No More Learning

21; Dionys.
he is more celebrated in ancient story on account vi. 1. ) He was consul again in 492, when there
of his connexion with Heracles, one of whose was a great famine at Rome. He took an active
2 E 2


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420
AUGURINUS.
AUGUSTINUS.
part in the defence of Coriolanus, who was brought | preceding coin of the Minucia gens. The obverse
to trial in this year, but was unable to obtain his represents the head of Pallas winged : the reverse
acquittal. (Liv. ii. 34; Dionys. vii. 20, 27-32, a column surmounted by a statue, which is not
38, 60, 61. ) In the victorious approach of Corio- clearly delineated in the annexed cut, with ears of
lanus to Rome at the head of the Volscian army, corn springing up from its base. The inscription
Augurinus was one of the embassy sent to in- is C. MINVCI. C. F. AVGVRINI. , with Roma at the
tercede with him on behalf of the city. (Dionys. top. (Eckhel, v. p. 254. )
viii. 22, 23. )
6. TI MINUCIUS AUGURINUS, consul B. c. 305,
2. P. MINUCIUS AUGURINUs, consul B. c. 492, the last year of the Samnite war, was said in some
was chiefly engaged in his consulship in obtaining annals to have received a mortal wound in battle.
a supply of corn from different countries, on account (Liv. ix. 44 ; Diod. xx. 81. )
of the famine at Rome. (Liv. ii. 34; Dionys. 7. M. MINUCIUS (AUGURINUS), tribune of the
Tii. 1; Oros. ii. 5. )
plebs, B. c. 216, introduced the bill for the creation
3. L. Minucius P. F. M. N. ESQUILINUS A v- of the triumviri mensarii. (Liv. xxii. 21. )
GURINUS, consul B. C. 458, carried on the war 8. C. MINUCIUS AUGURINUS, tribune of the
against the Aequians, but through fear shut himself plebs, B. c. 187, proposed the imposition of a fine
up in his camp on the Algidus, and allowed the upon L. Scipio Asiaticus, and demanded that Scipio
enemy to surround hin. He was delivered from should give security ( praedes). As Scipio, how-
his danger by the dictator L. Quinctius Cincin- ever, refused to do so, Augurinus ordered him to
natus, who compelled him, however, to resign his be seized and carried to prison, but was unable to
consulship. In the Fasti Capitolini we have one carry his command into effect in consequence of
of the inversions which are so common in Roman the intercession of his colleague, Tib. Sempronius
history: in the Fasti, Augurinus is represented as Gracchus, the father of Tib. and C. Gracchi.
consul suffectus in place of one whose name is lost, (Gell
. vii. 19. ) A different account of this affair
instead of being himself succeeded by another. is given in Livy. (xxxviii. 55—60. )
(Liv. iii. 25—29; Dionys. x. 22 ; Dion Cass. Frag. 9. T. Minucius (AUGURINUS) MOLLICULUS,
xxxiv. 27, p. 140, ed. Reimar; Val. Max. ii
. was praetor peregrinus B. c. 180, and died of the
7. $ 7, v. 2. $ 2; Flor. i. 11; Zonar. vii. 17; pestilence which visited Rome in that year. (Liv.
Niebuhr, Rom. Hist. ii. n. 604. )
xl. 35, 37. )
4. Q. Minucius P. F. M. N. ESQUILINUS AU- AUGURI'NUS, SE'NTIUS, a poet in the
GURINUS, brother of No. 3, consul B. c. 457, had time of the younger Pliny, who wrote short poems,
the conduct of the war against the Sabines, but such as epigrams, idylls, &c. , which he called poë-
could not do more than ravage their lands, as they matia, and which were in the style of Catullus
shut themselves up in their walled towns. (Liv. and Calvus. He was an intimate friend of the
iii. 30; Dionys. x. 26, 30. )
younger Pliny, whom he praised in his verses ;
5. L. MINUCIUS AUGURINUS, was appointed and Pliny in return represented Augurinus as one
praefect of the corn-market ( praefectus annonae) of the first of poets. One of his poems in praise of
in B. C. 439, in order to regulate the price of corn Pliny is preserved in a letter of the latter. (Plin.
and obtain a supply from abroad, as the people Ep. iv. 27, ix. 8. )
were suffering from grievous famine. Sp. Maelius, AUGUSTI'NÚS, AURE’LIUS, ST. , the most
who distinguished himself by his liberal supplies of illustrious of the Latin fathers, was born on the
corn to the people, was accused by the patricians 13th of November, A. D. 354, at Tagaste, an inland
of aiming at the sovereignty; and Augurinus is town in Numidia, identified by D'Anville with the
said to have disclosed his treasonable designs to modern Tajelt. His father, Patricius, who died
the senate. The ferment occasioned by the assas- about seventeen years after the birth of Augustin,
sination of Maelius was appeased by Augurinus, was originally a heathen, but embraced Christia-
who is said to bave gone over to the plebs from nity late in life. Though poor, he belonged to the
the patricians, and to have been chosen by the curiales of Tagaste. (August. Conf. ii. 3. ) He
tribunes one of their body. It is stated, indeed, is described by his son as a benevolent but hot-
that he was elected an eleventh tribune, as the tempered man, comparatively careless of the
number of their body was full; but this seems in- morals of his offspring, but anxious for his im-
credible. That he passed over to the plebs, how-provement in learning, as the means of future
ever, is confirmed by the fact, that we find subse- success in life. Monnica,* the mother of Augus-
quently members of his family tribunes of the tin, was a Christian of a singularly devout and
plebs. Augurinus also lowered the price of corn gentle spirit, who exerted herself to the utmost
in three market days, fixing as the maximum an as in training up her son in the practice of piety;
for a modius. The people, in their gratitude, pre- but his disposition, complexionally ardent and
sented him with an ox having its horns gilt, and headstrong, seemed to bid defiance to her ef-
erected a statue to his honour outside the Porta forts. He has given, in his Confessions, a vivid
picture of his boyish follies and vices,-his love of
play, his hatred of learning, his disobedience to his
parents, and his acts of deceit and theft. It would
indeed be absurd to infer from this recital that he
was a prodigy of youthful wickedness, such faults
being unhappily too common at that early age.
None, however, but a very shallow moralist will
treat these singular disclosures with ridicule, or
Trigemina, for which every body subscribed an
ounce of brass. (Liv. iv. 12–16; Plin. H. N. • For the orthography of this name, see Bähr,
xviii. 4, xxxiv. 1Ì; Niebuhr, Rom. Hist. ii. p. 423, Geschichte der Römischen Literatur, Supplement,
&c. ) This circumstance is commemorated in the vol. ii. p. 225. and note p. 228.
QDAN
“Ir
nyeti


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AUGUSTINUS.
deny that they open a very important chapter in the reading of some of the Platonic philosophers
the history of human nature. When Augustin (not in the original Greek, but in a Latin version)
was still very young, he fell into a dangerous dis- disposed him still more favourably towards the
order, which induced him to wish for baptisın ; Christian system. From these he turned, with a
but on his recovery, the rite was delayed. He delight unfelt before, to the Holy Scriptures, in the
tells us that he was exceedingly delighted, from perusal of which his earlier doubts and difficulties
his childhood, with the fabulous stories of the gave way before the self-evidencing light of divine
Latin poets; but the difficulty of learning Greek truth. He was greatly benefited by the religious
inspired him with a great disgust for that language. conversations which he held with Simplician, a
He was sent, during his boyhood, to be educated Christian presbyter, who had formerly instructed
at the neighbouring town of Madaura, and after- Ambrose himself in theology. After deep consi-
wards removed to Carthage in order to prosecute deration, and many struggles of feeling (of which
the study of rhetoric. Here he fell into vicious he has given an interesting record in the cighth
practices; and before he was eighteen, bis concu- and ninih books of his Confessions), he resolved on
bine bore him a son, whom he named Adeodatus. making a public profession of Christianity, and
He applied, however, with characteristic ardour, to was baptized by Ambrose at Milan on the 25th of
the study of the great inasters of rhetoric and phi- | April, A. D. 387. His fellow-townsman and inti-
losophy.
In particular, he describes in strong mate friend, Alypius, and his natural son, Adeo-
terms the beneficial effect produced upon him by datus, of whose extraordinary genius he speaks
reading the Hortensius of Cicero. Soon after this, with fond enthusiasm, were baptized on the
he embraced the Manichaean heresy,—a wild and same occasion. His mother Monnica, who had
visionary system, repugnant alike to sound reason followed him to Milan, rejoiced over this happy
and to Scripture, but not without strong fascina- event as the completion of all her desires on earth.
tions for an ardent and imaginative mind undisci- She did not long survive it; for shortly after his
plined in the lessons of practical religion. To this conversion, Augustin set out with her to return to
pernicious doctrine he adhered for nine years, dur-Africa, and at Ostia, on the banks of the Tiber, his
ing which he unhappily seduced others into the mother died, after an illness of a few days, in the
adoption of the same errors.
fifty-sixth year of her age. Her son has given, in
After teaching grammar for some time at his the ninth book of his Confessions (cc. 8-11) a brief
native place, he returned to Carthage, having lost but deeply interesting account of this excellent
a friend whose death affected him very deeply: woman. Augustin remained at Rome some time
At Carthage he became a teacher of rhetoric, and after his mother's death, and composed his treatises
in his twenty-seventh year published his first de Moritsus Ecclesiae Catholicae et de Moribus
work, entitled, “de apto et pulchro,” which he Manichaeorum, de Quantitate Animae, and de
dedicated to Hierius, à Roman orator, known to Libero Arbitrio. The latter, however, was not
him only by bis high reputation. Of the fate finished until some years after.
of this work the author seems to have been singu- In the latter part of the year 388, Augustin re-
larly careless ; for when he wrote his Confessions, turned by way of Carthage to Tagaste. He sold the
he had lost sight of it altogether, and says he does small remains of his paternal property, and gave the
not remember whether it was in two or three proceeds to the poor; and passed the next three years
books. We agree with Lord Jeffery (Encyd. Brit. in seclusion, devoting himself to religious exercises.
art. Beauty) in lamenting the disappearance of this At this period of his life he wrote his treatises de
treatise, which was probably defective enough in Genesi contra Manichaeos, de Musica, de Magistro,
strict scientific analysis, but could not fail to addressed to his son Adeodatus), and de Vera
abound in ingenious disquisition and vigorous elo- Religione. The reputation of these works and of
quence.
their author's personal excellence seems to have
About this time Augustin began to distrust the been speedily diffused, for in the year 391, Augus-
baseless creed of the Manichaeans, and the more tin, against his own wishes, was ordained a priest
80 that he found no satisfaction from the reasonings by Valerius, then bishop of Hippo. On this, he spent
of their most celebrated teacher, Faustus, with some time in retirement, in order to qualify himself
whom he frequently conversed. In the year 383, by the special study of the Bible for the work of
he went, against the wishes of his mother, to preaching. When he entered on this public duty,
Rome, intending to exercise his profession as a he discharged it with great acceptance and success.
teacher of rhetoric there. For this step, he assigns He did not, however, abandon his labours as an
as his reason that the students in Kome behaved author, but wrote his tractate de Utilitate credendi,
with greater decorum than those of Carthage, inscribed to his friend Honoratus, and another en-
where the schools were often scenes of gross and titled de duabus Animabus contra Manichaeos.
irrepressible disorder. At Rome he had a danger. He also published an account of his disputation
ous illness, from which however he soon recovered; with Fortunatus, a distinguished teacher of the
and after teaching rhetoric for a few months, he Manichaean doctrine. In the year 393, he was
left the imperial city, in disgust at the fraudulent appointed, though still only a presbyter, to deliver
conduct of some of his students, and went to a discourse upon the creed before tbe council of
Milan, designing to pursue his profession in that Hippo. This discourse, which is suill extant, was
city. At that time Ambrose was bishop of Milan, published at the solicitation of his friends.
and his conversation and preaching made a good In the year 395, Valerius exerted himself to ob-
impression upon Augustin. He was not, however, tain Augustin as his colleague in the episcopal
converted to Christianity at once, but fell, for a charge; and though Augustin at first urged his
time, into a state of general uncertainty and scepun willingness with great sincerity, his scruples
ticism. The great mystery of all, the origin of were overcome, and he was ordained bishop of
evil, especially perplexed and tormented hiin. By Hippo. lle performed the duties of his new ottice
degrees his mind acquired a hсalthier tone, and with zealous tidelity, and yet found time amidst


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422
AUGUSTINUS.
AUGUSTINUS.
them all for the composition of many of his ablest | viginti et duo libri cum sint de utraque Civitate
and most interesting works. His history, from the conscripti, titulum tamen a meliore acceperunt, ut
time of his elevation to the see of Hippo, is so de Civitate Dei potius vocarentur. ” The learning
closely implicated with the Donatistic and Pela- displayed in this remarkable work is extensive ra-
gian controversies, that it would be impracticable ther than profound; its contents are too miscella-
to pursue its details within our prescribed limits. neous and desultory, and its reasonings are often
For a full and accurate account of the part which more ingenious than satisfactory. Yet, after every
he took in these memorable contentions, the reader due abatement has been made, it will maintain its
is referred to the life of Augustin contained in the reputation as one of the most extraordinary pro-
eleventh volume of the Benedictine edition of his ductions of human intellect and industry. The
works, and to the thirteenth volume of Tillemonts Retractationes of Augustin, written in the year
“Mémoires pour servir à l'Histoire Ecclésiastique," 428, deserve notice as evincing the singular can-
-a quarto of 1075 pages devoted entirely to the dour of the author. It consists of a review of all
life and writings of this eminent father. Of those his own productions ; and besides explanations and
of his numerous works which we have not already qualifications of much that he had written, it not
noticed, we mention the three following, as especi- unfrequently presents acknowledgments of down-
ally interesting and important: His Confessions, right errors and mistakes. It is one of the noblest
in thirteen books, were written in the year 397. sacrifices ever laid upon the altar of truth by a
They are addressed to the Almighty, and contain majestic intellect acting in obedience to the purest
an account of Augustin's life down to the time conscientiousness.
when he was deprived of his mother by death. The life of Augustin closed amidst scenes of
The last three books are occupied with an allego- violence and blood. The Vandals under the fero-
rical explanation of the Mosaic account of the creacious Genseric invaded the north of Africa, A. D.
tion. His autobiography is written with great 429, and in the following year laid siege to Hippo.
genius and feeling; and though the interspersed Full of grief for the sufferings which he witnessed
addresses to the Deity break the order of the nar- and the dangers he foreboded, the aged bishop
rative, and extend over a large portion of the work, prayed that God would grant his people a deliver-
they are too fine in themselves, and too character ance from these dreadful calamities, or else supply
istic of the author, to allow us to complain of their them with the fortitude to endure their woes : for
length and frequency. The celebrated treatise, de himself he besought a speedy liberation from the
Civitate Dei, commenced about the year 413, was flesh. His prayer was granted ; and in the third
not finished before A. D. 426. Its object and struc- 1 month of the siege, on the 28th of August, 430,
ture cannot be better exhibited than in the author's | Augustin breathed his last, in the seventy-sixth
own words, taken from the 47th chapter of the se- year of his age. The character of this eminent
cond book of his Retractationes : “Interea Roma man is admitted on all hands to have been marked
Gothorum irruptione, agentium sub rege Alarico, by conspicuous excellence after his profession of
atque impetu magnae cladis eversa est: cujus ever- the Christian faith. The only faults of which he
sionem deorum falsorum multorumque cultores, can be accused are an occasional excess of severity
quos usitato nomine Paganos vocamus, in Christia- in his controversial writings, and a ready acquies-
nam religionem referre conantes, solito acerbius cence in the persecution of the Donatists. His in-
et amarius Deum verum blasphemare coeperunt. tellect was in a very high degree vigorous, acute,
Unde ego exardescens zelo domus Dei, adversus and comprehensive ; and he possessed to the last a
eorum blasphemias vel errores, libros de Civitate fund of ingenuous sensibility, which gives an inde-
Dei scribere institui. Quod opus per aliquot annos scribable charm to most of his compositions. His
me tenuit, eo quod alia multa intercurrebant, quae style is full of life and force, but deficient both in
differre non oporteret, et me prius ad solvendum purity and in elegance. His learning seems to
occupabant. Hoc autem de Civitate Dei grande have been principally confined to the Latin authors;
opus tandem viginti duobus libris est terminatum. of Greek he knew but little, and of Hebrew no-
Quorum quinque primi eos refellunt, qui res hu- thing. His theological opinions varied considerably
manas ita prosperari volunt, ut ad hoc multorum even after he became a Christian; and it was
deorum cultum, quos Pagani colere consuerunt, ne during the later period of his life that he adopted
cessarium esse arbitrentur; et quia prohibetur, mala those peculiar tenets with regard to grace, predes-
ista exoriri atque abundare contendunt. Sequentes tination, and free-will, which in modern times
autem quinque adversus eos loquuntur, qui fatentur have been called Augustinian. His influence in
haec mala, nec defuisse unquam, nec defutura mor- his own and in every succeeding age has been im-
talibus; et ea nunc magna, nunc parva, locis, tem- mense. Even in the Roman Catholic Church his
poribus, personisque, variari : sed deorum multorum authority is professedly held in high esteem ; al-
cultum, quo eis sacrificatur, propter vitam post though his later theological system has in reality
mortem futuram, esse utilem disputant. His ergo been proscribed by every party in that communion,
decem libris duae istae vanae opiniones Christianae except the learned, philosophic, and devout frater-
religionis adversariae refelluntur. Sed ne quisquam nity of the Jansenists. The early Reformers drank
nos aliena tantum redarguisse, non autem nostra deeply into the spirit of his speculative theology ;
asseruisse, reprehenderet, id agit pars altera operis and many even of those who recoil most shrink-
hujus, quae duodecim libris continetur. Quamquam, ingly from his doctrine of predestination, have
ubi opus est, et in prioribus decem quae nostra sunt done ample justice to his surpassing energy of in-
asseramus, et in duodecim posterioribus redargua- tellect, and to the warmth and purity of his reli-
mus adversa. Duodecim ergo librorum sequentium, gious feelings.
primi quatuor continent exortum duarum Civitatum, The earliest edition of the collected works of
quarum est una Dei, altera hujus mundi. Secundi Augustin is that of the celebrated Amerbach, which
quatuor excursuin earum sive procursum. Tertii appeared in nine volumes folio, at Basle, 1506, and
vero, qui et postremi, debitos fines. Ita omnes was reprinted at Paris in 1515. This edition did


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423
AUGUSTULUS.
not, however, contain the Epistolae, the Sermones, Coquaei et Jo. Lud. Vivis, Paris, 1613, 1036, fol. ,
and the Enarrationes in Psalmos, which had been Lips. 1825, 2 vols. 8vo. Confessiones : editio
previously published by Amerbach. In 1529, princeps, Mediolani, 1475, 4to. ; Lovanii, 1563,
the works of Augustin were again published at 12mo. and again 1573, 8vo. ; Antverp. 1567, 1568,
Basle, from the press of Frobenius, and under the 1740, 8vo. ; Lugd. Batav. 1675, 12mo. apud Elze-
editorship of Erasmus, in ten volumes folio. This vir. ; Paris, 1776, 12mo. (an edition highly com-
edition, though by no means faultless, was a con- mended); Berol. 1823, ed. A. Neander; Lips.
siderable improvement upon that of Amerbach. It (Tauchnitz), 1837, ed. H. Bruder ; Oxon.
was reprinted at Paris in 1531-32; at Venice, (Parker), 1840, ed. E. B. Pusey. De Fide et
with some improvements, in 1552, and again in Operibus : editio princeps, Coloniae, 4to. )473 ;
1570; at Lyons in 1561-63, and again in 1571. ed. Jo. Hennichio, Francof. ad M. et Rintelii,
It was also issued from the press of Frobenius at | 1652, 8vo. De Doctrina Christiana : Helmstad.
Basle, with various alterations, in 1543, in 1556, 1629, 8vo. ed. Georgius Calixtus, reprinted at
in 1569, and in 1570. In 1577 the valuable edi. Helmstadt in quarto, 1655; Lips. 1769, 8vo. ed.
tion of Augustin prepared by the learned divines J. C. B. Teegius, cum praef. J. F. Burscheri. De
of Louvain, was published at Antwerp, by Christo Spiritu et Litera : Lips. 1767, 1780, 8vo. ed. J. C.
pher Plantin, in ten volumes folio. It far surpasses B. Teegius; Regimont. 1824, 8vo. cum praef. H.
in critical exactness all the preceding editions ; and Olshausen. De Conjugiis Adulterinis : Jenae, 1698,
though, on the whole, inferior to that of the Bene 4to. cum notis Jurisconsulti celeberrimi (Joannis
dictines, it is still held in high estimation. No Schilter) quibus dogma Ecclesiae de matrimonii
fewer than sixteen of the “ Theologi Lovanienses dissolutione illustratur.
were employed in preparing it for publication. It The principal sources of information respecting
has been very frequently reprinted : at Geneva in the life of Augustin are his own Confessions, Re-
1596 ; at Cologne in 1616; at Lyons in 1664; at tractations, and Epistles, and his biography written
Paris in 1586, in 1603, in 1609, in 1614, in 1626, by his pupil Possidius, bishop of Calama. Among
in 1635, and in 1652. The Benedictine edition the best modern works on this subject are those of
of the works of Augustin, in eleven volumes folio, Tillemont and the Benedictine editors already men-
was published at Paris in 1679—1700. It was tioned; Laurentii Berti “ De rebus gestis Sancti
severely handled by Father Simon; but its supe- Augustini," &c. Venice, 1746, 4to. ; Schrockh,
riority to all the former editions of Augustin is “Kirchengeschichte," vol. xv. ; Neander, “ Ges-
generally acknowledged. The first volume con chichte der Christlichen Religion und Kirche,” vol.
tains, besides the Retractations and the Confes- ii. ; Bahr, “Geschichte der Römischen Literatur,"
sions, the greater part of the works written by Supplement, vol. ii. For the editions of the works
Augustin before his elevation to the episcopal dig- of Augustin, see Cas. Oudin. “ Commentarius de
nity. The second comprises his letters. The third Scriptoribus Ecclesiae Antiquis," vol. i. pp. 931—
and fourth include his exegetical writings, the 993, and C. T. G. Schönemann's “ Bibliotheca
fourth being entirely filled up with his Commen- Histor. -Literaria Patrum Latinorum,” vol. ii. pp.
tary on the Psalms. The fifth volume contains 33-363. On the Pelagian controversy, see (be
the sermons of Augustin. The sixth embraces his sides Tillemont) G. J. Vossii “ Historia de Contro-
Opera Moralia. The seventh consists of the trea- versiis quas Pelagius ejusque reliquiae morerunt,'
tise de Civitate Dei. The eighth comprehends his Opp. vol. vi. ; C. W. F. Walch's “Ketzerhistorie,
principal works against the Manichaeans, and those vol. iv. und v. ; G. F. Wiggers' “ Versuch einer
against the Arians. The ninth comprises his con- pragmat. Darstellung des Augustinismus und Pela-
troversial writings against the Donatists. The gianisdius," Berlin, 1821.