ii NECESSITY AND LIBERTY 195 



can be frustrated neither from within, by itself, nor 

 from without, by another : not the former, for it 

 cannot be both one thing and another, nor the latter, 

 because its necessity is the law of all other things. 

 There can be nothing which may prevent this nature, 

 necessity, will, power, from proceeding according to its 

 whole power, which is goodness itself, according to its 

 whole goodness, which is power itself, and both are 

 infinite, and diffuse themselves infinitely. Man's liberty 

 of action is expressed imperfectly, and sometimes in an 

 imperfect object, is continually being disturbed by passion 

 and ignorance of things ; for if we acted without any 

 disturbance of the will, or course of thought, without 

 ignorance, or passion, then our action would be deter- 

 mined always towards the better of two opposed ends. 

 Before we act we stand between the two ways and 

 deliberate, and at last determine, but in uncertainty 

 and perturbedness of spirit ; while God, as in nature 

 most perfect, acts in the one of two ways that is the 

 most fitting. Nor is it an imperfection. of nature to be 

 determined in one direction only, away from that which 

 may lead to error. Thus we may not refer the will 

 and action of God to a liberty of this kind, of being 

 equally or unequally disposed to two contradictory 

 volitions or acts a liberty of indifference but his 

 liberty is of the kind which is identical with necessity. 

 Over it is nothing greater, in the way of it there is 

 nothing equal, all things in all and throughout all 

 serve it. God's knowledge is not discursive, involves 

 no effort. To be in the mind of God is to be realised 

 (species concept a deo est effect io resqui). Thus as the 

 perfect monad, he is intrinsically and extrinsically the 

 whole, sustaining all things. There is on the one side 

 infinite goodness and infinite desire for its realisation, 



