many were the miracles wrought by his intercession, that
Swiecicki, a canon of Vilna, wrought a whole volume of them from good
memoirs, in 1604. He was canonized by pope Leo X., whose legate in
Poland, Zachary Ferrier, wrote the saint's life. His body and all the
rich stuffs it was wrapped in, were found quite entire, and exhaling a
sweet smell one hundred and twenty years after his death,
notwithstanding the excessive moisture of the vault. It is honored in a
large rich chapel of marble, built on purpose in that church. St.
Casimir is the patron of Poland, and several other places, and is
proposed to youth as a particular pattern of purity. His original
picture is to be seen in his chapel in St. Germain des Prez in Paris,
built by John Casimir, king of Poland, the last of the family of Waza,
who, renouncing his crown, retired to Paris, and died abbot of St.
Germain's, in 1668.

* * * * *

What is there on earth which can engage the affections of a Christian,
or be the object of his ambition, in whose soul God desires to establish
his kingdom? Whoever has conceived a just idea of this immense happiness
and dignity, must look upon all the glittering bubbles of this world as
empty and vain, and consider every thing in this life barely as it can
advance or hinder the great object of all his desires. Few arrive at
this happy and glorious state, because scarce any one seeks it with his
whole heart, and has the courage sincerely to renounce all things and
die to himself: and this precious jewel cannot be purchased upon any
other terms. The kingdom {508} of God can only be planted in a soul upon
the ruins of self-love: so long as this reigns, it raises insuperable
obstacles to the perfect establishment of the empire of divine love. The
amiable Jesus lives in all souls which he animates by his sanctifying
grace, and the Holy Ghost dwells in all such. But in most of these how
many worldly maxims and inclinations diametrically opposite to those of
our most holy heavenly king, hold their full sway! how many secret
disorders and irregular attachments are cherished! how much is found of
self-love, with which sometimes their spiritual exercises themselves are
infected! The sovereign king of men and their merciful Redeemer is
properly said to reign only in those souls which study effectually, and
without reserve, to destroy in their affections whatever is opposite to
his divine will, to subdue all their