etly this
lethargic art. If this be not clear enough, I will, in a moment, make
it clearer than some people would desire.

Secondly. "Are the examples you have shown from the books and letters
of the great men of the famous age sufficiently conclusive for our own
time? Might not those profound and subtle men of genius, who dived so
deeply into the science of directing souls, have entered into
refinements, of which the common herd of confessors and directors
cannot now conceive any idea? Can you fear anything of the sort from
the poor simple priests whom we have now? Pray where are our St.
Francois de Sales, our Bossuets, and our Fenelons? Do you not see that
not only the clergy no longer possess such men, but that they have
degenerated generally, and as a class. The great majority of the
priests are of rustic families. The peasant, even when he is not poor,
finds it convenient to lighten the expenses of his family, by placing
his son in the seminary. To nursery education, that which we receive
from our parents before any other, they are total strangers. The
seminary by no means repairs this inconvenience of origin and former
condition. If we judge by those who come from the hands of the
Sulpicians, Lazarists, &c., we shall be inclined to believe that there
has been a deep plan laid among the upper leaders, to form none but
indifferent priests, who would be so much the more dependent, and blind
to the influence exercised over them contrary to their real interests.
What then do you fear? Is not this intellectual degradation of the
clergy sufficiently comforting? How could such men follow, in the
confession and direction, the learned tactics of the priests of former
ages? The dangers you point out are imaginary."

To this it is easy to answer:--

Mental distinction and good education are not so necessary, as is
generally thought, for enslaving souls that are willing to be ruled.
Authority, character, position, and costume fortify the _Priest_, and
make good in him what was wanting in the _Man_. He gains his
ascendency less by his skill than by time and perseverance. If his
mind is but little cultivated, it is also less taken up with a variety
of new ideas, which incessantly come crowding upon us moderns, amusing
and fatiguing us. With fewer ideas, views, and projects, but with an
interest, an aim, and ever the same end invariably kept in view--this
is the way to succeed.

Must we take it for granted,