Above all, similes drawn from actual things make a still greater impression.
Thus, steam-engines and railroads are a common topic of conversation nowadays, and form a rich source from whence to derive matter for stirring similes and for profitable instruction. For example, you wish to point out the necessity of mastering the passions, and of restraining them by the laws of God. The heart of man may be likened to a steam-engine of terrific power, which we should mistrust, and which requires to be under the most vigorous control.
Look at the locomotive confined within its iron furrows. It is a wonderful thing; it approximates distances, develops commerce, and contributes to the welfare of man. There is much in it to call forth gratitude to a beneficent Providence. But look at it when thrown off the line. O God! what do I hear and see? I hear the most piercing and heart rending screams; I see blood flowing, limbs broken, heads crushed; and I turn from the spectacle, and almost curse the inventor. … In like manner, the heart of man, when restrained by the law of God, is worthy of all admiration; it begets the noblest and sublimest virtues, and scatters the blessings of a good example all around. It brings joy and gladness to the domestic hearth, rendering all those happy who love it; and on seeing such results I am proud of being a man. But once beyond the bounds of that law—thrown off the rails, as it were—O God! what do I hear and see? I hear bitter lamentations, the harrowing cries of mothers, wives, and children. I see vice, and crime, and shame mantling on the brow of those who indulge therein; and at the sight of so much misery and degradation I am tempted to utter imprecations, and almost blush that I am a man.
Finally, another way of simplifying truth is by narrative, of which the people are very fond. They cast every thing, even spiritual things, into tales, legends, and facts, which they take pleasure in learning to recite. We should imitate them, by putting a moral or dogmatic truth into action, connecting it with a fact, and then narrate it; in short, give it the form of a little drama. When skilfully employed, this method has a powerful effect upon the people, and even upon educated men. The Paroles d'un Croyant owed a part of the notoriety which it acquired to this feature. The people must have facts, and often nothing but facts. In like manner the Gospel narrates, but seldom argues. The Holy Scriptures are full of truths rendered palpable, as it were, by scenic representation.
Thus the prophet Isaiah exposes the folly of idolatry in these words:—
"Who hath formed a god or a graven image that is profitable for nothing? … He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak from among the trees of the forest; he planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it. … He burneth part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eateth flesh; he eateth roast and is satisfied; yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha! I am warm, I have seen the fire. And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image; he falleth down to it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me, for thou art my god. They have not known nor understood, for he hath shut their eyes that they can not see, and their hearts that they cannot understand. And none considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh and eaten it; and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? Shall I fall down to the stock of a tree? He feedeth on ashes; a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?"
Père Lejeune, apart from certain quaint and obsolete modes of expression, has some charming things of this sort, which must have produced a marvellous effect. He is attempting to point out the heinousness of sin, and to describe the punishment of Adam and Eve:—
"Picture to yourselves, then, the unfortunate pair, staff in hand, going forth from the earthly paradise, carrying nothing with them but two skins, given them out of compassion by the Judge, to cover their nakedness. They found themselves in the fields as if they had fallen from the clouds, exposed to the inclemency of the weather, to wild beasts, and to their own natural infirmities, without shelter, bed, linen, bread, covering for their hands or feet; without thread or needle, knife or hammer, destitute of any implements beyond their own feeble arms. They collect stones as best they may, and cement them together with mud to form a low room, and cover it with branches of trees, which they are obliged to break off with their hands; for they had neither saw nor hatchet. They gather leaves for their couch, and fruits and wheat for their subsistence; but if they wanted any in years to come, they must till the ground, or rather they must dig it up with sticks, having no other kind of spade. Think, then, of the woman, and of the straits to which she must have been put on being seized with the pangs of labor, which she had never before experienced, and on being confined with her first child. When she saw her firstborn ushered into the world in its natural state, moaning and trembling with the cold, and found herself utterly destitute of linen, cradle, cap, bandages, and all the other requisites for a new-born babe,—when she was called to bear all this, how poignantly she must have recognized the enormity of her offence!