Page:Essays on Catholicism, Liberalism, and Socialism.djvu/140

He was condemned to suffer; and who can recount the extent of his sufferings? He was condemned to toil unto weariness; and who can enumerate his painful labors? He was condemned to gain his bread by the sweat of his brow; and who can count the dolorous drops wrung from his aching brow?

Whatever the condition of man may be, whether placed in the most elevated or in the lowest situation in life, he is never exempt from the consequences entailed upon all by sin. all by sin. The high in rank are exposed to envy, and the lowly may be oppressed. Where is the man whose body has not felt pain? Where is the soul that has not suffered anguish? Who is so high that he fears not to fall? Who believes so firmly in the constancy of fortune that he has no fear of its reverses? All men in birth, through life, and in death, are equal, because all are guilty and all are punished.

If to be born, to live, and to die is not a punishment, why are we not born, why do we not live and die, in the same manner as other beings do? Why are we so afraid to die? Why is life so full of anxiety? Why do we come into the world at our birth in the posture of penitents, with our arms crossed? Why, when we first open our eyes to the light, do we weep, and why is the first sound we utter a groan?

The facts of history confirm the dogmas we have just announced, and all their mysterious agreements. The Saviour of the world, to the edification and profound awe of the few just souls that followed him, and to the scandal of the doctors, blotted out sin in the act of curing the sick; and when he healed the sick, he absolved them from their sins, sometimes suppressing the cause by the suppression of the effect, and again suppressing