on the earth, was alone worthy of being written down in the eternal books, and offers to the eyes of God a sight more worthy of angels and men than all the victories and conquests which here below fill the vanity of histories, to which pompous monuments are erected in order to eternize their remembrance, and which, then, shall no longer be considered but as puerile squabbles, or the fruit of pride and the human passions. — First disorder repaired on that great day: vice concealed here below from public shame, and virtue from the applauses it merits.
The second disorder which the mixture of the good and of the bad gives birth to in the world, is the inequality of conditions, and the unjust exchange of their lots. It is with the present age as with the image of which Daniel explained the mystery: the just, like the clay which we trample under our feet, or, like iron hardened in the fire of tribulation, in general occupy, here below, only the meanest and most contemptible stations; while, on the contrary, the sinful and the worldly, typified by the gold and silver, vain objects of their passions, almost always find themselves placed at the head of affairs, and in the most eminent places. Now, this is a disorder; and, although the good be thereby exercised, and the wicked hardened; although this confusion of good and evil enter into the order of Providence, and that, by ways and means impenetrable to man, God makes use of them to lead the just and the sinner to his purposes; yet it is necessary that the Son of Man gather together all things, and that it shall at last be discerned between the righteous and the wicked; between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not. Now, behold the grand spectacle of that last day: order shall be re-established; the good separated from the wicked: the sheep set on his right hand, and the goats on the left.
Separation, first, altogether new. It will not be demanded from you, in order to determine what rank you ought to hold in this awful scene, what were your names, your birth, your titles, or your dignities; these were but a vapour, which had no reality but in the public illusion; you will be examined only to prove whether you be an unclean animal or an innocent sheep: the prince shall not be separated from the subject: the noble from the peasant; the poor from the powerful; the conqueror from the vanquished: but the chaff from the good grain; the vessels of honour from the vessels of shame; the goats from the sheep.
The Son of Man shall be seen from on high, casting his regards over all the mingled nations and people assembled at his feet; recalling, in that view, the history of the universe, that is to say, of the passions or of the virtues of men; he shall be seen gathering together his chosen from the four quarters; choosing them from among every tongue, every station, and every nation; reuniting the children of Israel dispersed through the universe; unfolding the secret history of a holy and new people; bringing forth to view heroes of faith till then unknown in the world: no more distinguishing ages by the victories of conquerors, by the establishment
