Chap. LXIV.—The Passions are to Be Subdued, and We Must Abstain from Forbidden Things.

Let virtue alone please us, whose reward is immortal when it has conquered pleasure. But when the passions have been overcome and pleasures subdued labour in suppressing other things is easy to him who is a follower of God and of truth: he will never revile, who shall hope for a blessing from God; he will not commit perjury, lest he should mock God; but he will not even swear, lest at any time, either by necessity or through habit, he should fall into perjury. He will speak nothing deceitfully, nothing with dissimulation; he will not refuse that which he has promised, nor will he promise that which he is unable to perform; he will envy no one, since he is content with himself and with his own possessions; nor will he take away from, or wish ill to another, upon whom, perhaps, the benefits of God are more plenteously1567    Proniora sunt.   bestowed. He will not steal, nor will he covet anything at all belonging to another. He will not give his money to usury, for that is to seek after gain from the evils of others; nor, however, will he refuse to lend, if necessity shall compel any one to borrow. He must not be harsh towards a son, nor towards a slave: he must remember that he himself has a Father and a Master. He will so act towards these as he will wish that others should act towards him. He will not receive excessive gifts from those who have less resources than himself; for it is not just that the estates of the wealthy should be increased by the losses of the wretched.  

It is an old precept not to kill, which ought not to be taken in this light, as though we are commanded to abstain only from homicide, which is punished even by public laws. But by the intervention of this command, it will not be permitted us to apply peril of death by word, nor to put to death or expose an infant, nor to condemn one’s self by a voluntary death. We are likewise commanded not to commit adultery; but by this precept we are not only prohibited from polluting the marriage of another, which is condemned even by the common law of nations, but even to abstain from those who prostitute their persons. For the law of God is above all laws; it forbids even those things which are esteemed lawful, that it may fulfil justice. It is a part of the same law not to utter false witness, and this also itself has a wider meaning. For if false witness by falsehood is injurious to him against whom it is spoken, and deceives him in whose presence it is spoken, we must therefore never speak falsely, because falsehood always deceives or injures. Therefore he is not a just man who, even without inflicting injury, speaks in idle discourse. Nor indeed is it lawful for him to flatter, for flattery is pernicious and deceitful; but he will everywhere guard the truth. And although this may for the present be unpleasant, nevertheless, when its advantage and usefulness shall appear, it will not produce hatred, as the poet says,1568    Terent., And., i. 1.   but gratitude.  

CAPUT LXIV. (Lib. VI Inst., c. 18.) Affectus sunt domandi, et a vetitis abstinendum.

Placeat sola virtus, cujus merces immortalis est, cum vicerit voluptatem. Superatis autem affectibus 1076A et perdomitis voluptatibus, facilis in comprimendis caeteris labor est ei, qui sit Dei veritatisque sectator: non maledicet unquam, qui speravit a Deo benedictionem. Non pejerabit, sed ne jurabit quidem, ne quando vel necessitate, vel consuetudine in perjurium cadat. Nihil subdole, nihil dissimulanter loquetur; neque abnegabit, quod spoponderit, neque promittet, quod facere non possit: non invidebit cuiquam, qui se suoque contentus sit; nec detrahet, aut male alteri volet, in quem forsitan beneficia Dei proniora sunt. Non furabitur, nec omnino quidquam concupiscet alienum; non dabit in usuram pecuniam (hoc est enim de alienis malis lucra captare), nec tamen negabit, si quem necessitas cogit mutuari. Non sit asper in filium, neque in servum: meminerit, quod et ipse patrem habeat et dominum. Ita cum his 1076B aget, quemadmodum secum agi volet. Munera superabundantia non accipiet a tenuioribus; nec enim justum est augeri patrimonia locupletum per damna miserorum.

Vetus praeceptum est, non occidere, quod non sic accipi debet, tamquam jubeamur ab homicidio tantum, quod etiam legibus publicis vindicatur, manus abstinere. Sed hac jussione interposita, nec verbo 1077A licebit periculum inferre, 1077A nec infantem necare aut exponere, nec seipsum voluntaria morte damnare. Item non adulterare: sed hoc praecepto, non solum corrumpere alienum matrimonium prohibemur, quod etiam communi gentium jure damnatur, verum etiam prostitutis corporibus abstinere. Supra leges enim Dei lex est; ea quoque, quae pro licitis habentur, vetat, ut justitiam consummet. Ejusdem legis est falsum testimonium non dicere, quod et ipsum latius patet. Nam si falsum testimonium mendacio nocet ei, contra quem dicitur, et fallit eum apud quem dicitur, nunquam igitur mentiendum est, quia mendacium semper aut fallit, aut nocet. Non est ergo vir justus, qui etiam sine noxa in otioso sermone mentitur. Huic vero nec adulari licet, perniciosa est enim ac deceptrix 1077B adulatio: sed ubique custodiet veritatem. Quae licet sit ad praesens insuavis, tamen, cum fructus ejus atque utilitas apparuerit, non odium pariet, ut ait poeta (Terent. Andr., act. I, scen. 1), sed gratiam .