Page:Sermons by John-Baptist Massillon.djvu/146

 whether there  be  happier  creatures  in  the  earth  than  themselves; all are  happy,  as  I  may  say;  every  thing  in  nature  is  in  its place. Man alone  is  uneasy  and  discontented;  man  alone  is  a  prey to his  desires,  allows  himself  to  be  torn  by  fears,  finds  his  punishment in  his  hopes,  and  becomes  gloomy  and  unhappy  in  the  midst even of  his  pleasures:  man  alone  can  meet  with  nothing  here  to fix  his  heart.

Whence comes  this,  O  man? Must it  not  be  that  here  thou  art not in  thy  place;  that  thou  art  made  for  heaven;  that  thy  heart  is greater  than  the  world;  that  the  earth  is  not  thy  country;  and  that whatever is  not  God  is  nothing  to  thee? Answer, if  thou  canst,  or rather  question  thy  heart,  and  thou  wilt  believe.

Secondly. If all  die  with  the  body,  who  has  been  able  to  persuade all men,  of  every  age,  and  of  every  country,  that  their  soul  was immortal? From whence  has  this  strange  idea  of  immortality descended to  the  human  race? How could  an  opinion,  so  distant from  the  nature  of  man,  were  he  born  only  for  the  functions  of the  senses,  have  pervaded  the  earth? For if  man,  like  the  beast,  be created  only  for  the  present,  nothing  ought  to  be  more  incomprehensible to  him  than  even  the  idea  of  immortality. Could machines of clay,  whose  only  object  should  be  a  sensual  happiness,  have ever been  able  to  form,  or  to  find  in  themselves,  an  opinion  so  exalted, an  idea  so  sublime? Nevertheless, this  opinion,  so  extraordinary, is  become  that  of  all  men;  this  opinion,  so  opposite  even to the  senses,  since  man,  like  the  beast,  dies  wholly,  in  our  sight  is established  on  the  earth;  this  opinion,  which  ought  not  to  have even found  an  inventor  in  the  universe,  has  been  received  with  a universal  docility  of  belief  amongst  all  nations, — the  most  savage as the  most  cultivated,  the  most  polished  as  the  most  brutal,  the most incredulous  as  the  most  submissive  to  faith.

For, go  back  to  the  beginning  of  ages,  examine  all  nations,  read the history  of  kingdoms  and  empires,  listen  to  those  who  return from the  most  distant  isles;  the  immortality  of  the  soul  has  always been, and  still  is,  the  belief  of  every  people  on  the  face  of  the  earth. The knowledge  of  one  God  may  have  been  obliterated;  his  glory, power, and  immensity,  may  have  been  effaced,  as  I  may  say,  from the hearts  and  minds  of  men;  obstinate  and  savage  nations  may still live  without  worship,  religion,  or  God,  in  this  world;  but  they all look  forward  to  a  future  state:  nothing  has  ever  been  able  to eradicate  the  opinion  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul;  they  all  figure to themselves  a  region  which  our  souls  shall  inhabit  after  death; and, in  forgetting  God,  they  have  never  discarded  the  idea  of  that provision for  themselves.

Now, whence  comes  it  that  men  so  different  in  their  dispositions, worship, country,  opinions,  interests,  and  even  figure,  that  scarcely do they  seem  of  the  same  species  with  each  other,  unanimously agree, however,  on  this  point,  and  expect  immortality  r  There  is no  collusion  here;  for  how  is  it  possible  to  assemble  together  men of all  countries  and  ages? It is  not  a  prejudice  of  education;  for manners, habits,  and  worship,  which  are  generally  the  consequences