St. Augustine, Of the citie of God vvith the learned comments of Io. Lod. Viues. Englished by I.H.

L. VIVES.

FOrtune (a) Nor fate] Seeing Augustine disputeth at large in this place concerning fate, will diue a littlle deeper into the diuersity of olde opinions herein, to make the •…•…est more plaine. Plato affirmed there was one GOD, the Prince and Father of all the rest, at whose becke all the gods, and the whole world were obedient: that al the other gods, & celestial ver∣tues, were but ministers to this Creator of the vniuerse: and y^t they gouerned the whole world in places and orders by his appointment: that the lawes of this great God were vnalterable, * 1.1 and ineuitable, and called by the name of Necessities: No force, arte, or reason, can stoppe, o•…•… hinder any of their effectes: whereof the prouerbe ariseth: The gods themselues must serue ne∣cessity: But for the starres, some of their effects may be auoided by wisdome, labour or indust∣ry, wherein fortune consisteth: which, if they followed certaine causes, and were vnchangea∣ble, should bee called fate, and yet inferre no necessity of election. For it is in our powre to choose, beginne, or wish, what wee will: but hauing begunne, fate manageth the rest that fol∣loweth. It was free for Laius (saith Euripides) to haue begotten a sonne, or not: but hauing begotten him, then Apollo's Oracle must haue the euents prooue true which it presaged. Th•…•… and much more doth Plato dispute obscurely vpon, in his last de repub. For there hee puttes * 1.2 the three fatall sisters; Necessities daughters, in heauen: and saith that Lachesis telleth the soules that are to come to liue on earth, that the deuill shall not possesse them, but they shal rather possesse the deuill: But the blame lieth wholy vpon the choise, if the choise bee naught, GOD is acquit of all blame: and then Lachesis casteth the lottes. Epicurus de∣rideth all this, and affirmes all to bee casuall, without any cause at all why it should bee * 1.3 thus or thus, or if there bee any causes, they are as easie to bee auoided, as a mothe is to bee swept by. The Platonists place Fortune in things ambiguous, and such as may fall out diuer∣sely: also in obscure things, whose true causes, why they are so o•…•… otherwise, are vnknowne: so that Fortune dealeth not in things that follow their efficient cause, but either such as may bee changed, or are vndiscouered. Now Aristotle (Phys. 2.) and all the Peripatetikes * 1.4 after him (Alex. Aphrodisiensis beeing one) is more plaine. Those things (saith hee) are casuall, whose acte is not premeditated by any agent: as if any man digge his ground vppe, to make it fatte, finde a deale of treasure hidden; this is Fortune, for hee came not to digge for that treasure, but to fatten his earth: and in this, the casuall euent, followed the not ca∣suáll intent. So in things of fortune, the agent intendeth not the end that they obtaine, but it falleth out beyond expectation. The vulgar call fortune, blinde, rash, vncertaine, madde, and brutish as Pacuuius saith: and ioyne Fate and Necessity together, holding it to haue 〈◊〉〈◊〉 powre both ouer all the other gods and Ioue their King himselfe. Which is verified by the Poet, that said, What must bee, passeth Ioue to hold from beeing, Quod fore paratum 〈◊〉〈◊〉, id summum exuperat Iouem. For in Homer, Ioue lamenteth that hee could not saue his sonne Sarpedon from death, the fates constrayning him to die: and Neptune greeues that hee coul•…•… not hinder Vlisses his returne home, and reuenge the blindnesse of his sonne Ciclops, Fate ha∣uing decreede the contrary: and Iupiter in Ouid saith.

—Tu sola insuperabile satum Nate mouere putas.—

—Daughter'tis onely thou Canst mooue relentlesse fate.—

Saith he: And a little after.

Quae •…•…que con•…•…ursum caeli, nec fulmini•…•… iram, Nec •…•…tuunt vllas tuta atque aeterna ruinas.

Which feare nor thunders, gods, nor powers infernall, But stand vnaw'd, vnmooued, and eternall.

There were some that held nothing casuall, but all fixed, certaine and immutable: Democri∣tus, Empedocles, and Heraclitus, were all of this opinion, which many others maintained after them, as others did the positions of Epicurus. Lucane Phars. lib. 2. declareth both the opini∣ons in these words.

Siue parens rerum primùm informia regna, Materiam{que} rudem flammâ cedente recepit, Fi•…•…xit in aeternum causas, quà cuncta co•…•… cet. Se quo{que} lege tenens, & secula iussa •…•…rentem, Fatorum immoto diuisit limite mundum, Siue nihil positum est, sed sors incerta vagatur, Fértque refert{que} vices, & habent mortalia casum, &c.

Or natures God (when first he bound the fire, And wrought this ma•…•…e into one forme intire) Forged eternall causes, all effecting, Him•…•…elfe, and all the worlds estate subiecting To destenies inchangeable directing: O•…•… bene our states in fortunes gouernance, To rise, or fall, and all by onely chance.

Fortune is often vsed for destenie, and the euents of things: which when they fall out as wee desire, that we call Felicitie: if contrary, Infelicitie: Thus much here, more else-where. (b) The will of God] Of this by and by. (c) A power of the starrrs] wherein the Stoickes, Plato, and almost all the other Philosophers do place Fate: following the Chaldees and Aegiptians, to whom all the Mathematitians also doe giue their voyces. (d) Some do seperate] Some say, the operation of the starres is a distinct power from the will of God: and in attributing this vniuersall power to them, exclude Gods prouidence from humaine affaires. Besides, there are that affirme, that although God doe looke to the state of the world, yet the starres haue their peculiar dominion in vs neuerthelesse. So hold Manilius and Firmicus, and the Poets most * 1.5 commonly.

Others subiect them all vnto the will of GOD omnipotent, as Plato and the Stoikes doe, affirming all their operations to bee but the praescript lawes of him. (e) But if the starres] Origen vpon that place of Genesis. Let them be for signes, Chapt. 1. vers. 14. Saith that the starres doe signifie, but effect nothing. They are (saith he) as a booke opened, wherein may bee read all things to come, which may bee prooued by this, that they haue often signified things past. But this booke cannot bee read by any witte of man. Plotine was of Origens opinion also, denying the * 1.6 starres any acte in those things, but onely signification. Seneca, speaking of the Starres, saith, they either cause or signifie the effects of all things, but if they doe cause them, what auaileth * 1.7 it vs to know, that we cannot alter? and if they but signifie them, what good doth it thee, to fore-see that thou canst not auoide? (f) Mars in such] Mars is a starre, bloudie, fiery, and violent. Being in the seuenth house (saith Firmicus, lib. 3.) in a partise aspect with the Horos∣cope * 1.8 (that is, in the West) hee portendeth huge mischieues, stayning the natiuities with mur∣thers, and many other villanies. (g) To grant them] Hee alludeth vnto Tullies Chrysippus (de Fato) that would teach the Mathematicians, how to speake in their art.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Fate what it is.
• * 1.2

  The deste∣nies 3.
• * 1.3

  Epicurus.
• * 1.4

  Fortunes. Casualties what they are as A∣phrodyse∣•…•… thinketh.
• * 1.5

  The Starrs dominion.
• * 1.6

  Plotine.
• * 1.7

  Seneca.
• * 1.8

  Mars a Sta•…•…