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28. But what matter of surprise is it that I was thus carried
towards vanity, and went forth from Thee, O my God, when men were
proposed to me to imitate, who, should they in relating any acts of
theirs -not in themselves evil be guilty of a barbarism or
solecism, when censured for it became confounded; but when they made a
full and ornate oration, in well-chosen words, concerning their own
licentiousness, and were applauded for it, they boasted? Thou seest
this, O Lord, and keepest silence, "long-suffering, and
plenteous in mercy and truth, " s as Thou art. Wilt Thou keep
silence for ever? And even now Thou drawest out of i this vast deep
the soul that seeketh Thee and i thirsteth after Thy delights, whose
"heart said unto Thee, " I have sought Thy face, "Thy face,
Lord, will I seek." For I was far from Thy face, through my
darkened affections. For it is not by our feet, nor by change of
place, that we either turn from Thee or return to Thee. Or,
indeed, did that younger son look out for horses, or chariots, or
ships, or fly away with visible wings, or journey by the motion of his
limbs, that he might, in a tar country, prodigally waste all that
Thou gavest him when he set out? A kind Father when Thou gavest,
and kinder still when he returned destitute!s So, then, in wanton,
that is to say, in darkened affections, lies distance from Thy face.
29. Behold, O Lord God, and behold patiently, as Thou art
wont to do, how diligently the sons of men observe the conventional
rules of letters and syllables, received from those who spoke prior to
them, and yet neglect the eternal rules of everlasting salvation
received from Thee, insomuch that he who practises or teaches the
hereditary rules of pronunciation, if, contrary to grammatical usage,
he should say, without aspirating the first letter, a human being,
will offend men more than if, in opposition to Thy commandments, he,
a human being, were to hate a human being. As if, indeed, any man
should feel that an enemy could be more destructive to him than that
hatred with which he is excited against him, or that he could destroy
more utterly him whom he persecutes than he destroys his own soul by his
enmity. And of a truth, there is no science of letters more innate
than the writing of conscience that he is doing unto another what he
himself would not suffer. How mysterious art Thou, who in silence
"dwellest on high," Thou God, the only great, who by an unwearied
law dealest out the punishment of blindness to illicit desires! When a
man seeking for the reputation of eloquence stands before a human judge
while a thronging multitude surrounds him, inveighs against his enemy
with the most fierce hatred, he takes most vigilant heed that his
tongue slips not into grammatical error, but takes no heed lest through
the fury of his spirit he cut off a man from his fellow-men.
30. These were the customs in the midst of which I, unhappy boy,
was cast, and on that arena it was that I was more fearful of
perpetrating a barbarism than, having done so, of envying those who
had not. These things I declare and confess unto Thee, my God,
for which I was applauded by them whom I then thought it my Whole
duty to please, for I did not perceive the gulf of infamy wherein I
was cast away from Thine eyes? For in Thine eyes what was more
infamous than I was already, displeasing even those like myself,
deceiving with innumerable lies both tutor, and masters, and parents,
from love of play, a desire to see frivolous spectacles, and a
stage-stuck restlessness, to imitate them? Pilferings I committed
from my parents' cellar and table, either enslaved by gluttony, or
that I might have something to give to boys who sold me their play,
who, though they sold it, liked it as well as I. In this play,
likewise, I often sought dishonest victories, I myself being
conquered by the vain desire of pre-eminence. And what could I so
little endure, or, if I detected it, censured I so violently, as
the very things I did to others, and, when myself detected I was
censured, preferred rather to quarrel than to yield? Is this the
innocence of childhood? Nay, Lord, nay, Lord; I entreat Thy
mercy, O my God. For these same sins, as we grow older, are
transferred from governors and masters, from nuts, and balls, and
sparrows, to magistrates and kings, to gold, and lands, and slaves,
just as the rod is succeeded by more severe chastisements. It was,
then, the stature of childhood that Thou, O our King, didst
approve of as an emblem of humility when Thou saidst: "Of such is
the kingdom of heaven."
31. But yet, O Lord, to Thee, most excellent and most good,
Thou Architect and Governor of the universe, thanks had been due
unto Thee, our God, even hadst Thou willed that I should not
survive my boyhood. For I existed even then j I lived, and felt,
and was solicitous about my own well-being, ma trace of that most
mysterious unity from whence I had my being; I kept watch by my inner
sense over the wholeness of my senses, and in these insignificant
pursuits, and also in my thoughts on things insignificant, I learnt
to take pleasure in truth. I was averse to being deceived, I had a
vigorous memory, was provided with the power of speech, was softened
by friendship, shunned sorrow, meanness, ignorance. In such a being
what was not wonderful and praiseworthy? But all these are gifts of my
God; I did not give them to myself; and they are good, and all
these constitute myself. Good, then, is He that made me, and He
is my God; and before Him will I rejoice exceedingly for every good
gift which, as a boy, I had. For in this lay my sin, that not in
Him, but in His creatures my-self and the rest I sought for
pleasures, hon-ours, and truths, falling thereby into sorrows,
troubles, and errors. Thanks be to Thee, my joy, my pride, my
confidence, my God thanks be to Thee for Thy gifts; but preserve
Thou them to me. For thus wilt Thou preserve me; and those things
which Thou hast given me shall be developed and perfected, and I
myself shall be with Thee, for from Thee is my being.
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