Part III: The Decalogue

Question 1. It is also shoicn that the Decalogue is an Epitome of the Entire Law.

THAT the Decalogue is a summary and epitome of the entire law, is the recorded opinion of St. Augustine,a for whereas the Lord had spoken many things, yet to Moses are given only tivo tables of stone, which are called tables of testimony, to be deposited in the ark;13 and the reason is, because on the ten precepts inscribed thereon, if they be carefully examined with a view to be properly understood, are found to depend all other things that God lias commanded ; as again, those same ten commandments [depend oii\ these two, the love of God and of our neighbour, on which hang the whole law and the prophets.

Question 2. Wlnj it should le care/My studied and explained by Pastors.

Constituting then, as it does, a summary of the whole law, it becomes the duty of pastors to give to its contemplation their days and nights, with the view not only to regulate their lives by its standard, but also to instruct the people intrusted to their care in the law of the Lord; for the priest's lips shall keep knowledge, and they shall seek the laiv at his 'inouth, because he is the messenger of the Lord of Hosts. c To the pastors of the New Law this pre-eminently applies ; for being nearer to God, they should be changed from glory to a Aug. ii. in Exod. qusest. 140.

glory, as by the spirit of the Lord. Christ our Lord lias said that they are the light of the world; to them, therefore, it especially belongs to be a light to them that are in darkness, the instructors of the foolish, the teachers of bales ;f and, if a 'man be overtaken in any fault, those who are spiritual should instruct such a one.% In confessions, also, they sustain the character of judge, and pass sentence according to the nature and measure of the offences. Unless, therefore, they wish that their ignorance defraud themselves, and others also, they must in the discharge of this duty bestow the greatest vigilance, and be most practised in an acquaintance with the interpretation of the divine precepts, in order to be able to pronounce according to this divine rule concerning every act of omission and commission ; and that, as the apostle saith, they may teach sound doctrine that is, doctrine free from error, and heal the diseases of souls, which are sins, that there may be a people acceptable to God, pu rsu ing good works. Now, in such instructions, let the pastor propose to himself, and to others, such considerations as may persuade to obedience to the law.

Question 3. Who was the Author of the Decalogue and of the Law of Nature.

Amongst the other motives which may impel the minds of men to the observance of the injunctions of this law, there is one that has most power, and that is, that God is its author; for, although it is said to have been delivered by angels, yet no one can doubt that God himself is the author of the law. Of this fact we have ample testimony, not only in the words of the legislator himself, which will soon after lie explained, but also in almost numberless other passages of Scripture, which will easily occur to pastors ;J for no one who is conscious that on his heart is inscribed by God a law, by which he is enabled to distinguish good from evil, vice from virtue, justice from injustice ; and, as the force and import of this [unwritten] law are not different from that which, is written, 110 one will dare to deny that God is the author of the written, as he is of the unwritten law. But, lest per chance the people, oil hearing the abrogation of the Mosaic Law, may imagine that they are 110 longer bound by the precepts of the Decalogue, [the pastor] must teach them that, when God delivered the law to Moses, he rather gave increased splendour to this divine light, that was now almost darkened by the depraved morals and inveterate perversity of man, than passed a new law. For it is most certain that the ten commandments are not to be obeyed because given by Moses, but because they are precepts innate in the minds of all, and have been explained and confirmed by Christ our Lord.k

Question 4. Considerations calculated to enforce its Observance ly the People.

It must, however, prove a most powerful and persuasive argument [for enforcing the observance of the law], to reflect that the founder of the law is God, of whose wisdom and equity we can have no doubt, whose power and might we cannot elude. Hence, when, by his prophets, he com manded the law to be observed, he proclaims that he is the Lord God y1 and even the opening words of the Decalogue are : I am the Lord thy God ;m and elsewhere we read : If I be a master, ivliere is my fear ?u

Question 5. IIoic great is the Benefit of having received the Law from God.

That God has vouchsafed to unfold his will, in which is contained our salvation, is a consideration which, besides animating the minds of the faithful to keeping his command ments, must also call forth the expression of their thanks. Hence the Scripture, in more than one place, setting forth this invaluable blessing, admonishes the people to know their own dignity and the divine bounty, as in Deuteronomy : ° This, says Moses, is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say : Behold a wise and understanding people, a great nation ; and again, in the Psalm :P He, hath not dealt so with any nation ; and his judgments he hath not made manifest to them.

Question 6. Wherefore God formerly willed to deliver his Laiv to the Israelites with so great majesty.

But if the pastor explain the circumstances which attended the promulgation of the law, according to the narrative of Scripture, the faithful will easily understand with what piety and humility they should reverence a law received from God. ITor three days previous to its promulgation, to all the people was announced the divine command, that they should wash their garments, and abstain from conjugal intercourse, to the end that they might be more holy and better prepared to receive the law, and to be in readiness on the third day. When they had reached the mount, from which the Lord was about to deliver to them the law by Moses, Moses alone was commanded to ascend the mount, whither came the Lord with very great majesty, and filled the place with thunderings and lightnings, with fire and dense clouds, and began to speak with Moses, and delivered to him the law.i In this the divine wisdom had solely for its object, to admonish us to receive his law with a pure and humble mind, and that, should we neglect his precepts, the punishments prepared by the divine justice impend over our heads.

Question 7. How the Law, promulgated with such Terror, can be fulfilled by Men, and that nothing is easier than Love.

The pastor will also teach that the commandments of God are not difficult [of observance] ; and this he can show by this single reason from St. Augustine, when he says : How, I ask, is it said to be impossible for man to love, to love, I say, a beneficent Creator, a most loving Father, and also, in the persons of his brethren, to love his own flesh ? Yet, he that loveth, hath fulfilled the law yr Hence, John the apostle openly beareth witness, that the commandments of God are not heavy ;8 for, as St. Bernard observes, nothing could be exacted from man more just, nothing more dignified, nothing more advantageous. Wherefore, filled with admiration of the supreme benignity of Clod, Augustine thus addresses God himself : What is man, that thou commandest him to love thee ? And if he love thee not, thou threatenest direful punish ments ! Is it not enough misery if I love thee not ?u But should any one allege human infirmity as an impediment to his loving God, the pastor will teach, that God, who demands our love, pours into our hearts, by his Holy Spirit, the vehemence of his love ;v and this good Spirit our heavenly Father giveth unto them that ask him ;w so that justly has St. Augustine prayed : Give what thou commandest, and command what thou pleasest?- Since then, the help of God is ready to sustain our weakness, especially since the death of Christ our Lord, by which the prince of this world was cast out, there is no reason why any one should be deterred by the difficulty of the undertaking ; for to him who loveth, nothing is difficult.

Question 8. All Men are bound to obey the Injunctions of the Law.

By explaining moreover the necessity of obeying the law, [the pastor] will contribute very much to induce to its observance, particularly as in these our days there have not been wanting those who impiously, and to the serious injury of their own souls, have not been afraid to say, that the law, whether easy or difficult, is by no means necessary unto sal vation. Their wicked and impious opinion the pastor will refute by testimonies from sacred Scripture, especially from the same apostle, by whose authority they endeavour to defend their impiety. What then saith the apostle 1 Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God 'J When he elsewhere1 repeats the same doctrine, and says that a new creature in Christ, alone availeth, by a new creature in Christ, we plainly perceive that he means him who observes and keeps the com mandments of God ; for he that hath and keepeth the command ments of God, loveth God, as our Lord himself testifies in St. John : If any one love me, he will keep my ivord.a A man, it is true, may be justified, and from wicked may become righteous, before he fulfil by external acts each of the pre cepts of the law; yet it is impossible that any one who has attained the use of reason, unless he be sincerely disposed to observe all the commandments of God, can be justified.

Question 9. Fruits of the Observance of the Divine Law.

Finally, that the pastor may leave nothing unsaid that may induce the faithful to observe the law, he will point out how abundant and how sweet are its fruits. This he will easily establish by referring to what is written in the eighteenth Psalm,b in which the praises of the divine law are celebrated, amongst which its highest [praise] is, that it pro claims the glory and the majesty of God more eloquently than even the celestial orbs by their beauty and order, enforcing as they do the admiration of the most barbarous nations, and leading them to acknowledge the glory, the wisdom, and the power of the Creator and Architect of all things. The law of the Lord, also converts souls to God ; for knowing the ways of God and his most holy will through his law, we turn our feet unto the ways of the Lord. It also giveth wisdom to little ones ;c for they alone who fear God are truly wise. Hence, they who observe the law of God are filled with true joys, are enlightened by the know ledge of the divine mysteries, and are blessed with immense pleasures and rewards in this life, and in the life to come.

Question 10. Since all things do the Witt of God, it is shown that Man ought most justly to follow the same Will.

Nor should we observe the law so much from a sense of mir own interest, as from a regard for the will of God, which he has unfolded unto men by its promulgation: if the c Ps. cxviii. (cxix.) 130, “Giveth understanding unto the simple.”

remaining portions of creation are obedient to this Iris sovereign will, how much more just that man should obey its dictates '? Nor is it to be passed over in silence, that God has pre-eminently displayed his clemency and the riches of his infinite bounty even in this, that, whilst he might have commanded us to serve him without a reward, he has never theless deigned to unite his own glory with our advantage, thus rendering what tends to the honour of God, conducive to our interests. This then being a most important and glorious prerogative, the pastor will teach, as the prophet says at the close [of his praise of the law], that in keeping them, there is a great, reward ;d for not only are we promised those blessings which seemed rather to refer to earthly hap piness, to be blessed in the city, and blessed in the field? but also a very great reward in heaven? and good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over.” which, with the aid of the divine mercy, we merit by our pious and righteous works.11

Question 11. In icliat manner the Law of Moses is obligatory on Men of all Times, and on what occasion it was promulgated to the Israelites.

Although this law was given by the Lord to the Jews on the Mount, yet as it was long before imprinted and engraved by nature on the hearts of all, and God therefore wished it to be obeyed at all times by all men, it will hence be found very profitable diligently to explain the words, in which it was promulgated to the Hebrews by Moses, its minister and interpreter, and also the history of the people of Israel, which is replete with mysteries. First, then, the pastor will relate, that, from amongst all the nations beneath heaven, God chose one, which took its descent from Abraham ; that he wished Abraham to be a stranger in the land of Canaan, the possession of which he had promised him ; and that, not withstanding [this promise], he and his posterity were wanderers for more than four hundred years before they obtained possession of the promised land, at the same time that, throughout this their pilgrimage, God never withdrew his care from them. They indeed went from nation to nation, and from one kingdom to another people ;i yet he never suffered them to be injured, but reproved kings for their sakes ; and, before they went down into Egypt, he sent before them a man by whose prudence they and the people of Egypt were rescued from famine. During their stay in Egypt such was the kindness with which he surrounded them, that, although Pharaoh was opposed to them and intent on their ruin, they increased to an extraordinary degree ; and when severely harassed, and most harshly treated as slaves, he raised up Moses as a leader, to conduct them from bondage with a strong hand. Of this their deliverance the Lord makes special mention in these opening words of the law ; / am the Lord thy God, who brought thee •out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage

Question 12. Why the People of Israel were chosen by God.

Amongst these events the pastor will particularly observe, that out of the nations of the earth one was chosen by God, whom he called his people, and by whom he would be known and worshipped ; not that they were superior to the others in righteousness or in numbers, and of this God himself reminds the Hebrews, but rather because, by the multiplication and aggrandisement of a small and impoverished nation, he would more fully display to mankind his power and his goodness. Such having been the circumstances of these men, he was closely joined to them and loved them,™- so that, Lord of heaven and earth though he was, he disdained not to be called their God, to provoke to emulation the other nations, that, perceiving the happiness of the Israelites, mankind might all betake themselves to the worship of the true God ; as Paul also testifies that, by setting forth the happiness of the Gentiles, and the true knowledge of God in which he had instructed them, he provoked to emulation those, who were his own flesh.11

Question 13. Why the Israelites were harassed with such Trials before they received the Laio.

[The pastor] will next inform the faithful, that God suf fered the Hebrew Fathers to wander a long time, and their posterity to be oppressed and harassed under a most galling servitude, to teach us, that to be friends of God we must be enemies of the world, and pilgrims on earth ; that to have nothing in common with the world gives us an easier access to the friendship of God ; and that, being transferred to the worship of God, we may understand how much more happy are they that serve God, than those who serve the world. Of this the Scripture admonishes us, for it says, Yet they shall be his servants, that they may know the difference between my service, and the service of the kingdom of the earth. v [The pastor] will also explain that God delayed the fulfilment of his promise until after the lapse of more than four hundred years, in order that that people might be nurtured by faith and hope ; for, as shall be shown when we come to explain the first commandment, God will have his children ever depend on him, and place all their hope in his goodness.

Question 14. The Time and Place in ivhich the Laiu was delivered, why chosen.

Lastly, [the pastor] will mark the place and time at which the people of Israel received this law from God. They received it, forsooth, when, having been led out of Egypt, they were come into the wilderness ; in order that, impressed with the memory of a blessing still fresh in their recollection, and terrified by the ruggedness of the place in which they were journeying, they might the better be disposed to receive the law. For to those whose bounty they have experienced, men are most attached by ties of obligation ; and when they have lost all hope of assistance from their fellow-men, then do they seek refuge in the protection of God. We may hence understand, that the more detached the faithful are from the allurements of the world, and the pleasures of the flesh, the more disposed are they to lend a willing ear to the doctrines of salvation ; as is said by the prophet : Whom, shall he teach knowledge, and whom shall he make to under stand the hearing ? Them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn away from the, breasts

Question 1. Of the Meaning of the Exordium, and tlte Mysteries contained therein.

LET then the pastor strive, with all his efforts, to induce, the faithful to keep continually in mind these words, / am the Lord thy God. From them they will learn that they have as a legislator their Creator, by whom they were made and are preserved, and that they may justly say, He is the Lord our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the, sheep of his hand The earnest and frequent inculcation of these words will serve to render the faithful more willing to observe the law, and abstain from sin. The words that follow, Who brought thee out of the land of Egypt and the house of bondage, whilst they seem solely to relate to the Jews liberated from the bondage of Egypt, are, if considered in their inward reference to the scheme of universal sal vation, far more applicable to Christian who are liberated by God, not from the bondage of Egypt, but from the region of sin and the power of darkness, and are translated into the kingdom of his beloved Son.s Contemplating the magnitude of this benefit, Jeremiah prophetically exclaimed, Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that it shall no more be said, the Lord liveth that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt ; but the Lord liveth that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither I cast them out ; and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers. Behold, I will send many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them, d-c.- For our most indulgent Father hath gathered together through his Son, the children that were scattered,'0- that, no longer the servants of sin but of righteousness. ,v we may serve before him in holiness and righteousness all our days.w

Question 2. In what manner the Faithful ought to be affected ly the Beginning of this Decalogue.

To every temptation, therefore, the faithful will oppose as a shield these words of the apostle, /Shall we that are dead to sin, live any longer therein ? x We are no longer our own ; but his who for us died and rose againj He is the Lord our God, who purchased us for himself with his own blood.7- How then shall we be any longer capable of sinning against the Lord our God, and crucifying him again ? a Being made truly free, and in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free,b let us, as we heretofore yielded our members to serve unrighteousness, henceforward yield them to serve righteous ness unto holiness.c

Question 3. What is to Ite observed or avoided, according to this First Commandment.

The pastor will teach that, in the Decalogue, the precepts that regard God occupy the first, and those that regard our neighbour, the second place ; for the services which we render unto our neighbour, we render him for the sake of God ; and then only do we love our neighbour according to the precept of God, when we love him for God's sake. And these pre cepts are those that were inscribed on the first table [of the law]. In the next place, he will show that, in the words propounded, is contained a twofold precept; the one man datory, the other prohibitory. For when it is said, Thou shall not have strange gods before me, it is the same as to say, Thou shalt worship me the true God : thou shalt not worship strange gods.

Question 4. In what manner Faith, Hope, and Charity are contained in this Precept.

In the former is contained a precept of faith, hope, and charity ; of faith, for when we say, God, we acknowledge him to be immoveable, immutable, ever the same, faithful, righteous, without any iniquity; and hence, assenting to his oracles, we necessarily yield to him all faith and authority. And who can contemplate his omnipotence, his clemency, his beneficence, and not repose in him all his hopes 1 But if we contemplate the riches of his goodness and love, lavished on us with so bounteous a hand, how can we but love him ? Hence that commencement, hence that conclusion, which God makes use of in Scripture in his precepts and commands : / the Lord.

Question 5. What this Precept prohibits is explained.

The other part of the precept is comprised in these words : Thou shalt not have strange gods before me; words which the legislator subjoins, not because the idea is not sufficiently implied in the affirmative part of the precept, which says equivalently, Thou shalt worship me the only God ; for if he u is God, he is the only God; but on account of the blindness \ of very many, who of old professed to worship the true God, and yet adored a multitude of gods. Of these there were many amongst the Israelites themselves, who, as Elijah reproached them with doing, halted between two sides ;d and this the Samaritans did, who worshipped the God of Israel, and the gods of the nations.6

Question 6. Why this First Commandment is of Superior Importance to the Rest.

Having explained these matters, [the pastor] must add, that this is the first and greatest of all the commandments, not only in order, but also in nature, dignity, and excellence. For God is entitled to infinitely greater love and authority from us than are due to master, to monarch. He created us ; the same he governs us ; he nurtured us in our mother's womb ; brought us into this world ; and supplies us with the necessaries of life and sustenance.

Question 7. How this Commandment is mostly Violated.

Against this commandment transgress all those who have not faith, hope, and charity, a numerous class of offenders. For amongst them are those who fall into heresy, who believe not what holy Mother Church propounds to be believed ; who give credit to dreams, divinations, and other superstitious illusions ;f those who despair of their own sal vation, and trust not in the divine goodness ; and also those who rely solely on riches, on bodily health and strength. But these matters have been developed more at large in treatises on morality.

Question 8. TJie Honour customarily rendered to the Saints by the Church is not prohibited by this Commandment.

But in the exposition of this precept the faithful are also to be accurately taught, that to this law are by no means repugnant the veneration and invocation of the holy angels, and of the blessed souls who enjoy the glory of heaven, nor the honour which the Catholic Church has also ever paid to the bodies and ashes of the saints. If a king were to pro hibit by proclamation any person from assuming the regal character, or accepting the honours due to the royal person, who would be so insane as at once to conclude, that the king was unwilling that respect should be paid to his magistrates? For although, following the example of the holy men recorded in the Old Testament,' Christians are said to adore the angels, they render them not that honour which they give unto God : and if we read that angels sometimes refused to be worshipped by men, the worship which they refused to accept was the supreme honour due to God alone.

Question 9. In what manner Angels may he worshipped by Men, is shown from Swipture.

For the Holy Spirit who says, Honour and glory unto the only God, commands us also to honour our parents and elders,k and the holy men who worshipped one God only are also said in the sacred Scriptures to have adored, that is, to have suppliantly venerated, kings. If then kings, by whose agency God governs the world, are treated with so high an honour, shall we not give to the angelic spirits an honour greater in proportion as these blessed minds exceed kings in dignity j [to those angelic spirits] whom God has been pleased to constitute his ministers;111 whose services he makes use of, not only in the government of his Church, but also of the rest of the universe ; by whose aid, although we see them not, we are daily delivered from the greatest dangers both of soul and body 1 Add to this the charity with which they love us, through which, as Scripture informs us, they pour out their prayers for those countries, over which they are placed by Providence, and for those too, no doubt, whose guardians they are, for they present our prayers and tears before the throne of God.0 Hence our Lord has taught us in the gospel not to scandalize the little ones, because in heaven their angels do always behold the face of his Father which is in heaven.?

Question 10. TJiat tlte Angels are to be invoked is proved from Scripture.

Their intercession, therefore, we must invoke, because they always behold God, and receive from him the most willing advocacy of our salvation. To this their invocation the sacred Scriptures bear testimony. Thus Jacob entreats, nay compels, the angel with whom he had wrestled, to bless him, declaring that he would not let him go until he had received his blessing; i nor did he implore the blessing of the angel only whom he saw, but also of him whom he saw not : The angel, says he, which redeemed me from all evils, bless the lads.1'

Question 11. To honour the Saints and Rdiqucs does not detract from the Honour due to God.

From these premises we are also justified in concluding, that to honour the saints who have fallen asleep in the Lord, to in voke their intercession, and to venerate their sacred reliques and ashes, so far from diminishing, rather serves very much to increase the glory of God, in proportion as the hope of men is thus excited and strengthened, and they themselves aroused to the imitation of the holy. This is a doctrine which is also supported by the authority of the second Council of Nice, the Council of Gangra, and that of Trent, and by the authority of the holy Fathers.v

Question 12. By what Arguments the Invocation of Saints is to be confirmed.

In order, however, that the pastor may be the better prepared to refute those who impugn this truth, he will particularly consult St. Jerome against Vigilantius,w and Damascene ;x and, what is of primary importance, to their reasoning is added the practice derived from the apostles, and always retained and preserved in the Church of Godj Of u See Decrees and Canons, Sess. xxv. p. 213, sqq. of my edition, and Beveridge on Art. XXII. p. 266, sqq.

this, who would require a stronger or clearer proof than that which is supplied by the admirable praises given in Scripture to the saints ; for we have extant divine praises of particular saints;2 and if the holy Scriptures celebrate their praises, why should not we pay them singular honour 1 Another claim, however, which [the saints] have to be honoured and invoked is, that they earnestly importune God for our salva tion/”1 and obtain of him for us by their merit and favour many blessings ; for if there is joy in heaven for one sinner that doth penance will not the citizens of heaven aid also penitent sinners by their prayers ? Will they not, when asked, implore the pardon of our sins, and conciliate for us the favour of God 1

Question 13. It is shown that this Invocation of the Saints does not proceed from any Diffidence in the Divine Aid, or from Weakness of Faith.

But should it be said, as is said by some, that their patronage is unnecessary, because God hears our prayers without an interpreter, this language of impious men is easily met by the observation of St. Augustine, that there are many things, which God does not grant without the intervention of a mediator and intercessor ;c an observation, the justness of which is confirmed by the illustrious examples of Abirnelech,d and the friends of Job,e whose sins were pardoned but through the prayers of Abraham and of Job. Should it also be alleged, that to invoke the intercession and patronage of the saints results from want or weakness of faith, what answer will they give to the example of the centurion, who, although his faith was highly eulogized by our Lord himself, yet sent to the Saviour the elders of the Jews, to intercede with him to cure his sick servant/ c Aug. in Exod. q. 149. d Gen. xx.

Question 14. The Doctrine concerning One Mediator, Christ, does not take aivay the Invocation of Saints.

Granting, we must confess, that there is but one mediator, Christ the Lord, who alone, forsooth, has reconciled us to his heavenly Father by his blood, and who, having obtained eternal redemption, and entered once into the sanctuary ',s ceases not to make intercession for us ;h it can by no means thence follow, that it is unlawful to have recourse to the in tercession of the saints. For if, because we have one mediator, Christ Jesus, it were unlawful to make use of the intercession, of the saints, the apostle would never have ventured to recommend himself with so much earnestness to the prayers of his brethren on earth/ whereas the prayers of the living should derogate from the glory and dignity of the mediator Christ, not less than the intercession of the saints in heaven.

Question 15. Tli e Virtue of Reliques and their great Power and Efficacy proved.

But whose incredulity is so obstinate as not to yield to the evidence in support of the honour and invocation we offer to the saints, afforded by the wonders wrought at their tombs ? The blind, the lame- handed, and the paralyzed are restored to their former state, the dead raised to life, and demons are expelled from the bodies of men ! facts, which St. Ambrose J and Augustine,k most unexceptionable witnesses, declare in their writings not to have heard, as many did, not to have read, as did very many very grave authorities, but to have seen. But why multiply proofs on this head ? If the clothes, the kerchiefs, the shadow of the saints,111 before they departed this life, banished disease and restored vigour, who will venture to deny that God works the same wondrous works by the sacred ashes, the bones, and other relics of the saints ? This was declared by the dead body accidentally let down into the grave of Elisha, and which, on touching the body of the prophet, was instantly restored to life.11

Question 16. The following Words do not form another Commandment, but are a Continuation of the Previous One.

What follows : Thou shalt not make to thyself a graven tiling, nor the likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, nor of those things that are in the waters under the earth ; iliou shalt not adore them nor serve them ; some, supposing these words to constitute a distinct precept, reduced the ninth and tenth commandments into one ;° but St. Augustine, dividing the two last, was of opinion, that these words belong to the first commandment :P and this division, because in general use in the Church, we willingly follow. A very just argument in its favour, however, is the propriety of annexing to the first the rewards or punish ments attached to [the observance or violation of] each of the commandments.

Question 17. This Precept does not prohibit the Use of Images in Chiwches. Nor let any one suppose that this commandment utterly prohibits the arts of painting, modelling, or sculpture ; for in the Scriptures we are informed that God himself com manded images of cherubim, i and also of the brazen serpent, to be made ; and the conclusion, therefore, at which we must arrive, is that images were prohibited only in such wise as they might be the means of detracting from the true worship of God to inanimate objects, as though they were to be adored as gods.

Question 18. In what tic ays the Divine Being may chiefly be violated through Worship offered to Images.

But as regards this commandment, the majesty of God is •grievously offended chiefly in a twofold manner ; the one, if idols and images be worshipped as God, or believing that in them there is any divinity or virtue on account of which they are to be worshipped, or that anything is to be asked of them ; or that confidence is to be reposed in the images as ivas oj old done by the Gentiles, who placed their hope in idols, and whose idolatry the Scriptures universally reprehend ; the other, by attempting to form a representation of the Deity, as though he were visible to corporeal eyes, or could be represented by painting or statuary. For who, saith Dama scene, can represent God, invisible, as he is, incorporeal, uncircumscribed by limits, and incapable of being described under any figure or form ? This subject the pastor will find treated more at large in the second Council of Nice.11 Admirably, therefore, has the apostle said, that the Gentiles changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things ; v for the likenesses of all these things, although the work of their own hands, they worshipped as gods. Hence, the Israelites, who exclaimed before the molten calf : These are thy Gods, 0 Israel, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt,™ are called idolaters because they changed their glory into the similitude of a calf that eateth grass J

Question 19. Of the Meaning of the Latter Portion of this Precept.

The Lord God, then, having forbidden the worship of strange gods, with a view to the utter removal of idolatry, prohibited the formation of an image of the Deity from, brass or any other material, as Isaiah declares when he asks : To whom then have ye likened God, or what image ivill ye make for him ?z That such is the meaning of [this part of] the precept is proved, not only from the writings of the holy Fathers, who, as is expounded in the seventh [general] council, give to it this interpretation ;a but likewise from a The editors quote Cone. Nic. ii. act. 2 ; Hadr. P. litt. ad Conf. et Iren ; Impp. et in act. 4, locum ex Leontii Episc. serm. 5.

these words of Deuteronomy, by which Moses sought to withdraw the Israelites from idolatry : Ye saw, says he, no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spake imto you in Horeb, out of the midst, of the fire. These woxds were spoken by this wisest of legislators, lest, led by any sort of error, they should make an image of the Deity, and transfer the honour due to God to a created thing.

Question 20. To represent any of the Persons of the Trinity does not violate this Precept.

Let no one, however, think that to represent any person of the most holy Trinity by certain forms, under which, as we read in the Old and New Testaments, they deigned to appear, is to be deemed contrary to religion and the law of God ; for no one is so ignorant as to believe that such forms are express images of the Deity \ forms, as the pastor will teach, which only serve to express some attributes or actions ascribed to God. Thus, when, from Daniel, the ancient of days is painted, seated on a throne, and before him the books opened?- the eternity and the infinite wisdom of God is signi fied, by which he sees, with a view to judge, all the thoughts and deeds of men.

Question 21. The same Doctrine holds good with regard to Angels.

Angels, too, are represented under a human form, and winged, to give us to understand how benevolent they are towards the human race, and how ready to execute the embassies of God to man ; for they are all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them, who shall receive the inheritance of salvation.6

Question 22. Of the Form of a Dove, which represents the Holy Ghost.

What proper attributes of the Holy Ghost are signified by the forms of a dove, and of tongues of fire, under which, as we read in the Gospel/ and in the Acts of the Apostles,? the Holy Ghost appeared, is too well known to require lengthened exposition.

Question 23. TJie Saints, and also Christ, ought to be pictured and honoured.

But to depict and honour the images of Christ our Lord, of his most holy and most pure mother, arid of all the other saints, seeing that they, having been clothed with human nature, appeared in human form, is not only not forbidden by this commandment, but has always been esteemed a holy practice, and a most certain indication of a grateful mind. This statement derives confirmation from the monuments of the apostolic age, the general councils of the Church, and the writings of so many most holy and learned Fathers, who are of one accord upon the subject.11

Question 24. What is the Legitimate Use of Images in the Church.

But the pastor will not content himself with merely showing the lawfulness of the use of images in churches, and of paying them honour and respect, since this honour and respect are referred to their prototypes; but he will also show that, up to the present time, this practice has been attended with the greatest advantage to the faithful ; as may be seen in the work of Damascene on images, and in the seventh council, which is the second of Nicej But because the enemy of the human race, by his wiles and deceits, seeks to pervert every the most holy institution, should the faithful happen at all to offend in this respect, the pastor, in pursuance of the decree of the Council of Trent,k will use every exertion in his power to correct such an abuse, and when occasion presents itself, will explain the decree itself to the people. He will also instruct the unlearned, and those who are ignorant of the purpose of images, that they are intended to instruct in the history of the Old and New Testaments, and to recall to remembrance the events which they record ; that thus excited by the recollection of heavenly things, we may be the more intensely inflamed to adore and love God himself. He will also point out that the images of the saints are placed in the churches to be honoured, and also that, admonished by example, we may conform ourselves to their lives and virtues.

/ am the Lord thy God, mighty, jealous, visiting the iniquity he fathers upon the children to the third and fourth genera tion of them that hate me, and showing mercy unto thousands to them that love me, and keep my commandments.

Question 25. This Appendix docs not belong to the First Precept only.

In the concluding clause of this commandment, two things occur which demand diligent exposition. The first is, that, although on account of the enormous guilt of sinning against the first commandment, and the propensity of man towards so offending, the punishment is here appropriately proposed, yet it is a common appendage to all the commandments; for every law, by holding out rewards and punishments, induces men to observe its ordinances. Hence the frequent and numerous promises of God, recorded in Scripture. To omit those almost innumerable testimonies which we meet with in the Old Testament, we read in the Gospel : Ifthou viilt enter into life, keep the commandments ;l and elsewhere : He that doth the will of my Father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven ;m and also : Every tree that yieldeth not good fruit shall be cut down and cast into the fire ;n and : Whosoever is angry with his brother shall be guilty of the judgment ;° and in another place : If ye will not forgive men, neither will your Father forgive you your sins.v

Question 26. Whether the Punishment here held out to Transgressors is held out alike to the Carnal and the Perfect.

The other observation is, that this appendix is to be pro posed in a far different manner to spiritual and to carnal men ; for to the perfect, who are led by the spirit of God,i and who yield to him with a willing and cheerful obedience, it is in some wise glad tidings, and a strong proof of the divine good-will towards them ; recognizing as they do therein the care of their most loving God, who, now by rewards, now by punishments, almost compels his creatures to worship and reverence him. They acknowledge his in finite benevolence towards them, in vouchsafing to issue his commands to them, and to avail himself of their service to the glory of his divine name ; and not only do they acknow ledge this, but also cherish a great hope that, when [God] commands what he pleases, he will also give strength, by which they may be enabled to obey his law. But to the carnal, who are not yet liberated from the spirit of servitude, and abstain from sin more through the fear of punishment than the love of virtue, [this sanction of the divine law, which] forms the appendix, is burdensome and severe. They are, therefore, to be supported by pious exhortations, and to be led, as it were, by the hand, to the path pointed out by the law. These things the pastor will keep in view, as often as he shall have occasion to explain any of the command ments.

Question 27. Meditations suggested ~by the word “ Miyhty”

To both carnal and spiritual are, however, in particular to be applied two stimulants, as it were, contained in this appendix, and excellently calculated to incite men to obe dience to the law. The one is, that God is called the mighty, an appellation, the force of which requires to be more diligently expounded to the faithful, as the flesh, unappallecl by the terrors of the divine menaces, frequently indulges in delusive expectations of escaping, in a variety of ways, the wrath of God and his threatened judgments ; but, when impressed with the certain conviction that God is the mighty, it exclaims with the great David : Whither shall I go from thy spirit ? or whither shall I flee from thy presence, ?T [The flesh] also, sometimes distrusting the promises of God, magnifies the power of the enemy to such a degree, as to believe itself unable to withstand him ; whilst on the con trary, a firm and unshaken faith, vacillating in nothing, whilst it relies confidently on the divine strength and power, animates and confirms man, for he exclaims : The Lord is my light and my salvation ; whom shall I fear ? s

Question 28. What is meant by God being “Jealous”

The second stimulant is the divine jealousy. For men sometimes think that God takes no concern in human affairs, even as to whether we observe or contemn his law, an error which is the source of great disorder in life. But when we believe that God is a jealous God, reflection on this point easily keeps us within duty.

Question 29. What Manner of Jealousy may le attributed to God.

The jealousy attributed to God does not, however, imply any agitation of mind, but that divine love and charity by which Gocl will suffer no soul to violate with impunity her fidelity t to him, and which destroys all those who are disloyal to him. The jealousy of God, therefore, is his most calm and impartial11 justice, by which the soul, that is corrupted by false opinions and depraved passions, is repudiated as an adulteress ; and in this jealousy of God, evincing as it does his supreme and incredible goodness towards us, we recognize a source of the sweetest and most delightful pleasure. For there is no love more ardent among men, no bond of union stronger or closer, than what exists between married persons. God, therefore, when, frequently comparing him self to a spouse or husband, he calls himself a jealous God, demonstrates the excess of his love towards us. The pastor, therefore, will here teach, that so desirous should men be of the worship and honour of God, as to be said with propriety to be jealous of, rather than to love, God, after the example of him who says of himself : With zeal have I been zealous for the Lord God of hosts ;v or rather, let them imitate Christ himself, who has said : The zeal of thy house hath eaten me up.w

Question 30. What is the Purport of the TJtreat here set forth.

The menaces of God's judgments must also be explained, that he will not suffer sinners to remain unpunished, but will either chastise them as a parent, or punish them sharply and severely as a judge ; which, on another occasion, is thus expressed by Moses : Thou shalt know that the Lord thy God is a mighty and faithful God, keeping his covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations ; and repaying forthwith them that hate him.x Again, ye cannot, saith Joshua, serve the Lord ; for Jie is a holy God, and mighty and jealous, and will not forgive your transgressions and sins. If ye forsake the Lord, and serve strange gods, then he will turn, and do you hurt, and destroy youj

Question 31. How God visits the Sins of the Fathers upon the Children, unto the Third and Fourth Generation.

The people are to be taught, that the punishments here threatened await the third and fourth generation of the impious and the wicked; not that the descendants are always visited with the chastisements due to the delinquency of their ancestors, but that, although they and their de scendants may go unpunished, their posterity shall not all escape the wrath and vengeance of God. This king Josiah experienced, for although God had spared him on account of his singular piety, and allowed him to be borne in peace to the tomb of his fathers, that he might not see the evils of the times to come, that were to befall Judah and Jerusalem ”by reason of the wickedness of his grandfather Manasseh ; yet, after his decease, the divine vengeance so overtook his posterity, that it spared not even the children of Josiah.2

Question 32. How these Words agree with the Words of Ezekiel.

The words of this commandment may perhaps seem to be at variance with the sentence pronounced by the prophet : The soul that sinneth shall die ;a but the authority of St. Gregory, borne out by the consentient testimony of all the other ancient Fathers, satisfactorily shows [that there is no real contradiction] : Whoever, says he, imitates the iniquity of a wicked father, is also bound by his sin ; but he who does not follow the iniquity of the father, is not at all burdened toith his sin. Hence it comes to pass that the wicked son of a wicked father, who dreads not to superadd his own malice to the vices of his father, by which he knows the wrath of God to have been already excited, is burdened not only with the sin that he himself has added, but also with that of his father. And it is just that he who dreads not tofolloiv in the footsteps of a wicked father, before the eyes of a rigorous judge, should be subjected in the present life to the punishment provoked even by the crimes of his wicked parent) That the goodness and mercy of God far exceed his justice is another observation which the pastor will not fail to make : God is angry unto the third and fourth generation ; but he bestows his mercy 011 thousands.

Question 33. Who, as Transgressors of the Divine Laves, may be considered to hate God.

The words, of them that hate me, display the grievousness of sin ; for what more wicked and detestable than to hate the supreme goodness, the supreme truth 1 This, however, is the case with all sinners ; for as he that hath the commandments of God, and keepeth them, loveth God ;c so he that despiseth his law, and keepeth not his commandments, is justly said to hate God.

Question 34. What is the Meaning of “ and do mercy unto them that love me.”

The concluding words ; And them that love me, point out the manner and motive of observing the law ; for it is necessary that those, who observe the law of God, should be influenced in its observance by the same charity and love which they bear towards God ; a principle, which will be hereafter applied to each of the other commandments.

Question 1. Why God willed this Law to lie especially laid down respecting honouring his Name.

ALTHOUGH in the first precept of the divine law, in which we are commanded to worship God in piety and holiness, is necessarily contained this that follows in the second place j (for he that wishes to be honoured, also requires to be spoken of by us with the highest respect, and forbids the contrary, as the words of the Lord in Malachi also clearly show : A son konoureth the father, and a servant his master : if then I be a father, where is mine honour ?d) yet, on account of the importance of the matter, God would make this law, which commands his divine and most holy name to be honoured, a distinct precept, and was pleased to prescribe it to us in clear and distinct terms.

Question 2. Tim Precept demands assiduous Exposition on the part of the Pastor.

To the pastor himself this should be a most satisfactory proof, that it by no means suffices to speak on this matter in general terms : but that the nature of the subject is such as to require to be dwelt upon at considerable length, and explained to the faithful in all its relations with distinctness, clearness, and accuracy. Nor is this diligence to be deemed too great, whereas there are not wanting those, who are so blinded by the darkness of error as not to dread to blas pheme him, whom the angels glorify ; and who are not deterred by the promulgation of the law from most shame fully disparaging the majesty of God every day, nay, almost every hour and moment of the day. Who perceives not that every assertion is accompanied with an oath ; that every conversation abounds in curses and imprecations ; so much so that a man scarcely buys, or sells, or transacts business of any sort, without interposing the solemn pledge of an oath, and, even in matters the most unimportant and trivial, thousands of times rashly makes use of the most holy name of God '? It therefore becomes the part of the pastor to employ the greater care and diligence, to remind the faithful frequently how grievous and detestable is this crime.

Question 3. This Second Precept contains a Negative and a Positive Precept, In the exposition, then, of this precept, be it first wel known that, besides what it forbids, it also contains a positive precept, enforcing certain things to be done. 0: each, [the pastor] must give a separate exposition ; and, to facilitate instruction on these subjects, he will first explain what the law commands, and next what it prohibits. Wha1 it commands then is, that the name of God is to be honoured, and that it is to be appealed to in oath with reverence ; and, on the other hand, what it prohibits is, that any one contemn the divine name, to take it in vain, or swear by it falsely, vainly, or rashly.

Question 4. What is here meant by the Name of God.

When, therefore, we are commanded to honour the divine name, the pastor will enforce, that our attention is not directed merely to the letters or syllables of which that name of God is composed, or in any respect to the mere name, but to the import of a word used to express the Omnipotent and Eternal Majesty of the Godhead, Trinity in Unity. Hence we easily infer how unmeaning is the superstition of some amongst the Jews, who dreaded to pronounce the name of God, which they hesitated not to write, as if the divine power consisted in the four letters of which it is composed, and not in their signification.0 In the enunciation of the precept, however, the word name., although in the singular number, Thou shalt not take the name of God, is not to be understood to refer to any one name in particular, but to extend to all the names by which God is usually designated; for God is called by many names, such as the Lord, the Almighty, the Lord of Hosts, the King of Kings, the Mighty One, and others of similar import, which we meet in the Scriptures \ all of which are entitled to the same veneration. The pastor will next teach how the divine name is to be duly honoured, for the Christian people, whose tongues should every day celebrate the praises of God, are not to be ignorant of a matter most useful and most necessary unto salvation.

Question 5. IIow the Name of God is to be venerated or honoured.

For although the name of God may be praised in a variety of ways, yet the force and import of all seem to be included under the following particulars. God then is praised, first, when in the presence of all we confidently confess him to be our Lord and our God ; and not only acknowledge, but pro claim Christ to be the author of our salvation. [God is also praised], when we pay a religious attention to his word, by which his will is announced to us ; make it the subject of our assiduous meditation ; and by reading or hearing it, study to become acquainted with it, according to our re spective capacity and condition of life. Again, we honour and venerate the divine name, when, from a sense of religious duty, we celebrate the divine praises, and under all circumstances, whether prosperous or adverse, return him singular thanks. For the prophet saith : Bless the Lord, 0 my soul, and never forget all he hath done for theej Amongst the Psalms of David we have very many, in which, animated with surpassing piety towards God, he chants the e Compare my edition of Caimet's Dictionary, article “God,” p. 353. f Ps. cii. (ciii.) 2.

divine praises in sweetest strains. “We have that admirable example of patience, Job, who, when he had fallen into the heaviest and most appalling calamities, never ceased, with lofty and uiiconquered soul, to praise God.s When, there fore, we labour under pain of mind and body, when tor mented by miseries and misfortunes, let us instantly direct all our zeal, and the powers of our souls, to praise God, saying with Job : Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Question 6. Other Ways of obeying this Precept.

The name of God is also not less honoured, if we confidently implore his assistance, to relieve us for instance from our afflictions, or to give us constancy and strength to endure them with fortitude. This God wishes us to do : Call upon me, says he, in the deny of trouble : I will deliver thee, and tkou shalt glorify one;1 and of such supplication we have illustrious examples in many parts of Scripture, especially in Psalms xvi. xliii. and cxviii. Finally, we honour the name of God, when we call him to witness the truth of what we assert, a mode differing very much from those above mentioned ; for the means already enu merated are in their own nature so good, so desirable, that nothing more happy or more to be wished for can be conceived, than to spend night and day in such practices of piety : / will bless the Lord at all times, says David : his %)raise shall continually be in my mouth ;J but with regard to an oath, although in itself good, it should seldom be used.

Question 7. The reason of this difference is, that an oath was instituted only as a remedy to human frailty, and a necessary means of proving the truth of what we advance. As then it is inexpedient to apply medicine to the body, unless it be necessary, and as its frequent use is pernicious ; so, with regard to an oath, we should never recur to it, unless when there is weighty and just cause ; and a frequent use thereof, far from being advantageous, is 011 the contrary highly detrimental. Hence the admirable observation of St. Chrysostom, that oaths were introduced amongst men, not at the beginning of the world, but long after, ivlien vice had overspread the whole orb of the earth ; ivlien nothing remained in its proper place and order, and in universal confusion all things were borne upwards and downwards ; when, what ivas the most serious evil of all, mortals almost universally cast themselves down in degrading servitude to idols ; then at length it was that oaths broke their ivay into the communications of men. For ivhen perfidy and wickedness had risen to stich a height that no one could easily be induced to believe his fellow, then was God appealed to as a witness.

Question 8. In ivhat the Nature of an Oath consists.

But, as in this part of the precept our chief object is to teach the faithful the conditions necessary to render an oath pious and holy, it is first to be observed, that to swear, whatever may be the form or sense of the oath, is nothing else than to call God to witness, for to say, God is my wit ness, and to swear by God, are exactly the same thing. It is also an oath to swear by things created, in order to gain credit ; as, for instance, to swear by the holy Gospels of God, by the cross, by the reliques or names of the saints, and all such things. Of themselves, indeed, such objects give no weight or authority to an oath : but it derives its obligation from God, the splendour of whose divine majesty shines forth in them ; and hence they who swear by the gospel swear by God himself, whose truths are therein contained. This holds equally true with regard to those who swear by the saints, who are the temples of God, who believed the truth of his gospel, and were most faithful in its observance, and diffused its doctrines amongst the remotest nations and people.

Question 9. Of the Form of Oath consisting of an Execration. This is also true of oaths uttered by way of execration, such as is that of St. Paul : / call God to witness upon my k Chrysost. in Act. horn. ix. n. 5.

soul;1 for by this form [of oath] we subject ourselves to God as the avenger of falsehood. That some of these forms may, however, be used as though they had not the force of an oath, we do not deny ; but even in such cases it is useful to observe what has been said with regard to an oath, and to direct such forms to the very same rule and standard.

Question 10. Oaths are Affirmatory and Promissory.

Oaths are of two sorts, affirmatory and promissory : the first, which is called assertory, when, under its sacred sanction, we affirm anything, past or present ; such as the affirmation of the apostle, in his epistle to the Galatians : Behold ! before God, I lie not.m The other, or promissory, is when we promise and confirm for certain the future per formance of anything, which also includes threats ; such as that of David, who swore to Bathsheba his wife, by the Lord my God, that her son Solomon should be heir to his kingdom, and his successor on the throne.11

Question 11. Conditions of a Lawful Oath.

But although, to constitute an oath, it is sufficient to call God to witness ; yet, to constitute a proper and holy oath, many more conditions are required, which must be carefully explained. They, as St. Jerome observes, are briefly enu merated in these words of Jeremiah : Thou shalt swear, The Lord liveth, in truth, in judgment., and in righteousness /P words which indeed briefly sum up the conditions, in which the perfection of every oath is comprised, viz. truth, judgment, and justice.

Question 12. Of the Truth of an Oath.

Let truth, then, hold the first place in an oath • that is to say, let what is sworn be true, and let him who sweareth believe it to be true, founding his conviction not upon rash grounds or slight conjecture, but upon motives of undoubted certainty. Truth is a condition not less necessary, as is obvious, in a promissory, than in an affirmatory, oath ; for he who promises must be disposed really to perform and fulfil his promise, when the appointed time comes. For as no conscientious man will ever promise to do what he con siders to be opposed to the most holy commandments and will of God ; so, if he have once promised and sworn to do what is lawful, he will never swerve from his engagement ; unless, perhaps, change of circumstances should so alter the state of the case, that, if he wished to stand to his promise, he would incur the displeasure and enmity of God. That truth is necessary to a lawful oath David also declares, when, having asked who is worthy to sit in the tabernacle of the Most High, he answers : lie that swear eth unto his neighbour, and deceiveth him not.

Question 13. Who is said to Swear in Judgment, and for ichat reason an Oath is not to be tendered to Children.

The second condition is judgment ; for an oath ought not to be taken rashly and inconsiderately, but with deliberate consideration. When a man is about to take an oath, therefore, he should first consider whether he be or be not necessarily compelled [to do so], and whether the whole matter, if well weighed, be such as appears to require an oath. Time also, place, and many other circumstances must be taken into consideration ; and he should not be influenced by love, or hatred, or any other passion of the mind, but by the force and necessity of the matter itself. For unless this diligent attention and consideration precede, an oath must certainly be hasty and rash j and of this character is the irreligious affirmation of those, who, on any most unimportant and trifling occasions, swear without reason or pur pose, and from a mere evil habit. This we see done every where, every day, by sellers and buyers, the former of whom, to sell at the highest price, the latter, to purchase at the cheapest, hesitate not to praise or dispraise with an path the goods on sale. As then judgment and prudence are necessary, hence St. Cornelius Pontiff decreed/ that an oath should not be administered to children before puberty, that is, before their fourteenth year, because children, by reason of their tender age, are not yet competent to perceive or distinguish so acutely.

Question 14. IIoiv an Oath is taken in Justice.

The last [condition of an oath] is justice, a condition which is required most particularly in promissory oaths.3 Hence, if a person swear to do anything unjust or un lawful, he sins by taking the oath, and heaps sin upon sin by performing his promise. Of this the gospel supplies an example : king Herod having rashly bound himself by oath, gave to a dancing girl, as a reward for the pleasure which she had afforded him by her dancing, the head of John the Baptist.1 Such was also the oath taken by the Jews, who, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles, bound themselves by oath not to eat, until they had killed Paul.11

Question 15. What Reasons there are to show that an Oath is sometimes Lawful.

These things thus explained, there can be no doubt that a man may safely take an oath, if he have observed, and as it were, guarded it by these conditions, a position which is however easily proved by many arguments. This the law of the Lord, which is pure and holy hath commanded : Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, says Moses, and shalt serve him only ; and thou shalt swear by his name :x All they, says David, shall be praised, that swear by himj The sacred Writings also inform us, that the holy apostles, the lights of the Church, sometimes made use of an oath ; and this is evident from the epistles of St. Paul.2 And that the angels themselves have sometimes sworn : The angel, says St. John •Iii his Hevelation, swore by Him that liveth for ever. Finally, God himself, the Lord of angels, sweareth,b and, as we read in many passages of the Old Testament, confirmeth his promises with an oath. This he did to Abraham, and to David ; and of the oath sworn by the Almighty, David says : The Lord hath s-iuorn, and will not repent : thou art a, priest for ever according to the order of Melcliisedech.

Question 16. It is -proved that an Oath rightly taken is praiseworthy.

If any one consider the whole matter attentively, and look :o its origin and its end, it can be no difficult matter to ex plain the reason, why the taking of an oath is not only lawful 3ut laudable. An oath has its origin in faith, by which men Delieve God to be the author of all truth, who can. never deceive nor be deceived, to whose eyes all tilings are naked and open? who, in fine, by his admirable providence, super intends all human affairs, and governs the world. Imbued, therefore, with this faith, men appeal to God as a witness of bhe truth, whom it were wicked and impious not to believe.

Question 17. TJie End of an Oath is the Suppression of Controversies and Litigation.

”With regard to the end of an oath, its entire scope and intent is to establish the justice and innocence of a man, and to terminate disputes and contests, as also the apostle teaches in his epistle to the Hebrews/

Question 18. In what sense Christ forbade Oaths.

Nor does this doctrine at all clash with those words of the Hedeemer in St. Matthew : Ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time ; thou shalt not forswear thyself, but, shalt perform u,nto the Lord thine oaths : but I say unto you, Swear not at all ; neither by heaven, for it is God's throne ;

nor by the earth, for it is his footstool ; neither by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King : neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black; but let your communication be, yea, yea: nay, nay ; for whatsoever is more than these, cometh of evil.?' It cannot be said that in these words oaths are universally condemned, and under all circumstances, for we have seen above that the Lord himself and the apostles frequently swore ; but the object of the Lord was to reprehend the perverse opinion of the Jews, which had led them to suppose that nothing hin dered the taking of an oath, but its falsehood. Hence, even on the most trivial and unimportant matters, they themselves made very frequent use of oaths, and exacted oaths from others. This practice the Redeemer condemns and reprobates, and teaches that, unless necessity require, an oath is never to be taken.

Question 19. What Christ meant ~by asserting that uhat is beyond a Simple Assertion of the Truth is “ of evil “ For oaths have been instituted as remedies for human frailty, and in reality proceed from evil, whereas they indicate either the inconstancy of him by whom, or the contumacy of him for whom, they are taken, who cannot be induced to be lieve without them. Necessity, however, affords a just plea for an oath ; and in fact, when the Saviour says : Let your communications be, yea, yea : nay, nay, he evidently forbids the habit of swearing in familiar conversation and on trivial subjects. The Lord therefore admonishes us particularly against being too prompt and prone to swear ; and this admonition must be carefully impressed on the minds of the faithful ; for that out of the unrestrained habit of swearing grow almost countless evils, is a fact supported by the evidence of Scripture, and the testimony of the holy Fathers. We read in Ecclesiasticus : Let not thy mouth be accustomed, to swearing ; for in it there are many falls ;h also : A man\ that maketh much swearing shall be filled with iniquity, and the plague shall never depart from his house. On this subject, much may be read in the writings of St. Basil, and also in i TT/vm in “Pa VITT n Horn, in Ps. xiv. n. 5.

the treatise of St. Augustine against lyingj Tims much respecting the positive, let us now come to explain the negative part of the commandment.

Question 20. Why False and Rash Swearing is so great a Sin.

We are forbidden to take the name of God in vain; for he who, not guided by deliberation, but hurried on by rashness, takes an oath, evidently binds himself under the guilt of a grievous sin. That this is a most grievous crime, the very words declare : Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, words, which would seem to assign the reason, why [a rash oath] is so grievous and enormous a deed ; because it derogates from the majesty of him, whom we profess to recognize as our Lord and our God. By this commandment, therefore, we are forbidden to swear falsely ; for he, who does not shrink from the enormity of appealing to God to witness a falsehood, offers a signal injury to the Deity, branding himk either with ignorance, as though the truth could be concealed from his all-seeing eye, or at least with improbity and depravity, as though he could bear testimony to falsehood.

Question 21. How they who Swear truly may lie Guilty of Perjury.

Not only he who affirms as true what he knows to be false, is a false swearer, but also he who swears to what is really true, believing it to be false. For as the essence of a lie consists in speaking contrary to the conviction of one's mind, such persons are evidently guilty of a lie and of perjury.

Question 22. How a Man may sin who swears a Falsehood, thinking it the Truth.

On the same principle, he who swears to that which he thinks to be true, but which is really false, also incurs the guilt of perjury, unless he has used all possible care and diligence to arrive at the truth. For although his assertion is agreeable to his conviction, he is nevertheless guilty according to this precept.

Question 23. He wtio does not do what he has sworn, or vowed to do, sins.

He who binds himself by oath to the performance of any thing, not intending to fulfil his promise, or, having had the intention, neglects its performance, is also guilty of perjury ; and this equally applies to those who, having bound them selves to God by pledge of a vow, neglect its fulfilment.

Question 24. He that sivcareth a Mortal Sin, or against the Precept of the Gospel, sins.

This commandment is also violated, if justice, which is one of the three conditions of an oath, be wanting • and hence, if any one swear to commit some mortal sin, murder, for instance, violates this commandment, although he should have really and truly intended to perpetrate the crime, and his oath should have possessed what we first pointed out as necessary, that is, truth. To these should be added such oaths as are sworn through a sort of contempt ; an oath, for instance, not to obey the evangelical counsels, such as celibacy and poverty. None, it is true, are obliged to follow these divine counsels, but by swearing to their non-observance, a man contemns and violates them.

Question 25. A Man ii'lio sivears, being led by Sliylit Conjecture, sins.

He also sins against this commandment, and the secoiic condition of an oath, which is judgment, by swearing on slight and remote conjectures ; for, although such an oath be true, and believed to be so by him who swears, it still in some manner involves a falsehood ; for he who swears so negligently, exposes himself to great danger of perjury.

Question 26. He who swears by false gods likewise swears falsely ; for what is more foreign to truth than to appeal to lying and fictitious deities, as to the true God 1

Question 27. He who dishonours the Word of God, either l)ij a False Interpretation or a Vain Application, sins.

But whereas the Scripture, when it prohibits perjury, adds : Thou, shalt not profane the name of thy God, it therefore pro hibits irreverence to the other things also, to which, in. obedience to the authority of this commandment, reverence is due ; such as the word of God, the majesty of which is recognized and revered not only by the pious, but also some times by the impious, as we read in Judges,111 of Eglon, king of the Moabites. But he is guilty of the most flagrant irreverence towards the word of God, who, to support heresy and impiety, wrests the sacred Scriptures from their true and genuine sense ; and of this wickedness we are admonished by the prince of the apostles in these words : There arc some things hard to be understood, ivhich they that are unlearned and unstable ivrest, as also the other Scriptures, unto their own destruction.11 It is also a shameful profanation and defilement of sacred Scripture, to pervert the words and sentences which it contains, which should be honoured with all reverence, to some profane purpose, such as scurrility, fable, vanity, flat tery, detraction, fortune- telling, satirical libels, and the like. Such a profanation of the divine word, the Council of Trent commands to be punished.0

Question 28. How they sin who do not invoice God under their Calamities.

In the next place, as they, who in affliction implore his aid and assistance, honour God ; so they, who invoke not his succour, deny him due honour ; and these David rebukes, when he says : They have not called upon the, Lord ; there have they trembled for fear, where there ivas no

Question 29. The most serious of all these Sins is Blasphemy against God and his Saints.

Far more detestable still is the guilt of those who, with impure and contaminated lips, dare to blaspheme and execrate the most holy name of God, a name which is to be blessed and praised above measure by all creatures, or even the names of the saints who reign with God ; a crime so atrocious, so monstrous, that sometimes the sacred Scrip ture, should it happen to speak of blasphemy, uses in its stead the word blessing. 1

Question 30. Why Threats are added to this Precept.

But as the dread of penalty and punishment has often a powerful effect in checking the licentiousness of crime, the pastor, therefore, in order the more effectually to excite, and the more easily to induce to an observance of this command ment, will diligently explain the remaining words, which are, as “it were, its appendix : For the Lord will not hold him guiltless, that shall take the name of the Lord God in vain.

In the first place, [the pastor] will teach, that with very good reason were threats annexed to this commandment, for by their annexation is demonstrated at once the grievousness of sin, and the goodness of God towards us; who, not delight ing in the destruction of men, deters us by these salutary menaces from incurring his wrath and displeasure, in order that we may experience his kindness rather than his wrath. Let the pastor urge this consideration, and dwell on it with the greatest earnestness, to the end that the faithful may be made sensible of the grievousness of the crime, and may detest it the more, and may employ greater care and caution to avoid its commission. Let him also show how prone men are to commit this sin, since it is not enough that God has passed a law for its prevention, unless he had also subjoined threats. The advantages to be derived from this reflection are indeed incredible ; for as nothing is so injurious as a sort of incautious security of mind ; so the knowledge of one's own weakness is attended with the most salutary conse quences. He will next observe that no determinate punish ment is said to await the violation of this commandment j but that the threat is general, declaring that he who is guilty of its violation shall not escape unpunished. The various chastisements, therefore, with which we are every day afflicted, should be so many admonitions of the grievousness of this crime, for from them we may easily conjecture, that men are overtaken by the heaviest calamities because they obey not this precept, a consideration which will probably excite them to increased vigilance, for the future. Deterred, therefore, by a holy fear, let the faithful use every exertion to avoid this crime ; for if on the last day we shall have to render an account for every idle word,r what shall we say of the most grievous enormities, that exhibit a great contempt of the name of God !

Question 1. What this Commandment prescribes to the Faithful.

IN this precept of the law is prescribed in due order that outward worship which is due to God from us, this being as it were a fruit of the preceding commandment ; for if, guided by the faith and hope that we repose in him, we worship God piously in our inmost souls, we cannot refrain from honouring him with outward worship and thanksgiving.

And as this is a duty which cannot be easily discharged by those who are engaged in the occupations of human things, a fixed time has been appointed when it may conveniently be performed.

Question 2. Why the Pastor should take Especial Care that what is here prescribed be retained for ever in the Memory of the Faithful.

As, then, this commandment is such as to be productive of admirable fruit and utility, it is of the utmost importance that the pastor employ the greatest diligence in the exposition thereof. To the zealous performance of this duty the word remember, with which the precept commences, must serve to animate him ; for, since it is the duty of the faithful to remember, it is also that of the pastor, by admonishing and instructing, frequently to remind them of this command ment. And the importance of the observance of this commandment is clearly perceived from the consideration that a faithful compliance therewith facilitates the observance of all the other commandments of the law ; for as, amongst the other duties which ought to be performed on holy days, the faithful are bound to assemble at church to hear the word of God; when they shall have learned the divine precepts of righteousness, they will also naturally be prompted to keep the law of the Lord with their whole hearts. Hence the celebration and sanctification8 of the Sabbath are very often enjoined in Scripture, as may be seen in Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy ;v in the prophets also Isaiah, Jeremiah,x and Ezekiel ;y all of whom, in many places, contain this precept on the observance of the Sabbath.

Question 3. In what manner Princes are to be encouraged to aid the Prelates of the Church.

But princes and magistrates are to be admonished and exhorted to aid with the support of their authority the prelates of the Church, most especially in those things which appertain to the upholding and extending of this the worship of God, and to command the people to yield obedience to the injunctions of their pastors. With regard to the exposition of this commandment, care is to be taken that the faithful, be instructed in what it agrees with and what it differs from the others. For thus will they understand why we observe and sanctify not the Sabbath, but the Lord's day.

Question 4. In what this Precept differs from the other Commandments of the Decalogue.

The difference,, then, appears evident, in that the other commandments of the decalogue are precepts of the natural and perpetual law, under all circumstances unalterable, whence, notwithstanding the abrogation of the law of Moses, all the commandments contained in the two tables are observed by the Christian people, not because Moses so com manded, but because they agree with the law of nature, by the dictates of which men are impelled to their observance ; whereas this commandment, touching the sanctification of the Sabbath, if considered as to the time of its observance, is not fixed and unalterable, but susceptible of change, and belongs not to the moral but ceremonial law. Neither is it a natural principle, for we are not taught or formed by nature to give external worship to God on the Sabbath rather than on any other day ; but from the time the people of Israel were liberated from the bondage of Pharaoh, they observed the Sabbath clay.

Question 5. At the Death of Christ, when the Ceremonies of the Law were removed, the Sabbath also, as a Ceremonial, was removed.

The obligation, however, was to cease, together with the abrogation of the other Jewish rites and ceremonies, namely, at the death of Christ. For having been, as it were, images z that shadowed forth the light and the truth, these ceremonies were of necessity to disappear at the coming of the light and truth, which is Jesus Christ. On which subject St. Paul, in his epistle to the Galatians, when reproving the observers of the Mosaic rites, says : Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years : I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain To this effect he also wrote to the Colossians.b So much, then, touching the difference [between this a,nd the other commandments].

Question 6. In what the Third Commandment agrees with the Rest.

But this precept agrees with the others not in what is ritual and ceremonial, but inasmuch as it comprises something that appertains to the moral and natural law. For the worship of God and the practice of religion, which are comprised in this precept, have the natural law for their basis, whereas it is natural for us to give some time to the worship of God ; a proof of which is the fact, that we find amongst all nations certain regular and public festivals consecrated to the per formance of the rites and solemnities of religion. For it is natural to man to give some time to necessary functions, such as bodily repose, sleep, and other such matters ; so also does the same nature require that some time be allowed to the mind, to recruit its energies in the contemplation of God ; and thus, as some portion of time ought to be consecrated to divine things, and to paying the worship due to the Deity, this 110 doubt appertains to the moral law.

Question 7. The Jeidsh Sabbath changed into the Lord's Day ~by the Apostles.

The apostles, therefore, resolved to consecrate the first day of the seven to divine worship, and called it the Lord's day ;c for St. John, in his revelation, makes mention of the Lord's day ;d and the apostle orders collections to be made on the first day of the weekf that is, according to the interpretation of St. Chrysostom/ on the Lord's day ; and thus are we given to understand that even then the Lord's day was kept holy in the Church. In order, now, that the faithful may know what they are to do, what to abstain from on this day, it will not be foreign to the pastor's purpose carefully to c Aug. in App. fer. 280, n. 2.

explain word for word the whole precept, which may pro perly be distributed into four parts.

Question 8. Of the General Precept contained in the Word “Remember.”

First, then, he will explain generally what is prescribed to us by these words : JRemember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day. The word remember is appropriately made use of at the beginning of the commandment, because the sanctincation of that particular day belonged to the ceremonial law. Of this it seemed necessary to admonish the people, for, although the law of nature commands us at some time to give external religious worship to God, it prescribes no particular day for the performance of that duty. The faithful are also to be taught, that from these words we may infer in what manner we should employ our time during the week ; to wit, that we are constantly to keep in view the Lord's day, on which we are, as it were, to render an account to God of our deeds and works ; and that therefore our occupations thould be such as not to be repudiated by the judgment of God, or, as it is written, be to us a grief, and a scruple, of heart. ° Lastly, we are taught – and the lesson certainly merit|; attention – that there will not be wanting occasions to lead to forgetfulness of this commandment, being led either by the example of others who neglect its observance, or by a love of amusements and spectacles, by which we are frequently withdrawn from the holy and religious observance of the Lord's day. But we now come to the meaning of the word Sabbath.

Question 9. Meaning of the Word “ Sabbath” in Scripture.

Sabbath, is a Hebrew word, in Latin signifying cessation : to Sabbatize, therefore, means to cease [from labour,] and rest ; and in this sense the seventh day was called the Sabbath. It is so called by the Lord in Exodus, because, having finished the creation of the world, God rested from all the work which he had done.1 But subsequently not only this seventh day, but, in honour thereof, the entire week was called the Sabbath ; and in this sense the Pharisee says in St. Luke : I fast twice in a (Sabbath) weekj Thus much will suffice as to the signification of the word /Sabbath.

Question 10. Of the Sanctification of the Sabbath.

In holy Scripture the sanctification of the Sabbath is a cessation from bodily labour and from business, as is clear from the following words of the precept : Thou shalt do no work on it. This alone, however, is not the whole meaning of the commandment, for otherwise it would have been sufficient to say in Deuteronomy : Keep the Sabbath day ;k but as it is there added, to sanctify it, these words prove that the Sabbath is a day sacred to religion, and consecrated to divine offices, and duties of devotion. The Sabbath, therefore, AVG observe fully and perfectly, when we afford to God the duties of piety and religion ; and this is evidently the Sabbath which Isaiah calls delight, for festivals are, as it were, the delight of God and of pious men. If, then, to this religious and holy observance of the Sabbath are added works of mercy, the rewards proposed to us in the same chapter are indeed most important gpid most numerous.

Question 11. The Proper Meaning of the Previous Words.

The true and proper meaning, therefore, of this command ment tends to this, that a man, both in mind and body give himself up at some fixed time, so that, disengaged from bodily labour and business, he may piously worship and adore God.

Question 12. What is shown ~by the Second Part of the Commandment.

The second part of the precept shows that the seventh day was consecrated to the worship of God : Six days, says he, shalt thou labour, and do all thy work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God ; by which words we are to understand that the Sabbath is consecrated to the Lord, and on that day we are to render unto him the duties of religion, and to know that the seventh day is a sign of his rest.

Question 13. Why it was necessary for the Jews that a Certain Day, and that the Seventh, should be fixed for Divine Worship.

Now this day was consecrated to the divine worship, because it was inexpedient to leave to a rude people the choice of a time of worship, lest perchance they might imitate the rites of the Egyptians. The seventh day was therefore chosen for the worship of God, a circumstance replete with mystery. Hence in Exodus,111 and in Ezekiel, the Lord calls it a sign : tiee that ye keep my Sabbath, says he, for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you.

Question 14. Of what Tilings the Celebration of the Sabbath was a Sign.

It was therefore a sign to indicate that men should dedicate and consecrate themselves to God, whereas we see that to him is dedicated even the day ; for that day is holy, because on it, in a special manner, men should practise holiness and religion. It is, in the next place, a sign, and, as it were, a memorial of the stupendous work of the Creation. To the Jews it was also a traditional sign, handed down to remind them that they had been freed and delivered by the hand of God from the galling yoke of Egyptian bondage, as the Lord showed in these words : Remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee out from thence through a might if hand, and by a stretched out arm. Therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the, Sabbath day.? It is also a sign of the spiritual and of the -celestial Sabbath.

Question 15. Meaning of the Spiritual Sabbath among Christians.

The spiritual Sabbath consists in a certain holy and mystic rest, wherein the old man, being buried with Christ is renewed unto life, and zealously exercises himself in those acts that accord with Christian piety ; for they who were sometimes darkness, but now are light in the Lord, should walk as children of light in all goodness, and righteousness, and truth, having no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness.5

Question 16. The Sabbath of the Blest.

The heavenly Sabbath, as St. Cyril observes, treating of these words of the apostle, There remaineth, therefore, a rest for the people of God, is that life, in which we shall enjoy with Christ all good things, sin being radically extirpated, according to these words of Isaiah : No lion shall be there, nor shall any mischievous beast go up by it, but a path and a way shall be there, and it shall be called the holy way ;u for the soul of the saints attaineth all good things in the vision of God.v The pastor, therefore, will exhort and arouse the faithful in the words of the apostle : Let us hasten, therefore, to enter into that rest.w

Question 17. Other Festivals, besides that of the Seventh Day, observed ~by the Jews.

Besides the seventh day, the Jewish people had also other festive and sacred days instituted by the divine law, on which the recollection of the principal favours [conferred on them by God] was awakened. x

Question 18. Wherefore the Apostles dedicated the First Day, instead of the Seventh, to the Divine Worship.

But it hath pleased the Church of God in her wisdom, that the religious celebration of the Sabbath day should be transferred to the Lord's day. For as on that day light first shone upon the world ; so by the resurrection on that day of our Redeemer, who threw open to us the gate unto ever lasting life, our life was called out of darkness into light ; and hence the apostles would have it called the Lord's day.

Vid. Cyril. Al. de adorat. in spir. et ver. lib. xvii.

We also learn from the sacred Volume that the first day of the week was held sacred, because on that day the creation of the world commenced, and the Holy Ghost was bestowed upon the disciples.

Question 19. Other Festivals ichy instituted among the Christians in Addition to the Lord's Day.

From the infancy of the Church, and in subsequent times, other days were instituted by the apostles, and by our holy Fathers, in order to commemorate with piety and holiness the beneficent gifts of God. Amongst these days those are held the most conspicuous, which were consecrated to religion in honour of the mysteries of our redemption ; and, next to them, those dedicated to the most blessed virgin mother, and also to the apostles, martyrs, and the other saints reigning with Christ ; in the celebration of whose victories the goodness and power of God are praised, due honours are awarded to their memories, and the faithful are excited to the imitation of their [virtues].

Question 20. Sloth and Indolence condemned ly this Precept.

And whereas, to enforce the observance of this precept, there is great efficacy in these words : Six days shalt thou labour, and sfialt do all thy work ; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God, the pastor should carefully explain that portion to the people. For we may implicitly infer from them, that the faithful are to be exhorted not to pass their lives in indolence and sloth ; but, mindful rather of the words of the apostle, each do his oivn business, and work with his hands J By this precept, moreover, the Lord commands, that 011 those six days we do our works, and defer not to the Sunday what should be done or trans acted on the other days of the week, through which neglect our attention must be withdrawn from the care and study of divine things.

Question 21. What is chiefly forbidden to be done on the Sabbath.

The third part of the commandment comes next to be explained. It describes, to a certain extent, the manner in which we are to keep holy the Sabbath day ; .but explains particularly what is prohibited to be done on that day : In it thou shall not do any work, says the Lord, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy man-servant, nor thy maid servant, nor thy cattle, nor the stranger that is within thy gates. In these words we are taught, in the first place, to avoid altogether whatsoever may interfere with the divine worship. For it is easy to perceive that every manner of servile work is forbidden, not because it is improper or evil of its ownself, but because it withdraws our mind from the divine worship, which is the end of the commandment. Therefore should the faithful be the more careful not to profane the sabbath by sin, which not only withdraws the mind from the contemplation of divine things, but entirely alienates us from the love of God.

Question 22. Outward Actions, referring to the Worship of God, are not interdicted on the Sabbath.

But whatever actions concern divine worship, such as the preparation of an altar, the decoration of a church on occasion of some festival, and the like, although servile works, are not prohibited ; and hence our Lord has said : The priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless.2-

Question 23. Neither are we to suppose that by this commandment attention is forbidden to those things, which, if neglected on a festival, are lost to the proprietor, the preservation of which the sacred canons also permit. a There are many other things which our Lord in the gospel declares may be done on Sundays and holidays, and which may be easily seen by the pastor in St. Matthew, and St. John.d

Question 24. Why Cattle are not to be employed on Holy Days.

But that nothing might be omitted that might interfere with this saiictificatioii of the Sabbath, beasts of burden are mentioned, because their use prevents the observance of the Sabbath day ; for, if beasts of burden be employed on the Sabbath day, human labour also becomes necessary to drive them, seeing they cannot work alone, but aid man in the execution of what he plans. As then on that clay it is lawful for no man to labour, neither therefore is it for cattle, of whose co-operation men avail themselves. The law, therefore, of this precept has also another object in view, which is, that if God commands the exemption of cattle from labour on the Sabbath, still more should men avoid all acts of inhumanity towards those, whose labour and industry we employ.

Question 25. In what Works Christians ought to spend the Festal Days.

”Nor should the pastor omit diligently to instruct the faithful in what works, in what actions Christians should occupy themselves on festivals. Amongst other things we are to visit the temple of God, and there with sincere and pious attention of mind assist at the celebration of the holy sacrifice of the mass ; and frequently apply to the healing of the wounds of the soul, the divine sacraments of the Church, instituted for our salvation. But nothing more opportune, nothing better, can be done by Christian men, than frequently to confess their sins to the priests j and to this duty the pastor will be enabled to exhort the faithful, recurring for matter and manner to what we have already said in its proper place touching the sacrament of penance. But not only will he excite his people to have recourse to this sacrament, but will also sedulously exhort them again and b Festis diebus.

again, to approach frequently the holy sacrament of the Eucharist. Sermons are also to be heard by the faithful with attention and diligence ; for nothing is more intolerable, nothing, in truth, more unworthy of a Christian, than to despise, or hear negligently, the words of Christ. In prayer and the divine praises also should the piety of the faithful frequently be exercised ; and an object of their especial attention should be diligently to learn the things that appertain to a Christian life • and to practise with assiduity the duties that comprise piety, giving alms to the poor and the indigent, visiting the sick, and piously administering consolation to the sorrowing and the afflicted ; for, as St. James says, pure religion and undefined before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction? From what has been said it will be easy to con clude what are the things by which this precept is violated.

Question 26. Why it was necessary for Certain Days to be set aside for Divine Worship.

But it should also constitute part of the duty of the pastor to have at hand certain heads, from which he may draw most powerful reasons and arguments, to persuade the people to the most zealous and punctual observance of this commandment. It will materially conduce to this end, ' namely, to make the people understand, and see clearly, how just and reasonable it is to devote certain days exclusively j to the divine worship, to acknowledge, adore, and venerate ] our Lord, from whom we have received supreme and innumerable blessings. For had he commanded us to offer him, j every day of our lives, the tribute of public worship, would it not be our duty, in return for the mighty and infinite , benefits bestowed on us, to use every exertion to obey his N command with a prompt and ready mind ? But now that the days specially dedicated to his service are few in number, there is no excuse for us to plead for neglecting, or discharging with reluctance, a duty which we cannot omit without very great culpability.

Question 27. What Advantage redounds to those wlw sedulously obey this Precept.

The pastor will next point out how lofty is the nature of this precept, whereas those who have been faithful in its observance are admitted, as it were, into the presence of God, and hold converse with him ; for in our prayers we contemplate the majesty of God, and converse with him; and in hearing the preacher, we hear the voice of God, which reaches us through those, who preach on divine things piously and holily ; and at the sacrifice of the altar we adore Christ our Lord there present. And these advantages they pre eminently enjoy, who diligently observe this commandment.

Question 28. What, on the contra, must le thought of those ivho have utterly neglected this Law.

But those who altogether neglect this law, as they disobey God and his Church, and hearken not unto his precept, are enemies of God and of his holy laws ] and of this we may find a proof in the perfect facility with which this command ment may be observed. For whereas God imposes no labours upon us, although we should be prepared to undergo the severest for his sake ; but in this commandment he only com mands us to rest, and disengage ourselves from worldly cares, on those festive days. To refuse obedience to this command ment would therefore be a proof of great temerity ; and the punishments with which its violators have been visited, as may be understood from the book of Numbers, should be a lesson to Christians/ Lest, therefore, we should thus offend God, we should frequently ponder over this word, remember, and set before our eyes those important interests and advantages, which, as we have already seen, flow from the religious observance of Sundays and holidays ; and also numerous other matters of the same tendency, which the good and diligent pastor will be able to pursue copiously and diffusely, as circumstances shall require.

Question 1. Dignity of this Precept and its Accordance with the Preceding Commandments.

As in the foregoing commandments there is supreme force and dignity, so those of which we now treat, because ex tremely necessary, deservedly hold the next place. For the former have immediate reference to God, who is our end, while these latter instruct us in charity towards our neighbour; although remotely, they also conduct us to God, that ultimate end, for whose sake we love our neighbour. Hence Christ our Lord has said, that these two commandments, touching the love of God and of our neighbour, are like unto each other. s The advantages arising from the consideration of this subject, can scarcely be expressed in words, bringing with it as it does not only its own fruits, and those in richest abundance and excellence, but also presenting a sign of our obedience to, and observance of, the first commandment : He, says St. John, that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God, whom he hath not seen ?i In like manner, if we do not honour and reverence our parents, whom we ought to love next to God, and whom we have almost continually before our eyes, how can we honour or reverence God, the supreme and best of parents, whom we cannot see ? Hence the accordance of both commandments is obvious.

Question 2. Extent of the Application of this Precept, and its Beneficial Influence in regard to Parents.

The application of this commandment is of very great latitude, for, besides those who begat us, there are many others whom, on account of their power, dignity, usefulness, exalted functions, or office, we ought to revere with parental honour. It also lightens the labours of parents and superiors, for as the principal duty that devolves upon them is, that those under their authority lead correct lives, suited to the divine law, this will be a very easy task, if all understand that, by the authority and injunction of God, the highest honour is to be given to parents. To effect this, it is necessary to know the difference that exists between the precepts of the first and second table.

Question 3. Wherefore the Distinction is made of the Precepts of the Law into Two Tables.

This, therefore, the pastor must first explain, and he must begin by observing, that the divine precepts of the decalogue were inscribed on two tables, on one of which, as we learn, from the holy Fathers, were contained the three which we have already explained, on the other the remaining seven.J For us this description is most apposite, that the nature of the commandments might be distinguished by their very order ; for whatever is commanded or prohibited in sacred Scripture by the divine law, springs from one of two princi ples, the love of God or of our neighbour ; and our charity must be actuated by one or other of these. Now the three preceding commandments teach us the love which we owe to God j in the other seven are contained the duties which we owe to domestic and public society. The distinction, there fore, which refers some to the first, others to the second, table, is not without good reason.

Question 4. In u'kat manner our Lorek towards God is contained in the First Three Precepts and our Duty towards our Neighbour in the remaining Seven, and of the Difference betu'een both.

For, in the preceding three commandments, of which we have spoken, God, the supreme good, is as it were the subject matter ; in the others, the good of our neighbour : the first k Caritas seems taken in a very general sense.

propose supreme, the others, secondary love ; the first regard the ultimate end, the others, the things that refer to that end. Again, the love of God terminates in God himself, for God is to be loved above all things solely for his own sake ; but the love of our neighbour originates in, and is to be referred, as it were, to a rule, to [the love of God]. For if we love our parents, obey our masters, respect our superiors in dignity, our ruling principle in doing so should be, that God is their original, and wishes those to have the pre-eminence, by whose co-operation he governs and protects all others ; arid as he expects that we yield respect to such persons, we should do so, because by him they have been exalted to a .station worthy of this honour. Hence if we honour our parents, the tribute would seem paid to God rather than to man ; and accordingly we read in St. Matthew, with regard to duty to superiors : He that receiveth you, receiveth me ; ' and the apostle in his epistle to the Ephesians, giving in struction to servants, says : Servants, obey them that are your •masters according to the flesh with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ : not with eye service, as men pleasers, but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.m

Question 5. In what manner the Love of God is Boundless, but the Love of our Neigh bour is comprised within Due Bounds.

Moreover, no honour, no piety, no worship can be rendered to God, sufficiently worthy of him, towards whom love admits of infinite increase • and hence our love11 should become every day more fervent towards him, whom, according to his own command, we are to love with our whole heart, our whole soul, and with all our strength;0 but the love with which we embrace our neighbour is included by its own proper limits, for we are commanded to love our neighbour as ourselves \ P and if we outstep these limits, so as to love him as we love God, we are guilty of a most grievous crime : If any man come unto me, saith our Lord, and hateth not his father and 'mother, and wife and children, and brethren and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple To him who would first have attended the burial of his father, and then follow Christ, it was said, to the same effect : Let the dead bury their dead ;T and the same lesson is more clearly conveyed in these words in St. Matthew : He that loveth father or mother, more than me, is not worthy of me.5

Question 6. In what manner Parents are to be loved, and why Obedience is sometimes to be refmed them.

Parents, no doubt, are to be earnestly loved and respected ; but religion especially requires that the principal honour and homage be given to God, who is the creator, and father of all ; and that, therefore, the whole force of our love for our mortal parents be altogether referred to our immortal Father who is in heaven. But should the injunctions of parents be at any time repugnant to the commands of God, children without doubt are to prefer the will of God to the wish of their parents, always keeping in view the divine maxim : We ought to obey God rather than men «

Question 7. Meaning of to “Honour.””

Having premised thus much, the pastor will explain the words of the commandment, beginning with honour. To Jwnour, is to think honourably of any one, and to hold in the highest estimation everything that regards him. And this honour includes love, respect, obedience, and veneration ; and it is here judiciously employed, in preference to the word, love, or fear, although parents are also to be very much loved and feared ; for he who loves does not always feel respect and veneration ; neither does he who fears invariably love; but he who honours from the heart, combines both fear and love. The pastor will next explain who they are, whom this command designates as fathers.

Question 8. Who are designated as Fathers.

For, although the law refers principally to our natural fathers, the name extends likewise to others, whom the law also appears to embrace, as we easily infer from numerous, passages of holy Scripture. Besides the fathers who have begotten us, there are then, as we already noticed, other sorts of fathers also in the sacred Scriptures, each of whom is entitled to his own particular honour; and first the prelates of the Church, her pastors, and priests, are called fathers, as is evident from the apostle writing to the Corinthians : / write not these tilings, says he, to shame you, but as my beloved sons I tvarn you, for though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.™ We also read in Ecclesiasticus : Let us praise famous men, and our fathers that begat usj Those who govern the state, to whom are intrusted empire, magistracy, or power, are also called fathers : thus Naaman was called father by his servants. w To those, to whose care, fidelity, probity, and wisdom, others are committed, such as guardians and cura tors, instructors and masters, the name of fathers is also given ; and hence the sons of the prophets called Eliyah and Elisha by this name.x Finally, aged men, worn out with years, who are also entitled to our respect, we call fathers. In the instructions of the pastor, he will most especially enforce the obligation of honouring all without exception who are entitled to be denominated fathers, but especially our natural fathers, of whom the divine command principally speaks.

Question 9. Why Sons ought to pay Especial Honour to their Parents according to the Flesh.

For these are, as it were, so many images of the immortal God; and y in them we behold the likeness of our origin: from them life has been given us : them God made use of, that he might infuse into us a soul and reason ; by them we have been conducted unto the sacraments, formed unto religion, human intercourse, civil society, and instructed in moral integrity and holiness. The pastor will also teach that with good reason is the name of mother mentioned in this precept, that we may consider the benefits received from her, and her claims upon our affection, with what care and solicitude she bore us in her womb, with what pain and travail she brought us forth and trained us up.

Question 10. Nature of the Honour due to Carnal Parents.

Moreover, parents are so to be loved, that the honour which we pay to them may appear to be the spontaneous offering of sincere and inward love. To this tribute they are pre-eminently entitled, since, for love of us, they are disposed to shun 110 labour, no exertion, no danger ; whose highest pleasure it is to know, that they are endeared to their children, who are the objects of their fondest love. Joseph, when, next to the king, he enjoyed in Egypt the highest honour, and the amplest power, received his father with honour, when he went down into Egypt ; y and Solomon rose to receive his mother as she approached, and having paid her the tribute of veneration, placed her on a royal throne at his right hand.2 There are also other duties of respect due to our parents, such as to supplicate God in their behalf, that they throughout may lead prosperous and happy lives, most beloved and esteemed among men, and most pleasing to God and to his saints who are in heaven. We also honour our parents, by submitting our views to their judgment and inclination : My son, says Solomon, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother ; for they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck :a Children, says St. Paul, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right /b and also : Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.c This doctrine is also confirmed by the example of men most eminent for holiness : for Isaac, when bound for sacrifice by his father, meekly and implicitly obeyed j d and the Rechabites, in order never to depart from the counsel of their father, always abstained from wine.6 We also honour our parents by the imitation of their good example and conduct ; for to propose to ourselves others as models for imitation, is the highest mark of esteem. We also honourfcur parents, when we not only ask but also follow their counsels.

Question 11. In what manner we ought to aid our Parents when in Want, and especially ivhen in Danger of Death.

Also when we relieve their wants, supplying them with the necessary food and raiment, according to these words of the Redeemer : Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition ? For God commanded, saying : Honour thy father and mother ; and he that curseth father or mother, let him die the death ; but ye say : Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, it is a gift by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me ; and he honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free ; thus have ye made the command ment of God of none effect by your tradition?

If, then, it is our duty always to award honour to our parents, this duty is still more imperative, when they are dangerously ill ; for we should then take especial care, that they omit nothing that regards either the confession of their sins, or the other sacraments that should be received by Christian men at the approach of death ; and we should take care that they be frequently visited by pious and religious persons, who may strengthen them in their weak ness, aid them by their counsel, and animate them to a lively hope of a glorious immortality ; that, having elevated their mind above the concerns of this world, they may fix their thoughts entirely on God. Thus it will come to pass, that, blessed with the most sublime virtues of faith, hope, a,nd charity, and fortified by the sacraments of the Church, they will not only look without dismay at death, which is the necessary lot [of all men], but will hail it as the opening to immortality.

Question 12. How we ought to honour our Dead Parents.

Finally, we honour our parents even after their death, by attending to their funerals, procuring for them honourable obsequies, giving them a respectable interment, taking care that suffrages and sacrifices s be offered for them, and by punctually executing their last wills.

Question 13. How Bishops and Priests are entitled to the Name of Father.

But we are bound to honour not only our natural parents, but also those who are called fathers, such as bishops and priests, kings, princes and magistrates, guardians, masters, teachers, aged persons and the like \ for they are entitled, some in a greater, some in a lesser degree, to share our love, our obedience, our assistance. Of bishops and other pastors it is written : Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour., especially they who labour in the, ivord and doctrine.11 And what proofs of earnest love for the apostle must not the Galatians have given, to whose benevolence he bears this glorious testimony : / bear you record, that if it had been possible, you would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me.[

Question 14. In what manner Priests ought to ~be supplied with the Necessaries of Life.

The priests are also entitled to receive whatever is necessary for their support : Who, says the apostle, goeth a war fare at any time at his own charges ?J and in Ecclesiasticus it is written : Give honour to the priests, and purify thyself with thine arms ; give them their portion, as it is commanded thee, of the first fruits and of purification. The apostle also teacheth that they are entitled to obedience : Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves ; for they watch as they that must give account for your souls.1 Nay, more, Christ himself commands us to obey even wicked pastors, when he saith : The Scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses's seat; all, therefore, whatsoever they bid you observe,, that observe and do ; but according do ye not after their works, for they say and do noi.m

Question 15. Public Functionaries are to be honoured.

The same is to be said concerning our conduct towards kings, princes, magistrates, and all others to whose authority we are subject ; the honour, respect, and obedience due to whom are explained at large by the apostle to the Romans.11 He also admonishes us to pray for them ; ° and St. Peter saith : Submit yourselves to every human creature for God's sake : whether it be to the king as supreme, or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him? For if we honour them, that honour is referred to God, for the grade of exalted dignity, because an image of the divine power, commands man's veneration ; and in it we also revere the providence of God, who has committed to them the administration of the public office which they hold, and who uses them as the ministers of his power.

Question 16. Why we ought to obey even Wicked Magistrates, and when not.

Not that we respect the profligacy or wickedness of men, should public functionaries be of such a character, but that we revere the divine authority with which they are invested j so that – and it may appear matter of great marvel – even, though they be inimical and hostile, nay, implacable, towards us, yet is that not a sufficient reason to exempt us from evincing great respect towards them. Thus David rendered important services to Saul, when he was the object of his hatred, as he intimates in these words : With them that hated peace, I oas peaceable. But should they issue a wicked or unjust mandate, they are on no account to be obeyed ; for [such mandate] is not the legitimate exercise of power, but is an act of injustice and perversity. Having expounded these matters severally, the pastor will next consider the nature of the reward promised to the observance of this divine commandment, and the suitableness thereof.

Question 17. Reward promised to the Observance of Obedience to Parents.

Its fruit consists principally in length of life ; for they who always preserve the grateful recollection of a benefit, deserve to be blessed with its lengthened enjoyment ; and this children do who honour their parents ; for to those from whom they received life, they gratefully acknowledge the obligation, and are therefore deservedly rewarded with the protraction of that life to an advanced age. The nature of the divine promise next demands distinct explanation, for it includes not only the eternal life of the blessed, but also the term of our mortal existence on earth, according to these words of the apostle : Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that ivhich is to come

Question 18. How valuable is the Promise of a Long Life.

Many very holy men, it is true, as Job, David, Paul, desired to die, and a long life is disagreeable to the afflicted and the wretched j but the reward here promised is, never theless, neither inconsiderable, nor to be despised ; for the additional words, tvhich the Lord thy God will give thee, pro mise not only length of days, but also repose, tranquillity, security to live well ; for in Deuteronomy it is not only said, that thy days may be prolonged, but it is also added, and that it may go well with thee,s words which the apostle fc afterwards repeats.

Question 19. In what manner this Reward is received by Dutiful Children, even when they die early.

These blessings, we say, are conferred on those whose piety God would thus reward. For otherwise the divine promise would not be realized, whereas more dutiful children are sometimes the more short-lived ; and this either because their interests are best consulted by summoning them from this world before they stray from the sacred path of virtue and of duty, for they are taken away, lest that wickedness should alter their understanding, or deceit beguile their soul;u or because, when destruction and confusion of all things impend, they are called away from this world to escape the common calamity of the times : The just man, saith the prophet, is taken away from the evil to come? This occurs lest, when God avenges the crimes of mortals, their virtue or salvation may be endangered, or to spare them the most bitter anguish of witnessing, in most melancholy times, the calamities of friends and relations. The premature death of good men, therefore, gives greater reason for apprehension.

Question 20. Punishment of the Violators of this Precept.

But if Almighty God holds out rewards and advantages to remunerate those who are grateful towards their parents, the heaviest chastisements are also reserved to punish filial in gratitude and impiety ; for it is written : He that curseth his father or his mother shall surely be put to death ;w and : He that ajffticteth his father, and chaseth away his mother, is a son that causeth shame, and bringeth reproach; and: Whoso curseth his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness ;V and : The eye that mocheth at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it.z We have on record many instances of undutiful children/ in punishing of whom the anger of God burnt forth. The disobedience of Absolom to David did not escape chastisement,, for in punish ment of his crime he died transfixed with three spears.” But of those who obey not the priests, it is written : The man that will do presumptuously, and will not hearken unto the priest that standeth to minister there before the Lord thy God, by the decree of the judge even that man shall die.c

Question 21. Duties of Parents toicards their Children, by which they may best render themselves worthy the Honour prescribed ly the Divine Law.

As, then, by the divine law, children are commanded to honour their parents, to obey, to respect them, so are there reciprocal duties and offices which parents owe to their children, to imbue them with most holy discipline and morality, and to give them the best precepts for the regula tion of their lives, that, taught and trained unto religion, they may serve God holily and inviolably. Such, we read, was the conduct of the parents of Susannah. d Let, then, the priest admonish parents to be to their children instructors in virtue, in justice, continence, modesty, and holiness ; and let them guard particularly against three things, in which they are often wont to transgress. In the first place, let them not say or do anything too harsh towards their children : this is the instruction of the apostle in his epistle to the Colossians : Fathers, says he, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged ; e for there is danger of break ing the spirit of children, and rendering them of abject mind, afraid of everything. Let [the pastor,] therefore, enjoin parents to avoid too much severity, and rather reprove their children than avenge themselves upon them.

Question 22. But Parents shoidd not be remiss toicards their Children, nor should they toil to leave them an Excessive Patrimony.

Should a fault be committed which requires reproof and chastisement, the parents should not, on the other hand, by unseasonable indulgence, overlook its correction, for children have often become depraved by the too great lenity and pliancy of their parents. The pastor, therefore, will deter from such criminal weakness by the warning example of the high-priest Heli, who, in consequence of his too great in dulgence towards his children, was visited with the heaviest chastisement/ Finally, to avoid what is most shameful in the instruction and education of their children, let them not enter into preposterous designs ; for there are very many whose sole thought and concern it is to leave their children wealth, riches, an ample and splendid patrimony j who en tourage them not to piety and religion, or to the pursuit of honourable and virtuous things, but to avarice and to the in crease of patrimony ; and who, provided their children be rich and wealthy, are regardless of those qualities which would ensure their reputation and salvation. Language cannot express, nor can thought conceive, anything more shameful [than the conduct of such parents]. Thus it comes to pass that they transfer to them not so much their worldly wealth, as their wickedness and crimes, leading them finally not to heaven, but to the everlasting torments of hell. Let, then, the priest impress on parents the soundest principles, and excite them to imitate the virtuous example of Tobit,” that, ' having well brought up their children to the service of God, and to holiness, they may, in turn, experience at their hands the most abundant fruit of affection, respect, and obedience.

Question 1. Utility and Necessity of explaining this Commandment.

THE great happiness which is proposed to the peacemakers of being called the children of Godh should powerfully incite pastors to explain with diligence and accuracy the doctrine comprised in this commandment ; for no better means can be adopted to promote good-will amongst men, than the due and holy observance of the law announced by this command ment, if properly explained, for then we might hope that, united in the strictest bonds of union, mankind would cultivate perfect peace and concord. The urgent necessity of explaining this commandment to the faithful is clearly perceived from two considerations. Immediately after that immense deluge of the whole earth took place, this was the first prohibition issued by the Almighty : / will require your blood of your lives, says he, at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand ofman.[ Next, amongst the pre cepts of the Old Law first expounded by our Lord in the Gospel this is first, as may be seen by consulting the fifth chapter of St. Matthew, where the Redeemer says : It was said thou shalt not kill, &c.J The faithful should also hear with willing attention a commandment, the observance of which nfiist be the “security of their own lives ; for the words, Thou shalt not kill, utterly forbid homicide • and they should be heard by all men .with the same pleasure as if God, expressly naming each individual, were 'to prohibit injury to be offered him, under a threat of the wrath of God, and other very heavy chastisements. As, then, this commandment is plea sant to be heard, so also should its observance be an agree able duty.

Question 2. What is Forbidden as well as Commanded in this Commandment.

In the development of this law our Lord points out its twofold obligation ;k the one forbidding us to kill; the other commanding us to embrace our enemies in concordant friendship and charity, to have peace with all men, and finally, to bear with patience every manner of inconvenience.

Question 3. It is lawful to feed on Beasts and to slay Animals.

With regard to the prohibition of slaughter, [the pastor] must first show what are the limits which restrict the pro- | tiibition contained in this ' law. In the first place, we are not prohibited to kill animals, for, if intended by God to be the food of man, it must also be lawful to kill them.1 On this subject St. Augustine says : When we hear the words, thou shalt not kill, we do not understand this to have been said of the fruits of the earth, which are insensible ; nor of irrational animals, which form no part of our great society.™

Question 4. It is lawful to sentence Men to death, or to slay them, in Judgment.

Another kind of slaying is also permitted, which applies to those civil magistrates, to whom is given the power of life and death, by the legal and judicial use of which they punish the guilty, and protect the innocent.11 Far from involving the crime of murder, the just exercise of this power is an act of paramount obedience to this divine law, which prohibits murder. For since the end of this commandment is the preservation and security of human life, to the attainment of this end the punishments inflicted by the civil magistrates, who are the legitimate avengers of crime, naturally tend, giving security to human life by repressing audacity and outrage with punishments. Hence these words of David : / will early destroy all the wicked of the land, that I might cut off all wicked doers from the city of the Lord.0

Question 5. They are not guilty of Murder who slay the Enemy in Just War.

In like manner, neither do they sin, who, actuated not by motives of cupidity or cruelty, but by the sole desire of promoting the public good, take away the life of the enemy, in a just war. There are, moreover, on record instances of slaughter executed by the special command of God himself:? the sons of Levi, who put to death so many thousands in -I one day, were guilty of no sin : after the slaughter, they were thus addressed by Moses : Ye have consecrated your hands this day to the Lord.

Question 6. He is not yuilty of breaking this Commandment who slays a Man ly accident.

He that kills a man accidentally, not with intent or design, is not guilty of having violated this commandment : Whoso killetli his neighbour ignorantly, says the book of Deuteronomy, whom lie hated not in times past, as tvhen a man goeth unto the luood with his neighbour to hew wood, and his hand fetcheth a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the head slippeih from the helve, and lightetli upon his neighbour that he die, he shall flee unto one of these cities and live Such deaths, because inflicted without intent or design, are by no means reckoned among sins ; and in this we are fortified by the opinion of St. Augustine : Far be it, saith he, that what we do for a good or lawful end should be imputed to us, if, contrary to our intention, any evil accrue.

Question 7. Two Cases in which Guilt attaches to A ccidental Death.

There are, however, two cases in which guilt attaches toaccidental death ; the one, when it is caused by a person engaged in some unjust act ; when, for instance, a person, strikes or kicks a woman in a state of pregnancy, and abortion follows. The consequence, it is true, might not have been intended by the striker ; but this does not exculpate the offender, because the act of striking a pregnant woman was in itself absolutely unlawful. The other case is, when death is caused by negligence, incaution, or want of due circumspection.

Question 8. It is also lawful to slay another in Self-defence.

On the same principle, if a man kill another in self-defence., having used every precaution consistent with his own safety ' [to avoid the infliction of death] , he evidently is not liable i to this commandment. These, indeed, which we have just [ mentioned, are the cases of slaughter not contemplated by I bhis commandment ; and with these exceptions, the prohi- bition embraces all others, whether with regard to the person who kills, the person killed, or the means used to kill.

Question 9. No one is allowed to slay on his oiun responsibility.

As to the persons who kill, no exception whatever is made, be they rich or powerful, masters or parents ; but all, without exception of person or distinction of rank or con dition, are forbidden to kill.

Question 10. No one whatever can fail of being safe under this Law.

With regard to the persons killed, the obligation of the law is no less extensive, as it embraces every human creature ; nor is there an individual, how humble or lowly soever his condition, who is not defended by this law. It also forbids suicide ; for no man possesses such absolute dominion over his life, as to be at liberty to put a period to his existence ; and hence, the words of the commandment do not say, ilwu shalt not kill another, but simply, T/tou shalt not kill.

Question 11. In how many ways this Commandment may be violated.

Finally, if we consider the numerous means by which murder may be committed, [the law] makes no exception j for not only does it forbid to take away the life of another by laying violent hands on him, by using a sword, a stone, a stick, a halter, or poison ; but it also strictly prohibits the accomplishment of the same deed by counsel, aid, assistance, or any other means. In this the slowness and dullness of apprehension of the Jews were extreme, for they thought that solely to abstain from shedding human blood was sufficient to satisfy the obligations of this commandment ; but the Christian man, who, instructed by the interpretation of Christ, has learned that this precept is spiritual, and commands us to keep not only our hands unstained, but likewise our heart pure and undenled, will not deem such a compliance sufficient, how ample soever it may have ap peared to the Jews. For the gospel teaches that it is unlawful for one even to be angry, whereas our Lord says • But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause, shall be in danger of the judgment ; and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council; but whosoever shall say, thou fool, shall be guilty ofhellfre.”

Question 12. How a Man may, or may not, sin by being anyry.

From these words it is plain, that he who is angry with his brother, although he may confine his anger within his own breast, is not exempt from sin ; that he who gives indication of that anger sins grievously ; and that he who dreads not to treat his brother with harshness, and to utter reproaches against him, sins much more grievously. This, it is true, is to be understood of cases, in which no cause of wrath exists. For, to animadvert on those who are placed under our authority, when they commit a fault, is an occasion of anger, which God and his laws permit ; but the anger of a Christian man should be, not the impulse of carnal feeling, but the dictate of duty, proceeding from the influence of the Holy Spirit, for it becomes us to be temples of the Holy Ghost in which Jesus Christ may dwell.™

Question 13. How Men may perfectly observe this Law, and hoiv many sin against it.

Our Lord has also left us many other lessons of instruction, touching the perfect observance of this law, such as not to resist evil ; but ivhosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the oilier also ; and if any man will sue thee at the law and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also : and ivhosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain From what has been already said, one may perceive how prone men are to the sins prohibited by this commandment, and how many are guilty of murder, if not in fact, at least in desire.

Question 14. How severely in the Sacred Letters God detests Homicide.

And whereas the sacred Scriptures prescribe remedies for so dangerous a disease, it is the duty of the pastor, to spare no pains in making them known to the faithful. Amongst these the most efficacious is to form a just conception of the enormity of the crime of murder ; and this may be clearly seen from very numerous and strong testimonies of Scrip ture/ for so great is the detestation of homicide, expressed by God in the sacred writings, that he declares that, for the life of man, he will exact vengeance from the beast of the field, and orders the beast that shall have injured man to be slain.a And if [God] commanded man to abhor the use of blood, he did so for no other reason, than to impress on his mind the obligation of entirely refraining, both in act and desire, from the enormity of shedding human blood.b

Question 15. Hoio great a Crime is the Murder of Man is shown from Reason.

For murderers are the worst enemies of the human race, and consequently of nature, destroying, to the utmost of their power, the universal work of God, by taking away man, for whose sake God declares that he created all things.6 Nay, as in Genesis it is prohibited to slay a man, because God created man to his own image and likeness,'1 he there fore, who removes his image, offers a signal injury to the Creator, and seems, as it were, to lay violent hands on God himself! Having meditated on this with a mind inspired from above, David bitterly complains of bloody men in these words : Their feet are swift to shed blood.e He does not simply say, they kill, but, they shed Hood ; words which he employed to amplify that detestable crime, and to mark emphatically their enormous cruelty ; and, to declare first of all how precipitately they are hurried along, by a certain diabolical impulse, to the commission of that enormity, he said : Their feet are swift.

Question 16. What God commands to be done in this Precept.

But the injunctions of Christ our Lord, touching the observance of this precept, have for their object to induce us to have peace with all men ; f for, interpreting the commandment, he says : Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee ; leave there thy gift before the altar, first be reconciled to thy brother ; and then come and offer thy gift, d'c.'S In unfolding the particulars of this admonition, the pastor must teach, that all without any exception are to be embraced in charity, to which, in his exposition of this precept, he will animate the faithful as much as possible, for therein most conspicuously shines forth the virtue of loving our neighbour. For since hatred is evidently forbidden by this commandment, for, whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer; it hence certainly follows, that the command ment inculcates charity and love.

Question 17. Of the Duties of Charity contained in this Precept.

And, inculcating as it does charity and love, this law must also enjoin all those offices and actions that are consequent thereon. Charity suffer eth long, saith St. Paul j1 we are therefore enjoined patience, in which, the Saviour teaches, we shall possess our souls. J Charity is kind ;k beneficence is, therefore, her companion and associate. The virtue of benignity and beneficence is one of great latitude ; and its principal office is to relieve the necessities of the poor, to supply food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, clothing to the naked ; and our liberality should be proportioned to the necessity of the recipient.

Question 18. In what manner the Love of our Enemies must be the most perfect of all the Duties of Charity.

These works of beneficence and goodness, which in them selves- are exalted, become still more exalted when done to an enemy, for the Saviour saith : Love your enemies, do good unto them that hate you;1 and the apostle doth admonish, saying : If thy enemy hunger, feed him ; if he thirst, give him drink ; for in so doing, thou shalt heap coals of jire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.m Next, if we consider the law of charity, which is kind, we shall find that to practise all the offices of mildness, kind liness, and other kindred virtues, is prescribed by that law.

Question 19. In what respect Charity towards our Neighbour, which is here enjoined, chiefly shines forth.

But a duty of pre-eminent excellence, and one most replete with charity, and which it behoves us most to practise, is to pardon and forgive from our heart injuries which we have, received. To a full compliance with this duty the sacred Scriptures, as we already observed, frequently admonish and exhort us, not only pronouncing those who really do so blessed, but also declaring that, whilst to those who neglect or refuse to comply with this precept, pardon is denied by God, it is extended to those who discharge this duty. But, whereas the desire of revenge is almost natural to the minds of men, it becomes necessary for the pastor to exert his utmost diligence not only to teach, but also earnestly to per suade, the faithful, that a Christian should forget and forgive injuries. And in order to be enabled to subdue the pertinacity of those, whose minds are obstinately and obdurately bent on revenge, as this is a matter frequently inculcated by sacred writers, he will consult them on the subject, and obstinato sunt atque obfirmato (here there is at present a full stop) argumenta in promptu habeat,” &c.

have in readiness the arguments, and they are most powerful and persuasive, that are piously employed by those Fathers.

Question 20. By what considerations Hatred is to be chiefly restrained, and the Faithful induced to forget Injuries.

The three following, however, demand particular explanation. First, every effort is to be made to persuade him who conceives that he has received an injury, that the man of. whom he desires to be revenged was not the chief cause of the loss or injury. This is exemplified in the conduct of that admirable man Job, who, when violently assailed by the Sabeans, the Chaldeans, and by the devil, without at all directing his attention to them, as a righteous and truly pious man, exclaimed, with no less truth than piety : The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away.0 The words and ex ample of that man of patience should therefore convince Christian men, and the conviction is a most just one, that whatsoever we endure in this life comes from the Lord, who is the Father and Author of all justice and mercy.

Question 21. Men u'ho persecute us are the Ministers and Agents of God., even though the]) do so with an Evil Intent.

But he, whose benignity is boundless, punishes us not as enemies, but corrects and chastises us as children. To view the matter in its proper light, men in such cases are nothing more than the ministers and agents, as it were, of God ; and although one man may malignantly hate and foster the worst disposition towards another, yet, without the permission of God, he can in 110 wise injure him. Influenced by this re flection, Joseph patiently endured the wicked counsels of his brethren,!' and David the injuries inflicted on him by Shimei.'i To this matter also eminently applies an argument which St. Chrysostom1' has seriously and learnedly handled, that no man is injured but by himself; for let those who deem them selves injured consider the matter aright, and they will find that in reality they received no insult or injury from others.

For although they may have experienced actual injury from external causes, yet they themselves are their own greatest enemies, by wickedly contaminating their souls with hatred, desire of revenge, and envy.

Question 22. What A dvantar/es result to those who freely forgive Injwies.

The second [argument] embraces two advantages, which especially appertains to those who, influenced by a pious desire to please God, freely remit injuries. In the first place, God has promised that he who forgives shall himself obtain forgiveness ; a promise which at once proves how acceptable to God is this duty of piety. Next, by the forgive ness of injuries we are in some sort ennobled and perfected in our nature ; for thereby we are, in some degree, assimilated to God, tuho maketh his sun to rise on the evil a/ad on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust

Question 23. What, and how many Disadvantages result from the Hatred of Enemies.

Finally, the disadvantages into which we fall through revenge, when we are unwilling to forgive injuries, are to be explained. The pastor, therefore, will represent to those who are unwilling to forgive their enemies, that hatred is not only a grievous sin, but also that by habitual indulgence it takes deeper root. For the man of whose heart this passion has taken hold thirsts for the blood of his enemy ; filled with the hope of revenge, he spends days and nights in constant mental agitation, so much so, that he seems never to repose from the thought of slaughter, or of some wicked project ; and thus never, or, at least, not without extreme difficulty, can he be induced fully to forgive, or even par tially to remit, an injury. Justly, therefore, is revenge compared to a wound in which the weapon sticks fast.

Question 24. Many Sins arc shown to result from Hatred.

There are also many inconveniences and sins which follow inseparably, as it were, in the train of this vice of hatred ; and hence these words of St. John : He, that hateth his brother is in darkness, and ivalketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes He therefore must, of necessity, err frequently ; for how can one possibly view in a favourable light the words or actions of the man whom he hates 1 Hence arise rash and unjust judgments, anger, envy, depreciation of character, and the like, in which also are often involved those who are connected by ties either of friendship or of blood ; and thus does it frequently happen that from this one sin arise many. Hatred has been denominated the sin of the devil, not without good reason, since the devil was a murderer from the beginning ; and hence the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, when the Pharisees sought his life, said that they were begotten of their father the devil.v

Question 25. Remedies against Hatred.

But, besides the reasons already mentioned, which may afford grounds for detesting this sin, other and most opportune remedies are laid down in the pages of the sacred writings ; and of these remedies the first and greatest is the example of our Saviour, which we should place before us for imitation. “When scourged with rods, crowned with thorns, and finally nailed to a cross, he, in whom even the least sus picion of fault could not be found, the sprinkling of whose blood, as the apostle beareth witness, speaketh better than Abel,w poured out this most pious prayer : Father, forgive them, for they know not ivhat they do.x Another remedy prescribed by Ecclesiasticus is to call to mind death and the day of judgment : Remember the end, and thou shall never do amiss /y as if he had said : frequently, and again and again, 1 1 Johnii. 11.

reflect that thou must soon die, and as at such a season it will be most desirable and necessary for thee to obtain the supreme mercy of God, thou shouldest now, and at all times, place that hour before thine eyes ; thus will be extinguished within thee that insatiate desire of revenge ; for thou canst find no means better adapted, none more efficacious, to implore the mercy of God, than the forgiveness of injuries, and the love of those who may have injured you or yours in word or deed.

Question 1. Drift of this Precept, and Manner in which it should le treated ofly Pastors.

As the bond between man and wife is one of the strictest union, and nothing can be more delightful to both than to know that they are objects of a mutual and undivided affection ; and as, on the other hand, nothing is more painful than to feel that the legitimate love mutually due by one to the other has been transferred elsewhere, this commandment, touching whoring or adultery, follows with propriety, and in regular order, that which protects human life against the murderer, so that no one may dare to violate or sunder, by the crime of adultery, the holy and honourable union of marriage, which is wont to be a great source of love. In the exposition of this matter, however, the pastor has occasion for extreme caution and prudence, and should treat with great delicacy of language a subject which requires moderation rather than copiousness of speech, for there is reason to. apprehend that, by fully and diffusely detailing the variety of ways in which men may depart from the injunction of this law, he may perhaps light upon those topics which often serve rather to inflame than extinguish lust.

Question 2. What is commanded in this Precept.

As, however, in this precept are contained many things that cannot be passed over, pastors will explain them in their proper place. This commandment, then, has a twofold import ; the one expressed, which, forbids adultery ; the other implied, which bids us cultivate purity of mind and body.

Question 3. What is here meant under the Name of Whoredom or Adultery.

To begin with the prohibitory part [of the commandment], adultery is the defilement of the lawful bed, be it another's or one's own ; for if a married man have intercourse with an unmarried woman, he himself violates his own marriage bed ; and if an unmarried man have intercourse with a married woman, he defiles the marriage bed of another. But that in this prohibition of adultery are included every licentious act and every violation of chastity, is proved by the concurrent authority of St. Ambrose2 and St. Augustine ;a and that such is the spirit of the commandment is an inference drawn from reference to the Old as well as to the New Testament, for in the writings of Moses we find that besides adultery are punished other sins against chastity.

Question 4. Various Icinds of Licentious Lusts mentioned in Scripture.

The book of Genesis records the judgment of Judah against his daughter-in-law : and there should be no whore of the daughters of Israel, is an admirable law of Moses, found in Deuteronomy.0 Take heed to keep thyself, iny son, from all fornication, is moreover the exhortation of Tobitd to his son • and in Ecclesiasticus we read : Be ashamed to look on a harlot.e In the Gospel, too, Christ our Lord says, that out of the Jieart proceed adulteries and fornications, which defile a, man ;f and the apostle Paul expresses his detestation of this a Aug. in Exod. q. 71, n. 4, et in Deut. q. 37.

vice frequently, and in the severest terms : This, says he, is the will of God, your sanctification ; that ye should abstain from fornication ;S and: Flee fornication ; h and: Keep not company with fornicatorsj- Fornication, says he, and all uncleanness. and covetousness, let it not be once named among you ; J and : Neither fornicators, nor adulterers, nor the effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, shall inherit the kingdom o

Question 5. Why Adultery is chiefly mentioned in this Commandment.

Adultery is expressly forbidden, chiefly because – besides the turpitude which is common to it, with other kinds of intemperance – it adds the sin of injustice, not only against our neighbour, but also against civil society. Certain it is, also, that he who abstains not from other sins against chastity, easily falls into the incontinence of adultery. By this pro hibition of adultery, therefore, we at once understand that every sort of impurity and immodesty, by which the body is defiled, is prohibited ; nay, that by this commandment is forbidden every inward licentious thought, is clear, as well from the very force of the law, which is evidently spiritual, as from these words of Christ our Lord : Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery ; but I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a ivoman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his hearth These are the things which we have deemed proper matter for the public instruction of the faithful ; provided, however, [the pastor] add the decrees of the holy Synod of Trent against adulterers, and those who keep harlots and concubines ;lu omitting many and various other species of immodesty and lust, of which each individual is to be admonished privately by the pastor, as circum stances of time and person shall require. We now come to explain the positive part of the precept.

Question 6. What besides the Prohibition is here prescribed as necessary to be observed.

The faithful, then, are to be taught and earnestly ex horted to cultivate, with all assiduity, continence, and chastity, and cleanse themselves from all Jilthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of Gfod.n In those who holily and religiously lead a life of perpetual virginity, a state of life most beautiful and truly divine, the virtue of chastity, it is true, shines with brighter lustre ; yet does the virtue of continence belong also to those who lead a life of celibacy, or who, in the married state, preserve themselves pure and undenled from unlawful indulgence.

Question 7. What are the Reflections suited to One who desireth to restrain his Lusts.

As the Holy Fathers have handed down many lessons, whereby we are taught to subdue our passions, and restrain lustful pleasures, let the pastor study to explain them accurately to the people, and let him use the utmost diligence in the exposition thereof. Of these instructions some relate to thought, some to action. The remedy found in thought consists principally in our rightly understanding the tur pitude and destruction of this crime ; and this knowledge will lead more easily to the considerations that prompt its detestation. The destructiveiiess of this crime may be understood from this reflection, that, on account of its commission, the perpetrator is banished and excluded from the kingdom of God ; an evil which exceeds all others. This calamity, it is true, is common to every crime ; but to this sin it is peculiar, that fornicators are said to sin against their own bodies, according to these words of St. Paul : Flee fornication : every sin that a man doeth is without the body ; but he that committeth fornication, sinneth against his own body.0 The reason is, that, by violating its sanctity, he doeth injury to his own body ; and hence the apostle writing to the Thessalonians says : This is the will of God, your sanctijication ; that ye should abstain from fornication, that every one of you should know how to ftossess his in sanctification and honour ; not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God.? Again, Avhat is still more wicked, by the foul crime of fornication the Christian makes the members of Christ the members of an harlot, according to these words of St. Paul : Kiww ye not, that your bodies are the members of Christ .? Shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of a harlot ? God forbid ; what, know you not, that he which is joined to a harlot is one body ?i Moreover, a Christian, as St. Paul testifies, is the temple of the Holy Ghost ;r and to violate this temple, what is it but to expel from it the Holy Ghost ?

Question 8. Adultery a Grievous Injustice, and ivlty.

But the crime of adultery involves grievous injustice. For if, as the apostle saith, they who are joined in wedlock are so subject one to another, that neither has power over his or her body, but both are bound, as it were, by a mutual bond of subjection, the husband to accommodate himself to the will of the wife, the wife to the will of the husband ; most certainly, if either disjoin his or her person, which is the right of the other, from him or her to whom it is bound, the offender is guilty of flagrant injustice, and of a grievous crime.3 And as dread of infamy strongly stimulates men to the performance of their duty, and deters them from what is forbidden, the pastor will teach that adultery brands men with a notable stigma : Whoso committeth adultery with a woman, says the Scripture, lacketh understanding; he that doeth it shall destroy his own soid ; a wound and dishonour shall he get, and his reproach shall not be wiped awayt But the grievousness of the sin of adultery may be easily inferred from the severity of its punishment ; for, according to the law promulgated by God in the Old Testament, the adulterer was condemned to be stoned to death.11

Question 9. Of the Punishments which usually accompany Impure Lusts.

Nay, even for the criminal lust of one man, not only the perpetrator of the crime, but also, as we read with regard to the Schechemites,v sometimes an entire city has been de stroyed. In the sacred Scriptures are recorded many exam ples of the divine vengeance [on such crimes] ; such as the destruction of Sodom and of the neighbouring cities ;w the punishment of the Israelites, who committed fornication in the wilderness with the daughters of Moab ; x and the slaughter of the Benjamites; examples which the pastor will adduce to deter men from criminal lust. Even those who escape death do not, however, escape the visitations of the divine wrath, ofttimes in the shape of intolerable pangs and tortures. For, blinded by infatuation, the heaviest of chastisements, they are lost to all regard for God, for reputation, for honour, for family, in fine, for life itself; and they thus become so abandoned and useless, as to be unde serving of confidence in any matter of moment, and incompetent to the discharge of almost any sort of duty. Of this we can find examples in David7- and Solomon.'1 The brmer [king] had no sooner fallen into the crime of idultery, than he degenerated into a character the very everse of what he had been before ; from the mildest of nen becoming so cruel as to have exposed to death Uriah, i man who had deserved most excellently of him ; whilst Solomon, having abandoned himself entirely to the lust of vomen, forsook the true religion, to follow after strange gods. This sin, therefore, as Hoshea observes, takes away the heart, and often blinds the understanding of man.b We now come bo the remedies which consist in action.

Question 10. In what way Men are excited to Lust, which they ouyht particularly to avoid.

The first is most studiously to avoid idleness ; for, ac- 2ording to Ezekiel,c it was by yielding themselves up to its ' Judg. xx. •' 2 Sam. xi. a 1 Kings xi.

enervating influence, that the Sodomites plunged into that most foul crime of abominable lust. In the next place, intemperance is most carefully to be avoided : / fed them to the full, says the prophet, and they committed adultery. Hepletion and satiety of stomach beget lust, as our Lord intimates in these words : Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunken ness : e Be not drunk with wine, says the apostle, wherein is excess But the eye, in particular, is the inlet to the incen tives of lust, and to this refer these words of Christ our Lord : If thy right eye offend thee, pluck, it out, and cast it from thee.s The prophets, also, frequently speak to the same effect : / made a covenant with my eyes, says Job, why then should I think upon a maid ? Finally, there are 011 record many and almost innumerable examples of evils, that originated in glances of the eyes : thus fell David j1 thus the king of Schechem ;J and thus the elders, the false accusers of Susannah.k

Question 11. Elegance of Dress, Obscenity of Language, and other Voluptuous Incite ments on the Part of Women are to be avoided.

Over-elegance of dress, which very much attracts the eyes, is often no small occasion for sin • and hence the admonition of Ecclesiasticus : Turn away thy eye from a beautiful woman. As then females are too studious of ornament, it will not be unseasonable, if the pastor use some diligence in occasionally admonishing and reproving them ; and on this subject the words of the Apostle Peter are most impressive : Whose adorning, says he, let it not be that out ward adorning of plaiting of the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel ; m so is also the language of St. Paul : Not with broidered hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array ;n for many females, adorned with gold and precious stones, have lost the ornaments of mind and body. Next to the excitement of desire, usually provoked by studied elegance in dress, follows another, which is indecent and obscene conversation. For obscene language is as a torch that lighteth up the passions of the young mind : Evil communications, says the apostle, corrupt good manners. Effeminate and lascivious songs and dances are most pro ductive of this same effect, and are, therefore, carefully to be avoided. In the same class, also, are numbered amatory and obscene books, which are to be avoided, as are also images that present any appearance of indecency, possessing, as they do, a fatal influence in exciting to filthy allurements, and in kindling criminal desires in the minds of youth. But the pastor should take especial care, that what was piously and religiously ordained by the holy Council of Trent P regarding them, be most sacredly observed. If all these things which have been mentioned be most studiously and carefully avoided, almost every incentive to lust is removed.

Question 12. The Use of Confession, of the Eucharist, and of other Pious Matters, arc necessary to attain Chastity.

But, to repress its violence, frequent recourse to confession and to the holy Eucharist operates most efficaciously ; as do also unceasing and devout prayers to God, accompanied by fasting and almsdeeds ; for chastity is a gift of God,i which he refuses not to those who ask it aright ; nor does he suffer us to be tempted beyond that we are able.

Question 13. Conclusion.

But the body is to be exercised, and the sensual appetites to be repressed not only by fasting, and particularly by the fasts instituted by the holy Church, but also by watchings, pious pilgrimages, and other austerities. By these and other such penitential observances is the virtue of temperance chiefly evinced ; and in accordance with this doctrine, St. Paul, writing to the Corinthians, says : Every man that striveth for the mastery, is temperate in all things ; now they I do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible ; s p See Decrees and Canons, Sess. xxv. p. 213, sqq.

and a little after : / keep under my body, and bring it into subjection, lest, that by any means, when I have preaclied to others, I myself should be a castaway ; and in another place : Make not provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof. !u

Question 1. How fjrcat is the Importance of this Commandment, and its Connection with the two preceding ones.

THAT it was the ancient custom of the Church, to impress on the faithful the nature and force of this commandment, we may learn from the reproof uttered by the apostle against some, who were most earnest in deterring others from vices, with which they themselves were found overwhelmed : Thou therefore, says he, which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thoit, steal ?v The salutary effect of such instruction was, not only to correct a vice prevalent in those times, but also to repress turbulence and litigation, and other causes of mischiefs, which usually arise from theft. As these our days also are unhappily involved in the same delinquency, and in its con sequent mischiefs and calamities, the pastor, following the example of the holy Fathers, and masters of Christian discipline, will urge this matter, and will explain with care and diligence the force and meaning of this commandment. And first, his care and diligence will be exercised in setting forth the infinite love of God to man, who, not satisfied with having, as it were, fenced round our lives, our persons, our fame, and reputation, by means of these two prohibitions : Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit adultery ; he, as it were, places an external guard over, and defends, our means and property, by this precept, Thou shalt not steal.

Question 2. What is the Meaning further implied in this Precept.

For what other meaning can these words have, than that which we already mentioned in expounding the other pre cepts, that by this commandment God forbids our worldly goods, which are placed under his protection, to be taken away or injured by any one 1 Our gratitude to God, its Author, should therefore be proportioned to the magnitude of the benefit conferred on us by this divine law ; and, as the truest test of feeling and of showing gratitude [to God,] consists not only in lending a willing ear to his precepts, but also in giving practical proof [by our conduct], the faithful are to be excited and ardently animated to the observance of this commandment. Like the preceding ones, this precept also divides itself into two parts : the one, which pro hibits theft, is mentioned in express terms : of the other, by which we are exhorted to kindliness and liberality towards our neighbours, the spirit and force are implied and involved in the former. We shall, therefore, begin with the first : Thou shalt not steal.

Question 3. Definition of “ Theft.”

It is to be observed, that by the word tlitft is understood not only the taking away of anything from its rightful owner, privately and without his consent, but also the possession of anything belonging to another, contrary to the will, although not without the knowledge of the owner, unless perchanee we are to suppose, that he who prohibits theft, does not prohibit rapine, which is accomplished by violence and injustice ; whereas, according to the apostle, extortioners shall not inherit the kingdom of God ;v and the same apostle declares, that the manner of life and society of such persons is altogether to be shunned.x

Question 4. Since God here wishes to prohibit all Unjust Usurpation of another Man's Property, ivhy Theft is mentioned in the Commandment rather than Rapine.

Although rapine, which, besides the deprivation of his property, offers violence to the injured party, and subjects him to greater ignominy, is a more grievous sin than theft ; yet we cannot be surprised, nor is it without the best reason, that the precept of the divine law is expressed under the name of theft, not rapine ; for theft is more wide and comprehensive than rapine ; a crime of which they alone can be guilty, who are superior in power and force. No one, how ever, can fail to perceive, that when lesser crimes of the same sort are forbidden, greater enormities are also pro hibited.

Question 5. Different Denominations of Theft.

The unjust possession and use of what belongs to another are expressed by different names, according to the different nature of the things stolen from their masters, either against their will, or without their knowledge. To take anything private from a private individual is called theft ; from the public, peculation: to enslave and appropriate the freeman or slave of another is called man-stealing : z to steal anything sacred is called sacrilege, a crime the most sinful and enormous ; yet now of so common occurrence, that things which had been piously and wisely appropriated to the necessities of divine worship, to the support of the ministers of the Church, and to the use of the poor, are employed in satisfying individual cupidity, and ministering to depraved passions.

Question 6. They who really possess another Man's Property are not the only Trans gressors of this Precept.

But, besides actual theft, that is, the outward act, the will and desire are also forbidden by the law of God ; for the law is spiritual, and regards the soul, the source of our thoughts and designs : Out of the heart, says our Lord in St. Matthew, proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, for nications, thefts, false witness

Question 7. Whence we may lest estimate the Grievousness of the Sin of Theft.

But how grievous a sin theft is, is sufficiently seen by the light of natural reason alone • seeing it is contrary to justice, which gives to every man his own ; for in order that every man, unless we wish to dissolve human society, may securely possess what has justly fallen to his lot, it is necessary to give stability to the distribution and allotments of property, which have been constituted from the very origin of society by the law of nations, and confirmed by divine and human laws. Hence these words of the apostle : Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. The long train of evils, how ever, consequent upon theft, attest at once its mischievousness and enormity. Many hasty and rash judgments arise touching various matters ; hatreds are engendered ; enmities originated ; and sometimes the innocent are subjected to the most cruel condemnation,

Question 8. Necessity of Restitution of the Things talceii away.

What shall we say touching the. necessity imposed by God on all, of giving satisfaction to him to whom the injury has been done ? The sin is not forgiven, says St. Augustine, unless that which was taken be restored.0 The great difficulty attendant on making such restitution, on the part of those who have been in the habit of enriching themselves with other men's property, we may learn not only from the habits of others and from our own reflection, but also from the testimony of the prophet Habakkuk : Woe to him, saith he, that increaseth that which is not his : and to him that loadeth himself with thick clay ?A The possession of other men's pro- perty, he calls thick clay, from which it is difficult for men to emerge and disengage themselves. But such is the variety of thefts, that it is most difficult to enumerate them all : to these two heads, theft and rapine, as to their source, allothers however may be reduced ; and the exposition of these two will therefore suffice. To inspire, therefore, a detestation of them, and to deter the faithful people from wicked enor mities, pastors must bestow their whole care and assiduity. But let us proceed with the details on this head.

Question 9. What are the Chief Kinds of Theft, and ivho are to be reckoned among Thieves.

They, therefore, who buy stolen goods, or retain the pro perty of others, whether found, seized on, or pilfered, are also thieves: Ifthou hast found, and not restored, saith St. Augus tine, thou hast stolen.c If, however, the owner of the pro perty cannot at all be discovered, the things found should then go to the use of the poor ; and if the finder refuse to yield them tip, he gives evident proof, that, were it in his power, he would make no scruple of stealing in all directions to any extent. They who, in buying or selling goods, have recourse to fraud and cheating words, involve themselves in the same guilt : the Lord will avenge their frauds. But those who, for good and sound merchandise, sell bad and unsound, or who deceive the buyers by weight, measure, number, or rule, are guilty of a theft still more criminal and unjust, for we read in Deuteronomy : Thou shalt not have divers weights in thy bag ;f and in Leviticus : Ye shall do no unrighteousness, in judgment, in mete yard, in weight, or in measure. Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin , % and elsewhere : Divers weights are an abomination unto the Lord : and a false balance is not good.

It is also an open theft, when labourers and artisans exact full and entire wages from those, to whom they have not given just and due labour. Nor are unfaithful servants and stewards to be distinguished from thieves ; nay, they are more detestable than other thieves, against whom things are locked, whilst to a pilfering servant nothing in a house can be inaccessible. They also, who extort money under falsepretences, by deceitful words or fallacious mendicancy, may be said to be guilty of theft ; and their guilt is aggravated by adding falsehood to theft. Persons charged with offices of public or private trust, who pay none, or but indifferent attention to the duties, whilst they enjoy the remuneration and emoluments of such offices, are also to be reckoned in the number of thieves. To detail the various other modes of theft, invented by the ingenuity of avarice, which is versed in all the arts of gleaning money together, were a tedious, and, as we said, a very difficult task.

Question 10. Of the Kinds of Rapine, and who are to be called Extortioners.

The pastor, therefore, will proceed to treat of rapine, the other general head, to which the sins prohibited by this commandment are reducible, first admonishing the Christian people, to bear in mind the saying of the apostle : They that will be rick, fall into temptation and a snare and never to forget the precept : All things whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them;') and always to keep in view the maxim : Do that to no man which thou hatest.k Rapine, then, is more comprehensive than theft ; for those, who pay not the labourer his hire, are guilty of rapine, and are invited to repentance by St. James in these words : Go to, now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you : he subjoins the cause of this their repentance ; for, Behold, says he, the hire of the labourers, who have reaped down your fields, wldch is of you kept back by fraud, crieth, and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of/Sabaothl This sort of rapine is reprobated in the strongest terms in Levi ticus,111 Deuteronomy, Malachi, and Tobias.P Amongst those guilty of rapine are also included persons who do not pay, or who turn to other uses, or appropriate to themselves, customs, taxes, tithes, and such revenues, which are due to those who preside over the Church, and to the civil magis trates.

Question 11. Usury is Rapine ; of its Wickedness.

To this class also belong usurers, the most cruel and relentless of extortioners, who by their usuries plunder and destroy the unhappy people. Now usury is whatever is received above the principal, whether it be money, or any thing else that may be purchased or estimated by money ; for it is written in Ezekiel : He hath not received usury, nor increase; and in Luke, our Lord says: Lend, hoping for nothing again.1' Even amongst the Gentiles [usury] was always considered a most grievous and odious crime ; and hence the question, what is usury ? which was answered by asking, what is murder ?s For they who lend at usury sell the same thing twice, or sell that which has no existence.

Question 12. Corrupt Judges, and those who defraud their Creditors, are guilty of Rapine.

Corrupt judges, whose decisions are venal, and who, bought over by money or bribes, decide against the poor and the ne cessitous, however good their cause, are also guilty of rapine. Those who defraud their creditors, and deny their just debts, and also those who purchase goods on their own or on another's credit, with an engagement to pay for them at a certain time, and do not redeem their pledge, shall be con victed of the same crime of rapine ; and it is an aggravation of their guilt that, in consequence of their want of punctuality and their fraud, things are raised in price, to the no small detriment of the public. To such persons David would seem to allude, when he says : The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again.

Question 13. The Rich wlto oppress the Poor, Jiariny taken Pledges of them, are num bered among the Rapacious.

But what shall we say of those who, themselves being rich, exact with rigour what they lend to the poor, who have not wherewithal to pay them, and who take as pledges even their necessary covering, in defiance of the divine prohibition 1 Ifthou at all take thy neighbour's raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down, for that is his covering only ; it is his raiment for his skin, wherein shall he sleep ; and if, shall come to pass, when he crieth to me, that I will hear, for I am gracious.1 Their rigorous exaction we shall justly term rapacity, and even rapine.

Question 14. Monopolists in Time of Scarcity are rapacious.

Amongst those whom the holy Fathers pronounced guilty of rapine/ are those persons who, in times of scarcity, store up their corn, thus culpably producing dearth and high prices ; and this also holds good with regard to all necessaries of food, and the purposes of life. These are they against whom Solomon utters the execration, He that withholdeth corn, the people shall curse him.w Such persons pastors will admonish of their guilt, and reprove with more than ordinary freedom, and will explain to them more at large the punishments that await their offence. So far for the negative part of the precept. We now come to the positive part, in which the first thing to be considered is satisfaction or restitution ; for the sin is not forgiven, unless what was taken be restored

Question 15. Who are bound to Restitution.

But, as the law of restitution is binding not only on the person who has committed theft, but also on all who are participators therein, we must explain who are indispensably bound to this act of satisfaction or restitution. These form a variety of classes. The first consists of those men who order others to steal, and who are not only them selves the authors and accomplices of theft, but also the very worst class of thieves. Another class embraces those who, like the former in will, but unlike them in power, are, how ever, to be placed in the same rank with thieves – who, unable to command, persuade and encourage others to commit theft. A third class is that of those who consent to theft committed by others. The fourth class is that of those who are accomplices in, and derive gain from, theft; if that can be called gain which, unless they repent, consigns them to everlasting torments. Of them David )' says : When tkou saioest a thief, thou consentedst ivith him. The fifth class of thieves are those who, having it in their power to prohibit thefts, so far from opposing or preventing them, suffer and sanction their free commission. The sixth class is composed of those who, well aware that the theft was committed, and where it was committed, yet,, far from discovering, dissemble their knowledge of the fact. The seventh, and last, embraces all who assist in the accomplishment of theft – who guard, patronize, receive, or shelter thieves, all of whom are bound to make satisfaction to those from whom anything has been stolen, and are earnestly to be exhorted to the discharge of that necessary duty. Nor are those who approve and applaud thefts entirely exempt from this crime ; neither are children and wives, who purloin money from, their parents and hus bands, free from the same fault.

Question 16. What is to 1e thought concerning Alms, an Obligation implied ~by this Commandment.

In this commandment is also implied pity towards the poor and the necessitous, and an effort on our part for the relief of their difficulties and distresses from our means, and by our offices. On this subject – which is to be treated very frequently and copiously – pastors, to enable themselves to fulfil this duty, will borrow matter from the works of those very holy men, St. Cyprian, John Clirysostom,a Gregory a Chrys. horn, de eleemos. horn. 2, de Laz. n. 4, horn. 16, ad pop. Ant. n. 6, horn. 7, de prenit. n. 6, sq. horn. 45, in Matt. n. 3.

Nazianzen,b and other eminent writers on alms-deeds. For the faithful are to be inflamed with a desire and with alacrity to succour those who depend on the compassion of others for subsistence. They are also to be taught the great necessity of alms-deeds, that with our means and by our co-operation we may be liberal to the poor, and this by the very true argument that, on the day of the last judgment, God will abhor those who shall have omitted or neglected the offices of charity, and hurl against them the sentence of condemnation to everlasting flames ; but will invite, in the language of praise, and introduce into then1 heavenly country, those who have acted kindly towards the poor. Their respective sen tences have already been pronounced by the lips of Christ our Lord :c Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you ; and : Depa/it from me, ye cursed, into ever lasting fire.

Question 17. By what Means the People are to be incited to Alms-Deeds.

Pastors will also employ those texts of Scripture most calculated to persuade to this duty : Give and it shall be given unto you : they will cite the promise of God, than which even imagination can picture no remuneration more abundant, none more magnificent : There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, &c., but he shall receive a hundredfold now in this time, and in the world to come eternal life ;e and he will add these words of our Lord : Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, that when ye fail they may receive you into everlasting habitations. i But they will explain the different heads of this necessary duty, to wit, that whoever are unable to give, may at least lend to the necessitous wherewithal to sustain life, according to the injunction of Christ our Lord : Lend, lioping for nothing ac/ain.s The happiness attendant on such an exercise of mercy, holy David attests : A good man showeth favour and lendeth.h

Question 18. We must labour to bestow Alms and to avoid Idleness.

But it is an act of Christian piety, should it not be in our power otherwise to deserve well of those who stand in need of the pity of others for sustenance, to seek by the labour of our hands to procure means of relieving the wants of the indigent, and also thus to avoid idleness. To this the apostle exhorts all by his own example : For yourselves, saith he, writing to the Thessalonians, know how ye ought to follow us;{ and again, to the same : And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work ivith your own hands, as we com manded you ;J and to the Ephesians : Let him that stole steal no more, but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing ivhich is good, that he may have to give to him that

Question 19. We must live sparingly in order to aid the Wants of Others.

We should also practise frugality, and draw sparingly on the means of others, that we may not be a burden or a trouble to them. This exercise of temperance shines con spicuous in all the apostles, but pre-eminently so in St. Paul, who, writing to the Thessalonians, says : Ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail, for labouring night and day because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the Gospel of God;1 and in another place : But wrought with labour and travail, night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you.™-

Question 20. By what Arguments the Christian People are to ~be induced to the Detestation of Rapine and the Practice of Benevolence.

But to the eud that the faithful people may abhor all such infamous crimes, pastors will recur to the prophets and other sacred writings, to show the detestation in which God holds the crimes of theft and rapine, and the awful threats which he sets forth against their perpetrators : Hear this, exclair the prophet Amos, 0 ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail, saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn, and the Sabbath, that we may set forth luheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceits There are also many passages in Jeremiah, Proverbs,? and Ecclesiasticus, to the same effect ; and these, without doubt, are the seeds from which have sprung great part of the evils, with which in our times society is oppressed. But that Christian men may accustom themselves to every office of liberality and kindness towards the poor and the mendicant, an exercise of benevolence appertaining to the second part of this command ment, pastors will place before them those most ample rewards, which God promises to bestow in this life and in the next, upon the beneficent and the bountiful.

Question 21. What is to be thought of those who excuse Theft and Sacrilege by a Futile Pretext.

As however there are not wanting those, who would even excuse their thefts, they are to be admonished that the time will come, when God will accept no excuse for their sin ; nay, that their excuses, so far from extenuating, will serve greatly to aggravate their guilt. Behold the insufferable luxury of noblemen, who fancy they extenuate their guilt by alleging, that, if they stoop to strip another of what be longs to him, they are actuated not by cupidity or avarice, but by a desire to maintain the grandeur of their families, and the rank of their ancestors, whose estimation and dignity would fall, if not upheld by the accession of other men's pro perty. Of this pernicious error they must be disabused ; and must at the same time be convinced, that the sole means of preserving and augmenting their property and wealth, and of enhancing the glory of their ancestors, is to obey the will of God, to observe his commandments ; and that, his will and commandments once contemned, wealth, however solidly based and excellently established, is overturned ; kings are hurled from their royal thrones, and from, the highest pinnacle of honour, whilst the humblest individuals, men too whom they held in supreme hatred, are sometimes called by God to occupy their places. It is incredible to what a degree the wrath of God is kindled against such offenders ; and this we know from the testimony of Isaiah, who records these words of God himself : Thy princes are rebellious and cmnpanwiis of thieves : every one loveth gifts, and fottoweth after rewards. Therefore, saith the Lord, the Lord of Hosts, the Mighty One of Israel : Ah ! I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies', and I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge aiuay thy dross.1'

Question 22. In u-hat manner ire must answer those who assert that they arc driven to Rapine from Considerations of Utility.

There are not wanting those who plead in justification, not the maintenance of splendour and glory, but a wish to have the means of living with greater convenience and elegance. Such excuses are also to be refuted ; and they are to be taught how impious is the conduct and language of those, who prefer any advantage to the will and glory of God, against which we offend in an extraordinary degree by neglect of his precepts. And yet, what advantage can there be in theft, which is the source of the greatest evils ? Con fusion and repentance, says Ecclesiasticus, is uj)on a thief.5 But, suppose no disadvantage befall the thief, he dishonours the divine name ; opposes the most holy will of God ; con temns his salutary precepts ; from which source flows all error, all dishonesty, all impiety.

Question 23. What is to be said of those who defend their Thefts on the Grounds that tltey rob the Rich, or on a Plea of Habit.

But, do we not sometimes hear the thief contend, that he is in nowise guilty of sin, because he steals from the rich and the wealthy, who do not suffer any injury from, nor even perceive, the loss ? Such an excuse is as wretched as it is baneful. Another imagines that his plea should be deemed 1 “ Ejus” agrees with Dei, understood from the preceding “divinum.”

satisfactory, when he alleges that he has been so familiarized with stealing, as not easily to be able to conquer the pro pensity or desist from the practice. If such a person listen not to the apostle, saying : Let him that stole, steal no more?1 he will be familiarized, will or nill, with everlasting tor ments.

Question 24. What again is to be said of those who profess to be induced to thieve either through Opportunity or through the Lust of Revenge.

Some excuse themselves by saying, that they stole, because a favourable opportunity presented itself; for it is a trite proverb, that they who are not thieves, become thieves through opportunity. Such persons are to be dissuaded and deterred from so wicked an opinion, by reminding them, that it is our duty to resist evil propensities ; for, were we forth with to execute the suggestions of inordinate desire, what limits, what end, to criminal and flagitious excesses 1 Such a defence, therefore, displays extreme baseness, or rather is an avowal of consummate licentiousness and injustice ; for to say that you do not commit sin, because you have no opportunity of sinning, is almost to acknowledge, that you are always prepared to sin when opportunity presents. There are those who say they steal in order to gratify revenge, having themselves suffered the same injury at the hands of others. In answer to such offenders, the pastor will first urge the unlawfulness of returning injury for injury ; and next that no one ought to be a judge in his own cause ; and that still less can it be lawful for a man to punish one man for the crimes of others against him.

Question 25. What is to be said of those who Steal in order to be freed from Debt.

Finally, some find a sufficient justification of theft in the plea, that being overwhelmed with debts, they cannot pay them off otherwise than by theft. Such persons should be told that no debt is heavier, none more oppressive upon the human race, than that from which, each day of our lives, we il pray to be released, in these words of the Lord's Prayer : Forgive us our debts ;v and to swell the debt which we owe to God, that is, to sin more, in order to liquidate that which is due to man, is the height of folly ; that it is much better to be cast into prison than to be consigned to the never-end ing torments of hell ; that it is also by far a greater evil to be condemned by the judgment of God, than by that of men ; and moreover, that they should fly as suppliants to the assistance and mercy of God, from whom they can obtain what they have need of. There are other sorts of excuses, which prudent and zealous pastors will find it easy to meet ; that they may one day be blessed with A people, zealous oj good ivorks.™

Question 1. Salutary Tendency of this Precept.

How great is the utility, nay, the necessity, of the assi duous exposition of this commandment, and of the inculcation of the duty it enforces, we learn from these authoritative words of St. James : If 'any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man ; and again : Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold how great a matter a little Jire kindleth and what follows to the same effect. By these words of St. James we are admonished of two things ; the one, that the vice of the tongue is of very great extent, a truth confirmed by that sentence of the prophet, All men are liars,? so that this would seem to be almost the only sin that extends to all mankind; the other, that from the tongue proceed innumerable evils; for through the fault of an evilspoken man, are often lost the property, the character, the life, the salvation, of the injured person, or of him who inflicts the injury ; of the injured person, who, unable patiently to bear contumelies, impotently avenges them ; of the person who inflicts the injury, because, deterred by a perverse shame and a false notion of what is called honour.2 he cannot be induced to satisfy him whom he has offended. Hence, the faithful are here to be exhorted, to pour out their souls in thanksgiving to God for this salutary commandment, not to bear false witness, a commandment by which we are not only forbidden to injure others, but also, on the same principle of obedience, others are forbidden to injure us.

Question 2. This Precept is both Mandatory and Prohibitory.

In exposition of this precept, we shall proceed in the same manner as we have done with regard to the others, pointing out in it two laws, the one prohibiting to bear false witness ; the other commanding us, having laid aside all dissimulation and deceit, to measure our words and actions by the simple standard of truth ; a duty of which the apostle admonished the Ephesians in these words : Speaking the, truth in love, we may grow up into him in all things.

Question 3. What this Precept prohibits.

With regard to the former part of this commandment, although by the name of false testimony is understood what ever is positively but falsely affirmed of any one, be it for or against him, be it in a public court or be it not ; yet by this commandment is especially prohibited that species of false testimony, which is given on oath in a court of justice j for a witness swears by the Deity, because the words of a man thus giving evidence, and interposing the divine name, have very great credit and weight. Such testimony, because dangerous, is therefore chiefly prohibited, for when sworn witnesses are not excluded by legal exceptions, or convicted of palpable dishonesty and wickedness, even the judge him self cannot reject their testimony, especially as it is an injunction of the divine law, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.

But that the faithful may clearly understand the command- merit, they must be taught who is our neighbour, against whom it is unlawful to bear false witness.

Question 4. Who is here meant by the name “ Neighbour.”

According to the doctrine of Christ our Lord, our neigh bour is whoever wants our assistance, whether he be bound to us by ties of kindred or not, whether a fellow-citizen, or a stranger, a friend or an enemy.0 To suppose it lawful to give false evidence in any case against an enemy, whom by the command of God and of our Lord we are bound to love,d is utter wickedness. Moreover, as every one is in some sort his own neighbour, it is unlawful for any one to bear false witness against himself; and as suicides injure the state, so they who defame their own character, branding themselves with infamy and disgrace, inflict a wound on their own good name, and on the Church, of which they are members. This is the doctrine of St. Augustine : Although, says he, to those, who understand aright, it cannot but appear prohibited to give false testimony against ones self, because the words “ against thy neighbour'” are subjoined in the commandment. But let no one therefore think that he is exempt from this guilt, if he bear false loitness against himself; for the person who loves received the standard of loving from \the love which he cherishes towards] himself. e

Question 5. We are forbidden to give False Testimony in order to serve our Neighbour.

But since we are forbidden to injure, let no one infer that we are therefore at liberty to serve, our neighbour by false testimony, although he be united to us by the ties of nature and religion. We cannot employ falsehood, still less perjury, to consult the feelings or the interests of any man. Hence, St. Augustine in his book on lying, addressed to Crescentius, teaches from the words of the apostle, that a lie, although uttered in unmerited commendation of any one, is to be num bered amongst false testimonies. Treating of that passage of the apostle : Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God, that he raised up Christ, whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not lie says : TJie apostle calls it false witness to utter a lie ivith regard to Christ, although it seems to redound to his praise. =

Question 6. JIoiv many Ills accompany a False Witness alleged in favour of Another.

It also very frequently happens, that by favouring one party we injure the other : false testimonies are certainly the occasion of misleading the judge, who, yielding to such evidences, is sometimes obliged to decide and pronounce contrary to justice, according to the unjust testimony.11 It also some times happens, that the successful party, who has gained his suit by means of a false witness, emboldened by impunity, and exulting in his unrighteous victory, is familiarized to the work of corruption and the subornation of false wit nesses, through whose instrumentality he hopes to attain whatever ends he proposes to himself. To the witness him self it must also be most grievous, to have his falsehood and perjury known to him whose interests he has benefited and advanced ; whilst, encouraged by the success of his design, he becomes every day more practised in, and accustomed to, impiety and audacity.

Question 7. TJie Sins of all those ivho are concerned in Judgments, and Lying in general, are condemned ~by this Precept.

[By this precept], then, deceit, falsehood, and perjury on the part of witnesses are prohibited ; and the same prohibition extends also to plaintiffs, defendants, and patrons, to solicitors, lawyers, and advocates ; to all, in a word, who have any concern in suits at law. Finally, God prohibits all testimony that may cause inconvenience or detriment, be it in legal evidence or not ; for in Leviticus, where the command ments are repeated, we read : Ye shall not steal ; neither deal falsely ; neither lie one to another To none, therefore, can it be matter of doubt, that by this commandment God rejects and condemns lies of every sort, as these words of David most explicitly declare : Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing J

Question 8. But by this commandment is forbidden not only false testimony, but also the detestable propensity and habit of detraction, from which pest it is incredible how many and what serious inconveniences and evils arise. This vice of speaking ill and coiitumeliously of others in private, the sacred Scriptures everywhere reprobate : Him, says David, will I cut off ';k and St. James : Speak not evil one of another, brethren The sacred Scriptures supply not only precepts on the subject, but also examples, which declare the enormity of this vice : Hainan, by charges of his own invention, so incensed Ahasuerus against the Jews, that he ordered the destruction of that entire people.”1 Sacred history abounds with similar examples ; and by the enumeration of these the priest will strive to deter the faithful from a crime of such in justice.

Question 9. Various Sorts of Detractors.

But, to see in its full light the violence of this sin, we must know, that the reputation of men is injured not only by calumny, but likewise by exaggerating and amplifying the faults of others ; and he who, at a time, in a place, or before persons, when, where, or before whom, the communication was unnecessary, has given publicity to the secret sin of any man, which, when made known, must prove seriously in jurious or discreditable to his character, is justly called a detractor and a slanderer. But of all slander there is none more criminal than that levelled against the Catholic doctrine and its teachers : those who extol the propagators of bad doctrines and of errors are involved in similar culpability.

Question 10. They who listen to Detractors or sow Dissensions among Friends are themselves Detractors.

Nor are those dissociated from their number or their guilt, who, instead of reproving, lend a willing ear, and a willing assent, to detractors and slanderers. As we read in St. Jerome, and St. Bernard :° Whether the detractor or the listener be the more criminal, it is not easy to decide ; for if there were no listeners, there would be no detractors. To the same class belong those, who by their artifices foment division and excite dissension among men, and who feel a particular pleasure in sowing discord ; thus severing, by fiction and falsehood, the closest friendships ; loosing the dearest social ties ; and driving to endless hatred and to arms the fondest friends. Of such pestilent characters the Lord expresses his detestation in these words : Thou shalt not go up and doum as a talebearer among thy peopled Of this description were many of the advisers of Saul, who strove to alienate his affection from, and to exasperate him against, Davids

Question 11. Wheedling and Currying Favour also forbidden by this Law.

Finally, wheedlers and sycophants are also to be numbered amongst the transgressors of this commandment, who in sinuate themselves by their blandishments and pretended praises into the ears and hearts of those, after whose interest, money, and honours they are hunting, as the prophet says, calling good evil, and evil good.1' Such characters David admonishes us to expel and banish from our society : Let the righteous, says he, smite me ; it shall be a kindness, and let him reprove me ; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head This class of persons, it is true, do not speak ill of their neighbour; but they inflict on him the deepest injury, causing him, even by praising his vices, to continue in them, unto the end of his life. Of this species of flattery, the most pernicious is that which proposes to itself for object the misfortune and ruin of others. Thus Saul, when, to procure the death of David, he wished to ex pose him to the ruthless sword of the Philistine, addressed him in these soothing words : Behold my elder daughter Merob, her will I give thee to wife : only be thou valiant for me, and fight the battles of the Lord ; and the Jews thus in sidiously addressed Christ our Lord : Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truths

Question 12. And Friends when they perniciously flatter a Friend ivho is dangerously III.

But far more pernicious is the language of friends and relations, addressed to those labouring under a mortal disease, and now on the point of death, when they flatter them that there is then no danger of their dying ; bid them to be in good spirits, dissuade them from the confession of their sins, as if the thought would fill them with melancholy ; and, finally, divert their attention from all concern about, and meditation upon, the extreme dangers that beset them. Lies of every sort are therefore to be avoided, particularly such by which serious injury may be inflicted on others ; but a lie uttered against, or regarding religion, is one of extreme impiety.

Question 13. The Authors of Libels, those who lie for the Salce of Joking or Ofliciousncss, and Hypocrites, also offend against this Precept.

God is also grievously offended by those opprobrious in vectives, termed lampoons and libels, and such other contumelious slanders. To deceive by a jocose or officious lie, although neither useful nor injurious to any one, is, notwithstanding, utterly unworthy of a Christian ; for so the apostle ad monishes us : Putting away lying, speak every man truth.v For this begets a strong tendency to frequent and serious lying ; and from jocose, men contract a habit of uttering deliberate lies ; lose their character for veracity ; and ultimately find it necessary, in order to gain belief, to continually resort to swearing. Finally, by the first part of this com- mandment dissimulation is prohibited ; and [it is held sinful] not only to speak but to act deceitfully. For actions as well as words are signs of our ideas and sentiments ; and for this reason our Lord, rebuking the Pharisees, frequently calls them hypocrites.' So far with regard to the negative, which is the first part of this commandment. Let us now explain what the Lord commands in the second part.

Question 14. Mandatory Part of the Precept touching Trials.

The force and nature of this precept have for object, that public trials be conducted on the principles of justice and according to law, and that men do not arrogate and usurp the right of pronouncing judgment ; for the apostle says, that it is unjust to judge another mans servant lest we should decide without a knowledge of the circumstances of the case. This was the error committed by the priests and scribes, who passed judgment on St. Stephen :? the magistracy of Philippi were guilty of the same criminal conduct : They have beaten us openly, says St. Paul, uncondemned, being Romans : and have cast us into prison ; and now do they thrust us out privily.7- [This commandment also requires], that they condemn not the innocent, nor acquit the guilty ; that they be not influenced by money or favour, hatred or love. This is the admonition addressed by Moses to the elders, whom he had constituted judges of the people : Judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him. Ye shall not respect persons in judgment, but ye shall hear the small as well as the great ; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man, for the judgment is God's

Question 15. The Accused, ichen questioned by a Lawful Magistrate, must not lie.

With regard to accused persons, who are conscious of guilt, when interrogated according to the forms of judicial process, God wishes them to confess the truth, for their confession, in some sort attests and proclaims the praise and glory of God, according to Joshua, who, exhorting Achan to confess the truth, says : My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession unto him, and tell me now what ihou hast done : hide it not.

Question 16. What is the Duty of Witnesses.

But, whereas this commandment chiefly regards witnesses, of them also the pastor will have to treat with diligence, for the force of the precept goes not only to prohibit falsehood, but also to enforce the obligation of speaking the truth. For in human affairs, to bear true testimony is a matter of the highest importance, because there are innumerable things of which we must be ignorant, unless we arrive at a knowledge of them on the faith of witnesses. Wherefore in those things that we ourselves do not know, and yet of which it is not lawful for us to be ignorant, nothing is so necessary as true evidence. On this subject we have this sentiment of St. Augustine : He who conceals the truth, and lie who utters a falsehood, are both guilty ; the one, because he is unwilling to render a service ; the other, because he has the will to render a disservice Sometimes, however, it is lawful not to disclose the truth ; but when, in a court of justice, a witness is legally interrogated, he is bound to tell the whole truth. Here, however, witnesses should be most circumspect, lest, trusting too much to memory, they affirm for certain what they have not fully ascertained. Solicitors and counsel, prosecutors and plaintiffs, remain still to be treated of.

Question 17. In what manner Solicitors and Counsel ought to fulfil their Duty.

The two former classes will not refuse to lend their services and legal assistance, when the necessities of others shall call for it, and will humanely aid the indigent, will not undertake the defence of an unjust cause, neither will they protract by cavilling, or encourage through avarice, suits at law ; and as to the remuneration of their labour and attention, they will regulate that by the principles of justice and equity.

Question 18. Of Plaintiffs and Defendants.

But prosecutors and plaintiffs are to be admonished, to avoid creating danger to any one by unjust charges, through love or hatred, or any cupidity. Finally, to all pious persons is addressed the divine command, that in all their intercourse with society, in every conversation, they speak at all times with truth and from the heart j that they utter nothing that may injure the character of another, not even of those by whom they feel that they have been injured and persecuted; whereas they should always recollect that such is the near relation, such the social bond, that exists between them, that they are members of the same body.

Question 19. By what Arguments Christians may lie led to understand the Turpitude, of Lying.

But in order that the faithful may the more willingly avoid this vice of lying, the pastor will place before them the extreme wretchedness and turpitude of this crime. In the sacred Scriptures the devil is called the father of lies ; for, as the devil abode not in the truth, he is a liar and the father of it; and, to banish away so great an enormity, he will subjoin the mischievous consequences of which lying is the source ; and as these consequences are innumerable, he will point out their principal heads and sources. And, first, he will inform them how grievously the man of duplicity and falsehood offends, how much he is hated by God : These six things, says Solomon, doth the Lord hate, yea seven are an abomination imto him : a proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies, and what follows.6 The man, therefore, who is thus the object of God's especial wrath, who can shelter from the most grievous punishments that hang over him ?

Question 20. What Inconveniences to Human Society are caused ly Lying.

Again, what more impure, what more base, than, as St. James says, with the same tongue by which we bless God and the Father, to curse men, who are made after the image and similitude of God ; so that a fountain sends forth at the same place sweet and bitter water The tongue, which before was employed in giving praise and glory to God, by lying treats the author of truth, as far as it can, with ignominy and dishonours. Hence liars are excluded from a participation in the bliss of heaven ;% for unto David asking : Lord ! ivho shall abide in thy tabernacle ? the Holy Spirit answers, He that sf)eaketh the truth in his heart, he that backbiteth not with his tongue)1 Lying is also attended with this very great dis advantage, that it is an almost incurable disease of the mind ; for as the guilt of the detractor or calumniator is not remitted, unless satisfaction be made to the person injured, a difficult duty to those who, as we already observed, are deterred from its performance by false shame, and an empty notion of dignity ; he who indulges in this crime, is doubtless fore doomed1 to everlasting perdition. For let no one indulge the hope of being able to obtain the pardon of his calumnies or detractions, unless he first make satisfaction to him whose dignity or reputation he has depreciated publicly in a court of justice, or even in private and familiar conversation. Besides, the evil consequences of lying extend widely to society at large : by duplicity and lying, good faith and truth, the closest links of human society, are dissolved ; and, they once removed, the greatest confusion of life ensues ; so as that men would seem to differ in nothing from demons. The pastor will also teach, that loquacity is to be avoided : by avoiding the which, other evils of the tongue are also obviated, and a powerful preventive is opposed to lying, from which the loquacious cannot easily abstain.

Question 21. Finally, the pastor will disabuse of their error those who seek to justify their duplicity of language, and defend their violations of truth, by the example of the prudent, who say they lie in season. He will say what is most true, that to be carnally minded is death ;J he will exhort his hearers in their difficulties and dangers to trust in God, and not have recourse to the artifice of lying. For they who have re course to such a subterfuge, declare that they rely more on their own prudence than on the providence of God. Those who charge others with being the cause of their speaking falsehood, by having first deceived them, are to be taught that it is unlawful to avenge their own wrongs ; that evil is not to be rendered for evil, but rather that evil is to be over come with good ;k that, were it even lawful to make such a return, it would be the interest of no man to avenge himself to his own detriment ; and that he inflicts on himself a most grievous injury, who utters a falsehood. Those who plead the frailty and weakness of human nature, are to be taught that it is their duty to implore the divine assistance, and not to yield to human infirmity. Those who allege habit, are to be admonished to endeavour to acquire the contrary habit of speaking the truth ; particularly as they who sin through use and habit aggravate their guilt.

Question 22. We must not Lie on account of other Men's Falsehood.

And whereas there are not wanting those who excuse themselves by the example of the rest of mankind, who, they contend, everywhere indulge in falsehood and perjury, such persons are to be undeceived in this opinion, by remind ing them that bad men are not to be imitated, but reproved and corrected ; but that, when we ourselves are guilty of the. same vice, our admonitions have less influence in reprehend ing and correcting it in others. With regard to others, who defend their conduct by saying, that they were often sufferers through speaking the truth, these the pastor will meet by urging that such an excuse is an accusation, not a defence ; whereas it is the duty of a Christian to suffer any loss rather than utter a falsehood.

Question 23. A Lie is to ~be admitted neither for the Sake of Joking or A dvantage.

Two other classes of persons remain, who seek to justify themselves for falsehood ; the one, who say that they tell lies for joke sake ; the other, who plead motives of interest for the same conduct, because, forsooth, without having recourse to a lie, they can neither buy nor sell to advantage. It is the duty of the pastor to turn both away from their error ; the first, by urging the inveteracy of the vicious habit, which the practice of lying begets, and by inculcating that we shall have to render an account for every idle word;1 the second class, in whose excuse their own weightier accusation is involved, he will reprove with yet greater severity, showing as they do that they yield no credit or authority to these words of God : Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.m

Question 1. The Ninth and Tenth Commandments seem to comprehend the Observance of the Rest, CONCEKNING these two precepts, which were delivered the last, it is first to be known that they afford in some sort a means of observing the rest j for the purport of what they prescribe is, that whosoever desires to observe the other commandments of the law, must be particularly careful not to covet ; for he who covets not, content with that he hath, will not desire to possess what belongs to others; will rejoice in the advantages enjoyed by others ; will give glory to the immortal God ; will render him boundless thanks; will observe the Sabbath, that is to say, will enjoy perpetual repose ; will respect his superiors ', and will, in fine, injure no man in word or deed, or otherwise j for the root of all evil is evil concupiscence, which hurries its victims into every species of iniquity and crime. If these considerations be well weighed, they must serve to induce the pastor to explain what follows with increased diligence, and the faithful to hear his exposition with increased attention.

Question 2. But although we have united these two commandments, because, their subject not being dissimilar, they admit of the same mode of instruction ; yet the pastor, when exhorting and admonishing, will be able to treat of them jointly or separately, as shall seem to him more convenient. If, how ever, he shall have undertaken the exposition of the Decalogue, he will point out in what these two commandments are dis similar, or in what one coveting differs from the other j a difference explained by St. Augustine, in his book of questions on Exodus ;n for of them one looks only to utility and interest ; the other, to unlawful lusts and pleasures. He, therefore, who covets a field or house, pursues profit and utility, rather than pleasure ; whilst he who covets another man's wife, burns with a desire not of profit but of lustfulness.

Question 3. Whether ivhat is comprehended in these Ttvo Last Commandments was sufficiently explained in the Sixth and Seventh.

These two commandments were necessary for two reasons ; first, to explain the import of the sixth and seventh, for, although by the light of natural reason alone we are informed that to prohibit adultery is also to prohibit the desire of another man's wife, because, if it were lawful to desire, to indulge must be so likewise j yet, blinded by sin, many of n Aug. in. Ex. qu. 71.

the Jews could not be induced to believe that [such desires] were prohibited by God. Nay, even after the promulgation, and with a knowledge, of this law, many, who professed themselves interpreters of the law, committed the same error, as may be learnt from, the sermon of our Lord in St. Matthew : Ye have heard that it was said to them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery ; but I say unto you? &c. The second reason for their necessity is, that they distinctly, and in express terms, prohibit things, of which the sixth and seventh commandments do not contain distinct prohibition. The seventh commandment, for instance, for bids an unjust wish or endeavour to take what belongs to another ; but this prohibits to covet on any account, even though it could be obtained consistently with law and justice, that, from our possession of which, we see that injury must accrue to our neighbours.

Question 4. How great is the Benefit conferred upon us by God in adding this to the other Commandments.

But, before we come to the exposition of the precept, the faithful are first to be instructed, that by this law we are instructed not only to restrain our inordinate lusts, but also to know the boundless love of God towards us. For having, by the preceding commandments of the law, fenced us round, as it were, with safeguards, securing us and ours against injury, he wished by the annexation of this commandment, toprovide principally against the injuries we might inflict on ourselves by our appetites, and which would follow as a natural consequence, were we at full liberty to covet and desire things indiscriminately. By the enactment then of this law, which forbids to covet, God has provided that the stings of the passions, by which we are usually excited to every evil, being plucked out in some sort by the force of this law, press us less urgently, and that, freed from that annoying importunity of the passions, we may thus have more time to devote to the performance of -the numerous and important duties of piety and religion, which we owe to God himself.

Question 5. What Difference these Commandments imply between Divine and Human Laivs.

is this the only lesson of instruction derived from this law : it also shows that the nature of the law of God is such as to require to be observed not only by the outward per formance of duties, but also by the inmost sentiments of the mind ; so that between divine and human laws there is this difference, that the latter extend to external things only, whereas the laws of God (for God seeth the heart) require pure and undented chastity and integrity of soul. The law of God, therefore, is a sort of mirror, in which we perceive the corruption of our nature ; and hence these words of the apostle : / had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.? Concupiscence, that is, a propensity 1 to sin, which propensity originated in sin, clings ever inherent in us : from it we recognize that we are born in sin ; and therefore do we fly suppliant for assistance unto him, who alone can efface the defilements of sin.

Question 6. Concupiscence twofold, and which is here forbidden.

In common with the other commandments, each of these also is in part mandatory, and in part prohibitory. With regard to the prohibitory part, let the pastor instruct the faithful what sort of concupiscence is proscribed by this law to be shunned, lest some perchance may think that con cupiscence to be in some sort vicious, which is not vicious \ such as the concupiscence mentioned by the apostle, when he says : The spirit lusteih against the flesh and that which was the object of David's most earnest desires : My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy justifications at all times. It is therefore to be known, that concupiscence is a certain commotion and impulse of the mind, by which men are urged to the desire “of pleasures they have not ; and as the other propensities of the soul are not always evil, so neither is this impulse of concupiscence always to be accounted vicious.

Hence it is not evil to desire meat or drink, or, when cold, to wish to become warm ; when warm, to wish to become cool. This lawful species of concupiscence was implanted in us by nature, and by the design of God ; but, in consequence of the sin of our first parents, passing the limits prescribed by nature, it has become so depraved, that it is often excited to desire those things that conflict with the spirit, and are repugnant to reason.

Question 7. What are the Advantages of the Right and Reasonable Sort of Concupiscence.

However, if well regulated, and kept within proper bounds, this influence is also the source of no inconsiderable advan tages. In the first place, it prompts us to supplicate God by assiduous prayers, and humbly to beg of him those things which are the objects of our most earnest desires ; for prayer is the interpreter of our desires. And did not this lawful concupiscence exist, there would not so often be prayers in the house of God. It also gives a higher value in our estimation to the gifts of God \ for the more vehement the desire with which we are inflamed for anything, the dearer and the more pleasing is it to us when we have obtained it j and the delight itself, which we experience from the desired object, serves to increase the piety with which we return thanks to God. If then it is at any time lawful to covet, we must of necessity acknowledge that every species of con cupiscence is not forbidden.

Question 8. In what seme the Apostle uses the word “ Concupiscence”

St. Paul, it is true, has said that concupiscence is sin ; but his words are to be understood in the same sense as those of Moses, whose testimony he cites ;u a sense conveyed by the apostle himself; for in his epistle to the Galatians, he calls it, the lusts of the flesh : Walk in the spirit, says he, and you shall not fulfil the lust oftheflesh.v

Question 9. What Concupiscence is not here prohibited and is free from the Character of Sin.

That natural and well-regulated concupiscence, therefore, which transgresses not its proper limits, is not prohibited j still less is that spiritual desire of the upright mind, by which we are prompted to wish for those things that war against the flesh, for to this same desire the sacred Scriptures exhort us : Set your affection on my words ;w and : Come unto me all ye that be desirous of me

Question 10. What Sort of Concupiscence is here prohibited.

It is not then the mere force of concupiscence, directed equally, as it may be, to good or evil, that is prohibited by these commandments : it is the indulgence of criminal desire, which is called the concupiscence of 'the flesh, and a propensity to evil, and which, when it sways the assent of the mind, is always to be deemed sinful. That, therefore, which the apostle calls the lust of the flesh, is alone prohibited ; that is to say, those motions of concupiscence that pass the bounds of reason, and exceed the limits prescribed by God.

Question 11. Why Concupiscence is prohibited as a Sin.

This concupiscence is condemned, either because it desires evil, such as adultery, drunkenness, murder, and other such heinous crimes, of which the apostle says: We should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted;' or because, although the objects are not bad in themselves, yet outward circum stances render the desire of them criminal • as, for instance, when their possession is prohibited by God or his Church. For we are not warranted in desiring what it is absolutely unlawful to possess, such as were, in the old law, the gold and silver from which idols were wrought, and which the Lord in Deuteronomy forbade any one to desire.2 Another reason why this vicious concupiscence is condemned is, that it has for its object that which belongs to another; such as a house, servant, field, wife, ox, ass, and many other things ; all of which, as they belong to another, the divine law forbids us to covet. The desire of such things, when consented to, is criminal, and is numbered amongst the most grievous sins.

Question 12. When this Concupiscence is chiefly a Sin.

For then is sin committed, when the mind, following the impulse of evil desires, is pleased with, assents to, or does not resist them, as St. James, setting forth the beginning and progress of sin, shows, when he says : Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed : then, when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin ; and sin, when it is finished, bring eth forth death

Question 13. What is the Purport of the Two Last Precepts.

”When, therefore, the law says : Thou shalt not covet, it means that we are to restrain our desires from the things that belong to others ; for the thirst for what belongs to others is immense, immeasurable, and insatiate, as it is written : He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver? and of him Isaiah says : Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field.c But an explanation of each of the words [of these commandments] will serve to place the enormity and grievousness of this sin in a clearer point of view.

Question 14. Exposition of the word “House” in the Form of this Precept.

The pastor therefore will teach, that by the word house is to be understood not only the habitation in which we dwell, but, as we know from the usage and custom of the inspired writers, the entire property of its owner. Thus, to signify that God had enlarged their means and ameliorated their condition, he is said in Exodus to have made houses for the midwives From this interpretation, therefore, we perceive, that by the law of this precept we are forbidden to indulge a greedy desire of riches, or to envy others their wealth, power, or rank, but [commanded] to be content with our own condition, whatever it be, whether humble or elevated ; and we are also prohibited, for in the word house is included this also, to desire the glory won by others.

Question 15. Next follow the words, nor his ox, nor Ms ass, which show that it is unlawful to desire not only things of great value, such as a house, rank, glory, because they belong to others ; but also small matters, whatever they be, whether animate or inanimate.

Question 16. To what Servants this Precept refers.

The words, nor his man servant, come next, and include captives as well as other slaves, whom it is not less unlawful to covet than the other property of our neighbour. With regard to freemen, who, induced by wages, affection, or respect, serve voluntarily, it is unlawful, either by words, or hopes, or promises, or rewards, to bribe or solicit them, under any pretext whatever, to leave those to whose service they have voluntarily bound themselves • and if, before the period of their engagement to serve has expired, they leave their masters or employers, they are to be admonished, on the authority of this commandment, to return to them by all means.

Question 17. Why mention is also made of “thy Neighbour.”

The mention of the word neighbour, in this commandment, has for its object to mark the wickedness of those men who covet neighbouring lands, houses, or the like, which lie con tiguous • lor neighbourhood, which consists in friendship, is transformed by covetousness from love into hatred.

Question 18. They do not offend against this Law who seel: to purchase the Property of their Neighbours at a Just Price.

But this commandment is by no means transgressed by those who desire to purchase, or have purchased at a fair price, from a neighbour, things which he has for sale ; for instead of doing their neighbour injury, they render him a consider able service, because to him the money will be more con venient and useful than the things which he sells.

Question 19. In what way the Tenth Precept, not to covet owr Neighbour's Wife, is to be understood.

The commandment, forbidding us to covet the goods of another, is followed by another, which forbids to covet our neighbour's wife ; and by this law is prohibited not only that criminal concupiscence, by which the adulterer desires the wife of another, but also the wish to be united to her in marriage ; for when of old a bill of divorce was permitted, it could easily have happened that she, who was repudiated by one husband, might be married to another. But this our Lord forbade, lest husbands might be solicited to abandon their wives, or wives to conduct themselves with such peevish ness and moroseness towards their husbands, as thereby to impose on them a sort of necessity of repudiating them. But now, [under the gospel dispensation], this sin is more grievous, because the wife, although repudiated by her husband, can not marry another during his lifetime. To him, therefore, who desires another man's wife, the transition from one lust to another is easy ; for he will desire either the death of the husband or the commission of adultery. The same principle holds good with regard to women, who have been betrothed to another : for, to desire them in marriage is also unlawful ; and whoever strive to dissolve the contract, by which they are affianced, violate the most sacred engagement of plighted faith. And as to covet the wife of another is highly criminal ; so is it also criminal, to desire in marriage her who is con secrated to religion and to the service of God.f

Question 20. He does not offend against this Law who seeks in Marriage a Woman whom he supposes to have lost her Hiisband.

But should any one desire in wedlock a woman who is already married, but whom he supposes to be unmarried, not being disposed, had he known that she was already married, to indulge such a desire, he certainly does not appear to violate this commandment. Pharaohs and Abimelech, as the Scripture informs us, were betrayed into this error ; they wished to take Sarah to wife, supposing her to be unmarried, and the sister, not the wife, of Abraham.

Question 21. What further Commands are contained in this Precept.

But to make known the remedies calculated to remove this vice of covetousness, the pastor will explain the other part of the commandment ; which consists in this, that, if riches increase, we set not our hearts upon them;1 that we be prepared to sacrifice them to a love of piety and religion ; that we contribute cheerfully towards the relief of the poor ; and that, if poverty be our own lot, we bear it with equanimity and joy. And, indeed, if we show liberality in giving our goods to the poor, it will be an effectual means of extinguishing the desire of what belongs to another. But, on the praises of poverty and the contempt of riches, the pastor will find little difficulty in collecting abundant matter, for the instruction of the faithful, from the sacred Scriptures, and the works of the Fathers.J To desire with ardour, and with all earnestness, the consummation, not of our own desires, but of the will of God, as it is expressed in the J The following passages are given:- – Job xxvii. 19; Ps. xxxiii. 11, xlviii. 17, sq. ; Prov. xi. 28 ; Eccl. v. 9 ; Eccli. xi. 10, sq. ; Jer. ix. 23 ; Matt. vi. 19, xi. 5, ix. 23, sq. ; Marc. iv. 19, x. 23, sqq. ; Luc. vi. 20, sqq. vii. 22, xviii. 24, sq. ; 1 Tim. vi. 9, xvii. ; James i. 10, sq. ii. 5 ; Basil. M. regul. fus. tract, interrog. 6 et 8 ; Greg. Naz. ser. 14 ; Ambr. hexsem. vi. 8, n. 51, sq. ; comm. in Luc. (x. 4) lib. vii. n. 55 ; Hieron. ep. 14, ep. 66, ep. 120, qu. 1, ep. 130 ; Chrys. in Matt. horn. 4, n. 11, sq. horn. 90, n. 3, sq. ; Aug. ep. 157, c. 4 ; Cassian. Collat. 24, c. 26 ; Leon. M. ser. 9, 5, c. 2, sq. ; Greg. M. in Ez. 1. 2, ser. 9, n. 2 et 12.

Lord's Prayer, is also commanded by this law. Now the will of God chiefly tends to this, that we be made pre eminently holy ; that we preserve our souls pure and un stained ; that we practise ourselves in those duties of mind and spirit that are opposed to our bodily senses ; that having subdued our sensual appetites, we pursue, under the guidance of reason and the spirit, an upright course of life ; and that, moreover, we use all our endeavours to repress the force of those sensual appetites that minister to our lusts and passions.

Question 22. Wit at are the Meditations best suited to enable Christians to restrain the Force of Concupiscence.

But to extinguish this ardour of lusts, it will also be found very efficacious to place before our eyes the disadvantages that arise from their indulgence. Amongst those incon veniences the first is, that, whilst we obey evil desires, sin reigns in us uncontrolled ; and hence the admonition of the apostle : Let not sin, therefore, reign in your 'mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof ; for as, by resist ing the passions, we overthrow the power of sin ; so by suc cumbing to them, we expel God from his throne, and introduce sin in his place. Another evil is, that, as St. James teaches, from concupiscence, as from a fountain, flow all sins. St. John also says: All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride oflife.m A third disadvantage is, that by such desires the understanding is darkened ; for, blinded by passion, men deem all the objects of their criminal desires, whatever they be, lawful and even laudable. Moreover, by concupiscence the seed of the divine word, sown in our souls by God, that great husbandman, is stifled : Some, says St. Mark, are sown among thorns : these are they who hear the word ; and the cares of this •world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things, entering in, choke the word, and it becometh un fruitful. n

Question 23. Who are most enslaved by Cupidity.

But they who, more than others, labour under this vice of concupiscence, and whom, therefore, the pastor should exhort with greater assiduity to the observance of this precept, are those who are addicted to improper diversions, or who indulge immoderately in play, and also merchants who wish for dearth and dearness, and who, that they themselves may be able to sell at too high, or purchase at too low, a price, can not bear that others buy or sell. In this respect they too offend, who, with a view to gain by buying or selling, wish to see others want. Soldiers also, who long for war in order to be enabled to plunder; physicians too, who wish for disease ; lawyers, who are anxious for a number of causes and suits ; and artisans who, greedy of gain, and with a view to increase immoderately their own profits, wish for a scarcity of all necessaries for food and raiment, offend against this commandment. They too, who, envious of the praise and glory of others, strive also to tarnish, in some degree, their fame, sin grievously against this commandment ; especially if they themselves are idle and worthless characters ; for fame and glory are the reward of worth and industry, not of indolence and inexertion.