Letter 39. To a Gentleman, Going to the Court

Sir, Dec, 8, i6ia

So at last your sails are spread, and you are about to enter the high seas of the world and the Court May God vouchsafe to guide and keep you in His Holy Hand!

I am not so timid as some people, nor do I hold this manner of life to be the most dangerous for well-trained souls who are bold and brave. There are but two great perils to dread; — ^vanity, which is the ruin of sensual, indolent, self-indulgent, effeminate characters; and ambition, which destroys presumptuous, audacious minds.

Vanity implies a lack of courage: the vain man has

S. FRAI^CIS DE SALES.

not strength to seek after real, well-earned approbation, and so he is satisfied with what is unreal and hollow; whereas ambition is courage carried to excess, which goes headlong in pursuit of glory and honour, regardless of all reason and rule.

So vanity leads a man into the fnvolities which are acceptable to foolish women and other weak persons, but which are despicable in the eyes of nobler spirits; and ambition makes him grasp at honours which he has not earned — ^it makes him put too high a price upon himself, and upon the merits of his forefathers, on which he strives to build his fabric.

Now, dear sir, as you wish for my advice, I would say, strengthen your mind against all this, by spiritual and sacred food, which will enable you to resist both vanity and ambition.

Be stedfast in firequent communion; believe me, nothing will so tend to confirm you in the right way \ and for the better use thereof, place yourself under the guidance of some good confessor, and ask him to call you to account for any neglect you may ever fall into in this matter. Let your confessions be humble, and made with a real and express purpose of amendment.

I intreat you never to omit asking upon your knees for the Help of our Lord before you go forth in the morning, and in like manner ask forgiveness of all your faults before going to bed at night

Especially avoid bad books; — ^let nothing induce you to be led away by the writings which captivate certain weak minds by their vain subtleties; such works I mean as those of Rabelais and others, who affect to throw doubt and contempt on ever3rthing, and scoff at all our venerable doctrines and precepts. Keep books of a solid character, especially Christian and spiritual works, at hand, and refresh yourself with them from time to time.

I would have you cultivate a gentle, sincere courtesy, which offends no one, but wins everybody; — ^being more ready to seek love than honour; — never jesting at the expense of another, never sarcastic, never affironting or being affronted.

Take care not to get involved in flirtations, and do not allow your affections to carry you away against judgment and reason. Once let feeling get the lead, and it is apt to make a sorry slave of the judgment, and leads to results you are sure to repent of.

In manner, appearance, conversation, and all such things, I would have you make an open profession that you purpose to live virtuously, wisely, and sted-fastly, as a Christian should. Virtuously, so that no one may attempt to lead you into any debauchery; — wisely, without any exaggerated outward demonstrations; steadily, because unless you show that you have a stedfast will and even mind, evil men will seek to tempt and delude you; and as a Christian should, because some men profess a philosophic virtue, which is but a mere phantom at best We who know that we can have no possible goodness save through the grace of our Lord, are bound to live by the rules of piety and religion, or else all our virtue will prove a shadow and an empty imagination.

It is most important that you should let it be known from the first what you mean to be; there should be no doubt about the matter; and it will help you much if you have some like-minded friends, with whom to exchange covmsel and S)nmpathy. Unquestionably the intercourse of right-minded people tends not a little to keep us straight

I think you will easily find some worthy fiiend among the Jesuits, the Feuillants, or in some other not necessarily monastic quarter, who will be glad if you occasionally seek him to repose yourself, and take breath, so to say, in a spiritual sense.

There is one special point on which you must permit me to touch. I dread, sir, lest you should again take to gaming. It would be an exceeding evil, and in a few days would lead to complete dissipation, withering the bloom of your good desires. It is but an idle pursuit, at best.... not to dwell upon the angry passions, the dishonesty, and despair, from which few gamblers are exempted. 1 would wish for you a vigorous heart, and a disposition to avoid bodily ease, whether in food, sleep, or anything else. A really noble mind despises mere luxury and self-indulgence. But I touch upon this point because our Lord says, “ They that wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses; ” not as meaning that all dwelling there must be luxurious, but that many found in such quarters are so disposed. Of course I am not alluding to the exterior, but to the interior life. In short, I would have you keep the body in hand, and make it sometimes forego pleasant things, and endure hardness and abstinence, so that the higher nature may assert and maintain its superiority over that which is lower.

Imagine for a while that you are a courtier of Saint Louis (your little King may be considered holy in his innocence *), he liked those about him to be brave, courageous, generous, cheerful, courteous, open-hearted, but, above all, he would have them to be good Christians. If you had been about S. Louis, you would have seen him laugh merrily, speak boldly, maintain a brave outward show of royal dignity, like King Solomon, and the next moment he would be ministering to the sick and poor in hospital In short, he combined civil and religious virtue, majesty and humility. And this is what you must aim at; to be no whit less brave because you are a Christian, no whit less a Christian * Louis XIII., then not nine years old.

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A FRANCIS DE SALES, because you are brave. But this implies being a very earnest Christian, that is, devout, pious, spiritually minded; as S. Paul says, “ He that is spiritual judgeth all things,” * t,e, he knows the right time and place for a due practice of every virtue!

Often call to mind the thought that in this world we hang between Heaven and hell, and that our last step will land us in one or the other. Remember, too, that we do not know when we shall make that last step, and that he who would make it well must needs strive to make every step in the fear of God.

O blessed, endless Eternity! and blessed are they that rightly ponder it 1 All that we do here for a brief uncertain time is but as child’s play. It were less than worthless, save that it is the passage to Eternity. But for that reason we must give good heed to our time and its use here, in order through aright use thereof to win our lasting good.

Think of me, I pray you, as wholly yours, as in truth I am in our Lord, wishing you all happiness in this world, but still more in the next May God bless you, and have you in His Holy keeping.

To end as I began — ^you are taking to the high seas of life, but do not change your captain, your sails, your anchor, or your breeze. Ever keep Jesus for your Captain, His Cross for your mast, whereon to spread

• L Cor. ii. 15.

the sails of good resolutions; let your anchor be a deep unfailing trust in Him, and then — ^go gaily on. May the propitious breeze of heavenly grace fill your sails more and more, and carry you safely and happily into the haven of a blessed Eternity. Such is the very hearty wish of, dear sir, yours, &a