Quis Rerum Divinarum Heres Sit

thou hast given to me the tongue of instruction, that I might know when I ought to speak; thou hast unloosened my mouth which before was sewed up, thou hast opened it, and hast also made it articulate; thou hast appointed it to utter what ought to be spoken, confirming that sacred oracle, "I will open thy mouth, and I will tell thee what thou oughtest to speak." [*](Exodus iv. 12. )

For who was I, that thou shouldest give me a portion of thy speech, that thou shouldest promise me a reward as in it were my due, namely, a more perfect blessing of thy grace and bounty? Am I not an emigrant from my country? am I not driven away from my kindred? am I not banished and alienated from my father’s house? do not all men call me an outcast and a fugitive, a desolate and dishonoured man?

but thou, O master, art my country, thou art my kindred, thou art my paternal hearth, thou art my honour, thou art my freedom of speech, my great, and famous, and inalienable wealth,

why therefore shall I not have courage to say what I think? and why shall I not ask questions, when I desire to learn something more? But nevertheless, though I say that I feel confidence, I do again confess that I am stricken with awe and amazement, and that I do not feel within myself an unmixed spirit of battle, but fear mingled with confidence, as perhaps many people will easily imagine, a closely combined conjunction of the two feelings;

therefore I drink insatiably of this well-mixed cup, which persuades me neither to speak freely without prudent caution; nor, on the other hand, to think so much of caution as to lose my freedom of speech. For I have learnt to appreciate my own nothingness, and to look up to the excessive and unapproachable height of thy munificence; and whenever I know that I am myself "but dust and ashes, " or even, what is still more worthless, if there is any such thing, then I feel confidence to approach thee, humbling myself, and casting myself down to [*](Exodus iv. 12. )

Now such a disposition of the soul, Abraham, the inspector, has deeply engraved on my memory. For, says the scripture, "Abraham came near and said, Now have I begun to speak unto the Lord, I that am but dust and ashes;" [*]( Genesis xviii. 27. ) since then there was an opportunity given to the creature to approach the Creator, when he recognised his own nothingness.

But the expression, "What wilt thou give me?" is not so much the language of one who is in doubt, as of one feeling and expressing gratitude at the multitude and greatness of the blessings which he has already enjoyed. "What wilt thou give me?" for, in fact, what more is there left for me to expect? for, O bountiful God! thy graces and mercies are boundless and unlimited, and they have no boundary and no end, bursting up like fountains full of perfection, which are continually drawn upon and are never dry.

And it is worth while to contemplate, not merely the ever-abounding torrent of thy bounties, but also those fields of ours which are irrigated by them; for if a superfluous and too excessive stream be poured over them, then the place will become a marshy and swampy plain instead of fertile land; for our land has need of irrigation, carefully measured out with a view to cause fertility, and not unmeasured.

And on this account I will ask, What wilt thou give me, thou who hast already bestowed on me unspeakable mercies, and almost all things, so that mortal nature is incapable of containing them? For what remains that I wish to know, and to have, and to acquire, is this: who could be worthy of thy works, who could deserve to inherit them?

"I shall depart from life childless;" [*](Genesis xv. 2. ) having received a short-lived and ephemeral blessing, which speedily passes away, when I prayed for the contrary, namely, for one which should last many days, a long time; which should be free from all mishap, which should never die, but should be able to sow seeds of itself, and to stretch forth roots for the sake of giving it firmness, and which should raise its trunk upwards to heaven, and hold its head on high;

for it is necessary that human virtue must walk upon the earth, and must, at the same time, strive to reach heaven; that there being [*]( Genesis xviii. 27. ) [*](Genesis xv. 2. )

for I know that thou hatest a barren and unproductive soul, thou who art thyself the supporter of things that have no existence, and the parent of all things. Since thou hast given especial grace to the race which has the faculty of seeing, so that it shall never be barren, and never be childless; and as I myself have been assigned to that race as a part of it, I am justly desirous of an heir; for, perceiving that that race is inextinguishable, I think it would be a most shameful thing of me to be indifferent to the sight of my own nature, separated from all that is good.