---
title: "Letters · Epistulae"
author: "Augustine"
translator: "James Houston Baxter"
languages: [la, en]
shelf: "Church Fathers"
section: 33 of 62
url: https://scriptura.si/works/augustine-letters/33/
cite: "Augustine, tr. James Houston Baxter, Letters · Epistulae, section 33. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/augustine-letters/33/"
---

# Letters · Epistulae

*Augustine, tr. James Houston Baxter*

Augustine’s letters in Latin beside English.

> Latin: ed. James Houston Baxter, from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-latinLit, stoa0040.stoa011, CC BY-SA 4.0).

> English: James Houston Baxter, from the Perseus Digital Library (stoa0040.stoa011.perseus-eng1). Notes are not included.

> Rows follow the references the two texts share (books, chapters and sections), cut where both reach the end of a sentence.

## 33. Letter 33

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/augustine-letters/33/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/augustine-letters/33/#p-N

[¶0] 1. It is right that I should assuage, and not augment, the grief of your spirit, which you describe in your letter as inexpressible; in this way I may, if possible, heal your suspicions and not add to the agitation of your heart, so venerable and so devoted to God, by indignantly repudiating them for my own sake. The people of Hippo did nothing to make our holy brother, your son Pinianus, apprehensive of death, even though he himself perhaps entertained some fear of it. We ourselves, indeed, were afraid that some of the ruffians who often mix with a crowd from some secret design might find an opportunity for rioting and produce an outburst of violence and outrage, stirring it up from apparently justified resentment; but we later had opportunity to ascertain that nothing of this kind was either suggested or attempted by anyone, although, to tell the truth, many insulting and opprobrious remarks were made against my brother Alypius—for which enormous offence I would that his prayers might win them pardon. But for my part, after their outcries began, I told them I could not ordain him against his will, being prevented by the promise I had already made, and I went on to say that if they made me break faith and had him as their priest, they would not have me as their bishop. I then left the crowd and returned to the clergy's stalls, whereupon, like a flame somewhat checked by the wind, they hesitated for a moment in consternation at my unexpected reply and then began to be much more afire with excitement, thinking that possibly they could wring from me the repudiation of my promise, or else that, if I stuck to my pledged word, he might receive ordination from another bishop. To those more notable and more venerable persons who came up to me in the apse a I kept saying, when possible, that I could not be deflected from keeping my pledged word, nor could any other bishop ordain in the church entrusted to me without my permission asked and given; even if I did allow that, I should none the less be departing from my pledge. I added, too, that if he were ordained against his will, they would only drive him away after his ordination. They would not believe that this could possibly happen, but the crowd standing before the steps and expressing their unchanged and obstinate determination with the most persistent and hideous din and shouting made them irresolute and perplexed. It was then that those opprobrious outcries arose against my brother, and then that I was afraid of more serious consequences.

> Latin: 1. Dolorem animi tui, quem te scribis explicare non posse, consolari aequum est, non augere, ut, si fieri potest, sanemus suspiciones tuas, non ut eis pro nostra causa suscensendo venerandum cor tuum et deo dicatum amplius perturbemus. Sancto fratri nostro filio tuo Piniano nullus ab Hipponiensibus metus mortis ingestus est, etiamsi forte ipse tale aliquid timuit; nam et nos metuebamus ne ab aliquibus perditis, qui saepe multitudini occulta con- spiratione miscentur, in violentam prorumperetur audaciam occasione seditionis inventa, quam velut iusta indignatione concitaret. Sed, sicut post audire potuimus, nihil tale a quoquam dictum est vel moli-tum, sed vere in fratrem meum Alypium multa contumeliosa et indigna clamabant, a quo tam ingenti reatu utinam per illius orationes mereantur absolvi. Ego autem post primos eorum clamores cum eis dixissem de illo invito non ordinando, qua iam promissione detinerer, atque adiecissem quod, si mea fide violata illum haberent presbyterum, me episcopum non haberent, ad nostra subsellia relicta turba redierant. Tum illi aliquantulum inopinata mea responsione cunctati atque turbati velut flamma vento paululum pressa, deinde coeperunt multo ardentius excitari, existimantes fieri posse, ut vel mihi extorqueretur illud non servare promissum vel me tenente promissi fidem ab alio episcopo ordinaretur. Dicebam ego quibus poteram, qui ad nos in absidem honoratiores et graviores ascenderant, nec a promissi fide me posse dimoveri nec ab alio episcopo in ecclesia mihi tradita nisi me interrogato ac permittente posse ordinari; quod si permitterem, a fide nihilo minus deviarem. Addebam etiam nihil eos velle, si ordinaretur invitus, nisi ut ordinatus abscederet. Illi hoc posse fieri non credebant. Multitudo vero pro gradibus constituta horrendo et perseverantissimo clamorum fremitu in eadem voluntate persistens incertos animi consiliique faciebant. Tunc illa in fratrem meum indigna clamabantur, tunc a nobis graviora timebantur.

[¶1] 2. Yet, although I was much perturbed at the excitement among the people and the turmoil in the church, and assured the crowd only of my inability to ordain him against his will, even under those circumstances I was not induced to make any suggestion to him about accepting priestly orders, for that was just what I had promised I would not do; if I could have succeeded in making him accept my suggestion, then he would not be ordained against his will. I remained faithful to both promises, not only the one I had revealed to the people, but also the other which, so far as men were concerned, had only one witness to bind me. I was faithful, I repeat, even in the face of such danger, to what was a promise, not an oath. We learned afterwards that our apprehensions of danger were without foundation, yet whatever danger there was threatened all of us alike, and the apprehension was shared by all, and I myself had thoughts of withdrawing, being chiefly apprehensive for the safety of the church in which we were gathered. But there was reason to fear that if I were not there, some such outrage might be more likely to result from the increase of their disrespect and the greater violence of their resentment. Further, if I did leave in company with brother Alypius through the crowded ranks of the people, we should have had to see that no one ventured to lay hands upon him; while if I left without him, what a shameful reputation I should earn if anything happened to him and I appeared to have deserted him with the sole purpose of delivering him over to the frenzy of the people.

> Latin: 2. Sed quamvis tanto motu populi et tanta perturbatione ecclesiae permoverer nec aliud constipationi illi dixissem nisi eum me invitum ordinare non posse, nec sic tamen adductus sum, quia et hoc promiseram non me fuisse facturum, ut aliquid ei de suscipiendo presbyterio suaderem; quod si persuadere potuissem, non iam ordinaretur invitus. Servavi utriusque promissionis fidem, non solum illius quam iam populo patefeceram, verum etiam illius in qua uno teste, quantum ad homines adtinet, detinebar. Servavi, inquam, fidem promissionis, non iurationis, in tanto periculo. Quod licet falso, sicut postea comperimus, metuebatur, omnibus tamen, si quod esset, communiter inpendebat, et erat metus ipse communis, ac propter ecclesiam, in qua eramus, maxime metuens abscedere cogitabam. Sed metuendum fuit, ne magis me absente tale aliquid faceret et reverentia minor et dolor ardentior. Deinde, si cum fratre Alypio discederent per populum constipatum, caven- dum fuit, ne quisquam in eum manum mittere auderet; si autem sine illo, quae frons esset existimationis, si quid ei fortassis accideret et viderer eum propterea deseruisse, ut furenti populo traderetur.

[¶2] 3. Amid this feverish anxiety and oppressive anguish, when I was without a breath of any plan, lo! our holy son Pinianus suddenly and unexpectedly sends a servant of God to me to tell me that he wanted him to swear to the people that, if he were ordained against his will, he would leave Africa altogether; his notion was, I imagine, that seeing he could not break his oath, they would not go on clamouring with such persistence, if it only resulted in driving from the country a man whom we ought at least to have as a neighbour. But since it appeared to me that we had to fear a more violent outburst of resentment from them in consequence of an oath of this kind, I kept it to myself and said nothing about it; and as he had asked at the same time that I should go to him, I went at once. After telling me the same thing, he immediately added to that oath a point that he had sent another servant of God to put to me while I was on my way to him, namely, about his residence in Hippo, provided that no one compelled him to undertake the burden of clerical office against his will. At such an impasse, this refreshed me like a breath of air, but I said nothing to him and went with hurried step to brother Alypius and told him what he had said. But he, seeking, I think, to avoid responsibility for any occurrence that he thought might give you offence, made answer, “Let no one ask my advice about it.” On hearing this, I returned to the people, who were still in an uproar, and when silence had been obtained, I made them aware of the promise he had made and of the oath he had promised in addition. But as their mind and heart were set only on making him a priest, they did not accept his offer as I thought they would, but after a short time of muttering among themselves, demanded that he would add to his promise and oath the declaration that, if ever he decided to consent to undertake clerical office, he should do so only in the church of Hippo. I reported this to him; he agreed without hesitation; I returned to them with his answer; they were overjoyed, and presently demanded the oath he had promised.

> Latin: 3. Inter hos aestus meos gravemque maerorem et nullius consilii respirationem, ecce repente atque inopinate sanctus filius noster Pinianus mittit ad me servum dei, qui mihi diceret eum se velle populo iurare quod, si esset ordinatus invitus, ex Africa discederet omnino, credo, existimans eos, quando quidem peierare non posset, non iam ulterius infructuosa perseverantia clamaturos ad expellendum hinc hominem, quem saltem deberemus habere vicinum. Mihi autem quia videbatur vehementiorem eorum dolorem post hanc iurationem fuisse metuendum, apud me tacitus habui, et quia simul petierat ut ad eum venirem, non distuli. Cum mihi dixisset hoc ipsum, continuo et illud adiunxit eidem iurationi, quod mihi, dum ad eum pergo, per alium dei servum mandaverat, de praesentia scilicet sua, si ei clericatus sarcinam nolenti nullus inponeret. Hic ego in tantis angustiis quasi aura spirante recreatus nihil ei respondi, sed ad fratrem Alypium gradu concitatiore perrexi eique quid dixerit, dixi. At ille, ut existimo, devitans ne quid se auctore fieret, unde vos putabat offendi: “Hinc me,” inquit, “nemo consulat.” Quo audito, ad populum tumultuantem perrexi, factoque silentio, quid promissum esset, cum promissione etiam iurationis aperui. Illi vero, qui solum eius presbyterium cogitabant atque cupiebant, non ita ut putabam, quod oblatum fuerat, acceperunt, sed inter se aliquantulum mussitantes petiverunt ut adderetur eidem promissioni atque iurationi, ut, si quando illi ad suscipiendum clericatum consentire placuisset, non nisi in ipsa Hipponiensi ecclesia consentiret. Rettuli ad eum; sine dubitatione adnuit. Renuntiavi illis; laetati sunt et mox iurationem pollicitam poposcerunt.

[¶3] 4. I returned to our son, and found him at a loss for words in which to frame his promise confirmed by his oath, allowing for necessities that might occur to make his departure essential. At the same time, too, he revealed what it was he feared, namely, the occurrence of a hostile invasion, to avoid which it would be necessary to depart. The saintly Melania wanted to add to this the excuse of the unhealthy climate, but his reply to this reproved her. I stated that he had brought forward a ground of necessity that was grave and not to be despised, one which would compel the inhabitants as well to abandon the town; but if that reason were intimated to the people, it was to be feared that we might seem to be prophesying disaster, while if his excuse were stated in general terms of necessity, they would think that the necessity was only a make-believe. Yet he decided that we should test the mind of the people about it, and we found the result was exactly what we had anticipated. For when his words were read out to them by the mouth of a deacon and everything had been received with approbation, as soon as the word " necessity " that he had introduced fell on their ears, they immediately remonstrated and took exception to his promise, while the outcry was renewed, and the people jumped to the conclusion that the negotiations were meant only to deceive them. When our holy son perceived this, he ordered the word necessity to be struck out, and the people were restored to their condition of delight.

> Latin: 4. Reverti ad filium nostrum eumque inveni fluctuantem quibusnam verbis comprehendi posset illa cum iuratione promissio propter necessitates inruentes, quae possent eum ut abscederet, cogere. Simul etiam quid timeret ostendit, ne quis inruisset hostilis incursus, qui esset discessione vitandus. Volebat addi sancta Melania et aeris morbidi causationem, sed illius responsione reprehensa est. Ego autem dixi gravem ab illo et non contemnendam causam necessitatis ingestam, quae cives etiam emigrare compelleret; sed si haec populo dicerentur, timendum esse ne male nos ominari videremur, si autem sub generali necessitatis nomine fieret excusatio, non nisi fraudulentam necessitatem putari. Placuit tamen ut de hac re populi animum experiremur, et nihil aliud quam id quod putaveramus, invenimus. Nam cum eius verba a diacono dicta recitarentur et omnia placuissent, ubi nomen interpositae necessitatis insonuit, continuo reclamatum est promissaque displicuit, tumultu recrudescente et nihil aliud quam fraude secum agi populo existimantes Quod cum sanctus filius noster vidisset, iussit inde auferri nomen necessitatis rursumque ad laetitiam populus remeavit.

[¶4] 5. And although I pleaded weariness, he would not approach the people without me, so we went together. He stated that it was his message they had heard the deacon recite, that he had confirmed it by oath and would carry out what he had promised, and straightway he repeated everything just as he had dictated it. The response was made, “Thanks be to God,” and it was asked that the whole written statement should be subscribed. We dismissed the catechumens a and straightway he subscribed the statement. Then the people began to ask (not by shouting out, but still through some of the faithful of good report, commissioned by them) that I. as bishop, should subscribe it too. But when I began to subscribe it, the saintly Melania opposed it. I wondered why she intervened at that late hour, as if my refraining from subscribing could invalidate his promise and oath; but yet I humoured her, and so my subscription remained unfinished, and no one thought of insisting any further on my subscribing.

> Latin: 5. Et ut lassitudinem recusarem, sine me ad plebem accedere noluit; simul accessimus. Dixit ea quae a diacono audita erant, se mandasse, se iurasse, eaque se esse facturum, continuoque omnia eo tenore quo dictaverat, prosecutus est. Responsum est: “Deo gratias,” et petitum ut totum scriptum subscriberetur. Dimisimus catechumenos continuoque scriptum subscripsit. Deinde peti coepimus nos episcopi, non vocibus populi sed tamen a populo per honestos fideles, ut nos quoque subscriberemus. At ubi coepi subscribere, sancta Melania contradixit. Miratus sum quare tam sero, quasi promissionem illam et iurationem nos non subscribendo facere possemus infectam; sed tamen obtemperavi, ac sic remansit mea non plena subscriptio nec ultra nobis quisquam, ut subscriberemus, putavit instandum.

[¶5] 6. But what the feelings and remarks of people were on the following day, after they learned of his departure, I have taken the trouble to indicate to you, my saintly friend, as far as seemed to me necessary, in my official communication. Anyone, therefore, who happens to give you an account which contradicts the one I have given you is either lying or misinformed. I am conscious of having passed over certain points which seemed to me irrelevant to my purpose, but not of having made any false statement. Likewise, it is true that our holy son, Pinianus, took the oath in my presence and with my permission, but it is not true that he took it at my instigation. He knows this himself; the servants of God whom he sent to me know it, first the saintly Barnabas, then Timasius, by whom too he sent me the message about his promise to take up residence in Hippo. The people, too, were urging him by their cries to accept office as priest, not to take an oath; but when it was offered, they did not refuse it, in the hope that, if he came to live among us, he might become willing to agree to ordination, and that he would not take his departure, as he had sworn to do, if he were ordained against his will. And so even they were actuated in their outcries by concern for God's work—for the consecration to priesthood is surely God's work—and afterwards feeling dissatisfied with his promise of residence here without the further stipulation that if he eventually decided to agree to undertake clerical office he would do so only in the church of Hippo, it is quite evident that they were hopeful too of his taking up house among them, and so, here too, they did not depart from their zeal for God's work.

> Latin: 6. Qui autem alio die, posteaquam ipsum discessisse didicerunt, fuerint motus vel linguae hominum, quantum satis arbitratus sum, sanctitati vestrae per commonitorium intimare curavi. Quisquis itaque vobis contraria his quae narravi, forte narravit, aut mentitur aut fallitur. Quaedam enim quae mihi ad curam non pertinere visa sunt, praetermisisse me sentio, nulla tamen falsa dixisse. Proinde sanctus filius noster Pinianus quod me praesente ac permittente iuraverit, verum est; quod autem me praecipiente iuraverit, falsum est. Scit ipse, sciunt servi dei quos ad me misit, primo sanctus Barnabas, deinde Timasius, per quem etiam de promissione praesentiae suae mihi mandavit. Ipse quoque populus ad presbyterium, non ad ius iurandum clamando cogebat; sed oblatum sibi non respuit, ea spe quo posset in eodem apud nos habitante voluntas fieri, quo consentiret ad ordinationem, ne, sicut iuraverat, si invitus ordinaretur, abscederet. Ac per hoc et illi propter opus dei clamaverunt—neque enim sanctificatio presbyterii non est opus dei—et, quod postea de promissa praesentia gratulati non sunt, nisi adderetur quod, si quando ad suscipiendum clericatum consentire vellet, non nisi in Hipponiensi ecclesia consentiret, satis in promptu est quod etiam de ipsa eius apud se habitatione speraverint, ideoque ab illo operis dei desiderio non recesserunt.

[¶6] 7. How then can you maintain that in so doing they were impelled by a base love of money? In the first place, the people who raised the outcry have simply nothing to do with that; for just as the people of Tagaste derive from your gifts to the church of Tagaste only joy in your good deed, so, too, with the people of Hippo and of any other place where you have followed out the Lord's injunctions about the “mammon of unrighteousness,”a or wherever you will do so. Thus, in demanding with such eagerness that their own church should reap the advantage of so outstanding a man, the people did not seek their own monetary gain from you, but testified their esteem for the scorn of money in you. For if because they had heard that I had scorned my few paternal acres and had turned to the willing bondage of God, they testified their esteem for me and did not grudge them to the church of Tagaste, which is my earthly birthplace, but, since it had not imposed clerical office upon me, laid violent hands upon me when they had the opportunity to make me their own, how much more ardently could they esteem in our friend Pinianus his overcoming and treading under foot such worldly ambitions, such wealth, such prospects! I indeed appear in the opinion of many who compare themselves with themselves b not to have forsaken a fortune but to have come into a fortune, for my patrimony can scarcely be reckoned to be a twentieth part in proportion to the property of the church, which I am now considered to possess as a master. But let our brother become—I do not say a priest, but a bishop in any church, especially in Africa, he will be extremely poor, in comparison with his former wealthy condition, even if he acts in the spirit of a proprietor. In one in whom there can be no suspicion of coveting a position of greater affluence, the love of Christian poverty is therefore much more clearly apparent and certain. It was that which inflamed the people's mind and stirred them up to that violent and most insistent clamour. Let us not accuse them in addition of sordid covetousness, but rather let us allow them, without imputation of base motives, to esteem in others at least the good they themselves do not possess. For even if that crowd had an admixture of poor persons or beggars who joined in the shouting and hoped for an addition to their meagre store from what your Honours could spare, even that, in my opinion, is not sordid covetousness.

> Latin: 7. Quo modo ergo dicis hoc eos fecisse turpissimo appetitu pecuniae? Primo quia ad plebem, quae clamabat, omnino non pertinet; sicut enim plebs Tagastensis de his, quae contulistis ecclesiae Taga- stensi, non habet nisi gaudium boni operis vestri, sic et Hipponiensis et cuiuslibet alterius loci, ubi de mammona iniquitatis domini praecepta fecistis vel estis ubicumque facturi. Non ergo populus, ut de tanto viro ecclesiae consuleret suae, ardentissime flagitans suum pecuniarium commodum quaesivit a vobis, sed vestrum pecuniae contemptum dilexit in vobis. Nam si in me dilexerunt quod audierant paucis agellulis paternis contemptis ad dei liberam servitutem me fuisse conversum, neque in hoc inviderunt ecclesiae Tagastensi, quae carnalis patria mea est, sed, cum illa mihi clericatum non inposuisset, quando potuerunt, habendum invaserunt, quanto flagrantius in nostro Piniano amare potuerunt tantam mundi istius cupiditatem, tantas opes, tantam spem tanta conversione superatam atque calcatam! Ego quippe secundum multorum sensum comparandum semet ipsos sibimet ipsis non divitias dimisisse, sed ad divitias videor venisse. Vix enim vigesima particula res mea paterna existimari potest in comparatione praediorum ecclesiae, quae nunc ut dominus existimor possidere. In qualibet autem maxime Africanarum ecclesiarum hic noster non dico presbyter sed episcopus sit, comparatus pristinis opibus suis, etiamsi animo dominantis egerit, pauperrimus erit. Multo ergo liquidius et securius in hoc amatur Christiana paupertas, in quo nulla rerum ampliorum potest putari cupiditas. Hoc accendit animos populi, hoc in illam violentiam perseverantissimi clamoris erexit. Non eos turpis cupiditatis insuper accusemus, sed magis bonum quod ipsi non habent, saltem in aliis diligere sine crimine permittamus. Nam etsi fuerunt illi multitudini permixti inopes vel mendici, qui simul clamabant et de vestra venerabili redundantia indigentiae suae supplementum sperabant, nec ista, ut arbitror, cupiditas turpis est.

[¶7] 8. It remains, then, that your charge of a most sordid lust for money is indirectly levelled at the clergy, and especially at the bishop. For it is we who are thought to be lording it over the Church's property, and to be enjoying its resources. In short, whatever income we have received from those sources, it is we who either have it still in our possession or have expended it as we pleased: no portion of it have we distributed to the people who are outside the ranks of clergy or outside the monastery, except to a very few in want. I do not say, then, that the charges you made were necessarily uttered against us particularly, but that we are the only people against whom they could be credibly uttered. What then shall we do? If we cannot clear ourselves before our enemies, how at least shall we do so before you? It is a matter of conscience, it lies within, hidden from mortal eyes, and is known only to God. What then remains to us but to call as our witness upon God, to Whom it is all known? Since such is your feeling about us, you do not enjoin us to take the much better course which you have thought fit in your letter to cast up to me as blameworthy, but you absolutely force me to take an oath, not threatening me with the death of this body of mine, as the people of Hippo are supposed to have done, but threatening me with the death of my good reputation, which is surely to be reckoned more precious than even the life of this body, because of the weak brethren, to whom we strive by our conduct, such as it is, to show ourselves an example of good works. a Yet, though you do in this way force me to take an oath, I am not indignant with you, as you are with the people of Hippo, for, like men judging other men, even if you believe the things which are not in us, still you do not believe the things that cannot be in us.

> Latin: 8. Restat ergo ut iste pecuniae turpissimus appetitus ex obliquo in clericos et maxime in episcopum dirigatur. Nos enim rebus ecclesiae dominari existimamur, nos opibus frui. Postremo quicquid de istis nos accepimus, nos vel adhuc possidemus vel, ut placuit, erogavimus; nihil inde populo extra clericatum vel extra monasterium constituto nisi paucissimis indigentibus largiti sumus. Non ergo dico quia vel in nos maxime a vobis dici ista debuerunt, verum tamen in nos solos credibiliter dici potuerunt. Quid ergo faciemus? Qua nos, si apud inimicos non possumus, saltem apud vos ratione purgamus? Res haec animi est, intus est, procul ab oculis secreta mortalium deo tantum modo nota est. Quid ergo restat nisi deum testari, cui nota est? Cum ergo de nobis ista sentitis, non praecipitis quod multo melius est et quod mihi in epistula tua tamquam culpabile obiciendum putasti, sed omnino cogitis ut iuremus, non intentato metu mortis carnis nostrae, quod populus Hipponiensis fecisse putatus est, sed intentato metu mortis existimationis nostrae, quae propter infirmos quibus nos praebere ad exemplum bonorum operum qualicumque conversatione conamur, etiam vitae carnis huius utique praeponenda est.

[¶8] 9. That is a fault in you that is rather to be cured than to be censured, and, if our conscience is clear in the sight of the Lord, our character has to be cleared in your sight. It may be, as my brother Alypius and I said in conversation before that temptation occurred, that God will grant that not only you, our beloved fellow-Christians, but also our enemies, may know without a shadow of a doubt that no lust for money defiles us in our administration of the Church's business. Until that happen (if the Lord grants it to happen), just see, I am doing as a temporary expedient what you force me to do, in order to avoid the slightest possible delay in soothing your feelings. God is my witness that it is only because of the service I owe to the love of my brethren and the fear of God that I put up with all the administration of the Church's business over which I am supposed to love the exercise of lordship, and that I have so little liking for it that I should wish to do without it, if it could be done without unfaithfulness to my office. God Himself is my witness that I believe the same to be quite true about my brother Alypius. Neverthe- less, because in his case the people (and what is worse, the people of Hippo) held a different belief, they rushed into that abuse of him, and in our case, because you believed such accusations, though nominally censuring the same people, who have simply nothing to do with this charge of covetousness, you, who are saints of God and full of tender compassion, tried to get at us and reprove us, though to be sure it was for our improvement, and not from dislike—far be that from you. And so I should not be angry, but grateful, since you could not have acted in a more respectful or a more courteous manner, not offensively hurling at the bishop the reproof you had in mind, but leaving it to be indirectly understood.

> Latin: 9. Verum tamen vobis nos ita cogentibus ut iuremus, non suscensemus, sicut vos Hipponiensibus suscensetis. Creditis enim, tamquam homines de hominibus, etsi ea quae in nobis non sunt, non tamen ea quae in nobis esse non possunt. Sananda ista in vobis, non accusanda sunt, et nostra purganda vobis est fama, si est domino purgata conscientia. Qui fortasse praestabit, sicut ante quam accidisset ista temptatio ego et frater meus Alypius conlocuti sumus, ut non solum vobis carissimis commembris nostris, verum etiam ipsis inimicis notissimum fiat nulla nos cupiditate pecuniae in rebus ecclesiasticis sordidari. Quod donec fiat, si dominus donabit ut fiat, ecce nunc interim, quod cogimur facimus, ne vestri cordis medicinam in quantam libet moram temporis differamus. Deus testis est istam omnem rerum ecclesiasticarum procurationem, quarum credimur amare dominatum, propter servitutem quam debeo caritati fratrum et timori dei, tolerare me, non amare, ita ut ea, si salvo officio possim, carere desiderem. Nec aliud me de fratre meo Alypio sentire ipse deus testis est. Tamen et de illo aliter sentiendo populus et, quod est gravius, Hipponiensis in tantas est illius praecipitatus iniurias et de nobis vos sancti dei et pleni visceribus misericordiae talia credendo nomine eiusdem populi, qui ad causam huiusce modi cupiditatis omnino non pertinet, nos tangere atque admonere voluistis utique ad nos corrigendos, neque enim odio, quod absit a vobis. Unde non irasci sed gratias agere debeo, quod nec verecundius nec liberius agere potuistis, ut episcopo non quasi conviciose obiceretis quod sentiebatis, sed ex obliquo intellegendum relinqueretis.

[¶9] 10. Do not be offended and think yourselves in a way ill-used, that I have thought it necessary to take an oath, for the apostle was not ill-using or ceasing to have affection for those to whom he said, “Neither used we at any time flattering words, as ye know, nor took any opportunity for covetousness; God is witness.”a For the known fact he took them to witness themselves, but for the hidden fact, God alone. If he then was right in fearing that human ignorance might conceive some such opinion about himself, whose labours were open for all men to see and who only in extreme necessity took anything for his own benefit from the peoples to whom he ministered the grace of Christ, producing with his own hands everything necessary for his sustenance; how much more should we exert ourselves to secure men's confidence, for both in holy merit and in mental courage we are far inferior and are unable with our own hands to make anything that would support this life; even if we could, the many demands upon us, such as I do not think they in their day endured, would altogether prevent us. So in this matter let no further reproach of the base lust for money be made against the Christian people who constitute the Church of God. It is more tolerable that it should be made against us, for on us suspicion of that sin could fall, though without ground, yet not without probability, than upon those who are well known to be far removed from this lust and this suspicion.

> Latin: 10. Nec molestum sit vobis ut vos velut gravatos arbitremini, quia iurandum putavi. Neque enim gravabat apostolus aut eos parum diligebat quibus dicebat: Non in sermone adulationis fuimus apud vos neque in occasione cupiditatis; deus testis est. Rei quippe apertae ipsos testes adhibuit, rei autem occultae quem nisi deum? Si ergo ille merito est veritus ne humana ignorantia de illo aliquid tale sentiret, cuius labor in promptu omnibus erat, quod nisi summa necessitate a populis quibus Christi gratiam dispensabat, in usus suos aliquid non sumebat, cetera vero suo victui necessaria suis manibus transigebat; quanto magis nobis laborandum est, ut credatur, qui et merito sanctitatis et virtute animi longe inpares sumus nec aliquid ad sustentacula vitae huius operari nostris manibus possumus, et si posse- mus, tantis occupationibus, quas tunc illos non credo fuisse perpessos, nequaquam sineremur! Non ergo ulterius in hac causa populo Christiano, quae ecclesia est dei, obiciatur pecuniae turpissimus appetitus. Tolerabilius enim nobis obicitur, in quos huius mali quamvis falsa, tamen verisimilis suspicio cadere potuit, quam illis quos ab hoc appetitu et a suspicione constat alienos.

[¶10] 11. For minds endowed with any faith—and how much more Christian faith!—to deny an oath, I do not say to assert anything that contradicts it, but to waver in regard to it at all, this is utterly wrong. In the letter a I wrote to my brother I have, I think, revealed with sufficient clearness my opinion on this point. Your Holiness has written to me, asking whether the people of Hippo or I think that anyone should abide by an oath that was extorted by force. What do you think yourself? Does it meet with your approval that a Christian should call upon the name of the Lord his God with intent to deceive, that a Christian should make his God a witness to a falsehood, even under the menace of certain death, the fear of which was in this case unfounded? Surely if he were compelled by the menace of death to bear false witness besides his oath, he ought to fear the loss of honour more than the loss of life. Hostile armies confront each other with weapons and contend with the undoubted and avowed purpose of dealing death, and yet when they take an oath to each other, we praise those who keep their word and rightly execrate those who break it. What impelled them to take an oath, unless the fear on each side of being slain or captured? And so, unless the oath extorted by the fear of either death or captivity be respected, unless the faith they have pledged in it be kept, even men of that kind are held back by the fear of being charged with sacrilege and perjury, because they are more afraid of breaking faith than of taking human life; and yet we debate like splitters of hairs whether an oath should be fulfilled that was extorted from servants of God who are most notable by reason of their holiness, from ascetics who even by the distribution of their own property are swift to carry out Christ's commandments.

> Latin: 11. Denegare autem iurationem qualibet fide praeditas mentes, quanto magis fide Christiana, non dico aliquid contrarium confirmare, sed omnino dubitare, fas non est. De qua re quid sentiam, satis, ut arbitror, in epistula quam ad fratrem meum scripsi, planissime aperui. Scripsit mihi sanctitas tua: “Si aut ego aut Hipponienses hoc censent, ut iuri iurando violenter extorto satis fiat.” Tu enim ipsa quid censes? Placetne tibi, ut etiam certa morte imminente, quod tunc inaniter metuebatur, nomen domini dei sui in fallaciam Christianus adsumat, deum suum testem falsitati Christianus adhibeat? Qui profecto si praeter iurationem ad falsum testimonium morte imminente cogeretur, maculare vitam suam magis timere debuit quam finire. Hostiles inter se acies et armatae certe apertissima mortis intentione confligunt, et tamen, cum invicem iurant, laudamus fidem servantes, fallentes autem merito detestamur. Ut autem iurarent, quid utraeque ab alterutris nisi occidi vel capi timuerunt? Ac per hoc vel mortis vel captivitatis metu extortae iurationi nisi pareatur, nisi fides quae ibi data est custodiatur, sacrilegii, periurii crimine detinentur etiam tales homines, qui magis metuunt peierare quam hominem occidere; et nos, utrum implenda sit extorta iuratio servorum dei munere sanctitatis praeminentium, monachorum ad perfectionem mandatorum Christi rerum etiam suarum distributione currentium, quasi disceptaturi ponimus quaestionem.

[¶11] 12. Is it that his promised residence here, I ask you, is burdened with the name of exile or transportation or banishment? I do not suppose that the office of priest is an exile. Would our friend then choose it in preference to that exile? Far be it from us to make that excuse for one who is a saint of God and very dear to ourselves; far be it from us, I repeat, to say of him that he preferred exile to the priestly office, or preferred perjury to exile. I might say that, if the oath by which he promised to reside here had been really extorted from him by us or by the people, but in point of fact it was not extorted in spite of his refusal, but accepted on being proffered, and that in the hope and belief, as I said above, that by his residence here he might possibly comply with their desire that he should undertake clerical office. In the last place, whatever opinion be entertained of the people of Hippo or of us, there is a great difference between the case of those who may have compelled him to take the oath and that of those who may have persuaded, not to say compelled, him to break it. Further, let him of whom we speak not refuse to consider whether an oath taken under the compulsion of any kind of fear is a worse thing than the breaking of that oath, when the actual fear has been removed.

> Latin: 12. Nam quid exilii vel deportationis aut relegationis nomine promissa illa praesentia praegravatur, obsecro te? Puto quod presbyterium non est exilium. Hoc ergo noster eligeret quam illud exilium? Absit a nobis ut sic sanctus dei et nobis carissimus defendatur; absit, inquam, ut dicatur maluisse exilium quam presbyterium aut maluisse periurium quam exilium. Haec dicerem, si vere a nobis aut a populo iuratio ei fuisset extorta promittendae praesentiae; nunc vero non extorta est dum negaretur, sed, dum offerretur accepta, et hoc ea spe, sicut supra diximus, quia per illam praesentiam creditum est eum etiam ad clericatum suscipiendum posse desiderantibus consentire. Postremo, quodlibet de nobis vel de Hipponiensibus sentiatur, longe alia est eorum causa qui coegerint iurare, quam eorum qui non dicam coegerint, sed suaserint, peierare. Ipse etiam de quo agitur, considerare non renuat utrum sit peius sub quolibet timore ius iurandum, an remoto timore ipso periurium.

[¶12] 13. Thanks be to God that the people of Hippo regard his promise towards themselves as being fulfilled if he comes to the town with the intention of residing in it, and departs whither necessity calls him with the purpose of returning. If they were to regard the letter of his oath and demand its literal fulfilment, God's servant ought in no wise to depart rather than in any wise to break his word. Yet, since it would be criminal for them so to bind any individual, not to mention a man of his quality, they themselves have proved that they entertained no other expectation, for on hearing that he had departed with the promise of return, they manifested their satisfaction; and fidelity to an oath requires no more and no less than the performance of what was anticipated from it by those to whom it was made. What is the use of saying that in taking the oath that he framed with his own lips, he added a proviso about circumstances that might necessitate his leaving the town; the fact is that with his own lips he again ordered that clause to be struck out. To be sure, he might have put it in again when he spoke to the people, but if he had, they surely would not have made answer, “Thanks be to God!” but would have returned to that protest which they made when it was read out by the deacon with the proviso inserted. And does it really affect the point, whether the excuse of necessity for leaving the town was inserted or was not? Nothing more and nothing less was expected from him than what I mentioned above, and anyone who disappoints the expectations of those to whom he takes an oath cannot be anything but a perjurer.

> Latin: 13. Deo gratias quia non aliter Hipponienses promissum circa se impleri sentiunt, quam ut adsit voluntate habitandi, et eat quo necesse fuerit, cum dispositione redeundi. Nam si verba iurationis adtenderent et exigerent, nullo modo servus dei recedere quam ullo modo debuit peierare. Sed quia crimen eorum esset non dico talem virum sed quemlibet hominem sic tenere, nec ipsi aliam expectationem se habuisse probaverunt, qui audientes quod rediturus abscesserit, gratulati sunt, nec aliud illis verax iuratio debet quam id quod ab illa expectaverunt. Quid est autem, quod dicitur eum iuratione ore suo expressa exceptionem fecisse necessitatis, quasi non ore suo rursus hoc iussit auferri? Certe ad populum quando ipse locutus est, tunc etiam interponeret. Quod si fecisset, non utique responderetur: “Deo gratias,” sed ad illam rediretur reclamationem quae facta fuerat quando sic a diacono recitatum est. Et numquid ad rem pertinet, sive interposita sit ad recedendum necessitatis excusatio sive non sit? Nihil ab illo aliud expectatum est quam id quod supra diximus. Expectationem autem eorum quibus iuratur quisquis deceperit, non potest esse non periurus, Fiat ergo quod promissum est, et infirmorum corda sanentur, ne tanto exemplo, quibus hoc placuerit, ad imitandum periurium aedificentur, quibus autem displicet, iustissime dicant nulli nostrum credendum esse non solum promittenti aliquid sed etiam iuranti.

[¶13] 14. Therefore let his promise be fulfilled and the heart of the weak brethren be healed, so that this notable precedent may not encourage those who approve of it to commit similar perjury, or those who disapprove of it to say with perfect justice that no one of us is to be believed, not only on promise of anything, but even on oath. In this connexion we ought rather to safeguard ourselves against the tongues of our enemies, which our greater enemy employs like darts to slay the weak. But be it far from us to hope for anything from a soul like his, other than what the fear of God inspires, and its own great, native excellence of holiness exhorts. As for myself, you say I ought actually to have forbidden his oath, but I confess I could not be so minded as to prefer seeing the church I serve overthrown by such an uproarious outbreak to accepting the offer made to me by a man of his standing.

> Latin: 14. Hinc enim potius cavendae sunt linguae inimicorum, de quibus tamquam iaculis ad interficiendos infirmos maior ille utitur inimicus. Sed absit ut de tali anima speremus aliud quam quod dei timor inspirat et tanta quae in illa est excellentia sanctitatis hortatur. Ego autem, quem dicis etiam prohibere debuisse, fateor, non potui sic sapere, ut tanto vel tumultu vel offensione magis everti vellem ecclesiam cui servio, quam id quod a tali viro nobis offerebatur, accipere.