SOME years ago it was reported that an American sailor had fitted
up for himself a small boat with a covered deck, in which he
attempted to cross the Atlantic alone; and it was also said that he
accomplished his task, and brought his boat safely to our shores.
Something like this sailor's "heart of oak, cased in triple brass,"
seems to me her courage who set her frail bark to traverse the
ocean of St. Augustine, and to give in the compa s of a small
volume a notion of the beauty, the vastness, the proportion, and
the grandeur of mind in one who is said to have acted upon a larger
number of men than anyone since the time of St. Paul. I would fain
hope that she also has brought her bark safe to shore, and that
such as think it worth their while to read the words herein
selected of that great Saint and Genius no less great, will be able
to form some notion of the personal character, the doctrine, the
faith, the hope, and the charity of the man who ranks among the
Fathers of the Church as St. Paul among the Apostles. Works of St.
Augustine, translated at Edinburgh, make fifteen octavo volumes;
the Oxford translation of the Fathers makes several more. Both
together are far from containing all that has been preserved to us.
It is requisite to say that neither of these series has been used
or even referred to by the Translator. Both the choice of passages
and the translation itself are her own. My task has been only to
review the whole when completed. The edition of St. Augustine used
is that of the Benedictines, Paris, 1679. Let us consider one of
Saint Augustine's leaves: "WHAT will that happiness be where there
will be no evil, where no good thing will be wanting, where we
shall be engaged in the praises of God, Who will be all things to
all? For I know 110t what other occupation will be ours in that
place where weariness will be no more, nor any laborious necessity.
The psalm also gives me a lesson on the subject in the words,
Blessed are they, 0 Lord, who dwell in Thy house, they shalt praise
Thee for ever and ever. The incorruptible body in its outward
figure and inward structure, which body we now see divided into
various members according to our needs, will then make progress in
the praises of God, because those needs will be no more, but
happiness, full, certain, secure, and everlasting will be ours.
Every detail now hidden, connected with physical harmony as it
exists inwardly and outwardly throughout the bodily structure, of
which details I have already spoken, will not then be hidden, but
together with the other great and wonderful things there will
enkindle in rational minds the praise of so mighty a Creator at the
sight of the intellectual beauty thus displayed. I dare not venture
an opinion as to how those bodies are to move about, because I am
not able to form one. Their movements and their rest will be in
keeping with their appearance itself, for in that place no want of
harmony will exist. The body will be at hand to carry out the
wishes of the spirit, nor will the spirit take delight in anything
which is not becoming to both spirit and body. It will be the reign
of true glory, where no man will be subject to be falsely praised
or flattered, and of true honour, which will be denied to no one
deserving of it, nor offered to any undeserving of it, nor will any
undeserving man covet it there, where only the perfect find a
place. It will be the reign of true peace, because no man will
suffer contradiction either from himself or from others. The reward
of virtue will be the very Giver of virtue Himself, for He, than
Whom nothing better or greater can exist, promised Himself as its
reward. What else do the words signify which He spoke through His
prophet, I will be their God, and they shall be My people, unless
it be, "I will satisfy their cravings, I will be all those things
which men may honestly desire, life and health and food and plenty,
glory, honour, peace, and all good things? "
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