Yesterday Monsignor preached at Saint-Euverte; I wished very much to go, but the wish was not reasonable. I must wait until Saturday for my ecstasy. Heard a strange bishop this evening. “I will give thee every good thing.” “The eye of man hath not seen, nor his ear heard, nor his heart conceived what God hath prepared for them that love him.” The preacher employed a profusion of words, thoughts, and images which interfered with his principal idea; and it was only with the greatest difficulty that one could keep hold of it under this overflow, this torrent, this avalanche of expressions, which, although rich and well chosen, were far too superabundant. Monsignor was there. How well he would have treated this fruitful subject! With what genius would he have depicted the immense suffering of man, who, being made for heaven, finds happiness nowhere upon earth, is never satisfied, whilst everything around him is at rest. “Without being Newton, every man is his brother, and, in proceeding along the paths of science, he can repeat that we are crushed beneath the weight of the things of which we are ignorant.” Lamartine describes this when he says: “Mon âme est un rayon de lumière et d’amour, Qui du flambeau divin détaché pour un jour, De désirs dévorants loin de Dieu consumée Brûle de remonter à sa source enflammée!”[80] Dear, sweet Kate, all the lovable little singing party salutes you. God be with you! MARCH 11, 1868. Dear Kate, again there are separations and adieux! George and Amaury are entering La Trappe!――an unmistakable vocation, I assure you. Adrien and Gertrude are so far above nature since they have seen Pius IX. and suffered for him, that they gave their consent at once. _Grandmother_ clasps her hands and utters the _fiat_ of Job. Brothers and sisters wonder and admire. Happy family! All three chosen, all three marked with the seal of God! I should regret them, if I were their mother――so young, so handsome, rich in every gift of heart and understanding. O life of mothers!――Calvary and Thabor! I knew nothing of it; they feared I should feel it too much. We all went to Communion this morning, and this evening they leave us. What! have I not yet spoken to you about Benoni, who says my name so prettily, and who is growing superb? It is an unpardonable forgetfulness on my part. It was a pleasure to see this baby again, and his parents also, so sincere in their gratitude for the little that a kind Providence has allowed me to do for them!