De Consideratione

9. Let us come to your colleagues¹ and coadjutors at the Lateran. They are busy on your behalf: they are the inner circle of your friends. It follows that if they are good, you more than any one else reap the benefit; if they are bad, you more than any one else bear the loss. Do not say you are well if you have a pain in your side; what I mean is, do not say you are good if you rely on bad men. To put it differently, suppose you are good, what fruit (as I remember saying in a former book) can your goodness, the goodness of an individual man, bear? What profit does your individual righteousness bring to the churches of God, when the prevalent views are those of men otherwise disposed? The truth is that not even your own goodness beset by bad men is safer than bodily health would be with a serpent hard by. There is no escaping from this internal mischief. And on the other hand, if you have good men about you, the oftener they assist you the better. But whether your colleagues relieve or aggravate your cares, who deserves the credit of it more than yourself for either choosing or admitting such men? I do not speak of all; for there are some whom you have not chosen; they have chosen you. But they have no power except what you have either given or allowed them. So we come back to the same point. Blame yourself for whatever you have to suffer at the hands of him who has no more power than what you have given him. As to the rest, with these exceptions, the men for the work of this ministry, as you perceive, are not to be elected or collected without due consideration. It is your duty, like Moses, to summon, whencesoever, and admit to their office, old men, not young men;² old, I mean, not so much in years as character; men whom you have got to know because they are the elders of the people. Surely they who are to judge the world ought to be chosen out of the whole world. By no means let a man meddle with this business because he begs the office. Deliberation, not entreaty, must be your guide to action. Some things we must yield to importunate request, or grant to deserving need. But in so doing we are disposing of our own. When, however, it is not lawful for me to do as I wish myself, the petitioner has no standing-place, unless, perchance, his petition is that his wish may lawfully be mine, and not simply that it may be mine. One man intercedes for another; another perhaps even asks for himself. Suspect the man on whose behalf you are entreated : the man who asks for himself is already judged. It does not matter whether a man himself asks, or does so through another man. If a cleric who does not belong to the court is always about the court, you may be sure he is the sort of person who is on the look out for favours. A flatterer, and a man who smooths his tongue to suit everybody, regard as a petitioner, even if he asks for nothing. There is nothing in the scorpion's face to cause alarm; the sting is in the tail.

10. If, as mostly happens, you find your heart softening under the blandishments of such men, remember what is written, 'Every man setteth on first the good wine, and when men have drunk freely, then that which is worse.'³ You should set the same value on the humility of the man who fears and of the man who hopes. The crafty and deceitful man has a peculiar knack of putting on the garb of humility when he wishes to get something; he is like those of whom the Scripture says, 'There is a wicked man who hangeth down his head sadly, but inwardly he is full of deceit.'⁴ To see how true this is, take a clear and familiar illustration from among yourselves. How many of suppliant mien have you admitted whom you have afterwards had to put up with in their moroseness, insolence, stubbornness, rebellion? The secret mischief, hidden at first, is at last revealed. The stripling full of words, aiming at eloquence, when he is void of wisdom, you should look upon as every way the enemy of righteousness. To guard you against false brethren of this sort your Master says, 'Lay hands hastily on no man.'⁵

11. So, then, having shut out the whole race of these pestilent men, make it your chief care to bring in those whose admission you will not afterwards regret. The frequent revision of your own acts is discreditable, and it is not fitting that your judgement should be frequently called in question. Accordingly, diligently examine for yourself, and with the assistance of the men who love you, whatever is to be done. Examine beforehand, because, once the thing is done, correction is too late. The wise man's counsel is, 'Do nothing without counsel, and when thou hast once done thou shalt not repent.'⁶ And be assured of this, that men fit to be admitted can hardly find favour with the court ; if possible, therefore, your choice should be of men approved, not to be proved. We, in our monasteries, welcome all sorts of men in the hope of doing them good, but the court has been accustomed to more readily welcome good men than make men good. If, however, as we have shown, there have been at the court more good men who have failed than bad men who have improved, we must certainly look for men whose failure we need not fear, and whose progress we need not desire, inasmuch as they are already perfect.

12. So then, in choosing men, select not him that willeth, nor him that runneth, but such as hesitate or refuse ; even put pressure on these, and compel them to come in. Your spirit may rest in such, I think, as are not of a shameless forehead, but are modest, and have the fear of God ; who fear nothing but God, and hope for nothing but from God ; who observe not the hands of those who approach them, but their necessities ; who stand up manfully for the afflicted, and judge in equity for the meek upon earth ; men who are of orderly life, proved holiness, ready to obey, meek in suffering, submissive under discipline, stern in censuring, who hold the Catholic faith, are faithful in their stewardship, lovers of peace and concord, consistent in maintaining unity ; men upright in judgement, prudent in counsel, discreet in commanding, careful in planning, strenuous in action, modest in speech; tranquil in adversity, devout in prosperity; as regards zeal, sober-minded; prone to pity; in leisure time not idle; given to hospitality, but not too convivial; careful in business affairs, but not anxious; not covetous of another man's goods, nor lavish of their own; everywhere, and under all circumstances, circumspect; men who when bidden, and necessity requires, would not decline to serve as ambassadors for Christ, nor unbidden would aspire to the office, nor make their modest excuses a plea for obstinate refusal; who when sent do not go after gold, but follow Christ; who do not regard their commission as so much gain, nor look for reward, but seek fruit; who in the eyes of kings are as John, to the Egyptians are as Moses, to fornicators as Phinees, to idolaters as Elijah, to the covetous as Elisha, to liars as Peter, to blasphemers as Paul, to traffickers as Christ; who do not despise the common people, but teach them; do not flatter the rich, but frighten them; do not oppress the poor, but cherish them; do not dread the threats of rulers, but despise them; do not make a great to-do when they enter on their work, nor show signs of anger when they leave it; who do not rob the churches, but improve them; do not empty men's pockets, but refresh their hearts, and correct their offences; who take care of their own reputation, and do not envy another man his; who zealously cultivate prayerful habits, and in everything rely more on prayer than on their own industry and labour; whose coming bringeth peace, whose departure we regret; whose speech is edifying, their life righteous, their presence a pleasure, their memory blessed; who to the individual are amiable not in word, but in deed, while they command the respect of the world at large, not by their arrogance, but by the discharge of their duties; who are humble with the humble, and innocent with the innocent ; who sternly rebuke the hardened, restrain the wicked, duly recompense the proud ; who are not swift to enrich themselves or their relations with the portion of the widow, and the patrimony of the Crucified ; who freely give what they have freely received, judgement to those who suffer wrong, vengeance on nations, rebuking peoples ; who, in short, like the seventy whom Moses chose, are perceived to have taken of your spirit, and by it, whether absent or present, strive to please you, and to please God ; who return to you, weary indeed, but not laden with gifts ; while they even glory, not because they have brought with them all the curiosities and treasures of the lands, but because they have left behind them peace to kingdoms, the law for barbarians, quiet for monasteries, order for the churches, discipline for the clergy, a people acceptable to God, zealous of good works.