DAEMON:
These trifling contradictions _175
Do not suffice to impugn the unity
Of the high Gods; in things of great importance
They still appear unanimous; consider
That glorious fabric, man,—his workmanship
Is stamped with one conception.
CYPRIAN:
Who made man _180
Must have, methinks, the advantage of the others.
If they are equal, might they not have risen
In opposition to the work, and being
All hands, according to our author here,
Have still destroyed even as the other made? _185
If equal in their power, unequal only
In opportunity, which of the two
Will remain conqueror?
NOTE: _186 unequal only transcr.; and only unequal 1824.
DAEMON:
On impossible
And false hypothesis there can be built
No argument. Say, what do you infer _190
From this?
CYPRIAN:
That there must be a mighty God
Of supreme goodness and of highest grace,
All sight, all hands, all truth, infallible,
Without an equal and without a rival,
The cause of all things and the effect of nothing, _195
One power, one will, one substance, and one essence.
And, in whatever persons, one or two,
His attributes may be distinguished, one
Sovereign power, one solitary essence,
One cause of all cause.
NOTE: _197 And]query, Ay?
[THEY RISE.]
DAEMON:
How can I impugn _200
So clear a consequence?
NOTE: _200 all cause 1824; all things transcr.
CYPRIAN:
Do you regret
My victory?