Boethius

“ NECESSITY AND PRESCIENCE.
Do you draw an argument of the necessity of future events, from any other topic than this,—that those things which are foreknown must of necessity happen? for ne drawest þou nat argumentes from ellys
where of þe necessite of þinges to comen. As who seiþ 4676
any oþer wey þan þus. but þat þilke þinge [s] þat þe prescience
woot byforn [ne] mowen nat vnbitide. þat is to
seyn þat þei moten bitide. If divine prescience imposes no necessity upon future things, must not the issue of things be voluntary, and man’s will free and unconstrained? ”

“ A philosopher, liberal of his wealth and parsimonious of his time, might be insensible to the common allurements of ambition, the thirst of gold and employment. And some credit may be due to the asseveration of Boethius, that he had reluctantly obeyed the divine Plato, who enjoins every virtuous citizen to rescue the state from the usurpation of vice and ignorance. ”

“ When the wicked enjoy felicity—the good should learn how little these external advantages are to be prized, which may fall to the lot of the most worthless. ¶ And þe prosperite þat is ȝeuen to
shrewes sheweþ a grete argument to good [e] folk what
þing þei sholde demen of þilk wilfulnesse þe whiche
prosperite men seen ofte serue to shrewes. Another reason for dispensing worldly bliss to the wicked is, that indigence would prompt naturally violent and rapacious minds to commit the greatest enormities. ”

“ Why embracest thou things wherein thou hast no property? why enbracest þou
straunge goodes as þei weren þine. Fortune can never make that thine which the nature of things forbids to be so. Fortune shal neuer
maken þat swiche þinges ben þine þat nature of þinges 1228
maked foreyne fro þe. The fruits of the earth are designed for the support of beasts. ¶ Syche is þat wiþ-outen
doute þe fruytes of þe erþe owen to ben on þe
norssinge of bestes. If you seek only the necessities of nature, the affluence of Fortune will be useless. ”

“ What then is Power, which terrifies its possessors, and which cannot be got rid of at pleasure? what þing is þanne þilke
power þat þouȝ men han it þat þei ben agast. ¶ and
whan þou woldest han it þou nart nat siker. ¶ And 2108
yif þou woldest forleten it þou mayst nat eschewen it.
No advantage is to be gained by friendship based on prosperity instead of virtue. ¶ But wheþir swiche men ben frendes at nede as ben
conseiled by fortune and nat by vertue. Adversity will turn this sort of friendship into enmity. And what greater plague can there be than the enmity of thy familiar friend? ”

“ HOW PROVIDENCE DEALS WITH MANKIND.
These things are done justly, and in order, and are for the good of those to whom they happen. ¶ and of alle
þise þinges þer nis no doute þat þei ne ben don ryȝtfully
and ordeinly to þe profit of hem to whom we 4044
seen þise þinges bitide. From the same causes it happens, that sometimes adversity and sometimes prosperity falls to the lot of the wicked. ¶ For certys þat aduersite
comeþ some tyme to shrewes. and some tyme þat þei
desiren it comeþ of þise forseide causes None are surprised to see bad men afflicted—they get what they deserve. ”

“ What advantage is it to great and worthy men to be extolled after death? ¶ But what is it to þise noble worþi men.
For certys of swyche folk speke .I. þat seken glorie wiþ
vertue. what is it quod she. what atteiniþ fame to
swiche folk whan þe body is resolued by þe deeþ. atte 1600
þe last [e] . If body and soul die, then there can be no glory; nor can there be when he (to whom it is ascribed) does not exist. ¶ For yif so be þat men dien in al. þat is
to seyne body and soule. þe whiche þing oure resoun
defendiþ vs to byleuen þanne is þere no glorie in no
wyse. ”

“ Prosperous in his fame and fortunes, in his public honours and private alliances, in the cultivation of science and the consciousness of virtue, Boethius might have been styled happy, if that precarious epithet could be safely applied before the last term of the life of man. ”

“ Happiness is, therefore, that perfect state, in which all other goods meet and centre. Now is it clere and
certeyne þan þat blisfulnesse is a perfit estat by þe congregacioun 1764
of alle goodes. It is the object which all men strive after. ¶ þe whiche blisfulnesse as
I haue seid alle mortal folke enforcen hem to geten by
dyuerse weyes. A desire of the true good is a natural instinct, but error misleads them to pursue false joys. ¶ For-whi þe couetise of verray goode
is naturely y-plaunted in þe hertys of men. ”

“ It is evident that rewards follow good actions, and punishments attend evil actions; then as virtue itself is the reward of the virtuous, so vice is the punishment of the vicious. þat also mot þe peyne of yuel
answere by þe contrarie partye to shrewes. ”

“ The case is entirely similar when human reason thinks the Divine Intelligence cannot behold future events in any other way than she herself is capable of perceiving them. semblable þinge is it þat þe resoun of mankynde 4932
ne weneþ nat þat þe deuyne intelligence byholdeþ or
knoweþ þinges to comen. but ryȝt as þe resoun of mankynde
knoweþ hem. For thus you argue:— for þou arguist and seist þus.
What things are not necessitated cannot be foreknown; therefore there is no prescience of these things, for, if there were, everything would be fixed by an absolute necessity. ”