This, then, my friends, is my defense for having been here. If it deserves praise, thanks be to God and to you who called me. If it falls short of what you hoped for, even then I give thanks. I know that my service has not been altogether blameworthy, and I trust you when you say the same.
Have we exploited this people? Have we looked after our own interests, as I see so many people do? Have we caused the Church any grief? Perhaps we have offended others. They thought they had won judgment against us simply because we were absent, and we answered them with our own case. But as far as I know myself, we have done nothing of the kind to you.
“I have taken no ox from you,” says the great Samuel as he speaks to Israel about the king. Nor have I taken anything as a price for your souls—the Lord is my witness among you. I could continue item by item, but instead I will say simply this: I have kept the priesthood pure and uncorrupted.
And if I have loved power, the height of thrones, or walking through the courts of kings, then may I have no other honor. Or if I possess any, may I cast it away.