of men, far more dignified than any of these, continue yet unbroken, during so long a period, without some kind of providence? But in addition to what has been said, follow me whilst I enumerate the meadows, the gardens, the various tribes of flowers; all sorts of herbs, and their uses;1444 their odours, forms, disposition, yea, but their very names; the trees which are fruitful, and which are barren; the nature of metals,—and of animals,—in the sea, or on the land; of those that swim, and those that traverse the air; the mountains, the forests, the groves; the meadow below, and the meadow above; for there is a meadow on the earth, and a meadow too in the sky; the various flowers of the stars; the rose below, and the rainbow above! Would you have me point out also the meadow of birds? Consider the variegated body of the peacock, surpassing every dye, and the fowls of purple plumage.1445 Contemplate with me the beauty of the sky; how it has been preserved so long without being dimmed; and remains as bright and clear as if it had been only fabricated to-day; moreover, the power of the earth, how its womb has not become effete by bringing forth during so long a time! Contemplate with me the fountains; how they burst forth and fail not, since the time they were begotten, to flow forth continually throughout the day and night! Contemplate with me the sea, receiving so many rivers, yet never exceeding its measure! But how long shall we pursue things unattainable! It is fit, indeed, that over every one of these which has been spoken of, we should say, “O Lord, how hast Thou magnified Thy works; in wisdom hast Thou made them all.”1446 6. But what is the sapient argument of the unbelievers, when we go over all these partic- ulars with them; the magnitude, the beauty of the creation, the prodigality, the munificence everywhere displayed? This very thing, say they, is the worst fault, that God hath made the world so beautiful and so vast. For if He had not made it beautiful and vast, we should not 409 have made a god of it; but now being struck with its grandeur, and marvelling at its beauty, we have thought it to be a deity.1447 But such an argument is good for nothing. For that neither the magnitude, nor beauty of the world is the cause of this impiety, but their own want of understanding, is what we are prepared to show, proved by the case of ourselves, who have never been so affected. Why then have “we” not made a deity of it? Do we not see it with the same eyes as themselves? Do we not enjoy the same advantage from the creation with themselves? Do we not possess the same soul? Have we not the same body? Do we not 1444 χρ™ιας: others read χροι€ς, “colours.” 1445 τοὺς πορφυρίζοντας στρουθούς. Ælian, de Animalibus, iii. 42, mentions a bird called Porphyrio, more esteemed even than the peacock, so that none ever killed it for the table. See also Plin. x. 46, but this expression may apply to various kinds. 1446 Ps. civ. 24. 1447 See the argument of Balbus (the Stoic), Cic. de Nat. Deor. l. 2, c. 17, 34, &c. Seneca, Nat. Quæst. ii. 45, says, that God may likewise be called Mundus, or Fatum, or Providentia, or Natura. 589 Homily X