counsel of perfection

There are many counsels of perfection. The frequent and fervent reception of the Sacraments is a counsel of perfection, and one of the principal of attaining perfection—Confession producing purity of soul, and Holy Communion a closer union between the soul and His Divine majesty.

To a practical statesman that will seem perhaps a counsel of perfection; and, certainly, it is a counsel that, at every stage, will encounter acute difficulties of practical operation.