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The Confessions of St. Augustin In Thirteen Books

Chapter V.--Concerning the Motives to Sin, Which are Not in the Love of Evil, But in the Desire of Obtaining the Property of Others.

10. There is a desirableness in all beautiful bodies, and in gold, and silver, and all things; and in bodily contact sympathy is powerful, and each other sense hath his proper adaptation of body. Worldly honour hath also its glory, and the power of command, and of overcoming; whence proceeds also the desire for revenge. And yet to acquire all these, we must not depart from Thee, O Lord, nor deviate from Thy law. The life which we live here hath also its peculiar attractiveness, through a certain measure of comeliness of its own, and harmony with all things here below. The friendships of men also are endeared by a sweet bond, in the oneness of many souls. On account of all these, and such as these, is sin committed; while through an inordinate preference for these goods of a lower kind, the better and higher are neglected,--even Thou, our Lord God, Thy truth, and Thy law. For these meaner things have their delights, but not like unto my God, who hath created all things; for in Him doth the righteous delight, and He is the sweetness of the upright in heart. ¹

11. When, therefore, we inquire why a crime was committed, we do not believe it, unless it appear that there might have been the wish to obtain some of those which we designated meaner things, or else a fear of losing them. For truly they are beautiful and comely, although in comparison with those higher and celestial goods they be abject and contemptible. A man hath murdered another; what was his motive? He desired his wife or his estate; or would steal to support himself; or he was afraid of losing something of the kind by him; or, being injured, he was burning to be revenged. Would he commit murder without a motive, taking delight simply in the act of murder? Who would credit it? For as for that savage and brutal man, of whom it is declared that he was gratuitously wicked and cruel, there is yet a motive assigned. "Lest through idleness," he says, "hand or heart should grow inactive." ² And to what purpose? Why, even that, having once got possession of the city through that practice of wickedness, he might attain unto honours, empire, and wealth, and be exempt from the fear of the laws, and his difficult circumstances from the needs of his family, and the consciousness of his own wickedness. So it seems that even Catiline himself loved not his own villanies, but something else, which gave him the motive for committing them.

Traduction Masquer
Les confessions de Saint Augustin

CHAPITRE V. ON NE FAIT POINT LE MAL SANS INTÉRÊT.

10. La beauté des corps, tels que l’or, l’argent..., a son attrait. L’attouchement est flatté par une convenance de rapport, et à chaque sens correspond une certaine modification des objets. L’honneur temporel, la puissance de commander et de vaincre ont leur beauté, d’où naît aussi la soif de la vengeance. Et, pour atteindre à ces jouissances, nous ne devons pas sortir de vous, Seigneur, ni dévier de votre loi. Cette vie même que nous vivons ici-bas a pour nous charmer sa mesure de beauté et sa juste proportion avec toutes les beautés inférieures. Le noeud si cher de l’amitié humaine trouve sa douceur dans l’unité de plusieurs âmes.

Cause de péché que tout cela, quand le dérèglement de nos affections abandonne, pour ces biens infimes, les plus excellents, les plus sublimes, vous, Seigneur notre Dieu, et votre vérité et votre loi. Ces biens d’ici-bas ont leur charme, mais qu’est-il auprès de mon Dieu, créateur de l’univers, unique joie du juste, délices des coeurs droits?

1l. Recherche-t-on la cause d’un crime, on n’y croit d’ordinaire, que s’il apparaît un désir d’obtenir, une crainte de perdre quelqu’un de ces biens infimes dont nous parlons, car ils ont leur grâce et leur beauté ; mais qu’ils sont bas et rampants, si l’on songe aux trésors de la gloire et de la béatitude! Il a été (375) homicide. Pourquoi? Il convoitait la femme ou l’héritage de son frère, il a voulu le voler pour vivre, ou se mettre en garde contre ses larcins; il brûlait de venger une offense. Aurait-il tué pour le plaisir même du meurtre?

Est-ce croyable? Car s’il est dit de cet homme, monstre de démence et de cruauté, qu’il était gratuitement méchant et cruel, nous savons néanmoins pourquoi. « Il craignait, dit l’historien, que le repos n’énervât sa main ou son cœur (Sallust. Guerr. De Cat., C. IX). » Mais ici encore, pourquoi? Il voulait que cette pratique du crime le rendît maître de Rome, fît tomber dans ses mains honneurs, richesses, autorité; l’affranchît de la crainte des lois, et de cette détresse où le réduisaient la perte de sa fortune et la conscience de ses crimes. Ce Catilina n’aimait donc pas ses forfaits mêmes, mais la fin qui le portait à les commettre.