riches, the flesh, and their passions; you will there see vice honored, and virtue contemned; you will there hear maxims suitable to the corruption which the devil has introduced. Be careful not to be depraved by the multitude. To prevent so great an evil, meditate frequently upon the true maxims of Christianity, those eternal truths which the world will not know, yet which will never alter. Imprint them deeply in your mind; there have recourse to them against the example and false maxims of the world; let them serve as secure rules for the conduct of your life: I shall give you here the most important of these maxims, which I beseech you to read often.

I. Sin is the greatest evil.-The pious mother of St. Louis, king of France, was accustomed to say: "My dear son, I love you most affectionately; yet, I had rather see you dead at my feet, than know you to be guilty of committing a single mortal sin."

Fear sin more than any other evil that can happen you in this life: fear even the least sin; for any sin is always a very great evil. Every kind of sin is displeasing to the Almighty.

It is true, venial sin does not make us enemies of God; but then it lessens the love of God in our hearts. It does not deprive us of sanctifying grace, yet it disposes us to lose it.

The Holy Ghost has assured us, that he who contemns small things, that is to say, light faults, will fall by little and little into greater. Correct yourselves then, inasmuch as you are able, of less faults, and you will never fall into greater.

II. We must meditate often on Death, Judgment, and Eternity.-An efficacious means which the Holy Ghost has given us to avoid sin, is, to meditate seriously upon our last end: In all thy works, remember thy last end, and thou shalt never sin. Think of death which is to terminate your earthly existence; Judgment which is to decide all; Heaven, which is to be a recompense; or Hell, which is to be a punishment.

Say often within your own mind:

1. I must die, and that, perhaps, very soon. What shall I think of the sins that I have committed, when I shall have arrived at the hour of my death? What shall I then think of my shameful pleasures, of my criminal

attachment to the creatures and goods of this world, of my vanity and pride? Oh! what consolation, when lying upon the bed of death, to be animated by the happy thought of having passed my youth and life in innocence and in the fear of God!

2. That I must one day give a strict account how I have passed my youth and each moment of my life, before a terrible Judge who now sees me. What account shall

I then give of the time that I have lost, of so many instructions and gifts of grace which I have abused, of so many days spent in sport, in idleness, in impurity, in company-keeping, and in disobedience? Of so many hours. lost in ornamenting, vainly dressing, and pampering my body, of so much injustice, rash judgment, calumny, backbiting, cursing and swearing? Alas! What shall I think of these and the like, when hurried before the judgmentseat of God?

3. There is a place in heaven prepared for me; but shall I possess it after having lived without the love of God, without love for my neighbor, without patience and mortification; after having passed my life without piety, without holiness? Ah! what profit will it be for me to have lived in this world, if my life has not been holy, and such as to gain heaven? If I lose this, I lose all.

4. After this life, which will soon be at an end, there is an eternity, which will never end. But, alas! where shall I be placed to dwell through eternity? If it is in heaven, it will be forever. If I shall not be condemned to hell, it is God alone to whom I shall be indebted. How often have I merited it? How many souls there are already condemned, who now burn and suffer most grievous torments, who send forth frightful groans and cries of rage and despair, who weep for having committed a single mortal sin, while I am still spared after having committed so many? Oh! my God, what will become of me, if I am not converted to thee?

Reflect seriously upon these solemn truths, my dear children, and you will be saved. Permit the foolish to go on, let the worldling smile; let libertines talk and jeer; their day will come, or rather the day of God will come to surprise them.

III. The rule of our actions ought to be the law of God, the example and doctrine, not of the world, but of

our Saviour. It is a common maxim among men to do as others do; and to bring, for a reason of their actions, that the world does so; that it is the custom; that such and such persons act so. This is a wicked, false, and pernicious maxim. Men are not our rule, but God. The world is full of error; men, whoever they may be, are subject to failings. But God is truth itself, he has given. us his law to conduct us, he has commanded us to hear him: Hear ye him; that is the rule we ought to follow.

THE DEVOUT AND HAPPY BEGGAR.

A GREAT and learned man, who ardently desired the salvation of his soul, prayed to God fong and earnestly, that he might find some one, who would teach him the certain way to obtain true peace of mind, and to gain heaven. His petition was made with the purest motives: and God deigned to listen to it.

The

One morning, when he had repeated his prayer as usual, he went forth to take a walk; and at the door of his house, met a poor beggar, who looked very sick, was all covered with sores, and had only a few rags to cover him. gentleman kindly wished him a good morning. "I thank you, sir," replied the beggar, "but no morning can be bad to me. 99 "God grant, my poor friend, that you may live to see better days!" "Šir,” replied the poor man, "I know not what evil days are. What can you mean, my friend," returned the other, astonished by what he heard: "I never saw any one in a more wretched condition!" "Sir," answered the beggar, "you kindly wished me a good morning, to which I replied that no morning could be bad to me; when I am in pain, or am hungry, I praise God: whether it hail, rain, freeze, or shine, I praise and thank him: if I am naked, and despised by all men, I still return thanks to God with joy: therefore, I cannot have a bad morning. You also kindly wished that I might live to see better days; and I told you, that I know not what evil days are, because I have learned to be resigned in all things to the will of God; being certain, that all his works are good; and receiving all that happens to me, whether pleasant or painful, as coming from him. You

see, sir, I can never be unhappy, since I desire nothing but his divine pleasure." The gentleman, equally surprised and charmed by the sentiments of the beggar, asked him how he had attained to so exalted a frame of mind? "Sir," said the poor man, "I once sought felicity in the pleasures of this world, and anxiously desired its comforts; but, finding these could never satisfy my heart, I gave it wholly to God, and resigned myself in all things to his divine will. In return, he has filled my soul with joy, and I will sing his praises to all eternity." Saying this, the beggar hastened away, leaving the gentleman in admiration at what he had heard; and convinced, that happiness on earth can alone be found in resignation to the divine will,

GENUINE HEROISM.

WHEN the plague raged violently at Marseilles, in France, every link of natural affection was broken: The parent turned from the child-the child from the parent. -Cowardice and ingratitude no longer excited indignation.-Self-preservation, the first principle of action, ruled predominant in the breasts of all. Misery is always at its height, when it thus destroys every generous feeling, dissolves the ties of humanity, and intercepts the flow of sympathetic commiseration. The city became a desert— grass grew in the streets-and a funeral met you at every

step.

In the midst of this reign of terror, consternation and death, the physicians of the city assembled in a body at one of the hotels, to hold a consultation on the disease, for which no remedy had yet been discovered. After a long deliberation, they decided unanimously, that the malady had a peculiar and mysterious character, which could only be discovered by dissection. Such an operation, it was considered, could not be effected, since the operator must infallibly fall a victim in the attempt, beyond the power of human art to save him; as the violence of the attack, to which such an exposure would subject him, would utterly preclude the opportunity of administering the usual remedies,

A dead pause succeeded this fatal declaration.-Suddenly, a surgeon named Guyon, in the prime of life, and of great celebrity in the profession, rose, and said, firmly, "Be it so: I devote myself to the cause of humanity, and to the safety of my fellow citizens. Before this numerous assembly, I promise, in the name of humanity and religion, that to-morrow, at break of day, I will dissect a corpse, and write down, as I proceed, what I observe." A spontaneous shout of joy and gratitude burst from the assembly; and he instantly retired from the meeting to make preparations. They admired his devotion, lamented his fate, and some doubted whether he would have courage to persist in his design.

But the intrepid and pious Guyon was a man of decision; animated by all the sublime energy religion could inspire, he acted up to his word. He had never married; he was rich, in the full flow of health, and surrounded with every comfort that could make life desirable. He immediately made his will, dictated alike by justice and piety. A man having died in his own house within fourand-twenty hours, furnished him, at ready hand, a subject for dissection. Having completed all his arrangements, he proceeded with admirable intrepidity and composure to his last earthly work; and taking with him an ink-stand and paper, together with his instruments, he shut himself up in the room with the corpse; and kneeling before it, he sketched the following apostrophe:

"Mouldering tenement of an immortal soul! not only can I gaze on thee without horror, but even with joy and gratitude.-Thou wilt open to me the gates of a glorious eternity. In discovering to me the secret cause of the terrible disease which destroys my native city, thou wilt enable me to point out some salutary remedy; thou wilt render my sacrifice useful. O God, thou wilt bless the action thou thyself hast inspired." He began-he finished the dreadful operation, and recorded, in detail, his surgical operations. He then left the room, threw the papers into a vase of vinegar, and immediately sought the hospital, where he died in twelve hours.-A death infinitely more glorious than that of the warrior, who, to save his country, rushes on the enemy's ranks; for he is sustained by hopes. at least, and admired and seconded by a whole army.