We should take advantage of every opportunity to benefit the souls of men; to enlighten, to reclaim, to reconcile them. A confirmation, for example, associated as it is with so many sweet and sad reminiscences, offers a most eligible occasion for such efforts. But beware of all vulgar vituperation of unbelievers, or of the parents. They are on the look-out for such tirades, and have already hardened their hearts and their faces against them. Rather aim at their hearts, where they least expect an attack, and where they are not prepared to resist you. {305} After stating that God will require a strict account of parents for the manner in which their children have been brought up, turn at once to the parents and say:-- "Do not be alarmed, for I am not going to reproach you. I would not disturb your present happiness. I would not detract one iota from your gratification. Enjoy it thoroughly, for you have a right to it; it is but a slender recompense for all your pains. Look at your children, they are happy, and they owe their happiness to religion. No, I cannot bring myself to utter any thing which might trouble you on this occasion; for it must have cost you pain enough already to see your children go alone to the holy table, absolutely like orphans, while you yourselves stand apart, and are driven to say:--'Yes, my child is worthy to be there, but I am not. ... I say, such a reflection as this must have caused you intense sorrow. "Nevertheless, you are not so much estranged from religion as you may think: God is not far from you. One always loves his child's friend, and your child's best friend is God. ... Can you repel religion, can you repulse God himself, whom we are about to send to you this evening in the angelic form of a dearly loved child? Draw near then to the Gospel ... carry away with you, at least, some pious sentiment, some wholesome regret, some incipient desire after that which is good." ... Adopt some such strain as this, and your words will not be in vain. {306} Similar efforts might be made on the termination of the special services for Lent and the great ecclesiastical seasons, and on other extraordinary occasions also. After congratulating those who have profited by the means of grace, be careful to abstain from upbraiding or denouncing those who have abused them. Such a course is low and vulgar, and does much harm. On the contrary, do all you can to encourage and touch the hearts of all. I may suggest the following. Say what a pious and zealous _religieux_ once said to his audience, at the end of a home mission:-- "Brethren, I am going to tell you an anecdote. It is not true, for the details are impossible. It is merely a parable.