from the eyes and nose of the master those things which must necessarily be offensive, so has nature removed far from our Senses what is of the same kind in the human body. | LVIL What artificer but nature, whose direction is in- comparable, could have exhibited so much ingenuity in the formation of the senses? In the first place, she has covered and invested the eyes with the finest membranes, which she hath made transparent, that we may see through them, and firm in their texture, to preserve the eyes. She has made them slippery and moveable, that they might avoid what would offend them, and easily direct the sight wherever they will. The actual organ of sight, which is called the pupil, is so small that it can easily shun whatever might be hurtful to it, The eyelids, which are their coverings, are soft and smooth, that they may not injure the eyes; and are made to shut at the apprehension of any accident, or to open at plea- sure; and these movements nature has ordained to be made in DE NAT, ETC, H: 98 OF THE NATURE OF THE GODS.
an instant: they are fortified with a sort of palisade of hairs, to keep off what may be noxious to them when open, and to be a fence to their repose when sleep closes them, and allows them to rest as if they were wrapped up in a case. - Besides, they are commodiously hidden and defended by eminences on every side; for on the upper part the eyebrows turn aside the perspiration which falls from the head and forehead; the cheeks beneath rise a little, so as to protect them on the lower side; and the nose is placed between them as a wall of separation.
The hearing is always open, for that is a sense of which we are in need even while we are sleeping; and the moment that any sound is admitted by it, we are awakened even from sleep. It has a winding passage, lest anything should slip into it, as it might if it were straight and simple. Nature also hath taken the same precaution in making there a viscous humour, that if any little creatures should endeavour to creep in, they might stick in it as in birdlime. The ears (by which we mean the outward part) are made prominent, to cover and preserve the hearing, lest the sound should be dissipated and escape before the sense is affected. Their entrances are hard and horny, and their form winding, because bodies of this kind better return and increase the sound. This appears in the harp, lute, or horn;’ and from all tortuous and enclosed places sounds are returned stronger. ~ The nostrils, in like manner, are ever open, because we have a continual use for them; and their entrances also are rather narrow, lest anything noxious should enter them; and they have always an humidity necessary for the repelling dust, and many other extraneous bodies. The taste, having the mouth as an enclosure, is admirably situated, ‘both in regard to the use we make of it and to its security.
LVIII. Besides, every human sense is much more ex- quisite than those of brutes; for our eyes, in those arts which come under their judgment, distinguish with great nicety; as in painting, sculpture, engraving, and in the gesture’ and motion of bodies. They understand the beauty, proportion, and, as I may so term it, the becomingness of colours and figures: they distinguish ‘things of greater importance, even 1 The author means all musical instruments, whether orks or wind instruments, which are hollow and tortuous. laa: OF THE NATURE OF THE GODS. — 99 virtues and vices: they know whether a man is angry or calm, cheerful gr sad, courageous or cowardly, bold or timorous.
The judgment of the ears is not less admirably and scien- tifically contrived with regard to vocal and instrumental music. They distinguish the variety of sounds, the measure, the stops, the different sorts of voices, the treble and the bass, the soft and the harsh, the sharp and the flat, of which human ears only are capable to judge. There is likewise great judgment in the smell, the taste, and the touch; to in- -dulge and gratify which senses more arts have been invented than I could wish: it is apparent to what excess we have ‘arrived in the composition of our perfumes, the preparation. of our food, and the enjoyment of corporeal pleasures.
LIX. Again, he who does not perceive the soul and mind of man, his reason, prudence, and discernment, to be the work of a divine providence, seems himself to be destitute of: those faculties. While I am on this subject, Cotta, I wish I had your eloquence: how would you illustrate so fine a sub- ject! You would show the great extent of the understanding; how we collect our ideas, and join those which follow to those which precede; establish principles, draw consequences, define things separately, and comprehend them with accuracy; from ‘whence you demonstrate how great is the power of intelligence and knowledge, which is such that even God himself has no qualities more admirable. How valuable (though you Acade- mics despise and even deny that we have it) is our knowledge of exterior objects, from the perception of the senses, joined to the application of the mind; by which we see in what relation one thing stands to another, and by the aid of which we have invented those arts which are necessary for the sup- — port and pleasure of life. How charming: is eloquence! How divine that mistress of the universe, as you call it! It teaches us what we were ignorant of, and makes us capable of teach- ing what we have learned. By this we exhort others; by this we persuade them; by this we comfort the afflicted; by this we deliver the afftighted from their fear; by this we moderate excessive joy;; by this we assuage the passions of lust and anger. This it is which bound men by the chains of right and law, formed the bonds of civil society, and made wu vis quit: a wild and savage life, 100 OF THE NATURE OF THE GODS.
And it will appear incredible, unless you carefully observe the facts, how complete the work of nature is in giving us the use of speech; for, first of all, there is an artery from the lungs to the bottom of the mouth, through which the voice, having its original principle in the mind, is transmitted. Then the tongue is placed in the mouth, bounded by the teeth. It softens and modulates the voice, which would otherwise be confusedly uttered; and, by pushing it to the teeth and other parts of the mouth, makes the sound distinct and articulate. We Stoics, therefore, compare the tongue to the bow of an instrument, the teeth to the strings, and the nostrils to the sounding-board.
LX. But how commodious are the hands which nature has given to man, and how beautifully do they minister to many arts! For, such is the flexibility of the joints, that our fingers are closed and opened without any difficulty. With their help, the hand is formed for painting, carving, and engraving; for playing on stringed instruments, and on the pipe. These are matters of pleasure; there are also works of necessity, such as tilling the ground, building houses, making cloth and habits, and working in brass and iron. It is the business of the mind to invent, the senses to perceive, and the hands to execute; so that if we have buildings, if we are clothed, if we live in safety, if we have cities, walls, habita- tions, and temples, it is to the hands we owe them.
By our labour, that is, by our hands, variety and plenty of food are provided; for, without culture, many fruits, which serve either for present or future consumption, would not be produced; besides, we feed on flesh, fish, and fowl, catching some, and bringing up others. We subdue four-footed beasts for our carriage, whose speed and strength supply our slow- ness and inability. On some we put burdens, on others yokes. We convert the sagacity of the elephant and the quick scent of the dog to our own advantage. Out of the caverns of the earth we dig iron, a thing entirely necessary for the cultivation of the ground. We discover the hidden veins of copper, silver, and gold, advantageous for our use and beautiful as ornaments. We cut down trees, and use every kind of wild and cultivated timber, not only to make fire to warm us and dress our meat, but also for building, that we may have houses to defend us from the heat and cold. With OF THE NATURE OF THE GODS, 101 timber likewise we build ships, which bring* us from all parts every commodity of life. We are the only animals who, from. our knowledge of navigation, can manage, what nature has made the most violent, the sea and the winds. Thus we obtain from the ocean great numbers of profitable things. We are the absolute masters of what the earth produces. We enjoy the mountains and the plains. The rivers and the lakes are ours. We sow the seed, and plant the trees. We fertilize the earth by overflowing it. We stop, direct, and turn the rivers: in short, by our hands we endeavour, by our various operations in this world, to make as it were another nature. | LXI. But what shall I say of human reason? MHas it not even entered the heavens? Man alone of all animals has ob- served the courses of the stars, their risings and settings, By man the day, the month, the year is determined. He foresees the eclipses of the sun and moon, and foretels them to futu- rity, marking their greatness, duration, and precise time. From the contemplation of these things, the mind extracts the knowledge of the Gods,—a knowledge which produces piety, with which is connected justice, and all the other vir- tues; from which arises a life of felicity, inferior to that of the Gods in no single particular, except in immortality, which is not absolutely necessary to happy living. In explaining these things, I think that I have sufficiently demonstrated the superiority of man to other animated beings; from whence we should infer, that neither the form and position of his limbs, nor that strength of mind and understanding, could possibly be the effect of chance.
LXII. I am now to prove, by way of conclusion, that every- thing in this world, of use to us, was made designedly for us, First of all, the universe was made for the Gods and men, and all things therein were prepared and provided for our service. For the world is the common habitation or city of, the Gods and men; for they are the only reasonable beings: they alone live by justice and law. As, therefore, it must be presumed the cities of Athens and Lacedzemon were built for _ the Athenians and Lacedemonians, and as everything there is said to belong to those people, so everything in the universe may with propriety be sald to belong to the Gods and men, and to them alone, 102 OF THE NATURE OF THE GODS.
In the next place, though the revolutions of the sun, moon, and all the stars, are necessary for the cohesion of the uni- verse, yet may they be considered also as objects designed for the view and contemplation of man. There is no sight less apt to satiate the eye, none more beautiful, or more worthy to employ our reason and penetration. By measuring their - courses we find the different seasons, their durations and vicissitudes, which, if they are known to men alone, we must believe were made only for their sake.
Does the earth bring forth fruit and grain, in such excessive abundance and variety, for men, or for brutes? The plentiful and exhilarating fruit of the vine and the olive-tree are en< | tirely useless to beasts. They know not the time for sowing, tilling, or for reaping in season and gathering in the fruits of the earth, or for laying up and preserving their stores; man alone has the care and advantage of these things.
LXIII. Thus, as the lute and the pipe were made for those, and those only, who are capable of playing on them, so it must be allowed that the produce of the earth was designed for those only who make use of them; and though some beasts may rob us of a small part, it does not follow that the earth produced it also for them. Men do not store up corn for mice and ants, but for their wives, their children, and their families; beasts, therefore, as I said before, possess it by stealth, but their masters openly and freely; it is for us ‘therefore that nature hath provided this abundance. Can there be any doubt that this plenty and variety of fruit, which delight not only the taste, but the smell and sight, was by nature intended for men only? Beasts are so far from being partakers of this design, that we see that even they themselves were made for man; for of what utility would ‘sheep be, unless for their wool, which, when dressed and woven, serves us for clothing? for they are not capable of anything, not even of procuring their own food, without the care and assistance of man. ‘The fidelity of the dog, his affec-. ‘tionate fawning on his master, his aversion to strangers, his _ sagacity in finding game, and his vivacity in pursuit of it, what do these qualities denote, but that he was created for our use? Why need I mention oxen? We perceive that their backs were not formed for carrying burdens, but their necks were naturally made for the yoke, and their strong OF THE NATURE OF THE GODS. 103° broad shoulders to draw the plough. In the Golden age, which poets speak of, they were so greatly beneficial.to the husband- man in tilling the fallow ground, that no violence was ever offered them, and it was even thought a crime to eat them:— The Iron age began the fatal trade Of blood, and hammer’d the destructive blade; Then men began to make the ox to bleed, , And on the tamed and docile beast to feed.!
- LXIV. It would take a long time to relate the advantages. which we receive from mules and asses, which undoubtedly were designed for our use. What is the swine good for but to eat? whose life, Chrysippus says, was given it but as salt? ‘to keep it from putrefying; and as it is proper food for man, nature hath made no animal more fruitful. What a multi- tude of birds and fishes are taken by the art and contrivance of man only, and which are so delicious to our taste, that. one would be tempted sometimes to believe that this Providence which watches over us was an Epicurean! Though we think there are some birds, the Alites and Oscines,* as our augurs call them, which were made merely to foretel events.
The large savage beasts we take by -hunting, partly for food, partly to exercise ourselves in imitation of martial dis-. cipline, and to use those we can tame and instruct, as ele-— phants, or to extract remedies for our diseases and wounds, as we do from certain roots and herbs, the virtues of which are known by long use and experience. Represent to your- self the whole earth and seas as if before your eyes; you will see the vast and fertile plains, the thick shady mountains, the immense pasturage for cattle, and ships sailing over the deep with incredible celerity; nor are our discoveries only on the face of the earth, but in its secret recesses there are many useful things, which, being made for man; by man alone are discovered.
LXV. Another, and, in my opinion, the strongest proof, Fe 1 The Latin version of Cicero is a translation from the Greck of ratus.
2 Chrysippus’s meaning is, that the swine is so inactive and slothful a beast, that life seems to be of no use to it but to keep it from putre- faction, as salt keeps dead flesh. - % Ales, in the general signification, is any large bird; and oscinis is any singing bird, But they here mean those birds which are used in augury; alites are the birds whose flight was observed by the augurs, and oscines the birds from whose voices they augured.
104 OF THE NATURE OF THE GODS.
that the providence of the Gods takes care of us, is divination, which both of you, perhaps, will attack; you, Cotta, because Carneades took pleasure in inveighing against the Stoics; and you, Velleius, because there is nothing Epicurus ridicules. so much as the prediction of events: yet the truth of divina- tion appears in many places, on many occasions, often in private, but particularly in public concerns. We receive many intimations from the foresight and presages of augurs and auspices; from oracles, prophecies, dreams, and prodigies; and it often happens, that by these means events have proved happy to men, and imminent dangers have been avoided. This knowledge therefore, call it either a kind of transport, or an art, or a natural faculty, is certainly found only in men, and is a gift from the immortal Gods. If these proofs, when taken separately, should make no impression upon your mind, yet when collected together, they must certainly affect you. 3 Besides, the Gods not only provide for mankind univer- sally, but for particular men. You may bring this universality to gradually a smaller number, and again you may reduce | that smaller number to individuals.
LXVI. For if the reasons which I have given prove to all of us that the Gods take care of all men, in every country, im every part of the world separate from our continent, they take care of those who dwell on the same land with us, from east to west; and if they regard those who inhabit this kind of great island, which we call the globe of the earth, they have the like regard for those who possess the parts of this island, Europe, Asia, and Africa; and therefore they favour the parts of these parts, as Rome, Athens, Sparta, and Rhodes; and particular men of these cities, separate from the whole; as Curius, Fabricius, Coruncanius, in the war with Pyrrhus; in the first Punic war, Calatinus, Duillius, Metellus, Lutatius; in the second, Maximus, Marcellus, Africanus; after these, Paullus, Gracchus, Cato; and in our fathers’ times, Scipio, Lelius. Rome also and Greece have produced many illus- trious men, who we cannot believe were so without the assist- ance of the Deity; which is the reason that the poets, Homer in particular, joined their chief heroes, Ulysses, Agamemnon, Diomedes, Achilles, to certain Deities, as companions in their adventures and dangers. Besides, the frequent appearances of the Gods, as I have before mentioned, demonstrate their OF THE NATURE OF THE GODS. 105 regard for cities and particular men; this is also apparent. indeed from the foreknowledge of events, which we receive either sleeping or waking. We are likewise forewarned of many things by the entrails of victims, by presages, and many other means, which have been long observed with such exact- ness, as to produce an art cf divination. | There never, therefore, was a great man without divine inspiration. If a storm should damage the corn or vineyard of a person, or any accident should deprive him of some conveniences of life, we should not judge from thence that. the Deity hates or neglects him. The Gods take care of great things, and disregard the small. But to truly great -men all things ever happen prosperously; as has been suf- ficiently asserted and proved by us Stoics, as well as by Socrates, the prince of philosophers, in his discourses on the infinite advantages arising from virtue.
LXVII. This is almost the whole that hath occurred to my mind on the nature of the Gods, and what I thought proper to advance. Do you, Cotta, if I may advise, defend the same cause. Remember that in Rome you keep the first rank; remember that you are Pontifex; and as your school is at liberty to argue on which side you please,! do you rather take mine, and reason on it with that eloquence which you acquired by your rhetorical exercises, and which the Academy ‘Improved; for it is a pernicious and impious custom to argue against the Gods, whether it be done seriously, or only in pretence and out of sport.
BOOK III.
I. Wuen Balbus had ended this discourse, then Cotta, with a smile, rejoined,— You direct me too late which side to defend; for during the course of your argument I was revolving in my mind what objections to make to what you were saying, not so much for the sake of opposition, as of obliging you to explain what I did not perfectly comprehend; and as every one may use his own judgment, it is scarcely possible for me to think in every instance exactly what you wish.
You have no idea, O Cotta, said Velleius, how impatient I 1 As the Academics doubted everything, it was indifferent to them which side of a question they took.
106 OF THE NATURE OF THE GODS.’
am to. hear what you have to say. For since our friend Balbus was highly delighted with your discourse against Epicurus, | ought in my turn to be solicitous to hear what you can say against the Stoics; and I therefore will give you my best attention, for I believe you are, as usual, well pre- pared for the engagement.
I wish, by Hercules, I were, replies Cotta; for it is more difficult to dispute with Lucilius than it was with you. Why so? says Velleius. Because, replies Cotta, your Epicurus, in my opinion, does not contend strongly for the Gods; he only, for the sake of avoiding any unpopularity or punish- ment, is afraid to deny their existence; for when he asserts that the Gods are wholly inactive and regardless of every- thing, and that they have limbs like ours, but make no use of them, he seems to jest with us, and to think it sufficient if he allows that there are beings of any kind happy and eternal. But with regard to Balbus, 1 suppose you observed how many things were said by him, which, however false they may be, yet have a perfect coherence and connexion; therefore, my design, as I said, in opposing him, is not so much to confute his principles, as to induce him to explain what I do not clearly understand: for which reason, Balbus, I will give you the choice, either to answer me every particular as I go on, or permit me to proceed without interruption. If you want any explanation, replies Balbus, 1 would rather you would propose your doubts singly; but if your intention is rather to confute me than to seek instruction for yourself, it shall be as you please; I will either answer you immediately on every point, or stay till you have finished your discourse.
II. Very well, says Cotta, then let us proceed as our con- versation shall direct. But before I enter on the subject, I have a word to say concerning myself; for I am greatly influenced by your authority, and your exhortation at the conclusion of your discourse, when you desired me to remem-. ber that I was Cotta and Pontifex; by which I presume you intimated that I should defend the sacred rites and religion and ceremonies which we received from our ancestors. Most undoubtedly I always have, and always shall defend them, nor shall the arguments either of the learned or unlearned ever remove the opinions which I have imbibed from them concerning the worship of the immortal Gods. In matters OF THE NATURE OF THE GODS:: 107° of religion I submit to the'rules of the high priests, T. Corun- canius, P. Scipio, and P. Sczevola; not to.the sentiments of" Zeno, Cleanthes, or Chrysippus; and I pay a greater regard to. what C. Leelius; one of our augurs and wise men, has written concerning religion, in that noble oration of his, than to the most eminent of the Stoics: and as the whole religion of the Romans at first consisted in sacrifices and divination by birds, to which have since been added predictions, if the inter-’ preters' of the Sibylline oracle or the aruspices have foretold any event from portents and prodigies, I have ever thought that. there was no point of all these holy things which deserved to be despised: I have been even persuaded that Romulus, by in-» stituting divination, and Numa, by establishing sacrifices, laid - the foundation of Rome, which undoubtedly would never have risen to such an height of grandeur, if the Gods had not been made propitious by this worship. These, Balbus, are my sentiments both as a priest and as Cotta. But you must bring me to your opinion by the force of your reason; for I have a right to demand from you, as a philosopher, a reason for the religion which you would have me embrace; but I must believe the religion of our ancestors without any proof.
III. What proof, says Balbus, do you require of me? You have proposed, says Cotta, four articles. First of all, you undertook to prove that there “are Gods;” secondly, “of what kind and character they are;” thirdly, that “the universe is governed by them;” lastly, that “they provide for the welfare of mankind in particular.” Thus, if I re-. member rightly, you divided your discourse. Exactly so,. replies Balbus; but let us see what you require.
Let us examine, says Cotta, every proposition. The first one, that there are Gods, is never contested but. by the most. impious of men; nay, though it can never be rooted out of? my mind, yet I believe it on the authority of our ancestors, | and not on the proofs which you have brought.. Why do you, expect a proof from me, says Balbus, if you thoroughly believe it? Because, says Cotta, I come to this discussion as if I had never thought of the Gods, or heard anything con- cerning them. Take me as a disciple wholly ignorant and unbiassed, and prove to me all the points which I ask.
- 1 The keepers and interpreters of the Sibylline oracles were the Quindecimviri.
108 OF THE NATURE OF THE GODS.
Begin, then, replies Balbus. I would first know, says Cotta, why you have been so long in proving the existence of. the Gods, which you said was a point so very evident to all, that there was no need of any proof? In that, answers Balbus, T have followed your example, whom I have often observed,, when pleading in the Forum, to load the judge with all the arguments which the nature of your cause would permit. This also is the practice of philosophers, and I have a right to follow it. Besides, you may as well ask me why I look upon you with two eyes, since I can see you with one.; IV. You shall judge then yourself, says Cotta, if this is a very just comparison; for, when I plead, I do not dwell upon any point agreed to be self-evident, because long reasoning only serves to confound the clearest matters; besides, though [ might take this method in pleading, yet I should not make use of it in such a discourse as this, which requires the nicest distinction: and with regard to your making use of one eye only when you look on me, there is no reason for it, since together they have the same view; and since nature, to which you attribute wisdom, has been pleased to give us two pas- sages by which we receive light. But the truth is, that it was because you did not think that the existence of the Gods was so evident as you could wish, that you therefore brought so many proofs. It was sufficient for me to believe it on the tradition of our ancestors; and since you disregard autho- rities, and appeal to reason, permit my reason to defend them against yours. The proofs on which you found the existence of the Gods, tend only to render a proposition doubtful, that, in my opinion, is not so; I have not only retained in my memory the whole of these proofs, but even the order in which you proposed them. The first was, that when we lift up our eyes towards the heavens, we immediately conceive that there is some divinity that governs those celestial bodies; on which you quoted this passage— Look up to the refulgent heaven above, Which all men call, unanimously, Jove; intimating, that we should invoke that as Jupiter, rather than our Capitoline Jove,’ or that it is evident to the whole world 1 The popular name of Jupiter in Rome, being looked upon as de- fender of the Capitol, (in which he was placed,) and stayer of the state: OF THE ‘NATURE OF THE GODS. 109 that those bodies are Gods, which Velleius and many others do not place even in the rank of animated beings.
Another strong proof, in your opinion, was that the belief of the existence of the Gods was universal, and that mankind was daily more and more convinced of it. What! should an affair of such importance be left to the decision of fools, who, by your sect especially, are called madmen?
Y. But the Gods have appeared to us, as to Posthumius at the lake Regillus, and to Vatienus in the Salarian Way; something you mentioned, too, I know not what, of a battle of the Locrians at Sagra. Do you believe that the Tyn- daridee, as you called them, that is, men sprung from men, and who were buried in Lacedzemon, as we learn from Homer, who lived in the next age,—do you believe, I say, that they appeared to Vatienus on the road mounted on white horses, without any servant to attend them, to tell the victory of the Romans to a country fellow rather than to M. Cato, who was at that time the chief person of the senate? Do you take _ that print of a horse’s hoof, which is now to be seen on a stone at Regillus, to be made by Castor’s horse? Should you not believe what is probable, that the souls of eminent men, such as the Tyndaride, are divine and immortal, rather than that those bodies, which had been reduced to ashes, should mount on horses, and fight in an army? If you say that was possible, you ought to show how it is so, and not amuse us with fabu- lous old women’s stories.
Do you take these for fabulous stories? says Balbus. Is not the temple, built by Posthumius in honour of Castor and Pollux, to be seen in the forum? Is not the decree of the senate concerning Vatienus still subsisting? As to the affair of Sagra, it is a common proverb among the Greeks; when they would affirm anything strongly, they say “it is as certain as what passed at Sagra.” Ought not such autho- rities to move you? You Oppose. me; mepting sis wath stories, but I ask reasons of you.'
VI. We are now to speak of predictions. No one can _ avoid what is to come, and indeed it is commonly useless to know it; for it is a miserable case to be afflicted to no pur- pose, and not to have even the last, the common comfort, ? Some passages of the original are here wanting. Cotta continues speaking against the doctrine of the Stoics.
; 110 OF THE NATURE OF THE GODS: hope, which, according to your principles, none can have; for you say that fate governs all things, and call that fate, which “has been true from all eternity. What advantage, then, is the knowledge of futurity to us, or how does it assist us to guard against impending evils, since it will come inevitably?
_ But whence comes that divination? To whom is owing that knowledge from the entrails of beasts? Who first made observations from the voice of the crow? Who invented the Lots?’ Not that I give no credit to these things, or that I despise Attius Navius’s staff, which you mentioned; but I ought to be informed how these things are understood by philosophers, especially as the diviners are often wrong in their conjectures. But physicians, you say, are likewise often mistaken. What comparison can there be between divinas tion, of the origin of which we are ignorant, and physic, which proceeds on principles intelligible to every one? You believe that the Decii,’ in devoting themselves to death, ap- peased the Gods. How great, then, was the iniquity of the Gods, that they could not be appeased but at the price of such noble blood! 'That was the stratagem of generals such as the Greeks call orparyynya, and it was a stratagem worthy such illustrious leaders, who consulted the public good even at the expense of their lives; they conceived rightly, what indeed happened, that if the general rode furiously upon the enemy, the whole army would follow his example. As to the voice of the Fauns, I never heard it; if you assure me that you have, I shall believe you, though I really know not what a Faun is.