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

Of their opinion that giue not the name of Fate the position of the starres, but vn∣to the dependance of causes vpon the will of God. CHAP. 8.

AS for those that do not giue the position of the starres in natiuities and con∣ceptions the name of fate, but reserue it onely to that connexion of (a) causes, whereby all things come to passe, wee neede not vse many words to them: because they conforme this coherence of causes to the will of God, who is well and iustly beleeued, both to fore-know al things before the euent, and to leaue no euent vndisposed of ere it be an euent: from whome are all powers, though from him arise not all wills, for that it is the will of that great and all-disposing God, which they call Fate, these verses (. (b) of Anneus Senecas I thinke) will proue.

Du•…•… m•…•…summe pater, •…•…ltique dominator poli, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 placuerit, nulla parenda mora est. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 impiger: 〈◊〉〈◊〉 •…•…olle, comitab•…•…r gemens: Malusque patiar facere quod licuit bono. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 vol•…•…ntem fat•…•…, uolentem tr•…•…unt.

Le•…•…d me, Great Lord, King of eternity, Euen where thou wilt, Ile not resist thees. Chang thou my will yet still I vow subiection, Being led, to that tha•…•…'s in the good election. "Fate leads the willing, hales the obstinate.

Thus in the last verse, hee directly calleth that Fate, which in the former hee called the will of the great Lord, to whome hee promiseth obedience, and to be le•…•… willingly, least hee bee drawne on by force, because, Fate leads the willing, hales the obstin•…•…te. And (c) Homers verses translated into Latine by Tully are as these are.

〈◊〉〈◊〉 〈◊〉〈◊〉 hominum 〈◊〉〈◊〉 qualis •…•…ater ips•…•…, •…•…upiter a•…•…fferas 〈◊〉〈◊〉 lum•…•… 〈◊〉〈◊〉

〈◊〉〈◊〉 are the mindes of men as lou•…•… the great Vouchsafe, that fils the earth wi•…•…h light, and 〈◊〉〈◊〉.

Wee would not bring Poetique sentences for confirmation of this question, but because that Tully saith, that the Stoikes, standing for this power of Fate, vse to quote this place of Homer, wee now alledge them, not as his opinion, but as theirs, who by these verses of Fate shewed in their disputations what they thought of Fate, because they call vppon Ioue, whome they held to be that great God; vppon whose directions these causes did depend.

L. VIVES.

COnnexion (a) of causes] (Cic. de diuin. lib. 2.) Reason therefore compels vs to confes that all things come to passe by fate: by fate I mean the Greeks 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, that is, an order or course of things & canses, arising one from another: that is the euerlasting truth flowing frō a•…•…eternity. Chry∣sippus in Gellius saith, that Fate is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. A natural composition of causes and things arising one from another▪ from aeleternity being an immutable combination of them all. (b) Anneas Senecas] Epist. lib. 18.) The verses were Cleanthes his, Seneca but translated them: they are all Senarian. But the first of them is not perfectly read: it were better to read it. Duc me parens celsi{que} dominator Poli: Coleyne copy hath it, Duc summe Pater alti{que} dominator Poli. Indifferent well. The said thing hath Seneca in his book de beneficijs, speaking of God: if you call him Fate (saith he) it is not amisse: for he is the first cause whence all the rest haue originall: and fate is no∣thing but a coherence of causes This is the common opinion of the Stoi•…•…s, to hold one God, cal∣ling him Fate, and Mens, and Iupiter, and many other names. These are the foure ancient opinions of Fate, which Picus (Contra Astrolog. lib. 4.) rehearseth. The firstheld Fate to be na∣ture, so that the things which fell out by election, or chance, they excluded from Fate, as Virgill saith of Dido, that killed her-selfe, and dyed not by Fate: and Cicero: If any thing had befalne me, as many things hung ouer mans head besides nature and besides fate: This opinion is Phsiolo∣gicall, and imbraced by Alexander, one of Aristotles interpreters. The second held fate to be an eternall order and forme of causes, as aforesaid. Third put all in the stars. The fourth held fate to be onely the execution of the will of God. (c) Homers] Odyss.

〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. Such are the mindes of men, &c

Vlisses speaketh them to Phemius, affirming a mutablity of mens mindes, and that they are not of power to keepe them-selues fixt, but alter continually as it pleaseth the great Iupiter to in∣spire and transforme them. The later of the latine verses in the text dot•…•… not expresse Homers mind But I suspect it to be wronged in copying.

Notes

• God•…•… fore-knowledge.
• The Stoiks fate.
• Foure opi∣nions of Fate.
• God the changer of the Will,