Chapter X. The Abuses and Fraudulent Practices of Advocates, Judges, and Procurators are severely condemned

But thou wilt tell me — what I admit — that we are now living in other days, with other customs prevailing, that we are no longer on the eve but in the very midst of times of special danger. For behold, fraud and intrigue and violence have " prevailed upon the earth " (Gen. vii. 24). There are many accusers, and but few defenders ; the powerful everywhere oppress the poor. " How then," thou wilt ask, " can I be wanting to the oppressed ? How can I refuse to ' execute judgment for them that suffer wrong ' (Ps. cxlv. 7) ? And unless lawsuits are instituted, unless both sides are heard, how can I judge between the parties ? " Thou sayest well. But I am not objecting to the lawsuits. Let them be carried on by all means, yet only as they ought. As for the usual way of conducting them, I pronounce it abominable : it would disgrace the forum,, to say nothing of the Church of God. I wonder how thy religious ears can bear to listen to the pleaders' disputes and logomachies, which are better calculated to conceal than to discover the truth. Put a stop to this pernicious abuse, restrain the tongues of these idle chatterers and close their lying lips. They are the men that " have taught their tongue to speak lies " (Jer. ix. 5), eloquent in opposing justice, learned in defending falsehood. " They are wise to do evils" (Jer. iv. 22), and skilled to confound truth. These are they who presume to instruct those from whom they should rather receive instruction, who labour to establish, not what they have ascertained to be true, but whatever possesses the merit of having been excogitated by themselves, who of their own malice devise slanders against innocence, who destroy the simplicity of truth, and obstruct the paths of judgment. The easiest and readiest way of clearing up a case is by a short and simple recitation of the facts. Consequently, I would have thee to decide after a brief and careful hearing those suits which it is necessary thou shouldst adjudge in person — this necessity will not extend to all — and to exclude all those unnecessary delays which are designed for the purpose either of defeating justice or of multiplying fees. Let the cause of the widow have free access to thy tribunal, and the cause of the poor, and of him from whom thou hast nothing to hope for. There will be many other suits, the decision of which thou canst entrust to subordinates, and a large number may be dismissed at once as unworthy of any hearing at all. For what is the use of granting a hearing to those whose " sins are manifest, going before them to judgment " (i Tim. v. 24) ? Yet so brazen is the impudence of some that, although the whole face of their cause bears the manifest stamp of ambition, they still have the effrontery to ask for a hearing, thus proclaiming their guilt to the knowledge of many, whereas, in truth, their own conscience should suffice to confound them. Hitherto there has been no one to repress the audacity of such persons, and consequently they have increased both in numbers and in shamelessness. Besides, it seems somehow as if one guilty mind has no fear of being exposed to the knowledge of others like itself. Perhaps the reason is that where are all denied the filthiness of one attracts no special attention. What avaricious man, for instance, what libertine was ever ashamed of another avaricious man, of another libertine ? Therefore, since the Church is now full of ambitious persons, she has no more reason to be scandalised at the aims and intrigues of ambition than has a robber's den to be shocked at the plunder which fills it.