Frivolities Render Men Callous To The Gospel – Charles H Spurgeon

‘When Bonaparte put the Duke d’Enghien to death, all Paris felt so much horror at the event that the throne of the tyrant trembled under him. A counterrevolution was exp ted, and would most probably have taken place, had not Bonaparte ordered a new ballet to be brought out, with the utmost splendor, at the Opera. The subject he pitched on was ‘Ossian, or the Bards.’ It is still recollected in Paris, as perhaps the grandest spectacle that had ever been exhibited there. ‘he consequence was that the murder of the Duke d’Enghien was totally forgotten, and nothing but the new ballet was talked of.’

After this fashion Satan takes off men’s thoughts from their sins, and drowns the din of their consciences. Lest they should rise in revolt against him, he gives them the lusts of the flesh, the vanities of pride, the cares of this world, or the merriment of fools, to lead away their thoughts. Poor silly men are ready enough for these misleading gaieties, and for the sake of them the solemnities of death and eternity are forgotten.