6. Even before he was of our fold, he was
ours. His character made him one of us. For, as many of our
own are not with us, whose life alienates them from the common body,
so, many of those without are on our side, whose character anticipates
their faith, and need only the name of that which indeed they
possess. My father was one of these, an alien shoot, but inclined
by his life towards us. He was so far advanced in self control,
that he became at once most beloved and most modest, two qualities
difficult to combine. What greater and more splendid testimony
can there be to his justice than his exercise of a position second to
none in the state, without enriching himself by a single farthing,
although he saw everyone else casting the hands of Briareus upon the
public funds, and swollen with ill-gotten gain? For thus do I
term unrighteous wealth. Of his prudence this also is no slight
proof, but in the course of my speech further details will be
given. It was as a reward Reward.
Faith is, as Clémencet remarks, “the gift of
God”—but cf. S. John vii. 17. for such
conduct, I think, that he attained to the faith. How this came
about, a matter too important to be passed over, I would now set
forth.