the most illustrious of the Latin fathers, was born on the 13th of November, Conf. 2.3.) He is described
by his son as a benevolent but hottempered man, comparatively careless of the morals of his
offspring, but anxious for his improvement in learning, as the means of future success in
life. Monnica, Geschichte der Römischen Literatur, Supplemenit, vol. ii. p. 225. and
note p. 228.Augustin, was a Christian of a
singularly devout and gentle spirit, who exerted herself to the utmost in training up her son
in the practice of piety ; but his disposition, complexionally ardent and headstrong, seemed
to bid defiance to her efforts. 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
After teaching grammar for some time at his native place, he returned to Carthage, having lost a friend whose death affected him very deeply. At Carthage he became a teacher of rhetoric, and in his twenty-seventh year published his first work, entitled,
About this time Augustin began to distrust the baseless creed of the Manichaeans, and the
more so that he found no satisfaction from the reasonings of their most celebrated teacher,
Faustus, with whom he frequently conversed. In the year 383, he went, against the wishes of
his mother, to Rome, intending to exercise his profession as a teacher of rhetoric there. For
this step, he assigns as his reason that the students in Rome behaved with greater decorum
than those of Carthage, where the schools were often scenes of gross and irrepressible
disorder. At Rome he had a dangerous illness, from which however he soon recovered ; and
after teaching rhetoric for a few months, he left the imperial city, in disgust at the
fraudulent conduct of some of his students, and went to Milan, designing to pursue his
profession in that city. At that time Ambrose was bishop of Milan, and his conversation and
preaching made a good impression upon Augustin. He was not, however, converted to
Christianity at once, but fell, for a time, into a state of general uncertainty and
scepticism. The great mystery of all, the origin of evil, especially perplexed and tormented
him. By degrees his mind acquired a healthier tone, and the reading of some of the Platonic
philosophers (not in the original Greek, but in a Latin version) disposed him still more
favourably towards the Christian system. From these he turned, with a delight unfelt before,
to the Holy Scriptures, in the perusal of which his earlier doubts and difficulties gave way
before the self-evidencing light of divine truth. He was greatly benefited by the religious
conversations which he held with Simplician, a Christian presbyter, who had formerly
instructed Ambrose himself in theology. After deep consideration, and many struggles of
feeling (of which he has given an interesting record in the eighth and ninth books of his
Confessions), he resolved on making a public profession of Christianity, and was baptized by
Ambrose at Milan on the 25th of April,
In the latter part of the year 388, Augustin returned by way of Carthage to Tagaste. He sold the small remains of his paternal property, and gave the proceeds to the poor; and passed the next three years in seclusion, devoting himself to religious exercises. At this period of his life he wrote his treatises
In the year 395, Valerius exerted himself to obtain Augustin as his colleague in the
episcopal charge; and though Augustin at first urged his unwillingness with great sincerity,
his scruples were overcome, and he was ordained bishop of Hippo. He performed the duties of
his new office with zealous fidelity, and yet found time amidst
Interea Roma Gothorum irruptione, agentium sub rege Alarico, atque impetus magnae cladis eversa est: cujus eversionem deorum falsorum multorumque cultores, quos usitato nomine Paganos vocamus, in Christianam religionem referre conantes, solito acerbius et amarius Deum verum blasphemare coeperunt. Unde ego exardescens zelo domus Dei, adversus eorum blasphemias vel errores, librosThe learning displayed in this remarkable work is extensive rather than profound; its contents are too miscellaneous and desultory, and its reasonings are often more ingenious than satisfactory. Yet, after every due abatement has been made, it will maintain its reputation as one of the most extraordinary productions of human intellect and industry. Thede Civitate Dei scribere institui. Quod opus per aliquot annos me tenuit, eo quod alia multa intercurrebant, quae differre non oporteret, et me prius ad solvendum occupabant. Hoc autemade Civitate Dei grande opus tandem viginti duobus libris est terminatum. Quorum quinque primi eos refellunt, qui res humanas ita prosperari volunt, ut ad hoc multorum deorum cultum, quos Pagani colere consuerunt, necessarium esse arbitrentur; et quia prohibetur, mala ista exoriri atque abundare contendunt. Sequentes autem quinque adversus eos loquuntur, qui fatentur haec mala, nec defuisse unquam, nec defutura mortalibus; et ea nunc magna, nunc parva, locis, temporibus, personisque, variari : sed deorum multorum culture, quo eis sacrificatur, propter vitam post mortem futuram, esse utilem disputant. His ergo decem libris duae istae vanae opiniones Christianae religionis adversariae refelluntur. Sed ne quisquam nos aliena tantum redarguisse, non autem nostra asseruisse, reprehenderet, id agit pars altera operis hujus, quae duodecim libris continetur. Quamquam, ubi opus est, et in prioribus decem quae nostra sunt asseramus, et in duodecim posterioribus redarguamus adversa. Duodecim ergo librorum sequentium, primi quatuor continent exortum duarum Civitatum, quarum est una Dei, altera hujus mundi. Secundi quatuor excursum earusm sive procursum. Tertii vero, qii et postremi, debitos fines. Ita omnes viginti et duo libri cum sint de utraque Civitate conscripti, titulum tamen a meliore acceperunt, utde Civitate Dei potius vocarentur.
The life of Augustin closed amidst scenes of violence and blood. The Vandals under the ferocious Genseric invaded the north of Africa, A. D. 429, and in the following year laid siege to Hippo. Full of grief for the sufferings which he witnessed and the dangers he foreboded, the aged bishop prayed that God would grant his people a deliverance from these dreadful calamities, or else supply them with the fortitude to endure their woes: for himself he besought a speedy liberation from the flesh. His prayer was granted; and in the third month of the siege, on the 28th of August, 430, Augustin breathed his last, in the seventy-sixth year of his age. The character of this eminent man is admitted on all hands to have been marked by conspicuous excellence after his profession of the Christian faith. The only faults of which he can be accused are an occasional excess of severity in his controversial writings, and a ready acquiescence in the persecution of the Donatists. His intellect was in a very high degree vigorous, acute, and comprehensive; and he possessed to the last a fund of ingenuous sensibility, which gives an indescribable charm to most of his compositions. His style is full of life and force, but deficient both in purity and in elegance. His learning seems to have been principally confined to the Latin authors, of Greek he knew but little, and of Hebrew nothing. His theological opinions varied considerably even after he became a Christian; and it was during the later period of his life that he adopted those peculiar tenets with regard to grace, predestination, and free-will, which in modern times have been called Augustinian. His influence in his own and in every succeeding age has been immense. Even in the Roman Catholic Church his authority is professedly held in high esteem; although his later theological system has in reality been proscribed by every party in that communion, except the learned, philosophic, and devout fraternity of the Jansenists. The early Reformers drank deeply into the spirit of his speculative theology ; and many even of those who recoil most shrinkingly from his doctrine of predestination, have done ample justice to his surpassing energy of intellect, and to the warmth and purity of his religious feelings.
Of the numerous editions of the separate works of Augustin the following are all that we have space to enumerate --
Editio princeps,
editio princeps,
editio princeps,
The principal sources of information respecting the life of Augustin are his own
Confessions, Retractations, and Epistles, and his biography written by his pupil Possidius,
bishop of Calama. Along the best modern works on this subject are those of Tillemont and the
Benedictine editors already mentioned ; Laurentii Berti " De rebus gestis Sancti Augustini,"
&c. Venice, 1746, 4to.; Schröckh, " Kirchengeschichte," vol. xv.; Neander, "
Geschichte der Christlichen Religion und Kirche," vol. ii.; Ballr, " Geschichte der
Römischen Literatur," Supplement, vol. ii. For the editions of the
works of Augustin, see Cas. Oudin. " Commentarius de Scriptoribus Ecclesiae Antiquis," vol.
i. pp. 931-993, and C. T. G. Schönemann's " Bibliotheca Histor.-Literaria Patrum
Latinorum," vol. ii. pp. 33-363. On the Pelagian controversy, see (besides Tillemont) G. J.
Vossii " Historia de Controversiis quas Pelagius ejusque reliquiae moverunt," Opp. vol. vi.;
C. W. F. Walch's " Ketzerhistorie," vol. iv. und v.; G. F. Wiggers' " Versuch einer pragmat.
Darstellung des Augustinismus und Pelagianismus," Berlin, 1821.