The Religion of Nature Delineated by William Wollaston (mystery books to read .txt) 📕

Sic mihi persuasi, sic sentio, cùm⁠ ⁠… semper agitetur animus, nec principium motus habeat, quia se ipse moveat; ne finem quidem habiturum esse motus, quia nunquam se ipse sit relicturus: “I do verily believe, it is my real opinion, that because⁠ ⁠… the soul is always in action, and has not any (external) cause of its motion, because it moves itself, therefore neither will it ever have any end of its motion, because it will never desert itself.” (Cicero, Cato Maior de Senectute.) That in Gregory Thaumaturgus is like this thought of Cicero: Ἡ ψυχη, ἀυτοκίνητος ουσα, οὐδέποτε τοῦ εἶναι διαλείπει· ἀκολουθεῖ γὰρ τῷ ἀυτοκινήτῳ τὸ ἀεὶ κινητὸν εἶναι· Τὸ δὲ ἀεὶ κινητὸν ἄπαυστόν ἔστι, κ.τ.λ.: “The soul, because it is able to move itself, can never cease to be; for it is a necessary consequence of self-motion to be always in motion, and what is always in motion cannot cease to move.” (Ad Tatianum de anima per capita disputatio.) But that in St. Augustine comes something nearer to my meaning: Est animus vita quædam, unde omne quod animatum est vivit⁠ ⁠… Non ergo potest animus mori. Nam si carere poterit vita, non animus sed animatum aliquid est: “The soul is a sort of life, whence it follows that everything which has a soul is alive;⁠ ⁠… wherefore the soul cannot die, for, if it could be without life, it would not be a soul but something with a soul.” (De Immortalitate Animæ.) ↩

“Self-taught.” (Editor’s note.) ↩

The transmigration of souls has been much talked of, but ea sententia,⁠ ⁠… quoniam ridicula et mimo dignior quàm scholâ, ne refelli quidem feriò debet; quod qui facit, videtur vereri, ne quis id credat: “that opinion⁠ ⁠… is so ridiculous, that it is fitter for the stage than the schools, and therefore ought not seriously to be confuted; and he who attempts it, seems to be afraid that nobody should believe it.” So Lactantius (Divine Institutes). Indeed, who can but laugh when he reads in Lucian of Homer’s having been a camel in Bactria, etc. (Gallus.) ↩

Χωρεῖν γὰρ ἀνάγκη τὸ ὅμοιον πρὸς τὸ ὅμοιον: “For, of necessity, like things must go to each other.” (Hierocles, Commentary on the Carmen Aureum.) ↩

Ex humili atque depresso in eum emicabit locum, quisquis ille est, qui solutas vinculis animas beato recipit sinu: “It will mount up, from this low mean place into that, whatever it be, which receives those souls that are freed from their imprisonment into its happy bosom.” (Seneca, De Consolatione ad Polybium.) Ἡ τῆς θνητῆς προσπαθειας άπιβολὴ, καὶ ὴ τῶν ἀρετῶν, οἷον πτερῶν τινων, ἔκφυσις πρὸς τὸν τῶν καλῶν καθαρὸν τόπον, ἐις τὴν θείαν ἐυζωἷαν ἡμᾶς ἀνάξει: “The putting off these human affections, and putting on virtues as so many wings, will carry us to that pure region of virtue where we shall live a divine life.” (Hierocles, Commentary on the Carmen Aureum.) ↩

Depositâ sarcinâ, levior volavit ad cœlum: “Having laid down our burden, we shall fly the lighter to heaven.” (St. Jerome, Epistles.) ↩

The Jews, who generally say that by the practice of religion the soul acquires perfection and life eternal, lay such a stress upon habits of piety, that Rabbi Albo makes the effect of giving 1,000 zuzin, “pence” in charity at once by no means equal to that of giving one zuz, “penny,” and repeating it 1,000 times, התמדת עשיית פעל אחד בעצמו יקנה מדרגה יותר גדולה מעשיית הפעל ההוא פעם אהת: “The continuing to repeat the doing of a thing will procure a higher degree (of reward) than the doing the whole at once.” (Sefer ha-Ikkarim.) ↩

כל עושה מצות הבורא יתברך ימצא שכל טוב⁠ ⁠… והגמול הנמשך אחר השכל האמיתי הוא השארת הנפש אחר כלות הגוף והדבקו בשכל הפועל והיותו קים לעד: “He that does the commandment of the Creator shall be blessed; he shall find good understanding⁠ ⁠… and that reward which follows good understanding, is that the soul shall continue after the body is consumed, and shall be united to the understanding of its Maker, and be established to eternity.” (Is. Levi.) ↩

Τόπους προσήκοντας τῇ ἀρετῇ: “Places fitted for virtue.” (Plato, Epinomis.) ↩

With an equal or impartial regard to every man’s deserts: equitably. ↩

“Spiritual body.” (Editor’s note.) ↩

Ἀγαθῶν ἐπὶ δαῖτας ἴασιν Ἀυτόματοι ἀγαθὸι: “Good men, when left to their own liberty, go to those entertainments where good men are.” (Plato, Symposium.) ↩

Οἱ πεφιλοσοφηκότες ὀρθῶς or οἱ ἀληθῶς φιλόσοφοι: “they who rightly philosophize,” or, “they who are truly philosophers,” in Plato’s style. (Phaedo.) ↩

Τελευτήσαντας ἀυτοὺς ἐκεῖνος μὲν ὁ τῶν κακῶν καθαρὸς τόπος οὐ δέξεται, ἐνθάδε δὲ τὴν αὑτοῖς ὁμοιότητα τῆς διαγωγῆς ἀεὶ ἕξουσι, κακὸι κακοῖς συνόντες: “That place, in which there are no evils, will not receive them (the wicked) but they shall be with one another, and continue forever to lead the same sort of life that they led here.” (Plato, Theaetetus.) ↩

Εἰ πλέον τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων κολάβεται [ὁ δίκαιος], προθήκη δικαιοσύνης ἀυτῷ λογίβεται: “If [a good man] be punished [here] beyond what his sins deserve, all that is above what he justly deserves shall be accounted for to him.” (Johannes Chrysostom.) ↩

Sure those arguments in Lucretius can convince nobody, Nunc quoniam, quassatis undique vasis, Diffluere humorem, et laticem discedere cernis⁠ ⁠… Crede animam quoque diffundi, etc.: “For we see that as soon as the vessel is broken in pieces, the liquor runs all