[118]
52. "But it seems necessary to settle the principle on which these signs depend. For, according
to the Stoic doctrine, the gods are not directly
responsible for every fissure in the liver or for every
song of a bird; since, manifestly, that would not
be seemly or proper in a god and furthermore is
impossible. But, in the beginning, the universe was
so created that certain results would be preceded
by certain signs, which are given sometimes by
entrails and by birds, sometimes by lightnings, by
portents, and by stars, sometimes by dreams, and
sometimes by utterances of persons in a frenzy.
And these signs do not often deceive the persons
[p. 353]
who observe them properly. If prophecies, based
on erroneous deductions and interpretations, turn
out to be false, the fault is not chargeable to the
signs but to the lack of skill in the interpreters.
"Assuming the proposition to be conceded that
there is a divine power which pervades the lives of
men, it is not hard to understand the principle
directing those premonitory signs which we see
come to pass. For it may be that the choice of a
sacrificial victim is guided by an intelligent force,
which is diffused throughout the universe; or, it
may be that at the moment when the sacrifice is
offered, a change in the vitals occurs and something
is added or taken away; for many things are added
to, changed, or diminished in an instant of time.
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