Is this
the innocence of childhood? It is not, O Lord, it is not. I
entreat thy mercy, O my God, for these same sins as we grow older
are transferred from tutors and masters; they pass from nuts and
balls and sparrows, to magistrates and kings, to gold and lands
and slaves, just as the rod is succeeded by more severe
chastisements. It was, then, the fact of humility in childhood
that thou, O our King, didst approve as a symbol of humility when
thou saidst, "Of such is the Kingdom of Heaven."[38]
CHAPTER XIX
31. However, O Lord, to thee most excellent and most good,
thou Architect and Governor of the universe, thanks would be due
thee, O our God, even if thou hadst not willed that I should
survive my boyhood. For I existed even then; I lived and felt and
was solicitous about my own well-being -- a trace of that most
mysterious unity from whence I had my being.[39] I kept watch, by
my inner sense, over the integrity of my outer senses, and even in
these trifles and also in my thoughts about trifles, I learned to
take pleasure in truth. I was averse to being deceived; I had a
vigorous memory; I was gifted with the power of speech, was
softened by friendship, shunned sorrow, meanness, ignorance.
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