1. I WAS well aware that you would grieve with bitter grief for the
death of your sister: still you should not go into banishment, but
rather give yourself back to us, for although mourners are little
inclined to receive consolation, it is sometimes necessary for them.
But you have fled to the recesses of the mountains, and made your
dwelling in the caves of wild beasts, laying aside all customary human
converse and, what is worse, the use of your own reason.
2. Is it in accordance with your esteem for your sister, that human
nature, which ought to be much regarded by you for producing a woman
so excellent, should on her account be of less value in your eyes? In
quitting this life it doubtless was a consolation to her to believe
that she left you behind her as a parent to your nephews, a guardian of
their tender years, a succour to their destitution; but you so utterly
withhold yourself both from your nephews and from us, that we do not
reap any benefit from what she thus found a ground of consolation.
These dear pledges invite you not to grieve, but to comfort them, that
in seeing you they may believe their mother to be still alive. In you
then let them recognize her; in you let them enjoy her presence, in you
think that she still survives to them.
3. But you grieve that she has been lately cut off in the flower of
her age. This however is the common fate not only of men, but of states
and countries themselves. Coming from Bononia[192] you left behind you
Claterna, Bononia itself, Matina, Rhegium; Brixillum was on your right,
in front of you Placentia, by its very name still recalling its ancient
lustre, on the left you saw with pity the wastes of the Apennines,
you surveyed the fortresses of these once flourishing tribes, and
remembered them with sorrowful affection. Do not then the carcases of
so many half-ruined cities, and states stretched on their bier beneath
your eyes, do not these remind you that the decease of one woman, holy
and excellent as she was, is much less deplorable especially as these
are for ever laid prostrate and destroyed, but she though removed from
us for a while is passing a more blessed life elsewhere?
4. Wherefore I deem that you ought not so much to deplore her, as
to offer for her your prayers; make her not sorrowful by your tears,
rather commend her soul to God by oblations.
Sidenote: 2 Cor. v. 16.
Sidenote: Gal. ii. 20.
5. Perhaps however you will declare yourself to be secure of her merits
and faith, you cannot endure the feeling of regret at seeing her no
longer after the flesh, which is to you a better grief. And does not
the Apostolic saying move you that _henceforth we know no man after
the flesh; yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now
henceforth know we Him no more_. For our flesh cannot be perpetual and
lasting, it must needs die that it may rise again, it must be dissolved
that it may rest, and sin come to an end. We too have known many
according to the flesh, but now we know them no more. _We have known
the Lord Jesus_, says the Apostle, _after the flesh, yet now henceforth
know we Him no more_. For now He has put off the coil of the body, and
is not seen in fashion as a Man, but has died for all and all are dead
in Him, to the intent that being renewed by Him and quickened in the
Spirit they may no longer live to themselves but to Christ. Wherefore
the same Apostle also says elsewhere, _I live, yet not I, but Christ
liveth in me_.
Sidenote: Acts ix. 1. &c.
Sidenote: 2 Cor. v. 17.
Sidenote: Gen. vi. 3.
Sidenote: 2 Cor. v. 17.
Sidenote: S. Matt. xiii. 52.
Sidenote: Cant. vii. 13.
6. And well indeed was it that he who had before known Christ after the
flesh, who had before persecuted and oppressed with bitter hatred the
disciples of the Man, and the attendants on His bodily presence, but
who now recognized His invisible workings, discerning not His bodily
presence but His power,――well indeed was it that he became the teacher
of the Gentiles, and began to instruct and prepare the worshippers of
His Divinity to become preachers of the Gospel. Wherefore he added,
_if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature_, that is, he that is
perfect in Christ is a new creature, for all flesh is imperfect. And
the Lord saith, _My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that
he also is flesh_. No carnal man then is in Christ, but _if any man be
in Christ he is a new creature_, formed by newness not of nature but of
grace. These _old things_ which are according to the flesh _have past
away, all things are made new_. And what are they but the things which
_the scribe instructed unto the kingdom of heaven_ knows, _like unto
that householder, who brings forth out of his treasure things new and
old_; neither old things without new, nor new things without old? Thus
too the Church saith, _things new and old have I laid up for Thee_. For
old things, that is, the hidden mysteries of the Law are passed away,
all things are made new in Christ.
Sidenote: Gal. v. 6.
Sidenote: Ps. ciii. 5.
Sidenote: 2 Cor. v. 19, 20.
Sidenote: S. John i. 29.
Sidenote: 2 Cor. v. 21.
7. This is the new creature of which the Apostle writing to the
Galatians saith, _For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any
thing nor uncircumcision, but a new creature_, already our flesh now
renewed flourishes, and having before borne the thorns of inveterate
sin hath now found the fruit of grace. Why then need we grieve, if we
can now say to the soul, _thy youth is renewed like the eagles_? And
why should we bewail the dead, now that by our Lord Jesus _the world
has been reconciled to the Father_? Since then we hold the benefits
which Christ hath given, we are to you as well as to all ambassadors in
Christ’s stead, that you may know His Gift to be irrevocable, that you
may believe what you always have believed, and not bring your opinion
into discredit by too much sorrow. For the Lord Jesus was made sin that
He might _take away the sin of the world_, and we all might be _made
the righteousness of God in Him_; now no longer subject to the penalty
of sin, but sure of the reward of righteousness.
Farewell; love me, for I love you.
LETTER XL.
A.D. 388.
IN the year 388 A.D. the synagogue of the Jews at Callinicum in
Mesopotamia was burnt by the Christians, at the instance, it was
asserted, of the Bishop. Some monks also in the same district,
having been insulted by some Valentinian heretics, while singing
Psalms in procession on the Festival of the Maccabees, (Aug.
1st.) had burnt their conventicle. Theodosius had ordered that
the Bishop should re-build the synagogue at his own cost, and
that the monks should be punished, and the whole matter carefully
sifted, and justice done. This Letter is written by S. Ambrose
to remonstrate. He urges his plea with the boldest importunity,
and, as he tells his sister in the following letter, Theodosius
eventually yielded.
TO THE MOST GRACIOUS PRINCE AND BLESSED EMPEROR HIS
MAJESTY THEODOSIUS, BISHOP AMBROSE SENDS GREETING.
1. NEARLY incessant are the cares which harass me, most excellent
Emperor, but never was I in such trouble as at present; for I see I
must be on my guard against the danger even of a charge of sacrilege.
Wherefore I beseech you patiently to hear my address. For if I am
unworthy to be heard by you, I am unworthy to offer for you, or to have
your vows and prayers intrusted to me. Will you not hear him whom you
wish to be heard in your behalf? Will you not hear him pleading for
himself whom you have heard when pleading for others? Will you not
dread the consequences of your own judgment; and fear to render him
unworthy to be heard in your behalf, by treating him as unworthy of
a hearing from you.
Sidenote: Ps. cxix. 46.
Sidenote: Ezek. iii. 17.
Sidenote: Ezek. iii. 20, 21.
2. But it is neither the part of an Emperor to deny liberty of speech,
nor of a Bishop not to utter what he thinks. There is no quality more
amiable and popular in an Emperor than to cherish freedom even in those
who owe him military allegiance. For there is this difference between
good and bad rulers, that the good love freedom, the bad slavery.
And there is nothing in a Bishop so offensive in God’s sight, or so
base before men, as not freely to declare his opinions. For it is
written, _I spake of Thy testimonies also even before kings, and was
not ashamed_, and in another place, _Son of man, I have made thee
a watchman unto the house of Israel; with the intent_, it proceeds,
_that if the righteous man doth turn from his righteousness and commit
iniquity, because thou hast not given him warning_[193] that is, hast
not told him what to beware of, _his righteousness which he hath done
shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand.
Nevertheless, if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin
not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned;
also thou shalt deliver thy soul._
Sidenote: 2 Tim. iv. 2.
3. I prefer then, to have fellowship with your Majesty in good rather
than in evil; and therefore the silence of a Bishop ought to be
displeasing to your Clemency, and his freedom pleasing. For you will be
implicated in the danger of my silence, you will share in the benefits
of my outspokenness. I am not then an officious meddler in matters
beyond my province, an intruder in the concerns of others, but I comply
with my duty, I obey the commandment of our God. This I do chiefly from
love and regard to you, and from a wish to preserve your well-being.
But if I am not believed, or am forbidden to act on this motive, then
in truth I speak from fear of offending God. For if my own danger
could deliver you, I would consent to be offered for you, though not
willingly, for I would rather that without danger to myself you should
be accepted and glorified by God. But if I am to suffer under the
charge of silence and dissimulation without effecting your exculpation
I had rather you should deem me too importunate than useless or
mercenary. For it is written, in the words of the holy Apostle Paul,
whose teaching you cannot gainsay, _Be instant in season, out of season:
reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine_.
Sidenote: S. Matt. x. 19, 20.
4. We then also have One Whom it is even more dangerous to displease;
especially as even Emperors themselves are not offended with any man
for fulfilling his function, but you patiently give ear to every one
speaking concerning his own department, nay you reprove him for not
acting in accordance with his line of duty. Can that then which you
readily accept from your soldiers, seem to you offensive in a Bishop;
seeing that we speak not according to our own wills, but as we are
commanded? For you know that it is written, _when ye shall be brought
before governors and kings take no thought how or what ye shall speak,
for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For
it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father Which speaketh
in you._ Were it in civil causes that I had to speak, my not obtaining
an audience would not give me such apprehension, although even then
justice ought to be observed, but in God’s cause whom will you hear,
if you hear not the Bishop, at whose great peril it is that sin is
committed? Who will dare to tell you the truth, if a Bishop does not?
Sidenote: Rom. x. 2.
Sidenote: S. Matt. xviii. 15–17.
5. I know that you are pious, merciful, meek and gentle, having at
heart the faith and fear of the Lord; but some failings oftentimes
escape our notice. Some men _have a zeal of God, but not according to
knowledge_, and we ought, I think, to beware lest this steal even over
faithful souls. I know your piety towards God, your lenity towards men;
I am myself indebted to your courtesy for many benefits. Wherefore I
feel greater fear, and deeper solicitude lest even your own judgment
should hereafter condemn me for having failed, through cowardice or
flattery, in saving you from a fall. If I had seen you sin against
myself, I ought not to have kept silence, for it is written, _If thy
brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault; then
rebuke him before two or three witnesses, and if he shall neglect to
hear them, tell it unto the Church_. Shall I then be silent in the
cause of God? Now then let us consider what it is I have to apprehend.
6. The military Count of the East[194] reported that a synagogue had
been burnt, and that this had been done at the instigation of the
Bishop. You decided that the others should be punished, and that the
synagogue should be rebuilt by the Bishop himself. I will not insist
on the propriety of calling for the Bishop’s own statement; for the
clergy are wont to check disturbances and desirous of peace, save when
they are themselves moved by some offence against God or insult to the
Church. But suppose this Bishop to have been too eager in setting fire
to this synagogue, and now to grow timid before the judgment-seat, has
your Majesty no fear, lest he should acquiesce in your sentence, no
apprehension of his becoming apostate?
7. Do you not fear, what will certainly be the case, that he will meet
your officer with a refusal; and so he will be obliged to make him
either an apostate or a martyr, and both of these are adverse to your
interests and savour of persecution, that he should be forced either
to become an apostate or undergo martyrdom. You see then whereunto this
matter tends; if you think the Bishop firm, avoid driving his firmness
to martyrdom; if you think him frail, shun exposing his frailty to a
fall. For a heavy responsibility lies on him who has caused one who is
weak to fall.
8. Under these circumstances I suppose that the Bishop will say that
he himself kindled the fire, gathered the crowd, collected the people;
so as not to lose an opportunity of martyrdom, and in place of the weak
to offer up a bolder victim. O happy falsehood; obtaining for others
acquittal, for himself Grace. This is my request also to your Majesty,
that you would turn your vengeance upon me, and, if you consider this a
crime, impute it to me. Why do you order the absent to be punished? you
have the guilty person before you, you hear his confession, I openly
affirm that I myself set the synagogue on fire, or at least, that I
ordered others to do so; that there might be no place in which Christ
is denied. And if it be objected, why did I not set it on fire in this
very city? It began to be burnt, I reply, by the Divine judgment, my
work was superseded. And to speak the truth, I was the less zealous
because I expected no punishment. Why should I do that which being
unavenged would also be unrewarded? These words are a shock to modesty,
but they also bring back grace; they provide against the commission of
that which may offend Almighty God.
9. But suppose that no one will cite the Bishop to do this; for this
is what I have begged of your Clemency, and though I have not yet read
that the edict is revoked, I will nevertheless assume it to be so.
But what if other more timid persons, from a fear of death offer to
rebuild the synagogue from their own funds, or the Count, finding this
previously ordained, should himself command it to be restored at the
expense of the Christians? Your Majesty will then have an apostate
Count, and you will entrust your victorious banner, your labarum, which
is consecrated by the name of Christ, to one who is the restorer of
the synagogue which knows not Christ. Command the labarum to be carried
into the synagogue, and let us see if they do not resist.
10. Shall then a building be raised for perfidious Jews out of the
spoils of the Church, and shall that patrimony, which by Christ’s mercy
has been assigned to Christians, be transferred to the temples of the
unbelieving? We read that temples were in former days erected from the
spoils of the Cimbri and other enemies of Rome. Shall the Jews inscribe
this title on the front of their synagogue: ‘The temples of impiety
built from the spoils of Christians?’
11. But the maintenance of discipline is perhaps what influences your
Majesty. Is the show of discipline then weightier than the cause of
religion? Police should give place to religion.
12. Has your Majesty never heard that when Julian commanded the temple
at Jerusalem to be restored, they who cleared away the rubbish were
destroyed by fire from heaven? Are you not afraid lest this should now
happen? Surely you ought not to have commanded what Julian commanded.
13. But why are you thus moved? Is it generally because a public
building has been burnt, or because it is a synagogue? If you are moved
by the conflagration of the meanest edifice, (and what else could there
have been in so obscure a town,) does not your Majesty remember how
many prefects’ houses have been burnt at Rome, and yet no man enacted
vengeance for them? Nay, if any Emperor had desired to punish such an
act severely, he would rather have injured the cause of those who had
suffered so great a loss. Which then is the more fitting, that the
partial burning of some houses at Callinicum[195], or the burning of
the city of Rome should be punished, if indeed either of them ought to
have been so. At Constantinople, a while ago, the Bishop’s[196] house
was burnt, and your Majesty’s son interceded with you, that you would
not avenge the wrong done to him, the youthful Emperor, nor the burning
of the Bishop’s palace. Your Majesty should consider, that, if you
should in like manner command this act to be punished, he may again
intercede to prevent it. The former boon however was happily obtained
from the father by the son, for it was only fitting that he should
first remit the injury to himself. A good distribution of favour and
well allotted it is, that the son should be petitioned for his own loss,
and the father for the offence against his son. In this case there is
nothing which you need keep back on your son’s account, beware also
lest you derogate ought from God.
Sidenote: Jer. vii. 14–17.
14. There is then no adequate reason for any such commotion, that the
people should be so severely punished for the burning of any building;
much less seeing that it is a synagogue that has been burnt, a place
of unbelief, a house of impiety, a receptacle of madness, which God
Himself hath condemned. For thus we read what the Lord our God spake by
the mouth of Jeremiah, _Therefore will I do unto this house, which is
called by My Name, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to
you, and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh. And I will cast you
out of My sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole
seed of Ephraim. Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift
up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to Me, for I will
not hear thee. Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah?_
God forbids him to intercede for those whom you think worthy of being
avenged.
15. Were I pleading according to the law of nations, I should assuredly
recount how many Churches the Jews burnt in the time of Julian’s reign:
two at Damascus, one of which is but just repaired, and that at the
expense, not of the synagogue, but of the Church, while the other is
still a mass of shapeless ruins. Churches were likewise burnt at Gaza,
Ascalon, Berytus, and nearly every town in that region, and yet no man
asked for vengeance. At Alexandria too the most beautiful Church of
all was burnt down by the Gentiles and Jews. The Church has not been
avenged, shall then the synagogue be?
16. And shall the burning of the temple of the Valentinians likewise be
punished? For what but a temple is the place where Gentiles assemble?
The Gentiles indeed reckon twelve gods, the Valentinians worship thirty
two Æons[197], whom they call gods. Concerning these I am informed that
they have called for punishment upon some monks. For the Valentinians
having endeavoured to stop them as they were going in procession
according to ancient custom, chanting psalms, to celebrate the festival
of the Maccabees, the monks exasperated by this affront, set fire to
one of their rudely constructed temples in some country village.
17. How many have to offer themselves to this choice, remembering
that in Julian’s time he who threw down the altar and disturbed the
sacrifice was condemned by the judge, and suffered martyrdom. And
accordingly the judge who tried him was never considered other than
a persecutor, no man would associate with him, no man deemed him
worthy of a kiss of greeting. Were he not now dead, I should fear your
Majesty’s taking vengeance upon him. Nevertheless he escaped not the
Divine vengeance, but saw his son die before him.
18. But it is reported that the judge was ordered to take cognizance
of the matter, and was informed that he ought not to have reported upon
it, but to have punished it, that the offerings which had been taken
away were to be demanded back. Other particulars I will omit; but when
the Jews burnt our Churches, nothing was restored, nothing demanded,
nothing sought for. But what could the synagogue possess in that
distant place, when everything in it was but of little value, nothing
precious or abundant. In short of what could a fire deprive the
treacherous Jews? These are devices of the Jews who wish to accuse us
falsely, that through their representations an extraordinary military
tribunal may be appointed, and an officer sent, who perhaps will say
what one said here before your accession, ‘How shall Christ help us,
when we fight for the Jews against Christ? when we are sent to take
vengeance on their behalf? They have lost their own armies, and they
wish to destroy ours.’
19. Nay, what are the calumnies into which they will not rush, who by
false witnesses have slandered Christ Himself? who are false even in
matters relating to God? Whom will they not charge with the guilt of
this sedition? whom will they not thirst after, even though they know
them not? They desire to see rank after rank of Christians in chains,
to see the necks of the faithful placed under the yoke, the servants of
God hidden in darkness, smitten with the axe, delivered to the fire, or
sent to the mines, that their pains may be slow and lingering.
20. Will your Majesty give this triumph to the Jews over the Church
of God? this victory over the people of Christ, this joy to the
unbelievers, this felicity to the Synagogue, this grief to the Church?
They will place this solemnity among their feast-days; numbering it
among those wherein they triumphed over the Ammonites, or Canaanites,
or over Pharaoh king of Egypt, or which delivered them from the hands
of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. This festival they will add in
memory of the triumph they have gained over Christ’s people.
21. Although they refuse to be bound by Roman laws, deeming them even
criminal, they now pretend to claim vengeance according to those laws.
Where were those laws, when they burnt the roofs of the consecrated
Basilicas? If Julian avenged not the Church because he was an Apostate,
will your Majesty, being a Christian, avenge the injury done to the
Synagogue?
Sidenote: 2 Sam. vii. 8.
22. And what will Christ hereafter say to you? Do you not remember
what he said to holy David by the prophet Nathan? ‘I have chosen thee
the youngest of thy brethren, and from private life have made thee
Emperor. I have placed thy offspring upon the Imperial throne. I have
put barbarous nations under thy feet, I have given thee peace, I have
delivered thine enemy captive into thy hands. Thou hadst no corn to
support thy army, I opened to thee the enemies’ gates, the enemies’
granaries, by their own hand; they gave thee the very stores which they
had provided for themselves. I confounded the counsels of thy enemy,
so that he laid bare his own plans. The very usurper of thy empire
I so bound, and so fettered his mind, that although he had the means
of flying from you he shut himself in with all his followers, as if
fearing lest any should escape you. His lieutenant[198] and his forces
on the other element, whom I had before dispersed to prevent their
combining to make war on thee, I now called together again to render
thy victory complete. Thy army, an assemblage of many fierce nations,
I caused to keep faith and peace and concord, as if they had been one
nation. And when there was imminent danger lest the perfidious plots
of the barbarians should penetrate the Alps, I gave thee victory within
the very barrier of the Alps, that thy victory might be without loss.
Thus I made thee to triumph over thy enemy, and thou art giving my
enemies a triumph over my people.’
23. Was it not the very reason why Maximus was abandoned, that before
he set out on his expedition, hearing that a synagogue had been burnt
at Rome, he sent an edict thither, acting as if he were the guardian of
public order. Wherefore the Christians said, No good awaits this man.
That king is become a Jew, and we have heard of him as a protector of
order, but Christ, who died for sinners, shortly after put him to the
proof[199]. And if this was said of words only, what will be said of
actual punishment? So he was soon defeated by the Franks and by the
Saxons, in Sicily, at Siscia[200], at Petavio, and in every quarter
of the globe. What has a devout man in common with an unbeliever? The
precedents of his impiety ought to be obliterated together with the
impious man himself. That which injured the vanquished, that at which
he stumbled, the victor ought to condemn, not to imitate.
Sidenote: S. Luke vii. 43.
Sidenote: Ib. 47.
24. Now I have recounted these things to you not as though you were
ungrateful; rather I have spoken of them as being rightly bestowed,
that reminded thereby you may love much, as being one on whom much
has been bestowed. To Simon’s answer our Lord thus replied, _Thou hast
rightly judged_; and then, turning straightway to the woman who had
anointed His feet with ointment, and was the type of the Church, He
said to Simon, _Wherefore I say unto thee, her sins, which are many,
are forgiven, for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the
same loveth little_. This is that woman who entered the house of the
Pharisee, and cast out the Jew, but gained Christ. For the Church shut
out the Synagogue, and why is it now attempted, that, with the servant
of Christ, that is, from the breast of faith, and abode of Christ, the
Synagogue should shut out the Church.
25. It is from affection and regard for your Majesty, that I have
introduced these things into my pleading. The beneficence which has led
you, at my request, to liberate many persons from exile, from prison,
from the extreme penalties of death, obliges me to incur the danger
of offending you for the sake of your own good, rather than lose in
one moment that privilege of every Bishop which I have for so long
possessed. For no man can feel greater confidence than he who zealously
loves, no man certainly ought to injure him who is careful for his
well-being. And yet it is not the loss of favour I deprecate, but the
danger to salvation.
26. Yet how important it is that your Majesty should not think of
enquiry or punishment in a matter with regard to which no one up
to this time has ever held enquiry or inflicted punishment! It is a
grievous thing to hazard your faith for the sake of Jews. When Gideon
killed the consecrated calf, the Gentiles[201] said, Let the gods
themselves avenge this affront towards them. Who is to avenge the
Synagogue? Christ Whom they slew, Whom they denied? Or will God the
Father avenge them, seeing that by rejecting the Son they have rejected
the Father also. Who is to avenge the heresy of the Valentinians? how
will your Piety be able to avenge them, seeing that you have commanded
them to be shut out, and forbidden them to meet together? And should
I bring forward to you the example of King Josiah as approved of God,
will you condemn in this case that for which he is praised?
27. But if you do not place sufficient confidence in me, let your
Majesty command the presence of those bishops whom you do approve,
and let the question be discussed, what ought to be done so as not
to injure the Faith. If in financial matters you consult your Courts,
how much more fitting is it that in the cause of religion you should
consult the Bishops of the Lord?
28. Let your Clemency consider what dangerous spies and liers in wait
the Church has against her, if they find ever so small an opening they
will plant a dart therein. I speak after the manner of men; but God is
feared more than men, and is rightly preferred to Emperors themselves.
If any man thinks obedience should be paid to a friend, a parent, or
a neighbour, am I wrong in deeming that God should be obeyed, and that
in preference to all others. Let your Majesty consult for your own
well-being, or suffer me to consult for mine.
29. What shall I hereafter answer, if it shall appear that by an edict
issued from hence Christians have been slain by the sword, or beaten to
death with clubs or thongs loaded with lead? How shall I justify such
an act, how shall I excuse it to those Bishops who having discharged
the office of the priesthood for thirty years, nay for many more, have
now bitterly to bewail, being deprived of their sacred functions and
called to undertake municipal offices. If[202] those who fight for you
are set free after a certain period of service, how much more ought you
to consider those who fight for God! How I repeat, shall I defend this
to the Bishops who complain in behalf of the clergy, and write word
that the Churches are overborne by violent oppression.
30. This however I desired should be made known to your Majesty; about
this you will deign to deliberate and direct according to your will;
but as to that which distresses and rightly distresses myself, exclude
and reject it from your consideration. You do yourself whatsoever you
have commanded to be done; even if he[203] do it not, I would rather
that you should be merciful than that he should refuse to do what he
has been commanded.
31. Here are persons in dealing with whom you ought still to invite and
earn the Clemency of God towards the Roman empire; here are persons for
whom rather than for yourself you have to hope; let their grace, their
well-being, appeal to you in what I now say. I fear your entrusting
your cause to the judgement of others. As yet you are committed to
nothing. Herein I will pledge myself for you to our God, fear not your
oath. That change cannot be displeasing to God which is made for His
honour. You have no need to alter your former letter whether it be yet
dispatched or not, but command another to be written which shall be
replete with faith and piety. It is open to you to change, it is not
open to me to keep back the truth.
32. You have forgiven the people of Antioch[204] their offence against
you, you have recalled the daughters of your enemy[205], you have
committed them to be nurtured by their relative, you have bestowed
money from your treasury on the mother of your enemy. This great piety,
this great faith towards God will be obscured by your present act.
Having thus spared your armed foes, and preserved your enemies, do not,
I beseech you, so eagerly seek for vengeance upon Christians.
Sidenote: 1 Macc. ii. 7.
33. And now I entreat your Majesty not to disdain to listen to my fears
both for yourself and myself; for it is the saying of an holy man, _Woe
is me, wherefore was I born to see this misery of my people?_ is it
that I should incur the risk of offending God? Assuredly I have done
what is most respectful to you: I have sought that you should listen to
me in the palace, that you might not have to listen to me in the Church.
LETTER XLI.
A.D. 388.
IN this Letter to his sister S. Ambrose relates the sequel of
the affair referred to in the preceding one. That Letter failed
to produce the effect which he had hoped for, and so he was
driven to fulfil the threat with which he had ended it, and
‘make the Emperor listen to him in the Church.’ He gives his
sister a full account of the sermon which he preached before the
Emperor, and how he insisted on a promise that the matter should
be quashed altogether, before he would celebrate the Eucharist,
and how the Emperor at last gave way, and so all ended as he had
wished.