Democrat and sentinel. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1853-1866, 1855-05-02
VOL. 2. NO. %.

persisted for bresdl He was unable TO earn,
and unwilling to beg. food; while himself and
family were ready TO die in order to humor
the arrogance and cruelty of the proud and
rich! What have you been doing, We richl
and guilty ones, that ye have net visited the
chambers of affection and deaths-thst you
have not succoi ed the helpless and relieved the
hunger and sorrows of the widow and the fa-
therless? PROSTATE yourself, say, before
the great God of Heaven, and plead for his
pardon, that his anger may not overthrow you
even now, and oFerwhelm you utterly in per-
dition when the last trump Of judgment shall
spread dismay and terror to the universei
Hastel save your souls while there is yet time
Let not the anathema, .Accursedl accursedp
be your doom. There is but one way to ap-
pease that Judge. who holds your fate in his
hands. 1t is to give of your abundance to the
poor. Give. 60 give at once. lest We sudden
ly perishl How are you TO expect that pity
from the Most High which you withhold from
your brother man? Oh, haste We then. nv
brethern. to do all manner of good works.
The forty days allowed to the Prophet of Mn
eseh may be denied to you Now is the hour
for repentance. Tomorrow, to-day, even 3
single instant, may call you from the scenes of
| time to the dread realities of eternity?"
The holy father sank down on his knees,
buried his face In his hands. and remained
some minutes in fervent meditation and PRAYER.
His saddress had done its work. On rising from
his supplications, there stood before him an ea-
ger crowd stretching forth their hands filed
with silver and gold, among them many fe-
males who had torn the jewels from their per-
sons, all readyto cast their riches into the
treasury of heaven. Fifty thousand livres
were speedily placed at the disposal of the
priest, ere the multitude dispersed to their
homes. The money was deposited in a place
of security in the church, with the exception
of the sum Of one thousand ecus, which the
father designed as an appropriation to the sick
artist, toward whose abode he presently bent
his steps. Suddenly, however. he changed
his course, and took the road in the direction
of Versailles.
CHAPTER ".
Man proposes but God disposes The SER
mon preached by the holy father at the Church
of St Sulspice was far different from the one
he had previously resolved in his mind to
preach on the memorable occasion of which
We have spoken. he was missionary, renown>
ed throughout France for his unaffected piety
and remarkable plainness of speech aad crate
real powers. 1t was high festival day, in
commemoration of some distinguished saint In
the calender of the Catholic Church, and the
venerable Father Dupasseur had been an
nounced as the orator who should harancus
the people and discourse on the transcendent
attributes of the canonized saint The priest
had carefully elaborated all the saint virtues
in his own mind, and was fully prepared to
descant upon them in the choicest and most
glowing terms of language; while such was his
great fame for eloquence and wisdom, if not
eccentricity of character, in fact, that the
Curch of St Sulspice became thronged with an
ager multitude to hear him preach long be-
fore the hour appointed for the ceremonies of
the occasion. Hence their impateuce at the
delay of the priest. whom Providence DELAYED
ON his wsy by calling him to the bedside of
the sick artist, as has been already detailed.
The impression left ON his mind, on viewing
the distresses of the afflicted and impoverished
family, drove all thoughts of his original SER
mon entirely from his mind, and induced him
to substitute in its place the powerful impro1ssx
charity sermon we have so feebly attempted to
repeat and portray. 1t was a sermon entire
ly without premeditation. God having put the
text and wora&6 the discourse, as the priest
himself Afterwards said, into his month only
when he had entered the pulpit of the Church
of st Sulspice. 1t was sermon. however
which not only reached the consciences and
the pockets of the immense audience gathered
in the church. but one which was the general
theme of conversation in Paris for long time
Afterwards. Indeed, II was the epoch off most
remarkable exhibition of charity and good
works by all classes of the inhabitants of the
great city. The poor and the sick were
sought after, and tLeir necessities relieved, as
by the spontaneous sympathy of the entire
people The contagion of benevolence. in
sooth, reached the throueitself, and Louis XIV,
and his court seemed emulous to outdo all others
in founding hospitals and numerous charitable
institutions, for the especial benefit of the chill
dren oftoil and affection In all the districts
and cities of.France.
Meanwhile Father Dupasseur pursued the
usual quiet tenor of his way He kept his
own thougts and purposes to himself, and did
not choose 10 blazon his performance of good
works from the housetops and public highways
to receive the admiration and praise of his
fellow-meu. 1t has been remark ed of persons
who give their attention solely to some great
ends, that they often seem morose and churlish
to an offensive degree, whereas such traits are
entirely foreign to their natures. and may be
accounted for on the supposition that such per-
sons are so entirely abstracted from all objects
in the world as to be capable ofperceiving and
appreciating only the one grand idea upper
most in their minds On the other hand
there is sometimes observed species Of child
ish weakness. if not idiotic simplicity, 10 many
persons, solely at variance with their pro-
found learning and the natural austerity Of
their characters. They are influenced bv
some sublime naonomaai9, as.it wess, which
cannot be diverted by tb mPtY disilactions
Of the world.
Father Dupasseur ~ sorbaps. one Of the
latter class Other 0ree< naor> have heAn 49,