souls. Ofttimes it happeneth that some one hath lost a son;1372 and comforters without number have been of no avail to withdraw him from tears and groans. But on the approach of night, conquered by the despotic power1373 of sleep, he hath closed his eyelids in slumber, and received some small relief from the miseries of the day time. 2. And now, I pray you, let us proceed to the subject which hath given rise to these ob- servations. For well I know, that ye are all eagerly awaiting this matter; and that each one of you is in pain till he learn on what account this Book was not given from the beginning. 396 But even now I do not see that the time is fit for a discourse on this subject. And why so? Because the week hath nearly arrived at its close with us, and I fear to touch upon a subject, the exposition of which I should presently afterwards be obliged to cut short. For the subject requires of us several days in succession, and a continuous effort of memory: wherefore we must again defer it.1374 But take it not amiss! we will assuredly pay you the debt with interest; for thus it is expedient both for you, and for us who are to discharge it. Meanwhile, however, let us now speak on that subject which we left out yesterday. And what was it we left out yesterday? “God was walking,” it says, “in Paradise in the cool of the day.”1375 What is here meant, I ask? “God was walking!” God was not walking; for how should He do this who is everywhere present and filleth all things? But He caused a perception of this sort in Adam, in order that he might collect1376 himself; that he might not be careless; that in flying and in hiding himself, he might present beforehand some portion of the excuse, even before any words had passed. For even as those who are about to be led to the tribunal, to sustain the charges respecting the crimes they have committed, present themselves before those who are to try them with a squalid, begrimed, sad, and subdued visage, in order that from their appearance, they may incline them to loving-kindness, mercy, and forgiveness, so also did it happen in the case of Adam. For it was necessary that he should be led to this Tribunal in a subdued state. Therefore God took him beforehand, and humbled him. But that some one was walking there, he perceived; but whence came he to suppose that God was walking there? Such is the habitual custom of those who have committed sin. They are suspicious of all things; they tremble at shadows; they are in terror at every sound, and they imagine that every one is approaching them in a hostile manner. Often therefore the guilty, when 1372 Comp. Apoll. Rhod. Arg. iii. 746, “The traveller now, And the tired porter, claimed the boon of sleep, The mother’s self, of children late bereaved, Sunk in deep slumber lay.” and Virgil’s imitation, Æn. iv. 522. 1373 τυραννίδι. 1374 Tillemont places this Homily on Friday, but the reference to the last is “lately,” not “yesterday,” so that it was probably delivered on Saturday, as Montfaucon supposes. The Ben. reading gives, “For a subject of several days in succession requires a continued recollection,” &c. 1375 Gen. iii. 8. 1376 συστείλῃ. See Rom. xii. 1, Hom. XX., where it is used of reverence. 567 Homily VIII