lates, that once at midnight, whilst standing in his cell in prayer, suddenly a light as brilliant as the sun shone around him, and a voice was heard, saying, 'Happy art thou, O Abraham, and no one is like unto thee; for thou hast fulfilled all the ordinances of my will.' But the Saint was one of those solid critics who are not dazzled by false light, or blinded by false darkness, by rationalism, or by mysticism. He answered with dogmatic certainty: May thy darkness be with thee to thy destruction!' A similar midnight deceitful light was thrown by the ancient master-sophists over the present life, when they praised men for their intelligence, their humanity, their liberality, and their extraordinary civilisation.

It is indeed true, that many branches of human science have been greatly advanced, that the circle of natural knowledge is widely enlarged, and that imagination and research are more energetic than ever; but whether the powers of darkness are not more prevalent, we may easily learn if we look at the infidelity of many, who despise all positive Christianity, and at the vague belief of others, who for the most part build upon Pantheistic principles, and consider, finally, the multiplied decided fallings-off from Christ and from His Church. Spectres and apparitions are now rare; every thing is undisturbed, and we know of demons and ghosts only as we read of them in ancient chronicles, and in the newly discovered regions of entranced and ecstatic beings; but in truth there is, throughout the world, so much delusion and disorder, that Satan has no need to assume any special form, for he is every where heard and followed.

St. Gregory the Great relates, that this evil spirit once occasioned so frequent and such dreadful disturbance in a house at Corinth, that no one could venture to dwell therein. Datius, Bishop of Milan, being on his way to a Council that was to be held at Constantinople, came to Corinth, and found no lodging sufficient for himself and his numerous attendants excepting this uninhabited house. The citizens cautioned him to be heedful, and related to him what reception he might expect. Datius replied, that on that very account he wished to lodge there. The house was speedily prepared, and Datius had already sent his attendants to rest, and was himself watching in prayer, when suddenly an extraordinary noise was heard. The roaring of lions, the bleating of sheep, the neighing of horses, the howling of wolves, and the hissing of serpents, now singly, and now in chorus, were heard with painful distinctness. Datius arose, and exclaimed in a voice strengthened by anger, Justly hast thou been punished, O wretched one; thou didst say, I will raise my throne above the stars, and be like the Most High; behold, thou art cast down by thy pride, and instead of being like to God, thou art like to the beasts!' And by these sarcastic words, as St. Gregory relates, peace was restored to the house.

The pantheistic sophist, in like manner, who bears within himself the God of the universe; the highminded man, who invests his weak reason with absolute dignity; and he who thinks but little, if at all, and who, in pretended absolute freedom, disregards every Divine law all these would make themselves like to God, and imitate the several corporeal forms and impulses which

exist in the enslaved natural life of the brute creation; for all these forms and impulses are united in the corporeal man, who is the highest creature of nature. And thus do the passions, with their hundred dreadful cries, rise in rebellious tumult within man, disordered by his fall, whenever the old serpent is aroused. But the Psalmist seizes his harp, and exclaims, "Arise, O Lord, and scatter Thy enemies, and drive from Thy face all who hate Thee!" And not only so, but it is also written: "Arise, O spirit of man, and by the strength of the heavenly Adam, fight against all evil. Call to Him, that He may free thee from evil; but do thou also strive, that thou mayst overcome evil by good."

"Fight the good fight of faith and fidelity; lay hold on eternal life." (1 Tim. vi.)

S those only can be reckoned amongst real goods which bring us nearer to

the end of our spiritual existence; and consequently, as those only can be called real evils which threaten us with eternal separation from God, it follows, that temporal evils, those which pass with time, if we profit by them as we ought, prepare the way to eternal goods; and cannot, therefore, be compared with the evils of sin and of eternal punishment. If temporal evils alone were the object of this petition, it would with full propriety be placed the last of the seven. For if the impulse be implanted in the heart of

man, that in want and danger he should call to God for help, and if God Himself command him so to do, saying, "Call upon Me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver thee" (Ps. xlix.); so has He also said, "Seek before all things the kingdom of God and His justice ;" and has, moreover, so arranged the order of the prayer

He would have us to say, that we always think, in the first place, of the highest object of life, and implore temporal favours only inasmuch as they tend to the glory of God. Let us hear the prayer of the penitent king: "Chastise me not, O Lord, in Thy wrath;" and he gives the reason: "for," says he, "there is no one in death who is mindful of Thee; and who shall confess to Thee in hell?"

We pray, therefore, for deliverance from temporal evils; but as we commence our prayer with the words, "Hallowed be Thy name," we acknowledge that we do not place the granting of this petition as a condition of our future service, but that we will, in all events, be faithful. Such was the sentiment of the three children at Babylon, when they were left to the alternative of adoring the statue, or of entering the fiery furnace. "Who is your God," said the Asiatic despot, "that He should be able to save you from my hands?” Whereunto they replied: "It is not necessary that we answer to you concerning these things; for behold, that God to whom we pray has assuredly the power to free us from the furnace and from your hands; but if He be unwilling, yet know, O king, that we will not adore your statue." As they knew that the only real evil was the abandonment of God, the noble trial of their free-will was truly a fire-proof; and as the spiritual death of sin could not come nigh unto them, the powers of nature were to them no subject of dread. And even had they been deprived of temporal life, they would not have considered this as any real evil, since they were strengthened and enlivened by faith in the promised Redeemer. And how must this faith have