to excess out of those crystal goblets, and thereby injured his health; so he made a vow never more to drink wine during his life, and lest the sight of the beautiful goblets should tempt him to break his resolution, he had them all broken. Who would have thought that? And must we not now acknowledge that the emperor, whom we accused as having acted foolishly, was in reality very wise and prudent in what he did?
Confirmed by another. Anaxagoras came, one hot summer’s day, to the public games, where many people were assembled, with a heavy glazed hat on his head, thick boots, and a warm tunic, over which he wore a heavy mantle, while other people could hardly bear the thinnest garments on account of the great heat. All who saw him laughed at him as a fool, because he took such precautions against the cold in such warm weather. No doubt if we had been present we should have laughed at him also. But the laughter did not last long. In a short time a heavy shower of rain fell from the clouds and inundated the place in which the games were held, so that the people had almost to swim for their lives. Then they saw the wisdom of what they had looked on as folly; for Anaxagoras alone, who had foreseen the storm by his knowledge of the stars, remained dry, and warm, and uninjured. Countless things of the kind are done by men from very good and praiseworthy motives which are condemned as foolish, inconsistent, and superstitious by those who do not understand the reason of them. And therefore it is a Christian maxim that we should look on our neighbor as upright and honest until we find him out to be a rogue. Mark this well, as often as you hear calumnious or detracting talk about others.
It would be the same with the works and decrees of God, if we understood them. Shown by an example.
How much more, then, should we not form that good opinion of the God of infinite wisdom and justice, who cannot err in His judgments and decrees, although we may not understand them? Father Nierenberg tells us of a hermit who used daily to beg of God in fervent prayer to reveal to him some of the secrets of His Providence. An angel appeared to him in the guise of a hermit, and said to him: “Come with me and we shall visit some of our brethren who live in this desert.” First they came to a very holy man, by whom they were greeted in a most friendly manner and hospitably entertained. When leaving the place the angel stealthily took up a jar in which the hermit used to carry water, and took it away with him. The pious man, soon after they were gone, sought for the jar, and not finding it, suspected