joy great tranquillity of soul. For order produces peace; it makes known what is to be done, and when; it restrains the flightiness of the thoughts; it advances and finishes every work that is begun; it banishes idleness; while the very recurrence of the time warns thee of thy duty, and every hour calls for its own employment.

MAN. Thy counsel, O Lord, is just and acceptable to me, but how can it be practised? Thou knowest, O Lord, how much time is often snatched from us, even against our will, by our employments, our affairs, visits, conversations of friends, and other necessities of this life. Thou seest too, O Jesus, that this corruptible body is a load upon the soul, and that our earthly habitation presses down the mind that muses upon many things. CHRIST. This is what displeases me extremely, that there are so few who know the value of the time which I allow to men to do penance, to grow in my grace, and to gain glory in heaven. Be hold the acceptable time passes away, never to be recalled, and none lays it to heart; the days of salvation glide by, and no one mourns that the occasions which he had of doing good are gone, never to return.

But thou, shun, as far as thou canst, those thieves of time, friends, conversations,

and profitless engagements; and because the days are evil, redeem the time that should be given to thy better friends, to me, and to thy soul. Is that which I ask of thee a hard and a troublesome thing? Look, how much time is given to the body, to food, sleep, recreation, conversation,entertainments, &c., and wilt thou not give so little to thy God, thy soul, and eternity? Oh, how prodigal are men of their time when it is for the service of vanity! how niggardly when it is to be devoted to piety, to which all of it justly is due!

Moreover, I advise thee, my son, not to have many occupations; for with various distractions, thou wilt not have strength for all. He that is less in action shall receive wisdom. For the bed of thy heart is very narrow, and the short coverlet cannot cover both.2 More than one of the wise, even of this world, have discovered that no one who is full of business can attain to soundness of judgment. And how wilt thou attain to true holiness, if overwhelmed with so many engagements? Look at men of business. Oh, if thou couldst look into their consciences, thou wouldst see how miserably they are torn, as though they were among thorns and 1 Ecclus. xxxviii. 25. 2 Isai. xxviii. 20.

briers; and how, amid so many cares and matters of business,the spirit is quenched by degrees, devotion dried up, and all relish for holy things gradually and insensibly destroyed. This is the way to hardness of heart, from thence to aversion, and finally to contempt and perdition. And what wonder! Strangers have devoured their strength, and they knew it not.1

If thou wouldst be wise at others' cost (and this is true wisdom), take time to reflect that I am a God worthy to be adored by thee above all things. Where will be thy advantage, if, by neglecting me to be troubled about many things, thou gain the whole world, and with it the loss of thy soul? But be it that thou hast a vocation to labour, and canst not disengage thyself entirely from business, it is not my will for thee to neglect the duties of thy calling. Only try to be engaged in nothing but what is useful, honest, and necessary; so wilt thou find thyself rather failing the time, than the time thee. Or let thy soul at least turn oftener to its rest, and see to whom thou art most a debtor. Doubtless to the Lord, who, above all others, is thy benefactor.

Every day, therefore, go up at least once with Moses

1 Osee vii. 9.

to the mountain, to converse with me. Withdraw a little from the crowd, and enter into thy chamber, and betake thyself, as it were, to a haven of rest after a storm; and when thou hast shut the door, speak to me in secret, and there, as in a desert, Í will speak to thy heart what is for thy peace. Behold, even that pious heroine Judith had an oratory in the upper part of her house, which it was her daily custom to enter with her maids for the purpose of prayer. Thinkest thou that this was prejudicial to her plans and to her affairs? No, there was not a man so wise or successful,-none of the princes of the people brought to all that country 30 much aid and security as she.

Wouldst thou have a profitable exercise in this daily retreat? Such will readily occur to thee, when thou hast begun to be more intimate with me, and less engaged with men. See, then, pray and read. When thou prayest, thou speakest with me; when thou readest good books, I speak with thee: and what can be more noble, more profitable, or more pleasant to man?

MAN. Ah, that is little indeed which thou requirest of us, O Lord! True it is, that the whole of our lifetime is thine alone. For as there is not a moment but we enjoy

CHRIST. But beware, moreover, of being wise in thy own conceit, for so thou wilt easily fall. Woe to him that is alone, for when he falls, he has none to lift him up. There is none so wise, as not to need sometimes the counsel of one wiser than he. A wise man shall hear, and shall be the wiser; but he that hates reproof is foolish.

Oh, how many are there whom self-love deceives! How many are blind in their Own cause who are too sharpsighted in other men's! Behold David: who was ever holier or dearer to me than he? Yet he afterwards fell, and committed a grievous sin; but acknowledged it not (though in the case of another he knew how to pass a sentence severe enough upon the spoiler of the lamb) until he was plainly reproved

Prov. i. 5. 2 Ib. xii. 1.

by my servant Nathan. My servant Moses, again, though I spoke with him face to face, was nevertheless willing to listen with no less profit to the counsel of Jethro, his father-in-law. So was Ananias heard with humility by Paul, Philip by the eunuch of Queen Candace, and Peter by Cornelius the centurion.

Have thou too, therefore, a faithful guide, one not ignorant of the artifices of Satan, whom thou mayest consult in cases of difficulty, to whom thou mayest discover the secrets of thy heart, and whose direction thou mayest follow with safety. But should he speak to thee things true and hard, rather than pleasant and soft, hate him not. Better are the wounds of a friend, than the deceitful kisses of an enemy.' Beware of imitating those who love iniquity, and hate their own souls, and so, having itching ears, seek for themselves soft teachers, and turn away their hearing from the truth. Beware, I say, of believing those who speak to thee nothing but what is pleasant; who say, Peace, and there is no peace. Does not the physician destroy the patient whom he spares? So do they deceive thee, who call thee happy when thou art not.

Be cautious, therefore, to whom thou entrustest the care of thy soul. If thou Prov. xxvii. 6.

him; for truth, come whence it may, is from thee, who art the first truth.

ill of a dangerous disease, wouldst thou desire to have an ignorant and inexperienced or tender physician, who, by sparing thee, would kill thee? No one entrusts his horse or his ox to the care of any but an honest and experienced person; yet thinkest thou that it is of small consequence to whom thou entrustest thy soul? It will, then, be safest for thee to entrust thy soul to one able to take care of his own. If the blind lead the blind, do not both fall into the ditch? For who will be good to one who is evil to himself?

MAN. To err and be deceived is, I confess, O Lord, the lot of man. Oh, that thou wouldst provide me a guide who has a zeal of God according to knowledge, able to instruct me in the spirit of gentleness and meekness, who seeks not his own, but the things of Jesus Christ; one, I say, who, for love of thee and of his neighbour, would not spare me, that thou, O Lord, may est spare us both. Let the just man correct me plainly in mercy, and reprove me; but let not the oil of a flatterer anoint my head. In him I shall hear not so much the man as thyself speaking in

conscience.

CHRIST. There is yet one thing to which thou must daily and earnestly attend, or thy labour upon others will seem thrown away. This is the daily examination of conscience, which is of such consequence, that without it there can be no hope of thy long continuance in a holy and spiritual life, or of thy solid progress in virtue. For since the knowledge of sin is the beginning of salvation, how shall one who does not even care to know his defects think seriously of amendment of life, compunction, or advancement in piety? How shall one who knows not when he has offended me, be anxious to obtain of me forgiveness and remission of sins? How shall one seek to be cured who is ignorant of his disease, and rather flatters himself that he is perfectly well; and is pleased with himself, as though he were a good man, and had done no evil; and says, I am rich, and have need of nothing, and knows not that he is wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked?

My son, if thou wouldst look into thyself, thou wouldst displease thyself and please