Letters212 Letter CCXII. To the same. (A.D. 1139)

He pleads pathetically with the Pontiff the cause of the Bishop of Salamanca, praising his remarkable humility.

That illustrious man who was formerly Bishop of Salamanca, when returning from Rome, did not think it too much trouble to turn aside to your son, nor thought it beneath him to ask help from one so feeble as I am. And when I had heard him I called to mind the words of the prophet: Every mountain and hill shall be made low before God, and the crooked places shall be made straight, and the rough places plain (Is. xl. 4). Even so you know how to make sport of and repress the lofty, to abase the proud, and to reduce to their measure those who go beyond their rule. But when the man had told me in detail the history of his troubles, I commended the judge, I approved the verdict, but, I confess to you, I also felt compassion for the man, though condemned. And so, as it was, indeed, through the whole of that tearful account, he finished as one who would say with the prophet: Having been exalted, I was humbled and put to confusion (Ps. IxxxviL 16, VULG.); and, Thou hast raised me up only to cast me down (Ps. cii. 10). And when I thought of your justice, and the nobility of mind which I know you to have, I began to think at the same time of the riches of your mercy, which in many cases I have made trial of, and I said, Who knows whether the Lord will turn and pardon, and leave a blessing behind Him? Certainly, I repeat, he has been taught, in all things, and in all ways, both to be jealous, and to pardon, both to tame the haughty, and by no means to spare the conquered; except that, following his Master, he is also accustomed to let mercy triumph over justice. And I, who am dust and ashes, consented to write with that wonted presumption of mine to my lord. And I found ground for hope, confidence for my request, reason for my doing him this kindness, in the fact that the man is not, as is usual, departing in indignation, filled with anger, and going back to his native land to cause scandals, to excite seditions; but he has given place to wrath, and has put on the spirit of meekness; he has turned aside to your monks of Cluny, and prostrated himself before the knees of the humble, and has joined them in their prayers as arms that are powerful from God. He has resolved to contend with you with these weapons, and he will endeavour to undermine with these engines of devotion, as he boasts, the wall of your severity which now stands in his way. He trusts also that you will regard the prayer of the humble, and not despise their petition, and that piety will overcome him before whom the powers of the world tremble. I, too, with confidence stretch out my hands with them, bend my knees, supplicate for the suppliant, boldly declare that his humility ought to help the unhappy man, since his pride has so injured him, and say that it is unbecoming for virtue to be surpassed by vice in receiving recompense.