4 444 ,alas6 flattery is the ruin of kings--and of preachers also4 ,lastly1 we have this plea3--,i know quite enough to speak to my own people2 ,i shall always be superior to the good souls which are committed to my charge4 444 ,it is not superior to1 but in unison with them that you should be4 444 ,let us see1 however1 what your knowledge really is1 in connection with the good souls you speak of4 ,whenever you address them from the pulpit1 is their attention riveted8 do their countenances beam1 do their eyes glisten1 or are they moistened with tears8 ,do you hold them under the spell of your words8 ,do you possess their souls1 together with your own8 444 ,alas6 no1 you reply2 blockheads that they are2 they yawn1 they dread the sermon1 and are delighted on finding that at ,mass the ,gospel is immediately followed by the ,creed4 444 ,away to study6 then2 444 brush up your knowledge and your heart2 betake yourself once more to the study of your people2 find out their weak and their strong points2 study their minds1 their manner of looking at and apprehending things2 and then you will come forth to proclaim the truth pithily and powerfully1 and will take up your proper position4 #bhe ,the general impression1 however1 appears to be that a preacher has but to open his mouth and the people should listen to him with ecstasy2 otherwise they are called dull and stupid4 ,instead of speaking to them a language which they understand1 they are treated to a theological theme amplified2 whereon they remark3--,all that is undoubtedly very grand2 but it does not concern us4 ,or1 as an operative once said3--,if that is the word of ,god1 it is not addressed to us2 it must be intended for the rich4 444 ,study1 then1 is necessary to qualify us for doing good to all2 even to the lower orders1 the poorest and meanest4 ,we have remarked elsewhere1 that it is more difficult to preach to the ignorant than to the literary3 more preparation is required4 ,hence it is that there are more men fitted to address the upper than the lower classes2 and yet the latter form nearly the whole of the community4 444 ,be it ours1 then1 to attain that superiority which knowledge confers2 whereby also we shall be able to lay hold of both small and great1 through the medium which they severally offer for being so secured4 ,the world thirsts for knowledge2 let us give them knowledge2 let us make ourselves masters of knowledge1 for then we shall undoubtedly be stronger than the world4 #bhf ,we shall then be invested with a twofold power3 the power of human and the power of ,divine knowledge4 ,the world possesses the power of human speech only2 we shall possess that1 and the power of ,god's word likewise4 ,in a word1 the world possesses the earth2 absolutely nothing but the earth3 we1 too1 shall possess the earth and heaven besides4 #bhg ,chapter ,,xii4 ,zeal4 ,the ,excellency of ,zeal4 ,love for the ,body should be coupled with ,love for the ,soul4 ,the ,zeal of the ,wicked4 ,how ,zeal should be exercised4 ,associations of ,apprentices1 of ,operatives4 ,conferences of ,saint ,vincent de ,paul1 of ,domestics1 of ,clerks1 of the ,young4 ,circulation of good ,books4 ,happy results of the same4 ,the ,advantages and ,difficulties of ,opposition4 ,great ,occasions4 ,there is a sentiment which should sustain us1 and infuse life into all that has been above set forth2 into our studies1 our composition1 and into the ,divine word3 namely1 ,zeal4 ,zeal is power1 joy1 happiness1 expectation1 reward and salvation1 to the priest and to humanity generally4 ,we need not stop to prove the necessity of zeal4 444 ,it is enjoined on all men3--,unicuique mandavit ,dominus de proximo suo4 444 ,is a priest who is without zeal a priest at all8 ,is not such an one rather a mere man8 ,he is placed here solely to keep up the sacred fire which the ,lord ,jesus brought down to earth2 and what must a cold and insensible priest be nowadays in the midst of those who are perishing through the vices which fret and consume them8 ,he is an almost inconceivable contradiction4 444 #bhh ,one of the glories of ,christianity is its zeal in ministering to the wants of the body3 a charitable service1 wherein the priest takes a conspicuous part4 ,but of what avail is it to succor the body1 if the soul is neglected8 ,of what use is it to go forth proclaiming charity6 charity6 if the soul1 the most sensitive and suffering part of mankind1 is abandoned to endless misery8 ,who can fail to be touched with compassion at the sight of so many poor creatures who drudge and wear themselves out1 who go and come1 who endure and curse1 unconsoled and hopeless8 ,the greater part of them1 notwithstanding1 are not vicious4 ,some are ignorant1 others are led astray2 444 many waver between the good and the bad1 only waiting for a kindly word to be addressed to them2 for an outstretched hand2 for some great stream of good to pass by them1 and carry them away in its current4 ,how gladly would they follow it6 ,well1 be it ours to create such currents of truth and virtue2 be it ours to confront human errors and passions1 and to arrest their onward progress4 ,i fancy that we stick too closely to our own snug corners1 and to our own ideas4 ,yes1 we stand apart6 444 and1 regarding the world's progress from thence1 we naturally find that it goes on most unsatisfactorily4 #bhi ,very likely3 444 we suffer it to be led by evil passions2 444 whereas we should take our stand in the breach as ,moses did2 confront the invading vices and lusts1 come to a hand-to-hand struggle with them1 and cry out to them with the mighty voice of ,god3--,stop6 stop6 you shall not carry away these souls1 for they are not yours1 but ,christ's2 ,he has bought them1 and redeemed them with his blood6 444 ,if such courage1 such resolution1 such vigor as this was more common amongst us1 the aspect of the world would speedily be changed4 ,but1 alas6 our good qualities are feeble2 we have lost the power to will2 we allow ourselves to be carried away in the stream4 ,what is wanted nowadays to direct the world is not knowledge so much as it is will4 444 ,where1 indeed1 are we to look for men with a will8 444 ,if we needed any additional consideration to stimulate our zeal1 we might say to ourselves3--,let us observe the world2 let us see how the wicked act4 ,the wicked1 indeed1 afford us ,christians some most humiliating and painful lessons1 enough to make us hide our faces from very shame2 so much so1 that we can wish nothing better than that the best amongst us might possess that zeal for what is good which the wicked evince for what is evil4 #bij ,we censure the wicked1 and are right in doing so2 but let us at any rate do them this justice1 that they are adepts in their profession3 444 they profess their opinions boldly2 444 they are zealous and active2 444 they are energetic1 and ready to sacrifice every thing1 repose1 money1 liberty1 even life itself4 444 ,then1 how adroit they are6 how expert in making themselves great with the great1 and little with the little6 ,a pernicious book appears 444 forthwith it is put into an attractive shape and embellished with fine engravings 444 ,there it is1 to suit the rich and the drawing-room4 444 ,next1 an ordinary edition at a moderate cost is prepared for the middle classes1 for reading-rooms1 and for the counter2 and then a popular edition--copies to be had at four sous each--for the workshop and the cottage4 ,a man recently converted1 avowed that he had contributed in three years no less a sum than #cj1jjj francs in the dissemination of such books4 ,and we6 444 we ,christians1 who know the worth of men's souls1 whose duty it is to save them1 rest satisfied with a few slender efforts1 directed often by mere routine6 ,shall we continue any longer inactive at the sight of the torrents of vice and error which are hurrying our brothers on to the abyss8 ,would that be to have faith8 ,would that be to have charity8 ,would that be to love ,god and our neighbor8 444 ,but how should this zeal be carried out into practice8 ,that is the important question4 444 ,in the first place1 associations should be formed4 ,in these days we cannot dispense with them4 #bia ,society must be taken up in detail1 ameliorated part by part1 and then formed into a compact structure2 for a good community can only be composed of good elements4 ,these objects may be attained through the medium of associations4 ,there should be such for all ages3 associations of children1 of apprentices1 of operatives1 of ,saint ,vincent de ,paul1 of the ,sainte ,famille1 ,footnote #ba etc4 ,they benefit all1 the members and the directors also4 ,footnote #ba3 ,see the ,manuel de ,charit1 and the ,livre des ,classes ,ouvrires for the details and manner of establishing and conducting these associations4 ,how comes it that there are not associations of young apprentices in all the towns of ,france8 ,how comes it that any town dares to be without one8 ,what strange beings we are sometimes6 ,we surround children with the most tender and assiduous care up to the time of confirmation1 and then1 at the most critical age1 when their passions begin to cross them1 we launch them forth1 without support and without counterpoise1 into that pestilential atmosphere called the workshop2 and then we wonder1 and say naively that they do not persevere in the right path4 444 ,pray1 can they be expected to persevere when thus left to their own resources8 444 ,you1 with all your religious knowledge1 with all your acquired virtues1 with all your experience and age1 would you do so in their place8 ,i defy you to persevere under such circumstances4 #bib ,an affiliated society of ,saint ,vincent de ,paul should exist everywhere1 even in the most retired corner of ,france4 ,it already comprises five hundred conferences4 ,they have been founded in the country1 where they do a vast amount of good4 ,no town or village1 at least1 should be without its conference4 ,it is sometimes urged that the elements are wanting4 ,that must be a wretched town or hamlet which can not muster three ,god-fearing and charitably disposed individuals4 ,moreover1 no town should be without its association of operatives4 ,there can no longer be any excuse on this head4 ,they exist elsewhere1 are in active operation1 and effect much good in many places4 ,the way to form and direct them is well known4 ,we have our associations of girls and grown-up women2 but the men1 the poor men1 are overlooked1 neglected1 and cast aside4 444 ,lastly1 we should have an association of the ,saint ,famille--an association for the poor4 ,the poor are so miserable as they are owing to the ignorance and moral abandonment in which they live4 444 ,an association tends to enlighten1 to support1 to elevate them2 as also to bring charity into play4 ,let no one tell us that he lacks time for this object4 #bic ,time is given you especially for the service of the poor2 your first duty is to evangelize the poor4 444 ,on the other hand1 are you anxious to benefit the rich1 to touch their hearts1 to gain their confidence1 or even to secure their adoration--,i say1 is such your desire8 ,if so1 busy yourselves on behalf of the poor1 devote yourselves to the service of the poor1 be popular in a holy sense2 then1 instead of vegetating in the midst of your fine phrases and isolation1 you will live in the fulness of life4 ,you will see around you outstretched hands1 willing hearts1 and open purses1 and will hear many a voice applauding and cheering you with a cordial ,well done6 take courage6 ,you will be driven to humble yourself before ,god1 saying3 ,depart from me1 for ,i am a sinful man1 ,o ,lord4 ,yes1 let us be just toward the wealthy classes1 toward the world generally1 and even toward those who do not practise religion at all4 ,whenever they fall in with a priest who is friendly to the poor1 they are ready to pay him a large tribute of respect and veneration2 and nothing so much resembles love toward ,god as the love which is shown toward one of ,his ministers4 ,other associations might also be formed with advantage4 ,for example1 in towns1 a servants association2 but as humility is not one of our virtues1 either among high or low1 it might be called the ,household ,association4 #bid ,it might meet on ,sunday--say once a month--and one would have an opportunity of telling that class a host of truths which could not well be spoken elsewhere2 and these poor people1 who are more and more disposed to treat their masters as enemies1 might be set right4 ,it is much to be regretted that a hostile party is being formed in families2 which1 under certain circumstances1 might prove highly dangerous4 ,on the other hand1 all the fault does not come from below4 ,nothing now but interest binds the master to his servant1 and servants attach themselves to those who give the highest wages4 ,as to probity1 fidelity1 and discretion1 where are they to be found8 444 ,masters are not only robbed1 they are outraged4 ,further1 a mothers' association4 ,the duties of a mother1 more especially among the lower classes1 are very arduous4 ,she requires to be enlightened1 encouraged1 stirred up1 and perhaps rebuked4 ,such an association would afford eligible opportunities for telling them many things which could not be appropriately delivered before a mixed assembly4 ,it is a great misfortune for a family when the husband forgets himself and his duties2 but when the wife gives way1 all is lost4 ,is she not1 indeed1 the guardian of religion and virtue at the domestic hearth8 ,the attempt thus suggested has been made at ,bordeaux and elsewhere with perfect success4 ,footnote #bb ,footnote #bb3 ,see the ,manuel de ,charit4 #bie ,there are two other associations which should by all means be established in large towns3 namely1 an association of young clerks1 and an association of those young persons who are called shop-girls or girls of the counter4 ,these two classes are most shamefully neglected2 hence their morality is generally nil 444 and from the large towns they go to the smaller towns1 and into the larger villages1 where they help to form that egotistical1 sensual1 ,voltairian1 excitable1 and vain shop-class1 ever ready to disseminate the vicious lessons which they have acquired4 ,it would be easy to form these associations4 ,there would be no difficulty as regards the young females4 ,with respect to the men1 all that is required is a good nucleus2 which would soon be increased by those who are at a distance from their homes4 ,families are often pained at being obliged to launch a young man alone into a great city1 and would feel much happier on learning that there would be some to protect him against being led astray1 and who would help him on in his new career4 ,almost all the young people who come up from the country are ,christians up to the time of leaving their homes4 ,some genial title might be given to the association1 which would make it attractive4 ,another great field for the exercise of zeal is the diffusion of good books4 ,footnote #bc ,footnote #bc3 ,see the ,manuel de ,charit under the chapter headed ,les ,bibliothques4 #bif ,this kind of ministration has not been adequately or generally appreciated hitherto4 ,the ministry of the word1 which is proclaimed in our churches1 is recognized2 but that of the word which1 in the guise of a good book1 goes and sits down at the domestic hearth1 is not understood as it should be4 ,we are1 however1 making some progress in this respect2 and ,i trust that the magnitude of existing evils may stir us up to greater activity1 and that after being thoroughly beaten we shall rise up again as becomes ,christians4 ,the ,christian of the present day is not constitutionally brave2 he is rather timid1 is subject to a number of little infirmities1 and does all he can to reconcile duty with interest4 ,but when he perceives that he has been wronged1 when he is driven to extremes1 he falls back upon himself1 recovers his strength1 and stands up for the faith4 ,then he is grand and bold2 then he defends himself1 resists1 assails1 and triumphs even in death4 ,the time has come for us to avail ourselves of that tremendous engine which ,providence has introduced into the world for good and for evil4 ,has not the ,press injured us enough already8 ,has it not already thrown blood and scum enough at humanity and religion8 ,are not the two hundred millions of pernicious books scattered throughout ,france enough8 ,is not the world sufficiently estranged from the ,church already8 ,what do we wait for8 #big ,a powerful means of doing good is here placed within our reach4 ,don't be deceived2 almost every body reads nowadays4 ,mistakes1 however1 are frequently made on that score4 ,a preacher gives a retreat ,footnote #bd in a country district1 and is told by the cur that his people do not read4 ,as the exercises progress1 heaps of books are forth coming of so abominable a description that the like are not to be found in the purlieus of ,paris--books the very titles of which are an outrage on public morality4 ,footnote #bd3 ,a series of special religious services4 ,,ed4 ,let us here recall to mind what has already been stated1 that there are now in ,france from eighteen to twenty millions more persons able to read than there were at the end of the eighteenth century4 ,but it is urged that good books are not read4--,that in a great measure depends on the quality of the books4 ,further1 that after reading them1 men are just the same as they were4 ,not always2 and who can tell but that some thought has taken root in their minds which in time will bear fruit8 ,there are books which have wrought many conversions2 which in the course of a few years have reclaimed more individuals than our most celebrated preachers have converted during their lives4 #bih ,i may instance one which is universally known1 which has been and still is the angel of good to many perishing sinners2 yes1 and such sinners too6 such men6 ,you have already guessed the title of the book alluded to--it is the ,etudes ,philosophiques by ,m4 ,nicholas4 ,footnote #be ,footnote #be3 ,a person holding a high position wrote to the author of the above-named work as follows3--,from being wholly indifferent to religion1 you have made me1 in a fortnight1 a fervent ,christian1 one sincerely repentant1 and firmly determined to lead a holy life4 444 ,another addressed him thus3--,i owe a great share of my restoration to your book1 which ,i shall try and induce all my relations and friends to read4 ,sober town curs have expressed to us their belief that they have effected more good among their people by means of their libraries1 than by their sermons and all the other resources of the ministry combined4 ,but these books should be selected with great care3 nevertheless1 very little attention is bestowed on that point4 ,how strange6 ,one takes great pains about a sermon1 which will be heard at most by a few hundreds of individuals1 and no care is exercised in the selection of a book which will go to speak of ,god to the thousands who do not frequent the ,church6 ,at the yearly distribution of prizes in ,france1 twelve hundred thousand volumes are given gratuitously to respectable schools4 #bii ,what a vast amount of good might be done through that channel1 if the books were well chosen6 ,what a mass of profitable reading might be introduced thereby among families6 ,but as it is1 the works are taken up at random4 ,a book receives a bishop's approval2 which is deemed amply sufficient to warrant its adoption4 ,it may be barren of ideas1 tiresome1 nothing more than a bad religious romance2 it may even be dangerous3 no matter1 it is given away1 notwithstanding all those defects4 ,but what is passing strange is the fact that this is done by men who have a religious vocation1 who are otherwise most distinguished1 and who are intrusted with the education of the children of the upper classes4 ,it would seem1 indeed1 as if we were bent on verifying the assertion of our adversaries1 that the pious possess no other than a contemptible and humdrum literature4 ,it would be an act of intelligent zeal to remedy these aberrations4 ,lastly1 another way of promoting the diffusion of good books is to give men a personal interest in the undertaking4 ,authors and publishers should be amply commended and remunerated for their coperation2 and the trade--if you choose to call it so--made subservient to the good work4 ,let those1 also1 who sell such books make large profits by the sale4 ,generally speaking1 success is not best attained by acting alone1 but by securing and availing ourselves of the assistance of others4 ,we often make too much fuss about our proceedings1 and should effect twice as much if we fussed one half less4 #cjj ,but it will be urged3--,such associations cannot be formed without self-sacrifice and money2 besides1 they will encounter opposition4 ,undoubtedly they will2 and so much the better4 ,opposition and calumny are the rod which ,god uses to drive us onward4 444 ,if there be opposition1 then there will be courage too2 and many other noble qualities will be elicited4 ,is it so1 ,i ask1 that we are called to vulgarly follow the masses8 444 ,there is a class of well-disposed people1 who appear to have no misgivings as to what ,christianity is1 who1 nevertheless1 give expression to their supineness with a charming navet4 ,you propose some good work to them2 they reply at once3 ,excuse me2 there will be obstacles in the way2 the time has not yet come for such things2 and1 moreover1 ,i should not like to put myself forward in matters of that kind1 for it might place me in an awkward position4 ,one feels tempted on these occasions to ask the apologist3--,are you a ,christian8 ,you may do so1 and the ready reply will be3--,yes1 by the grace of ,god4 ,what1 then1 do you understand by being a ,christian8 ,one who believes in the doctrine of ,christ1 has been baptized4 444 #cja ,now1 listen to what the doctrine of ,christ is3 ,blessed are they who are persecuted4 ,blessed are ye when men shall revile you1--when they shall drag you before the rulers of the people4 444 ,i think there is a prevailing tendency to regard those texts of ,holy ,writ which embarrass us as mere rhetorical figures4 ,men talk of the possibility of being placed in a false position--that the time has not come--that there will be opposition1 etc4 ,in like manner1 when ,christ sent ,his apostles to convert the world1 might they not also have said3--,but1 ,lord1 the world is not prepared2 it is still so insensible4 ,besides1 we shall encounter opposition8 444 ,or1 when their shoulders were beaten with rods1 might they not have felt justified in saying3-- ,let us return to our own quiet life1 for this only brings us into difficulties4 ,is not a priest's life essentially a militant life8 ,is not the priest a soldier8 ,what would be said1 what would be thought of a soldier who1 on hearing the alarm1 the enemy6 to arms6 should coolly reply3--,stop1 there will be opposition2 the enemy will resist and assail us with musketry and artillery8 ,there would only be one name for such a soldier in ,france--he would be called a coward4 #cjb ,but no such soldier is to be found amongst us2 on the contrary1 at the bare thought of opposition and resistance to be encountered1 his courage rises1 his heart leaps1 he runs1 he strikes1 he conquers1 or he dies a glorious death4 ,that is what a priest ought to be2 444 better still2 he should feel that he is safe beneath the power of the ,almighty2 and be like a general who maintains perfect calm while shot1 shell1 and death1 are flying around him in every direction4 ,good ,god6 what have we to do with peace8 ,peace will never be yours4 444 ,talk of peace to men who are conquerors6 444 ,was it not said in a celebrated harangue3--,we are the first soldiers 444 and yet they come to talk to us of peace6 ,the priest is a jeopardized1 a sacrificed man1 dead to the life of this world1 to whom it has been said3--,go and defend such a post1 and die to save1 not an army1 but humanity4 ,be assured1 then1 that you will never have peace1 because human passions will eternally war against you4 ,we have borrowed two things from the present age--and those by no means the best of what it possesses--which do us a vast amount of injury4 ,the first is1 a profound weakness of character1 which prefers a petty1 vulgar1 and rather sensual existence1 disposing us to lead the life of a retired tradesman4 ,the second is a tendency to officialism4 ,we blame that tendency in others2 but are we not somewhat bureaucratic ourselves8 ,we consider those among us to be great men who are what is called good administrators4 #cjc ,the accessory has usurped the place of principal4 ,administration is every thing3 in certain localities it stifles the sacred ministry4 ,if ,saint ,paul himself were to return to earth1 he would hardly be deemed fit to be the cur of a canton1 unless he was judged to be well versed in administration4 ,yet when ,christ placed ,saint ,peter at the head of ,his ,church1 he did not put the question to him3--,canst thou administer well8 but1 ,lovest thou ,me8 lovest thou ,me8 ,art thou quite sure that thou lovest ,me8--that is1 ,dost thou know how to save the souls of men8 how to devote thyself1 how to die for their sakes8 ,this brings us back again to the subject of zeal4 ,there are many earnest-minded priests in ,france--most admirable men in every respect4 ,among the laity also1 there is no lack of zeal1 devotion1 and the spirit of self-sacrifice 444 ,a ,christian who has no zeal is not tolerated3 in fact1 there is much more of it than is generally supposed4 ,now1 something like this frequently happens3--,on going to a town which has hitherto exhibited no signs of zeal1 you ask the priest3--,how comes it that you have no associations1 no society of apprentices1 of operatives1 or of the ,sainte ,famille8 ,what are you about8 ,it is a shame6 444 ,he will reply3--,how can ,i help it8 ,i have no colleagues1 and no laymen are available4 #cjd ,besides1 our people do not like to be drawn out of their old habits3 it is not with us as it is elsewhere4 444 ,you then make the same observations to the laymen1 and they immediately answer3--,pray1 don't mention it1 for it is not our fault4 ,we should like nothing better2 but we have no priests to take the lead1 and to tell us how to act4 ,our priests are excellent men in their way1 but they cannot step out of their routine4 ,it should be our endeavor1 therefore1 to bring priests and laymen together2 then there will be a mutual understanding between them1 and both will heartily coperate in doing good4 ,for1 at any cost1 we must save souls4 ,that is our duty1 our joy1 our crown1 that whereon our whole future depends2 and what is said of men of the world1 who have made a false step in life1 will be said of the priest who fails in that respect--he has lost his chance4 ,we should take advantage of every opportunity to benefit the souls of men2 to enlighten1 to reclaim1 to reconcile them4 ,a confirmation1 for example1 associated as it is with so many sweet and sad reminiscences1 offers a most eligible occasion for such efforts4 ,but beware of all vulgar vituperation of unbelievers1 or of the parents4 ,they are on the look-out for such tirades1 and have already hardened their hearts and their faces against them4 ,rather aim at their hearts1 where they least expect an attack1 and where they are not prepared to resist you4 #cje ,after stating that ,god will require a strict account of parents for the manner in which their children have been brought up1 turn at once to the parents and say3-- ,do not be alarmed1 for ,i am not going to reproach you4 ,i would not disturb your present happiness4 ,i would not detract one iota from your gratification4 ,enjoy it thoroughly1 for you have a right to it2 it is but a slender recompense for all your pains4 ,look at your children1 they are happy1 and they owe their happiness to religion4 ,no1 ,i cannot bring myself to utter any thing which might trouble you on this occasion2 for it must have cost you pain enough already to see your children go alone to the holy table1 absolutely like orphans1 while you yourselves stand apart1 and are driven to say3--',yes1 my child is worthy to be there1 but ,i am not4 444 ,i say1 such a reflection as this must have caused you intense sorrow4 ,nevertheless1 you are not so much estranged from religion as you may think3 ,god is not far from you4 ,one always loves his child's friend1 and your child's best friend is ,god4 444 ,can you repel religion1 can you repulse ,god himself1 whom we are about to send to you this evening in the angelic form of a dearly loved child8 ,draw near then to the ,gospel 444 carry away with you1 at least1 some pious sentiment1 some wholesome regret1 some incipient desire after that which is good4 444 ,adopt some such strain as this1 and your words will not be in vain4 #cjf ,similar efforts might be made on the termination of the special services for ,lent and the great ecclesiastical seasons1 and on other extraordinary occasions also4 ,after congratulating those who have profited by the means of grace1 be careful to abstain from upbraiding or denouncing those who have abused them4 ,such a course is low and vulgar1 and does much harm4 ,on the contrary1 do all you can to encourage and touch the hearts of all4 ,i may suggest the following4 ,say what a pious and zealous religieux once said to his audience1 at the end of a home mission3-- ,brethren1 ,i am going to tell you an anecdote4 ,it is not true1 for the details are impossible4 ,it is merely a parable4 ,it is alleged that there is a country near the north pole1 where it is so cold that words are frozen as they issue from the lips4 ,if two men placed apart at a certain distance attempt to converse1 they do not hear one another1 for their words freeze in the air4 ,but when spring comes1 then their words are heard4 ,brethren1 it is cold too and icy round your souls1 and our words freeze2 but when spring comes1 when ,god's sun shall shine1 then these our words will thaw and penetrate into your hearts1 even though it be not till the hour of death4 #cjg ,thus1 let there be an outburst of love and kindliness toward those who have been edified by the means of grace1 and a still larger and more affectionate appeal to those who seemingly have not profited thereby4--,what shall ,i say to you8 ,shall ,i address you in the language of severity8 ,i might claim the right to do so in ,god's name2 but certainly ,i have no desire to avail myself of that prerogative4 ,i prefer holding out a hand to you2 ,i prefer pitying1 commiserating your misfortune4 ,it would have been delightful for me to have been the instrument of your salvation2 but you would not let me save you4 ,doubtless1 ,god has not judged me worthy2 although my mission here embraced you also4 444 ,another1 ,i trust1 will be more successful4 444 ,be assured that ,i entertain no ill-will toward you3 ,i do not denounce you2 on the contrary1 ,i shall ever pray for you4 ,draw a little nearer toward religion4 ,in your calmer moments you sometimes say3--',i do not wish to die without the consolations of religion4 ,were ,i to fall sick1 ,i should send for a priest4 ,well1 then1 dispose yourself to return to the right path3 curb your passions1 and break off those habits which poison your existence4 ,above all1 do not be a stumbling-block to your children4 #cjh ,how often1 as you well know1 alas6 are fathers the ruin of their offspring4 ,therefore have pity on your children1 and on your wives also2 for ,i whisper it to you that you are said to be sometimes harsh toward them4 ,ah1 the poor wives6 such treatment must be very painful to them3 they who have already suffered and endured so much4 ,that is the way to appeal to the hearts of men6 ,such are the joys of the sacred ministry6 ,they are the only joys vouchsafed to us3 and yet can we dare to complain8 ,are they not the most delectable joys which earth can afford8 ,to have committed to him the souls of poor sinners to save1 to love1 and to bless2 to be charged with condescending toward his erring brethren2 gathering them in his arms amidst the miseries and sufferings of this life1 and of leading them to the truth1 to virtue1 and to heaven1 is not this the sweetest enjoyment which a priest's heart can desire8 ,was it not to that end that he bade adieu to the world and left his father and his mother in tears8 444 ,o holy joys of the sacred ministry1 how little are they known and felt by any of us6 ,it is painful1 doubtless1 to have to stir up sin-sick souls2 but when at the cost of much self-sacrifice we are able to benefit but one such soul1 with what overflowing gratitude shall we thank ,god1 and say3 ,may ,all ,my ,days ,be ,like ,this ,day6 -------- #cji ,books ,published ,by ,the ,catholic ,publication ,society4 ,the ,life ,and ,sermons ,of ,the ,rev4 ,francis ,a4 ,baker1 ,priest of the ,congregation of ,st4 ,paul1 ,edited by ,rev4 ,f4 ,a4 ,hewit4 ,one volume1 crown octavo1 pp4 #ejd1 #b4ej ,extracts ,from ,notices ,of ,the ,press4 ,father ,baker was a lovely boy1 a wise and thoughtful youth1 and a devout servant of ,christ4 ,the son of a ,methodist1 the graduate of a ,presbyterian college1 he became first an ,episcopal clergyman1 and then a ,catholic priest4 ,in all these changes1 he everywhere won love2 and whatever were the peculiarities of his character1 he was a sincerely good and thoroughly pure man1 and deserved the tribute which this remarkably appreciative and tender biography pays him4-- --,new-,york ,watchman4 ,after ,newman's ,apologia and ,robertson's ',life'1 the memoir contained in this volume is perhaps the most respectable clerical biography that we have met for a long time4 ,we recommend such persons as have already attained to settled principles1 and who may have an opportunity1 to give the ,memoir itself a thorough perusal4 ,it is rich in personal reminiscences4 ,it is1 at the same time1 like the ',apologia'1 both an argument and a biography4 --,christian ,times4 ,father ,hewit's biography of his deceased friend is a most noticeable piece of writing4 ,it is as impartial as could be expected1 and has a marked local interest from its allusions to local affairs in religious circles4 ,a great part of it is occupied with an elaborate view of the ,oxford1 or1 as it is familiarly called here1 the ,puseyite movement1 and of its effect on this country4 ,the conversion of ,bishop ,ives1 the remarkable scenes at the ordination of ,rev4 ,arthur ,carey1 the movement toward a ,protestant ,oriental bishopric at ,constantinople1 in which ,bishop ,southgate was engaged1 and various other features in recent church history1 all are described1 rendering the biography of marked interest to ,episcopalians as well as to ,catholics2 while the history of ,father ,baker is a curious study of the operation of religious belief on a young1 vigorous1 and active mind4 --,new-,york ,evening ,post4 #caj ,the portrait which forms the frontispiece to this volume appears to represent one of the contemplative1 saintly1 seraphic spirits of the early ages of ,christianity1 rather than a man whose life was cast amid the bustle and activity and worldly-mindedness of the nineteenth century4 ,the impression is confirmed by the perusal of the memoir4 ,it introduces us to a type of character which is rare in these days1 and reminds us of a strain of mediaeval music4 444 ,the sermons are remarkable for the earnestness of their spirit1 the simple and vigorous eloquence of their style1 and their frequent beauty of conception and illustration4 ,the biography1 by his bosom friend and companion1 is an athletic piece of composition1 controversial and aggressive in its tone1 abounding in personal episodes1 and presenting a spirited and impressive sketch of the movement in which both the author and the subject have been prominent actors4 ,the volume1 of course1 possesses a paramount interest for ,catholic readers1 but it forms too remarkable an illustration of some important features in the religious tendencies of the day not to challenge a wide attention from intelligent observers4 --,new-,york ,tribune4 ,this is the very best edition1 as regards typographical skill1 that has as yet been issued of any ,catholic work in this country4 --,boston ,pilot4 ,his sermons are brief1 addressed to the common heart and reason of his hearers1 and remarkably free from clerical assumptions of authority4 ,the sermon on ,the ,duty of ,growing in ,christian ,knowledge is liberal and philosophical to a degree not usual in the pulpits of any denomination4 --,new-,york ,nation4 ------ ,,ii4 ,the ,works ,of ,the ,most ,rev4 ,john ,hughes1 ,d4,d41 ,first ,archbishop of ,new-,york1 containing ,biography1 ,sermons1 ,letters1 ,lectures1 ,speeches1 etc4 ,carefully ,compiled from the ,best ,sources1 and ,edited by ,lawrence ,kehoe4 ,this important work makes two large volumes of nearly #aejj pages4 ,the editor has spared neither labor nor expense to have it as correct and as complete as it is possible to make a work of the kind4 ,the prominent position occupied for so many years by ,archbishop ,hughes makes this a highly important work2 his views on all the general questions of the day so eagerly read at the time--are here collected and presented to the ,catholic public in two elegant volumes1 which are indispensable to every library of ,american ,catholic ,literature4 ,price1 ,cheap ,edition4 ,two volumes1 #hvo1 cloth1 #f4jj ,fine ,edition1 ,on ,extra ,paper4 ,two volumes1 cloth1 bevelled1 #h4jj ,two volumes1 half morocco1 bevelled1 #aj4jj ,two volumes1 half calf1 extra1 #ab4jj #caa ,extracts ,from ,notices ,of ,the ,press4 ,opening these volumes1 the first thing that strikes us is the vast energy1 the indomitable resolution1 the all-embracing zeal of this great prelate4 ,no subject affecting the interests of ,catholics was beneath his notice4 ,the collection of such a vast pile of materials is in itself an arduous and laborious task1 and when collected the arrangement and collation of the documents were a work of time and trouble1 requiring both judgment and discrimination2 both these qualities are apparent in the contents of the two large volumes before us4 --,new-,york ,tablet4 ,the editor deserves great credit for the care1 industry1 and taste with which he prepared his work4 ,baltimore ,catholic ,mirror4 ,this is one of the most carefully prepared1 as well as most interesting1 contributions to ,american and ,catholic history4 --,boston ,pilot4 ,every ,catholic should provide himself with a copy of the works1 because they are the history1 almost1 of the ,church in her infancy in the ,eastern ,states4 --,cincinnati ,catholic ,telegraph4 ,take him all in all1 ,archbishop ,hughes was the greatest man that the ,catholic ,church has yet produced in this country1 and his writings must have a deep interest for all the members of his communion4 --,chicago ,republican4 ,there is a fund of instruction in his writings alike to the ,christian and the worldling1 the ,protestant and the ,catholic4 --,daily ,news4 ,the work of the editor appears to have been done in a manner worthy of the highest commendation4 --,pittsburg ,catholic4 ,every ,catholic household should have the work4 --,irish ,american4 ,this work gives his speeches and discourses in full4 ,these will be sought for by multitudes of his admirers4 --,new-,york ,freeman's ,journal4 -------- ,,iii4 ,sermons of the ,paulist ,fathers1 for #ahfe and #ahff4 ,price1 #a4ej ,extracts ,from ,notices ,of ,the ,press4 ,they are good examples of practical1 earnest1 pungent preaching4 444 ,others besides ,catholics may be stimulated by these discourses1 and some ,protestant preachers we have heard might learn how to talk plainly to the heart and conscience of men4 --,round ,table4 ,these sermons are dictated with a conviction of mind and earnestness of heart that the hearer and the reader are carried away while reading or listening to them1 which1 after all1 is the triumph of eloquence4 --,boston ,pilot4 ,these sermons1 like those which preceded them1 are sound1 practical1 and able productions4 --,catholic ,mirror4 ,they are adapted to the wants of our age and country1 and consequently must elevate the standard of morality whenever they can secure the attention of a reader4 --,pittsburg ,catholic4 ,here are twenty-one ,catholic sermons in various degrees of excellence1 nearly all of which are so thoroughly and truly catholic in the widest sense of the term1 that they will be read with pleasure by ,protestants1 as well as by members of the communion to which they are carefully addressed4 --,new-,york ,citizen1 -------- ,,iv4 ,may ,carols and ,hymns and ,poems4 ,by ,aubrey ,de ,vere4 ,blue and gold1 4 4 4 #a4be -------- ,v4 ,christine1 and ,other ,poems4 ,by ,george ,h4 ,miles4 ,price1 #b4jj -------- ,,vi4 ,dr4 ,newman's ,answer ,to ,dr4 ,pusey's ,eirenicon4 ,paper1 #j4ge -------- ,,vii4 ,three ,phases of ,christian ,love3 ,the ,mother1 ,the ,maiden1 and ,the ,religious4 ,by ,lady ,herbert4 ,one volume1 #abmo1 #a4ej ,extracts ,from ,notices ,of ,the ,press4 ,the author writes in a spirit and style worthy of the sacred subjects of her pen4 ,it is a book that should be in the hands of every ,catholic1 and one which ,protestants might read with benefit to themselves1 and without having their prejudices rudely assailed4 ,mr4 ,kehoe has issued the volume in admirable taste4 ,its mechanical execution is without a flaw4 --,citizen4 ,we hail this work as a great acquisition to our ,catholic literature1 and recommend it to the attention of all4 ,it is just the book that ought to be placed in the hands of ,catholic ladies4 ,the publisher deserves great credit for the beautiful type1 paper1 and binding1 which make this book equal in taste and elegance to any published in this country4 --,pittsburg ,catholic4 -------- ,,viii4 ,aspirations of ,nature4 ,by ,rev4 ,i4 ,t4 ,hecker4 ,fourth edition1 revised1 cloth1 extra1 444 #a4ej