John Henry Newman

"Per Quem omnia facta sunt..."

G.H. Rendall anno 1895 in linguam Latinam venuste convertit

Dionysius Silvanus Humberto et sodalibus s.d.p.

Locum inveni apud cardinalem J. H. Newman (1801-1890), fratrem auctoris nostri F. H. Newman, a Geraldo H. Rendall anno 1895 in linguam Latinam venuste conversum qui aptus videtur et accommodatus huic diei festo Christi nativitatis:

 

Quidquid denique oculis intueri auribus percipere manu contingere possumus, sive per semotum illum stellisque consitum caeli complexum, sive in hoc nostro terrarum orbe et marium, omnia pariter illo auctore ex elementis suis conficta sunt, illius legibus obtemperant. Statuit porro idem ille prima materiae corpuscula quales essent ipsa naturas habitura, quemadmodum inter se versari, quem invicem habitum ac situm servare deberent: immo vero vis fulminis occulta, mirabilis illa corporum se invicem adliciendi facultas, ponderum inclinatio, natura lucis, vel si quam aliam his ipsis tenuiorem in rerum natura vim inesse et versari aut iam invenit aut inventurum est humanum ingenium, haec omnia illo exstiterunt auctore. Nullus profecto absque illo motus terrarum orbem quassatum in novam faciem redegit: eidem porro tribuendum est quod adeo praeclare suis usibus conveniunt animalia quam tenuissima quam visu foedissima. Respice praeterea quam infinita in singula momenta gignatur bestiolarum multitudo, quam incredibilis exsistat animantium varietas qualia ne perspicere quidem possit oculorum acies, quam importuna se passim effundat herbarum ubertas et vestis ritu toti telluri obducatur; respice quantam ille cedro proceritatem, quam opacam platano umbram addiderit. Immo etiam volucres et feras in genera sua ac tribus discriptas alias formae venustate illustravit, aliis motuum incitationem, aliis vim vocis inexplebilem adiunxit.

 

All we see, hear, and touch, the remote sidereal firmament, as well as our own sea and land, and the elements which compose them and the ordinances they obey, are His. The primary atoms of matter, their properties, their mutual action, their disposition and collocation, electricity, magnetism, gravitation, light, and whatever other subtle principles or operations the wit of man is detecting or shall detect, are the work of His hands. From Him has been every movement which has convulsed and refashioned the surface of the earth. The most insignificant or unsightly insect is from Him, and good in its kind; the ever-teeming, inexhaustible swarms of animalculae, the myriads of living motes invisible to the naked eye, the restless ever-spreading vegetation which creeps like a garment over the whole earth, the lofty cedar, the umbrageous banana are His. His are the tribes and families of birds and beasts, their graceful forms, their wild gestures, and their passionate cries.

 

Curate ut bene valeatis omnes.

Dabam die Christi nativitatis a.s.n. MM e Britannia.