7. This charge utterly incredible and absurd.

Is it not mere madness in my accuser even to suspect me of such a thing? What, I ask again, could induce me to place confidence in this man? What trait did I perceive in his character on which I could rely? He had murdered his own master; he had proved faithless to his friends; he had violated his oath; he had blasphemed God, by consulting poisoners and sorcerers29    Bingh. Antiqu. xvi. 5. §5, &c. contrary to his Law. And with what conscience could I send greeting to such a man, whose madness and cruelty had afflicted not me only, but all the world around me? To be sure, I was very greatly indebted to him for his conduct, that when your departed brother had filled our churches with sacred offerings, he murdered him. For the wretch was not moved by the sight of these his gifts, nor did he stand in awe of the divine grace which had been given to him in baptism: but like an accursed and devilish spirit, he raged against him, till your blessed brother suffered martyrdom at his hands; while he, henceforth a criminal like Cain, was driven from place to place, ‘groaning and trembling30    Gen. iv. 12. LXX. vid. Hist. Ar. §7.,’ to the end that he might follow the example of Judas in his death, by becoming his own executioner, and so bring upon himself a double weight of punishment in the judgment to come.

7 Ἄρ' οὐχὶ καὶ τὸ μόνον ὑποπτεύειν περὶ τούτων τὸν κατήγορον ἐστὶ μανικόν; Τί γάρ με πάλιν θαρρεῖν ἔπειθεν αὐτῷ; Ποίαν αὐτοῦ διάθεσιν ἔβλεπον ἀσφαλῆ; Ὅτι τὸν ἴδιον δεσπότην ἀνεῖλε, καὶ περὶ τοὺς ἑαυτοῦ φίλους ἄπιστος γέγονε, καὶ ὅρκους μὲν παρέβη, εἰς δὲ τὸν Θεὸν ἠσέβησε φαρμακοὺς καὶ ἐπαοιδοὺς ἐπινοῶν κατὰ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ κρίσεως; Ποίῳ δὲ συνειδότι χαίρειν ἔλεγον τούτῳ, οὗ ἡ μανία καὶ ἡ ὠμότης οὐκ ἐμὲ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν καθ' ἡμᾶς οἰκουμένην ἐλύπησε; Μεγάλην γε χάριν καὶ πολλὴν ἐκ τούτων ὤφειλον τούτῳ, ὅτι ὁ μὲν μακαρίτης ἀδελφός σου τὰς ἐκκλησίας ἀναθημάτων ἐπλήρωσεν, οὗτος δὲ αὐτὸν ἀποστέλλοντα πεφόνευκε. Καὶ οὔτε ταῦτα βλέπων ὁ μιαρὸς ᾐδέσθη, οὔτε τὴν δοθεῖσαν χάριν τῷ μακαρίτῃ διὰ τοῦ βαπτίσματος πεφόβηται· ἀλλ' ὡς δαίμων τις ἀλάστωρ καὶ διαβολικὸς ἐμάνη κατ' αὐτοῦ. Τῷ μὲν οὖν μακαρίτῃ τοῦτο γέγονεν εἰς μαρτύριον· ἐκεῖνος δὲ λοιπὸν ὡς δέσμιος κατὰ τὸν Κάϊν στένων καὶ τρέμων ἐδιώκετο, ἵνα καὶ τὸν Ἰούδαν ἐν τῷ θανάτῳ μιμήσηται, δήμιος καθ' ἑαυτοῦ γινόμενος, καὶ διπλῆν ἐποίσηται καθ' ἑαυτοῦ τὴν τιμωρίαν ἐν τῇ μετὰ ταῦτα κρίσει.