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| Chapter XI. Having adduced examples of certain frauds found in a few passages of the rhetoricians, he shows that these and all others are more fully and plainly condemned in Scripture.
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Chapter XI.
Having adduced examples of certain frauds found in a few
passages of the rhetoricians, he shows that these and all others are
more fully and plainly condemned in Scripture.
70. I shall say
nothing of the snapping of fingers, or the naked dancing of the heir,
at entering on an inheritance.670
| 670 Cic. de
Off. III. 19. | These are
well-known things. Nor will I speak of the mass of fishes
gathered up at a pretended fishing expedition to excite the
buyer’s desires. For why did he show himself so eager for
luxuries and delicacies as to allow a fraud of this
character?
71. What need is there for me to speak of
that well-known story of the pleasant and quiet retreat at Syracuse and
of the cunning of a Sicilian?671
| 671 Cic. de
Off. III. 14. This story is related by Cicero as a clear
example of downright fraud, against which in his time there was no
remedy at law. | For he
having found a stranger, and knowing that he was anxious to buy an
estate, asked him to his grounds for a meal. He accepted, and on
the following day he came. There the sight of a great number of
fishermen met his eyes, and a banquet laid out in the most splendid
profusion. In the sight of the guests, fishers were placed in the
garden-grounds, where no net had ever been laid before. Each one
in turn presented to the guests what he had taken, the fish were placed
upon the table, and caught the glance of those who sat there. The
stranger wondered at the large quantity of fish and the number of boats
there were. The answer given was, that this was the great water
supply, and that great numbers of fish came there because of the
sweetness of the water. To be brief, he drew on the stranger to
be urgent in getting the grounds, he willingly allows himself to be
induced to sell them, and seemingly with a heavy heart he receives the
money.
72. On the next day the purchaser comes to the
grounds with his friends, but finds no boat there. On asking
whether perhaps the fishermen were observing a festival on that day, he
is told that, with the exception of yesterday, they were never wont to
fish there; but what power had he to proceed against such a fraud, who
had so shamefully grasped at such luxuries? For he who convicts
another of a fault ought himself to be free from it. I will not
therefore include such trifles as these under the power of
ecclesiastical censure, for that altogether condemns every desire for
dishonourable gain, and briefly, with few words, forbids every sharp
and cunning action.
73. And what shall I say of him who claims
to be the heir or legatee, on the proof of a will672
| 672 Cic. de
Off. III. 18. | which, though falsified by others, yet
was known to be so by him, and who tries to make a gain through
another’s crime, though even the laws of the state convict him
who knowingly makes use of a false will, as guilty of a wrong
action. But the law of justice is plain, namely, that a good man
ought not to go aside from the truth, nor to inflict an unjust loss on
any one, nor to act at all deceitfully or to take part in any
fraud.
74. What is clearer, however, on this point
than the case of Ananias? He acted falsely as regards the price
he got for his land, for he sold it and laid at the apostles’
feet part of the price, pretending it was the whole amount.673
For this he perished as guilty of
fraud. He might have offered nothing and have acted so without
committing a fraud. But as deceit entered into his action, he
gained no favour for his liberality, but paid the penalty for his
artifice.
75. The Lord also in the Gospel rejected
those coming to Him with guile, saying: “The foxes have
holes,”674
for He bids us
live in simplicity and innocency of heart. David also says:
“Thou hast used deceit as a sharp razor,”675
pointing out by this the treacherous man,
just as an implement of this kind is used to help adorn a man, yet
often wounds him. If any one makes a show of favour and yet plans
deceit after the example of the traitor, so as to give up to death him
whom he ought to guard, let him be looked on in the light of that
instrument which is wont to wound owing to the vice of a drunken mind
and a trembling hand. Thus that man drunk with the wine of
wickedness brought death on the high priest Ahimelech,676
through a terrible act of treachery,
because he had received the prophet with hospitality when the king,
roused by the stings of envy, was following him.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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