89. And what else did John have in mind but what is virtuous, so that he could not endure a wicked union even in the king’s case, saying: “It is not lawful for thee to have her to wife.” S. Matt. xiv. 4. He could have been silent, had he not thought it unseemly for himself not to speak the truth for fear of death, or to make the prophetic office yield to the king, or to indulge in flattery. He knew well that he would die as he was against the king, but he preferred virtue to safety. Yet what is more expedient than the suffering which brought glory to the saint.