lessly from him. The zeal which is regulated by prudence never acts upon a first impulse, or listens to the first promptings of the heart; but it waits until the fervour of that first impulse has passed away, until that first prompting of the heart has been subjected to the test of reason and of reflection. It calmly calculates the consequences of every measure before adopting itthe result of every word before uttering it. In one word, the man whose zeal is regulated by prudence, is never governed, in his intercourse with others, by merely natural instincts, nor are his acts the manifestations of his merely natural character.

Prudence is equally necessary to enable a man to adapt himself to the various classes of persons to whom his ministry may be addressed. There are some who require to be restrained, others who need to be stimulated and urged on. There are some circumstances in which a man must be sweet and gentle, and know how to console and encourage; others, in which he must be prompt to reprove and correct. In his dealings with boys, he must be firm when he speaks to them in general, mild and gentle when he addresses anyone in particular. His intercourse with young people of the other sex must be regulated by the very contrary principles: that is to say, when he addresses them in general it must be with the utmost affability and gentleness; when he has occasion to speak with anyone in particular, he will employ the utmost caution and reserve. And from these brief remarks it is easy to see how essential it is that our dealings with others, especially the young, be regulated by that prudence

which knows how to adapt itself to circumstances, that prudence which is the offspring much more of sound sense, than of any mere technical rules or suggestions.

The man whose conduct is regulated by prudence will never be guilty of such an indiscretion as that which is committed by him who, in his dealings with his flock, shows any exception of persons. It is very natural for one to be more attracted to a child who is handsome and well-dressed, than to one who is ill clad, and who exhibits in his person, his language, and his whole deportment the marks of that poverty and indigence in which he has been reared. Now, if the catechist so far forget himself as to be influenced by these merely human instincts; if he show more affection for the rich than for the poor, for the well-dressed and genteel than for the shabby or the ragged; if he speak more gently to the one than to the other; if he reward the respectable child without being equally liberal to the poor one, who may be just as meritorious, he will inflict an irreparable injury upon the work of his ministry, since he will, by this ill-judged and human preference, infallibly alienate from himself the heart of the child who is thus unjustly slighted and passed by. When the heart is thus alienated, that mutual confidence, which is the foundation of all the good that one man may hope to do another, is inevitably swept away. The children who are thus slighted, because they are poor, and poor without any fault of theirs; or because they are rough, dirty, or uncouth-and, God help them, how could they be otherwise ?-will be quick to perceive the affront, and as quick to resent it. That sensibility

which fills so large a place in the heart of a child, which is so keen in its perception, and so bitterly resentful of contempt or neglect, will be hopelessly wounded, and turned away from the pastor who acts in this unworthy manner. Nor is the sensibility, of a child less keen, or his perception of neglect less acute, because he happens to be poor. On the contrary, it is all the more so on this very account. The child—the Catholic child at all events—who is kicked about and buffeted by the world at large; who scarcely ever sees a kindly look, or listens to a gentle word, turns to its priest with an unwavering confidence, so full, so generous, and so complete, as to seem like a very instinct of its nature. That instinct seems to prompt it to look to him alone in all the world, for sympathy and for equalhanded justice. The little face, so pinched and careworn, brightens up when he approaches; and the kind word of encouragement, or of consolation, which drops from his lips is treasured up, and remembered with an effusion of grateful recollection which is as precious in itself as it is, in all probability, unthought of and unheeded by him who utters it. The man who does not realize these things-who speaks to the poor child harshly because it is poor-who turns away from it, with ill-disguised disgust, because it is uncouth or badly clad-who fails to see the face that brightens up, and the eye that fills with light, on his approachwho cannot perceive the timid, yet trusting, confidence with which his presence is hailed, and his words received, throws away and rejects a treasure of confidence and love, which is all the more price

less because it is not really his but his Master's-all the more priceless, because if it once be lost it will be lost for ever.

Nor are the evil results which follow from this imprudent exception of persons confined to the children alone. The parents will be equally quick to take offence to resent the affronts or the slights passed upon their children; and, on this account, to withdraw their confidence and their obedience from their pastor.

The prudent pastor will avoid these inconveniences, so grave in themselves, and so disastrous in their consequences, by the strict impartiality and the evenhanded justice of his dealings with the members of his flock. He will treat all alike. When he rewards the child of wealthy parents, he will reward the poor who may be equally deserving. If he speak to the one, he will address the other in terms no less warm and kind. In one word, as we have already said, if he ever be led to make an exception, it will be in favour of virtue, piety, docility, and obedience alone.

In fine, the prudence of the pastor who possesses this virtue, will manifest itself in the manner in which he will adapt himself and his discourses to the age, the character, the capacity, and the special necessities of his hearers. The froward will be rebuked, and the timid will be encouraged. Those who are doing their best, in spite of ignorance or natural incapacity, will be stimulated and urged to persevere; whilst those who are abusing or neglecting to cultivate the talents which God has given them, will be reproved, and, if reproof be found insufficient, punished. And most especially

will this spirit of prudence be shown in the treatment of those delicate subjects which cannot be passed over in silence, but which require the utmost tact, knowledge, and discretion in him who undertakes to speak of them to the young, the ignorant, and the innocent. The prudent man will guide himself in this matter by those rules and principles of action at which we have already glanced when speaking of the Virtues and Vices, etc., and thus avoid the two extremes, equally dangerous and pernicious, of saying too much or too little.

SECTION VII.

RECAPITULATION OF MATTER TO BE TAUGHT AT CATECHISMMETHOD OF PREPARING THE INSTRUCTION-ITS PRINCIPAL QUALITIES-AUTHORITIES TO BE CONSULTED.

In the preceding sections we have probably indicated with sufficient clearness those subjects which, at one time or another, will naturally form the matter of catechetical instruction. It may not, however, be useless, briefly to recapitulate and bring these subjects once more, plainly and distinctly, before the mind of the young preacher.

He may, then, in purely catechetical instruction propose to himself to treat of all those matters which relate to faith and morals, and he will confine himself to these subjects. In such teaching, mere speculations, probable opinions, unpractical discussions, and far-fetched or uncommon objections, are altogether out of place.

1 See page 178.