3. The world has nothing worthy of an immortal soul; it has not even wherewith to requite its most devoted servants. Its treasures, its amusements, its honors, may indeed occupy and disturb the heart of man, but they can never satisfy it. They are, in reality, but false goods, vain shadows, and illusions; or, to speak more properly, they are real evils. They make a man wicked; they can never make him happy. The most brilliant fortune is not only frail and dangerous, but is often a source of the most painful uneasiness. There are sighs and sufferings upon the throne, as well as in chains and dungeons. Beg of God to destroy in you the spirit of the world, and give you strength to despise its allurements. "The figure of the world passeth away."--1 _Corinthians_ vii. "Wo to those who adhere to what is transitory; because with those things they themselves must pass away." _St. Augustine._ _Fourth Day_.--Upon Death. 1. A Christian who does not lead the life of a Christian, has great reason to be afraid of death. What a dreadful account must he give after a worldly and sensual life! what bitter regret to have lost the opportunities of saving himself! to die an enemy of God! O dismal death! O dreadful moment, which concludes the pleasures of time, to begin the pains of eternity. 2. What would we, at the hour of death, wish that we had done? Let us do at present what we would then be glad we had done. There is no time to lose: every moment may be the last of our life. The longer we have lived, the nearer we approach to the grave. Our death is not less distant, the more it has been put off. {177} 3. What will our notion of this earth he, when we are forced to quit it? Let us now take advice from death; it is a faithful counsellor; it will not deceive us. What will become of this beauty, this money, this pleasure, this honour? What will be our thoughts of them at the hour of death? In our life-time appearances often deceive us; but at our death we shall see things as they really are. Man, whilst alive, esteems the world; man when dying despises it. But which should we reasonably believe--man living, or man at the point of death? Ah! how trifling will the world appear at the light of that torch which faintly glimmers near the bed of death! But alas! it will then be no longer time to undeceive ourselves. Think seriously on what you chiefly apprehend were you this moment to die, and regulate it immediately. Accustom yourself from this moment, to perform every action, as if you were to die instantly after it. Above all things, observe this practice in the use of the sacraments. "Death and I are divided but a single step." 1 _Kings_, xx. "There is no to-morrow for a Christian." _Tertullian._ _Fifth Day_.--On the Last Judgment.