De tribus rerum maneriis.
Three Orders of Things
Hugh distinguishes three ranks of things—eternal, perpetual, and temporal—and identifies the first rank as the self-subsistent source of all nature.
Among things, then, there are some that have neither beginning nor end, and these are called eternal; others that do have a beginning but are bounded by no end, and these are called perpetual; and still others that have both a beginning and an end, and these are temporal. In the first rank we place that which has no other being than itself, and whose cause and effects are not different from it — that which does not derive its power to subsist from elsewhere but from itself alone, since it is the sole originator and maker of nature. But that which has a being distinct from itself, and whose existence comes from elsewhere, flowing from a prior cause into actuality so that nature might begin to be — that is the nature which contains the entire world. And this nature is divided into two.
The Unchanging Heavenly Realm
The substances of things and the celestial bodies beyond the moon stand beyond all change and variation, sharing in a perpetual, divinely sustained existence.
There is a certain reality that proceeds from its own primordial causes to begin existing, yet with no mover driving it into act — only by the sovereign judgment of the divine will — and there, standing beyond all change and variation, it lacks any end whatsoever. Of this kind are the substances of things — what the Greeks call ousias — and all the bodies of the world above the moon, which are also called divine precisely because they are not subject to change.
The Works of Nature Below the Moon
Temporal things arise beneath the moon's sphere through natural forces, yet their underlying essence never perishes.
The third class of things includes those that have both a beginning and an end, and do not come into being on their own but are works of nature — things that arise above the earth beneath the moon's sphere, driven by fire as their maker, which descends with a certain force into sensible things to create them. Of these, then, it has been said: Nothing in the world dies, because no essence perishes.
Essence Endures, Forms Change
The essences of things do not pass away; only their forms alter through separation, joining, or passage, so that being itself suffers no loss.
The essences of things don't pass away — only their forms do. When a form is said to 'pass over,' it shouldn't be understood as if some existing thing is believed to perish entirely and lose its being. Rather, it's altered — perhaps so that things once joined are separated from each other, or things once separated are joined together, or things that were here pass elsewhere, or things that are now subsist then. In all these cases, the being of things suffers no loss.1 Of these things it has been said: 'All things that rise fall, and all things that grow old have grown' — because all the works of nature, just as they have a beginning, aren't exempt from an end.2 Of those things it has been said:
From Nothing, To Nothing
Nothing that has arisen from nothing can return to nothing, affirming the enduring reality of created being.
From nothing, nothing can return to nothing.
Causes, Subsistence, and Return
Every nature flows forth temporally from its hidden primordial cause into actuality and, once dissolved, returns to the source from which it came.
Because every nature has both its primordial cause and its perpetual subsistence, concerning these things it has been said: And it returns to nothing — to what was nothing before. Because every work of nature flows forth temporally from a hidden cause into actuality, so too, when that same act has been temporally dissolved, it will return to the place from which it had come.
Read the original Latin
Sunt namque in rebus alia quae nec principium habent nec finem, et haec aeterna nominantur, alia quae principium quidem habent, sed nullo fine clauduntur, et dicuntur perpetua, alia quae et initium habent et finem, et haec sunt temporalia. in primo ordine id constituimus cui non est aliud esse, et id quod est id est, cuius causa et effectus diversa non sunt, quod non aliunde sed a semetipso subsistere habet, ut est solus naturae genitor et artifex. illud vero cui aliud est esse, et id quod est, id est quod aliunde ad esse venit, et ex causa praecedente in actum profluxit, ut esse inciperet, natura est, quae mundum continet omnem. idque in gemina secatur. est quiddam, quod a causis suis primordialibus ut esse incipiat, nullo movente ad actum prodit, solo divinae voluntatis arbitrio, ibique immutabile omnis finis atque vicissitudinis expers consistit. eiusmodi sunt rerum substantiae, quas Graeci ousias dicunt, et cuncta superlunaris mundi corpora, quae etiam ideo, quod non mutentur, divina appellata sunt. tertia pars rerum est quae principium et finem habent, et per se ad esse non veniunt, sed sunt opera naturae, quae oriuntur super terram sub lunari globo, movente igne artifice, qui vi quadam descendit in res sensibiles procreandas. de illis ergo dictum est: Nihil in mundo moritur, eo quod nulla essentia pereat.
non enim essentiae rerum transeunt, sed formae. cum vero forma transire dicitur, non sic intelligendum est, ut aliqua res existens perire omnino et esse suum amittere credatur, sed variari potius, vel sic fortassis ut quae iuncta fuerant, ab invicem separentur, vel quae separata erant, coniungantur, vel quae hic erant, illuc transeant, vel quae nunc erant, tunc subsistant, in quibus omnibus esse rerum nihil detrimenti patitur. de his dictum est: Omnia orta occidunt, et aucta senescunt, eo quod cuncta naturae opera, sicut principium habent, ita etiam finis aliena non sunt. de illis dictum est:
De nihilo nihil, in nihilum nil posse reverti,
eo quod omnis natura et primordialem habet causam et subsistentiam perpetuam. de his dictum est:
Et redit ad nihilum, quod fuit ante nihil,
eo quod omne opus naturae sicut temporaliter ex occulta causa in actum profluit, ita eodem actu temporaliter destructo, eo unde venerat reversurum sit.
Notes
- 1 ↩esse rendered as 'being' to preserve the ontological sense of the Latin; 'existence' would also be defensible but 'being' aligns with the essentiae/esse pairing in the surrounding context.
- 2 ↩The maxim 'Omnia orta occidunt, et aucta senescunt' does not correspond to a known biblical text. It appears to be a philosophical sententia, possibly from a classical or patristic source. Preserved as a quoted maxim.
Didascalicon de Studio Legendi (On the Study of Reading) companion
Hugh said begin with small daily portions. Start tomorrow.
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