Letter 10: To the Learned Elias.
To the Learned Elias.
Legislators have framed laws to protect the oppressed. Advocates have practiced the orator's art to defend those who need a fair hearing. You, my friend, have mastered both eloquence and the law. Now put your skill to use — bear down the oppressors, lift up those they have crushed, and shield the wronged with the law itself. Let no guilty client benefit from your advocacy, even if he is your friend.
One such guilty man is that scoundrel Abraham. After living for a considerable time on property belonging to the church, he gathered accomplices in his villainy and has since had no scruple in boasting openly of what he's done. I am sending him to you along with an account of his crimes, the names of those he has wronged, and the reverend sub-deacon Gerontius. I am not asking you to hand the criminal over to the authorities — only that when his victims have told you everything they have suffered, and you feel the just weight of their case, you will be moved to compel this wicked man to restore what he has stolen.
Human translation — New Advent (NPNF / ANF series)
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