Page:Sermons by John-Baptist Massillon.djvu/197

 have done  wickedly;  but  these  sheep,  what  have  they  done? Let thine hand,  I  pray  thee,  be  against  me  and  against  my  father's  house/'

Behold your  model. By terminating  your  disorders,  terminate the cause  of  the  public  evils;  in  the  persons  of  the  poor,  offer  up to  God  the  retrenchment  of  your  pleasures  and  of  your  profusions, as the  only  righteous  and  acceptable  sacrifice  which  is  capable  of disarming  his  anger;  and  seeing  these  scourges  fall  upon  the  earth only in  punishment  of  the  abuses  which  you  have  made  of  your abundance, bear  you  likewise,  in  lessening  these  abuses,  their anguish and  bitterness. But that  the  public  misfortunes  should  be perceivable  neither  in  the  splendour  and  pride  of  your  equipages, nor in  the  sensuality  of  your  repasts,  nor  in  the  magnificence  of your  palaces,  nor  in  your  rage  for  gaming  and  every  criminal  pleasure, but  solely  in  your  inhumanity  toward  the  poor;  that  every thing abroad,  the  theatres,  the  profane  assemblies  of  every  description, the  public  festivals,  should  continue  with  the  same  vigour  and animation, while  charity  alone  shall  be  chilled;  that  luxury  should every day  increase,  while  compassion  alone  shall  diminish;  that the world  and  Satan  should  lose  nothing  through  the  misery  of the  times,  while  Jesus  Christ  alone  shall  suffer  in  his  afflicted members; that  the  rich,  sheltered  in  their  opulence,  should  see only from  afar  the  anger  of  Heaven,  while  the  poor  and  the  innocent shall  become  its  melancholy  victims:  great  God! thou wouldst then overwhelm  only  the  unfortunate  in  sending  these  scourges upon the  earth! Thy sole  intention  then  should  be  to  complete the destruction  of  those  miserable  wretches,  upon  whom  thy  hand was already  so  heavy  in  bringing  them  forth  to  penury  and  want! The powerful  of  Egypt  should  alone  be  exempted  by  the  exterminating angel,  while  thy  whole  wrath  would  fall  upon  the  afflicted Israelite, upon  his  poor  and  unprovided  roof,  and  even  marked with the  blood  of  the  Lamb! Yes, my  brethren,  the  public  calamities are  destined  to  punish  only  the  rich  and  powerful,  and the rich  and  the  powerful  are  those  who  alone  suffer  not:  on the  contrary,  the  public  evils,  in  multiplying  the  unfortunate,  furnish an  additional  pretext  toward  dispensing  themselves  from  the duty of  compassion.

Last excuse  of  the  disciples,  founded  on  the  great  number  of the  people  who  had  followed  our  Saviour  into  the  desert:  These people are  so  numerous,  said  they,  that  two  hundred  pennyworth of bread  is  not  sufficient  for  them,  that  every  one  may  take  a  little. Last pretext  which  they  oppose  to  the  duty  of  charity — the  multitude of  the  poor. Yes, my  brethren,  that  which  ought  to  excite and to  animate  charity,  extinguishes  it:  the  multitude  of  the  unfortunate hardens  you  to  their  wants:  the  more  the  duty  increases, the more  do  you  think  yourselves  dispensed  from  its  practice,  and you become  cruel  by  having  too  many  occasions  of  being  charitable.

But, in  the  first  place,  whence  comes,  I  pray  you,  this  multitude of poor,  of  which  you  so  loudly  complain? I know  that  the  misfortune of  the  times  may  increase  their  number:  but  wars,  pestilences, and  irregularity  of  seasons,  all  of  which  we  at  present  ex-