Letter CLI.

(a.d. 413 OR 414.)

To Cæcilianus,1212    Cæcilianus was raised in 409 to the office of præfectus prætorio under Honorius, and is probably the person to whom Augustin addressed Letter LXXXVI. p. 365, in 405 A.D.My Lord Justly Renowned, and Son Most Worthy of the Honour Due by Me to His Rank, Augustin Sends Greeting in the Lord.

1. The remonstrance which you have addressed to me in your letter is gratifying to me in proportion to the love which it manifests. If, therefore, I attempt to clear myself from blame in regard to my silence, the thing which I must attempt is to show that you had no just cause for being displeased with me. But since nothing gives me greater pleasure than that you condescended to take offence at my silence, which I had supposed to be a matter of no moment in the midst of your many cares, I will be pleading against myself if I endeavour thus to clear myself from blame. For if you were wrong in being displeased at me for not writing to you, this must be because of your having such a poor opinion of me that you are absolutely indifferent whether I speak or remain silent. Nay, the displeasure which arises from your being distressed by my silence is not displeasure. I therefore feel not so much grief at my withholding, as joy at your desiring a communication from me. For it is an honour, not a vexation, to me, that I should have a place in the remembrance of an old friend, and a man who is (though you may not say it, yet it is our duty to acknowledge it) of such eminent worth and greatness, holding a position in a foreign country, and burdened with public responsibilities. Pardon me, then, for expressing my gratitude that you did not regard me as a person whose silence it was beneath you to resent. For now I am persuaded, through that benevolence which distinguishes you more even than your high rank, that in the midst of your numerous and important occupations, not of a private nature, but public, involving the interests of all, a letter from me may be esteemed by you not burdensome, but welcome.

2. For when I had received the letter of the holy father Innocentius, venerable for his eminent merits, which was sent to me by the brethren, and which was, by manifest tokens, shown to have been forwarded to me from your Excellency, I formed the opinion that the reason why no letter from you accompanied it was that, being engrossed with more important affairs, you were unwilling to be embarrassed by the trouble of correspondence. For it seemed certainly not unreasonable to expect, that when you condescended to send me the writings of a holy man, I should receive along with them some writings of your own. I had therefore made up my mind not to trouble you with a letter from me unless it was necessary for the purpose of commending to you some one to whom I could not refuse the service of my intercession, a favour which it is our custom to grant to all,—a custom which, though involving much trouble, is not to be altogether condemned. I accordingly did this recommending to your kindness a friend of mine, from whom I have now received a letter, expressing his thanks, to which I add my own, for your service.

3. If, however, I had formed any unfavourable impression concerning you, especially in regard to the matter of which, though it was not expressly named, a subtle odour, so to speak, pervaded your whole letter, far would it have been from me to write to you any such note in order to ask any favour for myself or another. In that case I would either have been silent, waiting for a time when I would have an opportunity of seeing you personally; or if I considered it my duty to write on the subject, I would have given it the first place in my letter, and would have treated it in such a way as to make it almost impossible for you to show displeasure. For when, notwithstanding remonstrances which, under an anxiety shared by you with us, we addressed to him,—beseeching him vehemently, but in vain, to forbear from piercing our hearts with so great sorrow, and mortally wounding his own conscience by such grievous sin,—he1213    From the beginning to the end of this letter, Augustin studiously avoids naming the persons concerned in the perfidious act of judicial murder, in connection with which the suspicion of many had been fastened upon Cæcilianus. The person by whose orders the sentence of death was carried into effect was Count Marinus, the general by whom the attempt of Heraclianus (413 A.D.) to seize the imperial power was defeated, and who afterwards received a commission to pass into Africa and punish those who had been implicated in the revolt of Heraclianus. A commission of this kind opened a wide door for the gratification of private revenge by enemies who did not scruple to bring false accusations against the innocent; and among the victims of such injustice were two brothers who had, by their zeal for the Catholic Church, made themselves obnoxious to the Donatists. The elder of these was Apringius, a magistrate to whom Augustin wrote a letter (the 134th) recommending clemency in punishing the Donatists. The younger was Marcellinus, concerning whom ses also note to Letter CXXXIII. p. 470. perpetrated his impious, savage, and perfidious crime, I left Carthage immediately and secretly, for this reason, lest the numerous and influential persons who in terror sought refuge from his sword within the church should, imagining that my presence could be of use to them, detain me by their passionate weeping and groaning, so that I would be compelled, in order to secure the preservation of their bodies, to supplicate a favour from one whom it was impossible for me to rebuke in order to the welfare of his soul, with the severity which his crime deserved. As for their personal safety, I knew that the walls of the church sufficed for their protection. But for myself [if I remained to intercede with him on their behalf], it could only be in circumstances painfully embarrassing, for he would not have tolerated my acting towards him as I was bound to do, and I would have been compelled, moreover, to act in a way which would have been unbecoming in me. At the same time, I was truly sorry for the misfortune of my venerable co-bishop, the ruler of such an important church, who was expected to regard it as his duty, even after this man had been guilty of such infamous treachery, to treat him with submissive deference, in order that the lives of others might be spared. I confess the reason of my departure: it was that I would have been unable to meet with the necessary fortitude so great a calamity.

4. The same considerations which made me then depart would have been the cause of my remaining silent to you, if I believed you to have used your influence with him to avenge such wicked injuries. This is believed in regard to you only by those who do not know how, and how frequently, and in what terms, you expressed your mind to us, when we were with anxious solicitude doing our utmost to secure that, because he was so intimate with you, and you were so constantly visiting him, and so often conversing alone with him, he should all the more carefully guard your good name, and save you from being supposed to have used no endeavour to prevent him from inflicting that mode of death on persons said to be your enemies. This, indeed, is not believed of you by me, nor by my brethren who heard you in conversation, and who saw, both in your words and in every gesture, the evidences of your heart’s good-will to those who were put to death. But, I beseech you, forgive those by whom it is believed; for they are men, and in the minds of men there are such lurking places and such depths that, although all suspicious persons deserved to be blamed, they think themselves that they even deserve praise for their prudence. There existed reasons for the conduct imputed to you: we knew that you had suffered very grievous injury from one of those whom he had suddenly ordered to be arrested. His brother, also, in whose person especially he persecuted the Church, was said to have answered you in terms implying as it were some harsh accusation. Both were thought to be looked upon by you with suspicion. When they, after being summoned, had gone away, you still remained in the place, and were engaged, it was said, in conversation of a more private kind than usual with him [Marinas], and then they were suddenly ordered to be detained. Men talked much of your friendship with him as not recent, but of long standing. The closeness of your intimacy, and the frequency of your private conversations with him, confirmed this report. His power was at that time great. The ease with which false accusations could be made against any one was notorious. It was not a difficult thing to find some person who would upon the promise of his own safety make any statements which he might order to be made. All things at that time made it easy for any man to be brought to death without any examination on the part of him who ordered the execution, if even one witness brought forward what seemed to be an odious and, at the same time, credible accusation.

5. Meanwhile, as it was rumored that the power of the Church might deliver them, we were mocked with false promises, so that not only with the consent, but, as it seemed, at the urgent desire of Marinus, a bishop was sent to the Imperial Court to intercede for them, the promise having been brought to the ear of the bishops that, until some pleading should be heard there on behalf of the prisoners, no examination of their case would be proceeded with. At last, on the day before they were put to death, your Excellency came to us; you gave us encouragement such as you had never before given, that he might grant their lives as a favour to you before your departure [for Rome], because you had solemnly and prudently said to him that all his condescension in admitting you so constantly to familiar and private conversation would bring to you disgrace rather than distinction, and would have the effect, after the death of these men had been a subject of conversation and consultation between you, of making every one say that there could be no doubt what was to be the issue of these conferences. When you informed us that you had said these things to him, you stretched out your hand as you spoke towards the place at which the sacraments of believers are celebrated, and while we listened in amazement, you confirmed the statement that you had used these words with an oath so solemn, that not only then, but even now after the dreadful and unexpected death of the prisoners, it seems to me, recalling to memory your whole demeanour, that it would be an aggravated insult if I were to believe any evil concerning you. You said, moreover, that he was so moved by these words of yours, that he purposed to give the lives of these men to you as a present, in token of friendship, before you set out on your journey.

6. Wherefore, I solemnly assure your Grace, that when on the following day (the day on which the infamous crime thus conceived was consummated) tidings were unexpectedly brought to us that they had been led forth from prison to stand before him as their judge, although we were in some alarm, nevertheless, after reflecting on what you had said to us on the preceding day, and on the fact that the day following was the anniversary of the blessed Cyprian, I supposed that he had even purposely selected a day on which he might not only grant your request, but also might aspire, by giving sudden joy to the whole Church of Christ, to emulate the virtue of so great a martyr, proving himself truly greater in using clemency in sparing life than in possessing power to inflict death. Such were my thoughts, when lo! a messenger burst into our presence, from whom, before we could ask him how their trial was being conducted, we learned that they had been beheaded. For care had been taken to arrange, as the scene of execution, a place immediately adjoining, not appointed for the punishment of criminals, but used for the recreation of the citizens, on which spot he had ordered some to be executed a few days previously, with the design (as is with good reason believed) of avoiding the odium of applying it to this purpose for the first time in the case of these men, whom he hoped to be able to snatch secretly from the Church interposing on their behalf, by thus not only ordering their immediate execution, but also ordering it to take place on the nearest available spot. He therefore made it sufficiently manifest that he did not fear to cause cruel pain to that Mother whose intervention he feared, namely, to the holy Church, among whose faithful children, baptized in her bosom, we knew that he himself was reckoned. Therefore, after the issue of so great a plot, in which so much care had been used in negotiating with us that we were made, even by you also, though unwittingly, almost free from solicitude, and almost sure of their safety on the preceding day, who, judging of the circumstances in the way in which ordinary men would judge of them, could avoid regarding it as beyond question that by you also words were given to us and life taken from them? Pardon, then, as I have said, those who believe these things against you, although we do not believe them, O excellent man.

7. Far be it, however, from my heart and from my practice, however defective in many things, to intercede with you for any one, or ask a favour from you for any one, if I believed you to be responsible for this monstrous wrong, this villanous cruelty. But I frankly confess to you, that if you continue, even after that event, to be on the same footing of intimate friendship with him as you were formerly, you must excuse my claiming freedom to be grieved; for by this you would compel us to believe much which we would rather disbelieve. It is, however, fitting that, as I do not believe you guilty of the other things laid by some to your charge, I should not believe this either. This friend of yours has, in the unexpected triumph of sudden accession to power, done violence not less to your reputation than to these men’s lives. Nor is it my design in this statement to kindle hatred in your mind; in so doing I would belie my own feelings and profession. But I exhort you to a more faithful exercise of love towards him. For the man who so deals with the wicked as to make them repent of their evil doings, is one who knows how to be angry with them, and yet consult for their good; for as bad companions hinder men’s welfare by compliance, so good friends help them by opposition to their evil ways. The same weapon with which, in the proud abuse of power, he took away the lives of others, inflicted a much deeper and more serious wound on his own soul; and if he do not remedy this by repentance, using wisely the long-suffering of God, he will be compelled to find it out and feel it when this life is ended. Often, moreover, God in His wisdom permits the life of good men in this world to be taken from them by the wicked, that He may prevent men from believing that to suffer such things is in their case a calamity. For what harm can result from the death of the body to men who are destined to die some time? Or what do those who fear death accomplish by their care but a short postponement of the time at which they die? All the evil to which mortal men are liable comes not from death but from life; and if in dying they have the soul sustained by Christian grace, death is to them not the night of darkness in which a good life ends, but the dawn in which a better life begins.1214    In the original of this sentence there is a characteristic antithesis of phrases: “Non sane mors eorum bonæ vitæ occasus fuit sed melioris occasio.”

8. The life and conversation of the elder of the two brothers appeared indeed more conformed to this world than to Christ, although he also had after his marriage corrected to a great extent the faults of his early irreligious years. It may, nevertheless, have been not otherwise than in mercy that our merciful God appointed him to be the companion of his brother in death. But as to that younger brother, he lived religiously, and was eminent as a Christian both in heart and in practice. The report that he would approve himself such when commissioned to serve the Church1215    See note to letter CXXXIII. p. 470. came before him to Africa, and this good report followed him still when he had come. In his conduct, what innocence! in his friendship, what constancy! in his study of Christian truth, what zeal! in his religion, what sincerity! in his domestic life, what purity! in his official duties, what integrity! What patience be showed to enemies, what affability to friends, what humility to the pious, what charity to all men! How great his promptitude in granting, and his bashfulness in asking a favour! How genuine his satisfaction in the good deeds, and his sorrow over the faults of men! What spotless honour, noble grace, and scrupulous piety shone in him! In rendering assistance, how compassionate he was! in forgiving injuries, how generous! in prayer, how confiding! When well informed on any subject, with what modesty he was wont to communicate useful knowledge! when conscious of ignorance, with what diligence did he endeavour by investigation to overcome the disadvantage! How singular was his contempt for the things of time! how ardent his hope and his desires in regard to the blessings that are eternal! He would have relinquished all secular business and girded himself with the insignia of the Christian warfare, had he not been prevented by his having entered into the married state; for he had not begun to desire better things before the time when, being already involved in these bonds, it would have been, notwithstanding their inferiority, an unlawful thing for him to rend them asunder.

9. One day when they were confined in prison together, his brother said to him: “If I suffer these things as the just punishment of my sins, what ill desert has brought you to the same fate, for we know that your life was most strictly and earnestly Christian?” He replied: “Supposing even that your testimony as to my life were true, do you think that God is bestowing a small favour upon me in appointing that my sins be punished in these sufferings, even though they should end in death, instead of being reserved to meet me in the judgment which is to come?” These words might perhaps lead some to suppose that he was conscious of some secret immoralities. I shall therefore mention what it pleased the Lord God to appoint that I should hear from his lips, and know assuredly, to my own great consolation. Being anxious about this very thing, as human nature is liable to fall into such wickedness, I asked him, when I was alone with him after he was confined in prison, if there was no sin for which he ought to seek reconciliation with God1216    Deum sibi placare. by some more severe and special penance. With characteristic modesty he blushed at the mere mention of my suspicion, groundless though it was, but thanked me most warmly for the warning, and with a grave, modest smile he seized with both hands my right hand, and said: “I swear by the sacraments which are dispensed to me by this hand, that I have neither before nor since my marriage been guilty of immoral self-indulgence.”1217    Me nullum esse expertum concubitum præter uxorem.

10. What evil, then, was brought to him by death? Nay, rather, was it not the occasion of the greatest possible good to him, because, in the possession of these gifts, he departed from this life to Christ, in whom alone they are really possessed? I would not mention these things in addressing you if I believed that you would be offended by my praising him. But assuredly, as I do not believe this, neither do I believe that his being put to death was even according to your desire or wish, much less that it was done at your request. You, therefore, with a sincerity proportioned to your innocence in this matter, entertain, doubtless, along with us, the opinion that the man who put him to death inflicted more cruel wrong on his own soul than on the sufferer’s body, when, in despite of us, in despite of his own promises, in despite of so many supplications and warnings from you, and finally, in despite of the Church of Christ (and in her of Christ Himself), he consummated his base machinations by putting this man to death. Is the high position of the one worthy to be compared with the lot of the other, prisoner though he was, when the man of power was maddened by anger, while the sufferer in his prison was filled with joy? There is nothing in all the dungeons of this world, nay, not even in hell itself, to surpass the dreadful doom of darkness to which a villian is consigned by remorse of conscience. Even to yourself, what evil did he do? He did not destroy your innocence, although he grievously injured your reputation; which, nevertheless, remains uninjured, both in the estimation of those who know you better than we do, and in our estimation, in whose presence the anxiety which, like us, you felt for the prevention of such a monstrous crime, was expressed with so much visible agitation that we could almost see with our eyes the invisible workings of your heart. Whatever harm, therefore, he has done, he has done to himself alone; he has pierced through his own soul, his own life, his own conscience; in fine, he has by that blind deed of cruelty destroyed even his own good name, a thing which the very worst of men are usually fain to preserve. For to all good men he is odious in proportion to his efforts to obtain, or his satisfaction in receiving, the approbation of the wicked.

11. Could anything prove more clearly that he was not under the necessity which he pretended—alleging that he did this evil action as a good man who had no alternative—than the fact that the proceeding was disapproved of by the person whose orders he dared to plead as his excuse? The pious deacon by whose hand we send this was himself associated with the bishop whom we had sent to intercede for them; let him, therefore, relate to your Excellency how it seemed good to the Emperor not even to give a formal pardon, lest by this the stigma of a crime should be in some degree attached to them, but a mere notice commanding them to be immediately set at liberty from all further annoyance. By a purely gratuitous act of cruelty, and under no pressure of necessity (although, perchance, there may have been other causes which we suspect, but which it is unnecessary to state in writing), he did outrageously vex the Church,—the Church to whose sheltering bosom his brother once, in fear of death, had fled, to be requited for protecting his life by finding him active in counselling the perpetration of this crime,—the Church in which he himself had once, when under the displeasure of an offended patron, sought an asylum which could not be denied to him. If you love this man, show your detestation of his crime; if you do not wish him to come into everlasting punishment, shrink with horror from his society. You are bound to take measures of this kind, both for your own good name and for his life; for he who loves in this man what God hates, is, in truth, hating not only this man but also his own soul.

12. These things being so, I know your benevolence too well to believe that you were the author of this crime, or an accomplice in its commission, or that with malicious cruelty you deceived us: far be such conduct from your life and conversation! At the same time, I would not wish your friendship to be of such a character as tends to make him, to his own destruction, glory in his crime, and to confirm the suspicions naturally cherished by men concerning you; but rather let it be such as to move him to penitence, and to penitence corresponding in quality and in measure to the remedy demanded for the healing of such dreadful wounds. For the more you are an enemy to his crimes, the more really will you be a friend to the man himself. It will be interesting to us to learn, by your Excellency’s reply to this letter, where you were on the day on which the crime was committed, how you received the tidings, and what you did thereafter, and what you said to him and heard from him when you next saw him; for I have not been able to hear anything of you in connection with this affair since my sudden departure on the succeeding day.

13. As to the remark in your letter that you are now compelled to believe that I refuse to visit Carthage for fear lest you should be seen there by me, you rather compel me by these words to state explicitly the reasons of my absence. One reason is, that the labour which I am obliged to undergo in that city, and which I could not describe without adding as much again to the length of this letter, is more than I am able now to bear, since, in addition to my infirmities peculiar to myself, which are known to all my more intimate friends, I am burdened with an infirmity common to the human family, namely, the weakness of old age. The other reason is, that, in so far as leisure is granted me from the work imperatively demanded by the Church, which my office specially binds me to serve, I have resolved to devote the time entirely, if the Lord will, to the labour of studies pertaining to ecclesiastical learning; in doing which I think that I may, if it please the mercy of God, be of some service even to future generations.

14. There is, indeed, one thing in you, since you wish to hear the truth, which causes me very great distress: it is that, although qualified by age, as well as by life and character, to do otherwise, you still prefer to be a catechumen; as if it were not possible for believers, by making progress in Christian faith and well-doing, to become so much the more faithful and useful in the administration of public business. For surely the promotion of the welfare of men is the one great end of all your great cares and labours. And, indeed, if this were not to be the issue of your public services, it would be better for you even to sleep both day and night than to sacrifice your rest in order to do work which can contribute nothing to the advantage of your fellow-men. Nor do I entertain the slightest doubt that your Excellency . . .

(Cætera desunt.)

EPISTOLA CLI . Caeciliano significat sui erga illum animi studium, vereremque amicitiam nihil imminutam esse: haudquaquam enim suspicari conscium ipsum fuisse impiae crudelisque perfidiae a viro praepotenti (Marino comite) perpetratae in caede duorum fratrum, quorum alter (Marcellinus tribunus) integerrimis erat moribus praeditus, et omnium christianorum virtutum splendore ornatissimus.

0646

Domino merito illustri, e debito a me honore dignissimo filio CAECILIANO, AUGUSTINUS, in Domino salutem.

1. Querela de me apud te litteris tuis indita tanto est mihi gratior, quanto plenior charitatis. Si ergo quod tacui purgare coner, quid conabor aliud quam ostendere te non habuisse causam quam mihi succensere deberes? Sed cum id in te magis diligam, quod de mea reticentia es dignatus offendi, quam inter tuas curas nihil momenti habere credideram; causam meam deseram, si me purgare contendero. Si enim indignari non debuisti, quia non ad te scripserim; nihil me pendis, qui loquarne an taceam indifferenter feras. Porro quia me tacuisse moleste tulisti, indignatio ista, indignatio non est. Non itaque tam doleo me non praebuisse, quam gaudeo te nostrum desiderasse sermonem. Nam veterem amicum, et quod abs te taceri, sed a nobis oportet agnosci, talem ac tantum virum in peregrinis positum, curisque publicis laborantem, quod memoriae fuerim, honori mihi est, non moerori. Ignosce igitur agenti gratias quod me indignum non putasti cui succenseres tacenti. Nunc enim inter tot et tanta negotia, non tua, sed publica, id est omnium, non solum onerosas non esse, verum etiam gratas esse posse litteras meas credidi benevolentiae tuae, qua excellentiam vincis.

2. Cum enim accepissem mihi a fratribus epistolam missam sancti et praecipuis meritis venerandi papae Innocentii, quam per tuam Praestantiam ad me datam certis declaratur indiciis; ideo nullam tuam paginam simul advectam esse putaveram quod scribendi et rescribendi cura nolueris, gravioribus rebus occupatus, obstringi. Nam utique consentaneum videbatur ut qui mihi sancti viri scripta dignatus es mittere, ea sumerem adjuncta cum tuis. Hinc ergo statueram non esse oneri litteras meas animo tuo, nisi esset necesse commendandi alicujus gratia, cui hoc negare non possem intercessionis officio; quae solet nostra esse omnibus concedendi consuetudo, et quaedam, etiam importuna, non tamen improbanda, professio. Itaque feci: nam amicum meum commendavi benignitati tuae; a quo etiam sua rescripta jam sumpsi, agente gratias, quas et ipse ago.

0647 3. Si quid autem de te mali existimarem, praesertim in ea causa quam etiam non expressam, tamen mihi tua epistola redolebat; absit ut ad te tale aliquid scriberem, ubi ullum vel mihi vel cuiquam beneficium postularem. Aut enim conticescerem, observans tempus ubi te possem habere praesentem; aut si litteris agendum putarem, illud potius agerem, et sic agerem, ut dolorem manifestare vix posses. Nam ideo post illius impiam crudelemque perfidiam (cui etiam per tuam nobiscum participatam sollicitudinem frustra vehementer institimus, ne illo cor nostrum dolore percelleret, suam vero conscientiam tanto scelere trucidaret), continuo sum a Carthagine profectus, occultato abscessu meo, ne tot ac tanti qui ejus intra ecclesiam gladium formidabant, violentis fletibus et gemitibus me tenerent, putantes meam sibi aliquid posse prodesse praesentiam, ut quem satis digne pro ejus anima objurgare non possem, pro illorum corporibus etiam rogare compellerer. Quam tamen eorum corporalem salutem satis parietes ecclesiae muniebant. Ego autem duris coarctabar augustiis, quod neque ille me pateretur, qualem oporteret; et insuper facere cogerer quod non deceret. Dolebam etiam graviter vicem venerabilis coepiscopi mei tantae rectoris Ecclesiae, ad cujus pertinere dicebatur officium, post hominis tam nefariam fallaciam adhuc se praebere humilem, quo caeteris parceretur. Fateor; cum tantum malum nullo pectoris robore potuissem tolerare, discessi.

4. Haec esset et nunc silentii mei causa apud te, quae fuit tunc discessionis meae, si te apud illum egisse crederem, ut tam nefarias ulcisceretur injurias. Credunt ista qui nesciunt quomodo, et quoties, et quae nobis dixeris, cum anxia cura perageremus ut quanto tibi familiarius inhaerebat, quanto ad eum crebrius ventitabas, quanto saepius cum solo colloquebaris, tanto magis curaret existimationem tuam; ne his qui tui dicebantur inimici talem exitum daret, ut nihil cum illo aliud egisse putareris. Quod quidem nec ego 0648 credo, nec fratres mei qui te in loquelis audierunt, et auditu atque omni nutu viderunt signa benigni pectoris tui. Sed, obsecro te, ignosce credentibus: homines enim sunt, et in animis hominum tantae latebrae sunt, et tanti recessus, ut omnes suspiciosi cum merito culpentur, etiam laudari arbitrentur se debere, quod cauti sint. Causae stabant; ab uno eorum quos teneri ille repente praeceperat, gravissimam te passum fuisse injuriam noveramus. Frater quoque ejus, in quo Ecclesiam maxime persecutus est, nescio quid duriter quasi praeferens tibi respondisse dicebatur. Putabantur tibi ambo esse suspecti. Postulati cum abiissent, te illic remanente, et cum illo secretius, ut ferebatur, loquente, subito jussi sunt detineri. Amicitiam vestram non recentem, sed veterem, homines loquebantur. Famam confirmabat tanta conjunctio, et tam assidua solius cum solo sermocinatio. Potestas illius magna tunc erat. Calumniae facilitas radiabat. Non erat grande negotium procurari aliquem, qui diceret quod salute promissa dicendum ille mandasset. Omnia in tempore isto suffragabantur, ut etiam uno teste, tanquam invidioso et credibili crimine, sine jubentis discrimine quilibet de medio tolleretur.

5. Nos interea, quoniam rumor erat quod ecclesiastica manus posset eos eripere, falsis promissionibus ludebamur; ut illo non solum quasi volente, sed etiam instante, pro eis ad Comitatum episcopus mitteretur, ea pollicitatione interposita episcopalibus auribus, quod donec aliquid pro eis illic ageretur, nullum causae illorum excitaretur examen. Postremo, pridie quam terirentur, venit ad nos Praestantia tua; spem dedisti, qualem nunquam antea dederas, quod eos tibi posset concedere profecturo, cum illi graviter prudenterque dixisses, totum quod tecum tam assidue familiarius secretiusque loqueretur, non te honorare potius quam gravare , atque ad id valere, quod communicato et pertractato inter vos mortis eorum consilio, nemo dubitaret quid post haec omnia sequeretur. Quae cum te dixisse nobis indicares, inter narrandum namque tendens in eum locum ubi celebrantur sacramenta fidelium, stupentibus nobis ita jurasti te ista dixisse, ut non solum tunc, verum etiam nunc post tam horrendum inopinatum exitum, cum tuos omnes nutus recolo, nimis mihi impudens videar, si de te aliquid mali credam. Quibus tuis verbis sic eum permotum fuisse dicebas, quod velut familiare viaticum tibi eorum donaturus esset salutem.

6. Unde testor Dilectioni tuae, postero die, quo illius parturitionis nefarius fetus est ortus, cum esset nobis repente nuntiatum illos e carcere ad eum judicem ductos, quanquam perturbati fuerimus, tamen ego considerans et quae nobis pridie dixeras, et qui esset post illum exorturus dies, quoniam beati Cypriani erat pridiana solemnitas , existimavi quod 0649 etiam elegerit diem, quo et tibi postulata concederet, et universam Christi Ecclesiam repente laetificans, ad locum tanti martyris ascendere voluerit, parcendi benignitate quam occidendi potestate sublimior; cum ecce nobis nuntius irruit, quo prius percussos esse nossemus, quam quomodo audirentur quaerere valeremus. Provisus enim erat et proximus locus, non suppliciis hominum deputatus, sed ornamento potius civitatis, ubi merito creditur propterea quosdam ante aliquot dies jussisse mactari, ne in istis invidiosa novitas esset: quos consilium fuit sic posse subripi Ecclesiae, si non solum subito feriri juberentur, verum etiam in loco proximo ferirentur. Satis itaque indicavit ei matri se inferre non timuisse cruciatum, cujus timuit interventum: Ecclesiae scilicet sanctae, inter cujus fideles in ejus gremio baptizatos et ipsum utique noveramus. Post hunc igitur tanti moliminis exitum, cum tam diligenter nobiscum actum esset, ut etiam per te, etsi nesciente te, pene securi et pene certi de salute illorum pridie fieremus; quis non talium, qualis hominum multitudo est, indubitatum haberet, etiam a te nobis verba data, illis animam ablatam? Ideo, sicut dixi, vir bone, etiamsi nos hoc non credimus, ignosce credentibus.

7. Absit autem a corde, et qualicumque vita mea, ut apud te pro aliquo intercederem, vel a te cuiquam beneficium postularem, si te crederem tanti hujus mali, et tam consceleratae crudelitatis auctorem. Sed plane fateor, si etiam posthac in ea familiaritate estis in qua antea fuistis, pace tua sit liber dolor; multum nos quod nolebamus compellitis credere. Est autem consentaneum ut neque hoc credam, qui de te illa non credo. Amicus tuus inopinato successu repentinae potestatis non magis persecutus est illorum vitam, quam tuam famam. Nec ista loquens, odia tua in illum, mei animi ac professionis oblitus, inflammo; sed ad fideliorem provoco dilectionem. Qui enim sic agit cum malis, ut eos malitiae poeniteat, novit etiam indignatione consulere: nam sicut mali obsunt assentando, ita boni adversando prosunt. Suam quippe animam eodem ferro, quo alios insolentissime occidit, gravius altiusque percussit: quod post hanc vitam, si non eam poenitendo correxerit, et patientia Dei bene usus fuerit, invenire ac sentire cogetur. Saepe autem vita praeseus etiam bonorum, Dei judicio malis cripienda permissa est, ne talia perpeti putaretur malum. Mori quippe in carne quid potest obesse morituris? aut quid agunt qui mori timent, nisi ut paulo posterius moriantur? Quidquid obest morientibus, ex vita, non ex morte contingit; in qua si tales animas habuerint, qualibus christiana gratia subvenitur, non sane mors eorum vitae bonae occasus fuit, sed melioris occasio.

8. Et majoris quidem mores apparebant huic 0650 saeculo amiciores esse quam Christo: quanquam et ipse juvenilem prius saecularemque vitam uxore ducta, non parva ex parte correxerat. Non tamen fortasse misericors Deus fratris eum esse in morte comitem nisi miserans voluit. Ille vero alius religiose vivit, et multum corde vitaque christiana. Haec eum fama praecessit, ut in causa Ecclesiae sic veniret: haec consecuta est cum venisset. Quae illi vero probitas in moribus, in amicitia fides, in doctrina studium, in religione sinceritas, in conjugio pudicitia, in judicio continentia; erga inimicos patientia, erga amicos affabilitas, erga sanctos humilitas, erga omnes charitas; in beneficiis praestandis facilitas, in petendis pudor, in recte factis amor, in peccatis dolor! Quantum decus honestatis, qui splendor gratiae, quae cura pietatis; quae in subveniendo misericordia, in ignoscendo benevolentia, in orando fiducia! Quod salubriter sciebat, qua modestia loquebatur! quod inutiliter nesciebat, qua diligentia scrutabatur! Quantus in eo contemptus rerum praesentium! quanta spes et desiderium bonorum aeternorum! Ne relictis omnibus saecularibus actionibus susciperet cingulum militiae christianae, vinculum praepediebat uxorium, quo jam innodatus coeperat concupiscere meliora, quando jam non licebat illa, quamvis inferiora, disrumpere.

9. Quodam die frater ejus, cum jam pariter in custodia tenerentur, ait illi: Si ego haec pro meritis patior peccatorum meorum; tu, cujus vitam novimus, tam attente ferventerque christianam, quibus malis meritis ad ista perductus es? At ille: Parvumne, inquit, mihi existimas conferri divinitus beneficium, si tamen hoc testimonium tuum de vita mea verum est, ut hoc quod patior, etiamsi usque ad effusionem sanguinis patiar, ibi peccata mea puniantur, nec mihi ad futurum judicium reserrentur. Hic forte aliquis credat eum fuisse sibi conscium aliquorum occultorum impudicitiae peccatorum. Dicam ergo quid me Dominus Deus, ad magnam meam consolationem, ex ejus ore audire, et plane scire voluerit. Cum de hoc ipso, ut sunt humana, sollicitus, solus cum solo agerem, jam in eadem custodia constituto, ne quid esset unde majore et insigniore poenitentia Deum sibi placare deberet; ille ut erat verecundiae singularis, cum ipsam, licet falsam meam suspicionem erubesceret, sed admonitionem gratissime acciperet, modeste graviterque subridens, et utraque manu meam dexteram apprehendens: Testor, inquit, Sacramenta quae per hanc afferuntur manum, me nullum esse expertum concubitum praeter uxorem, nec ante, nec postea.

10. Quid ergo huic in morte accidit mali, ac non potius plurimum boni, cum haec habens dona ad 0651 Christum, sine quo inaniter habentur, ex hac vita migravit? Quae apud te non commemorarem, si crederem te laudibus ejus offendi. Cum autem hoc non credo, nec illud profecto, quod te, non dico instante, sed saltem volente aut optante posset occidi. Proinde judicas nobiscum tanto sincerius, quanto innocentius, quod ille cum anima sua, quam cum istius corpore crudelius egerit; quando contemptis nobis, contemptis promissionibus suis, contemptis tot ac tantis petitionibus et admonitionibus tuis, contempta denique Ecclesia Christi (et in ea quo, nisi Christo?), ad finem suae machinationis hujus morte pervenit. An vero illius honos, istius vel carceri comparandus est, cum ille fureret sublimatus, iste gauderet inclusus? Horrendis et poenalibus tenebris, omnes non tantum carceres, sed etiam inferos vincit scelerati hominis conscientia. Tibi etiam quid nocuit, cujus etsi famam graviter laesit, tamen innocentiam non peremit? Quamvis fama quoque ipsa salva sit, et apud eos qui te melius noverunt quam nos, et apud nos ipsos, qui curas nobiscum tuas, ne tam immane perpetraretur scelus, tanto expressas inspiciebamus affectu, ut tui cordis invisibilia pene oculis cerneremus. Sibi igitur ille nocuit, quidquid nocuit; suam transfixit animam, suam vitam, suam conscientiam; suam denique ipsam famam, quam bonam solent etiam pessimi concupiscere, caeca illa crudelitate vastavit. Tanto enim est odiosior omnibus bonis, quanto magis impiis placere conatus est, vel placuisse laetatus.

11. Ubi autem magis potuit apparere non eum habuisse necessitatem quam se habere confinxit, ut ejus obtentu tanquam bonus faceret tantum malum, quam quod nec illi placuit de cujus praecepto se ausus est excusare? Referat Praestantiae tuae sanctus diaconus qui per N. manus, ipse enim fuerat episcopo quem pro illis miseramus adjunctus, quemadmodum nec indulgentia illis danda visa est, ne vel sic aliquo crimine notarentur; sed tantum commonitorium quo eos ab omni molestia liberos dimittere juberetur. Gratuita igitur crudelitate, nulla necessitate (quamvis et aliae causae, quas suspicamur, nec opus est committere litteris, forsitan fuerint), atrociter contristavit Ecclesiam. Ad cujus Ecclesiae gremium frater ejus, metuens perire, confugerat, ut eum vivum tanti sceleris consiliarium reperiret: cujus Ecclesiae etiam ipse, cum patronum offendisset, petivit asylum, nec ei potuit denegari. Hunc si diligis, detestare; si non vis ut in aeternum puniatur, exhorre. Sic existimationi tuae, sic est vitae illius consulendum: nam qui in eo diligit quod odit Deus, non solum odit ipsum, sed etiam seipsum.

12. Quae cum ita sint, nec de tua benignitate credo quod tanti sceleris auctor vel particeps fueris, neque quod malitiosa crudelitate fefelleris: quod absit a vita et moribus tuis! Nec amicitias vestras tales volo, quibus et ille in suum interitum glorietur de malo, et confirmetur humana suspicio; sed tales potius, quibus ad poenitentiam disponatur, et talem ac tantam poenitentiam, 0652 qualem quantamque postulant tam horrenda vulnera medicinam: tanto quippe amicior eris, quanto sceleribus ejus inimicior. Curiosum est Praestantiae tuae nosse rescriptis, ubi eo die fueris quo illud admissum est; quomodo acceperis, quid postea egeris, aut cum eum videris quid ei dixeris, quid ab illo audieris. Ego enim ex quo inde postridie repente discessi, nihil quod hanc rem attinet, de te audire potui.

13. Quod vero in epistola tua legi, jam te cogi credere, ne a me videreris, et Carthagini me negatum, tu potius cogis his verbis ut absentiae meae causas non taceam. Quarum est una, quoniam laborem quem in illa urbe perpeti necesse est, et quem si exponere velim, aliud tantum loquendum est, jam sustinere non possum, quod infirmitati meae propriae, quae nota est omnibus qui familiarius me noverunt, accessit etiam senectus, quae generis humani est communis infirmitas. Altera causa est, quod statui, si Dominus velit, quantum mihi ex illis occupationibus, quas Ecclesiae, cui proprio munere servio, necessitas flagitat, datur temporis, id totum impendere labori studiorum ad ecclesiasticas scientias pertinentium; ubi me arbitror, si Dei misericordiae placet, etiam posteris aliquid profuturum.

14. Unum est autem, si verum quaeris audire, quod in te molestissime fero, quod cum sis et hujus jam aetatis, et hujus vitae ac probitatis, adhuc vis esse catechumenus; quasi fideles non possint, quanto sint fideliores atque meliores, tanto fidelius ac melius administrare rempublicam. Quid autem boni agitis in his tantis curis et laboribus vestris, nisi ut bene sit hominibus? Si enim hoc non agitis, vel dormire satius est noctesque diesque, quam vigilare in laboribus publicis, nulli utilitati hominum profuturis. Nec sane dubito Excellentiam tuam . . . .