Page:Sermons by John-Baptist Massillon.djvu/454

 tation through  men,  are  at  peace;  and  the  children  of  peace,  and  the disciples of  him  who,  this  day,  comes  to  bring  it  to  men,  have  their hands continually  armed  with  fire  and  sword  against  each  other! Kings rise  up  against  kings,  nations  against  nations;  the  seas, which separate,  reunite  them  for  their  mutual  destruction:  a  vile morsel of  stone  arms  their  fury  and  revenge;  and  whole  nations  go to  perish  and  to  bury  themselves  under  its  walls,  in  contesting  to whom  shall  belong  its  ruins:  the  earth  is  not  sufficiently  vast  to contain  them,  and  to  fix  them  each  one  in  the  bonds  which  nature herself seems  to  have  pointed  out  for  states  and  empires;  each wishes to  usurp  from  his  neighbour;  and  a  miserable  field  of  battle, which  is  scarcely  sufficient  to  serve  as  a  burial-place  to  those who have  disputed  it,  becomes  the  prize  of  those  rivers  of  blood with which  it  is  for  ever  stained. O divine  Reconciliator  of  men! return then  once  more  upon  the  earth,  since  the  peace  which  thou broughtest to  it  at  thy  birth  still  leaves  so  many  wars  and  so  many calamities in  the  universe!

Nor is  this  all:  that  circle  itself,  which  unites  us  under  the  same laws, unites  not  the  heart  and  affections;  hatred  and  jealousies  divide citizens  equally  as  they  divide  nations;  animosities  are  perpetuated in  families,  and  fathers  transmit  them  to  their  children,  as an  accursed  inheritance. In vain  may  the  authority  of  the  prince disarm the  hand,  it  disarms  not  the  heart;  in  vain  may  the  sword be wrested  from  them,  with  the  sword  of  the  tongue  they  continue a thousand  times  more  cruelly  to  pierce  their  enemy;  hatred,  under the necessity  of  confining  itself  within,  becomes  deeper  and  more rancorous, and  to  forgive  is  looked  upon  as  a  dishonourable  weakness. Oh! my brethren,  in  vain  then  hath  Jesus  Christ  descended upon the  earth! He is  come  to  bring  peace  to  us;  he  hath  left  it to  us  as  his  inheritance;  nothing  hath  he  so  strongly  recommended to us  as  that  of  loving  each  other;  yet  fellowship  and  peace  seem as if  banished  from  among  us,  and  hatred  and  animosity  divide court, city,  and  families;  and  those  whom  the  offices,  the  interests of the  state,  decency  itself,  and  blood,  ought,  at  least,  to  unite, — tear, defame,  would  wish  to  destroy,  and  to  exalt  themselves  on  the ruins of  each  other:  and  religion,  which  shows  us  our  brethren even in  our  enemies,  is  no  longer  listened  to;  and  that  awful  threatening, which  gives  us  room  to  expect  the  same  severity  on  the part of  God  which  we  shall  have  shown  to  our  brethren,  no  longer touches or  affects  us;  and  all  these  motives,  so  capable  of  softening the heart,  still  leave  it  filled  with  all  the  bitterness  of  hatred. We tranquilly live  in  this  frightful  state:  the  justice  of  our  complaints with regard  to  our  enemies  calms  us  on  the  injustice  of  our  hatred and of  our  rooted  aversion  toward  them;  and  if,  on  the  approach  of death,  we  apparently  hold  out  to  them  the  hand  of  reconciliation, it is  not  that  we  love  them  more,  it  is  because  the  expiring  heart hath no  longer  the  force  to  sustain  its  hatred,  that  almost  all  our feelings are  extinguished,  or,  at  least,  that  we  are  no  longer  capable of feeling  any  thing  but  our  own  weakness  and  our  approaching dissolution. Let us  then  unite  ourselves  to  the  newly-born  Jesus