__________________________________________________________________

           Title: NPNF210. Ambrose: Selected Works and Letters
      Creator(s): Schaff, Philip
          Rights: Public Domain
   CCEL Subjects: All; Early Church
     __________________________________________________________________

   A SELECT LIBRARY

   OF THE

   NICENE AND

   POST-NICENE FATHERS

   OF

   THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.

   SECOND SERIES

  TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH WITH PROLEGOMENA AND EXPLANATORY NOTES.

   Edited by

   PHILIP SCHAFF, D.D., LL.D.,

   PROFESSOR OF CHURCH HISTORY IN THE UNION THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, NEW
   YORK.

   AND

   HENRY WACE, D.D.,

   PRINCIPAL OF KING'S COLLEGE, LONDON.

   VOLUME X

   Ambrose: Select Works and Letters

   T&T CLARK

   EDINBURGH

   __________________________________________________

   WM. B. EERDMANS PUBLISHING COMPANY

   GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN

   Some of

   The Principal Works of St. Ambrose,

   Translated

   by

   The Rev. H. De Romestin, M.A.

   of St. John's College, and Rector of Tiptree, Essex,

   with the Assistance of

   The Rev. E. De Romestin, M.A.

   of New College, Oxford,

   and

   The Rev. H. T. F. Duckworth, M.A.

   of Merton College, Oxford.
     __________________________________________________________________

                             Translator's Preface.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Although, according to the plan of this "Library," Commentaries on Holy
   Scripture are omitted, and the field of selection is thus somewhat
   lessened, it has been no easy matter to decide which of St. Ambrose's
   many treatises should be chosen and which omitted.

   Obviously the great work on the Faith, De Fide, must be included, and
   this implied the addition of that on the Holy Spirit. Then the treatise
   on the Duties of the Clergy, as throwing much light on the ideas of the
   Fourth Century as to what was expected of ecclesiastics, seemed to
   claim a place. And after these the difficulty becomes very great. It is
   unfortunate that the limitations of space do not admit of the inclusion
   of all the dogmatic and ascetic treatises. Similarly, one would have
   been glad to insert the addresses on the deaths of the two Emperors
   Valentinian and Theodosius. More, also, of his letters might well have
   been added, though, as they have appeared in full in the Oxford
   "Library of the Fathers," this is a matter for less regret.

   As will be seen, I have availed myself of the assistance of my son, the
   Rev. E. de Romestin, of New College, and of the Rev. H. T. F.
   Duckworth, of Merton College, each of whom took high honours in the
   Theological School at Oxford.

   The work has been carried out under some difficulties, and not the
   least has been the loss in travelling of a considerable portion of the
   manuscript, the whole of which had to be translated anew.
     __________________________________________________________________

                          Prolegomena to St. Ambrose.
     __________________________________________________________________
     __________________________________________________________________

I.--Literature.

   S:1. Editions.

   All the Editions of the works of St. Ambrose which preceded that of the
   Benedictines are very inadequate. Of these the chief are the following:

   1. Venice, a.d. 1485.

   2. Cribellius, a.d. 1490.

   3. Auerbach, Basel, a.d. 1492, reprinted in 1506, with a full Index.
   These are very faulty Editions.

   4. Erasmus, Basel, a.d. 1527, reprinted and re-edited by different
   persons, in various places [by Baronius amongst others, a.d. 1549].

   5. Gillot Campanus, Paris, a.d. 1568.

   6. Felix de Montalto [afterwards Pope Sixtus V.], Rome, a.d. 1580-1585,
   reprinted at Paris, a.d. 1603.

   7. The Benedictines of St. Maur, Paris, a.d. 1686-1690, reprinted at
   Venice, a.d. 1748 and 1781, as well as with additions by Migne, Patres
   Latini, Vols. XIV.-XVII.

   8. A new edition by Ballerini, Milan, a.d. 1875-1886, founded on that
   of the Benedictines, but by no means superior to it.

   There is still room for a critical edition of the works of this great
   Father, which are unfortunately very corrupt, but in many points it is
   not likely that the work of the Benedictine editors can be improved
   upon.

   9. There are separate editions of some of the treatises of St. Ambrose,
   as of the Hexaemeron and De Officiis Clericorum, in the Bibliotheca
   Patrum Eccl. Latinae Selecta, Leipzig, Tauchnitz. The De Officiis has
   also been edited, with considerable improvements in the text, by
   Krabinger, Tuebingen, 1857, and the De Fide and De Poenitentia, by
   Hurter in the Vienna selections from the Fathers.

   S:2. Translations.

   There seems to have never been any attempt to translate the works of
   this great Christian Father and Doctor in full.

   Some few treatises, De Officiis, De excessu fratris Satyri, De
   Virginitate, and several other short ones, appear in German, in the
   select writings of the Fathers, published by Kosel of Kempten. The
   Epistles have been translated into French by Bonrecueil, Paris, a.d.
   1746; and the De Officiis and Epistles into English, the former by
   Humfrey, London, a.d. 1637; the latter in the Oxford "Library of the
   Fathers," revised by E. Walford, London, 1881; whilst the De Mysteriis
   appears in a little volume of Sacramental Treatises, published by
   Messrs. J. Parker & Co., Oxford, under the supervision of the Editor of
   this volume. There is a very valuable little monograph entitled Studia
   Ambrosiana, chiefly critical, and unfortunately brief, by Maximilian
   Ihm. Leipzig, Teubner, 1889.

   S:3. Biographies and Authorities for the Life of St. Ambrose.

   (a.) Ancient.

   Many of his own writings.--Life of St. Ambrose by Paulinus, [1] a
   deacon of the Church of Milan.--St. Augustine, Confessions, V. 23, 24;
   VI. 1-6; IX. 13-16; and many other passages in his writings.--St.
   Jerome, De Scriptoribus Ecclesiasticis, c. 134.--Rufinus,
   Ecclesiastical History, XI, 11, 15, 16, 18.--Socrates, Eccl. History,
   IV. 30; V. 11.--Sozomen, Eccl. History, VI. 24; VII. 13, 25.

   (b.) Modern.

   Baronius, Annals, a.d. 397, n. 25-35; Life of St. Ambrose in the
   prolegomena to the Roman Edition of his works.--The Life of St. Ambrose
   gathered from his own writings, in the Benedictine Edition
   (excellent).--Hermant, Vie de St. Ambroise, Paris, 1678.--Tillemont,
   Memoires, etc., Tome X. St. Ambroise [pp. 78-386], and notes, pp.
   729-770.--Ceillier, Histoire generale des Auteurs sacres, Tome V. pp.
   328 ff. Ed. 2, Paris, 1860.--Dupin, Tome ii. pp. 438-515. [This writer
   says that the text of St. Ambrose is more corrupt than that of any
   other Father. See Alzog, Patrologie, p. 296. Ed. i.]--Cave, Hist. Lit.
   Vol. I. 262.--Schoeneman, Bibliotheca historica PP. Lat. I.
   388-419.--Silbert, Leben des heiligen Ambrosius, Vienna, 1841--Baunard,
   Histoire de St. Ambroise, Paris, 1872 [translated into German,
   Freiburg, 1873].--Life of St. Ambrose, by Archdeacon Thornton, London,
   and other shorter sketches.--Fessler [Jungmann], Institutiones
   Patrologiae, I. 655 [also Patrologies of Moehler, Alzog, etc.].
   Articles in the Freiburg Kirchen-Lexikon, the Dictionary of Christian
   Biography, and other encyclopaedias.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [1] Paulinus, who had been in constant attendance on St. Ambrose, and
   was with him at his death, wrote this life a few years after that
   event, at the request of St. Augustine.
     __________________________________________________________________

II. Notes on Secular and Church History During the Latter Part of the Fourth
Century.

   After the Council of Nicaea, a.d. 325, the faith of the Catholic Church
   was established, but a considerable time was to elapse, and the tide of
   heterodoxy was to ebb and flow many times before peace should finally
   ensue. The "conversion" of the Emperor Constantine, though not
   followed, till he was dying, by baptism, led not merely to the
   toleration but to the protection and, as it were, the "establishment"
   of the Christian religion. This very naturally was followed by a large
   influx of worldliness into the Church, and bishops began to be
   time-servers and courtiers. St. Ambrose, however, was not of this
   number, but whether in defence of the Catholic faith, of the property
   of the Church, or, as in his legations to Maximus, for the protection
   of those in peril or anxiety who sought his aid, he braved every
   danger, even that of death itself.

   During the greater part of the life of St. Ambrose many of those in
   power, amongst others the empress mother Justina, were Arians. Julian,
   though too early to affect the actions of the bishop, apostatized to
   paganism, which also numbered many supporters of high station. On the
   other hand, the influence of St. Ambrose, exercised even with severe
   strictness, was all-powerful with Theodosius, known as the emperor who
   subdued the Arian heresy and abolished the worship of idols in the
   Roman Empire.

   The various historical events during the lifetime of St. Ambrose will
   be found entered under the different years in the subjoined table; it
   remains only here to give some account of his burial-place.

   St. Ambrose having discovered the bodies of SS. Cosmas and Damian, a.d.
   389, placed them under the right side of the altar in his basilica, and
   desired that he should be himself buried near them to the left, which
   was done a.d. 397. In the year 835 the Archbishop of Milan, Angilbert
   II., caused a large porphyry sarcophagus to be made in which he laid
   the body of St. Ambrose between the other two under the altar. In 1864
   some excavations and repairs revealed in situ a magnificent sarcophagus
   nearly four and a half feet in length, three in width, and nearly two
   in height, without the covering, placed lengthwise. Further excavations
   brought to view two other tombs, one to the right and one to the left,
   lined with marble and placed east and west, not as the sarcophagus,
   north and south. In the one to the left were a few pieces of money, one
   of Flavius Victor, one of Theodosius, with some fragments of cloth of
   gold and other things. These were evidently the original resting-places
   of St. Ambrose and of SS. Cosmas and Damian, and the sarcophagus that
   constructed under Lothair, a.d. 835, by Angilbert.
     __________________________________________________________________

III. Historical Summary and Chronological Tables.

   a.d.

   340. Birth of St. Ambrose (probably at Treves), youngest son of
   Ambrose, Prefect of the Gauls. Constantine II. killed at Aquileia.
   Death of Eusebius.

   341. Seventh Council of Antioch. Second exile of St. Athanasius.

   343. Photinus begins teaching his heresy.

   347. Birth of St. John Chrysostom. Council of Sardica. St. Athanasius
   restored.

   348. Birth of Prudentius the Christian poet.

   349. Synod of Sirmium against Photinus.

   350. Death of the Emperor Constans. St. Hilary, Bishop of Poitiers.
   Magnentius proclaimed Emperor of the West.

   351. Photinus condemned by a semi-Arian synod.

   352. Liberius, Pope in succession to Julius.

   353-4. About this date St. Ambrose is taken by his mother to live at
   Rome, where his sister Marcellina received the veil at the hands of
   Liberius at Christmas, either a.d. 353, or more probably 354. Suicide
   of Magnentius the Emperor.

   354. Birth of St. Augustine. Death of the Emperor Gallus.

   355. Liberius the Pope, Dionysius, Bishop of Milan, and Lucifer, Bishop
   of Cagliari, banished by an Arian synod at Milan. Third exile of St.
   Athanasius.

   356. Banishment of St. Hilary of Poitiers.

   357. Liberius subscribes (as the Arians say) an Arian Creed, and
   returns to Rome a.d. 358.

   359. Council of Ariminum. Macedonius of Constantinople deposed.
   Eudoxius consecrated Bishop.

   361. Julian Emperor.

   362. Fourth exile of St. Athanasius.

   363. Death of the Emperor Julian. St. Athanasius restored. Felix Pope.

   364. Death of the Emperor Jovian. Valentinian and Valens Emperors.

   366. Death of Liberius in September. Damasus elected in his place, but
   the see is also claimed by Ursinus.

   367. Gratian, though only a boy, declared Augustus by his father
   Valentinian.

   368-74. Successful career of St. Ambrose in legal business and as
   "consular."

   370. St. Basil, Bishop of Caesarea.

   372. St. Gregory of Nazianzus, Bishop of Susium.

   373. Death of St. Athanasius.

   374. Death of Auxentius, the Arian Bishop of Milan, and election of St.
   Ambrose, though still only a catechumen, by acclamation. St. Martin
   Bishop of Tours.

   374-5. St. Ambrose sends a deputation of clerics to St. Basil to ask
   for the body of St. Dionysius, late Catholic Bishop of Milan. [St.
   Basil, Ep. 197.]

   375. Death of Valentinian in November. His son Valentinian is admitted
   by Gratian to be Emperor of the East, though only four years old.

   377. St. Ambrose writes the three books, De Virginibus; one, De Viduis;
   which is followed by the book, De Virginitate.

   378. The first two books, De Fide, written at the request of Gratian,
   who was setting out to the relief of Valens against the Goths. Valens
   is overcome and killed at Adrianople. Many Christians having been made
   captives, St. Ambrose sells Church plate to redeem them.

   379. Theodosius is proclaimed Augustus. Death of St. Basil and of St.
   Ephrem Syrum. Gratian, on his way back from Thrace, requests St.
   Ambrose to come to meet him and receives the first two books of the
   treatise De Fide, and asks for a further one of the Holy Spirit; the
   latter was written two years later. Death of Satyrus, brother of St.
   Ambrose. The two treatises on his death written.

   379-80. Famine in Rome.--See De Off. III. 46-48.

   380. Baptism of Theodosius at Thessalonica. Books III.-V. of the De
   Fide written about this time. The basilica which had been sequestered
   by Gratian is restored to the Church.

   380. Synod at Rome under Damasus at which St. Ambrose was present.
   Probably in the same year St. Ambrose consecrated Anemius Bishop of
   Sirmium in spite of Arian opposition.

   381. Death at Constantinople of Athanaricus, leader of the Goths. The
   three books, De Spiritu Sancto, written. Death of Peter, Bishop of
   Alexandria. The OEcumenical Council of Constantinople commences under
   the presidency of Meletius of Antioch. Also at Aquileia a council, at
   which St. Ambrose took a leading part, was held against the heretics
   Palladius and Secundianus. An account is given of the proceedings in
   Epistles 9-12.

   381-2. St. Ambrose presides over a council of Italian bishops to take
   into consideration the troubles at Antioch and Constantinople. Epistles
   13, to Theodosius, and 14, his reply, state the proceedings. Theodosius
   summoned a council to consider the same matters at Constantinople.

   382. Gratian orders the removal of the image of Victory from the forum
   at Rome. [Ep. 17, 18.] Acholius, Bishop of Thessalonica, dies and is
   succeeded by Anysius.

   383. The Priscillianists endeavour in vain to gain Damasus and St.
   Ambrose to their side by means of a visit to Rome and Milan. On the
   25th of August Gratian is assassinated at Lyons by the instigation of
   Maximus. A great dearth at Rome. [De Off. III. 7, 49; Ep. 18.]

   383-4. First legation of St. Ambrose to Maximus on behalf of Justina
   the Empress and her son Valentinian II.

   384. The memorial of Symmachus the prefect of the city to Valentinian,
   requesting the restoration of the Altar of Victory, and the reply of
   St. Ambrose. [Ep. 17, 18.] A synod at Bordeaux against the
   Priscillianists. Death of Damasus, who is succeeded by Siricius as
   Pope.

   385. Priscillian and his companions are condemned to death at Treves at
   the instigation of the Spanish Bishops Idacius and Ithacius. The
   Ithacians consecrate Felix as Bishop. [Ep. 42-51.] The persecution at
   Milan of Catholics by Justina in Holy Week. [Ep. 20.] The law of
   Valentinian II., granting Arians equal rights with Catholics. Auxentius
   claims the see of Milan. [Sermon against Auxentius and Ep. 21.] The
   deposit which a widow had entrusted to the Church at Trent having been
   carried off by imperial order, St. Ambrose succeeds in procuring its
   restitution. [De Off. II. 29, 150, 151.] New basilica at Milan
   consecrated.

   386. Finding of the bodies of St. Gervasius and Protasius [Ep. 22].
   Epistle 23 to the bishops of the province of AEmilia on the right day
   for the observance of Easter.

   386-7. The exposition of the Gospel according to St. Luke written.

   387. Baptism of St. Augustine at Milan by St. Ambrose at Easter. Second
   mission of St. Ambrose to Maximus. [Ep. 24.] Expulsion of St. Ambrose
   from Treves because of his refusal to communicate with the murderer of
   his sovereign. In the later part of the year Maximus crosses into Italy
   and enters Milan.

   388. At Constantinople the Arians destroy the residence of the Catholic
   Bishop Nectarius. [Ep. 40, S: 13.] Death of Justina, and conversion of
   Valentinian II. by Theodosius. Theodosius marches against Maximus, who
   is everywhere defeated [Ep. 40, S: 23], and executed at Aquileia. Third
   application concerning the Altar of Victory.

   390. The excessive cruelty with which Theodosius punished a sedition at
   Thessalonica brought on him exclusion from communion, and a severe
   rebuke at the hands of St. Ambrose. The Emperor's penitence and
   readmission to communion. A synod is held at Milan against the Ithacian
   heretics, and Felix, Bishop of Treves. [Ep. 51.]

   391-2. The deputation of part of the Roman Senate to Valentinian to
   request the restoration of the Altar of Victory in the Forum. [Ep. 57,
   S: 5.] The treatise De institutione Virginis, written about this time,
   as also, De Officiis.

   392. Valentinian II. killed at Vienne by Arbogastes [Ep. 53, S: 2; De
   ob. Valent. 25 ff.]. His body is brought to Milan. The address,
   Consolatio de ob. Val. A further delegation from the Senate is sent to
   Eugenius respecting the Altar of Victory [Ep. 57, S: 6 ff.].

   393. On the arrival of Eugenius at Milan St. Ambrose leaves the city
   for Bononia Faventia and Florence. The letters to Eugenius and Sabinus
   written about this time.

   393-4. At Florence St. Ambrose dedicates a basilica, in which he
   deposits the bodies of the martyrs Vitalis and Agricola, which he had
   brought from Bononia. His address on this occasion was that which is
   inscribed, Exhortatio Virginitatis. He writes Ep. 59.

   394. Theodosius sets out from Constantinople against Eugenius. About
   the beginning of August St. Ambrose returns to Milan. Eugenius defeated
   by Theodosius and slain, Sept. 6. St. Ambrose intercedes and obtains
   pardon for the followers of Eugenius. After this St. Ambrose writes the
   Enarrationes on Psalms 35-40 and Ep. 61, 62.

   395. Death of Theodosius at Milan. St. Ambrose's oration De obitu
   Theodosii. Honorius and Arcadius Emperors. St. Augustine, Bishop of
   Hippo. Death of Rufinus.

   396. Dissensions at Vercellae, the occasion of writing Ep. 63, and of a
   visit to that Church.

   397. St. Ambrose consecrates a bishop for Ticinum, and shortly after
   falls ill. He commenced the Enarratio on Psalm 43, which he left
   unfinished; and died in the night between Good Friday and Easter Eve,
   having recommended Simplicianus as his successor.
     __________________________________________________________________

IV. On the Doctrine of St. Ambrose.

   There is a very complete agreement on the part of St. Ambrose with the
   Catholic teaching of the universal Church. St. Augustine speaks of him
   as "a faithful teacher of the Church, and even at the risk of his life
   a most strenuous defender of Catholic truth," [2] "whose skill,
   constancy, labours, and perils, both on account of what he did and what
   he wrote, the Roman world unhesitatingly proclaims." [3] In matters
   both of faith and morals by his words and writings he greatly benefited
   the Church and was called by St. Jerome "a pillar of the Church." [4]

   In his dogmatic treatises, more particularly in his books on the Faith,
   he shows great skill and penetration, and his reasoning is full and
   clear, meeting the most subtle objections with patient industry.
   Scarcely any ancient writer has treated the mystery of the Holy Trinity
   and the theological difficulties connected with it more clearly and
   convincingly than St. Ambrose in his De Fide and De Spiritu Sancto.

   In his expositions of Holy Scripture he treats of the threefold sense,
   the literal, the moral, and the mystical, devoting more pains, however,
   and time to the latter than to the former. He gives special
   consideration to the mystical interpretation of such passages as may
   seem to contain in a literal sense anything diverging from sound
   morality. Many of his other mystical interpretations of plain, simple
   matters of fact have much beauty, as in his treatment of the story of
   the building of the ark, the marriage of Isaac, and the blessings of
   the Patriarchs. The literal sense is followed specially in the
   Hexaemeron, the treatise on Paradise, Noah and the Ark, and the
   Exposition of the Gospel according to St. Luke. The moral sense, though
   referred to throughout his writings, is more particularly sought out in
   the Expositions of the Psalms.

   St. Ambrose was a diligent student of the Greek writers, whom he often
   follows largely, especially Origen and Didymus, as also St. Basil the
   Great and St. Athanasius, and he has also adapted many points of
   allegorical interpretation from Philo. He is fond of alleging
   scriptural proofs, and when he argues from reason often confirms his
   argument by some quotation or reference, a task easy for him who, from
   his consecration, was so diligent a student of holy Scripture.

   As to justification, St. Ambrose ascribes the whole work to the Holy
   Spirit, Who seals us in our hearts, as we receive the outward sign in
   our bodies. Through the Holy Spirit we receive a share of the grace of
   adoption. Christ was perfect according to the fulness of His Majesty;
   we are perfected by a continual progress in virtue. [5]

   With regard to baptism, he taught in accordance with the received
   belief of his day that it is the sacrament of adoption and
   regeneration, wherein sin is forgiven, [6] and the Holy Spirit confers
   new life upon the soul and joins it mystically to Christ. As to the
   Real Presence in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, his doctrine is no
   less definite. In his treatise on the Faith he says of the elements
   that they "are transfigured [transfigurantur] [7] by the mystery of the
   sacred prayer into flesh and blood." [8] He interprets various texts,
   also, in many places in the same sense. In a like spirit he maintains
   that the power of forgiving sins on repentance is vested in the
   ministry of the Church. [9] The intercession of the saints, and up to a
   certain point their invocation, is likewise upheld. [10]

   There was a Latin version made from the Septuagint, including the
   Apocrypha, in Africa, and in use there at the end of the second
   century, very barbarous, and copying even Greek constructions. Of this
   text SS. Ambrose and Augustine used a recension. But our author seems
   to have been very independent, and to have made use of several
   different versions of holy Scripture, translating, as it would seem,
   often for himself from the Septuagint, referring also to Symmachus,
   Theodotion, and Aquila, though thinking less of the latter. When the
   prophets, he says, were moved by the Holy Spirit, they were troubled
   and darkened with their own ignorance. [11] Prayer, he asserts, is
   necessary for understanding holy Scripture. [12] Each Testament is not
   equally easy, and we are not to criticise what we do not understand.
   [13] He speaks of the Hebrew as the truth, [14] but states that the
   Septuagint added much that is useful. [15]

   The Arians are repeatedly charged by St. Ambrose with falsifying and
   manipulating Scripture for their own ends, not always, it would seem,
   very justly, but the same charge is a common one against all heretical
   bodies in early days. As to the Canon, he would seem to have no very
   definite rule. He admits Tobit as prophetic, Judith as canonical, nor
   does he distinguish between canonical and deuterocanonical, while the
   sapiential books are all attributed to Solomon. He quotes Baruch as
   Jeremiah, and refers to the History of Susanna, Bel and the Dragon, and
   other apocryphal works as "Scripture." Ezra, he says, re-established
   holy Scripture by memory, [16] and he quotes the fourth book of Esdras.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [2] Cont. Jul. Pelag. II. 32.

   [3] Cont. Jul. Pelag. I. 40.

   [4] Adv. Rufin. I. 2.

   [5] De Sp. S. I. 79, 80; De Fide, V. 91.

   [6] De Poen. I. 36.

   [7] For the force of the word transfigurantur in early ecclesiastical
   Latin, compare Tertullian, adv. Praxeam, c. 27: "Transfiguratio
   interremptio est pristini. Omne enim, quodcunque transfiguratur in
   aliud desinit esse quod fuerat, et incipit esse quod non erat."

   [8] De Fid. IV. 124.

   [9] De Poen. II. 12, etc.

   [10] Ep. 22 De ob. Theod. 41-51; De Viduis., 55.

   [11] De Abrah. II. 61.

   [12] Ps. cxviii. 59.

   [13] Ep. 63-78, De Parad. II. 7.

   [14] De Noe et Arca, XII. 60.

   [15] Hexaem. V. 20.

   [16] Ep. 63, 30.
     __________________________________________________________________

V. Life of St. Ambrose.

   St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, one of the four Latin doctors of the
   Church, was descended from a Roman family of some distinction, some
   time Christian, and counting martyrs as well as state officials amongst
   its members.

   His father, likewise named Ambrosius, was prefect of the Gauls, an
   office the jurisdiction of which extended over Spain, Britain, Cis- and
   Trans-Alpine Gaul. His chief official residence was Treves, where
   probably St. Ambrose was born, as seems most likely, a.d. 340. [17]

   After his father's death, his mother and his elder brother, Satyrus,
   went with St. Ambrose to Rome, not earlier than 353, where his elder
   sister, Marcellina, received the veil at Christmas from Pope Liberius,
   the exact year being uncertain.

   Here the future bishop devoted himself to legal studies, in which he
   met with great success. His skill in law and general reputation soon
   led to his advancement, and about a.d. 370 he was appointed by the
   Praetorian Prefect Probus governor of Liguria and AEmilia, with the
   rank of consular. [18] On this occasion Probus is said to have closed
   an address to St. Ambrose with the words, "Go and act, not as a judge,
   but as a bishop." This advice was so well followed by Ambrose, that
   owing to his equity and kindness the people came to look up to him
   rather as a father than as a judge. [19]

   After some few years Auxentius, [20] the intended Arian Bishop of
   Milan, died, a.d. 374, and it is said that during the discussion as to
   the appointment of his successor a child cried out in the assembly,
   "Ambrose Bishop," and, although he was but a catechumen and so
   canonically unqualified, the multitude immediately elected him by
   acclamation.

   St. Ambrose did all in his power, even, if we accept the statements if
   his biographer Paulinus, probably a clerk of Milan, resorting to some
   questionable expedients, to escape from the dignity laid upon him, but
   when his election was ratified by the Emperor Valentinian, he
   recognized his appointment as being the will of God, and insisted on
   being baptized by a Catholic priest. Eight days later, December 7, a.d.
   374, he was consecrated Bishop.

   The first care of the new bishop was at once to divest himself of his
   worldly property, giving his silver and gold to the poor and the
   Church, and committing the management of his estates, except a life
   interest for his sister, to his brother Satyrus, who gave up his own
   office to come to his assistance, and enable him to devote himself
   wholly to theological study and his other episcopal duties.

   His chief studies were holy Scripture and ecclesiastical writers,
   especially St. Basil the Great and Didymus of Alexandria, from whom no
   less a man than St. Jerome accused him of plagiarizing. His natural
   abilities and thorough knowledge of Greek stood him in good stead,
   when, as he says himself, [21] he had to learn and to teach at the same
   time.

   The life of St. Ambrose was a pattern of the discharge of episcopal
   duties. He spent much time daily in study and devotion, besides the
   more public duties of his office. [22] He preached every Sunday and at
   certain seasons daily. His labours in preparing catechumens for baptism
   were blessed with great success, amongst those taught by him being St.
   Augustine.

   But the zeal and courage of the new Bishop were soon tried. The Empress
   mother Justina was still an Arian, but had little influence during the
   life of the Emperor Gratian, who was much attached to St. Ambrose.
   After his murder, however, a.d. 383, his brother Valentinian II., a boy
   of only twelve years of age, ascended the throne and was naturally much
   under his mother's influence. Justina led him to support a demand of
   the Arians for the use of the Portian basilica, situated outside the
   walls of Milan. This being refused, a second application was made for
   the large and newer basilica within the city. Ambrose replied, "The
   Emperor has his palaces, let him leave the churches to the Bishop."
   Soldiers were sent to secure the delivery of the basilica, but St.
   Ambrose with the faithful occupied the building and remained within,
   singing psalms and hymns till the soldiers retired.

   St. Ambrose was no less successful in his zeal against the expiring
   heathenism of Italy than against Arianism. One of the many remnants
   till recent times of heathen worship had been the Altar of Victory in
   the Senate-house at Rome, which was removed under Gratian; the prefect
   of Rome, Symmachus, himself a heathen but a friend of St. Ambrose,
   appealed to Valentinan II. that it might be restored, and Ambrose
   successfully opposed this appeal in two Epistles (17, 18) addressed to
   the young Emperor. Yet again, when Theodosius assumed the imperial
   power [a.d. 387], a renewed attempt was made and once more frustrated.
   Later on, Eugenius the usurper judged it politic to take the heathen's
   side, [23] the Altar of Victory was once more set up, and the temples
   stood open as in the days of old. But this triumph lasted only for a
   brief period. When Theodosius defeated the usurper at Aquileia, in the
   spring of 394, he also defeated paganism, which sank to rise no more as
   a public religion, though it long lingered in private amidst
   indifference, toleration, and at times persecution.

   The influence exercised by Ambrose upon the rulers of his day is
   sufficiently manifested by these facts, but he had the courage to use
   not only influence, but, when needed, rebuke and Church discipline.

   Only a few months after his elevation to the see of Milan, he
   remonstrated with Valentinian I. concerning the severity of his rule
   and other abuses, and required amendment. The Emperor's reply did him
   honour: "Well, if I have offended, prescribe for me the remedies which
   the law of God requires." Again, on another occasion, in 390,
   Theodosius had put down a seditious movement in Thessalonica with great
   severity, causing some 7,000 persons to be slain. St. Ambrose at once,
   disregarding the possible consequences to himself, wrote him a letter
   (Ep. 51) on the subject, exhorting him to repentance, and pointing out
   that he could not permit him to be present at the celebration of the
   Mysteries, till he had openly testified his sorrow. At another time
   when the same Emperor had ventured into the sanctuary or chancel of the
   church, which was the right of the clergy alone, St. Ambrose rebuked
   him and caused him to retire.

   These acts of ecclesiastical discipline were also accompanied by others
   in which the great Bishop was able in temporal matters to assist the
   imperial family.

   Twice on behalf of the young Emperor Valentinian II. he undertook a
   mission to Treves, to see the usurper Maximus, and when Valentinian
   died, St. Ambrose delivered a striking oration at his funeral,
   recording his many virtues. Theodosius did not survive his victory over
   Eugenius for many months. In January of the following year [a.d. 395],
   he died at Milan, and the funeral oration which St. Ambrose pronounced
   over him is also extant.

   Yet whilst thus devoting much time to weighty affairs of State, the
   Bishop never neglected the duties of his office. He preached every
   Sunday, at great festivals, once or more often, every day. He
   celebrated the Holy Mysteries daily. His life was marked by perfect
   purity, sympathy, energy, and devotion. He was always ready to help
   those requiring assistance, and so when Augustine came to Milan to
   teach rhetoric, a.d. 384, he was kindly received and fascinated.
   Probably he owed his conversion even more to the life and character
   than to the teaching of St. Ambrose.

   One subject St. Ambrose never tired of recommending was Virginity; and
   such was the power of his exhortations that mothers used to forbid
   their daughters to attend his sermons and addresses.

   The indefatigable zeal of the great Bishop further exhibited itself in
   the number of his writings. Many of them consist of addresses
   subsequently worked up into treatises, and are on all subjects,
   dogmatic, controversial, exegetical, and ascetic. There remain also a
   large number of valuable letters, and some hymns, probably from four to
   twelve of those ascribed to him being genuine, and in use to the
   present day.

   But besides his writings and his resistance to the attacks of Arianism,
   heathenism, or the secular power, St. Ambrose devoted himself to
   actively defending the cause of the Church and of orthodoxy wherever he
   had the opportunity. Although the death of Satyrus, a.d. 379, must have
   greatly added to the troubles of St. Ambrose, he was as watchful as
   ever against all possibilities of heretical aggression. To his care and
   opposition to the party of the Empress Justina it was owing that the
   city of Sirmium was preserved in a.d. 381 from receiving an Arian
   bishop. And in the same year, when the Arians, hoping for large support
   from the East, had almost persuaded the Emperor to summon a general
   council at Aquileia, St. Ambrose prevailed upon him to summon only the
   neighbouring bishops, and what might have been a serious evil was
   avoided.

   In such ways the holy man, embracing in his far-seeing care the
   interests of religion far and wide, spent his days in unceasing labour
   till his health failed in the year 397, when, as is related by
   Paulinus, Count Stilicho, saying that the loss of such a man threatened
   destruction to Italy, persuaded the nobles of the city to request St.
   Ambrose that he would pray for longer life. But the Saint replied: "I
   have not so lived amongst you as to be ashamed of living, and I do not
   fear to die, for we have a good Lord." As some of the bystanders were
   discussing in whispers who would be St. Ambrose's successor, and
   mentioned Simplicianus, he overheard them, and said, "An old man, but
   good." For the last few hours of his life Ambrose lay with his arms
   extended in the form of a cross, praying. Honoratus, Bishop of
   Vercellae, lying in another room, heard himself called thrice, and
   coming down, offered him the Body of the Lord, after receiving which
   St. Ambrose breathed his last, on Good Friday night, April 4-5, a.d.
   397, and was laid to rest on Easter morning in the Ambrosian basilica
   at Milan, where he still is reverenced, and in which the Ambrosian
   liturgy and rites, differing considerably from the Roman use of the
   rest of the churches of Italy, continue to this day, though doubtless
   with many modifications subsequent to the time of St. Ambrose.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [17] The exact date depends upon whether the passage "barbaracis
   motibus et bellorum procellis," etc., Ep. lix., 12-3, refers to the war
   against Maximus, a.d. 387, or to that against Eugenius, a.d. 393-4; so
   that the birth year of St. Ambrose might be 333 or 340. The latter date
   is, however, most generally accepted.

   [18] Of the 116 provinces of the empire 37 were governed by magistrates
   with the title of consular.

   [19] De Exc. Sat. I. 25, 49, 58.

   [20] Auxentius, a Cappadocian, was ordained priest by Gregory, usurper
   of St. Athanasius, see of Alexandria. He was much esteemed by the
   Arians; and when after a synod at Milan, a.d. 355, the Catholic Bishop
   Dionysius was banished with many others, Auxentius was intruded in his
   stead, and, as St. Athanasius remarked, a Latin Church received as its
   pastor one who was ignorant of the Latin tongue, St. Hilary and others
   endeavoured to remove him, but in vain, and in 369 Auxentius was
   excommunicated in a synod at Rome, but succeeded in maintaining his
   post.

   [21] De Off. lib. I. c. i. 4.

   [22] Ep. xx. 15.

   [23] St. Ambr. Ep. 57.
     __________________________________________________________________

VI. Writings of St. Ambrose.

   The extant writings of St. Ambrose may be divided under six heads. I.
   Dogmatic; II. Exegetic; III. Moral; IV. Sermons; V. Letters; VI. A few
   Hymns.

   I. Dogmatic and Controversial Works.

   1. De Fide. The chief of these are the Five Books on the Faith, of
   which the two first were written in compliance with a request of the
   Emperor Gratian, a.d. 378. Books III.-V. were written in 379 or 380,
   and seem to have been worked up from addresses delivered to the people
   [V. prol. 9, 11; III. 143; IV. 119]. This treatise vindicates the
   Divinity of Christ from the attacks of the Arians, and has always
   enjoyed the highest reputation, being quoted and referred to again and
   again.

   2. De Spiritu Sancto. The three books on the Holy Spirit may be
   considered as a continuation of the above treatise, and were also
   addressed to Gratian in compliance with his request, a.d. 381. In this
   treatise St. Ambrose shows that the Holy Spirit is God, and of one
   nature and substance with the Father and the Son. He makes use of the
   Greek writers, SS. Didymus, Basil the Great, and Athanasius, and was on
   this ground attacked by St. Jerome. See Rufinus, Apol. adv. Hieron. II.
   23-25.

   3. De Incarnationis Dominicae Sacramento. The book on the Mystery of
   the Lord's Incarnation owed its origin to a challenge to dispute
   publicly given to St. Ambrose by two Arian chamberlains of Gratian. On
   the day appointed they were, as Paulinus relates in his life of St.
   Ambrose, thrown out of the chariot which was conveying them and killed.
   On the next day, that the people might not be disappointed, this
   discourse was delivered, but the reference made to the absence of the
   challengers hardly suits the story of Paulinus. The treatise is a very
   valuable argument in defence of our Lord's Divinity and Eternity, and
   that He is perfect God and perfect Man. In rewriting the address the
   Bishop added a refutation of the argument that the Begotten and the
   Unbegotten could not be of one nature and substance. The treatise may
   be considered as a supplement to that concerning the Faith.

   4. De Mysteriis. A valuable treatise on the Mysteries, under which
   title St. Ambrose includes Baptism, with its complement, Confirmation,
   and the Eucharist. It is somewhat similar to the Catecheses
   Mystagogicae of St. Cyril of Jerusalem, expounding the doctrine and
   ceremonies of these sacraments. On doctrinal grounds the authenticity
   of the work has been impugned by some modern writers, but there is no
   sufficient foundation for their arguments, as the teaching may be
   paralleled in many other passages of St. Ambrose. The date is not
   certain, but may be about a.d. 387.

   5. Libri duo de poenitentia. These books on Penitence were written
   about a.d. 384, against the Novatians. In the first book the writer
   proves that the power of forgiving sins was left by Christ to His
   Church. In the second book, insisting on the necessity of repentance
   and confession, he also refutes the Novatian interpretations of Heb.
   vi. 4-6 and St. Matt. xii. 31-32. This treatise has also undeservedly
   been questioned on doctrinal grounds by some moderns.

   These treatises are all translated in this volume.

   II. Exegetical Works.

   St. Ambrose was in the habit of explaining various books of holy
   Scripture in courses of lectures, which he subsequently worked up,
   often at the request of friends, into treatises in the shape in which
   they have come down to us. Of the class we have:

   1. Hexaemeron. This treatise, expounding the literal and moral sense of
   the work of the six days of creation [Gen. i. 1-26], consists of nine
   addresses to the people of Milan, delivered in the last week of Lent,
   probably a.d. 389, and is now divided into six books. The writer has
   studied Origen, but followed rather the teaching of St. Hippolytus and
   Basil the Great, though he expresses himself often quite in a different
   sense.

   2. De Paradiso. This is the earliest or one of the earliest of the
   extant writings of St. Ambrose, though the exact date is uncertain. In
   it he discusses what and where Paradise was, and the question of the
   life of our first parents there, the temptation, fall and its results,
   and answers certain cavils of the Gnostics and Manichees. He also
   enters into an allegorical exposition comparing Paradise with the human
   soul.

   3. De Cain et Abel. The treatise is now divided into two books, but the
   division is too inartistic to have been made by the writer. As to the
   date, it was later than the last treatise, but probably not many
   months. The interpretations are very mystical, and touch upon moral and
   dogmatic questions.

   4. De Noe et Arca. This treatise has reached us in a mutilated
   condition. It was written probably before the De Officiis and De
   Abraham, but after the works on Paradise and Cain and Abel, though the
   exact date cannot be determined. The exposition is literal and
   allegorical.

   5. De Patriarchis. Seven books preached and written at various dates
   about 387 or 388. The same kind of interpretation is followed in these
   as in the former treatises.

   6. De fuga saeculi. Written probably about a.d. 389-390. An instructive
   treatise setting forth the desirability of avoiding the dangers of the
   world, and for those who must live in the world, showing how to pass
   through them most safely.

   7. De Elia et jejunio. A treatise composed from addresses delivered
   during Lent, certainly after a.d. 386, possibly 389.

   8. De Tobia. A work quoted by St. Augustine (C. Jul. Pelag. I. 3, 10),
   consisting of sermons on the story of Tobias, and chiefly directed
   against the practice of usury.

   9. De Nabuthe Jezraelita. One or two sermons against avarice, probably
   written about a.d. 395.

   10. Libri iv. de interpellatione Job et David. The first and third
   books have Job, the second and fourth David, for their subject, and
   formed a course of sermons the date of which is uncertain.

   11. Apologia prophetae David ad Theodosium Augustum. A number of
   addresses delivered, it would seem, about a.d. 384, quoted also by St.
   Augustine.

   12. Enarrationes in xii. Psalmos Davidicos. Commentaries on Psalms 1,
   35-40, 43, 45, 47, 48, 61 (according to St. Ambrose's numbering). These
   seem to have been partly preached, partly dictated at various dates,
   and much in them is borrowed from St. Basil.

   13. Expositio Psalmi cxviii. This treatise is one of the most carefully
   worked out of all the writings of St. Ambrose and consists of
   twenty-two addresses to the faithful, each address comprising one
   division of the Psalm. From various allusions, it would seem that the
   completed work dates from about a.d. 388.

   14. Expositio Evangelii secundum Lucam. The ten books of this
   commentary consist likewise of sermons in which St. Ambrose explained
   the Gospel during a period of one or two years, in 386 and 387.

   III. Ethical Writings.

   Among the ethical or moral writings of St. Ambrose, the first place is
   deservedly assigned to:

   1. De Officiis Ministrorum. In three books, which are translated in
   this series.

   2. De Virginibus. Three books concerning Virgins, addressed to his
   sister Marcellina in the year 377, probably, like most of the treatises
   of St. Ambrose, revised from addresses, the first of which was
   delivered on the festival of St. Agnes, January 21. This would seem to
   have been perhaps the very earliest of the writings of St. Ambrose,
   judging from the opening chapter. The treatise is referred to by St.
   Jerome, St. Augustine, Cassian, and others.

   3. De Viduis. This shorter work, concerning Widows, was probably
   written not very long after the last mentioned treatise.

   4. De Virginitate. A treatise on Virginity, the date of which cannot
   certainly be fixed, but the writing De Viduis is referred to in chapter
   9.

   5. De Institutione Virginis. A treatise on the training and discipline
   of a Virgin, addressed to Eusebius, either bishop or a noble of
   Bologna, after St. Ambrose had admitted his niece to the rank of
   Virgins, probably about a.d. 391 or 392.

   6. Exhortatio Virginitatis. A commendation of Virginity preached on the
   occasion of the consecration of a church at Florence by St. Ambrose,
   a.d. 393 or 394.

   IV. Sermons and Addresses.

   1. Contra Auxentium. A sermon against Auxentius, concerning giving up
   the basilicas to the Arians, usually inserted between the twenty-first
   and twenty-second of the letters of St. Ambrose.

   2. De Excessu fratris Satyri. The two addresses on the occasion of the
   death of St. Ambrose's brother Satyrus, translated in this volume.

   3. De obitu Valentiniani Consolatio. The Emperor Valentinian having
   been murdered by Arbogastes, Count of Vienne, his body was brought to
   Milan, and remained two months unburied. At last Theodosius sent the
   necessary rescript, and at the funeral solemnities St. Ambrose
   delivered the address entitled the "Consolation."

   4. De obitu Theodosii oratio. A discourse delivered forty days after
   the death of the Emperor Theodosius before the Emperor Honorius at
   Milan.

   V. The Letters of St. Ambrose.

   The Benedictine Editors of St. Ambrose have divided his Epistles into
   two classes: the first comprising those to which they thought it
   possible to assign dates; the second those which afford no data for a
   conclusion. Probably in many cases the exact year is not so certain as
   the editors have made it appear, but they seem arranged in a fairly
   probable consecutive order.

   The Letters

   1. To the Emperor Gratian, in reply to his request for a treatise on
   the Faith. Written a.d. 379, before August, as Gratian came to Milan in
   that month.

   2. To Constantius, a bishop, on episcopal duties, and commending to him
   the care of the vacant see of Forum Cornelii, or Imola. Probably
   written about a.d. 379.

   3, 4. To Cornelius, Bishop of Comum, the first a friendly letter, the
   second containing also an invitation to the consecration of a church by
   Bassianus, Bishop of Laus Pompeia, now Lodi Vecchio, near Milan.
   Written probably after a.d. 381.

   5, 6. To Syagrius, Bishop of Verona. On a charge falsely brought
   against the Virgin Indicia. They may have been written a.d. 380.

   7, 8. To Justus, perhaps Bishop of Lyons. On holy Scripture. If the
   conjecture that Justus was the Bishop of Lyons is correct, written
   about 380 or 381.

   9-12. Letters concerning the Council of Aquileia, held a.d. 381, to the
   bishops of the provinces of Gaul, to the Emperor Gratian and his
   colleagues. Two men, Palladius and Secundianus, held Arian opinions,
   and the former appears to have asked Gratian to convoke a General
   Council, pleading that he was unjustly condemned. St. Ambrose pointed
   out to the Emperor that such a question as the orthodoxy of two persons
   could be settled by a local council in Italy; and as a result, by the
   Emperor's mandate, a council of Italian bishops met at Aquileia, other
   bishops having also permission to attend. Palladius and Secundianus
   were condemned, and these letters have reference to the proceedings at
   the council. They were probably written by St. Ambrose in the name of
   the council, a.d. 381.

   13, 14. Two letters addressed to Theodosius, the former relating the
   decisions of a council, probably held at Milan, on the Meletian schism
   at Antioch, and the latter further expressing the desire of the bishops
   for a council on this subject, and also on the opinions of Apollinaris.
   Written a.d. 381 or 382.

   15. To the Bishops of Macedonia, in reply to their notification of the
   death of Acholius, Bishop of Thessalonica, who baptized Theodosius, and
   had met St. Ambrose at a council in Rome. Written a.d. 383.

   16. To Anicius, on his election to succeed Acholius, whose labours and
   life are commended by St. Ambrose. Written a.d. 383.

   17, 18. On the occasion of the attempt of Symmachus and the heathen
   senators to procure the restitution of the image and Altar of Victory
   in the Roman Senate-house, frustrated by St. Ambrose, a.d. 384.

   19. To Vigilius, Bishop of Trent, subsequently martyred, written
   probably about a.d. 385.

   20. To his sister, Marcellina, giving an account of the frustrated
   attempts of the Arian and imperial party to gain possession of a
   basilica at Milan, a.d. 385,

   21. To the Emperor Valentinian II., declining the challenge to dispute
   with the Arian Auxentius before lay judges. a.d. 386.

   22. To his sister Marcellina, giving an account of the finding of the
   bodies of SS. Gervasius and Protasius, and of the consequent miracles.
   Written a.d. 386.

   23. To the bishops of the province of AEmilia, on the proper date for
   the observance of Easter, in 387. Written a.d. 386.

   24. To Valentinian II., with an account of St. Ambrose's second mission
   to Maximus on his behalf. Written probably a.d. 387.

   25, 26. Inscribed the former to Studius, the second to Irenaeus, but
   from internal evidence these appear to be the same person. It deals
   with the question, how far a judge being a Christian may lawfully
   sentence any one to death. Written probably about a.d. 388.

   27-33. Addressed to Irenaeus, on various questions. Written about a.d.
   387.

   34-36. To Orontianus, a cleric, on the soul and other questions.
   Written after 386.

   37, 38. To Simplicianus, who became the successor of St. Ambrose in the
   see of Milan, setting forth that holiness is perfect freedom.

   39. To Faustinus, on the occasion of the death of a sister. Written
   probably after a.d. 387.

   40. To Theodosius. The Jewish synagogue at Callinicum in Mesopotamia
   having been destroyed by the Christians, and a meeting-house of the
   Valentinian heretics also burnt by the Catholics, Theodosius ordered
   that the bishop should rebuild the synagogue at his own expense, and
   the monks be punished. St. Ambrose remonstrates with the Emperor, and
   it would seem, from the following letter to his sister, at first
   unsuccessfully.

   41. To his sister Marcellina, relating the circumstances alluded to
   above, and telling her of his sermon before the Emperor, and of his
   subsequent refusal to celebrate the Eucharist, until the Emperor had
   promised to rescind the order. The date of the two letters is a.d. 388.

   42. Reply of St. Ambrose and a synod at Milan to the notification of
   Pope Siricius announcing the sentence of excommunication passed upon
   Jovinian and his followers.

   43, 44. To Horontianus, in reply to his inquiries on some points
   connected with the Creation.

   45. To Sabinus, Bishop of Placentia, in answer to questions concerning
   Paradise.

   46. To the same, on the subject of an Apollinarian heretic.

   47-49. To the same, with books and on private matters.

   50. To Chromatius, probably Bishop of Aquileia, explaining how evil men
   may be used to utter true prophecies.

   51. To Theodosius, after the massacre at Thessalonica. Written a.d.
   390.

   52. A private letter to Titianus.

   53. To Theodosius, to express the sorrow of St. Ambrose at the death of
   Valentinian II., slain by Arbogastes.

   54, 55. To Eusebius, not, it would seem, the Bishop of Bologna who was
   present at the Council of Aquileia, but rather a lay friend to whom St.
   Ambrose wrote his treatise on the training of a virgin. Probably
   written a.d. 392 or 393.

   56. To Theophilus. The troubles of the church of Antioch through the
   Meletian schism might have terminated on the death of Paulinus, had he
   not on his deathbed consecrated Evagrius as his successor in violation
   of the canons. Theodosius, being pressed by the Western bishops, now
   summoned a council at Capua, commanding Flavian to attend, which
   command he however disobeyed. The council referred the matter to
   Theophilus of Alexandria and the bishops of Egypt. But Flavian, as
   Theophilus had informed St. Ambrose, refused to submit to their
   decision. This is the reply of St. Ambrose advising Theophilus to
   summon Flavian once more, and communicate the result to Pope Siricius.
   The letter must have been written quite at the end of a.d. 391, or the
   beginning of 392.

   57. To Eugenius the usurper, to avoid whom St. Ambrose had left Milan,
   and to whose letters he had sent no reply. Written a.d. 393.

   58. To Sabinus, Bishop, on the resolution of Paulinus and Therasia to
   forsake the world. Written probably a.d. 393.

   59. To Severus, Bishop probably of Naples, telling him of James, a
   Persian priest, who had resolved to retire from the world into
   Campania, and contrasting this with his own troubles, owing to the
   invasion of Eugenius, a.d. 393 or 394.

   60. To Paternus, against a proposed incestuous marriage.

   61. To Theodosius, after his victory over Eugenius. Written a.d. 394.

   62. To the same, urging him to be merciful to the followers of
   Eugenius. Written in the same year.

   63. To the Church at Vercellae.

   The second division of the letters, being those which cannot be dated,
   begins here in the Benediction Edition.

   64. To Irenaeus, on the Manna.

   65. To Simplicianus, on Exodus xxiv. 6.

   66. To Romulus, on Aaron's making the calf of the golden earrings.

   67. To Simplicianus, showing how Moses yielded to Aaron in matters
   relating to his priestly character.

   68. To Romulus. Explanation of the text Deut. xxviii. 23.

   69. To Irenaeus, answering a question as to the prohibition under
   severe penalties in the Mosaic law, of disguising the sex by dress.

   70, 71. To Horontianus, on part of the prophecy of Micah.

   72. To Constantius, on the rite of circumcision.

   73-76. To Irenaeus. Why the law was given, and the scope of the Epistle
   to the Ephesians. The letter numbered 75 is plainly a continuation of
   74, although inscribed to Clementianus, a difficulty similar to that
   about letter 26.

   77, 78. To Horontianus, contrasting the condition of the Jew and the
   Christian.

   79, 80. To Bellicius, on recovery from sickness, and on the miracle of
   healing the man blind from his birth.

   81. To certain clergy, against despondency.

   82. To Marcellus, concerning a lawsuit.

   83. To Sisinnius, commending him for forgiving his son, who had married
   without consulting him.

   84. To Cynegius.

   85, 86. To Siricius, with thanks for letters, and commending Priscus.

   87. To Segatius [more probably Phaebadius], Bishop of Agens, and
   Delphinus, Bishop of Bordeaux. Polybius, mentioned in the letter, was
   proconsul of Africa between the years 380 and 390.

   88. To Atticus. Commendation of Priscus.

   89. To Alypius. Acknowledgment of letters.

   90. To Antonius. On the mutual affection of himself and St. Ambrose.

   91. To Candidianus, probably a fellow-bishop. A letter of affection.

   VI. Hymns.

   During the persecutions stirred up by the Arian Empress Justina, a.d.
   385-6, referred to in his 20th letter, St. Ambrose and the faithful
   spent the whole night in the basilica, and the holy Bishop employed the
   people in singing psalms and hymns. A large number of hymns have been
   attributed to St. Ambrose, the number having by some editors been
   brought down to twelve, of which, however, only four are certainly his
   compositions.

   1. Eterne rerum Conditor, referred to by St. Augustine, Retract. I. 21,
   and by St. Ambrose himself, Hexaem. V. 24, 88. The hymn is still in use
   at Lauds on Sunday.

   2. Deus Creator omnium. Quoted by St. Augustine, Conf. IX. 12, 32.

   3. Jam surigit hora tertia. Also quoted by St. Augustine.

   4. Veni Redemptor gentium. A Christmas hymn, quoted by Pope Celestine,
   a.d. 430, in a sermon against the Nestorians, preached before a synod
   at Rome, and also by other writers.

   Of other hymns one commencing, Illuminans Altissimus, is quoted by
   Cassiodorus as an Epiphany hymn by St. Ambrose, and the same author
   refers to another, Orabo mente Dominum. The Benedictine Editors admit
   six other hymns, but they are supported by no authority anterior to
   Venerable Bede.

   VII. Doubtful and Spurious Works.

   This volume cannot of course comprehend the arguments and discussions
   necessary for any critical examination of certain works whether
   doubtful or certainly spurious, but their names may be given and
   certain conclusions stated.

   1. Five books on the Jewish war, ordinarily attributed to Hegisippus.
   This is a translation into Latin and a condensation in part of the
   well-known work of Josephus. Ihm, a very thorough student of St.
   Ambrose, seems quite disposed to maintain after careful examination
   that this is the work of St. Ambrose.

   2. De lege Dei. This treatise, a sort of compendium of Roman law in the
   fourth century, and comparison of it with the law of Moses, is
   ascribed, in a translation published by Mai, [24] to St. Ambrose, who
   is said to have undertaken the work at the command of Theodosius. On
   the authenticity, however, of this treatise there probably will always
   remain much doubt.

   3. Among works more or less doubtful are De Sacramentis, admitted by
   the Benedictines, but rejected, and apparently on sufficient grounds,
   by Ihm.

   4. Apologia David altera. Suspected by Erasmus, Tillemont, and Ihm.

   5. De lapsu Virginis consecratae. A severe castigation of a fallen
   virgin and of her seducer. The treatise seems to have been written by a
   certain Bishop of Nicetas, and a ms. at speaks of it as having been
   revised by St. Ambrose.

   6. There are further three brief addresses ascribed by some persons to
   St. Ambrose, touching on the question of selling all and giving to the
   poor. Some of the matter is like St. Ambrose, but the same cannot be
   said of the diction and style.

   VIII. Lost Writings of St. Ambrose.

   1. Expositio Isaiae prophetiae, referred to by St. Augustine as well as
   by St. Ambrose himself.

   2. Liber de Sacramento regenerationis sive de philosophia, referred to
   by St. Augustine.

   3. Libellus ad Pansophium puerum, written a.d. 393-4, according to
   Paulinus in his life of St. Ambrose.

   4. Libri quatuor regnorum, referred to in the introduction to the work
   on the Jewish war.

   5. Expositio fidei, quoted by Theodoret and others as a writing of St.
   Ambrose.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [24] Scriptorum veterum nova Collectio, Vol. X.
     __________________________________________________________________
     __________________________________________________________________
     __________________________________________________________________

                          On the Duties of the Clergy.
     __________________________________________________________________
     __________________________________________________________________

  Introduction.

   St. Ambrose, esteeming very highly the dignity of the ministerial
   office, was most desirous that the clergy of his diocese should live
   worthily of their high vocation, and be good and profitable examples to
   the people. Consequently he undertook the following treatise, setting
   forth the duties of the clergy, and taking as a model the treatise of
   Cicero, De Officiis.

   The writer says that his object is to impress upon those whom he has
   ordained the lessons which he had previously taught them. [25] Like
   Cicero, he treats of that which is right, becoming, or honourable
   [decorum], and what is expedient [utile]; [26] but with reference not
   to this life but to that which is to come, teaching in the first book
   that which is becoming or honourable; in the second, what is expedient;
   and in the third, considering both in conjunction.

   In the first book he divides duties into "ordinary," or the way of the
   commandments, binding upon all alike; and "perfect," which consist in
   following the counsels. After treating then of some elementary duties,
   such as those towards parents and elders, he touches upon the two
   principles which lead the mind, reason and appetite, and shows that
   what is becoming consists in thinking of good and right things, and in
   the subjection of the appetite to reason, [27] and supplies certain
   rules and examples, ending with a discussion on the four Cardinal
   Virtues, Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, and Temperance.

   In the second book, passing from what is becoming to what is expedient,
   he points out that we can only measure what is really expedient by
   reference to eternal life, in contradiction to the errors of heathen
   philosophers, and shows that what is expedient consists in the
   knowledge of God and in good living. Incidentally he shows that what is
   becoming is really that which is expedient, and ends the book with
   several chapters of practical considerations.

   In the third book he treats of duties of perfection, and lays down as a
   rule that in everything we must inquire what is expedient, not for
   individuals, but for many or for all. Nothing is to be striven after
   which is not becoming; to this everything must give place, not only
   expediency but even friendship and life itself. By many examples he
   then proves how holy men have sought after what was becoming, and have
   thereby secured what was expedient.

   The object of St. Ambrose in basing his treatise on the lines of that
   of Cicero would seem to have been the confutation of some of the false
   principles of heathenism, and to show how much higher Christian
   morality is than that of the Gentiles. The treatise was probably
   composed about a.d. 391.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [25] II. 6, S: 25.

   [26] I. 9, S: 28.

   [27] I. 24, S: 106.
     __________________________________________________________________

Three Books on the Duties of the Clergy.

    by

  St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan.
     __________________________________________________________________

  Book I.
     __________________________________________________________________

    Chapter I.

   A Bishop's special office is to teach; St. Ambrose himself, however,
   has to learn in order that he may teach; or rather has to teach what he
   has not learnt; at any rate learning and teaching with himself must go
   on together.

   1. I think I shall not seem to be taking too much on myself, if, in the
   midst of my children, I yield to my desire to teach, seeing that the
   master of humility himself has said: "Come, ye children, hearken unto
   me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord." [28] Wherein one may
   observe both the humility and the grace of his reverence for God. For
   in saying "the fear of the Lord," which seems to be common to all, he
   has described the chief mark of reverence for God. As, however, fear
   itself is the beginning of wisdom and the source of blessedness--for
   they that fear the Lord are blessed [29] --he has plainly marked
   himself out as the teacher for instruction in wisdom, and the guide to
   the attainment of blessedness.

   2. We therefore, being anxious to imitate his reverence for God, and
   not without justification in dispensing grace, deliver to you as to
   children those things which the Spirit of Wisdom has imparted to him,
   and which have been made clear to us through him, and learnt by sight
   and by example. For we can no longer now escape from the duty of
   teaching which the needs of the priesthood have laid upon us, though we
   tried to avoid it: [30] "For God gave some, apostles; and some,
   prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers." [31]

   3. I do not therefore claim for myself the glory of the apostles (for
   who can do this save those whom the Son of God Himself has chosen?);
   nor the grace of the prophets, nor the virtue of the evangelists, nor
   the cautious care of the pastors. I only desire to attain to that care
   and diligence in the sacred writings, which the Apostle has placed last
   amongst the duties of the saints; [32] and this very thing I desire, so
   that, in the endeavour to teach, I may be able to learn. For one is the
   true Master, Who alone has not learnt, what He taught all; but men
   learn before they teach, and receive from Him what they may hand on to
   others.

   4. But not even this was the case with me. For I was carried off from
   the judgment seat, and the garb [infulis] of office, to enter on the
   priesthood, [33] and began to teach you, what I myself had not yet
   learnt. So it happened that I began to teach before I began to learn.
   Therefore I must learn and teach at the same time, since I had no
   leisure to learn before. [34]
     __________________________________________________________________

   [28] Ps. xxxiv. [xxxiii.] 11.

   [29] Ib. cxii. [cxi.] 1.

   [30] Paulinus, in his Life of St. Ambrose, relates various expedients
   that he tried, to enable him to avoid the office to which he had been
   called; e.g. how he caused torture to be applied to prisoners, contrary
   to his usual practice, in the hope that this might lead to his
   rejection. More than once, also, he endeavoured to escape the honour by
   flight.

   [31] Eph. iv. 11.

   [32] 1 Cor. xii. 10.

   [33] St. Ambrose, at the time of his election to the episcopate, was a
   consular magistrate, and was not even baptized. The infula was a flock
   of red and white wool formed into a fillet, and worn on the head; from
   which ribands hung down on either side. It was a mark of religious
   consecration, and so worn by the priests and vestal virgins. In later
   times it was adopted also by the emperors and magistrates as a sign of
   their semi-sacred character.

   [34] The following is found in many mss., but not in the Benedictine
   edition. "Et quantumlibet quisque profecerit nemo est qui docere non
   egeat dum vivit."
     __________________________________________________________________

    Chapter II.

   Manifold dangers are incurred by speaking; the remedy for which
   Scripture shows to consist in silence.

   5. Now what ought we to learn before everything else, but to be silent,
   that we may be able to speak? lest my voice should condemn me, before
   that of another acquit me; for it is written: "By thy words thou shalt
   be condemned." [35] What need is there, then, that thou shouldest
   hasten to undergo the danger of condemnation by speaking, when thou
   canst be more safe by keeping silent? How many have I seen to fall into
   sin by speaking, but scarcely one by keeping silent; and so it is more
   difficult to know how to keep silent than how to speak. I know that
   most persons speak because they do not know how to keep silent. It is
   seldom that any one is silent even when speaking profits him nothing.
   He is wise, then, who knows how to keep silent. Lastly, the Wisdom of
   God said: "The Lord hath given to me the tongue of learning, that I
   should know when it is good to speak." [36] Justly, then, is he wise
   who has received of the Lord to know when he ought to speak. Wherefore
   the Scripture says well: "A wise man will keep silence until there is
   opportunity." [37]

   6. Therefore the saints of the Lord loved to keep silence, because they
   knew that a man's voice is often the utterance of sin, and a man's
   speech is the beginning of human error. Lastly, the Saint of the Lord
   said: "I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I offend not in my
   tongue." [38] For he knew and had read that it was a mark of the divine
   protection for a man to be hid from the scourge of his own tongue, [39]
   and the witness of his own conscience. We are chastised by the silent
   reproaches of our thoughts, and by the judgment of conscience. We are
   chastised also by the lash of our own voice, when we say things whereby
   our soul is mortally injured, and our mind is sorely wounded. But who
   is there that has his heart clean from the impurities of sin, and does
   not offend in his tongue? And so, as he saw there was no one who could
   keep his mouth free from evil speaking, he laid upon himself the law of
   innocency by a rule of silence, with a view to avoiding by silence that
   fault which he could with difficulty escape in speaking.

   7. Let us hearken, then, to the master of precaution: "I said, I will
   take heed to my ways;" that is, "I said to myself: in the silent
   biddings of my thoughts, I have enjoined upon myself, that I should
   take heed to my ways." Some ways there are which we ought to follow;
   others as to which we ought to take heed. We must follow the ways of
   the Lord, and take heed to our own ways, lest they lead us into sin.
   One can take heed if one is not hasty in speaking. The law says: "Hear,
   O Israel, the Lord thy God." [40] It said not: "Speak," but "Hear." Eve
   fell because she said to the man what she had not heard from the Lord
   her God. The first word from God says to thee: Hear! If thou hearest,
   take heed to thy ways; and if thou hast fallen, quickly amend thy way.
   For: "Wherein does a young man amend his way; except in taking heed to
   the word of the Lord?" [41] Be silent therefore first of all, and
   hearken, that thou fail not in thy tongue.

   8. It is a great evil that a man should be condemned by his own mouth.
   Truly, if each one shall give account for an idle word, [42] how much
   more for words of impurity and shame? For words uttered hastily are far
   worse than idle words. If, therefore, an account is demanded for an
   idle word, how much more will punishment be exacted for impious
   language?
     __________________________________________________________________

   [35] S. Matt. xii. 37.

   [36] Is. l. 4 [LXX.].

   [37] Ecclus. xx. 7.

   [38] Ps. xxxix. [xxxviii.] 1.

   [39] Job v. 21.

   [40] Deut. vi. 4.

   [41] Ps. cxix. [cxviii.] 9.

   [42] S. Matt. xii. 36.
     __________________________________________________________________

    Chapter III.

   Silence should not remain unbroken, nor should it arise from idleness.
   How heart and mouth must be guarded against inordinate affections.

   9. What then? Ought we to be dumb? Certainly not. For: "there is a time
   to keep silence and a time to speak." [43] If, then, we are to give
   account for an idle word, let us take care that we do not have to give
   it also for an idle silence. For there is also an active silence, such
   as Susanna's was, who did more by keeping silence than if she had
   spoken. For in keeping silence before men she spoke to God, and found
   no greater proof of her chastity than silence. Her conscience spoke
   where no word was heard, and she sought no judgment for herself at the
   hands of men, for she had the witness of the Lord. She therefore
   desired to be acquitted by Him, Who she knew could not be deceived in
   any way. [44] Yea, the Lord Himself in the Gospel worked out in silence
   the salvation of men. [45] David rightly therefore enjoined on himself
   not constant silence, but watchfulness.

   10. Let us then guard our hearts, let us guard our mouths. Both have
   been written about. In this place we are bidden to take heed to our
   mouth; in another place thou art told: "Keep thy heart with all
   diligence." [46] If David took heed, wilt thou not take heed? If Isaiah
   had unclean lips--who said: "Woe is me, for I am undone, for I am a
   man, and have unclean lips" [47] --if a prophet of the Lord had unclean
   lips, how shall we have them clean?

   11. But for whom was it written, unless it was for each one of us:
   "Hedge thy possession about with thorns, and bind up thy silver and
   gold, and make a door and a bar for thy mouth, and a yoke and a balance
   for thy words"? [48] Thy possession is thy mind, thy gold thy heart,
   thy silver thy speech: "The words of the Lord are pure words, as silver
   tried in the fire." [49] A good mind is also a good possession. And,
   further, a pure inner life is a valuable possession. Hedge in, then,
   this possession of thine, enclose it with thought, guard it with
   thorns, that is, with pious care, lest the fierce passions of the flesh
   should rush upon it and lead it captive, lest strong emotions should
   assault it, and, overstepping their bounds, carry off its vintage.
   Guard thy inner self. Do not neglect or contemn it as though it were
   worthless, for it is a valuable possession; truly valuable indeed, for
   its fruit is not perishable and only for a time, but is lasting and of
   use for eternal salvation. Cultivate, therefore, thy possession, and
   let it be thy tilling ground.

   12. Bind up thy words that they run not riot, and grow wanton, and
   gather up sins for themselves in too much talking. Let them be rather
   confined, and held back within their own banks. An overflowing river
   quickly gathers mud. Bind up also thy meaning; let it not be left slack
   and unchecked, lest it be said of thee: "There is no healing balsam,
   nor oil, nor bandage to apply." [50] Sobriety of mind has its reins,
   whereby it is directed and guided.

   13. Let there be a door to thy mouth, that it may be shut when need
   arises, and let it be carefully barred, that none may rouse thy voice
   to anger, and thou pay back abuse with abuse. Thou hast heard it read
   to-day: "Be ye angry and sin not." [51] Therefore although we are angry
   (this arising from the motions of our nature, not of our will), let us
   not utter with our mouth one evil word, lest we fall into sin; but let
   there be a yoke and a balance to thy words, that is, humility and
   moderation, that thy tongue may be subject to thy mind. Let it be held
   in check with a tight rein; let it have its own means of restraint,
   whereby it can be recalled to moderation; let it utter words tried by
   the scales of justice, that there may be seriousness in our meaning,
   weight in our speech, and due measure in our words.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [43] Eccles. iii. 7.

   [44] Sus. v. 35.

   [45] S. Matt. xxvi. 63.

   [46] Prov. iv. 23.

   [47] Isa. vi. 5.

   [48] Ecclus. xxviii. 24, 25.

   [49] Ps. xii. [xi.] 6.

   [50] Isa. i. 6 [LXX.].

   [51] Ps. iv. 4.
     __________________________________________________________________

    Chapter IV.

   The same care must be taken that our speech proceed not from evil
   passions, but from good motives; for here it is that the devil is
   especially on the watch to catch us.

   14. If any one takes heed to this, he will be mild, gentle, modest. For
   in guarding his mouth, and restraining his tongue, and in not speaking
   before examining, pondering, and weighing his words--as to whether this
   should be said, that should be answered, or whether it be a suitable
   time for this remark--he certainly is practising modesty, gentleness,
   patience. So he will not burst out into speech through displeasure or
   anger, nor give sign of any passion in his words, nor proclaim that the
   flames of lust are burning in his language, or that the incentives of
   wrath are present in what he says. Let him act thus for fear that his
   words, which ought to grace his inner life, should at the last plainly
   show and prove that there is some vice in his morals.

   15. For then especially does the enemy lay his plans, when he sees
   passions engendered in us; then he supplies tinder; then he lays
   snares. Wherefore the prophet says not without cause, as we heard read
   to-day: "Surely He hath delivered me from the snare of the hunter and
   from the hard word." [52] Symmachus [53] said this means "the word of
   provocation;" others "the word that brings disquiet." The snare of the
   enemy is our speech--but that itself is also just as much an enemy to
   us. Too often we say something that our foe takes hold of, and whereby
   he wounds us as though by our own sword. How far better it is to perish
   by the sword of others than by our own!

   16. Accordingly the enemy tests our arms and clashes together his
   weapons. If he sees that I am disturbed, he implants the points of his
   darts, so as to raise a crop of quarrels. If I utter an unseemly word,
   he sets his snare. Then he puts before me the opportunity for revenge
   as a bait, so that in desiring to be revenged, I may put myself in the
   snare, and draw the death-knot tight for myself. If any one feels this
   enemy is near, he ought to give greater heed to his mouth, lest he make
   room for the enemy; but not many see him.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [52] Ps. xc. 3 [LXX.].

   [53] Symmachus, said to have been an Ebionite, lived c. 193-211. He
   translated the Old Testament into Greek. This was one of the versions
   Origen made use of in his Hexapla edition of the Bible.
     __________________________________________________________________

    Chapter V.

   We must guard also against a visible enemy when he incites us by
   silence; by the help of which alone we can escape from those greater
   than ourselves, and maintain that humility which we must display
   towards all.

   17. But we must also guard against him who can be seen, and who
   provokes us, and spurs us on, and exasperates us, and supplies what
   will excite us to licentiousness or lust. If, then, any one reviles us,
   irritates, stirs us up to violence, tries to make us quarrel; let us
   keep silence, let us not be ashamed to become dumb. For he who
   irritates us and does us an injury is committing sin, and wishes us to
   become like himself.

   18. Certainly if thou art silent, and hidest thy feelings, he is wont
   to say: "Why are you silent? Speak if you dare; but you dare not, you
   are dumb, I have made you speechless." If thou art silent, he is the
   more excited. He thinks himself beaten, laughed at, little thought of,
   and ridiculed. If thou answerest, he thinks he has become the victor,
   because he has found one like himself. For if thou art silent, men will
   say: "That man has been abusive, but this one held him in contempt." If
   thou return the abuse, they will say: "Both have been abusive." Both
   will be condemned, neither will be acquitted. Therefore it is his
   object to irritate, so that I may speak and act as he does. But it is
   the duty of a just man to hide his feelings and say nothing, to
   preserve the fruit of a good conscience, to trust himself rather to the
   judgment of good men than to the insolence of a calumniator, and to be
   satisfied with the stability of his own character. For that is: "To
   keep silence even from good words;" [54] since one who has a good
   conscience ought not to be troubled by false words, nor ought he to
   make more of another's abuse than of the witness of his own heart.

   19. So, then, let a man guard also his humility. If, however, he is
   unwilling to appear too humble, he thinks as follows, and says within
   himself: "Am I to allow this man to despise me, and say such things to
   my face against me, as though I could not open my mouth before him? Why
   should I not also say something whereby I can grieve him? Am I to let
   him do me wrong, as though I were not a man, and as though I could not
   avenge myself? Is he to bring charges against me as though I could not
   bring together worse ones against him?"

   20. Whoever speaks like this is not gentle and humble, nor is he
   without temptation. The tempter stirs him up, and himself puts such
   thoughts in his heart. Often and often, too, the evil spirit employs
   another person, and gets him to say such things to him; but do thou set
   thy foot firm on the rock. Although a slave should abuse, let the just
   man be silent, and if a weak man utter insults, let him be silent, and
   if a poor man should make accusations, let him not answer. These are
   the weapons of the just man, so that he may conquer by giving way, as
   those skilled in throwing the javelin are wont to conquer by giving
   way, and in flight to wound their pursuers with severer blows.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [54] Ps. xxxix. [xxxviii.] 2.
     __________________________________________________________________

    Chapter VI.

   In this matter we must imitate David's silence and humility, so as not
   even to seem deserving of harm.

   21. What need is there to be troubled when we hear abuse? Why do we not
   imitate him who says: "I was dumb and humbled myself, and kept silence
   even from good words"? [55] Or did David only say this, and not act up
   to it? No, he also acted up to it. For when Shimei the son of Gera
   reviled him, David was silent; and although he was surrounded with
   armed men he did not return the abuse, nor sought revenge: nay, even
   when the son of Zeruiah spoke to him, because he wished to take
   vengeance on him, David did not permit it. [56] He went on as though
   dumb, and humbled; he went on in silence; nor was he disturbed,
   although called a bloody man, for he was conscious of his own
   gentleness. He therefore was not disturbed by insults, for he had full
   knowledge of his own good works.

   22. He, then, who is quickly roused by wrong makes himself seem
   deserving of insult, even whilst he wishes to be shown not to deserve
   it. He who despises wrongs is better off than he who grieves over them.
   For he who despises them looks down on them, as though he feels them
   not; but he who grieves over them is tormented, just as though he
   actually felt them.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [55] Ps. xxxix. [xxxviii.] 2.

   [56] 2 Sam. [2 Kings] xvi. 6 ff.
     __________________________________________________________________

    Chapter VII.

   How admirably Ps. xxxix. [xxxviii.] takes the place of an introduction.
   Incited thereto by this psalm the saint determines to write on duties.
   He does this with more reason even than Cicero, who wrote on this
   subject to his son. How, further, this is so.

   23. Not without thought did I make use of the beginning of this psalm,
   in writing to you, my children. For this psalm which the Prophet David
   gave to Jeduthun to sing, [57] I urge you to regard, being delighted
   myself with its depth of meaning and the excellency of its maxims. For
   we have learnt in those words we have just shortly touched upon, that
   both patience in keeping silence and the duty of awaiting a fit time
   for speaking are taught in this psalm, as well as contempt of riches in
   the following verses, which things are the chief groundwork of virtues.
   Whilst, therefore, meditating on this psalm, it has come to my mind to
   write "on the Duties."

   24. Although some philosophers have written on this
   subject,--Panaetius, [58] for instance, and his son amongst the Greek,
   Cicero amongst the Latin, writers--I did not think it foreign to my
   office to write also myself. And as Cicero wrote for the instruction of
   his son, [59] so I, too, write to teach you, my children. For I love
   you, whom I have begotten in the Gospel, no less than if you were my
   own true sons. For nature does not make us love more ardently than
   grace. We certainly ought to love those who we think will be with us
   for evermore than those who will be with us in this world only. These
   often are born unworthy of their race, so as to bring disgrace on their
   father; but you we chose beforehand, to love. They are loved naturally,
   of necessity, which is not a sufficiently suitable and constant teacher
   to implant a lasting love. But ye are loved on the ground of our
   deliberate choice, whereby a great feeling of affection is combined
   with the strength of our love: thus one tests what one loves and loves
   what one has chosen.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [57] This psalm in the Hebrew is inscribed to Jeduthun, one of the
   three leading musicians in the temple services.

   [58] A Stoic philosopher who lived and taught at Athens, c. b.c. 120.
   His chief work was a treatise peri tou kathekontos, which Cicero
   himself afterward used as the groundwork of his own book de Officiis.

   [59] Cic. de Off. I. 2.
     __________________________________________________________________

    Chapter VIII.

   The word "Duty" has been often used both by philosophers and in the
   holy Scriptures; from whence it is derived.

   25. Since, therefore, the person concerned is one fit to write on the
   Duties, let us see whether the subject itself stands on the same
   ground, and whether this word is suitable only to the schools of the
   philosophers, or is also to be found in the sacred Scriptures.
   Beautifully has the Holy Spirit, as it happens, brought before us a
   passage in reading the Gospel to-day, as though He would urge us to
   write; whereby we are confirmed in our view, that the word officium,
   "duty," may also be used with us. For when Zacharias the priest was
   struck dumb in the temple, and could not speak, it is said: "And it
   came to pass that as soon as the days of his duty [officii] were
   accomplished, he departed to his own house." [60] We read, therefore,
   that the word officium, "duty," can be used by us.

   26. [61] And this is not inconsistent with reason, since we consider
   that the word officium (duty) is derived from efficere (to effect), and
   is formed with the change of one letter for the sake of euphony; or at
   any rate that you should do those things which injure [officiant] no
   one, but benefit all.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [60] Luke i. 23. The Vulgate has officii; the Greek text reads: tes
   leitourgias.

   [61] In this section it is impossible to give the point in a
   translation, but the passage does not affect the argument. The text
   runs as follows: "Nec ratio ipsa abhorret, quandoquidem officium ab
   efficiendo dictum putamus, quasi efficium: sed propter decorem sermonis
   una immutata litera, officium nuncupari, vel certe, ut ea agas quae
   nulli officiant, prosint omnibus."
     __________________________________________________________________

    Chapter IX.

   A duty is to be chosen from what is virtuous, and from what is useful,
   and also from the comparison of the two, one with the other; but
   nothing is recognized by Christians as virtuous or useful which is not
   helpful to the future life. This treatise on duty, therefore, will not
   be superfluous.

   27. The philosophers considered that duties [62] were derived from what
   is virtuous and what is useful, and that from these two one should
   choose the better. Then, they say, it may happen that two virtuous or
   two useful things will clash together, and the question is, which is
   the more virtuous, and which the more useful? First, therefore, "duty"
   is divided into three sections: what is virtuous, what is useful, and
   what is the better of two. Then, again, these three are divided into
   five classes; that is, two that are virtuous, two that are useful, and,
   lastly, the right judgment as to the choice between them. The first
   they say has to do with the moral dignity and integrity of life; the
   second with the conveniences of life, with wealth, resources,
   opportunities; whilst a right judgment must underlie the choice of any
   of them. This is what the philosophers say. [63]

   28. But we measure nothing at all but that which is fitting and
   virtuous, and that by the rule of things future rather than of things
   present; and we state nothing to be useful but what will help us to the
   blessing of eternal life; certainly not that which will help us enjoy
   merely the present time. Nor do we recognize any advantages in
   opportunities and in the wealth of earthly goods, but consider them as
   disadvantages if not put aside, and to be looked on as a burden, when
   we have them, rather than as a loss when expended.

   29. This work of ours, therefore, is not superfluous, seeing that we
   and they regard duty in quite different ways. They reckon the
   advantages of this life among the good things, we reckon them among the
   evil things; for he who receives good things here, as the rich man in
   the parable, is tormented there; and Lazarus, who endured evil things
   here, there found comfort. [64] Lastly, those who do not read their
   writings may read ours if they will--if, that is, they do not require
   great adornment of language or a skilfully-treated subject, but are
   satisfied with the simple charm of the subject itself.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [62] Cic. de Off. I. 3, S: 9.

   [63] Cic. de Off. I. 3.

   [64] S. Luke xvi. 25.
     __________________________________________________________________

    Chapter X.

   What is seemly is often found in the sacred writings long before it
   appears in the books of the philosophers. Pythagoras borrowed the law
   of his silence from David. David's rule, however, is the best, for our
   first duty is to have due measure in speaking.

   30. We are instructed and taught that "what is seemly" [65] is put in
   our Scriptures in the first place. (In Greek it is called prepon.) For
   we read: "A Hymn beseems Thee, O God, in Sion." In Greek this is: Soi
   prepei humnos ho theos en Sion. [66] And the Apostle says: "Speak the
   things which become sound doctrine." [67] And elsewhere: "For it
   beseemed Him through Whom are all things and for Whom are all things,
   in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Captain of their
   salvation perfect through sufferings." [68]

   31. Was Panaetius or Aristotle, who also wrote on duty, earlier than
   David? Why, Pythagoras himself, who lived before the time of Socrates,
   followed the prophet David's steps and gave his disciples a law of
   silence. He went so far as to restrain his disciples from the use of
   speech for five years. David, on the other hand, gave his law, not with
   a view to impair the gift of nature, but to teach us to take heed to
   the words we utter. Pythagoras again made his rule, that he might teach
   men to speak by not speaking. But David made his, so that by speaking
   we might learn the more how to speak. How can there be instruction
   without exercise, or advance without practice?

   32. A man wishing to undergo a warlike training daily exercises himself
   with his weapons. As though ready for action he rehearses his part in
   the fight and stands forth just as if the enemy were in position before
   him. Or, with a view to acquiring skill and strength in throwing the
   javelin, he either puts his own arms to the proof, or avoids the blows
   of his foes, and escapes them by his watchful attention. The man that
   desires to navigate a ship on the sea, or to row, tries first on a
   river. They who wish to acquire an agreeable style of singing and a
   beautiful voice begin by bringing out their voice gradually by singing.
   And they who seek to win the crown of victory by strength of body and
   in a regular wrestling match, harden their limbs by daily practice in
   the wrestling school, foster their endurance, and accustom themselves
   to hard work.

   33. Nature herself teaches us this in the case of infants. For they
   first exercise themselves in the sounds of speech and so learn to
   speak. Thus these sounds of speech are a kind of practice, and a school
   for the voice. Let those then who want to learn to take heed in
   speaking not refuse what is according to nature, but let them use all
   watchful care; just as those who are on a watch-tower keep on the alert
   by watching, and not by going to sleep. For everything is made more
   perfect and strong by exercises proper and suitable to itself.

   34. David, therefore, was not always silent, but only for a time; not
   perpetually nor to all did he refuse to speak; but he used not to
   answer the enemy that provoked him, the sinner that exasperated him. As
   he says elsewhere: "As though he were deaf he heard not them that speak
   vanity and imagine deceit: and as though he were dumb he opened not his
   mouth to them." [69] Again, in another place, it is said: "Answer not a
   fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like to him." [70]

   35. The first duty then is to have due measure in our speech. In this
   way a sacrifice of praise is offered up to God; thus a godly fear is
   shown when the sacred Scriptures are read; thus parents are honoured. I
   know well that many speak because they know not how to keep silence.
   But it is not often any one is silent when speaking does not profit
   him. A wise man, intending to speak, first carefully considers what he
   is to say, and to whom he is to say it; also where and at what time.
   There is therefore such a thing as due measure in keeping silence and
   also in speaking; there is also such a thing as a due measure in what
   we do. It is a glorious thing to maintain the right standard of duty.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [65] Cic. de Off. I. 27.

   [66] Ps. lxv. [lxiv.] 1.

   [67] Tit. ii. 1.

   [68] Heb. ii. 10.

   [69] Ps. xxxviii. [xxxvii.] 13.

   [70] Prov. xxvi. 4.
     __________________________________________________________________

    Chapter XI.

   It is proved by the witness of Scripture that all duty is either
   "ordinary" or "perfect." To which is added a word in praise of mercy,
   and an exhortation to practise it.

   36. Every duty is either "ordinary" or "perfect," [71] a fact which we
   can also confirm by the authority of the Scriptures. For we read in the
   Gospel that the Lord said: "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the
   commandments. He saith: Which? Jesus said to him: Thou shalt do no
   murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou
   shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother, Thou
   shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." [72] These are ordinary duties,
   to which something is wanting.

   37. Upon this the young man says to Him: "All these things have I kept
   from my youth up, what lack I yet? Jesus said unto him: If thou wilt be
   perfect, go and sell all thy goods and give to the poor, and thou shalt
   have treasure in heaven; and come and follow Me." [73] And earlier the
   same is written, where the Lord says that we must love our enemies, and
   pray for those that falsely accuse and persecute us, and bless those
   that curse us. [74] This we are bound to do, if we would be perfect as
   our Father Who is in heaven; Who bids the sun to shed his rays over the
   evil and the good, and makes the lands of the whole universe fertile
   with rain and dew without any distinction. [75] This, then, is a
   perfect duty (the Greeks call it katorthoma), whereby all things are
   put right which could have any failings in them.

   38. Mercy, also, is a good thing, for it makes men perfect, in that it
   imitates the perfect Father. Nothing graces the Christian soul so much
   as mercy; mercy as shown chiefly towards the poor, that thou mayest
   treat them as sharers in common with thee in the produce of nature,
   which brings forth the fruits of the earth for use to all. Thus thou
   mayest freely give to a poor man what thou hast, and in this way help
   him who is thy brother and companion. Thou bestowest silver; he
   receives life. Thou givest money; he considers it his fortune. Thy coin
   makes up all his property.

   39. Further, he bestows more on thee than thou on him, since he is thy
   debtor in regard to thy salvation. If thou clothe the naked, thou
   clothest thyself with righteousness; if thou bring the stranger under
   thy roof, if thou support the needy, he procures for thee the
   friendship of the saints and eternal habitations. That is no small
   recompense. Thou sowest earthly things and receivest heavenly. Dost
   thou wonder at the judgment of God in the case of holy Job? Wonder
   rather at his virtue, in that he could say: "I was an eye to the blind,
   and a foot to the lame. I was a father to the poor. Their shoulders
   were made warm with the skins of my lambs. The stranger dwelt not at my
   gates, but my door was open to every one that came." [76] Clearly
   blessed is he from whose house a poor man has never gone with empty
   hand. Nor again is any one more blessed than he who is sensible of the
   needs of the poor, and the hardships of the weak and helpless. In the
   day of judgment he will receive salvation from the Lord, Whom he will
   have as his debtor for the mercy he has shown.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [71] Cic. de Off. I. 3, S: 8.

   [72] S. Matt. xix. 17, 18, 19.

   [73] S. Matt. xix. 20, 21.

   [74] S. Matt. v. 44.

   [75] S. Matt. v. 45.

   [76] Job xxix. 15, 16.
     __________________________________________________________________

    Chapter XII.

   To prevent any one from being checked in the exercise of mercy, he
   shows that God cares for human actions; and proves on the evidence of
   Job that all wicked men are unhappy in the very abundance of their
   wealth.

   40. But many are kept back from the duty of showing active mercy,
   because they suppose that God does not care about the actions of men,
   or that He does not know what we do in secret, and what our conscience
   has in view. Some again think that His judgment in no wise seems to be
   just; for they see that sinners have abundance of riches, that they
   enjoy honours, health, and children; while, on the other hand, the just
   live in poverty and unhonoured, they are without children, sickly in
   body, and often in grief.

   41. That is no small point. For those three royal friends of Job
   declared him to be a sinner, because they saw that he, after being
   rich, became poor; that after having many children, he had lost them
   all, and that he was now covered with sores and was full of weals, and
   was a mass of wounds from head to foot. But holy Job made this
   declaration to them: "If I suffer thus because of my sins, why do the
   wicked live? They grow old also in riches, their seed is according to
   their pleasure, their children are before their eyes, their houses are
   prosperous; but they have no fear; there is no scourge from the Lord on
   them." [77]

   42. A faint-hearted man, seeing this, is disturbed in mind, and turns
   his attention away from it. Holy Job, when about to speak in the words
   of such a one, began thus, saying: "Bear with me, I also will speak;
   then laugh at me. For if I am found fault with, I am found fault with
   as a man. Bear, therefore, the burden of my words." [78] For I am going
   to say (he means) what I do not approve; but I shall utter wrong words
   to refute you. Or, to translate it in another way: "How now? Am I found
   fault with by a man?" That is: a man cannot find fault with me because
   I have sinned, although I deserve to be found fault with; for ye do not
   find fault with me on the ground of an open sin, but estimate what I
   deserve for my offences by the extent of my misfortunes. Thus the
   faint-hearted man, seeing that the wicked succeed and prosper, whilst
   he himself is crushed by misfortune, says to the Lord: "Depart from me,
   I desire not the knowledge of Thy ways. [79] What good is it that we
   serve Him, or what use to hasten to Him? In the hands of the wicked are
   all good things, but He sees not their works."

   43. Plato has been greatly praised, because in his book "on the State,"
   [80] he has made the person who undertook the part of objector against
   justice to ask pardon for his words, of which he himself did not
   approve; and to say that that character was only assumed for the sake
   of finding out the truth and to investigate the question at issue. And
   Cicero so far approved of this, that he also, in his book which he
   wrote "on the Commonwealth," thought something must be said against
   that idea.

   44. How many years before these did Job live! He was the first to
   discover this, and to consider what excuses had to be made for this,
   not for the sake of decking out his eloquence, but for the sake of
   finding out the truth. At once he made the matter plain, stating that
   the lamp of the wicked is put out, that their destruction will come;
   [81] that God, the teacher of wisdom and instruction, is not deceived,
   but is a judge of the truth. Therefore the blessedness of individuals
   must not be estimated at the value of their known wealth, but according
   to the voice of their conscience within them. For this, as a true and
   uncorrupted judge of punishments and rewards, decides between the
   deserts of the innocent and the guilty. The innocent man dies in the
   strength of his own simplicity, in the full possession of his own will;
   having a soul filled as it were with marrow. [82] But the sinner,
   though he has abundance in life, and lives in the midst of luxury, and
   is redolent with sweet scents, ends his life in the bitterness of his
   soul, and brings his last day to a close, taking with him none of those
   good things which he once enjoyed--carrying away nothing with him but
   the price of his own wickedness. [83]

   45. In thinking of this, deny if thou canst that a recompense is paid
   by divine judgment. The former feels happy in his heart, the latter
   wretched; that man on his own verdict is guiltless, this one a
   criminal; that man again is happy in leaving the world, this man
   grieves over it. Who can be pronounced guiltless that is not innocent
   in the sight of his own conscience? "Tell me," he says, "where is the
   covering of his tabernacle; his token will not be found." [84] The life
   of the criminal is as a dream. He has opened his eyes. His repose has
   departed, his enjoyment has fled. Nay, that very repose of the wicked,
   which even while they live is only seeming, is now in hell, for alive
   they go down into hell.

   46. Thou seest the enjoyments of the sinner; but question his
   conscience. Will he not be more foul than any sepulchre? Thou beholdest
   his joy, thou admirest the bodily health of his children, and the
   amount of his wealth; but look within at the sores and wounds of his
   soul, the sadness of his heart. And what shall I say of his wealth,
   when thou readest: "For a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of
   the things which he possesseth"? [85] When thou knowest, that though he
   seems to thee to be rich, to himself he is poor, and in his own person
   refutes thy judgment? What also shall I say of the number of his
   children and of his freedom from pain--when he is full of grief and
   decides that he will have no heir, and does not wish that those who
   copy his ways should succeed him? For the sinner really leaves no heir.
   Thus the wicked man is a punishment to himself, but the upright man is
   a grace to himself--and to either, whether good or bad, the reward of
   his deeds is paid in his own person.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [77] Job xxi. 7-9.

   [78] Job xxi. 2-4, differing, however, widely from both the Hebrew and
   Greek text.

   [79] Job xxi. 14.

   [80] Plato, de Repub. II. 2.

   [81] Job xxi. 17.

   [82] Job xxi. 24.

   [83] Job xxi. Very freely used all through this section.

   [84] Job xxi. 28.

   [85] S. Luke xii. 15.
     __________________________________________________________________

    Chapter XIII.

   The ideas of those philosophers are refuted who deny to God the care of
   the whole world, or of any of its parts.

   47. But let us return to our point, lest we seem to have lost sight of
   the break we made in answering the ideas of those who, seeing some
   wicked men, rich, joyous, full of honours, and powerful, whilst many
   upright men are in want and are weak,--suppose therefore that God
   either cares nothing about us (which is what the Epicureans say), or
   that He is ignorant of men's actions as the wicked say--or that, if He
   knows all things, He is an unjust judge in allowing the good to be in
   want and the wicked to have abundance. But it did not seem out of place
   to make a digression to meet an idea of this kind and to contrast it
   with the feelings of those very persons whom they consider happy--for
   they think themselves wretched. I suppose they would believe themselves
   more readily than us.

   48. After this digression I consider it an easy matter to refute the
   rest--above all the declaration of those who think that God has no care
   whatever for the world. For instance, Aristotle declares that His
   providence extends only to the moon. But what workman is there who
   gives no care to his work? Who would forsake and abandon what he
   believes himself to have produced? If it is derogatory to rule, is it
   not more so to have created? Though there is no wrong involved in not
   creating anything, it is surely the height of cruelty not to care for
   what one has created.

   49. But if some deny God to be the Creator, and so count themselves
   amongst the beasts and irrational creatures, what shall we say of those
   who condemn themselves to such indignity? They themselves declare that
   God pervades all things, that all depend upon His power, that His might
   and majesty penetrate all the elements,--lands, heaven, and seas; yet
   they think it derogatory to Him to enter into man's spirit, which is
   the noblest thing He has given us, and to be there with the full
   knowledge of the divine Majesty.

   50. But philosophers who are held to be reasonable laugh at the teacher
   [86] of these ideas as besotted and licentious. But what shall I say of
   Aristotle's idea? He thinks that God is satisfied with His own narrow
   bounds, and lives within the prescribed limits of His kingdom. This,
   however, is also what the poets' tales tell us. For they relate that
   the world is divided between three gods, so that it has fallen to the
   lot of one to restrain and rule heaven, to another the sea, and to a
   third the lower regions. They have also to take care not to stir up war
   one with the other by allowing thoughts and cares about the belongings
   of others to take hold of them. In the same way, Aristotle also
   declares that God has no care for the earth, as He has none for the sea
   or the lower regions. How is it that these philosophers shut out of
   their ranks the poets whose footsteps they follow? [87]
     __________________________________________________________________

   [86] It is only fair to state that the character of Epicurus is mainly
   known in modern times from opponents or persons who did not understand
   him. See the account in Dict. of Gr. and Rom. Biography.

   [87] Arist. Metaph. i. 2. An allusion to Aristotle's saying that "the
   poets lie much."
     __________________________________________________________________

    Chapter XIV.

   Nothing escapes God's knowledge. This is proved by the witness of the
   Scriptures and the analogy of the sun, which, although created, yet by
   its light or heat enters into all things.

   51. Next comes the answer to the question, whether God, not having
   failed to show care for His work, now fails to have knowledge of it?
   Thus it is written: "He that planted the ear, shall He not hear? He
   that made the eye, shall He not regard?" [88]

   52. This false idea was not unknown to the holy prophets. David himself
   introduces men to speak whom pride has filled and claimed for its own.
   For what shows greater pride than when men who are living in sin think
   it unfit that other sinners should live, and say: "Lord, how long shall
   the ungodly, how long shall the ungodly triumph?" [89] And later on:
   "And yet they say, the Lord shall not see: neither shall the God of
   Jacob regard it." [90] Whom the prophet answers, saying: "Take heed, ye
   unwise among the people: O ye fools, when will ye understand? He that
   planted the ear, shall He not hear? or He that made the eye, shall He
   not see? He that rebuketh the nations, shall He not punish?--He that
   teacheth man knowledge? The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man that they
   are vain." [91] Does He Who discerns whatsoever is vain not know what
   is holy, and is He ignorant of what He Himself has made? Can the
   workman be ignorant of his own work? This one is a man, yet he discerns
   what is hidden in his work; and God--shall He not know His own work? Is
   there more depth, then, in the work than in its author? Has He made
   something superior to Himself; the value of which, as its Author, He
   was ignorant of, and whose condition He knew not, though He was its
   Director? So much for these persons.

   53. But we are satisfied with the witness of Him Who says: "I search
   out the heart and the reins." [92] In the Gospel, also, the Lord Jesus
   says: "Why think ye evil in your hearts? For He knew they were thinking
   evil." [93] The evangelist also witnesses to this, saying: "For Jesus
   knew their thoughts." [94]

   54. The idea of these people will not trouble us much if we look at
   their actions. They will not have Him to be judge over them, Whom
   nothing deceives; they will not grant to Him the knowledge of things
   hidden, for they are afraid their own hidden things may be brought to
   light. But the Lord, also, "knowing their works, has given them over
   unto darkness. In the night," he says, "he will be as a thief, and the
   eye of the adulterer will watch for the darkness, saying, No eye shall
   see me; he hath covered up his face." [95] For every one that avoids
   the light loves darkness, seeking to be hid, though he cannot be hid
   from God, Who knows not only what is transacted, but also what will be
   thought of, both in the depths of space and in the minds of men. Thus,
   again, he who speaks in the book Ecclesiasticus says: "Who seeth me?
   The darkness hath covered me, and the walls have hidden me; whom do I
   fear?" [96] But although lying on his bed he may think thus, he is
   caught where he never thought of it. "It shall be," it says, "a shame
   to him because he knew not what the fear of the Lord was." [97]

   55. But what can be more foolish than to suppose that anything escapes
   God's notice, when the sun which supplies the light enters even hidden
   spots, and the strength of its heat reaches to the foundations of a
   house and its inner chambers? Who can deny that the depths of the
   earth, which the winter's ice has bound together, are warmed by the
   mildness of spring? Surely the very heart of a tree feels the force of
   heat or cold, to such an extent that its roots are either nipped with
   the cold or sprout forth in the warmth of the sun. In short, wherever
   the mildness of heaven smiles on the earth, there the earth produces in
   abundance fruits of different kinds.

   56. If, then, the sun's rays pour their light over all the earth and
   enter into its hidden spots; if they cannot be checked by iron bars or
   the barrier of heavy doors from getting within, how can it be
   impossible for the Glory of God, which is instinct with life, to enter
   into the thoughts and hearts of men that He Himself has created? And
   how shall it not see what He Himself has created? Did He make His works
   to be better and more powerful than He Himself is, Who made them (in
   this event) so as to escape the notice of their Creator whensoever they
   will? Did He implant such perfection and power in our mind that He
   Himself could not comprehend it when He wished?
     __________________________________________________________________

   [88] Ps. xciv. [xciii.] 9.

   [89] Ps. xciv. [xciii] 3.

   [90] Ps. xciv. [xciii.] 7.

   [91] Ps. xciv. [xciii.] 8-11.

   [92] Jer. xvii. 10.

   [93] S. Matt. ix. 4.

   [94] S. Luke vi. 8.

   [95] Job xxiv. 14, 15.

   [96] Ecclus. xxiii. 18.

   [97] Ecclus. xxiii. 31.
     __________________________________________________________________

    Chapter XV.

   Those who are dissatisfied with the fact that the good receive evil,
   and the evil good, are shown by the example of Lazarus, and on the
   authority of Paul, that punishments and rewards are reserved for a
   future life.

   57. We have fully discussed two questions; and this discussion, as we
   think, has not turned out quite unfavourably for us. A third question
   yet remains; it is this: Why do sinners have abundance of wealth and
   riches, and fare sumptuously, and have no grief or sorrow; whilst the
   upright are in want, and are punished by the loss of wives or children?
   Now, that parable in the Gospel ought to satisfy persons like these;
   [98] for the rich man was clothed in purple and fine linen, and dined
   sumptuously every day; but the beggar, full of sores, used to gather
   the crumbs of his table. After the death of the two, however, the
   beggar was in Abraham's bosom in rest; the rich man was in torment. Is
   it not plain from this that rewards and punishments according to
   deserts await one after death?

   58. And surely this is but right. For in a contest there is much labour
   needed--and after the contest victory falls to some, to others
   disgrace. Is the palm ever given or the crown granted before the course
   is finished? Paul writes well; He says: "I have fought a good fight, I
   have finished my course, I have kept the faith; henceforth there is
   laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous
   judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them
   also that love His appearing." [99] "In that day," he says, He will
   give it--not here. Here he fought, in labours, in dangers, in
   shipwrecks, like a good wrestler; for he knew how that "through much
   tribulation we must enter into the kingdom of God." [100] Therefore no
   one can receive a reward, unless he has striven lawfully; nor is the
   victory a glorious one, unless the contest also has been toilsome.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [98] S. Luke xvi. 19 ff.

   [99] 2 Tim. iv. 7, 8.

   [100] Acts xiv. 22.
     __________________________________________________________________

    Chapter XVI.

   To confirm what has been said above about rewards and punishments, he
   adds that it is not strange if there is no reward reserved for some in
   the future; for they do not labour here nor struggle. He goes on to say
   also that for this reason temporal goods are granted to these persons,
   so that they may have no excuse whatever.

   59. Is not he unjust who gives the reward before the end of the
   contest? Therefore the Lord says in the Gospel: "Blessed are the poor
   in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." [101] He said not:
   "Blessed are the rich," but "the poor." By the divine judgment
   blessedness begins there whence human misery is supposed to spring.
   "Blessed are they that hunger, for they shall be filled; Blessed are
   they that mourn, for they shall be comforted; Blessed are the merciful,
   for God will have mercy on them; Blessed are the pure in heart, for
   they shall see God; Blessed are they that are persecuted for
   righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven; Blessed are
   ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all
   manner of evil against you for righteousness' sake. Rejoice and be
   exceeding glad, for plentiful is your reward in heaven." [102] A reward
   future and not present,--in heaven, not on earth,--has He promised
   shall be given. What further dost thou expect? What further is due? Why
   dost thou demand the crown with so much haste, before thou dost
   conquer? Why dost thou desire to shake off the dust and to rest? Why
   dost thou long to sit at the feast before the course is finished? As
   yet the people are looking on, the athletes are in the arena, and
   thou--dost thou already look for ease?

   60. Perhaps thou sayest: Why are the wicked joyous? why do they live in
   luxury? why do they not toil with me? It is because they who have not
   put down their names to strive for the crown are not bound to undergo
   the labours of the contest. They who have not gone down into the
   race-course do not anoint themselves with oil nor get covered with
   dust. For those whom glory awaits trouble is at hand. The perfumed
   spectators are wont to look on, not to join in the struggle, nor to
   endure the sun, the heat, the dust, and the showers. Let the athletes
   say to them: Come, strive with us. The spectators will but answer: We
   sit here now to decide about you, but you, if you conquer, will gain
   the glory of the crown and we shall not.

   61. They, then, who have devoted themselves to pleasures, luxury,
   robbery, gain, or honours are spectators rather than combatants. They
   have the profit of labour, but not the fruits of virtue. They love
   their ease; by cunning and wickedness they heap up riches; but they
   will pay the penalty of their iniquity, though it be late. Their rest
   will be in hell, thine in heaven; their home in the grave, thine in
   paradise. Whence Job said beautifully that they watch in the tomb,
   [103] for they cannot have the calm of quiet rest which he enjoys who
   shall rise again.

   62. Do not, therefore, understand, or speak, or think as a child; nor
   as a child claim those things now which belong to a future time. The
   crown belongs to the perfect. Wait till that which is perfect is come,
   when thou mayest know--not through a glass as in a riddle, but face to
   face [104] --the very form of truth made clear. Then will be made known
   why that person was rich who was wicked and a robber of other men's
   goods, why another was powerful, why a third had many children, and yet
   a fourth was loaded with honours.

   63. Perhaps all this happens that the question may be asked of the
   robber: Thou wast rich, wherefore didst thou seize on the goods of
   others? Need did not force thee, poverty did not drive thee to it. Did
   I not make thee rich, that thou mightest have no excuse? So, too, it
   may be said to a person of power: Why didst thou not aid the widow, the
   orphans also, when enduring wrong? Wast thou powerless? Couldst thou
   not help? I made thee for this purpose, not that thou mightest do
   wrong, but that thou mightest check it. Is it not written for thee
   "Save him that endureth wrong?" [105] Is it not written for thee:
   "Deliver the poor and needy out of the hand of the sinner"? [106] It
   may be said also to the man who has abundance of good things: I have
   blessed thee with children and honours; I have granted thee health of
   body; why didst thou not follow my commands? My servant, what have I
   done to thee, or how have I grieved thee? Was it not I that gave thee
   children, bestowed honours, granted health to thee? Why didst thou deny
   me? Why didst thou suppose that thy actions would not come to my
   knowledge? Why didst thou accept my gifts, yet despise my commands?

   64. We can gather the same from the example of the traitor Judas. He
   was chosen among the Twelve Apostles, and had charge of the money bag,
   to lay it out upon the poor, [107] that it might not seem as though he
   had betrayed the Lord because he was unhonoured or in want. Wherefore
   the Lord granted him this office, that He might also be justified in
   him; he would be guilty of a greater fault, not as one driven to it by
   wrong done to him, but as one misusing grace.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [101] S. Matt. v. 3.

   [102] S. Matt. v. 4 ff.

   [103] Job xxi. 32.

   [104] 1 Cor. xiii. 12.

   [105] Ecclus. iv. 9.

   [106] Ps. lxxxii. [lxxxi.] 4.

   [107] S. John xii. 6.
     __________________________________________________________________

    Chapter XVII.

   The duties of youth, and examples suitable to that age, are next put
   forth.

   65. Since it has been made sufficiently plain that there will be
   punishment for wickedness and reward for virtue, let us proceed to
   speak of the duties which have to be borne in mind from our youth up,
   [108] that they may grow with our years. [109] A good youth ought to
   have a fear of God, to be subject to his parents, to give honour to his
   elders, to preserve his purity; he ought not to despise humility, but
   should love forbearance and modesty. All these are an ornament to
   youthful years. For as seriousness is the true grace of an old man, and
   ardour of a young man, so also is modesty, as though by some gift of
   nature, well set off in a youth.

   66. Isaac feared the Lord, as was indeed but natural in the son of
   Abraham; being subject also to his father to such an extent that he
   would not avoid death in opposition to his father's will. [110] Joseph
   also, though he dreamed that sun and moon and stars made obeisance to
   him, yet was subject to his father's will with ready obedience. [111]
   So chaste was he, he would not hear even a word unless it were pure;
   humble was he even to doing the work of a slave, modest, even to taking
   flight, enduring, even to bearing imprisonment, so forgiving of wrong
   as even to repay it with good. Whose modesty was such, that, when
   seized by a woman, he preferred to leave his garment in her hands in
   flight, rather than to lay aside his modesty. [112] Moses, [113] also,
   and Jeremiah, [114] chosen by the Lord to declare the words of God to
   the people, were for avoiding, through modesty, that which through
   grace they could do.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [108] Cic. de Off. I. 34.

   [109] Thus the Benedictine edition reads; most others have: "accrescant
   simul studia bonorum actuum."

   [110] Gen. xxii. 9.

   [111] Gen. xxxvii. 9.

   [112] Gen. xxxix. 12.

   [113] Ex. iv. 10.

   [114] Jer. i. 6.
     __________________________________________________________________

    Chapter XVIII.

   On the different functions of modesty. How it should qualify both
   speech and silence, accompany chastity, commend our prayers to God,
   govern our bodily motions; on which last point reference is made to two
   clerics in language by no means unsuited to its object. Further he
   proceeds to say that one's gait should be in accordance with that same
   virtue, and how careful one must be that nothing immodest come forth
   from one's mouth, or be noticed in one's body. All these points are
   illustrated with very appropriate examples.

   67. Lovely, then, is the virtue of modesty, and sweet is its grace! It
   is seen not only in actions, but even in our words, [115] so that we
   may not go beyond due measure in speech, and that our words may not
   have an unbecoming sound. The mirror of our mind often enough reflects
   its image in our words. Sobriety weighs out the sound even of our
   voice, for fear that too loud a voice should offend the ear of any one.
   Nay, in singing itself the first rule is modesty, and the same is true
   in every kind of speech, too, so that a man may gradually learn to
   praise God, or to sing songs, or even to speak, in that the principles
   of modesty grace his advance.

   68. Silence, again, wherein all the other virtues rest, is the chief
   act of modesty. Only, if it is supposed to be a sign of a childish or
   proud spirit, it is accounted a reproach; if a sign of modesty, it is
   reckoned for praise. Susanna was silent in danger, [116] and thought
   the loss of modesty was worse than loss of life. She did not consider
   that her safety should be guarded at the risk of her chastity. To God
   alone she spoke, to Whom she could speak out in true modesty. She
   avoided looking on the face of men. For there is also modesty in the
   glance of the eye, which makes a woman unwilling to look upon men, or
   to be seen by them.

   69. Let no one suppose that this praise belongs to chastity alone. For
   modesty is the companion of purity, in company with which chastity
   itself is safer. Shame, again, is good as a companion and guide of
   chastity, inasmuch as it does not suffer purity to be defiled in
   approaching even the outskirts of danger. This it is that, at the very
   outset of her recognition, commends the Mother of the Lord to those who
   read the Scriptures, and, as a credible witness, declares her worthy to
   be chosen to such an office. For when in her chamber, alone, she is
   saluted by the angel, she is silent, and is disturbed at his entrance,
   [117] and the Virgin's face is troubled at the strange appearance of a
   man's form. And so, though she was humble, yet it was not because of
   this, but on account of her modesty, that she did not return his
   salutation, nor give him any answer, except to ask, when she had learnt
   that she should conceive the Lord, how this should be. She certainly
   did not speak merely for the sake of making a reply.

   70. In our very prayers, too, modesty is most pleasing, and gains us
   much grace from our God. Was it not this that exalted the publican, and
   commended him, when he dared not raise even his eyes to heaven? [118]
   So he was justified by the judgment of the Lord rather than the
   Pharisee, whom overweening pride made so hideous. "Therefore let us
   pray in the incorruptibility of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in
   the sight of God of great price," [119] as St. Peter says. A noble
   thing, then, is modesty, which, though giving up its rights, seizing on
   nothing for itself, laying claim to nothing, and in some ways somewhat
   retiring within the sphere of its own powers, yet is rich in the sight
   of God, in Whose sight no man is rich. Rich is modesty, for it is the
   portion of God. Paul also bids that prayer be offered up with modesty
   and sobriety. [120] He desires that this should be first, and, as it
   were, lead the way of prayers to come, so that the sinner's prayer may
   not be boastful, but veiled, as it were, with the blush of shame, may
   merit a far greater degree of grace, in giving way to modesty at the
   remembrance of its fault.

   71. Modesty must further be guarded in our very movements and gestures
   and gait. [121] For the condition of the mind is often seen in the
   attitude of the body. For this reason the hidden man of our heart (our
   inner self) is considered to be either frivolous, boastful, or
   boisterous, or, on the other hand, steady, firm, pure, and dependable.
   Thus the movement of the body is a sort of voice of the soul.

   72. Ye remember, my children, that a friend of ours who seemed to
   recommend himself by his assiduity in his duties, yet was not admitted
   by me into the number of the clergy, because his gestures were too
   unseemly. Also that I bade one, whom I found already among the clergy,
   never to go in front of me, because he actually pained me by the
   seeming arrogance of his gait. That is what I said when he returned to
   his duty after an offence committed. This alone I would not allow, nor
   did my mind deceive me. For both have left the Church. What their gait
   betrayed them to be, such were th