45. But let this monstrous and impious fancy be put480    Lit., “go.” far from us, that Almighty God, the creator and framer, the author481    By Hildebrand and Oehler, procreator is with reason regarded as a gloss. of things great and invisible, should be believed to have begotten souls so fickle, with no seriousness, firmness, and steadiness, prone to vice, inclining to all kinds of sins; and while He knew that they were such and of this character, to have bid482    The ms., both Roman edd., and Hildebrand read jussisset; but this would throw the sentence into confusion, and the other edd. therefore drop t. them enter into bodies, imprisoned in which,483    LB., Hildebrand, and Oehler read quorum indu-c-tæ carceribus—“led into the prisons of which,” all other edd. omitting c as above. According to Oehler, the ms. has the former reading. they should live exposed to the storms and tempests of fortune every day, and now do mean things, now submit to lewd treatment; that they might perish by shipwreck, accidents, destructive conflagrations; that poverty might oppress some, beggary, others; that some might be torn in pieces by wild beasts, others perish by the venom of flies;484    The ms. and both Roman edd. read in-f-ernarum paterentut aliæ laniatus muscularum, which has no meaning, and is little improved by Galenius changing ut into ur, as no one knows what “infernal flies” are. LB. and Orelli, adopting a reading in the margin of Ursinus, change intern. into ferarum, and join musc. with the words which follow as above. Another reading, also suggested by Ursinus, seems preferable, however, internorum…musculorum—“suffer rendings (i.e., spasms) of the inner muscles.” that some might limp in walking, others lose their sight, others be stiff with cramped485    Lit., “bound.” joints; in fine, that they should be exposed to all the diseases which the wretched and pitiable human race endures with agony caused by486    Lit., “dilaceration of.” different sufferings; then that, forgetting that they have one origin, one father and head, they should shake to their foundations and violate the rights of kinship, should overthrow their cities, lay waste their lands as enemies, enslave the free, do violence to maidens and to other men’s wives, hate each other, envy the joys and good fortune of others; and further, all malign, carp at, and tear each other to pieces with fiercely biting teeth.

XLV. Sed procul haec abeat sceleratae opinionis 0884B immanitas, ut Deus credatur omnipotens, magnarum et invisibilium rerum sator, et conditor, procreator, tam mobiles animas genuisse gravitatis ac ponderis constantiaeque nullius; in vitia labiles, in peccatorum genera universa declives; cumque eas 0885A tales, atque hujusmodi sciret, in corpora ire jussisse, quorum indutae carceribus sub procellis agerent tempestatibusque quotidie fortunae, et modo turpia facerent, modo paterentur obscoena: naufragiis, ruinis, incendiorum conflagrationibus ut perirent. Pauperies alias, alias ut mendicitas premeret, ut ferarum paterentur aliae laniatus, muscularum aliae ut interirent veneno, claudae ut incederent aliae, ut aliae lumen amitterent; ut articulis sederent aliae colligatis, morbis denique objectarentur ut cunctis, quos infelix et miseranda mortalitas diversarum sustinet dilaceratione poenarum; tum deinde oblitae unius esse se fontis, unius genitoris, et capitis, germanitatis convellerent atque abrumperent jura; urbes suas 0886A everterent, popularentur hostiliter terras, servos de liberis facerent, insultarent virginibus, et matrimoniis alienis, odissent invicem sese, aliorum gaudiis et felicitatibus inviderent; tum deinde se omnes maledicerent, carperent, et saevorum dentium mordacitate laniarent.