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eration. He  was  a  catechumen  in  profession,  In-
stantly, she  conceived  a  pious  trepidation  on  my  ac-
count. My  God,  thou  spakest  to  me  by  her,  and
warnedst  rne  strongly  against  the  ways  of  vice. Thy
voice  in  her  I  despised,  and  thought  it  to  be  only  the
voice  of  a  woman,  which  made  not  the  least  impres-
sion on  my  mind. So  blinded  was  I,  that  I  should
have  blushed  to  be  thought  less  wicked  than  my  com-
panions, and  even  invented  false  stories  of  my  sinful
exploits,  to  obtain  their  commendation. My  pious
parent  was  prevented  from  encouraging  me  to  marry  3
because  she  thought  the  usual  studies,  which  I  was
now  to  enter  upon,  might  be  serviceable  to  promote
in  me  the  work  of  true  religion. My  father  thought
little  of  thee,  much  of  his  son,  in  vain  expectations*
Thus  while  they  both  were  too  anxious  for  my  litera-
rary  improvements,  I  made  progress  in  vice,  and  shut
myself  up  in  the  darkness  of  sin,so  as  to  bar  up,  against
myself,  the  admission  of  thy  truth  as  much  as  possible,
Thy  law  certainly  punishes  theft,  O  Lord,  and  so
does  the  law*  written  in  the  hearts  of  men. For  what
thief  can  bear  another?  Yet  compelled  by  no  want,  I
deliberately  committed  theft ;  through  the  wantonness
of  iniquity  and  the  contempt  of  justice. It  was  not
the  effect  of  the  theft,  but  the  sin  itself  which  I  wish-
ed to  enjoy. There  was  a  pair-tree  in  the  neighbor-
hood of  my  father's  vineyard,  loaded  with  fruit,  though
not  of  the  most  tempting  kind. At  dead  of  night,  in
company  with  some  profligate  youths,  I  plundered
the  tree  ;  the  spoil  was  principally  thrown  to  the  hogs;
for  I  had  abundance  of  better  fruit  at  home. Behold
my  heart,  my  God,  behold  my  heart,  which  thou  hast
pitied  in  its  deep  abyss  of  sin. What  did  I  mean,
that  I  should  be  gratuitously  wicked?  I  loved  de-
struction itself. In  the  common  course  of  wicked-
ness men  have  some  end  in  view. Even  Cataline  him-
self loved  not  his  crimes,  but  something  else,  for  the
sake  of  which  he  perpetrated  them. We  are  deceived
by  appearances  of  good,  embracing  the  shadows,  while
we  follow  our  own  lusts,  instead  of  seeking  the  sub-

*  He  means  the  voice  of  natural  conscience. See  Rooi. ii. 