Page:Curiosities of Olden Times.djvu/83

Queer Culprits 'Pacis et concordiæ vivum exemplum formica reliquit, quæ suum comparem, forte plus justo oneratum, naturali quadam charitate alleviat' (Absalon apud Picinellum, in Mundo symbolico, 8); lastly, of religion and piety, in giving sepulture to the dead of their kind, as writes Pliny, 'sepeliuntur inter se viventium solæ, præter hominem' (Plin., lib. xi. 36); an opinion borne also by the monk Malchus, who observes, 'Hæ luctu celebri corpora defuncta deportabant' (S. Hieron., in Vita Malchi).

"Item, That the toil these ants underwent far surpassed that of the plaintiffs, since their burdens were often larger than their bodies, and their courage greater than their strength.

"Item, That in the eyes of the Creator men are regarded as 'worms'; on account of their superior intelligence, perhaps superior to the defendants, but inferior to them morally, from having offended their Maker, by violating the laws of reason, though they observed those of nature. Wherefore they rendered themselves unworthy of being served or assisted by any creatures, since they (men) had committed greater crimes against heaven than had the clients of this learned counsel in stealing their flour.

"Item, That his clients were in possession of the spot in question before the appellants had established themselves there; consequently that the monks should be expelled from lands to which they had no other right than a seizure of them by main force.

"Finally, he concluded that the plaintiffs ought to 71