4. We, then, also have One Whom it is even
more perilous to displease, especially since even emperors are not
displeased when every one discharges his own office, and you patiently
listen to every one making suggestions in his own sphere, nay, you
rebuke him if he act not according to the order of his service.
Can this, then, seem to you offensive in priests, which you willingly
accept from those who serve you; since we speak not what we wish, but
what we are bidden? For you know the passage: “When
ye shall stand before kings and rulers, take no thought what ye shall
speak, for it shall be given you in that hour what ye shall speak; for
it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father Who speaketh in
you.” S. Matt. x. 19, 20. And if I
were speaking in state causes, although justice must be observed even
in them, I should not feel such dread if I were not listened to, but in
the cause of God whom will you listen to, if not to the priest, at
whose greater peril sin is committed? Who will dare to tell you
the truth if the priest dare not?