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shut against him; sees places snatched from him to which he was entitled by his services, and of which he thought himself already certain; threatened, should he dare to murmur, with the loss of those he still enjoys; forced to crouch to more fortunate rivals, and to be at the nod of those whom, only a little before, he had deemed unworthy of even receiving his orders? Shall he retire far from the world, to evaporate, in continual invectives against it, the spleen and rancour of his heart, and thus revenge himself of the injustice of men? But of what avail will be his retirement? It will afford only more leisure for retrospection, and fewer relaxations from chagrin. Shall he try to console himself with similar examples? But our misfortunes never, as we think, resemble those of others; and, besides, what consolation can it be to have our sorrows renewed by see ing their image reflected from others? Shall he enrich himself in strength of mind, and in a vain philosophy? But, in solitude, reason soon descends from its pride; we may be philosophers for the public, but we are only men with ourselves. Shall he fly, as a resource, to voluptuousness, and to other infa mous pleasures? But, in changing the passion, the heart only changes the punishment. Shall he seek, in indolence and inactivity, a happiness he has never been able to find in all the fervency of hopes and pretensions? A criminal conscience may become indifferent, but it is not on this account more tranquil. One may cease to feel misfortune and disgrace, but infidelities and crimes must always be felt. No, my brethren, the unhappy sinner is so without resource. Every comfort is for ever fled from the worldly soul the moment he is deserted by the world. But the righteous man learns to despise the world even in the contempt which the world has for him. The injustice of men, with respect to him, only puts him in mind that he serves a more equitable Master, who can neither be influenced nor prejudiced; who sees nothing in us but what, in reality, is there; who determines our destinies upon our hearts alone, and with whom we have nothing but our conscience to

dread: consequently, they are happy who serve him ; his ingratiutde is not to be feared; every thing done for him is faithfully recorded; and, far from concealing or neglecting our sufferings and our services, he gives us credit for our good wishes.

Massillon.

A Monarch may be Great, but he is not on that
account Happy.

IF, Sire, the world were to speak to you, in place of Jesus Christ, it undoubtedly would not say, Blessed are they who mourn.' Happy, would it say, the prince who has never fought but to conquer, and whose mind has always been superior either to the danger or the victory: who, during a long and a prosperous reign, has enjoyed, and still continues to enjoy, at his ease, the fruits of his glory, the love of his people, the esteem of his enemies, the advantage of his conquests, the splendour of his actions, the wisdom of his laws, and the august prospect of a numerous posterity; and who has nothing left now to desire, but the continuance of what he possesses.

In this manner would the world speak; but, Sire, Jesus Christ does not speak like the world. Happy, says he to you, not him who is the admiration of his age; but he who makes his study of the age to come, and lives in the contempt of himself and of all earthly things; for to him is the kingdom of heaven. Not him whose reign and actions history will immortalize in the remembrance of men; but he whose tears shall have effaced the history of his sins from the remembrance even of God; for he shall be for ever consoled. Not him who, by new conquests, shall have extended the bounds of his empire; but he who has succeeded in confining his desires and his passions within the limits of the law of God; for he shall inherit a kingdom more durable than the empire of the universe. Not him who, exalted by the voice of

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nations above all preceding princes, tranquilly enjoys his greatness and his fame; but he who, finding nothing on the throne worthy of his heart, seeks no perfect happiness on this earth, but in virtue and in righteousness; for he shall be filled. Not him to whom men have given the pompous titles of great and invincible; but he to whom the wretched shall give, before the tribunal of Jesus Christ, the title of father and of merciful; for he shall be treated with mercy. In fine, happy, not him who, always disposer of the lot of his enemies, has more than once given peace to the earth; but he who has been able to give it to himself, and to banish from his heart all the vices and disorderly inclinations which disturb its tranquillity; for he shall be called a child of God.

Such, Sire, are those whom Jesus calls happy: and the gospel acknowledges no other happiness on the earth than virtue and innocence. Great God! it is not then that long train of unexampled prosperities, with which thou hast favoured the glory of his reign, that can render him the happiest of kings. He is, on their account, great; but he is not on their account happy. His felicity has commenced with his piety. Whatever does not sanctify man, can never make the happiness of man. Whatever does not place thee, O my God! in a heart, places only vanities which leave it empty, or real evils which fill it with disquiet; and a pure conscience is the only resource of real enjoyments.

Massillon.

In this sermon, Massillon addressed Louis XIV., King of France, who, in consequence of the circumstances attending his reign, was rather celebrated. This extract, too, it is to be noticed, is only the exordium of the sermon preached from Blessed are they who mourn.

Prayer, the Duty of all.

THUS, be who you may, who now listen to me, imitate the woman of Canaan; be faithful to prayer,

and in the fulfilment of this duty, you will find all the rest sustained and rendered easy. If a sinner, pray: it was through prayer alone that the publican and the sinful woman of the gospel obtained feelings of compunction, and the grace of a thorough penitence; and prayer is the only source and the only path of righteousness. If righteous, still pray: perseverance in prayer and in piety is promised only to prayer; and by that it was that Job, that David, persevered to the end. If you live amid sinners, and your duty does not permit you to withdraw yourself from the sight of their irregularities and examples, pray: the greater the dangers, the more necessary does prayer become; and the three children in the flames, and Jonah in the belly of a monster, found safety only through prayer. If the engagements of your birth, or of your station, attach you to the court of kings, pray Esther, in the court of Ahasuerus, Daniel, in that of Darius, the prophets in the palaces of the kings of Israel, were solely indebted to prayer for their life and salvation. If you live in retirement, pray solitude itself becomes a rock, if a continual intercourse with God does not defend us against ourselves. If established in the church for the instruction of the people, pray: all the power and all the success of your ministry must depend upon your prayers; and the apostles converted the world solely because they had appropriated nothing to themselves but prayer and the preaching of the gospel. In fine, be who you may, I again repeat it, in prosperity or in indigence, in joy or in affliction, in trouble or in peace, in fervency or in despondency, in lust or in the ways of righteousness, advanced in virtue or still in the first steps of repentance, pray: prayer is the safety of all stations, the consolation of all sorrows, the duty of all conditions, the soul of piety, the support of faith, the grand foundation of religion, and all religion itself. O my God! shed thou upon us that spirit of grace and prayer which was to be the distinguishing mark of thy church, and the portion of a new people, and purify our hearts and our lips, that we may be enabled to offer up to thee pure

homages, fervent sighs, and prayers worthy of the eternal riches which thou hast so often promised to those who shall have well entreated them.

Massillon.

sincere, righteous, examples, The other parts, the answerThe commanding tone with

The rising inflection belongs to kings, retirement, people, repentance. ing, require the downward inflection. which the Orator enforced upon all persons the duty of prayer, might, we think, from the character of Massillon, be of that Imild cast which could not offend.

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