222 TREATISES ATTRIBUTED TO CYPRIAN.
my words,neverthelessan actualproof willalsoattestthe
realityof the matter. For my affection[foryou] isproved,
when absolutelyno opportunity[of writing]is passedover.
However certainI may be,then,thatyou areno lessrespect
ableintheconductof your lifethan faithfulinrespectofyour
sacramentalvow still,sincethere are not wanting smooth
tongued advocatesof vice,and indulgentpatronswho afford
authorityto vices,and, what isworse,convertthe rebuke of
the heavenlyScripturesintoan advocacyof crimes; as if the
pleasurederivedfrom the publicexhibitionsmight be sought
afteras being innocent,by way of a mental relaxation;— for
therebythe vigour of ecclesiasticaldisciplineis so relaxed,
and isso deterioratedby allthe languorof vice,thatitis no
longerapology,but authority,thatisgiven forwickedness,—
it seemed good in a few words not now to instructyou, but
to admonish you who are instructed,lest,becausethe wounds
are badly bound up, they should break through the cicatrix
of theirclosedsoundness. For no mischiefisput an end to
with so much difficultybut that itsrecurrenceis easy, so
long as itisboth maintainedby the consent,and caressedby
the excusesof the multitude.
2. Believers,and men who claimforthemselvestheautho
rity of the Christianname, are not ashamed— are not, I
repeat,ashamed to finda defencein the heavenlyScriptures
for the vain superstitionsassociatedwith the publicexhibi
tionsof the heathens,and thus to attributedivineauthority
to idolatry.For how isit,thatwhat isdone by the heathens
in honour of any idolis resortedto in a public show by
faithfulChristians,and the heathen idolatryismaintained,
and the trueand divinereligionistrampledupon in contempt
of God? Shame binds me to relatetheirpretextsand de
fencesin thisbehalf. " Where," say they," are there such
Scriptures?where are these things prohibited? On the
contrary,both Elias is the charioteerof Israel,and David
himself danced before the ark. We read of psalteries,
horns,2trumpets,drums, pipes,harps, and choral dances.
Moreover, the apostle,in his struggle,puts before us the
i " Insacramento." 2 " Nabla."