PREFACE. The following treatise is a compendium of the admirable work of F. Alphonsus de Sarasa, of the Society of, Jesus. It was so much esteemed in Germany that the great Leibnitz, according to the testimony of Koeler, considered it to be a perfect model of composition and sound morality. Weigel, who translated it from the Latin into German, styles it 'an incomparable and golden book. Alphonsus de Sarasa was bom of Spanish parentage in Flanders, a.d. 1618. He entered the Society of Jesus at the early age of fifteen. After his noviceship and usual course of studies, he taught humanities for seven years, was a ripe scholar, profound philosopher, and great preacher, listened to with fnarked attention at Bmssels, Ghent, and Anvers. But his chief title to renown is his work on the Art of always Rejoicing. The effort of composing so noble a production, requiring such a gompass of thought and imagination, together with his labours in teaching and preaching, and his fervent piety, consumed his feeble frame, and he died of a pleurisy and decline at the age of forty-eight. The greater work in fifteen treatises, and the compendium drawn up by himself and published with it, were printed by Meursius, at Anvers, in 1664. A new edition by Fischer, professor of the University of Jena, appeared in 1741, and was printed by Weigand at Leipsic, with notes by Fischer and Erard Weigel. The book is now very rare indeed, and deserves reproduction in any form. The compendium made by F. Sarasa was translated in 1842 into Italian by the accomplished F. Antonio Bresciani, S.J., author of the Jew of Verona. From the Italian, as it is not easy to procure the Latin copy, this brief treatise has been well and faithfully rendered by a lady. May the consolation which it is calculated to give reach thousands of hearts, and give them the sweet peace which it proclaims! THOMAS MEYRICK. Feast of the Epiphany, a.d. 1872. Digitized by Google., Electronic reproduction, Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002, digitized, Description based on print version record