and  is  gathering  congregations  for  worship  in  them.  In  his
company,  moreover,  is  Donatus,  a  deacon,  rebaptized  by  them
even  when  he  was  a  tenant  of  lands  belonging  to  the
Church,  who  was  implicated  as  a  ringleader  in  the  outrage
[on  Innocentiusj.  When  this  man  is  his  associate,  who  can
tell  what  kind  of  followers  may  be  in  his  retinue  ?  If  the
sentence  on  these  men  is  to  be  pronounced  by  the  Proconsul,1
or  by  both  of  you  together,  and  if  he  perchance  insist  upon
inflicting  capital  punishment,  although  he  is  a  Christian  and,
so  far  as  we  have  had  opportunity  of  observing,  not  disposed
to  such  severity — if,  I  say,  his  determination  make  it  necessary,
order  those  letters  of  mine,  which  I  deemed  it  my  duty  to
address  to  you  severally  on  this  subject,2  to  be  brought  before
you  while  the  trial  is  still  going  on  ;  for  I  am  accustomed
to  hear  that  it  is  in  the  power  of  the  judge  to  mitigate  the
sentence,  and  inflict  a  milder  penalty  than  the  law  prescribes.
If,  however,  notwithstanding  these  letters  from  me,  he  refuse
to  grant  this  request,  let  him  at  least  allow  that  the  men  be
remanded  for  a  time ;  and  we  will  endeavour  to  obtain  this
concession  from  the  clemency  of  the  Emperors,  so  that  the
sufferings  of  the  martyrs,  which  ought  to  shed  bright  glory
on  the  Church,  may  not  be  tarnished  by  the  blood  of  their
enemies  ;  for  I  know  that  in  the  case  of  the  clergy  in  the
valley  of  Anaunia,3  who  were  slain  by  the  Pagans,  and  are
now  honoured  as  martyrs,  the  Emperor  granted  readily  a
petition  that  the  murderers,  who  had  been  discovered  and
imprisoned,  might  not  be  visited  with  a  capital  punishment.
