Chapter XI.

Having adduced examples of certain frauds found in a few passages of the rhetoricians, he shows that these and all others are more fully and plainly condemned in Scripture.

70. I shall say nothing of the snapping of fingers, or the naked dancing of the heir, at entering on an inheritance.643    Cic. de Off. III. 19. These are well-known things. Nor will I speak of the mass of fishes gathered up at a pretended fishing expedition to excite the buyer’s desires. For why did he show himself so eager for luxuries and delicacies as to allow a fraud of this character?

71. What need is there for me to speak of that well-known story of the pleasant and quiet retreat at Syracuse and of the cunning of a Sicilian?644    Cic. de Off. III. 14. This story is related by Cicero as a clear example of downright fraud, against which in his time there was no remedy at law. For he having found a stranger, and knowing that he was anxious to buy an estate, asked him to his grounds for a meal. He accepted, and on the following day he came. There the sight of a great number of fishermen met his eyes, and a banquet laid out in the most splendid profusion. In the sight of the guests, fishers were placed in the garden-grounds, where no net had ever been laid before. Each one in turn presented to the guests what he had taken, the fish were placed upon the table, and caught the glance of those who sat there. The stranger wondered at the large quantity of fish and the number of boats there were. The answer given was, that this was the great water supply, and that great numbers of fish came there because of the sweetness of the water. To be brief, he drew on the stranger to be urgent in getting the grounds, he willingly allows himself to be induced to sell them, and seemingly with a heavy heart he receives the money.

72. On the next day the purchaser comes to the grounds with his friends, but finds no boat there. On asking whether perhaps the fishermen were observing a festival on that day, he is told that, with the exception of yesterday, they were never wont to fish there; but what power had he to proceed against such a fraud, who had so shamefully grasped at such luxuries? For he who convicts another of a fault ought himself to be free from it. I will not therefore include such trifles as these under the power of ecclesiastical censure, for that altogether condemns every desire for dishonourable gain, and briefly, with few words, forbids every sharp and cunning action.

73. And what shall I say of him who claims to be the heir or legatee, on the proof of a will645    Cic. de Off. III. 18. which, though falsified by others, yet was known to be so by him, and who tries to make a gain through another’s crime, though even the laws of the state convict him who knowingly makes use of a false will, as guilty of a wrong action. But the law of justice is plain, namely, that a good man ought not to go aside from the truth, nor to inflict an unjust loss on any one, nor to act at all deceitfully or to take part in any fraud.

74. What is clearer, however, on this point than the case of Ananias? He acted falsely as regards the price he got for his land, for he sold it and laid at the apostles’ feet part of the price, pretending it was the whole amount.646    Acts v. 2. For this he perished as guilty of fraud. He might have offered nothing and have acted so without committing a fraud. But as deceit entered into his action, he gained no favour for his liberality, but paid the penalty for his artifice.

75. The Lord also in the Gospel rejected those coming to Him with guile, saying: “The foxes have holes,”647    S. Matt. viii. 20. for He bids us live in simplicity and innocency of heart. David also says: “Thou hast used deceit as a sharp razor,”648    Ps. lii. [li.] 2. pointing out by this the treacherous man, just as an implement of this kind is used to help adorn a man, yet often wounds him. If any one makes a show of favour and yet plans deceit after the example of the traitor, so as to give up to death him whom he ought to guard, let him be looked on in the light of that instrument which is wont to wound owing to the vice of a drunken mind and a trembling hand. Thus that man drunk with the wine of wickedness brought death on the high priest Ahimelech,649    1 Sam. [1 Kings] xxii. 9. through a terrible act of treachery, because he had received the prophet with hospitality when the king, roused by the stings of envy, was following him.

CAPUT XI.

Inductis per reticentiam rhetoricam fraudum quarumdam 0165C exemplis, eas atque alias omnes apertius in Scriptura damnari ostenditur.

70. Non ego in haereditatibus adeundis digitorum percussiones, et nudi successoris saltationes notabo; nam haec etiam vulgo notabilia: non simulatae piscationis compositas copias, ut emptoris illiceretur affectus. Cur enim tam studiosus luxuriae ac deliciarum repertus est, ut hujusmodi fraudem pateretur?

71. Quid mihi tractare de Syracusano illo amoeno secretoque secessu, et de Siculi hominis ealliditate: qui cum peregrinum aliquem reperisset, cognito quod cupidus esset hortorum venalium, ad coenam in hortos rogaverit: promisisse invitatum, postridie venisse: offendisse illic magnam piscatorum 0165D multitudinem, exquisitis copiis adornatum convivium, in prospectu coenantium ante hortulos compositos piscatores, ubi numquam ante jaciebant 0166A retia: unusquisque quod ceperat, certatim offerebat epulantibus: supra mensam pisces ingerebantur, oculos recumbentium resilientes verberabant. Mirari hospes tantam copiam piscium, tantumque numerum cymbarum. Responsum quaerenti, aquationem illic esse, dulcis aquae gratia innumerabiles eo pisces convenire. Quid multa? Pellexit hospitem, ut sibi extorqueret hortos: vendere volens cogitur, pretium gravatus suscipit.

72. Sequenti die ad hortos emptor cum amicis venit, navigium nullum invenit. Percontanti num aliqua piscatoribus eo esset die feriarum solemnitas, respondetur nulla, nec umquam illic 126 praeter hesternum diem piscari solitos. Quam hic redarguendi haberet auctoritatem doli, qui tam turpe 0166B captarit aucupium deliciarum? Qui enim alterum peccati arguit, ipse a peccato debet alienus esse. Non ergo hujusmodi nugas ego in hanc Ecclesiasticae censionis auctoritatem vocabo, quae generaliter condemnat omnem lucri turpis appetentiam, brevique sermonis compendio excludit levitatem ac versutiam.

73. Nam de illo quid loquar, qui de eo testamento quod ab aliis licet factum, falsum tamen cognoverit, haereditatem sibi aut legatum vindicet, et lucrum quaerat alieno crimine: cum etiam leges publicae eum qui sciens falso utitur, tamquam reum facinoris astringant? Regula autem justitiae manifesta est, quod a vero declinare virum non deceat bonum, nec damno injusto afficere quemquam, nec doli aliquid annectere fraudisve componere.

0166C 74. Quid evidentius eo quod Ananias (Act. V, 1 et seq.), qui fraudavit de pretio agri sui, quem ipse vendiderat, et portionem pretii tamquam summae totius numerum ante pedes posuit apostolorum, sicut reus fraudis interiit? Licuit utique illi nihil offerre, et hoc sine fraude fecisset. Sed quia fraudem admiscuit, non liberalitatis gratiam reportavit, sed fallaciae poenam exsolvit.

75. Et Dominus in Evangelio cum dolo accedentes repudiabat, dicens: Vulpes foveas habent (Matth. VIII, 20); quoniam in simplicitate cordis, et innocentia nos jubet vivere. David quoque ait: Sicut novacula acuta fecisti dolum (Psal. LI, 4); nequitiae arguens proditorem, eo quod instrumentum hujusmodi ad hominis adhibetur ornatum, et plerumque 0166D ulcerat. Si quis igitur praetendat gratiam, et dolum nectat proditoris exemplo, ut eum quem protegere debeat, prodat ad mortem; instrumenti istius 0167A comparatione censetur, quod ebriae mentis et titubantis vitio manus vulnerare consuevit. Sicut iste malitiae ebrius vino, per funestae proditionis indicium Abimelech sacerdoti necem detulit, eo quod Prophetam hospitio recepisset, quem rex invidiae accensus stimulis persequebatur (I Reg. XXII).