MINUC1US FELIX. 479 CHAPTER XIX. AEGCMENT. — Moreover,thepoets havecalledHim theParent of gods and men, the Creatorof allthings,and theirMind and Spirit.And, besides,eventhemore excellentphiloso- pliersthemselveshave come almost to the same conclusion as theChristiansabouttheunityof God. " I hear thepoetsalsoannouncing 'the One Father of gods and men ;' and that such is the mind of mortal men as the Parent of allhas appointedHis day.1 What saysthe Mantuan Maro ? Is itnot even more plain,more apposite, more true? 'In the beginning,'sayshe, 'the spiritwithin nourishes,and the mind infused stirsthe heaven and the earth,'and the othermembers 'of the world. Thence arises the race of men and of cattle,'2and every other kind of animal. The same poet in anotherplacecallsthatmind and spiritGod. For theseare hiswords :3 'For thatGod per vades allthelands,and thetractsof the sea,and theprofound heaven, from whom are men and cattle,from whom are rain and fire.'4 What elsealsois God announced to be by us, but mind, and reason,and spirit? Let us review,if it is agreeable,the teachingof philosophers.You willfind them, although in varied kinds of discourse,yet in these matters concur and agree in thisone opinion. I pass over thoseuntrainedand ancientones who deserved to be called wise men fortheirsayings. Let Thales the Milesianbe the firstof all,forhe firstof alldisputedabout heavenly things. That same Thales the Milesiansaid thatwater was the be ginning of things,but thatGod was that mind which from water formed allthings. Ah ! a higher and nobleraccount of water and spiritthan to have ever been discoveredby man. It was deliveredto him by God. You see that the 1Homer,Odyss.xviii.136. 3 Virgil,sEneid,vi.724. *Some read," Forthesethingsaretrue." 4 Virgil.Geurgic,iv.221; sEneid,i.747.