Page:Sermons by John-Baptist Massillon.djvu/412

 cept, and  from  the  law,  the  more  do  we  remove  ourselves  from peace and  tranquillity  of  heart;  and  that  the  Lord,  in  forbidding  us to  yield  ourselves  up  to  impetuous  and  iniquitous  passions,  hath only forbidden  us  to  yield  ourselves  up  to  our  own  tyrants,  and that his  only  intention  hath  been  to  render  us  happy  in  rendering us believers.

Behold a  testimony  which  the  law  of  God  finds  in  the  bottom  of our  hearts. Hurried away  by  the  delusion  of  the  senses,  we  vainly cast off  the  yoke  of  the  holy  rules;  we  can  never  succeed  in  justifying, even  to  ourselves,  our  own  irregularities;  we  always  internally adopt  the  interests  of  the  law  against  ourselves;  we  always find within  us  a  justification  of  the  rules  against  the  passions. We cannot corrupt  this  internal  witness  of  the  truth,  which  pleads within us  for  virtue;  we  always  feel  a  secret  misunderstanding  between our  inclinations  and  our  lights:  the  law  of  God,  born  in  our heart, incessantly  struggles  there  against  the  law  of  the  flesh  foreign to man;  it  maintains  its  truths  there  in  spite  of  ourselves,  if  it  cannot maintain  its  authority;  it  officiates  as  a  censurer,  if  it  cannot serve as  a  director:  in  a  word,  it  renders  us  unhappy,  if  it  cannot render us  believers.

Thus, in  vain  do  we  sometimes  give  way  to  all  the  bitterness  of hatred  and  of  revenge;  we  immediately  feel  that  this  cruel  pleasure is not  made  for  the  heart  of  man;  that  to  hate,  is,  in  fact,  to  punish ourselves; and,  in  returning  to  ourselves  after  the  transports  of passion,  we  find  within  us  a  principle  of  humanity  which  disavows their violence,  and  clearly  points  out  to  us,  that  gentleness  and kindness were  our  first  inclinations;  and  that,  in  commanding  us to  love  our  brethren,  the  law  of  God  hath  only  done  so,  as  to  consult the  right  and  most  reasonable  feelings  of  our  heart,  and  to  reconcile us  with  ourselves. Thou art  more  righteous  than  I,  said Saul to  David,  in  the  time  of  his  strongest  hatred  against  him. That goodness,  born  in  the  heart  of  all  men,  forced  from  him  that confession, and  inwardly  disavowed  the  injustice  and  the  cruelty  of his  revenge.

In vain  do  we  plunge  ourselves  into  brutal  and  sensual  gratifications, and  madly  range  after  whatever  may  satisfy  the  insatiable desires of  pleasure:  we  quickly  feel  that  debauchery  leads  us  too far to  be  agreeable  to  nature:  that  whatever  enslaves  and  tyrannizes over  us,  overturns  the  order  of  our  first  institution:  and  that the Gospel,  in  prohibiting  the  voluptuous  passions,  hath  provided for the  tranquillity  of  our  heart,  and  for  restoring  to  us  all  its  elevation and  nobility. How many  hired  servants  of  my  father's,  said the prodigal,  still  bound  in  the  chains  of  vice,  have  bread  enough, and to  spare,  and  I  consume  my  days  in  weariness  and  in  shame! It was  a  remnant  of  reason  and  of  nobility  which  still  spake  in  the bottom of  his  heart.

Lastly. Investigate all  the  precepts  of  the  law  of  God,  and  you will feel  that  they  have  a  necessary  connexion  with  the  heart  of man;  that  they  are  rules  founded  on  a  profound  knowledge  of  what takes place  within  us;  that  they  solely  contain  the  remedies  of  our