most important. I shall endeavour to avoid both errors by first giving some account of the detail
and then passing on to the general idea as it appeared in historical development.
The book begins with considerations arising out of the sack of Rome, and designed to show that
even worse things happened in preChristian times. Among the pagans who attribute the disaster to
Christianity, there are many, the Saint says, who, during the sack, sought sanctuary in the
churches, which the Goths, because they were Christians, respected. In the sack of Troy, on the
contrary, Juno's temple afforded no protection, nor did the gods preserve the city from destruction.
The Romans never spared temples in conquered cities; in this respect, the sack of Rome was
milder than most, and the mitigation was a result of Christianity.
Christians who suffered in the sack have no right to complain, for several reasons. Some wicked
Goths may have prospered at their expense, but they will suffer hereafter: if all sin were punished
on earth, there would be no need of the Last Judgement. What Christians endured would, if they
were virtuous, turn to their edification, for saints, in the loss of things temporal, lose nothing of
any value. It does not matter if their bodies lie unburied, because ravenous beasts cannot interfere
with the resurrection of the body.
Next comes the question of pious virgins who were raped during the sack. There were apparently
some who held that these ladies, by no fault of their own, had lost the crown of virginity. This
view the Saint very sensibly opposes. "Tush, another's lust cannot pollute thee." Chastity is a
virtue of the mind, and is not lost by rape, but is lost by the intention of sin, even if unperformed.
It is suggested that God permitted rapes because the victims had been too proud of their
continence. It is wicked to commit suicide in order to avoid being raped; this leads to a long
discussion of Lucretia, who ought not to have killed herself. Suicide is always a sin, except in the
case of Samson.
There is one proviso to the exculpation of virtuous women who are raped: they must not enjoy it.
If they do, they are sinful.
He comes next to the wickedness of the heathen gods. For example: "Your stage-plays, those
spectacles of uncleanness, those licentious vanities, were not first brought up at Rome by the
corruptions of the