M1NUCIUS FELIX. 473 not allow,I do not believein,any chicaner}'— far from his simplicityiscraftytrickery.1What then? As he who knows not the rightway, when as it happens one road is separated intomany, becausehe knows not theway, remains in anxiety, and dares neithermake choiceof particularroads,nor try them all; so,if a man has no stedfastjudgment of truth, even as hisunbelievingsuspicionisscattered,so hisdoubting opinion is unsettled.It is thereforeno wonder if Caecilius in the same way iscastabout by the tide,and tossedhither and thitheramong things contraryand repugnant to one another; but thatthismay no longerbe the case,I willcon victand refuteallthat has been said,however diverse,con firming and approving the truthalone; and for the future he must neitherdoubt nor waver. And sincemy brother broke out in such expressionsas these,thathe was grieved, thathe was vexed,that he was indignant,that he regretted that illiterate,poor, unskilledpeople should disputeabout heavenly things; lethim know that allmen are begotten alike,with a capacityand abilityof reasoningand feeling, without preferenceof age, sex, or dignity; nor do they obtainwisdom by fortune,but have it implantedby nature; moreover, that the very philosophersthemselves,or any otherswho have gone forthunto celebrityas discoverersof arts,beforethey attainedan illustriousname by theirmental skill,were esteemed plebeian,untaught,half naked : thus, thatrichmen, attachedtotheirmeans, have been accustomed to gaze more upon theirgold than upon heaven,whileour sortof people,though poor,have both discoveredwisdom, and have deliveredtheirteachingto others; whence itappears that intelligenceis not given to wealth, nor is gotten by study,but is begottenwith the very formationof the mind. Thereforeitis nothing to be angry or to be grieved about, though any one should inquire,should think,should utter his thoughts about divinethings; sincewhat is wanted is not the authorityof the arguer,but the truthof the argu ment itself: and even the more unskilledthe discourse,the 1Otherwise," farfromhisguilelesssubtletyissocraftya trickery." But thereadingsareveryunsettled.