“There is no other occasion of perplexity and disquiet but an unsubdued will and unmortified affections.” “Self-denial is the test of spiritual perfection, and he that truly denies himself is arrived at a state of great freedom and safety. It is no small advantage to suppress desire, even in inconsiderable gratifications. Restless and inordinate desires are the ground of every temptation.” “Abandon all, and thou shalt possess all; relinquish desire, and thou shalt find rest.” “No evil is permitted to befall thee but what may be made productive of a much greater good. Receive all with thankfulness, as from the hand of God, and esteem it great gain.” “For all that befalleth me I will thank the Love that prompts the gift, and reverence the Hand that confers it.” “O Lord God, holy Father, be Thou blessed now and forever! For whatever Thou willest is done, and all that Thou willest is good.” “The righteous should never be moved by whatever befalls him, knowing that it comes from the hands of God, and is to promote the important business of our redemption. Without God, nothing is done upon the face of the earth.” “Perfection consists in offering up thyself, with thy whole heart, to the will of God; never seeking thine own will either in small or great respects; but with an equal mind weighing all events in the balance of the sanctuary, and receiving both prosperity and adversity with equal thanksgiving.” “All is vanity but the love of God and a life devoted to His will.” Passing over St. Theresa and St. John of the Cross[6]—particulars about whom may be found in Vaughan—and denying ourselves, through limitations of space, all quotations from Rodriguez and Scupoli,[7] who flourished in the sixteenth century, and wrote divinely about Divine things, leaving the world heroic examples of holiness,—we come to St. Francis of Sales and Molinos, both of whom had close connection with Fénelon, although in different ways. Francis—born in 1567 and departing to glory in 1622, who has been called “the noblest, tenderest and most devoted Mystic of the Catholic Church after the Reformation”—more than any other, was Fénelon’s teacher in matters pertaining to the inner life, even as Scupoli had been the teacher of Francis. Fénelon never wearies of recommending to the correspondents whom he is instructing in spiritual things the perusal of the works of this delightful and inspiring writer. He says to one: “You can read nothing better than St. Francis of Sales. Everything he writes is full of comfort and love; although his whole tone is that of self-mortification, it is all deep experience, simple precautions, high feeling, and the light of grace. You will have made a great step when you are familiar with such mental food.” Upon another he urges “a half hour spent in meditative reading of the Gospels in the morning, and an evening portion of St. Francis de Sales.” To the Elector of Cologne, when about to receive episcopal