good that he omits to do, and which he is inwardly determined not to do. As if he should say, I wish not to be more enlightened than I am; I am ignorant of my duty; but I choose to be ignorant of it, or at least not to know its full extent; my blindness pleases me ;-it is convenient for me; and far from being in pain in consequence of it, and wishing to correct it, I derive from it a great degree of tranquillity and peace, on which depend all the comfort and happiness of my life. Such is the nature of this sin. And are there to be found in the world people who have arrived to such a pitch of madness? Yes, my hearers, the world is full of them; and what still. more shows the corruption of the world, is that they go this length without being considered as madmen. For if this sin was generally disapproved of among mankind, and considered as extreme folly, it would be more rare and less contagious. But, at the present day, it is very common, and in consequence of the number and quality of those who are guilty of it, is in some measure authorized by the perverted. spirit of the world. 1. In the first place, this voluntary and affected blindness is the sin of libertines and pretended athe-ists. In themselves, and by the light of nature alone, men have means more than sufficient to know God; and they cannot efface him from their minds, or cease to believe in him, but because they will not yield subjection to his laws. By offending him, they come at length to forget and then to deny him. That was an excellent idea which Tertullian formerly expressed concerning, Atheism, when, after having demonstrated, that as God is the first he is the best known of all beings, he concluded that the great error of infidels was not being willing to acknowledge him of whom they could never be absolutely ignorant.Where you will remark that this great man, instead of adopting the vain subtleties of certain modern theol ogians, or reasoning like them, by making danger. ous suppositions upon what regards the existence of God and a belief in his existence, admits of no ignorance concerning him which is not highly criminal. And this upon the express words of Saint Paul, who represents those as inexcusable whom a rash presumption so far blinds as to lead them to doubt the divine existence.-" For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and godhead; so that they are without excuse. ""* The fool balances between his reason and his heart: ,,His reason teaches him that there is a God, but his rebellious heart tells him there is not. And because his heart has unhappily prevailed over his reason, he follows the dictates of the former, notwithstanding the discoveries of the latter, so far as to conclude, conformably to his desires, that there is no God in the universe. "The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God." Thus it is a voluntary and affected blindness which makes so many libertines and unbelievers among mankind. 2. This voluntary blindness is the sin of sensualists and voluptuaries, who, to enjoy their infamous pleasures with less trouble, wish not to hear the eter nal truths of religion; and who have the boldness to say to God, as the holy Job, to express the misery or rather the sinfulness of their conduct, observes concerning them, "Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways." They say to God, Depart from us, O Lord, and forbear to infuse into 'our minds that knowledge, although divine, which 'discovers to us, in spite of ourselves, the ways of: 'salvation. It is a troublesome knowledge; and 'while we continue determined, as we now are, to live * Romans i. 20. + Psalm liii. 1. + Job xxi. 14. • us. according to the dictates of our passions, and to "gratify our senses, it would but disquiet and alarm Reserve for others that illumination, which is the gift of thy grace; we are not yet disposed to receive it; to be guided by it would require too great a sacrifice; to be deprived of it is therefore better ' for our repose. It is true that the knowledge of thy • commandments and of thy law is the knowledge of saints; but it requires things too painful, and too contrary to all our inclinations, for us even to wish ⚫ that thou shouldst grant it to us. To renounce self, to crucify the flesh, to be obliged continually to ex⚫ercise repentance, these things, if we were to think ' of them, would overwhelm us with distress; and 'the view that we should have of them would poison every agreeable and pleasant enjoyment which the • world affords. We wish rather, O Lord, to spend 'our days in profound ignorance, and not to be in'structed in what thou commandest, that we may be able, without remorse, to enjoy the pleasures which thou forbiddest." Thus worldly minded men, slaves to passion, and under the dominion of sensuality, express themselves, or at least thus they think.. 3. This wilful blindness is the sin of certain conceited spirits, full of themselves, who, from the miserable influence of pride, cannot endure the truth from the moment they see it is calculated to humble them; -who, therefore, from that time, obstinately persist in shunning it, whereas, for that very reason, they ought even to seek it; and who, as St. Austin says, love the truth when it is favorable to them, but hate and reject it when they fear its censure. This is the sin of those who, possessed with self-love, choose not to see their faults though gross, and who cannot bear to be reproved for them ;-who take offence at the most friendly advice which is given them, and the most salutary remonstrances which are made to them ;—who, far from receiving these as good offi ces, make them an occasion of resentment and ill will;-and who consider themselves as obliged only to those who, from a false friendship or shameful complaisance, take care to conceal from them every thing which would wound them, and to dissemble with regard to every thing which would mortify them, however true it may be, and though very useful and necessary for them to know. This is the sin of those who wish to be applauded even for their follies and vices, and to be praised for their most irregular desires, their most violent passions, and their most criminal enterprises ;-who place all their happiness in being flattered and deceived; and who consider falsehood as a benefit, and adulation as a mark of respect. All this is a voluntary and affected blindness which makes them incorrigible.. 4. In fine, this is the sin of a great number of nom inal Christians, who, from another still more danger. ous error, wish not to be enlightened with regard to certain facts, certain doubts, and certain scruples of conscience, because they well perceive, from a very slight examination of themselves, that they have not a disposition to discharge those duties to which a perfect knowledge of these things would show them they are obliged. These are those whom the prophet had in view in the 36th Psalm, and of whom he said, "They have left off to be wise and to do good." Verse 3. what is good, be Thus, for instance, the world, will in The sinner wishes not to know cause he is determined not do it. a man, obscure and unknown in trigue himself into employments in which, without a miracle of grace, it is almost as impossible that he should be saved, as it is easy for him to grow rich in a very few years. From an extreme indigence, or from a moderate condition in life, he is seen sud denly to rise to a degree of wealth which astonishes the public.-One man, entrusted with the care of the property of others, in his management of it, has nei ther that exactness, nor perhaps that honesty, which is necessary not to confound his neighbor's concerns with his own. Another, in the functions of the magistracy, will often show himself in favor of his friends, at the expense of the weak and the poor. Another, being provided with Church benifices, enjoys them, and squanders their revenues, without having regard to the arduous duties which are attached to them. If either of these persons, after some time thus spent, were to enter into a close examination, and to weigh every thing in the balance of the sanctuary, it is evident he would find many accounts to render, many wrongs to repair, and many restitutions to make. Now all this would embarrass him, and reduce him to many disagreeable extremities. What then is to be done? To remove inquietude and scruples, a knowledge of the truth must be kept out of sight. People therefore thus circumstanced quiet themselves, by shaking off all thought with regard to their situation and conduct. Thus a wilful blindness hardens them and renders then insensible. I have already remarked, and I now again affirm, that of all the sins of which man is capable, no one is more dangerous, and more opposed to salvation than this. Why? Behold an unanswerable reason. Because this voluntary blindness excludes the first of all the means which God ordinarily makes use of, in the conversion of sinners, which is divine light; and the exclusion of this first grace puts us into a kind of impossibility of attaining any other. This sin closes the door of our hearts against God; and, if we may so speak, reduces him, all perfect as he is, to a kind of inability to save us, without an exertion of his almighty power, and the last effort of his mercy. Attend, and you will be convinced of this. I say, there is no sin more opposed to salvation. For, according to the principles of theology, the first step |