Letter CLVIII.

(a.d. 414.)

To My Lord Augustin, My Brother Partner in the Sacerdotal Office, Most Sincerely Loved, with Profound Respect, and to the Brethren Who are with Him, Evodius1218    Evodius, Bishop of Uzala, was one of Augustin’s early friends. He was a native of the same town (Tagaste), and joined Augustin and Alypius in seeking religious retirement after their baptism, in 387 A.D. He was also with them at Ostia when Monica died. (Confessions, Book ix. ch. 8 and 12).and the Brethren Who are with Him Send Greeting in the Lord.

1. I urgently beg you to send the reply due to my last letter. Indeed, I would have preferred first to learn what I then asked, and afterwards to put the questions which I now submit to you. Give me your attention while I relate an event in which you will kindly take an interest, and which has made me impatient to lose no time in acquiring, if possible in this life, the knowledge which I desired. I had a certain youth as a clerk, a son of presbyter Armenus of Melonita, whom, by my humble instrumentality, God rescued when he was becoming already immersed in secular affairs, for he was employed as a shorthand writer by the proconsul’s solicitor.1219    Nam scholastico proconsulis excipiebat. He was then, indeed, as boys usually are, prompt and somewhat restless, but as he grew older (for his death occurred in his twenty-second year) a gravity of deportment and circumspect probity of life so adorned him that it is a pleasure to dwell upon his memory. He was, moreover, a clever stenographer,1220    Strenuus in notis. and indefatigable in writing: he had begun also to be earnest in reading, so that he even urged me to do more than my indolence would have chosen, in order to spend hours of the night in reading, for he read aloud to me for a time every night after all was still; and in reading, he would not pass over any sentence unless he understood it, and would go over it a third or even a fourth time, and not leave it until what he wished to know was made clear. I had begun to regard him not as a mere boy and clerk, but as a comparatively intimate and pleasant friend, for his conversation gave me much delight.

2. He desired also to “depart and to be with Christ,”1221    Dissolvi et esse cum Christo. Phil. i. 23. a desire which has been fulfilled. For he was ill for sixteen days in his father’s house, and by strength of memory he continually repeated portions of Scripture throughout almost the whole time of his illness. But when he was very near to the end of his life, he sang1222    Psallebat. so as to be heard by all, “My soul longeth for and hastens unto the courts of the Lord,”1223    Ps. lxxxiv. 2, LXX. after which he sang again, “Thou hast anointed my head with oil, and beautiful is Thy cup, overpowering my senses with delight!”1224    Ps. xxiii. 5, 6, LXX. In these things he was wholly occupied; in the consolation yielded by them he found satisfaction. At the last, when dissolution was just coming upon him, he began to make the sign of the cross on his forehead, and in finishing this his hand was moving down to his mouth, which also he wished to mark with the same sign, but the inward man (which had been truly renewed day by day)1225    2 Cor. iv. 16. had, ere this was done, forsaken the tabernacle of clay. To myself there has been given so great an ecstasy of joy, that I think that after leaving his own body he has entered into my spirit, and is there imparting to me a certain fulness of light from his presence, for I am conscious of a joy beyond all measure through his deliverance and safety—indeed it is ineffable. For I felt no small anxiety on his account, being afraid of the dangers peculiar to his years. For I was at pains to inquire of himself whether perchance he had been defiled by intercourse with woman; he solemnly assured us that he was free from this stain, by which declaration our joy was still more increased. So he died. We honored his memory by suitable obsequies, such as were due to one so excellent, for we continued during three days to praise the Lord with hymns at his grave, and on the third day we offered the sacraments of redemption.1226    Redemptionis sacramenta obtulimus.

3. Behold, however, two days thereafter, a certain respectable widow from Figentes, an handmaid from God, who said that she had been twelve years in widowhood, saw the following vision in a dream. She saw a certain deacon, who had died four years ago, preparing a palace, with the assistance of servants and handmaids of God (virgins and widows). It was being so much adorned that the place was refulgent with splendor, and appeared to be wholly made of silver. On her inquiring eagerly for whom this palace was being prepared, the deacon aforesaid answered, “For the young man, the son of the presbyter, who was cut off yesterday.” There appeared in the same palace an old man robed in white, who gave orders to two others, also dressed in white, to go, and having raised the body from the grave, to carry it up with them to heaven. And she added, that so soon as the body had been taken up from the grave and carried to heaven, there sprang from the same sepulchre branches of the rose, called from its folded blossoms the virgin rose.

4. I have narrated the event: listen now, if you please, to my question, and teach me what I ask, for the departure of that young man’s soul forces such questions from me. While we are in the body, we have an inward faculty of perception which is alert in proportion to the activity of our attention, and is more wakeful and eager the more earnestly attentive we become: and it seems to us probable that even in its highest activity it is retarded by the encumbrance of the body, for who can fully describe all that the mind suffers through the body! In the midst of the perturbation and annoyance which come from the suggestions, temptations, necessities, and varied afflictions of which the body is the cause, the mind does not surrender its strength, it resists and conquers. Sometimes it is defeated; nevertheless, mindful of what is its own nature, it becomes, under the stimulating influence of such labours, more active and more wary, and breaks through the meshes of wickedness, and so makes its way to better things. Your Holiness will kindly understand what I mean to say. Therefore, while we are in this life, we are hindered by such deficiencies, and are nevertheless, as it is written, “more than conquerors through Him that loved us.”1227    Rom. viii. 37. When we go forth from this body, and escape from every burden, and from sin, with its incessant activity, what are we?

5. In the first place, I ask whether there may not be some kind of body (formed, perchance, of one of the four elements, either air or ether) which does not depart from the incorporeal principle, that is, the substance properly called the soul, when it forsakes this earthly body. For as the soul is in its nature incorporeal, if it be absolutely disembodied by death there is now one soul of all that have left this world. And in that case where would the rich man, who was clothed in purple, and Lazarus, who was full of sores, now be? How, moreover, could they be distinguished according to their respective deserts, so that the one should have suffering and the other have joy, if there were only a single soul made by the combination of all disembodied souls, unless, of course, these things are to be understood in a figurative sense? Be that as it may, there is no question that souls which are held in definite places (as that rich man was in the flame, and that poor man was in Abraham’s bosom) are held in bodies. If there are distinct places, there are bodies, and in these bodies the souls reside; and even although the punishments and rewards are experienced in the conscience, the soul which experiences them is nevertheless in a body. Whatever is the nature of that one soul made up of many souls, it must be possible for it in its unbroken unity to be both grieved and made glad at the same moment, if it is to approve itself to be really a substance consisting of many souls gathered into one. If, however, this soul is called one only in the same way as the incorporeal mind is called one, although it has in it memory, and will, and intellect, and if it be alleged that all these are separate incorporeal causes or powers and have their several distinctive offices and work without one impeding another in any way, I think this might be in some measure answered by saying that it must be also possible for some of the souls to be under punishment and some of the sours to enjoy rewards simultaneously in this one substance consisting of many souls gathered into One.

6. Or if this be not so [that is, if there be no such body remaining still in union with the incorporeal principle after it quits this earthly body], what is there to hinder each soul from having, when separated from the solid body which it here inhabits, another body, so that the soul always animates a body of some kind? or in what body does it pass to any region, if such there be, to which necessity compels it to go? For the angels themselves, if they were not numbered by bodies of some kind which they have, could not be called many, as they are by the Truth Himself when He said in the gospel, “I could pray the Father, and He will presently give me twelve legions of angels.”1228    Matt. xxvi. 53. Again it is certain that Samuel was seen in the body when he was raised at the request of Saul;1229    1 Sam. xxviii. 14. and as to Moses, whose body was buried, it is plain from the gospel narrative that he came in the body to the Lord on the mountain to which He and His disciples had retired.1230    Matt. xvii. 3. In the Apocrypha, and in the Mysteries of Moses, a writing which is wholly devoid of authority, it is indeed said that, at the time when he ascended the mount to die, through the power which his body possessed, there was one body which was committed to the earth, and another which was joined to the angel who accompanied him; but I do not feel myself called upon to give to a sentence in apocryphal writings a preference over the definite statements quoted above. We must therefore give attention to this, and search out, by the help either of the authority of revelation or of the light of reason, the matter about which we are inquiring. But it is alleged that the future resurrection of the body is a proof that the soul was after death absolutely without a body. This is not, however, an unanswerable objection, for the angels, who are like our souls invisible, have at times desired to appear in bodily forms and be seen, and (whatever might be the form of body worthy to be assumed by these spirits) they have appeared, for example, to Abraham1231    Gen. xviii. 6. and to Tobias.1232    Tob. xii. 16. Therefore it is quite possible that the resurrection of the body may, as we assuredly believe, take place, and yet that the soul may be reunited to it without its being found to have been at any moment wholly devoid of some kind of body. Now the body which the soul here occupies consists of the four elements, of which one, namely heat, seems to depart from this body at the same moment as the soul. For there remains after death that which is made of earth, moisture also is not wanting to the body, nor is the element of cold matter gone; heat alone has fled, which perhaps the soul takes along with it if it migrates from place to place. This is all that I say meanwhile concerning the body.

7. It seems to me also, that if the soul while occupying the living body is capable, as I have said, of strenuous mental application, how much more unencumbered, active, vigorous, earnest, resolute, and persevering will it be, how much enlarged in capacity and improved in character, if it has while in this body learned to relish virtue! For after laying aside this body, or rather, after having this cloud swept away, the soul will have come to be free from all disturbing influences, enjoying tranquillity and exempt from temptation, seeing whatever it has longed for, and embracing what it has loved. Then, also, it will be capable of remembering and recognising friends, both those who went before it from this world, and those whom it left here below. Perhaps this may be true. I know not, but I desire to learn. But it would greatly distress me to think that the soul after death passes into a state of torpor, being as it were buried, just as it is during sleep while it is in the body, living only in hope, but having nothing and knowing nothing, especially if in its sleep it be not even stirred by any dreams. This notion causes me very great horror, and seems to indicate that the life of the soul is extinguished at death.

8. This also I would ask: Supposing that the soul be discovered to have such a body as we speak of, does that body lack any of the senses? Of course, if there cannot be imposed upon it any necessity for smelling, tasting, or touching, as I suppose will be the case, these senses will be wanting; but I hesitate as to the senses of sight and hearing. For are not devils said to hear (not, indeed, in all the persons whom they harass, for in regard to these there is a question), even when they appear in bodies of their own? And as to the faculty of sight, how can they pass from one place to another if they have a body but are void of the power of seeing, so as to guide its motions? Do you think that this is not the case with human souls when they go forth from the body,—that they have still a body of some kind, and are not deprived of some at least of the senses proper to this body? Else how can we explain the fact that very many dead persons have been observed by day, or by persons awake and walking abroad during the night, to pass into houses just as they were wont to do in their lifetime? This I have heard not once, but often; and I have also heard it said that in places in which dead bodies are interred, and especially in churches, there are commotions and prayers which are heard for the most part at a certain time of the night. This I remember hearing from more than one: for a certain holy presbyter was an eye-witness of such an apparition, having observed a multitude of such phantoms issuing from the baptistery in bodies full of light, after which he heard their prayers in the midst of the church itself. All such things are either true, and therefore helpful to the inquiry which we are now making, or are mere fables, in which case the fact of their invention is wonderful; nevertheless I would desire to get some information from the fact that they come and visit men, and are seen otherwise than in dreams.

9. These dreams suggest another question. I do not at this moment concern myself about the mere creations of fancy, which are formed by the emotions of the uneducated. I speak of visitations in sleep, such as the apparition to Joseph1233    Matt. i. 20. in a dream, in the manner experienced in most cases of the kind. In the same manner, therefore, our own friends also who have departed this life before us sometimes come and appear to us in dreams, and speak to us. For I myself remember that Profuturus, and Privatus, and Servilius, holy men who within my recollection were removed by death from our monastery, spoke to me, and that the events of which they spoke came to pass according to their words. Or if it be some other higher spirit that assumes their form and visits our minds, I leave this to the all-seeing eye of Him before whom everything from the highest to the lowest is uncovered. If, therefore, the Lord be pleased to speak through reason to your Holiness on all these questions, I beg you to be so kind as make me partaker of the knowledge which you have received. There is another thing which I have resolved not to omit mentioning, for perhaps it bears upon the matter now under investigation:

10. This same youth, in connection with whom these questions are brought forward, departed this life after having received what may be called a summons1234    Exhibitus quodammodo pergit. at the time when he was dying. For one who had been a companion of his as a student, and reader, and shorthand writer to my dictation, who had died eight months before, was seen by a person in a dream coming towards him. When he was asked by the person who then distinctly saw him why he had come, he said, “I have come to take this friend away;” and so it proved. For in the house itself, also, there appeared to a certain old man, who was almost awake, a man bearing in his hand a laurel branch on which something was written. Nay, more, when this one was seen, it is further reported that after the death of the young man, his father the presbyter had begun to reside along with the aged Theasius in the monastery, in order to find consolation there, but lo! on the third day after his death, the young man is seen entering the monastery, and is asked by one of the brethren in a dream of some kind whether he knew himself to be dead. He replied that he knew he was. The other asked whether he had been welcomed by God. This also he answered with great expressions of joy. And when questioned as to the reason why he had come, he answered, “I have been sent to summon my father.” The person to whom these things were shown awakes, and relates what had passed. It comes to the ear of Bishop Theasius. He, being alarmed, sharply admonished the person who told him, lest the matter should come, as it might easily do, to the ear of the presbyter himself, and he should be disturbed by such tidings. But why prolong the narration? Within about four days from this visitation he was saying (for he had suffered from a moderate feverishness) that he was now out of danger, and that the physician had given up attending him, having assured him that there was no cause whatever for anxiety; but that very day this presbyter expired after he had lain down on his couch. Nor should I forbear mentioning, that on the same day on which the youth died, he asked his father three times to forgive him anything in which he might have offended, and every time that he kissed his father he said to him, “Let us give thanks to God, father,” and insisted upon his father saying the words along with him, as if he were exhorting one who was to be his companion in going forth from this world. And in fact only seven days elapsed between the two deaths. What shall we say of things so wonderful? Who shall be a thoroughly reliable teacher as to these mysterious dispensations? To you in the hour of perplexity my agitated heart unburdens itself. The divine appointment of the death of the young man and of his father is beyond all doubt, for two sparrows shall not fall to the ground without the will of our heavenly Father.1235    Matt. x. 29.

11. That the soul cannot exist in absolute separation from a body of some kind is proved in my opinion by the fact that to exist without body belongs to God alone. But I think that the laying aside of so great a burden as the body, in the act of passing from this world, proves that the soul will then be very much more wakeful than it is meanwhile; for then the soul appears, as I think, far more noble when no longer encumbered by so great a hindrance, both in action and in knowledge, and that entire spiritual rest proves it to be free from all causes of disturbance and error, but does not make it languid, and as it were slow, torpid, and embarrassed, inasmuch as it is enough for the soul to enjoy in its fulness the liberty to which it has attained in being freed from the world and the body; for, as you have wisely said, the intellect is satisfied with food, and applies the lips of the spirit to the fountain of life in that condition in which it is happy and blest in the undisputed lordship of its own faculties. For before I quitted the monastery I saw brother Servilius in a dream after his decease, and he said that we were labouring to attain by the exercise of reason to an understanding of truth, whereas he and those who were in the same state as he were always resting in the pure joy of contemplation.

12. I also beg you to explain to me in how many ways the word wisdom is used; as God is wisdom, and a wise mind is wisdom (in which way it is said to be as light); as we read also of the wisdom of Bezaleel, who made the tabernacle or the ointment, and the wisdom of Solomon, or any other wisdom, if there be such, and wherein they differ from each other; and whether the one eternal Wisdom which is with the Father is to be understood as spoken of in these different degrees, as they are called diverse gifts of the Holy Spirit, who divideth to every one severally according as He will. Or, with the exception of that Wisdom alone which was not created, were these created, and have they a distinct existence of their own? or are they effects, and have they received their name from the definition of their work? I am asking a great many questions. May the Lord grant you grace to discover the truth sought, and wisdom sufficient to commit it to writing, and to communicate it without delay to me. I have written in much ignorance, and in a homely style; but since you think it worth while to know that about which I am inquiring, I beseech you in the name of Christ the Lord to correct me where I am mistaken, and teach me what you know that I am desirous to learn.

EPISTOLA CLIII . Quaesito respondet Augustinus; multa obiter disserens de restituendis rebus quae proximo ablatae vel male partae sunt.

AUGUSTINUS episcopus, famulus Christi familiaeque ejus, dilecto filio MACEDONIO , in Domino salutem.

CAP. PRIMUM.

1. Negotiosissimum in republica virum, et non suis, sed aliorum utilitatibus attentissimum, qualem te esse et tibi gratulamur et rebus humanis, nec deserere debemus alloquio, nec occupare prooemio. Accipe itaque quod per me, vel nosse voluisti, vel utrum ipse nossem experiri. Quod si parvum aut superfluum judicares, nullo modo inter tam magnas tamque necessarias curas tuas curandum esse censeres. Quaeris a me cur officii sacerdotii nostri esse dicamus intervenire pro reis, et nisi obtineamus, offendi quasi quod erat officii nostri minime reportemus. Ubi vehementer te dicis ambigere utrum istud ex religione 0654 descendat. Deinde adjungis qua ratione ita movearis: Nam si a Domino peccata, inquis, adeo prohibentur, ut nec poenitendi quidem copia post primam tribuatur; quemadmodum nos possumus ex religione contendere ut qualecumque illud crimen fuerit, dimittatur? Adhuc gravius urges, et dicis, nos probare quod volumus impunitum; et si constat non minus auctorem quam probatorem teneri in omnibus quae peccantur, certum esse nos culpae societate vinciri, quoties eum impunitum esse volumus, qui culpae tenetur obnoxius.

2. His verbis quem non terreas tuae lenitatis et humanitatis ignarum? Unde nos qui te novimus, et haec quaerendi gratia, non decernendi, scripsisse minime dubitamus, aliis verbis tuis ad ista citius respondemus. Tanquam enim nos haesitare in hac quaestione nolueris, aut praevidisti quid dicturi essemus, aut admonuisti quid dicere deberemus; et aisti: Tum praeterea accedit hoc quod gravius est. Nam omnia peccata videntur veniabiliora, cum is qui reus est correctionem promittit. Antequam ergo discutiam quid sit illud gravius quod in epistola tua sequitur, hoc interim quod dedisti accipiam, eoque utar ad molem hanc amovendam, qua nostrae intercessiones posse reprimi videbantur. Ideo quippe, quantum facultas datur, pro peccatis omnibus intercedimus, quia omnia peccata videntur veniabiliora, cum is qui reus est correctionem promittit. Haec tua est, haec et nostra sententia.

3. Nullo modo ergo culpas quas corrigi volumus, approbamus, nec quod perperam committitur, ideo volumus impunitum esse, quia placet; sed hominem miserantes, facinus autem seu flagitium detestantes, quanto magis nobis displicet vitium, tanto minus volumus inemendatum interire vitiosum. Facile enim est atque proclive malos odisse, quia mali sunt: rarum autem et pium eosdem ipsos diligere, quia homines sunt; ut in uno simul et culpam improbes, et naturam approbes, ac propterea culpam justius oderis, quod ea foedatur natura quam diligis. Non est igitur iniquitatis, sed potius humanitatis societate devinctus, qui propterea est criminis persecutor, ut sit hominis liberator. Morum porro corrigendorum nullus alius quam in hac vita locus est; nam post hanc, quisque id habebit quod in hac sibimet conquisierit. Ideo compellimur humani generis charitate intervenire pro reis, ne istam vitam sic finiant per supplicium, ut ea finita non possint finire supplicium.

CAPUT II.

4. Noli ergo dubitare hoc officium nostrum ex religione descendere, cum Deus apud quem nulla est iniquitas, cujus summa potestas est, qui non tantum qualis quisque sit videt, verum etiam qualis futurus sit praevidet, qui solus potest in judicando non labi, quia in cognoscendo non potest falli, facit tamen, sicut Evangelium loquitur, solem suum oriri super bonos et malos, et pluit super justos et injustos. Cujus mirabilis bonitatis ut simus imitatores, Dominus Christus exhortans, Diligite, inquit, inimicos vestros; benefacite eis qui vos oderunt; et orate pro eis qui vos persequuntur: ut sitis filii Patris vestri qui in coelis est, qui facit solem suum oriri super bonos et malos, et pluit 0655 super justos et injustos (Matth. V, 44, 45). Hac indulgentia et lenitate divina multos abuti ad perniciem suam quis nesciat? Quos arguens Apostolus et graviter increpans dicit: Existimas autem, o homo omnis qui judicas eos qui talia agunt, et facis ea, quoniam tu effugies judicium Dei? An divitias benignitatis ejus, et patientiae, et longanimitatis contemnis? ignoras quoniam benignitas Dei ad poenitentiam te adducit? Secundum autem duritiam tuam et cor impoenitens thesaurizas tibi iram in die irae et revelationis justi judicii Dei, qui reddet unicuique secundum opera ejus (Rom. II, 3-6). Numquid quoniam isti in sua nequitia perseverant, ideo Deus in sua patientia non perseverat; per pauca in hoc saeculo puniens, ne divina providentia non esse credatur, et multa servans ultimo examini, ut futurum judicium commendetur?

5. Non, ut opinor, magister ille coelestis impietatem nos diligere praecipit, cum praecipit ut nostros diligamus inimicos, benefaciamus eis qui nos oderunt, oremus pro eis qui nos persequuntur; cum procul dubio, si pie Deum colimus, inimicos atque odiis adversum nos acerrimis incitatos ac persecutores, nisi impios habere non possimus. Num igitur diligendi sunt impii? num impiis benefaciendum est? num pro impiis etiam orandum est? Ita plane. Qui enim hoc praecipit, Deus est; nec tamen nos hoc pacto societati adjungit impiorum, quibus et ipse parcendo, et vitam salutemque largiendo, non utique sociatur. Consilium quippe ejus, quantum homini pio nosse donatum est, exponit Apostolus dicens, Ignoras quia patientia Dei ad poenitentiam te adducit? Ad hanc volumus adduci pro quibus intervenimus; non eorum peccatis vel parcimus, vel favemus.

CAPUT III.

6. Nam quosdam quorum crimina manifesta sunt, a vestra severitate liberatos, a societate tamen removemus altaris, ut poenitendo placare possint quem peccando contempserant, seque ipsos puniendo. Nam nihil aliud agit quem veraciter poenitet, nisi ut id quod mali fecerit, impunitum esse non sinat: eo quippe modo sibi non parcenti ille parcit, cujus altum justumque judicium nullus contemptor evadit. Quod si iniquis et scelestis ille parcendo, eisque vitam salutemque largiendo, etiam plerisque corum quos novit non acturos poenitentiam, tamen exhibet patientiam; quanto magis nos in eos qui correctionem promittunt, et utrum faciant quod promittunt incerti sumus, misericordes esse debemus, ut rigorem vestrum pro eis intercedendo flectamus, pro quibus et Dominum, quem nihil de moribus eorum etiam futuris latet, non tamen impudenter, quia hoc ipse praecepit, oramus!

7. In tantum autem hominum aliquando iniquitas progreditur, ut etiam post actam poenitentiam, post altaris reconciliationem, vel similia vel graviora committant: et tamen Deus facit etiam super tales oriri solem suum; nec minus tribuit quam ante tribuebat largissima munera vitae ac salutis. Et quamvis eis 0656 in Ecclesia locus humillimae poenitentiae non concedatur; Deus tamen super eos suae patientiae non obliviscitur. Ex quorum numero si quis nobis dicat, Aut date mihi eumdem iterum poenitendi locum, aut desperatum me permittite, ut faciam quidquid libuerit, quantum meis opibus adjuvor, et humanis legibus non prohibeor, in scortis, omnique luxuria, damnabili quidem apud Dominum, sed apud homines plerosque etiam laudabili: aut si me ab hac nequitia revocatis, dicite utrum mihi aliquid prosit ad vitam futuram, si in ista vita illecebrosissimae voluptatis blandimenta contempsero, si libidinum incitamenta frenavero, si ad castigandum corpus meum multa mihi etiam licita et concessa subtraxero, si me poenitendo vehementius quam prius excruciavero, si miserabilius ingemuero; si flevero uberius, si vixero melius, si pauperes sustentavero largius, si charitate, quae operit multitudinem peccatorum (I Petr. VIII, 4), flagravero ardentius; quis nostrum ita desipit, ut huic homini dicat, Nihil tibi ista proderunt in posterum; vade, saltem vitae hujus suavitate perfruere? Avertat Deus tam immanem sacrilegamque dementiam! Quamvis ergo caute salubriterque provisum sit ut locus illius humillimae poenitentiae semel in Ecclesia concedatur, ne medicina vilis minus utilis esset aegrotis, quae tanto magis salubris est, quanto minus contemptibilis fuerit; quis tamen audeat dicere Deo: Quare huic homini, qui post primam poenitentiam rursus se laqueis iniquitatis obstringit, adhuc iterum parcis? Quis audeat dicere erga istos non agi quod Apostolus ait, Ignoras quia patientia Dei ad poenitentiam te adducit? aut istis exceptis esse definitum quod scriptum est, Beati omnes qui confidunt in eum (Psal. II, 13)? aut ad istos non pertinere quod dicitur, Viriliter agite, et confortetur cor vestrum, omnes qui speratis in Dominum (Psal. XXX, 25)?

8. Cum igitur super peccatores tanta sit patientia, tanta misericordia Dei, ut in hac temporali vita moribus emendatis, non damnentur in aeternum; qui nullius quae sibi praebeatur exspectat misericordiam, quoniam nemo est illo beatior, nemo potentior, nemo justior: quales non esse oportet homines erga homines, qui hanc vitam nostram quantacumque laude cumulemus, eam sine peccato esse non dicimus? quod si dixerimus, nos ipsos, sicut scriptum est, decipimus, et veritas in nobis non est (I Joan. I, 8). Proinde licet accusatoris alia persona sit, alia defensoris, alia intercessoris, alia judicis, de quorum propriis officiis nimis longum est, et non necessarium hoc sermone disserere; sic tamen etiam ipsos criminum ultores, atque in hoc officio non ira propria concitatos, sed legum ministros, nec suarum, sed alienarum examina tarum injuriarum vindices, quales judices esse debent, terruit censura divina, ut cogitarent sibi propter sua peccata Dei misericordiam necessariam, nec putarent ad culpam sui officii pertinere, si quid erga eos misericorditer agerent, quorum vitae necisque haberent 0657 legitimam potestatem.

CAPUT IV.

9. Nam cum ad Dominum Christum Judaei adduxissent mulierem in adulterio comprehensam, eumque tentantes dicerent quod jussa esset Lege lapidari, ac deinde quaererent quid de illa ipse praeciperet; respondit eis: Qui sine peccato est vestrum, prior in eam lapidem jaciat (Joan. VIII, 7). Ita nec Legem improbavit, quae hujusmodi reas jussit occidi; et illos terrendo ad misericordiam revocavit, quorum judicio haec posset occidi. Puto quod hac sententia Domini audita, si praesens fuit etiam maritus ipse qui violatam sui tori fidem vindicari postulabat, exterritus animum ad voluntatem parcendi ab ulciscendi cupiditate deflexit. Nam quomodo non est admonitus accusator ne suas persequeretur injurias, quando ipsi judices ita sunt a vindicando prohibiti, qui in adultera punienda, non privato dolori compellebantur servire, sed Legi? Unde Joseph, cui virgo Maria, Domini mater, fuerat desponsata, cum eam comperisset esse praegnantem, cui se noverat non esse commixtum, et ob hoc nihil aliud quam adulteram credidisset, puniri tamen eam noluit; nec approbator flagitii fuit Nam haec voluntas ejus etiam justitiae deputatur: ita quippe de illo scriptum est, Et cum esset homo justus, et nollet eam divulgare, statuit eam occulte dimittere. Haec eo cogitante, apparuit illi angelus qui doceret esse numinis, quod ille putaverat criminis (Matth. I, 18-20).

10. Si ergo cogitata infirmitate communi, et accusatorius dolor, et judicatorius rigor frangitur; quod tandem censes pro reis esse debere, vel defensoris vel intercessoris officium? quandoquidem et vos viri boni qui nunc judices estis, et in foro aliquando versati causas hominum suscepistis, scitis quam libentius defendere quam accusare soleretis. Et tamen defensor ab intercessore plurimum distat: nam ille diluendis vel obtegendis criminibus operam maxime impendit; intercessor autem etiam cum de culpa constat, pro poena removenda vel temperanda curam gerit. Hoc sunt apud Deum pro peccatoribus justi; hoc pro se ipsi peccantes invicem ut faciant admonentur: nam scriptum est, Confitemini invicem peccata vestra, et orate pro vobis (Jacobi V, 16). Has sibi partes humanitatis, ubi potest, omnis homo apud hominem vindicat. Nam quod ipse quisque domi suae puniret admissum, in alterius domo vult impunitum. Sive enim adhibeatur apud amicum, sive ille cuiquam in quem potestas ulciscendi est se praesente succenseat, sive irascenti fortuito superveniat; non justissimus, sed inhumanissimus judicatur, si non interveniat. Scio ego te ipsum cum aliis amicis tuis in ecclesia Carthaginensi intercessisse pro clerico, cui merito succensebat episcopus; et utique nullum ibi discrimen sanguinis sub incruenta disciplina timebatur: nec cum id, quod etiam vobis displicebat, inultum esse velletis, tanquam delicti approbatores vos judicabamus, sed tanquam humanissimos intercessores audiebamus. Si ergo vobis fas est ecclesiasticam correptionem intercedendo mitigare; quomodo episcopus vestro gladio 0658 debet intercedere, cum illa exeratur ut in quem exeritur bene vivat, iste ne vivat!

11. Postremo ipse Dominus apud homines intercessit, ne lapidaretur adultera, et eo modo nobis intercessionis commendavit officium; nisi quia ille terrendo fecit, quod nos petendo. Ille enim Dominus, nos servi sumus: verumtamen ille sic terruit, ut omnes timere debeamus. Quis enim est nostrum sine peccato? Quod cum illis dixisset a quibus ei offerebatur punienda peccatrix, ut qui sciret se esse sine peccato, prior in illam lapidem mitteret; cecidit saevitia, tremente conscientia: tunc enim ex illa jam congregatione dilapsi, solam misericordi miseram reliquerunt. Cedat huic sententiae pietas Christianorum, cui cessit impietas Judaeorum: cedat humilitas obsequentium, cui cessit superbia persequentium: cedat confessio fidelis, cui cessit simulatio tentatoris. Malis parce, vir bone: quanto melior, tanto esto mitior; quanto fic celsior potestate, tanto humilior fiere pietate .

CAPUT V.

12. Ego quidem intuens, mores tuos, appellavi te virum bonum; sed tu intuens verba Christi, dic tibi ipsi: Nemo bonus, nisi unus Deus (Marc. X, 18). Quod cum verum sit (hoc enim Veritas dixit), nec ego tamen illud existimari debeo fallaci assentatione dixisse, et dominicis verbis quasi contrarius exstitisse, ut cum ille dicat, Nemo bonus, nisi unus Deus, ego te appellaverim virum bonum: non enim et ipse Dominus contraria sibi locutus est, ubi ait, Bonus homo de bono thesauro cordis sui profert bona (Luc VI, 45). Deus ergo singulariter bonus est, et hoc amittere non potest; nullius enim boni participatione bonus est, quoniam bonum quo bonus est, ipse sibi est: homo autem cum bonus est, ab illo bonus est; quod a seipso esse non potest. Illius enim spiritu boni fiunt, quicumque boni fiunt; cujus capax creata est nostra natura per propriam voluntatem. Pertinet ergo ad nos, ut boni simus, accipere et habere quod dat qui de suo bonus est: quo quisque neglecto, de suo malus est. Proinde in quantum homo recte agit, id est, scienter et amanter et pie bonum operatur, in tantum bonus est: in quantum autem peccat, id est, a veritate et charitate et pietate deviat, in tantum malus est. Quis autem est in hac vita sine aliquo peccato? Sed eum dicimus bonum, cujus praevalent bona; eumque optimum, qui peccat minimum.

13. Idcirco ipse Dominus, quos dicit bonos propter participationem gratiae divinae, eosdem etiam malos dicit propter vitia infirmitatis humanae; donec totum quo constamus, ab omni vitiositate sanatum, transeat in eam vitam, ubi nihil omnino peccabitur. Nam utique bonos docebat orare, non malos, quibus praecepit ut dicerent, Pater noster, qui es in coelis. Ex hoc enim boni quo filii Dei, non natura geniti, sed gratia facti, tanquam hi quibus recipientibus eum, dedit potestatem filios Dei fieri (Joan. I, 12). Quae generatio 0659 spiritualis, more Scripturarum, etiam adoptio nominatur, ut distinguatur ab illa generatione Dei de Deo, coaeterni de aeterno, unde scriptum est: Generationem ejus quis enarrabit (Isai. LIII, 8)? Cum ergo bonos esse demonstraverit, quos voluit Deo veraciter dicere, Pater noster, qui es in coelis; praecepit tamen ut in eadem oratione inter caetera dicerent: Dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris. Quae debita esse peccata, quamvis manifestum sit, postea tamen manifestius declaravit dicens: Si enim dimiseritis peccata hominibus, dimittet vobis et Pater vester peccata vestra (Matth. VI, 9, 12, 14). Hanc orationem baptizati orant, nec est prorsus praeteritorum aliquid peccatorum, quod non baptizatis in sancta Ecclesia dimittatur. Sed postea vivendo in hac fragilitate mortali, nisi contraherent quod dimittendum esset, non veraciter dicerent, Dimitte nobis debita nostra. Boni ergo, in quantum filii Dei sunt; in quantum autem peccant (quod sua non mendaci confessione testantur), utique mali sunt.

14. Nisi forte quis dicat, alia bonorum, alia malorum esse peccata; quod non usquequaque improbabiliter dicitur. Verumtamen Dominus Jesus sine ulla ambiguitate malos appellavit eosdem ipsos quorum patrem dicebat Deum. Nam in eodem sermone, ubi illam docet orationem, alio loco exhortans ad precandum Deum, ait, Petite, et accipietis; quaerite, et invenietis; pulsate, et aperietur vobis. Omnis enim qui petit, accipit; et qui quaerit, invenit; et pulsanti aperietur: et paulo post, Si ergo vos, inquit, cum sitis mali, nostis bona data dare filiis vestris; quanto magis Pater vester, qui in coelis est, dabit bona petentibus se (Matth. VII, 7, 8, 11)? Num igitur Deus pater malorum est? Absit. Quomodo ergo dicitur, pater vester coelestis, quibus dicitur, cum sitis mali: nisi quia utrumque Veritas monstrat, quid simus Dei bono , quid humano vitio; hoc commendans, illud emendans? Merito ait Seneca (qui temporibus Apostolorum fuit, cujus etiam quaedam ad Paulum apostolum leguntur epistolae): Omnes odi qui malos odit. Et tamen ideo diligendi sunt mali, ut non sint mali; quemadmodum, non ut permaneant, sed ut sanentur, diliguntur aegroti.

15. Quidquid autem post eam quae fit in Baptismo, abolitionem peccatorum, in hac vita manendo peccamus, etiamsi non tale sit quod a divinis removeri compellat altaribus, non dolore sterili, sed misericordiae sacrificiis expiatur. Quod ergo agimus ut faciatis intercedentibus nobis, Deo nos noveritis offerre pro vobis. Indigetis enim misericordia quam praebetis; et videte quis dixerit, Dimittite et dimittetur vobis, date et dabitur vobis (Luc. VI, 37, 38). Quanquam etiamsi ita viveremus, ut non esset quare diceremus, Dimitte nobis debita nostra; quanto a nequitia purior animus esset, tanto clementia plenior esse deberet, ut si non compungeremur sententia Domini dicentis, Qui vestrum 0660 est sine peccato, prior in illam lapidem jaciat, ipsius qui hoc dixit sectaremur exemplum, qui cum esset utique sine peccato, ait mulieri quam perterriti illi reliquerant: Nec ego te damnabo; vade, jam deinceps noli peccare. Potuit enim metuere flagitiosa mulier ne illis discedentibus, qui sua peccata cogitaverant ut peccato parcerent alieno, illam justissime jam ipse damnaret qui erat sine peccato. At ille non conscientia pavidus, sed plenus clementia, cum illa respondisset a nemine se fuisse damnatam, Nec ego te, inquit, damnabo: tanquam diceret, Si malitia tibi parcere potuit, quid metuis innocentiam? Et ne delictorum non donator, sed approbator videretur; Vade, ait, jam deinceps noli peccare; ut se homini pepercisse, non hominis culpam sibi placuisse monstraret. Jam vides igitur de religione descendere, nec nos societate criminum obstringi, quod intercedimus plerumque etiam pro sceleratis, etsi non scelerati, tamen pro peccatoribus peccatores, et quod veraciter potius quam injuriose dictum accipias, puto quod apud peccatores.

CAPUT VI.

16. Nec ideo sane frustra instituta sunt potestas regis, jus gladii cognitoris, ungulae carnificis, arma militis, disciplina dominantis, severitas etiam boni patris. Habent ista omnia modos suos, causas, rationes, utilitates. Haec cum timentur, et coercentur mali, et quietius inter malos vivunt boni: non quia boni pronuntiandi sunt qui talia metuendo non peccant, non enim bonus est quispiam timore poenae, sed amore justitiae; verumtamen non inutiliter etiam metu legum humana coercetur audacia, ut et tuta sit inter improbos innocentia, et in ipsis improbis dum formidato supplicio frenatur facultas, invocato Deo sanetur voluntas. Sed huic ordinationi rerum humanarum contrariae non sunt intercessiones episcoporum; imo vero nec causa, nec locus intercedendi ullus esset, si ista non essent. Tanto enim sunt intercedentium et parcentium beneficia gratiora, quanto peccantium justiora supplicia. Nec ob aliud, quantum sapio, in Veteri Testamento, antiquorum temporibus Prophetarum severior Legis vindicta fervebat, nisi ut ostenderetur recte iniquis poenas constitutas: ut quod eis parcere Novi Testamenti indulgentia commonemur, aut remedium sit salutis, quo peccatis parcatur et nostris; aut commendatio mansuetudinis, ut per eos qui parcunt, veritas praedicata non tantum timeatur, verum etiam diligatur.

17. Plurimum autem interest quo animo quisque parcat. Sicut enim est aliquando misericordia puniens, ita et crudelitas parcens. Nam, ut exempli gratia manifestum aliquid ponam, quis non crudelem verius dixerit eum qui puero pepercerit volenti obstinatissime de serpentibus ludere? quis autem non misericordem qui talia prohibens, contemptorem verborum etiam verberibus emendaverit? et ideo non usque ad mortem protendenda est disciplina, ut sit cui prodesse possit. Quanquam etiam cum homo ab homine occiditur, multum distet utrum fiat nocendi cupiditate, vel injuste aliquid auferendi, sicut fit ab inimico, sicut a latrone; an ulciscendi vel obediendi ordine, sicut a judice, sicut a 0661 carnifice; an evadendi vel subveniendi necessitate, sicut interimitur latro a viatore, hostis a milite. Et aliquando qui causa mortis fuit, potius in culpa est, quam ille qui occidit; velut si quisquam decipiat fidejussorem suum, atque ille pro isto supplicium legitimum luat. Nec tamen omnis qui causa alienae mortis est, reus est. Quid si enim quisquam stuprum petat, seseque, si non impetraverit, interimat? quid si filius timens patris pia verbera, praecipitio pereat? quid si alius homine liberato, vel ne alius liberetur, sibi ipse mortem inferat? Num propter istas alienarum mortium causas, aut sceleri consentiendum est, aut vindicta peccati, quae non fit nocendi, sed corrigendi studio, etiam paterna tollenda, aut opera misericordiae cohibenda sunt? Haec cum accidunt, debemus eis humanum dolorem; non propter illa, ne accidant, recte factorum reprimimus voluntatem.

18. Sic etiam cum intercedimus pro peccatore damnando, sequuntur aliquando quae nolumus; sive in ipso qui nostra intercessione liberatur, ut vel immanius impunita grassetur audacia, subdita cupiditati, ingrata lenitati, atque unus morti ereptus plurimos necet; vel ipso per beneficium nostrum in melius commutato, moribusque correcto, alius male vivendo pereat, sibique hujus impunitate proposita, talia vel graviora committat. Non, ut opinor, haec mala imputanda sunt nobis, cum intercedimus vobis: sed potius illa bona quae, cum id facimus, intuemur et volumus; id est commendatio mansuetudinis ad conciliandam dilectionem verbo veritatis, et ut qui liberantur a temporali morte, sic vivant, ne in aeternam, unde nunquam liberentur, incurrant.

19. Prodest ergo et severitas vestra, cujus ministerio quies adjuvatur et nostra; prodest et intercessio nostra, cujus ministerio severitas temperatur et vestra. Non vobis displiceat quod rogamini a bonis; quia nec bonis displicet quod timemini a malis. Nam hominum iniquitatem etiam apostolus Paulus non tantum de judicio futuro, verum etiam de praesentibus vestris securibus terruit, asserens et ipsas ad dispensationem divinae providentiae pertinere. Omnis, inquit, anima potestatibus sublimioribus subdita sit: non est enim potestas, nisi a Deo; quae autem sunt, a Deo ordinatae sunt. Quapropter qui resistit potestati, Dei ordinationi resistit; qui autem resistunt, ipsi sibi judicium acquirunt: principes enim non sunt timori boni operis, sed mali. Vis autem non timere potestatem? Bonum fac, et habebis laudem ex illa: Dei enim minister est tibi in bonum. Quod si malum feceris, time; non enim frustra gladium portat: Dei enim minister est, vindex in iram ei qui male agit. Ideoque necessitate subditi estote, non solum propter iram, sed et propter conscientiam. Ideo enim et tributa praestatis: ministri enim Dei sunt, in hoc ipsum perseverantes. Reddite omnibus debita: cui tributum, tributum; cui vectigal, vectigal; cui timorem, timorem; cui honorem, honorem. Nemini quidquam debeatis, nisi 0662 ut invicem diligatis (Rom. XIII, 1-8). Haec verba Apostoli, utilitatem vestrae severitatis ostendunt. Proinde sicut dilectionem jussi sunt terrentibus debere qui timent, ita dilectionem jussi sunt timentibus debere, qui terrent. Nihil nocendi cupiditate fiat, sed omnia consulendi charitate; et nihil fiat immaniter, nihil inhumaniter. Ita formidabitur ultio cognitoris, ut nec intercessoris religio contemnatur; quia et plectendo et ignoscendo hoc solum bene agitur, ut vita hominum corrigatur. Quod si tanta est perversitas et impietas, ut ei corrigendae nec disciplina possit prodesse, nec venia; a bonis tamen intentione atque conscientia quam Deus cernit, sive severitate, sive lenitate, nonnisi officium dilectionis impletur.

20. Quod autem in epistola tua sequitur, ubi dicis, Verum nunc, ut mores nostri sunt, et sceleris poenam cupiunt sibi homines relaxari, et id propter quod scelus admissum est possidere; pessimum hominum genus commemoras, cui poenitendi medicina omnino non prodest. Si enim res aliena, propter quam peccatum est, cum reddi possit, non redditur, non agitur poenitentia, sed fingitur: si autem veraciter agitur, non remittetur peccatum, nisi restituatur ablatum; sed, ut dixi, cum restitui potest. Plerumque enim qui aufert, amittit; sive alios patiendo malos, sive ipse male vivendo, nec aliud habet unde restituat. Huic certe non possumus dicere, Redde quod abstulisti, nisi cum eum habere credimus et negare. Ubi quidem si aliquos sustinet a repetente cruciatus, dum existimatur habere quod reddat, nulla est iniquitas; quia etsi non est unde luat ablatam pecuniam, merito tamen dum eam per molestias corporales redhibere compellitur, peccati quo male ablata est, poenas luit. Sed inhumanum non est etiam pro talibus intercedere, tanquam pro reis criminum; non ad hoc ut minime restituantur aliena, sed ne frustra homo in hominem saeviat, ille praesertim qui jam remisit culpam, sed quaerit paecuniam, et si fraudari metuit, non expetit vindicari. Denique in talibus causis, si persuadere potuerimus eos pro quibus intervenimus, non habere quod poscitur, continuo nobis eorum molestiae relaxantur. Aliquando autem misericordes et in ipso dubio nolunt homini pro incerta pecunia certa inferre supplicia. Ad hanc misericordiam vos etiam nos provocare et exhortari decet: melius enim, etiamsi habet, amittis, quam si non habet, aut excrucias, aut occidis. Sed pro istis magis apud eos qui repetunt, quam apud eos qui judicant, intercedere convenit; ne ipse videatur auferre, qui cum habeat potestatem, non cogit reddere: quamvis in cogendo ita debeat adhibere integritatem, ut ne amittat humanitatem.

21. Illud vero fidentissime dixerim, eum qui pro homine ad hoc intervenit ne male ablata restituat, et qui ad se confugientem, quantum honeste potest, ad restituendum non compellit, socium esse fraudis et criminis. Nam misericordius opem nostram talibus 0663 subtrahimus, quam impendimus: non enim opem fert qui ad peccandum adjuvat, ac non potius subvertit atque opprimit. Sed numquid ideo nos aut exigere, aut ad exigendum tradere, vel possumus vel debemus? Agimus quantum episcopalis facultas datur, et humanum quidem nonnunquam, sed maxime ac semper divinum judicium comminantes. Nolentes autem reddere, quos novimus et male abstulisse et unde reddant habere, arguimus, increpamus, et detestamur; quosdam clam, quosdam palam, sicut diversitas personarum diversam videtur posse recipere medicinam, nec in aliorum perniciem ad majorem insaniam concitari. Aliquando etiam, si res magis curanda non impedit, sancti altaris communione privamus.

22. Verum saepe accidit ut nos fallant, vel negando se abstulisse, vel affirmando se unde restituant non habere: saepe etiam et vos fallimini, putando vel nos non agere ut reddant, vel ipsos habere unde reddant; et omnes aut pene omnes homines amamus nostras suspiciones vel vocare vel existimare cognitiones, quando credibilibus rerum signis movemur, cum credibilia nonnulla sint falsa, sicut incredibilia nonnulla sunt vera. Ideo quosdam commemorans, qui et sceleris poenam sibi cupiunt relaxari, et id propter quod scelus admissum est possidere, addidisti et aisti: Pro his quoque interveniendum putat sacerdotium vestrum. Fieri enim potest ut tu scias quod ego nescio, et propterea putem pro aliquo interveniendum, quod me fallere potuit, cum te non potuerit, ut ego eum non credam possidere quod tu possidere nosti. Ita fit ut cum de reo sententia non una sit nostra, neutri tamen nostrum placeat quod res non redditur aliena. De homine, ut homines, diversa sentimus; sed in ipsa justitia simul sumus. Eodem modo etiam fieri potest ut quod scio aliquem non habere, hoc eum tu habere non certissime teneas, sed credibiliter suspiceris; et ob hoc tibi videar intervenire pro eo qui et sceleris poenam sibi cupiat relaxari, et id propter quod scelus admissum est possidere. Ad summam igitur neque apud te, neque apud tales, si qui reperiuntur qualem te esse gaudemus, neque apud ipsos qui magno studio aliena ac nihil profutura, multumque etiam periculosa ac perniciosa petunt, neque apud cor meum cui testis est Deus, ausim dicere, sentire, decernere, interveniendum esse pro aliquo, ut quod scelere abstulit, sceleris impunitate possideat: sed ut remissa injuria, quod injuriose abstulit reddat; si tamen habet quod abstulit, vel aliud unde illud restituat.

23. Non sane quidquid ab invito sumitur, injuriose aufertur. Nam plerique nec medico volunt reddere honorem suum, nec operario mercedem; nec tamen haec qui ab invito accipiunt, per injuriam accipiunt, quae potius per injuriam non darentur. Sed non ideo debet judex vendere justum judicium, aut testis verum testimonium, quia vendit advocatus justum patrocinium et jurisperitus verum consilium: illi enim inter utramque partem ad examen adhibentur; isti ex una parte consistunt. Cum autem judicia et testimonia, 0664 quae nec justa et vera vendenda sunt, iniqua et falsa venduntur, multo sceleratius utique pecunia sumitur, quia scelerate etiam quamvis a volentibus datur. Ille tamen solet tanquam male sibi ablatam pecuniam repetere, qui justum judicium emit, quoniam venale esse non debuit: qui vero pro iniquo judicio dedit, vellet quidem repetere, nisi timeret vel puderet emisse.

24. Sunt aliae personae inferioris loci, quae ab utraque parte non insolenter accipiunt, sicut officialis, et a quo admovetur , et cui admovetur officium: ab his extorta per immoderatam improbitatem, repeti solent; data per tolerabilem consuetudinem, non solent: magisque reprehendimus, qui talia inusitate repetiverunt, quam qui ea de more sumpserunt; quoniam multae necessariae personae rebus humanis, vel invitantur hujusmodi commodis, vel tenentur. Isti si viam vitae mutaverint, aut excellentioris conscenderint sanctitatis gradum, facilius ea quae hoc modo acquisierunt, tanquam sua pauperibus largiuntur, quam eis a quibus accepta sunt, tanquam aliena restituunt. Qui vero contra jus societatis humanae, furtis, rapinis, calumniis, oppressionibus, invasionibus abstulerit, reddenda potius quam donanda censemus: Zachaei publicani evangelico exemplo, qui cum hospitio Dominum suscepisset, in vitam sanctam repente mutatus, Dimidium, inquit, rerum mearum do pauperibus, et si cui aliquid abstuli, quadruplum reddo (Luc. XIX, 8).

25. Verumtamen si justitia sincerius consulatur, justius dicitur advocato, Redde quod accepisti, quando contra veritatem stetisti, iniquitati adfuisti, judicem fefellisti, justam causam oppressisti, de falsitate vicisti (quod vides multos honestissimos et disertissimos viros, non solum impune, verum etiam gloriose videri sibi committere); quam cuiquam in quolibet officio militanti, Redde quod accepisti, quando jubente judice cuicumque causae necessarium hominem tenuisti, ne resisteret vinxisti, ne fugeret inclusisti, postremo aut permanente lite exhibuisti, aut finita dimisisti. Sed illud cur advocato non dicatur in promptu est, quia scilicet ita non vult homo repetere quod patrono, ut male vinceret, dedit; sicut non vult reddere quod ab adversario, cum male vicisset, accepit. Quis tandem advocatus, aut ex advocato ita vir optimus facile reperitur, qui suscepto suo dicat: Recipe quod mihi, cum tibi male adessem, dedisti; et redde adversario tuo quod, me agente, inique abstulisti? Et tamen quem prioris non rectae vitae rectissime poenitet, etiam hoc facere debet, ut si ille qui inique litigavit, non vult admonitus corrigere iniquitatem, ejus tamen iniquitatis nolit iste habere mercedem: nisi forte restituendum est alienum, quod per furtum clanculo aufertur, et restituendum non est quod in ipso foro ubi peccata puniuntur, decepto judice, et circumventis legibus obtinetur! Quid dicam 0665 de usuris, quas etiam ipsae leges et judices reddi jubent? An crudelior est qui subtrahit aliquid vel eripit diviti, quam qui trucidat pauperem fenore? Haec atque hujusmodi male utique possidentur, et vellem restituerentur; sed non est quo judice repetantur.

26. Jam ero si prudenter intueamur quod scriptum est, Fidelis hominis totus mundus divitiarum est, infidelis autem nec obolus ; nonne omnes qui sibi videntur gaudere licite conquisitis, eisque uti nesciunt, aliena possidere convincimus? Hoc enim certe alienum non est, quod jure possidetur; hoc autem jure quod juste. et hoc juste quod bene. Omne igitur quod male possidetur, alienum est; male autem possidet, qui male utitur. Cernis ergo quam multi debeant reddere aliena, si vel pauci quibus reddantur, reperiantur: qui tamen ubi ubi sunt, tanto magis ista contemnunt, quanto ea justius possidere potuerunt. Justitiam quippe, et nemo male habet, et qui non dilexerit non habet. Pecunia vero, et a malis male habetur, et a bonis tanto melius habetur, quanto minus amatur. Sed inter haec toleratur iniquitas male habentium, et quaedam inter eos jura constituuntur, quae appellantur civilia; non quod hinc fiat ut bene utentes sint, sed ut male utentes minus molesti sint: donec fideles et pii, quorum jure sunt omnia, qui vel ex illis fiunt, vel inter illos tantisper viventes malis eorum non obstringuntur, sed exercentur, perveniant ad illam civitatem, ubi haereditas aeternitatis est ; ubi non habet nisi justus locum, nonnisi sapiens principatum, ubi possidebunt quicumque ibi erunt, vere sua. Sed tamen etiam hic non intercedimus ut secundum mores legesque terrenas non restituantur aliena: quamvis placabiles vos velimus malis, non ut placeant vel permaneant mali, sed quia ex illis fiunt quicumque fiunt boni, et sacrificio misericordiae placatur Deus, quem nisi propitium haberent mali, nulli essent boni. Diu est quod occupationibus tuis loquendo videor onerosus, cum tibi homini acuto et docto cito solvi potuerit quod quaerebas. Jamdudum autem finire deberem, si te tantum scirem fuisse lecturum quod flagitasti ut rescriberem. Felix in Christo vivas, fili charissime.