3171. He said afterwards, that in civil life he was cautious in speaking, and so that he might not injure anyone; [that] therefore he ought not to have suffered such a punishment in the other life, and inasmuch as it was only [his] thought, and it did not burst forth into act. But it was replied to him by others, that he was cautious for the sake of honors for himself and that if he had been free, he would thus have acted: further, that he was rewarded for his civil prudence, to wit, by being conveyed to dignities: but in the other life it is thoughts that are punished. Since he said that he could not have abstained from thinking, therefore that he should not be punished for his thoughts, they said to him, wherefore did he thus condemn others, when yet they were also cautious in civil life. He said because they thought evils: thus he convinced himself. Wherefore he confessed that he had sinned. - 1748, September 15.