discover. The unction of prayer sucked out of your soul, your
relish for the Sacraments gone, a dry rot consuming your
spiritual life, a nausea for supernatural things, a taste every
day becoming more clayey, and an increasing appetite for grosser
excitements. Books that you would tremble to touch a year ago you
now devour without a pang; or perhaps the stray shreds of
infidelity are weaving themselves into your future creed. Do not
mind what you see with the eye of a conscience that is already
half-dead. Search deep into your own heart and life, and you will
quickly discover the damage done.

[Side note: Narrow-minded]

"_We cannot be narrow-minded_." Is it then a something to be
ashamed of, if in matters pertaining to our eternal interests we
are cautious and conservative? Not prone to take dangerous risks?
This is the disposition sometimes called narrow-mindedness.
Surely it is better even to be narrow-minded than pagan-minded.

But let us clear our minds of cant and squarely face the
question. Will the person who calls you narrow-minded for
exercising caution in the selection of your books, exhibit his
own breadth of mind by going into a chemist's shop, shutting his
eyes and gulping down the contents of the first bottle that comes
to his hand? Ha! You see how quickly his broad-mindedness is
replaced by most careful caution. But a library is like a
chemist's shop. The shelves may hold health-giving medicines or
the most deadly poisons. As well call the harbour authorities
narrow-minded because they close the ports against the cholera
ship, as to question the just prudence of the man who shuts his