refused to pay him homage; exasperated at the refusal, he swore in his heart that he would exterminate the nation to which this man belonged. He managed the affair so well that he obtained from the king a decree, by which all the Israelites, throughout the length and breadth of the kingdom, were to be put to death on the same day. He caused to be erected a gibbet fifty cubits high, upon which he designed to hang Mardochai. But God, who watches over his people, changed the heart of the king and confounded the Pride of Aman. The frightful designs of this proud man were discovered, his hypocrisy was unmasked, and he was hung on the same gallows which he had prepared for the pious servant of God.* "Shame, humiliation and contempt shall overwhelm the proud, and the Lord shall destroy the house of the proud. My son, never suffer Pride to rule you either in your thoughts or in your words, for Pride is the root of all evil."

To convince you of this truth, observe the conduct of the proud man. He is full of contempt for his neighbor; he regards him not, speaks not to him,-treats him only with contempt and censures him with bitterness. He lessens his character,-and calumniates him without pity; he takes a malignant pleasure in lifting aside the veil which conceals from the eyes of the public the faults and defects of his brethren, and he acts thus, because he imagines that he is much better than his neighbor and far superior to him. The proud man is ambitious; in his heart is found an immoderate desire of being distinguished from others, of elevating himself above all,-of obtaining places, honors, and dignities. The proud man is full of vanity and ostentation; he boasts without ceasing of the good qualities which he believes he possesses,-even claims, and very frequently attributes to himself those which he has not; if he happen to perform a good work, he wishes that it should be known to every body, not considering that the Lord says: "woe to them who do good deeds that they may be seen by men!" The proud man is desirous of shining, hence he goes to great expense; but he contracts debts and never pays them, and even, to procure money, he hesitates not having recourse to cunning and fraud. He has a great opinion of himself; he believes that he has

more intelligence and judgment than others; he supports his opinion against every one,-never yields,-never acknowledges that he is deceived, that he may be in error, or that he ought to be corrected. He is disobedient; he longs to be independent of every body, he detests the yoke of authority, he refuses to submit to the advice or the orders of his superior,-he is unwilling to humble himself even before God, and he violates without scruple and without remorse of conscience the most sacred laws of God and the Church. And withal he is a hypocrite; for he seeks nothing so much as the esteem of men,-he tries by all means to appear better than he really is,-he artfully conceals his defects, and affects virtues which he does not possess. In the language of Scripture, he is a white washed sepulchre, which appears to the eyes of men set off with ornaments, but which within contains only bones and rotten

ness.

Behold, my Brethren, some of the sins which Pride begets. I am aware that the sins of the proud man are not always grievous; but I do not hesitate to assert that, unless he struggle to root out of his heart this dangerous vice, it will taint all his good deeds-it will plunge him, without shame and without remorse, into the greatest transgressions; for thus God punishes Pride. To humble and chastise the Pride of the haughty, the Lord permits them to fall into the most dreadful crimes; and St. Paul says, that God delivers them up to the shameful desires of their hearts, and abandons them to a reprobate sense and dissolute passion.*

My Brethren, let us not be like "to a man beholding his natural countenance in a glass: for he beheld himself, and went his way, and presently forgot what manner of man he was." You see here the hideous portrait of Pride; no doubt, it fills you with horror, and you are firmly determined never to allow this vice, so odious to God and so hateful to men, to gain admittance into your hearts; you are resolved to expel it, if it has already entered into your souls. Yes, do so, for you have no right to be proud. Why indeed should you be proud and self-conceited? What have you to be proud of? Is it the advantages which you possess? These advantages are either corporal or spiritual; if corporal, they are

fleeting, evanescent, and must one day end in corruption; if spiritual, it is not in this life, but in a better one that they must be judged. Do you tell me that you are rich,—that you have money ? If so, you have very many duties which you are bound to fulfill: you must become the protectors of the unfortunate,—the servants of the poor, or you cease to be Christians; and, if you do not act thus, take care how you say: "I am rich, and made wealthy, and I have need of nothing:" for before God "thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked."* But you have talents; your talents come from nature, and God is the Author of nature: you must not be proud then of what you have not made. You belong to a distinguished family,-you occupy a high place in society but all men are born and die in the same way; when God shall judge them, it will matter little whether they have borne on earth the crown of a king or the wallet of a beggar. Let us therefore cease to ask: "who is the greatest amongst us ?" Remember, that whatever you are and whatever you possess, you have received all from God, and that from him to whom much is given, much will be required. Let us pass by as unworthy of our notice, whatever is fleeting, and never attach our hearts to any thing earthly; let it be our sole endeavor to use wisely and piously, for the salvation of souls and the love of God, and in all humility, the riches and the goods, which the bounty of God has intrusted to our care. Let us recollect that the Lord resists the proud and gives His grace to the humble; let us bear in mind that he who exalts himself, shall be humbled, and that he who humbles himself shall be exalted. AMEN.

* Apocalypse iii: 17.

SERMON XCIV.

ON AVARICE OR COVETOUSNESS.

"Take heed and beware of all covetousness."-ST. LUKE, xii: 15.

Ir is not without reason that in the series of sins which are called capital or deadly, Covetousness is placed immediately after pride; for these two base and unchristian-like vices, both consist in selfishness. Pride is the selfishness of vanity; the proud man wishes to obtain all honors. Covetousness is the selfishness of cupidity; the avaricious man longs to possess all riches. Both are equally ridiculous and inhuman. I have already told you what pride is and the sins which it occasions, and I doubt not that you entertain a true aversion for this vice; I wish to-day to inspire you with the same sentiment of repugnance toward the vile sin of Avarice.

What is Avarice? According to St. Thomas and St. Bernard, Avarice is an excessive and immense love of the goods which we possess or which we wish to possess. We are avaricious when we love and desire to excess the goods of this world, such as gold, silver or lands; when we amass them with too much avidity, when we preserve them with too much trouble of mind, when we are too much afflicted at losing them, or fear too much expending them. From this definition of Avarice, it is easy to conclude that the poor as well as the rich may be swayed by this vice; and, in fact, they are guilty of Avarice, if they preserve in their hearts a too ardent desire of possessing the goods of this world, if they set their hearts upon them as rich people very often do, who make a god of their wealth, and worship it. This definition of Avarice also teaches us that it is only the inordinate love of gold, silver and earthly goods which merits the name of Covetousness, and that this odious name must not be given to the moderate desire of acquiring and preserving these things. The father of a family, who moderately desires and struggles to amass sufficient money, to acquire sufficient

means that he may provide for his family in a becoming manner, and honorably establish his children in the world, must not be called avaricious. There is nothing inordinate in his desires; he is not therefore covetous. Neither must the man be taxed with Avarice, who is sparing in his dress, maintenance and pleasures, and by his economy lays by some of his earnings, not from an excessive love of money, but that he may be enabled to live in comfort when he is no longer able to work, and that he may not stand in need of the necessaries of life, should he happen to be visited by infirmities and sickness.

You must be careful and not confound Avarice with a good and wise economy, which is reason applied to the management of the affairs of this world; Avarice is a vice, economy is a virtue. Does not common sense tell us that to waste our substance, is to commit an act of folly; that it would be even criminal to spend in prodigal extravagance, for outward show, what is useful in supplying the wants of our family? It is not what is needful for our support, but our superfluities that should become the patrimony of the poor. An economical man, without being covetous, without having an excessive love for money, wisely manages his fortune, and neglects no opportunity of enlarging it; but he makes use only of means, just in themselves, and which religion and conscience approve; he does not detach his heart from God to fix it on riches. He knows that the Holy Spirit has said: "Take heed and beware of all Covetousness;" seek nothing that is not just; and if heaven bless his efforts, it will be his desire to please God, by practicing good works, he will be always ready to aid his brethren, he will be the father of the poor and the afflicted. He will not refuse when called on to contribute what he can toward feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, instructing the ignorant, adorning the house of God, or carrying the glad tidings of salvation to nations yet groping in the darkness of error, he is not then avaricious. God grants him wealth, and he blesses the Lord. Should He take it away from him, he will still bless His holy name.

Do you wish to know the covetous person? Is it that man in whom the desire of obtaining money is the sole motive of every thing he does, of every thing he undertakes; who rejoices immoderately in the possession of temporal goods, and who is excessively afflicted