Another source of serious anxiety for me, was then coming from the large sums of money constantly flowing from the hands of my too kind and grateful reformed countrymen into mine.
It was very seldom that the public expression of gratitude presented me in their rhetorical addresses were not accompanied by a gift of from $50 to $500, according to the means and importance of the place. Those sums multiplied by the 365 days of the year would have soon made of me one of the richest men of Canada.
Had I been able to trust to my own strength against the hungers of riches, I should have been able, easily, to accumulate a sum of at least $70,000, with which I might have done a great amount of good.
But I confess, that when in the presence of God, I went to the bottom of my heart, to see if it were strong enough to carry such a glittering weight, I found it, by far, too weak. I knew so many who, though evidently stronger than I was, had fallen on the way and perished under too heavy burden of their treasures, that I feared for myself at the sight of such unexpected and immense fortune. Besides, when only 18 years old, my venerable and dear benefactor, the Rev. Mr. Leprohon, director of the College of Nicolet, had told me a thing I never had forgotten: “Chiniquy,” he said, “I am sure you will be what we call a successful man in the world. You will easily make your way among your contemporaries; and, consequently, it is probable that you will have many opportunities of becoming rich. But when the silver and gold flow into your hands, do not pile and keep it. For, if you set your affections on it, you will be miserable in this world and damned in the next. You must not do like the fattened hogs, which give their grease only after their death. Give it while you are living. Then you will not be blessed only by God and man, but you will be blessed by your own conscience. You will live in peace and die in joy.”
These solemn warnings from one of the wisest and best friends God had ever given me when young, has never gone out of my mind. I found them corroborated in every page of that Bible which I loved so much and studied every day. I found them also written, by God, on my heart. I then, on my knees, took the resolution, without making an absolute vow of it, to keep only what I wanted for my daily support and give the rest to the poor, or some Christian or patriotic object. I kept my promise. The £500 given me by parliament did not remain three weeks in my hands. I never put a cent in Canada in the vaults of any bank; and when I left for Illinois, in the fall of 1851, instead of taking with me $70,000, as it would have been very easy, had I been so minded, I had hardly $1,500 in hand, the price of a part of my library, which was too heavy to be carried so far away.
Chapter XLV.
MY SERMON ON THE VIRGIN MARY—COMPLIMENTS OF BISHOP PRINCE—STORMY NIGHT—MY FIRST SERIOUS DOUBTS ABOUT THE CHURCH OF ROME—PAINFUL DISCUSSION WITH THE BISHOP—THE HOLY FATHERS OPPOSED TO THE MODERN WORSHIP OF THE VIRGIN—THE BRANCHES OF THE VINE.
The 15th of August, 1850, I preached in the Cathedral of Montreal, on the blessed Virgin Mary’s power in heaven, when interceding for sinners. I was sincerely devoted to the Virgin Mary. Nothing seemed to me more natural than to pray to her, and rely on her protection. The object of my sermon was to show that Jesus Christ cannot refuse any of the petitions presented to him by his mother; that she has always obtained the favors she asked her Son, Jesus, to grant to her devotees. Of course, my address was more sentimental than scriptural, as it is the style among the priests of Rome. But I was honest; and I sincerely believed what I said.
“Who among you, my dear brethren,” I said to the people, “will refuse any of the reasonable requests of a beloved mother? Who will break and sadden her loving heart when, with supplicating voice and tears, she presents to you a petition which it is in your power, nay, to your interests, to grant? For my own part, were my beloved mother still living, I would prefer to have my right hand crushed and burned into cinders, to have my tongue cut, than to say, No! to my mother, asking me any favor which it was in my power to bestow.
“These are the sentiments which the God of Sinai wanted to engrave in the very hearts of humanity, when giving his laws to Moses, in the midst of lightning and thunders, and these are the sentiments which the God of the Gospel wanted to impress on our souls by the shedding of his blood on Calvary. These sentiments of filial respect and obedience to our mothers, Christ Jesus, the Son of God and Son of Mary, practiced to perfection. Although God and man, he was still in perfect submission to the will of his mother, of which he makes a law to each of us.