Page:Sermons by John-Baptist Massillon.djvu/526

 grace to  enable  you  to  resist  the  many  opportunities  which  drag you away. Ah! you will  then  see  that  your  whole  life  has  been  a continued  abuse  of  his  mercies;  you  will  see  that,  among  so  many infidel nations  which  know  him  not,  you  have  been  privileged,  enlightened, called  to  faith,  nourished  in  the  doctrine  of  truth  and the virtue  of  the  sacrament,  incessantly  supported  by  his  inspirations and  his  grace;  you  will  be  shocked  to  see  all  that  God hath done  for  you,  and  the  little  that  you  have  done  for  him;  and your complaints  will  quickly  be  changed  into  an  utter  confusion, destitute of  every  resource  but  in  the  horrors  of  your  own  despair.

Hitherto the  just  Judge  hath  examined  you  only  on  those  crimes which are  especially  your  own;  but  what  will  it  be  when  he  shall enter into  a  reckoning  with  you  on  the  sins  of  others,  of  which  you have been  either  the  occasion  or  the  cause,  and  which  will,  consequently, be  charged  to  your  account! What a  new  sink! All the souls  to  whom  you  have  been  a  subject  of  scandal  and  ruin  will be presented  to  you;  all  the  souls  whom  your  discourses,  your counsels, your  example,  your  solicitations,  your  immodesties,  have precipitated, with  yourself,  into  eternal  destruction;  all  the  souls whose weakness  you  have  either  seduced,  or  whose  innocence  you have corrupted,  whose  faith  you  have  perverted,  whose  virtue  you have shaken,  whose  freethinking  you  have  authorized,  or  whose impiety you  have  strengthened  by  your  persuasions,  or  by  the  example of  your  life. Jesus Christ,  to  whom  they  belonged,  and who had  purchased  them  with  his  blood,  will  demand  them  at  your hands, as  a  dear  heritage,  as  a  precious  conquest,  which  you  have unjustly ravished  from  him;  and  if  the  Lord  marked  Cain  with the sign  of  reprobation  in  demanding  account  from  him  of  the blood of  his  brother,  judge  with  what  sign  you  shall  be  marked when you  shall  be  brought  to  a  reckoning  for  his  soul.

But this  is  not  all. Were you  a  public  character,  and  high  in authority,  what  abuses  authorized! What iniquities  glanced  over! What duties  sacrificed,  either  to  your  own  interests  or  to  the  passions and  interests  of  others! What respect  of  persons,  in  opposition to  equity  and  conscience! What iniquitous  undertakings counselled! What wars,  perhaps,  what  confusions,  what  public evils, of  which  you  have  either  been  the  author  or  the  infamous agent! You will  see  that  your  ambition  or  your  counsels  have been as  the  fatal  source  of  an  infinity  of  miseries,  of  the  calamities of your  age,  of  those  evils  which  are  perpetuated,  and  pass  from father to  son:  and  you  will  be  surprised  to  find  that  your  iniquities have survived  yourself,  and  that,  even  long  after  death,  you  were still culpable,  before  God,  of  an  infinity  of  crimes  and  disorders which took  place  on  the  earth. And now  it  is,  my  brethren,  that the danger  of  public  stations  shall  be  known,  the  precipices  which surround the  throne  itself,  the  rocks  of  authority,  and  with  what reason the  Gospel  denominated  happy  those  who  live  in  the  obscurity of  a  private  station;  with  what  it  was  that  religion  wished to inspire  us  with  so  much  horror  at  ambition,  so  much  indifference toward  the  grandeurs  of  the  earth,  so  much  contempt  for  all