He was a notable example of those who gain all by giving up all. Only those who have this character in a marked degree are truly great in their souls, for virtue is both the source and the glory of nobility. No birth however high, no station or office however exalted, no good luck however extraordinary, high honors, great wealth, nor heaps of badges and medals can make up for the lack of it. A mean, covetous, selfish, proud, gluttonous, sensual, envious-minded, overbearing, spiteful, unforgiving, greedy king or emperor neither is nor can be great, no matter how vast his dominions or countless his subjects. {325} On the other hand, we Catholics know of, and recognize often, the most extraordinary nobleness and refinement of soul in many who are among the poorest, most suffering, and often, in book-learning, the most ignorant of our brethren. What is it that gives to many such that singular taste for and perception of what is pure, beautiful, and true, which they unmistakably possess? And, in times of great trial and sacrifice, what is it that often brings them out above and ahead many others of whom we might be led to expect so much more? I'll tell you: it is the greatness of their holiness, the nobility of their virtue. It is that manifestation of what is really great in the sight of God and his angels--their love of truth, their ready self-denial, their big-hearted charity, their loyalty to God and religion, the independence of the world, their free obedience to superiors, their sweet endurance of pain and sorrow, their meek, forgiving spirit. Such as these are the souls of the great, whom the world, the flesh, and the devil attack and may wound, but cannot conquer. If sometimes we are tempted, dear brethren, to envy the apparent good fortune, as it is esteemed, of those whose greatness is not thus founded in virtue, we may be sure that we are weighing something with a very light and empty weight in the other balance, which may be very bulky, sparkling, and showy, like a big, bright, sunshiny soap-bubble, but with nothing inside, and of very short continuance. {326}