not different from Nathaniel, one of the first disciples in the order of vocation. If we find some relations of the Saviour among the apostles, we must not think that he chose them from motives of flesh and blood. Kindred furnishes no ground for elevating our connections to ecclesiastical dignities; yet neither does it furnish a reason for excluding them. Besides, a vocation to the apostleship was then a destiny of labor, persecution, and martyrdom. If those who dispose of church patronage employ their relatives in the like ministries, they would rather be liable to the reproach of having sacrificed than of having enriched or elevated their family.

Jesus was solicitous to make this choice in some quiet, remote place, and for that purpose had retired to the mountain. When this reason no longer detained him, he yielded to the desires and wants of the people who were expecting him. (a) "Coming down with them, he stood in a plain; and the company of his disciples, and a very great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and the seacoast both of Tyre and Sidon, who were come to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases. They that were troubled with unclean spirits were healed; and all the multitude sought to touch him, for virtue went out from him, and healed all.”

CHAPTER XVI.

THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT.

AFTER having cured bodily evils, he thought this was a fitting time to work out the salvation and perfection of souls. (b) "Seeing" then "the multitudes," who were come to hear him, and who were disposed by his benefits to listen to him, and to hear him with fruit, "he went up [the second time] a mountain to an eminence," from which he could be seen and heard in the plain; "and when he was set down, his disciples came unto him." Then "lifting up his eyes on his disciples, he said, and taught them," by the ensuing discourse, which he seems to have only addressed, at least in great part, to (a) St. Luke, vi. 17–19.

(6) St. Matthew, v. 1, 2; St. Luke, vi. 20.

them alone, but which he pronounced in a tone of voice sufficiently elevated to be heard by all the people, as we may easily judge by the admiration which the sublime doctrine of this divine legislator caused among the multitude.

He begins by laying down the foundation of true happiness, and he annihilates at one stroke all the ideas which had been formed on this point, not only by the passions, but by philosophy, which was merely the art of gratifying them more methodically after covering them with a false gloss of reason, and by Judaism itself, which, tak ing it all in all, for the exceptions might be counted, imagined no other happiness than what is found in the enjoyment of the goods, the honors, and pleasures of the earth. (a)" Blessed," said he, "are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the meek; for they shall possess the land. Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice; for they shall have their fill. Blessed are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the clean of heart; for they shall see God. Blessed are the peace-makers; for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when they shall revile you, and persecute you, and speak all that is evil against you, untruly, for my sake. and rejoice, for your reward is very great in heaven. persecuted the prophets that were before you (1)."

(a) St. Matthew, v. 3-12.

Be glad, For so they

(1) Whole volumes would scarcely suffice to develop the morality comprised in these eight beatitudes. We shall confine ourselves here to pointing out the sense which appears to us the most literal. The poor in spirit are by excellence those who have voluntarily stripped themselves of all their goods to follow Jesus Christ. Those, therefore, whose hearts are detached from worldly goods, whether they do or do not possess them, participate also in this beatitude, but in an inferior degree, and proportionably to their merit. We shall make use of the term patient, because our language has not a more proper term, to convey who those meek are to whom is promised the true land of the living. Those who mourn and who shall be comforted are they who suffer with resignation the afflictions which God sends them. The heartfelt love of virtue is expressed by the hunger and thirst after justice. To this noble passion is promised perfect satiety, which can never be found in fleeting goods, that only sharpen the hunger and irritate the thirst of their unhappy votaries. The word merciful extends here to every

Since it is finally laid down that what men regarded as evils are the only true good, the conclusion was plain, that what they called good things are the evils most to be dreaded. Yet lest this sequel should escape inattention, or be evaded by subtlety, Jesus draws the conclusion formally, and after having beatified the first, he hurls this tremendous anathema against the second: (a) “Woe to you that are rich; for you have your consolation in this world. Woe to you that are filled; for you shall hunger. Woe to you that now laugh; for you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you when men shall bless you; for according to these things did their fathers to the false prophets."

These prophets, true and false, being cited at the close of the blessings and maledictions, are proof that Jesus addressed his words directly to his apostles. What follows sets this in an equally clear light; for although applicable within certain limits to all Christians, still it does not bear its full meaning, except with reference to the apostles and their successors. (b)" You are," saith he to them, "the salt of the earth. But if the salt lose its savor, wherewith shall it be salted (2)? It is good for nothing any more, but to be cast out (a) St. Luke, vi. 24-26. (b) St. Matthew, v. 13-16.

men.

species of mercy, both spiritual and corporal. We do not see God with the eyes of the body, says Saint Augustine, but with the eyes of the heart: wherefore those who have pure eyes have nothing to hinder them from seeing his ineffable beauties unveiled. Those are called peace-makers who strive to re-establish and preserve peace amongst This great feature of resemblance to the God of Peace will merit for them, in a very excellent manner, the title of children of God. The kingdom of heaven, adjudged in the first place to the voluntary poor, is also adjudged to those who suffer persecution for justice: the first class receive it by right of exchange-the latter by right of conquest. The first are those prudent traders, who sell all to purchase it: the second are those violent invaders, who grasp it by force, and carry it at the point of the sword. It is not the less insured to all the others. For the recompense proposed to them is always the kingdom of God, under different names, which correspond with the different merits to which it is promised. These expressions are also understood to refer to the temporal rewards of virtue, and this sense should not be excluded from them; but it must only be admitted as secondary. To advance it as the first and most literal would be putting too visibly the accessory in place of the principal.

(2) Salt does not lose its savor; but if it should lose its savor, with what can we salt, or what is there in nature which can be as salt to salt itself. This is what Jesus Christ wishes to say here. Thus the doctor, if he deceives himself, shall not be set right by another doctor; the pastor, if he wanders, shall not be brought back by another

and to be trodden on by men (3). You are the light of the world; destined to enlighten it; you cannot escape its observation. "A city seated on a mountain cannot be hid: neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel but upon a candlestick, that it may shine to all that are in the house. So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven."

But in order that they may be this mysterious salt, which imparts to the earth, that is to say, to the men who inhabit it, the relish of virtue, and, after having imparted, preserves this relish; that they may become the light of the world, and that city seated on a mountain, which rivets the traveller's eye, and prevents him from wandering from his path; that they may be the light put upon the candlestick, that it may shine to all those who compose the house of the great father of the family; in short, that they may be, by the lustre of their preaching, and the example of their holiness, the reformers of the world, and worthy ministers of the heavenly Father, to whom those who witness their virtues and successes shall refer all the glory thereof-they must teach all salutary truths, and be faithful to all duties, without distinction of little or great, of what is important or unimportant. But that they may have in his person the most perfect model of such rare perfection, Jesus thus proceeds: "Do not think that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill (4). For, amen, I say unto you: Till

pastor, and the apostle, if he becomes perverted, shall not be converted by another apostle. Not that the thing is absolutely impossible; but it occurs so rarely, that we reckon it an exception, which does not hinder the truth of the general proposition.

(3) To be trodden on by men, an expression of the lowest contempt, but which is not too strong to express that into which those ministers of the altar inevitably fall who dishonor their ministry by a publicly licentious life.

(4) The Jews have reproached the Christians with this saying of Jesus Christ, as a falsehood in the mouth of him who said that he was sent to establish a new law on the ruins of the old. A more false reproach was never made, nor a more unfounded accusation. 1st. Jesus Christ has kept the law, if we consider it under the aspect of the moral and ceremonious precepts. As to what regards the first, he was always perfectly irreprehensible; and in order to confound his enemies, he had only to defy them to reproach him with a single sin. As to the ceremonious precepts, although in no way bound to observethem, he has not, nevertheless, disdained to fulfil them. He wished to be circumcised; for, although he was circumcised in his mere infancy, he was the only child

heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall not pass of the law till all is fulfilled. He, therefore, that shall break one of these least commandments, and shall so teach men, shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven (5). But he that shall do, and teach, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, that unless your justice abound more than that of the Scribes and Pharisees you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven."

This conclusion shows clearly enough that these commandments which Jesus Christ denominates "least," were not so in their own nature, but only in the judgment of the Scribes and Pharisees. These men were never accused of despising what are termed "little" things: we know, on the contrary, that they relinquished important duties to wed themselves scrupulously to minute observances! This drew upon them from Jesus Christ this grave rebuke, inculcating

of whom it was true to say that he was only circumcised because he wished to be so. I say as much of his presentation in the temple. Arrived at a mature age, he went to Jerusalem at the great festivals; he celebrated the Passover; and as to the Sabbath, concerning which he encountered such great reproaches, he never objected to its obligation, but only to the false or finical additions of the Pharisees. 2d. If we consider the ancient law as the sketch of the new, not only did Jesus Christ accomplish it by realizing the things it shadowed forth, and verifying its prophecies, but it could only receive its accomplishment from him alone: without him it should have eternally remained imperfect; and, if we wish to speak exactly, we should say that he rather perfected than abrogated it, as the colors which cover the lines of a drawing do not efface the design, but set it off to perfection, by imparting the requisite animation to the figures of the body. (5) According to the common interpretation, these words signify that he shall be excluded from the kingdom of heaven. According to somre, they mean to say that he shall have the last place. What follows is in favor of the first interpretation. Those who prefer the second, ground themselves on the fact that small precepts alone are spoken of, that is to say, according to them, such as do not oblige to the extent of mortal sin. We shall see whether or not they are mistaken in this. But supposing that in point of fact they are not mistaken, if then it be true that we may violate these small precepts without being thereupon excluded from the kingdom of heaven, can any one venture to say that we should not be excluded therefrom if we taught others to violate them— above all, if a person had the influence and character to teach? Teaching people to contemn the will of God, which is not the less declared, and, in one sense, is not the less entitled to respect in small things as in great; encouraging men to emancipate themselves from their primary duties, by affording them facility in so doing in those which are regarded as of lesser importance; stripping virtue of all her outworks, and, like a stronghold, whose external works are all demolished, exposing it to be carried by the first assault of vice; could the pastor, the preacher, the director who should have caused so great an evil, have still a right to claim even the last place in the heavenly kingdom!