Sidenote: Deut. xxi. 13. Sidenote: Wisd. viii. 19. Sidenote: Cant. iii. 4. 12. And it is well said, _After that thou shalt go in unto her_, bidding thee to enter wholly into thy soul, and collect thyself within her, and so dwell in her that thou mayest be not in the flesh but in the spirit, and purpose to associate her to thyself in the commerce of life, knowing that she will communicate to thee of her goods, and that filled with her grace thou mayest say, _I was a witty child, and had a good spirit_; and she may answer thee, _I will take thee, and bring thee into my mother’s house, and unto the chamber of her that conceived me. A good mother of souls in that Jerusalem which is in heaven._ Sidenote: Deut. xxi. 14. 13. She then shall be thy life, she shall find thee and kiss thee. _And it shall be, if thou hast no delight in her_, because she chastiseth her body, and bringeth it into slavery, thou shalt not suffer her to be a slave, that is, to the lusts of the body, nor subject her to the flesh, but suffer her to remain free; thou shalt not alienate her, for this were to sell her, nor shalt thou despise her, but shalt allow her to serve God in the chastity of faith and sobriety of good works. Farewell: love me, for I love you. LETTER XXXII. A.D. 387. S. AMBROSE in this Letter applies the words of Jeremiah about the partridge (Jer. xvii. 11.) to Satan, and from it sets forth the way in which Jesus Christ has overcome him, and rescued man from his power. AMBROSE TO IRENÆUS, GREETING. Sidenote: Jer. xvii. 11. Sidenote: 1 Kings iv. 33. 1. _THE partridge hath cried, she hath gathered what she hath not hatched[167]._ From the conclusion of my last letter I may borrow the opening of the ensuing. The question has been much mooted: with a view therefore of solving it, let us consider what natural history tells us of the nature of this bird. For it is the part of no little sagacity to consider even this, for Solomon knew the nature _of beasts and of fowl, and of creeping things and of fishes_! 2. Now this bird is said to be full of craft, fraud, and guile, skilled in the ways of deceiving the fowler, and experienced in the arts of turning him aside from her young ones; omitting no artful stratagem which may draw off the pursuer from her nest and lurking place. And we know that on observing his approach, she beguiles him until she has given her offspring the signal and opportunity for flight. As soon as she perceives they have escaped, she also withdraws herself, leaving her enemy deluded by her treacherous wiles.