Letter 740

To Chrysaphius the Deacon. If with a base disposition and an evil purpose you parade about your neighbor's sin, it is clear that you have been caught out as unjust, and you will render account for your injustice. For the just course would be not to publish it abroad, but to help conceal it so far as is possible, and to set right the one who has stumbled through admonition and through compassion.

Εἴπερ μοχθηρᾷ γνώμῃ καὶ προαιρέσει κακῇ ἐκ-πομπεύεις τὴν ἁμαρτίαν τοῦ πέλας, δῆλον ὅτι ἐφωράθης ἄδικος, καὶ τῆς ἀδικίας ὑφέξεις τὰς εὐ-θύνας. Δίκαιον γὰρ ἂν εἴη τὸ μὴ δημοσιεύειν, συν-κατακλύπτειν δὲ καθόσον ἐνδέχεται, καὶ διορθοῦν διὰ νουθεσίας, καὶ συμπαθείας τῶν πταίσαντα.