in support of his doctrine. This was the method invariably followed by St. Francis de Sales, and it was crowned with the most complete success, the conversion of many thousands of heretics bearing ample testimony to its efficacy. "The saint preached in this manner," writes M. de Belley, "every Advent and every Lent, in Grenoble where there was a large number of Protestants, who attended his discourses much more regularly and attentively than those of their own preachers, because, as they said, they never witnessed in him that spirit of strife and of angry contention which seemed to animate the tongues of their ministers. Nevertheless, he invariably employed the first part of his discourse in unfolding the truths of the Catholic faith, but according to the method which I have described. The second part he devoted to morals and piety. The Protestants, not perceiving the address of his method, were lost in continual astonishment when they found that he proved the doctrines of the Catholic Church from the very same texts which their ministers adduced as overthrowing them. In drawing his proofs for the support of the truth from the very objections of the heretics, he thus changed the war from an offensive into a defensive one, and by this means won his adversaries even whilst he vanquished them."

(c.) On those occasions when either charity or necessity imposes upon us the obligation of attacking, even indirectly, the religious belief of those who are opposed to us, we must take care to do so with all charity and sweetness, giving utterance to no word which can offend our neighbour. Those insulting apostrophes,

those invectives and reproaches, those stinging words, those defiances hurled at an adversary, can never be blessed of God, since they are born of pride and selfesteem. M. de Belley writes of St. Francis that the tender sentiments which filled his heart were painted on his features, and expressed in his voice, his gestures, and his entire bearing. He thus caused himself to be listened to favourably, and then his learning quickly completed the victory which his sweetness had already begun.

"I never knew, and I never heard of any heretic being converted," says St. Vincent de Paul, "except by sweetness and humility." And what the saint says of the unbeliever may be applied with equal justice to the sinner. If we wish to lead sinners back again to their outraged God, we must seek to gain their hearts, and not to confound them. We must exhibit ourselves to them, not as an adversary who seeks to gain a victory over them, but as a father who loves them, and who only seeks to gain them because he loves them. There is at the bottom of every man's heart a feeling which revolts against any assumption of authority over him, and the young preacher should persuade himself that nothing will be more prejudicial to his success, over either the unbeliever or the sinner, than that practice of scolding in which some are too apt to indulge. The spirit of God is charity and love, and the preaching of the gospel is only the development of that divine spirit. It must therefore be successful in proportion as it is in harmony with the charity and the love of God.

III. In advancing his proofs in support of the great Christian truths, the preacher should take much care to bring out prominently the beauty, the majesty, and the sanctity of the Christian doctrine upon the point in question, and to show the intimate congruity which there is between the Catholic dogma and the goodness, mercy, and wisdom of God. The dry proofs which the theologian advances will not unfrequently find the minds of his hearers prejudiced before-hand against those dogmas which are hard to believe, or from which consequences naturally flow which are very painful to flesh and blood to reduce to practice. But if these dogmas are brought before him in such a manner as to challenge his admiration and his love, he will, on the contrary, conceive for them such favourable sentiments as will predispose him to receive with joy and gladness those proofs which may be advanced in support of them.

For example. If, having to prove the divine institution of the Sacrament of Penance, we confine ourselves to those dry arguments which establish this dogma, selflove, terrified at the sight of the humiliations which are imposed upon it by this sacrament, will immediately begin to seek for pretexts to enable it to avoid this unpleasant duty. But if, instead of taking this course, we show him that this sacrament is in reality the most striking manifestation of the infinite mercy of God, who merely requires the confession of our faults that He may pardon them, no matter how numerous or how grievous they may be—if we show him that this sacrament is the crowning work of the divine wisdom, the most powerful

check upon unruly passions, the safest guarantee of perseverance in good, the source of wise counsels, the surest means of guarding against, or of repairing the wounds which we incur in our warfare with the world, the flesh, and the devil, the most infallible way of securing the peace which flows from a good conscience, the sinner is gained at once. He sees how much God consulted for the interests of the sinner in instituting this sacrament, and he is filled with gratitude. Almost before the proofs on which it rests have been advanced, he gives in his adhesion to a dogma at once so beautiful and so consoling. He listens to us with the desire to believe, and he believes.

Such was the method followed by those great saints of whom we have just spoken, and by all those who have been remarkable for the success of their apostolic labours. This, too, is the method followed by St. Thomas Aquinas, who, in nearly all the subjects which he treats, lays himself out to show how intimately the truth which he establishes is worthy of God and of man.

And this, too, is the method which will be followed by every preacher who rightly appreciates his relations with the weak, the doubting, or the erring, and who knows how to seize the opportunities which are certain to fall within his grasp.

IV. Having established the dogma in question by solid proofs, the preacher will, in conclusion, be ever most solicitous to deduce those pious affections, and those practical resolutions, which will make his hearers. better men. These pious affections have a wonderful influence in paving the way for persuasion, since they

help to write the truths of God, not only on the mind, but on the heart which is the seat of justifying faith. Corde creditur ad justitiam.

Moreover, as every dogma of our religion supposes as a necessary consequence some obligation to be fulfilled, it is plain that the preacher who does not inspire his hearers with the resolution of discharging faithfully their sacred obligations has only half done his work.

It is, doubtless, a most useful and a most necessary thing to enlighten the understanding, but, after all, it is only a means by which to influence the will to good; and the preacher loses at least a great part of the fruit of his discourse when he does not conclude it with such a warm and fervent exhortation as may effectually move his hearers to the reformation of their lives, and to the practice of every Christian virtue which becomes their calling and profession.

SECTION III.

THE CHRISTIAN TRUTHS FROM A MORAL POINT OF VIEWGENERAL RULES BY WHICH DISCOURSES OF THIS KIND ARE TO BE GOVERNED.

We have considered the obligation and the advantages of bringing the great Christian truths before our hearers, from a dogmatic point of view. But, it is neither less useful nor less obligatory, to develop these same great truths from what is technically called the moral point of view.