We may, then, define chance as being an unexpected result flowing from a concurrence of causes where the several factors had some definite end.

But the meeting and concurrence of these causes arises from that inevitable chain of order which, flowing from the fountain-head of Providence, disposes all things in their due time and place.' SONG I.
CHANCE.
In the rugged Persian highlands, Where the masters of the bow Skill to feign a flight, and, fleeing, Hurl their darts and pierce the foe; There the Tigris and Euphrates At one source[O] their waters blend, Soon to draw apart, and plainward Each its separate way to wend.
When once more their waters mingle In a channel deep and wide, All the flotsam comes together That is borne upon the tide: Ships, and trunks of trees, uprooted In the torrent's wild career, Meet, as 'mid the swirling waters Chance their random way may steer.
Yet the shelving of the channel And the flowing water's force Guides each movement, and determines Every floating fragment's course.
Thus, where'er the drift of hazard Seems most unrestrained to flow, Chance herself is reined and bitted, And the curb of law doth know.
FOOTNOTES: [O] This is not, of course, literally true, though the Tigris and Euphrates rise in the same mountain district.
II.
'I am following needfully,' said I, 'and I agree that it is as thou sayest.

But in this series of linked causes is there any freedom left to our will, or does the chain of fate bind also the very motions of our souls ?' 'There is freedom,' said she; 'nor, indeed, can any creature be rational, unless he be endowed with free will.

For that which hath the natural use of reason has the faculty of discriminative judgment, and of itself distinguishes what is to be shunned or desired.

Now, everyone seeks what he judges desirable, and avoids what he thinks should be shunned.