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ine discussion of this subjeci, an to reserve it for tho last partis, mois that I may refute this persuasionis Epicurus, whester it was that os Democritus oris Dicaearchus both is arguments and divine testimontes. ut perhaps h promised himseli impunit in the indulgence of his vices fora Was an advocate of most disgracsiu pleasure, and said that man wasbor sor it enjumenti lio, he he hears his assirmed, mould abstain froin tho practice of vice and wichednes. Forii tho ou is doomed is peristi, letos ageri putaue riches, that mo may be abierio enjo allaind of indulgenes an is these ars antincto us letis tali them a V Domitioso hohave them is stealth, is stratagem, o by larce, speciali itthere is no God Who regard the actions of men a longin thehopo os impunit shal savouros, letos tunder an put to ath. For it is the par of the wis man tota evit, is it is advantagmus to him, an salo; since, it there is a God in heaven He is no angr With any one It is also equali thepar of thodoolis man to do good; ecause, Mascis no excited mit anger so hecis no influenced by favo . Thoreiore letus livo in tho indulgencs o pleasures in very possibi may; for in aratior timo, shalliso exist at ali Therelam et us
no etiamnum um .' There is anoster reading quo et nos jam non inmus.' Thia lauer readiu mould bo in accordanco it tho sentiment
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sines the conferring o benefit has resereno to the aduanta es another no that he ought to abstain hominiuit,aecause
pirates o leaderi robber mero exhortinthia men to acta iviolence What oster language couldae emplo than to say the samo thing hic Epicurus sus that the god inhera notice; stat therare not affected Wit ange nor End Deling that thopunishment of a future state is notrioae dreaded, because fovis dio alter death, and that there is no future statem punishmentat ali stat pie ure is the reatest good that hero is nosociet amon men that Ver ono consulta sor his oWn i terest that there is omne ho love another, unies it berior his own sino; that deallicis nodito e seared by a brave man, no any ain for that he even ii ho inould bo torture orburn ahould say that he does nollegar it There is evidently sussicient cause M any one aliould regard this a the expressionis a is man, sincerit an mos fittingi be applis torobborat CHAP. XVIII.-The Pythagoreans an Stoies, whil the holdiae immortalit of the oui, Dolish0 persuadet voluntam death. Other' again discus things contrar to these, ametristat tho oui a vives alter death and thes aro hiev tho
Pythagoreans and Stos . An although therare tot tristinmit indulgenceraecauso the perceive the truth, et I cannot but iam them, because thenset upo in truth no by thalaopinion, but is accident. An thus the erred in somo Myeeove in that ver matter Whic the righil perceived For, sinc stentiare tho argument is hic it is inferro thattho fovi must necessarib dis it tho boo Mea erit is bornwit tho Ody the asserte that tho ou is no bor missitho Oh, ut ather introduced into it, and that it migrates Domisne bourio another Thendi no conside that it, possibi sor tho ou is a vive tho oh unlem it a uid
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Boo iii J THE DIUINE INSTITUTES 183 appea is have existe previo into tho oh. here is ther
fore an equa an almos simila error in acti fide. ut theone fide re deceived illi respectri tho past the the withrespectato the sutura. Formo one in that whic is mos true, that tho ou is both create and does no die, ecaus theyWere ignorant hy that camerio pas' o What Was the natureos man. any thereior of them,aecauso the suspected thattho ou is immortes, laid violent hand upo themselves, asthough the were about to departu heaven Thus it mas ith
Cleanthes an Chrysippus, With Zeno an Empedocles Who in the dea os night ast himseli into a cavit of theburning Elna that he hs ad suddent disappeare it might o belloved that he had departe to the gods and thusalso of the Roman Cato ted who through tho holo of his
life Was an imitator of Socrati ostentation. For Democritus' rami mother persuasion But hoWeVer,
Cleanthea mas a Stoic philosopher, ho sed to Mammate by night forata suppori, that he might devote himseli to the stud os philosophnis My. me en led his lis is relusing tori erio . Chrysippus wa a discipleii Zeno, and alter Cleanthea, the chies of tho
Empedocles M a philosopher an poet Thero are variova accoundio his death; that mentione in the textris usuali received. There are variova accounta respecting tho deain es Democritua.
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At theso philosophera theratore, mere homicides an Cato himself the hie o Roman wisdom, Who, besore ho puchimself to death, i saida limo read throuo the troatis os lato whichio Wroto on the immortalitro the foui, and was led by the authori ii the philosopher to tho commissionis this great crime; t he ho mer appears to have had somo cause sor deat in his halred os flave . Wh should Pspea of the Ambraciot,' Who, havingaea the fame treatise thre himself into the ea, foris other cause than stat he bellove Plato' a doctrine attinether detestabis and to e moided i it drives en romtiso. ut is Plato had known and taught y Whom, an hoW,
and to hom, an on account of What actions and at haltime, immortali cis given, he wouldieissior havolarive Cleombrotus nor Cato to a voluntar death, but he would have trainedihem to livo missi justice For it appears to me that Cato fought a cause sor death, o so much that he might escape ho Caesar, a that ho mio obentho decrees of the Stoics, whom he followed, and might mae his nam distinguishod bysome great action an do not eo hat vi could avehappene to hi ii ho ad lived For Caius Caesar, sucli
as his clemenc' ad n other objeci, even in the eryhoat o civit War, than to appea to deserve et of the state, is preserving tWo excellent iligens Cicero an Cato. Butletos return to thos Who prais deat as a benefit. ou
Cleombrotus of Ambracia. Heautontim. v. 2. 18. hi advice a ove to a Dung man, Who, nothno in tho value o lito, is prepare mahlyrio thro it aWay in conae quence of some Aechao hi plana.
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caused that somo have o been ashame to say that, amborii for his cause, that me ma suffer the punishment of ur crimes; ut I domo se What canae more sensetes tha this. For here or hat crimes could me have committe&when odi no even exis, Unies me hali appen in bellevo that seolis old man, who falsely said that he had live besors, andythat in his forme lis he had been Euphorbus. e I
pation invente fabies ascit ore sor credulous insanis Butit he had thought welbo thos to homae spoli thes things is lis ad considere them to e men, he would neve limo elaimed in himself the liberi os ultering suc perverso sals hoods. ut tho soli of this mos trifling man is deseruingit ridiculo. What hali me do in the case of Cicero, ho, hase in sal in the eginning of his Consolation that men erebor lor the ah of atoning for thei crimes, asterWarda r peate the assertion, a though rebukinchim ho oes notimagine that litoris a punishment He Was right thereiore in sving eioreliand that ho was held is error and wretchedignorance of the truth. CHAP. XIX.- Cisero and other of the wises mei Machalis immo talit of the foui, but in an unbellentii manner; and that a
Puthagora tauo the doctrine of tho transmigrationis mula, anda med that he had lived alaeady as Euphorbua, ne es the heroea es Troy, .ho mas alain is Menelaus in ine Trojam M. Lactantius again reserariothia subject boo vii ch. 23.
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186 LACTANTIUS BOOK III. thus et sorti by Cicero concerning the La s: may congratulate urseives, sinceraeath is bout o bring ither abolle stato than stat whic exista in lite or at an rate no a Worse For i tho sint is in a state os vigour Without theiody, i is a divine liso an is it is mithout perception assuredlytherocis no evit.' leveri argued, ascit appeare is himself, a though there could emo the state. Bul ac conclusionis false Forolis sacre Writings tincti that tho ou is notannihilaled but that it is ither re arde accordin to iis righteousness, or ternali punished accordin to iis crimes. For eister is it right that ho who has live a lis o michesnes in prosperit inould escam tho punishment hicli edeserves nor that he ho has been refched on account of his righteousnem, inould e deprived of his re ard. An this isso true, stat Tuli also in his Consolation declare that therioteous and the wiched domo inhabit tho fame a des Forthos samo is men, he says, id not judgo that the fame courae M open forint into the heaven for the taught thatthos Who ere contaminate is vices an crimes ere struat down into daris ' and la in the miro; ut tha in the other hand fovis that mere chaste pure, upright, and uncontaminat ,
bein also refine by the stud and practice of virtve, is alio an eas co se ista their flight to the gods that is in anatum resembling thela M. ut his sentiment is oppostato the forme argument. For that is based on th assumptionthat ver man at his lassi is presente Missi immortali . What distinction, heresore, ill there bo et een virtuo and gusit, is it maesto differenc Whether a man o Aristides orPhalaris, hethor horae Cato or Catiline' ut a man domno perceive his opposition etween sentiment an actions, unies heris in possession of the truth. I any one theretore, should as me hether deat is a good or an evit, Vinali replythat ita character depenti upon th cours of the lite For mliso itfelicis a good is it is passo virtuo ly but an ovi is it is
spent victousin o alio deat icto bo ei in in accordancomith the past actions os lise Andri it comes in para that illiso has been assed in the service o God deat is no an erit,
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Booc J NE DIVINE INSTITUTES 187 for it is a translation to immortality. ut is notiso, deathmus necessarilyae an erit, sincerit transiere men, as I havesaid, to evertasting punishment.
What, then, hall, san ut that the are in error hoeither destre deat is a good, o fleo from is as an villunies the are mos unius 'hora not,eigh the fewer viis against the greater number of lessings. For When the passia their lives in a variet os in choices gratifications ii any bitternes has hancedri succeed to them, the destre to die; and the so regard it acto appear neve to have fared meli, uat an time they happen to sare ill Theratore the condemnthe wholsis life and conside it a nothin eis than filledmissi erils Henco aros that oesis sentiment, that this statemhicli, imagine toto lis is death, and that that hicli mosear a deallicis liso an so that thoram good is no to ebora that the secon is an early death. And that this sentument may be of greater eight it is attribute to Silenus./Cicero in his Consotation sus odito bo orn is is far thebest ining and notrio fallispo these och o lita. ut thenex thiniis, libo have been born to die a soon a possibio, and to fleo from the violencei fortune a from a conflagration.' That ho bolioved this most Oolis expression appearchom inis, thach addo somethingis his own or ita embellistiment. ais, thereiore, for homae thinis it best notrioae born, henthere is no one at ali ho has an perception sor it is the perception hicli cause anything toae good oraad. In the neri place Why di he regard the whes o lis a nothingislso than rotas, an a conflagration a though it mere either in ur κε notrio bo bom, o lis Were give torus is fortune and no by God, o a though tho ourse of liis appeare in Maran resemblance to a conflagratio 'The sayingit Plato is no dissimilar, statae gave thanis tonature, firs that he was ornis human ein rather than adum animal in tho ex place that he was a man atherthan a Woman; that he was a Gree rather than a barbarian; .
Silenus mactae conatant compassionis Dionysus. e a regardea Man inspire prophet, ho DeWal the pas and the mos distant future, and M a sage ho despised ali in gut o fortune. Tho Grecta included alliations except themselves, unde the generia
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188 LACTANNUS. Boo III. lastin that he was an Athenian, and that he was bor in thetim o Socrates It is impossibi is sa what great lindnessan error are produce is ignorance of the truth. I Would altogether contend that nothing in the affair os me mas everspolien more Dolishb A though, i ho had been bor a barbarian or a Roman or in fine, an am ho ould e the fame
Plato, and no that veryaeing hic had been produced. Buthe evidently belleve Pythagoras, Who, in ordo that ho mi tprevent me lio laeding on animais, sal that ouis assedirem tho odies of men to the odies of the animais; hichis both oolisti and impossibis It is Molisti, ecauserit Wasunnecessar is introduc fouis that have long existed into ne. hodies, when the fame Artifice Who at one timo had mado thosiret, Was alWays abierio mine fres ones it is impossibie, b cause tho sou endue With right reason an no more changesto naturo os ita condition than fir ca rus doWnWards, o
like a rive' mur iis flamo obliqueb. The wiso a ther fors imagined that it, hi comerio pas that tho oui hichwas then in Plato might M shut up in some ther animal, and might o endue missi tho sensibilium a man, o acto unde stan and grio that it a burthone With an incongruous bov. o muta more rationali mould he have acted is hohad said that horam thanksaecauseae a bor With a good capaci , and capable os receiving instruction, and that he was possesse of thos reso ces hic enable him to receive alibera education For ha benefit ascit that he was ornat Athon.' avo no many me os distinguished talent and learning lived in ther cities, ero bellor individuali thanal in Athenians' o many thousand must me belleve that there ere, ho though bor at Athens, an in the timeso Socrates, ero noverihelem uniearne and Aolishq For itis no the walis o the place in hic an ono a bor stat ean invest a man with Wisdom. t what avia Was it to congratulato himself that he was bor in tho times of Socrates lWas Socrates able in suppi talent to learners It id not
cur to Plato that Alcibiades also, and Critias, ero constant Mers of the amo Socrates, the ne of Whom a the ostactive enem of his country the ther the mos cruel o all
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Boox m. THE DIUINE INSTITUTES 189
CHAP. XX.-Soerates harmore knowle e in philosophy thanother men, although in many thingarae aeted Dolish0. Letis nosse What there a s meat in Socrates himself, that a Wis man deservedi gave thanks that ho Wa bore in his times. I domo deny that he was a litile more sagacious hanthe othera ho thought that the natur of things couldae comprehended by the mind. nd in this ΙJudge that ther ero notonly sensetess, but also impious; because therWished to send thoirinquisitive vescinis the secrets of that heavenly providence mknow that there are a Rome, and in many cities, certain sacredthings hic it is considere implous for men to look upon. Theresor the who are not permitte to polluto thos objecis abstain hom lookingrapon thema an inb error o some accident a manias happene to se them, his guit is expiatod fidit by his punishment, an aster arci is a repetitionis sacrifice. What canao do in the casei thos Who isticio pry intora permittet things Trul the ars much more iche whosee to profane the secret of the wori and this heavenlytemple illi impious disputations than hos Who entere thotemplo of Vesta, o the good goddess, o Ceres. An theso stirines, though icis nocta fulcior men to approach them, ereyet constructed by men. ut these me notisnt escape thechargo os impleu, but stat hic is much more unbecoming, thergain the fameli eloquence and the glor of talent. Whati the wero able to investigate anythingi For the aro asseolis in assertingis the are Wiched in earching out sincethe Memeither abierio find out anythinnior, even ii they had found out mything, to defend it. For ii ven is chanc theyhavs Men in truth- ining Whic osten happens-the so actilia it is refuted by other a false Formo one descenda Domheaven to as sentenc on the opinion os individuals wher fore no ne an doubi that those horaee after thes thingsare foesish, senseteas, and insane.
Socrates heres e had somethingis human wisdom, Who, When hoonderatis that thes things could no possibi boascertained remove himself hom questions of this hind; ut L a that hora acie in this Mone. many of his actions
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190 LACTANTIUS. III. are nodioni undeservin os prais' but also mos deseruingis censure, in hic things e mos resemble thos of his Kn
is all. Socrates sed this ell-known proverb: ahat whichis abovo us is nothing torus' et u theresere fali do uponine arth, and uso ac et thos hand whic have been givenus for the productionis excellent moris. The heaven is nothingio us to the contemplationis,hicli,e have been aises; in fine, the lio itfel can avo no referenco torus undoubtedlycte cause of our sustenance is rom heaven. ut ita perceived this that w ouot notrio discum themature of heavenly things, he Was unable even to comprehend the natur of thos thingswhichae had beneath his foet. What thec didae ore in his motas It is no probabis; butae undoubtedi meant that
whic ho aid that, are not o devoto ourselvecto religion; but ita mere openlyrio say this, no one mould suffercit. For ho cannot perceive that this moriri complete mith such monderses method is governe is some providence, sincethero is nothin Whicli can exist mithout somo onorio direct it 'Thus, a honso desertod is iis inhabitant salicto decu a shipwithout a pilot goes to the bottomu an a bod abandone is
a fabric could either have been constructed mithout an Artifice or have existe so long mithon a Ruler. But i he wishodio overthrow hos public superstitions Udo no disapproveo this; ea Ushal rather presserit, ii he hali avo foundanthin belle bo ista thei placeJ. ut the fame mans.oro do an a goose. Oh binoon a Zeno tho Epicurean ' sus), sensetess, abandoned, desperato man, ille mishedio sco a religion; adman, is helaid his seriousinis a toest m a mos base animal a God For ho can dare to findsauit illi tho superstitions os the gyptians, hen Socrates
confirmod themat Athens is his auctori But mascit not
To e distinguisho trem Zeno os citium, the Stolo, an iam hom