2. I saw that from me alone in your court
the natural right of hearing was withdrawn, so that I was deprived also
of the office of speaking; for you were frequently troubled because
certain matters which had been decided in your consistory had come to
my knowledge. I, therefore, am without a part in the common
privilege, since the Lord Jesus says: “That nothing is
hidden, which shall not be made known.” S. Luke viii. 17. I, therefore, as reverently as I
could, complied with the imperial will, and took heed that neither
yourself should have any reason for displeasure, when I effected that
nothing should be related to me of the imperial decrees; and that I,
when present, either should not hear, through fear of all others, and
so incur the reputation of connivance, or should hear in such a fashion
that my ears might be open, my utterance prevented, that I might not be
able to utter what I had heard lest I should injure and bring in peril
those who had incurred the suspicion of treachery.