Oration XXXIII.

 I.  Where are they who reproach us with our poverty, and boast themselves of their own riches who define the Church by numbers, and scorn the little

 II.  Would you like me to utter to you the words of God to Israel, stiff-necked and hardened?  “O my people what have I done unto thee, or wherein hav

 III.  What tumultuous mob have I led against you?  What soldiers have I armed?  What general boiling with rage, and more savage than his employers, an

 IV.  What wild beasts have we let loose upon the bodies of Saints,—like some who have prostituted human nature,—on one single accusation, that of not

 V.  And to speak of older things, for they too belong to the same fraternity whose hands living or dead have I cut off—to bring a lying accusation ag

 VI.  Now since your antecedents are such, I should be glad if you too will tell me of my crimes, that I may either amend my life or be put to shame. 

 VII.  Why do you not also mention the convenience of the site, and what I may call the contest between land and sea as to which owns the City, and whi

 VIII.  Do you also find fault with the raggedness of my dress, and the want of elegance in the disposition of my face? for these are the points upon w

 IX.  But I am so old fashioned and such a philosopher as to believe that one heaven is common to all and that so is the revolution of the sun and the

 X.  I was deceived too by the Ramah of Samuel, that little fatherland of the great man which was no dishonour to the Prophet, for it drew its honour

 XI.  But perhaps some one who is very circumscribed and carnally minded will say, “But our herald is a stranger and a foreigner.”  What of the Apostle

 XII.  My friend, every one that is of high mind has one Country, the Heavenly Jerusalem, in which we store up our Citizenship.  All have one family—if

 XIII.  It is thus then and for these reasons that I, who am small and of a country without repute, have come upon you, and that not of my own accord,

 XIV.  And if I am doing wrong in this, that when tyrannized over I endure it, forgive me this wrong I have borne to be tyrannized over by others too

 XV.  Moreover this also I reckoned and still reckon with myself and do you see if it is not quite correct.  I have often discussed it with you before

 XVI.  These I call by name (for they are not nameless like the stars which are numbered and have names), and they follow me, for I rear them up beside

 XVII.  These words let everyone who threatens me to-day concede to me the rest let whoever will claim.  The Father will not endure to be deprived of

X.  I was deceived too by the Ramah of Samuel, that little fatherland of the great man; which was no dishonour to the Prophet, for it drew its honour not so much from itself as from him; nor was he hindered on its account from being given to God before his birth, or from uttering oracles, and foreseeing the future; nor only so, but also anointing Kings and Priests, and judging the men of illustrious cities.  I heard also of Saul, how while seeking his father’s asses he found a kingdom.  And even David himself was taken from the sheepfolds to be the shepherd of Israel.  What of Amos?  Was he not, while a goatherd and scraper of sycamore fruit entrusted with the gifts of prophecy?  How is it that I have passed over Joseph, who was both a slave and the giver of corn to Egypt, and the father of many myriads who were promised before to Abraham?  Aye and I was deceived by the Carmel of Elias, who received the car of fire; and by the sheepskin of Elissæus that had more power than a silken web or than gold forced into garments.  I was deceived by the desert of John, which held the greatest among them that are born of women, with that clothing, that food, that girdle, which we know.  And I ventured even beyond these, and found God Himself the Patron of my rusticity.  I will range myself with Bethlehem, and will share the ignominy of the Manger; for since you refuse on this account honour to God, it is no wonder that on the same account you despise His herald also.  And I will bring up to you the Fishermen, and the poor to whom the Gospel is preached, as preferred before many rich.  Will you ever leave off priding yourselves upon your cities?  Will you ever revere that wilderness which you abominate and despise?  I do not yet say that gold has its birthplace in sand; nor that translucent stones are the product and gifts of rocks; for if to these I should oppose all that is dishonourable in cities perhaps it would be to no good end that I should use my freedom of speech.

Ιʹ. Ἠπάτα δέ με καὶ ἡ τοῦ Σαμουὴλ Ἀρμαθαῒμ, ἡ μικρὰ τοῦ μεγάλου πατρὶς, οὐκ ἀτιμάσασα τὸν προφήτην, οὐδὲ παρ' ἑαυτῆς μᾶλλον, ἣ παρ' ἐκείνου γενομένη τιμιωτέρα: ἐξ ἧς ἐκεῖνος οὐδὲν ἐκωλύθη, καὶ Θεῷ δοθῆναι πρὸ γενέσεως, καὶ χρηματίσαι βλέπων τὰ ἔμπροσθεν: οὐ μόνον δὲ, ἀλλὰ καὶ χρίειν βασιλέας καὶ ἱερέας, καὶ κρίνειν τοὺς ἐκ τῶν λαμπρῶν πόλεων. Περὶ δὲ τοῦ Σαοὺλ ἤκουον, ὅτι τὰς ὄνους τοῦ πατρὸς ζητῶν, βασιλείαν εὕρατο. Καὶ Δαβὶδ αὐτὸς ἐκ τῶν ποιμνίων τῶν προβάτων ἀναλαμβάνεται, καὶ ποιμαίνει τὸν Ἰσραήλ. Τί δαὶ Ἀμώς; οὐκ αἰπόλος ὢν, καὶ κνίζων συκάμινα, προφήτειαν πιστεύεται; Καὶ πῶς τὸν Ἰωσὴφ παρέδραμον, ὃς καὶ δοῦλος ἐγένετο, καὶ σιτοδότης Αἰγύπτου, καὶ πατὴρ πολλῶν μυριάδων. αἳ τῷ Ἀβραὰμ προηγγέλθησαν; Ἀβραὰμ δὲ, ἵν' εἴπω τὸ μεῖζον, οὐ μετανάστης; Μωϋσῆς δὲ, οὐκ ἔκθετος πρότερον, εἶτα νομοθέτης, καὶ στρατηγὸς τῶν πρὸς τὴν γῆν τῆς ἐπαγγελίας ἐπειγομένων, οὐ τὰ μεγάλα καὶ θαυμαστὰ διηγήματα; Ἠπάτα με καὶ ὁ Κάρμηλος Ἡλίου, τὸ τοῦ πυρὸς ἅρμα δεξάμενος: καὶ ἡ μηλωτὴ Ἐλισσαίου, πλείω δυνηθεῖσα, ἢ τὰ σηρῶν νήματα, καὶ ὁ βιασθεὶς εἰς ἐσθῆτα χρυσός. Ἠπάτα με καὶ ἡ ἔρημος Ἰωάννου, τὸν μέγιστον ἐν γεννητοῖς γυναικῶν ἔχουσα, μετὰ τῆς τροφῆς ἐκείνης, καὶ τῆς ζώνης, καὶ τοῦ ἐσθήματος. Ἐτόλμησά τι καὶ ὑπὲρ ταῦτα, Θεὸν εὗρον τῆς ἐμῆς ἀγροικίας συνήγορον. Μετὰ Βηθλεὲμ ταχθήσομαι, μετὰ τῆς φάτνης ἀτιμασθήσομαι, δι' ἣν σὺ Θεὸν ἀτιμάζων, τί θαυμαστὸν, εἰ ἐκ τῆς αὐτῆς αἰτίας περιφρονεῖς καὶ τὸν κήρυκα; Προσοίσω σοι καὶ τοὺς ἁλιεῖς, καὶ τοὺς εὐαγγελιζομένους πτωχοὺς, πολλῶν πλουσίων προτιμηθέντας. Παύσῃ ποτὲ ταῖς πόλεσιν ἐπαιρόμενος; αἰδεσθήσῃ ποτὲ τὴν ἀπόπτυστόν σοι καὶ ἄτιμον ἐρημίαν; Οὔπω λέγω χροσὸν ἐν ψάμμοις τικτόμενον, καὶ λίθους διαφανεῖς, πετρῶν προβλήματα καὶ δωρήματα οἷς εἰ ἀντιθείην καὶ ὅσα ἐν πόλεσιν ἄτιμα, τάχα ἂν οὐκ εἰς καλὸν τῆς παῤῥησίας ἀπολαύσαιμι.