his cross, is wiser than all arguments, doctrines,
philosophies, whether they be true or false; aye, that it is the
very wisdom of God, by which he convinces and converts all hearts
and souls; and let us look to the cross, and see there the wisdom of
God, and the power of God, mighty to save to the uttermost all who
come through Christ to him.

And let us remember this, that whenever we fancy ourselves to be
strong and powerful, and think to aggrandize ourselves at our
neighbour's expense, and to crush those who are weaker than
ourselves, then we are forgetting the lesson of Good Friday; that
whenever we fancy that the way to be wise is, to use our wit and our
knowledge for our own glory, and by them to manage our fellow-men,
and make them admire us and bow down to us, then we forget the
lesson of Good Friday. For whosoever gives himself up to selfish
ambition, or to selfish cunning, charges Christ upon his cross with
weakness and with foolishness, and denies the Lord who bought him
with his blood.

My friends, I have no more to say. Much more I might say. For Good
Friday has many other meanings, and all the sermons of a lifetime
would not exhaust them all.

But one thing seemed to me fit to be said, and I say it again, and
entreat you to carry it home with you, and live by the light of it
all the year round.

Do you wish to be powerful? Then look at Christ upon his cross; at
what seems to men his weakness; and learn from him how to be strong.
Do you wish to be wise? Then look at Christ upon the cross; and at
what seemed to men his folly; and learn from him how to be wise.
For sooner or later, I hope and trust, you will find that true,
which St. Buonaventura (wise and strong himself) used to say,--That
all the learning in the world had never taught him so much as the
sight of Christ upon the cross.

SERMON XXXV. THE ETERNAL MANHOOD

(First Sunday after Easter.)

John xx. 29. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen
me, thou hast believed; blessed are they that have not seen, and yet
have believed.

The eighth day after the Lord Jesus rose from the dead, he appeared
a second time to his disciples. On this day he strengthened St.
Thomas's weak faith, by giving him proof, sensible proof, that he
was indeed and really the very same person who had been crucified,
wearing the very same human nature, the very same man's body.

'Blessed are they who have not seen, and yet have believed.'