"
"A very extraordinary thing, this!
"A very extraordinary thing, this!
Warner - World's Best Literature - v10 - Emp to Fro
I asked for the
papers, for they belong to Mr. Tengelyi: and it was for their sake
I surrendered, because I did not wish them to be burned; for
they are the notary's important papers. But I understand that
when left the hut there was no one by except the justice and
Mr. Catspaw; and the justice says that I had no papers. I most
humbly beseech the court to order the justice to give those
papers to the rightful owner. "
"May the devil take me by ounces, if I've seen the least rag
of paper! " cried Mr. Skinner.
«< Sir,"
» said Viola, "I am in your power: you may do with
me as you please; you may hang me if you like; but for God's
sake do not deny me the papers. I am under great obligations
to Mr. Tengelyi. He relieved my family in the time of their
distress; and I wish to show my gratitude by restoring those
papers to him.
I have come to suffer a disgraceful death — ”
"You impertinent dog! " cried Mr. Skinner: "how dare you
insinuate? how dare you say? how dare you I am insulted;
I insist on the court giving me satisfaction. ”
"I am in the hands of the court," said the prisoner.
me, kick me, torture me; but give me the papers! "
"I am sure it's a plot," whispered Mr. Catspaw to the as-
sessor. "Tengelyi declares that his diplomas are gone. Who
knows but he may be a patron of this fellow? "
"Nothing is more likely," replied the assessor.
"What, fellow! what, dog! do you mean to say that I stole
the papers? "
"All I say is, that I had the papers in my hands, and that
some person took them away. I wish the court would please to
"Beat
## p. 5491 (#51) ############################################
JOSEF EÖTVÖS
5491
examine the Pandurs, who will tell you that nobody was near
me but the justice and Mr. Catspaw. "
"This is indeed strange," murmured Mr. Kishlaki. Mr. Skin-
ner pushed his chair back, and cried:-
"The court cannot possibly suffer one of its members to be
accused of theft! "
"Yes, too much is too much," said Zatonyi, with a burst of
generous indignation; "if you do not revoke your words, and if
you do not ask their worships' pardon, we will send you to the
yard and have you whipped! "
Viola answered quietly that he was in their worships' power,
but that he would repeat what he had said to the last moment
of his life; and Zatonyi was just about to send the prisoner away
to be whipped, when Völgyeshy reminded him in Latin that the
Sixth Chapter of the Articles made not only prohibition of what
the assessor had been pleased to term "wheedling," but also of
threats and ill-treatment.
Baron Shoskuty remarked that the young lawyer's explanation
of the articles was sheer nonsense; for the prisoner would not be
under restraint if Mr. Völgyeshy's commentaries were accepted
as law. He might call the worshipful magistrates asses; nay, he
might even go to the length of beating them, without suffering
any other punishment than being hanged. This able rejoinder
induced the judges to reconsider Mr. Zatonyi's proposition to
inflict corporal punishment on the prisoner; and nobody can say
what would have come of it but for the firmness of Völgyeshy,
who protested that he would inform the lord-lieutenant and the
government of any act of violence to which they might subject
the culprit. This threat had its effect. Baron Shoskuty, indeed,
was heard to murmur against the impertinence of young men,
while Mr. Zatonyi made some edifying reflections about sneaking
informers; but this was all. No further mention was made of
the whipping.
While the above conversation was being carried on in a tongue
of which he could but catch the sounds and not the meaning,
Viola stood quietly by, although a lively interest in the words
and motions of the speakers was expressed in his face. Messrs.
Catspaw and Skinner conversed in a whisper. At length the
attorney turned round and addressed the court:
"As the prisoner has thought proper to accuse me," said
he, "it is but right that I should be allowed to ask him a few
## p. 5492 (#52) ############################################
5492
JOSEF EÖTVÖS
questions.
You said I was near you when you left the hut, did
Now tell me, did you see me at the time? "
you not?
"No, I did not; I was blind with the smoke and fire in the
hut; but the peasants told me that the two gentlemen were near
me, and I felt somebody snatch the papers from my hand. "
"Do you mean to say that the smoke in the hut was very
dense ? »
"I could not see through it; at times the flames were SO
fierce that they nearly blinded me. "
"But how did you manage to save the papers ? »
"They lay by my side on my bunda. I seized them and
took them out. They were wrapped in a blue handkerchief. "
I
"He speaks the truth," said Mr. Catspaw smiling; "or rather
he tells us what he believes to be the truth. He held something
in his hand, when he rushed from the hut more like a beast than
like a human creature, I assure you, my honorable friends.
was not at all sure whether it was not a weapon of defense; I
snatched it away, and on examination I identified it as a most
harmless handkerchief, which certainly was wrapped round some
soft substance. But," continued he, addressing the prisoner, "if
you fancy you saved the papers, my poor fellow, you are much
mistaken, indeed you are! My dear Mr. Skinner, pray fetch the
parcel which we took from Viola at the time of his capture. "
Mr. Skinner rose and left the room.
"The papers were in the handkerchief, I'll swear! " said Viola;
but his astonishment and rage were unbounded when the judge
returned with the parcel, which on examination was found to
contain a pair of cotton drawers. He knew it was the handker-
chief, the same in which he had wrapped the papers, and yet
they were not there! How could he prove that they had been
stolen ?
"I trust my honorable friends are convinced," said Mr. Cats-
paw,
"that the wretched man has no intention of imposing upon
the court. I believe, indeed, nothing can be more probable than
that he was possessed of Tengelyi's documents; and it is likewise
very probable that he intended to save those papers; but accord-
ing to his own statement, he was half blind with the fire and
smoke, and instead of the papers he took another parcel — some
other booty, perhaps. Nothing can be more natural- »
"Yes, indeed! " interposed Baron Shoskuty.
-you know! Awkward mistakes will happen.
"Nemo omnibus!
Perhaps you will
1
## p. 5493 (#53) ############################################
JOSEF EÖTVÖS
5493
be pleased to remember the fire in the house of the receiver of
revenues in the
county. The poor man was so bewildered
with fear that all he managed to get out of the house was a
pair of old boots. The whole of the government money was
burned. The visiting justices found the money-box empty-
empty, I say! All the bank-notes were burned, and nothing was
left but a small heap of ashes. "
"Gentlemen! —" said Viola at length; but Mr. Catspaw inter-
rupted him.
"I implore my honorable friends not to resent anything this
wretched creature may say! I am sure he speaks from his con-
science; nor is he deserving of chastisement. He is a prey to
what we lawyers term 'Ignorantia invincibilis'! »
"Of course! of course! " said Baron Shoskuty. "It's a legal
remedy, you know. "
"Gentlemen! " said the prisoner, “I am a poor condemned
criminal, but the judge and Mr. Catspaw are mighty men. And
I am doomed to appear this day before God's judgment seat!
What motive should I have for not telling you the truth? May
I be damned now and forever - yes, and may God punish my
children to the tenth generation · - if the papers were not in this
very cloth! "
-
"I told you so! " said Mr. Catspaw, still smiling. "I knew
it. This man is doting — 'borné,' to use a French term. He'd
say the same if we were to put him on the rack! - It's all very
natural," said he to the prisoner. "You've made a mistake,
that's all. Pray be reasonable, and consider, if you had brought
Mr. Tengelyi's papers from the hut, what reason could I or Mr.
Skinner have for refusing to produce them? "
"Of course! " said Baron Shoskuty. "What reason could
these gentlemen have? How is it possible to suppose such a
thing? "
Viola was silent. He stood lost in deep and gloomy thoughts.
At last he raised his head and asked that the attendants might
be sent away, adding, "I am in chains, and there are no less
than six of you. You are safe, I assure you. "
The room was cleared. Viola looked at Mr. Catspaw, and
said:
--
"What I have to tell you will astonish you all, except Mr.
Catspaw. I never wished to mention it, and I would not now
allow the servants to hear it; for my wife and children live at
## p. 5494 (#54) ############################################
5494
JOSEF EÖTVÖS
Tissaret, and the Retys may perhaps be induced to pity the
poor orphans. But if it is asked what reason the attorney can
have for not producing the notary's papers, I will simply say
that Mr. Catspaw is most likely to know his own mind and his
own reasons- and good reasons they must be- to induce him
to bribe somebody to steal the papers; for to tell you the truth,
it was he who planned the robbery. "
The attorney trembled.
"Really, this man is malicious! " cried he. "I am curious to
know what can induce him to accuse an honest man of such a
thing. "
"Don't listen to his nonsense! " said Baron Shoskuty.
But Mr. Völgyeshy insisted on the prisoner's being heard,
and Viola told them the history of the robbery, from the even-
ing on which he had listened to the attorney's conversation with
Lady Rety, to the night in which he seized the Jew in Ten-
gelyi's house, knocking him down, and fled with the papers.
The only circumstances which he did not mention were the fact
of his having been hid in the notary's house when Messrs. Cats-
paw and Skinner pursued him in Tissaret, and his conversations.
with the Liptaka and Peti. Mr. Catspaw listened with a smile
of mingled fear and contempt; and when Viola ceased speaking,
he asked for permission to put a few questions to the prisoner.
"Not, indeed," said he, "for the purpose of defending myself
or Lady Rety against so ridiculous an accusation; but merely to
convince this fellow of the holes, nay, of the large gaps, in his
abominable tissue of falsehoods. " And turning to Viola he
asked: :-
"Did you inform anybody of the conversation which you pre-
tend to have overheard between me and Lady Rety? "
"No, I did not. ”
"Pray consider my question. Is there any one to whom you
said that some one wished to steal the notary's papers? We
ought to know your associates. Now, did you not speak to Peti
the gipsy, or to that old hag the Liptaka? "
Viola persisted in denying the fact. He was too well aware
of the disastrous consequence this avowal would have for his
friends.
Mr. Catspaw went on.
"Where did you hide at the time we pursued you at Tis-
saret ? »
## p. 5495 (#55) ############################################
JOSEF EÖTVÖS
5495
Viola replied that he was not in Tissaret.
"Do you mean to say that you were not in the village? "
"No! "
The attorney sent for the old Liptaka, to whom he read her
depositions, from which it appeared that the prisoner attempted
to inform Tengelyi of the intended robbery.
"What do you say to this evidence? " added he.
"That it is true, every word of it. I'll swear to the truth of
my words! " said she.
"Viola has confessed," said Mr. Catspaw, "that he told you of
the matter when hiding in the notary's house, while we pursued
him through Tissaret. Is there any truth in this statement? "
The Liptaka, feeling convinced that Viola must have confessed
as much, said it was quite true, but that Tengelyi was ignorant
of the prisoner's presence. The old woman was sent away, and
Mr. Catspaw, turning to the court, asked triumphantly:-
"Did you ever hear of such impertinence? The prisoner pro-
tests that he did not inform anybody of the alleged intended rob-
bery; and the old woman swears that Viola did inform her, for
the purpose of cautioning the notary. Then again, the old woman
did not say anything to the notary, without having any ostensible
reason for not doing what she alleges she promised to do. The
prisoner will have it that he was not in Tissaret at the time we
pursued him; and the witness-why, gentlemen, the witness de-
poses that the subject in question was mentioned to her at that
very time.
I say, you great fool! if you had time for another
batch of lies, I would advise you to make out a better story.
But let us go on. Who told you that the Jew and Tzifra in-
tended to rob the notary? "
"I cannot answer that question," replied Viola.
"Indeed? What a pity! I'd like to know the gentleman who
gives you such correct information; unless, indeed, you keep a
'familiaris,' —a devil, I mean. "
"The only thing I told you was that I knew of the robbery. ”
"But how did you know of it? "
"The Jew and Tzifra talked about it in the pot-house near
Dustbury. "
"Were you present? Did you hear them? "
"No; I had it from a friend. "
"I'm sure it was your familiaris,' your devil,-your artful
dodger! " said Mr. Catspaw smiling; "but since you knew that
## p. 5496 (#56) ############################################
5496
JOSEF EÖTVÖS
the robbery was to take place, why did you not inform the just-
ice of it? ”
"I was outlawed; a prize was offered for my head. "
"Indeed, so it was; but your friend-why did not he inform
the proper authorities? Was he also wanted? and if so, why did
he not inform Tengelyi, or Mr. Vandory, who I understand has
likewise lost his papers? "
"I cannot tell you. Perhaps he did not find the notary. At
all events, he knew that I would prevent the robbery, so he
told me of it.
"
"A very extraordinary thing, this! " said Mr. Catspaw; "for
a man to apply to a robber with a view to prevent a robbery!
And you wanted to prevent the robbery, did you not? Now tell
me, did you set about it by yourself? And what became of
your comrade-I mean the man who told you about it? Did he
too go to Tissaret ? "
"There was no occasion for it. "
«< Still, it is very extraordinary that you should not have hunted
in couples, knowing as you did that there were two men to com-
mit the robbery. What a capital thing for you, if you could
summon your comrades to explain it all! For if some went to
Tissaret to prevent the robbery, there can be no harm in our
knowing who your comrade is. He ought to be rewarded for his
zeal. "
"I had no comrade.
I was alone," said Viola.
"Very well, you were alone; let it be so. Whom did you see
in the notary's house? "
No one but the Jew; he who is now waiting in the hall. "
"Did you see Tzifra? »
«No.
The Jew was alone in the house. "
«< But the Jew swears that it was you who committed the
robbery!
"I don't care. I've said what I've said. "
"Is there anything else you have to say? "
"No. "
>>
"Very well.
I've done with you," said the attorney, as he
rang for the servants.
"Take him away," said he, as the haiduks made their appear-
ance. Viola turned round and left the room.
## p. 5497 (#57) ############################################
5497
EPICTETUS
(FIRST CENTURY A. D. ? )
BY THOMAS WENTWORTH HIGGINSON
F THE three great authors among the later Stoics, Marcus
Aurelius Antoninus offers the most cultivated literary flavor,
Seneca the most varied and discursive knowledge, and Epic-
tetus the simplest and most practical tonic. As compared with the
two other writers, Epictetus shortens his sword; that is, his sentences.
They have the merit which Thoreau set above all others: they are
"concentrated and witty. " Some of them have attained to the rank of
proverbs,— that is, of being quoted by those who never heard of the
author; as when men say, "All things have two handles; beware of
the wrong one," which is not the precise phrase used by Epictetus,
but comes very near it. What is more essential than any matter of
language is that he, like the other later Stoics, and even more than
the rest of these, had outgrown the earlier tradition of their pred-
ecessors and recognized human feeling. In this respect, indeed, he
went further than many Christian teachers. When Cardinal Manning
was on his way to Rome, after his conversion, he lost his portman-
teau containing family letters. The moral lesson to be drawn from
this is thus noted in his diary: "To be dead to earthly and natural
affections. " Epictetus, although a Stoic by profession and practice,
would not have gone so far.
The system of Epictetus is not hard to grasp, for it is very sim-
ple, and wholly practical. All objects, all events, in short, every-
thing earthly, may be divided into classes: the things which are
within our own control and the things over which we have no con-
trol. We must live for the one class - the things controllable; and
must hold the other as absolutely secondary. All possessions that
come to us from without, all joys, even those of domestic happiness,
are beyond our own control and must be held as loans, not as gifts;
the inward life is apart from these and goes on the same, whether
they come or go, and this alone we can control. Children are dear,
love is real, God is good; but we must acquiesce quietly in the loss
of every human joy at the word of command, and never murmur.
There is no hardness, as of the elder Stoics; no jaunty refusal of per-
sonal ties, as with Epicurus; behind the brief, terse maxims of this
slave-philosopher there is an atmosphere of love and faith. It even
## p. 5498 (#58) ############################################
5498
EPICTETUS
meets curiously the maxims of some of the mystics. It teaches
humility, unselfishness, forgiveness, trust in Providence. "What is
the first business of one who studies philosophy? To part with self-
conceit. " The philosopher, "when beaten, must love those who beat
him. " There is a special chapter, headed "That we ought not to be
angry with the erring. " "All is full of beloved ones
by na-
ture endeared to one another. " "Who is there, whom bright and
agreeable children do not attract to play and creep and prattle with
them ? » In several places he speaks with contempt of suicide;
although he vindicates Divine providence by showing that we are not
forcibly held down to a life of sorrow, since we always keep the
power of exit in our own hands. To make this exit, at any rate, is
but the cowardice of a moment, while a life of wailing is prolonged
cowardice. *
There is absolutely no hair-splitting, no cloud of metaphysics. He
does not aim at these things; he bears hard on all pretenders to
abstract philosophy, and brings all to a strict practical test. Even
the man who professes such a modest practical philosophy as his own
must bring it constantly to the proof. "It is not reasonings that are
wanted now," he says; "for there are books stuffed full of Stoical
reasonings. What is wanted, then? The man who shall apply them;
whose actions may bear testimony to his doctrines. Assume this
character for one, that we may no longer make use in the schools of
the examples of the ancients, and may have some examples of our
own. " Elsewhere, in a similar spirit, he spurns the thought of meas-
uring virtue by the mere degree of familiarity with some great
teacher. He refers, for instance to Chrysippus, who was accepted as
the highest authority among the later Stoics, although not one of his
seven hundred volumes has come down to the present age. "Who is
in a state of progress? He who has best studied Chrysippus? Does
virtue consist in having read Chrysippus through? . . . Show me
your progress! As if I should say to a wrestler, Show me your
muscle! ' and he should answer, 'See my dumb-bells. '-'Your dumb-
bells are your own affair; I desire to see the effect of them. » «The
only real thing," he adds, "is to study how to rid life of lamentation
and complaint, and 'Alas! ' and 'I am undone! ' and misfortune and
failure. " Thus at every step Epictetus brings us resolutely down to
real life; let others, if they will, rest in the clouds.
He thus leaves, it may be, some of the loftiest spiritual heights
and the profoundest intellectual processes to others; no man can do
*The passages here cited may be found in Higginson's Discourses of
Epictetus. (Revised Edition: Boston, 1891. )
+ Ibid.
## p. 5499 (#59) ############################################
EPICTETUS
5499
everything. Yet he has found readers at all periods, alike among
men of thought and men of action. Marcus Aurelius ranked him
with Socrates, and Origen thought that his writings had done more
good than those of Plato. In modern times, Niebuhr has said of
him, "Epictetus's greatness cannot be questioned, and it is impossi-
ble for any person of sound mind not to be charmed by his works. "
Toussaint L'Ouverture, the black patriot and general, kept this book
by him; and one of the most delightful of modern actresses has the
same habit. There is something extremely interesting in the thought
that a Phrygian slave should have uttered thoughts which thus kept
their hold for eighteen hundred years upon minds thus widely vary-
ing.
Little is known of Epictetus personally, except that he was prob-
ably born at Hierapolis in Phrygia, and that he was the slave of
Epaphroditus, a freedman of Nero, living in Rome in the first cen-
tury of our era. Origen preserves an anecdote of him, that when his
master once put his leg in the torture, Epictetus quietly said, "You
will break my leg! " and when this happened he added in the same
tone, "Did I not tell you so? » Becoming in some way free, he lived
afterwards at Rome, teaching philosophy. According to his commen-
tator Simplicius, he lived so frugally that the whole furniture of his
house consisted of a bed, a cooking vessel, and a lamp; and Lucian
ridiculed a man who bought the latter, after the death of Epictetus,
in hopes to become a philosopher by using it. When Domitian ban-
ished the philosophers from Rome, Epictetus returned to Nicopolis,
a city of Epirus, and taught in the same way there; still living in
his frugal way, but adopting a child whose parents had abandoned it.
He suffered greatly from lameness. After Hadrian became emperor
(A. D. 117), Epictetus was treated with favor, but did not return to
Rome. In his later life his discourses were written down by his dis-
ciple Arrian. Only four of the original eight books are extant. This,
with the Enchiridion,' a more condensed and aphoristic work, and a
few fragments preserved as quotations by various authors, are all
that we know of his teachings. Even the date of his death is un-
known; but he wrote his own epitaph in two lines, preserved by
Aulus Gellius (B. ii. , Chap. 18): "Epictetus, a slave, maimed in body,
an Irus in poverty, and favored by the Immortals. "
His works have gone through many editions and a variety of
translations, of which that of Elizabeth Carter - Dr. Johnson's friend,
and pronounced by him to be the best Greek scholar in England -
has been most popular, being many times reprinted. It was some-
what formal and archaic in style, however, and was followed by that
of Long, which was however the work of that author's old age, was
somewhat stiff and cramped in style, and not nearly so readable as
## p. 5500 (#60) ############################################
5500
EPICTETUS
his Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. In the sixth century an elaborate
commentary on the Enchiridion' was written in Greek, by Sim-
plicius. This was translated into English by Stanhope, and was in
turn made the text for a commentary, longer than itself, by Milton's
well-known adversary Salmasius.
Tow. Higginson
FROM THE DISCOURSES
Selections from Higginson's Discourses of Epictetus,' Revised Edition,
Boston, 1891
THE DIVINE SUPERVISION
WHE
HEN a person asked him how any one might be convinced
that his every act is under the supervision of God: "Do
you not think," said Epictetus, "that all things are mutu-
ally connected and united? »
"I do. "
"Well, and do not you think that things on earth feel the
influence of the Heavenly powers? "
"Yes. "
"Else how is it that in their season, as if by express com-
mand, God bids the plants to blossom and they blossom, to bud
and they bud, to bear fruit and they bear it, to ripen it and they
ripen; and when again he bids them drop their leaves, and with-
drawing into themselves to rest and wait, they rest and wait?
Whence again are there seen, on the increase and decrease of the
moon, and the approach and departure of the sun, so great
changes and transformations in earthly things? Have then the
very leaves, and our own bodies, this connection and sympathy
with the whole; and have not our souls much more?
But our
souls are thus connected and intimately joined to God, as being
indeed members and distinct portions of his essence; and must
he not be sensible of every movement of them, as belonging and
connatural to himself? Can even you think of the Divine admin-
istration, and every other Divine subject, and together with these
of human affairs also; can you at once receive impressions on
your senses and your understanding from a thousand objects;
at once assent to some things, deny or suspend your judgment.
## p. 5501 (#61) ############################################
EPICTETUS
5501
concerning others, and preserve in your mind impressions from
so many and various objects, by whose aid you can revert to
ideas similar to those which first impressed you? Can you retain
a variety of arts and the memorials of ten thousand things?
And is not God capable of surveying all things, and being pres-
ent with all, and in communication with all? Is the sun capable
of illuminating so great a portion of the universe, and of leaving
only that small part of it unilluminated which is covered by the
shadow of the earth; and cannot He who made and moves the
sun, a small part of himself if compared with the whole,- cannot
he perceive all things?
"But I cannot,' say you, 'attend to all things at once. ' Who
asserts that you have equal power with Zeus? Nevertheless, he
has assigned to each man a director, his own good genius, and
committed him to that guardianship,- a director sleepless and
not to be deceived. To what better and more careful guardian
could he have committed each one of us? So that when you
have shut your doors and darkened your room, remember never
to say that you are alone; for you are not alone, but God is
within, and your genius is within; and what need have they of
light to see what you are doing? To this God you likewise
ought to swear such an oath as the soldiers do to Cæsar. For
they, in order to receive their pay, swear to prefer before all
things the safety of Cæsar: and will you not swear, who have
received so many and so great favors; or if you have sworn, will
you not fulfill the oath? And what must you swear? Never to
distrust, nor accuse, nor murmur at any of the things appointed
by him; nor to shrink from doing or enduring that which is in-
evitable. Is this oath like the former? In the first oath persons
swear never to dishonor Cæsar; by the last, never to dishonor
themselves. "
CONCERNING PROVIDENCE
"ARE these the only works of Providence with regard to us?
And what speech can fitly celebrate their praise? For if we had
any understanding, ought we not, both in public and in private,
incessantly to sing and praise the Deity, and rehearse his ben-
efits? Ought we not, whether we dig or plow or eat, to sing
this hymn to God:- Great is God, who has supplied us with
these instruments to till the ground; great is God, who has given
us hands and organs of digestion; who has given us to grow
## p. 5502 (#62) ############################################
EPICTETUS
5502
insensibly, to breathe in sleep? These things we ought forever
to celebrate; and to make it the theme of the greatest and
divinest hymn, that he has given us the power to appreciate
these gifts, and to use them well. But because the most of you
are blind and insensible, there must be some one to fill this sta-
tion, and lead, in behalf of all men, the hymn to God; for what
else can I do, a lame old man, but sing hymns to God? Were
I a nightingale, I would act the part of a nightingale; were I a
swan, the part of a swan; but since I am a reasonable creature,
it is my duty to praise God. This is my business; I do it; nor
will I ever desert this post, so long as it is permitted me: and I
call on you to join in the same song. "
CONCERNING PARENTAGE
WHY do you, Epicurus, dissuade a wise man from bringing up
children? Why are you afraid that upon their account he may
fall into anxieties? Does he fall into any for a mouse that feeds
Iwithin his house? What is it to him if a little mouse bewails
itself there? But Epicurus knew that if once a child is born, it
is no longer in our power not to love and be solicitous for it.
On the same grounds he says that a wise man will not engage
himself in public business, knowing very well what must follow.
If men are only so many flies, why should he not engage in it?
And does he, who knows all this, dare to forbid us to bring
up children? Not even a sheep or a wolf deserts its offspring;
and shall man? What would you have,- that we should be as
silly as sheep? Yet even these do not desert their offspring.
Or as savage as wolves? Neither do these desert them. Pray,
who would mind you, if he saw his child fallen upon the ground
and crying? For my part, I am of opinion that your father and
mother, even if they could have foreseen that you would have
been the author of such doctrines, would not have thrown you
away.
CONCERNING DIFFICULTIES
DIFFICULTIES are things that show what men are. For the
future, in case of any difficulty, remember that God, like a gym-
nastic trainer, has pitted you against a rough antagonist. For
what end? That you may be an Olympic conqueror; and this
cannot be without toil. No man, in my opinion, has a more
## p. 5503 (#63) ############################################
EPICTETUS
5503
profitable difficulty on his hands than you have, provided you
will but use it as an athletic champion uses his antagonist.
ppose we were to send you as a scout to Rome.
But no
one ever sends a timorous scout, who when he only hears a noise
or sees a shadow runs back frightened, and says, "The enemy is
at hand. " So now if you should come and tell us: "Things are
in a fearful way at Rome; death is terrible, banishment terrible,
calumny terrible, poverty terrible; run, good people, the enemy is
at hand;" we will answer, Get you gone, and prophesy for your-
self; our only fault is that we have sent such a scout. Diogenes
was sent as a scout before you, but he told us other tidings.
He says that death is no evil, for it is nothing base; that cal-
umny is only the noise of madmen. And what account did this
spy give us of pain, of pleasure, of poverty? He says that to
be naked is better than a purple robe; to sleep upon the bare
ground, the softest bed; and gives a proof of all he says by his
own courage, tranquillity, and freedom, and moreover by a healthy
and robust body. "There is no enemy near," he says; "all is pro-
found peace. " How so, Diogenes? "Look upon me," he says.
“Am I hurt ? Am I wounded? Have I run away from any
one? " This is a scout worth having. But you come and tell us
one tale after another. Go back and look more carefully, and
without fear.
WORDS AND DEEDS
"PRAY, see how I compose dialogues. "
Talk not of that, man, but rather be able to say: See how I
accomplish my purposes; see how I avert what I wish to shun.
Set death before me; set pain, a prison, disgrace, doom, and you
will know me. This should be the pride of a young man come
out from the schools. Leave the rest to others. Let no one ever
hear you waste a word upon them, nor suffer it, if any one com-
mends you for them; but admit that you are nobody, and that
you know nothing. Appear to know only this, never to fail nor
fall. Let others study cases, problems, and syllogisms. Do you
rather contemplate death, change, torture, exile; and all these
with courage, and reliance upon Him who hath called you to
them, and judged you worthy a post in which you may show
what reason can do when it encounters the inevitable.
―――
## p. 5504 (#64) ############################################
EPICTETUS
5504
OF TRANQUILLITY
CONSIDER, you who are about to undergo trial, what you wish
to preserve, and in what to succeed. For if you wish to preserve
a mind in harmony with nature, you are entirely safe; every-
thing goes well; you have no trouble on your hands. While you
wish to preserve that freedom which belongs to you, and are con-
tented with that, for what have you longer to be anxious? For
who is the master of things like these?
papers, for they belong to Mr. Tengelyi: and it was for their sake
I surrendered, because I did not wish them to be burned; for
they are the notary's important papers. But I understand that
when left the hut there was no one by except the justice and
Mr. Catspaw; and the justice says that I had no papers. I most
humbly beseech the court to order the justice to give those
papers to the rightful owner. "
"May the devil take me by ounces, if I've seen the least rag
of paper! " cried Mr. Skinner.
«< Sir,"
» said Viola, "I am in your power: you may do with
me as you please; you may hang me if you like; but for God's
sake do not deny me the papers. I am under great obligations
to Mr. Tengelyi. He relieved my family in the time of their
distress; and I wish to show my gratitude by restoring those
papers to him.
I have come to suffer a disgraceful death — ”
"You impertinent dog! " cried Mr. Skinner: "how dare you
insinuate? how dare you say? how dare you I am insulted;
I insist on the court giving me satisfaction. ”
"I am in the hands of the court," said the prisoner.
me, kick me, torture me; but give me the papers! "
"I am sure it's a plot," whispered Mr. Catspaw to the as-
sessor. "Tengelyi declares that his diplomas are gone. Who
knows but he may be a patron of this fellow? "
"Nothing is more likely," replied the assessor.
"What, fellow! what, dog! do you mean to say that I stole
the papers? "
"All I say is, that I had the papers in my hands, and that
some person took them away. I wish the court would please to
"Beat
## p. 5491 (#51) ############################################
JOSEF EÖTVÖS
5491
examine the Pandurs, who will tell you that nobody was near
me but the justice and Mr. Catspaw. "
"This is indeed strange," murmured Mr. Kishlaki. Mr. Skin-
ner pushed his chair back, and cried:-
"The court cannot possibly suffer one of its members to be
accused of theft! "
"Yes, too much is too much," said Zatonyi, with a burst of
generous indignation; "if you do not revoke your words, and if
you do not ask their worships' pardon, we will send you to the
yard and have you whipped! "
Viola answered quietly that he was in their worships' power,
but that he would repeat what he had said to the last moment
of his life; and Zatonyi was just about to send the prisoner away
to be whipped, when Völgyeshy reminded him in Latin that the
Sixth Chapter of the Articles made not only prohibition of what
the assessor had been pleased to term "wheedling," but also of
threats and ill-treatment.
Baron Shoskuty remarked that the young lawyer's explanation
of the articles was sheer nonsense; for the prisoner would not be
under restraint if Mr. Völgyeshy's commentaries were accepted
as law. He might call the worshipful magistrates asses; nay, he
might even go to the length of beating them, without suffering
any other punishment than being hanged. This able rejoinder
induced the judges to reconsider Mr. Zatonyi's proposition to
inflict corporal punishment on the prisoner; and nobody can say
what would have come of it but for the firmness of Völgyeshy,
who protested that he would inform the lord-lieutenant and the
government of any act of violence to which they might subject
the culprit. This threat had its effect. Baron Shoskuty, indeed,
was heard to murmur against the impertinence of young men,
while Mr. Zatonyi made some edifying reflections about sneaking
informers; but this was all. No further mention was made of
the whipping.
While the above conversation was being carried on in a tongue
of which he could but catch the sounds and not the meaning,
Viola stood quietly by, although a lively interest in the words
and motions of the speakers was expressed in his face. Messrs.
Catspaw and Skinner conversed in a whisper. At length the
attorney turned round and addressed the court:
"As the prisoner has thought proper to accuse me," said
he, "it is but right that I should be allowed to ask him a few
## p. 5492 (#52) ############################################
5492
JOSEF EÖTVÖS
questions.
You said I was near you when you left the hut, did
Now tell me, did you see me at the time? "
you not?
"No, I did not; I was blind with the smoke and fire in the
hut; but the peasants told me that the two gentlemen were near
me, and I felt somebody snatch the papers from my hand. "
"Do you mean to say that the smoke in the hut was very
dense ? »
"I could not see through it; at times the flames were SO
fierce that they nearly blinded me. "
"But how did you manage to save the papers ? »
"They lay by my side on my bunda. I seized them and
took them out. They were wrapped in a blue handkerchief. "
I
"He speaks the truth," said Mr. Catspaw smiling; "or rather
he tells us what he believes to be the truth. He held something
in his hand, when he rushed from the hut more like a beast than
like a human creature, I assure you, my honorable friends.
was not at all sure whether it was not a weapon of defense; I
snatched it away, and on examination I identified it as a most
harmless handkerchief, which certainly was wrapped round some
soft substance. But," continued he, addressing the prisoner, "if
you fancy you saved the papers, my poor fellow, you are much
mistaken, indeed you are! My dear Mr. Skinner, pray fetch the
parcel which we took from Viola at the time of his capture. "
Mr. Skinner rose and left the room.
"The papers were in the handkerchief, I'll swear! " said Viola;
but his astonishment and rage were unbounded when the judge
returned with the parcel, which on examination was found to
contain a pair of cotton drawers. He knew it was the handker-
chief, the same in which he had wrapped the papers, and yet
they were not there! How could he prove that they had been
stolen ?
"I trust my honorable friends are convinced," said Mr. Cats-
paw,
"that the wretched man has no intention of imposing upon
the court. I believe, indeed, nothing can be more probable than
that he was possessed of Tengelyi's documents; and it is likewise
very probable that he intended to save those papers; but accord-
ing to his own statement, he was half blind with the fire and
smoke, and instead of the papers he took another parcel — some
other booty, perhaps. Nothing can be more natural- »
"Yes, indeed! " interposed Baron Shoskuty.
-you know! Awkward mistakes will happen.
"Nemo omnibus!
Perhaps you will
1
## p. 5493 (#53) ############################################
JOSEF EÖTVÖS
5493
be pleased to remember the fire in the house of the receiver of
revenues in the
county. The poor man was so bewildered
with fear that all he managed to get out of the house was a
pair of old boots. The whole of the government money was
burned. The visiting justices found the money-box empty-
empty, I say! All the bank-notes were burned, and nothing was
left but a small heap of ashes. "
"Gentlemen! —" said Viola at length; but Mr. Catspaw inter-
rupted him.
"I implore my honorable friends not to resent anything this
wretched creature may say! I am sure he speaks from his con-
science; nor is he deserving of chastisement. He is a prey to
what we lawyers term 'Ignorantia invincibilis'! »
"Of course! of course! " said Baron Shoskuty. "It's a legal
remedy, you know. "
"Gentlemen! " said the prisoner, “I am a poor condemned
criminal, but the judge and Mr. Catspaw are mighty men. And
I am doomed to appear this day before God's judgment seat!
What motive should I have for not telling you the truth? May
I be damned now and forever - yes, and may God punish my
children to the tenth generation · - if the papers were not in this
very cloth! "
-
"I told you so! " said Mr. Catspaw, still smiling. "I knew
it. This man is doting — 'borné,' to use a French term. He'd
say the same if we were to put him on the rack! - It's all very
natural," said he to the prisoner. "You've made a mistake,
that's all. Pray be reasonable, and consider, if you had brought
Mr. Tengelyi's papers from the hut, what reason could I or Mr.
Skinner have for refusing to produce them? "
"Of course! " said Baron Shoskuty. "What reason could
these gentlemen have? How is it possible to suppose such a
thing? "
Viola was silent. He stood lost in deep and gloomy thoughts.
At last he raised his head and asked that the attendants might
be sent away, adding, "I am in chains, and there are no less
than six of you. You are safe, I assure you. "
The room was cleared. Viola looked at Mr. Catspaw, and
said:
--
"What I have to tell you will astonish you all, except Mr.
Catspaw. I never wished to mention it, and I would not now
allow the servants to hear it; for my wife and children live at
## p. 5494 (#54) ############################################
5494
JOSEF EÖTVÖS
Tissaret, and the Retys may perhaps be induced to pity the
poor orphans. But if it is asked what reason the attorney can
have for not producing the notary's papers, I will simply say
that Mr. Catspaw is most likely to know his own mind and his
own reasons- and good reasons they must be- to induce him
to bribe somebody to steal the papers; for to tell you the truth,
it was he who planned the robbery. "
The attorney trembled.
"Really, this man is malicious! " cried he. "I am curious to
know what can induce him to accuse an honest man of such a
thing. "
"Don't listen to his nonsense! " said Baron Shoskuty.
But Mr. Völgyeshy insisted on the prisoner's being heard,
and Viola told them the history of the robbery, from the even-
ing on which he had listened to the attorney's conversation with
Lady Rety, to the night in which he seized the Jew in Ten-
gelyi's house, knocking him down, and fled with the papers.
The only circumstances which he did not mention were the fact
of his having been hid in the notary's house when Messrs. Cats-
paw and Skinner pursued him in Tissaret, and his conversations.
with the Liptaka and Peti. Mr. Catspaw listened with a smile
of mingled fear and contempt; and when Viola ceased speaking,
he asked for permission to put a few questions to the prisoner.
"Not, indeed," said he, "for the purpose of defending myself
or Lady Rety against so ridiculous an accusation; but merely to
convince this fellow of the holes, nay, of the large gaps, in his
abominable tissue of falsehoods. " And turning to Viola he
asked: :-
"Did you inform anybody of the conversation which you pre-
tend to have overheard between me and Lady Rety? "
"No, I did not. ”
"Pray consider my question. Is there any one to whom you
said that some one wished to steal the notary's papers? We
ought to know your associates. Now, did you not speak to Peti
the gipsy, or to that old hag the Liptaka? "
Viola persisted in denying the fact. He was too well aware
of the disastrous consequence this avowal would have for his
friends.
Mr. Catspaw went on.
"Where did you hide at the time we pursued you at Tis-
saret ? »
## p. 5495 (#55) ############################################
JOSEF EÖTVÖS
5495
Viola replied that he was not in Tissaret.
"Do you mean to say that you were not in the village? "
"No! "
The attorney sent for the old Liptaka, to whom he read her
depositions, from which it appeared that the prisoner attempted
to inform Tengelyi of the intended robbery.
"What do you say to this evidence? " added he.
"That it is true, every word of it. I'll swear to the truth of
my words! " said she.
"Viola has confessed," said Mr. Catspaw, "that he told you of
the matter when hiding in the notary's house, while we pursued
him through Tissaret. Is there any truth in this statement? "
The Liptaka, feeling convinced that Viola must have confessed
as much, said it was quite true, but that Tengelyi was ignorant
of the prisoner's presence. The old woman was sent away, and
Mr. Catspaw, turning to the court, asked triumphantly:-
"Did you ever hear of such impertinence? The prisoner pro-
tests that he did not inform anybody of the alleged intended rob-
bery; and the old woman swears that Viola did inform her, for
the purpose of cautioning the notary. Then again, the old woman
did not say anything to the notary, without having any ostensible
reason for not doing what she alleges she promised to do. The
prisoner will have it that he was not in Tissaret at the time we
pursued him; and the witness-why, gentlemen, the witness de-
poses that the subject in question was mentioned to her at that
very time.
I say, you great fool! if you had time for another
batch of lies, I would advise you to make out a better story.
But let us go on. Who told you that the Jew and Tzifra in-
tended to rob the notary? "
"I cannot answer that question," replied Viola.
"Indeed? What a pity! I'd like to know the gentleman who
gives you such correct information; unless, indeed, you keep a
'familiaris,' —a devil, I mean. "
"The only thing I told you was that I knew of the robbery. ”
"But how did you know of it? "
"The Jew and Tzifra talked about it in the pot-house near
Dustbury. "
"Were you present? Did you hear them? "
"No; I had it from a friend. "
"I'm sure it was your familiaris,' your devil,-your artful
dodger! " said Mr. Catspaw smiling; "but since you knew that
## p. 5496 (#56) ############################################
5496
JOSEF EÖTVÖS
the robbery was to take place, why did you not inform the just-
ice of it? ”
"I was outlawed; a prize was offered for my head. "
"Indeed, so it was; but your friend-why did not he inform
the proper authorities? Was he also wanted? and if so, why did
he not inform Tengelyi, or Mr. Vandory, who I understand has
likewise lost his papers? "
"I cannot tell you. Perhaps he did not find the notary. At
all events, he knew that I would prevent the robbery, so he
told me of it.
"
"A very extraordinary thing, this! " said Mr. Catspaw; "for
a man to apply to a robber with a view to prevent a robbery!
And you wanted to prevent the robbery, did you not? Now tell
me, did you set about it by yourself? And what became of
your comrade-I mean the man who told you about it? Did he
too go to Tissaret ? "
"There was no occasion for it. "
«< Still, it is very extraordinary that you should not have hunted
in couples, knowing as you did that there were two men to com-
mit the robbery. What a capital thing for you, if you could
summon your comrades to explain it all! For if some went to
Tissaret to prevent the robbery, there can be no harm in our
knowing who your comrade is. He ought to be rewarded for his
zeal. "
"I had no comrade.
I was alone," said Viola.
"Very well, you were alone; let it be so. Whom did you see
in the notary's house? "
No one but the Jew; he who is now waiting in the hall. "
"Did you see Tzifra? »
«No.
The Jew was alone in the house. "
«< But the Jew swears that it was you who committed the
robbery!
"I don't care. I've said what I've said. "
"Is there anything else you have to say? "
"No. "
>>
"Very well.
I've done with you," said the attorney, as he
rang for the servants.
"Take him away," said he, as the haiduks made their appear-
ance. Viola turned round and left the room.
## p. 5497 (#57) ############################################
5497
EPICTETUS
(FIRST CENTURY A. D. ? )
BY THOMAS WENTWORTH HIGGINSON
F THE three great authors among the later Stoics, Marcus
Aurelius Antoninus offers the most cultivated literary flavor,
Seneca the most varied and discursive knowledge, and Epic-
tetus the simplest and most practical tonic. As compared with the
two other writers, Epictetus shortens his sword; that is, his sentences.
They have the merit which Thoreau set above all others: they are
"concentrated and witty. " Some of them have attained to the rank of
proverbs,— that is, of being quoted by those who never heard of the
author; as when men say, "All things have two handles; beware of
the wrong one," which is not the precise phrase used by Epictetus,
but comes very near it. What is more essential than any matter of
language is that he, like the other later Stoics, and even more than
the rest of these, had outgrown the earlier tradition of their pred-
ecessors and recognized human feeling. In this respect, indeed, he
went further than many Christian teachers. When Cardinal Manning
was on his way to Rome, after his conversion, he lost his portman-
teau containing family letters. The moral lesson to be drawn from
this is thus noted in his diary: "To be dead to earthly and natural
affections. " Epictetus, although a Stoic by profession and practice,
would not have gone so far.
The system of Epictetus is not hard to grasp, for it is very sim-
ple, and wholly practical. All objects, all events, in short, every-
thing earthly, may be divided into classes: the things which are
within our own control and the things over which we have no con-
trol. We must live for the one class - the things controllable; and
must hold the other as absolutely secondary. All possessions that
come to us from without, all joys, even those of domestic happiness,
are beyond our own control and must be held as loans, not as gifts;
the inward life is apart from these and goes on the same, whether
they come or go, and this alone we can control. Children are dear,
love is real, God is good; but we must acquiesce quietly in the loss
of every human joy at the word of command, and never murmur.
There is no hardness, as of the elder Stoics; no jaunty refusal of per-
sonal ties, as with Epicurus; behind the brief, terse maxims of this
slave-philosopher there is an atmosphere of love and faith. It even
## p. 5498 (#58) ############################################
5498
EPICTETUS
meets curiously the maxims of some of the mystics. It teaches
humility, unselfishness, forgiveness, trust in Providence. "What is
the first business of one who studies philosophy? To part with self-
conceit. " The philosopher, "when beaten, must love those who beat
him. " There is a special chapter, headed "That we ought not to be
angry with the erring. " "All is full of beloved ones
by na-
ture endeared to one another. " "Who is there, whom bright and
agreeable children do not attract to play and creep and prattle with
them ? » In several places he speaks with contempt of suicide;
although he vindicates Divine providence by showing that we are not
forcibly held down to a life of sorrow, since we always keep the
power of exit in our own hands. To make this exit, at any rate, is
but the cowardice of a moment, while a life of wailing is prolonged
cowardice. *
There is absolutely no hair-splitting, no cloud of metaphysics. He
does not aim at these things; he bears hard on all pretenders to
abstract philosophy, and brings all to a strict practical test. Even
the man who professes such a modest practical philosophy as his own
must bring it constantly to the proof. "It is not reasonings that are
wanted now," he says; "for there are books stuffed full of Stoical
reasonings. What is wanted, then? The man who shall apply them;
whose actions may bear testimony to his doctrines. Assume this
character for one, that we may no longer make use in the schools of
the examples of the ancients, and may have some examples of our
own. " Elsewhere, in a similar spirit, he spurns the thought of meas-
uring virtue by the mere degree of familiarity with some great
teacher. He refers, for instance to Chrysippus, who was accepted as
the highest authority among the later Stoics, although not one of his
seven hundred volumes has come down to the present age. "Who is
in a state of progress? He who has best studied Chrysippus? Does
virtue consist in having read Chrysippus through? . . . Show me
your progress! As if I should say to a wrestler, Show me your
muscle! ' and he should answer, 'See my dumb-bells. '-'Your dumb-
bells are your own affair; I desire to see the effect of them. » «The
only real thing," he adds, "is to study how to rid life of lamentation
and complaint, and 'Alas! ' and 'I am undone! ' and misfortune and
failure. " Thus at every step Epictetus brings us resolutely down to
real life; let others, if they will, rest in the clouds.
He thus leaves, it may be, some of the loftiest spiritual heights
and the profoundest intellectual processes to others; no man can do
*The passages here cited may be found in Higginson's Discourses of
Epictetus. (Revised Edition: Boston, 1891. )
+ Ibid.
## p. 5499 (#59) ############################################
EPICTETUS
5499
everything. Yet he has found readers at all periods, alike among
men of thought and men of action. Marcus Aurelius ranked him
with Socrates, and Origen thought that his writings had done more
good than those of Plato. In modern times, Niebuhr has said of
him, "Epictetus's greatness cannot be questioned, and it is impossi-
ble for any person of sound mind not to be charmed by his works. "
Toussaint L'Ouverture, the black patriot and general, kept this book
by him; and one of the most delightful of modern actresses has the
same habit. There is something extremely interesting in the thought
that a Phrygian slave should have uttered thoughts which thus kept
their hold for eighteen hundred years upon minds thus widely vary-
ing.
Little is known of Epictetus personally, except that he was prob-
ably born at Hierapolis in Phrygia, and that he was the slave of
Epaphroditus, a freedman of Nero, living in Rome in the first cen-
tury of our era. Origen preserves an anecdote of him, that when his
master once put his leg in the torture, Epictetus quietly said, "You
will break my leg! " and when this happened he added in the same
tone, "Did I not tell you so? » Becoming in some way free, he lived
afterwards at Rome, teaching philosophy. According to his commen-
tator Simplicius, he lived so frugally that the whole furniture of his
house consisted of a bed, a cooking vessel, and a lamp; and Lucian
ridiculed a man who bought the latter, after the death of Epictetus,
in hopes to become a philosopher by using it. When Domitian ban-
ished the philosophers from Rome, Epictetus returned to Nicopolis,
a city of Epirus, and taught in the same way there; still living in
his frugal way, but adopting a child whose parents had abandoned it.
He suffered greatly from lameness. After Hadrian became emperor
(A. D. 117), Epictetus was treated with favor, but did not return to
Rome. In his later life his discourses were written down by his dis-
ciple Arrian. Only four of the original eight books are extant. This,
with the Enchiridion,' a more condensed and aphoristic work, and a
few fragments preserved as quotations by various authors, are all
that we know of his teachings. Even the date of his death is un-
known; but he wrote his own epitaph in two lines, preserved by
Aulus Gellius (B. ii. , Chap. 18): "Epictetus, a slave, maimed in body,
an Irus in poverty, and favored by the Immortals. "
His works have gone through many editions and a variety of
translations, of which that of Elizabeth Carter - Dr. Johnson's friend,
and pronounced by him to be the best Greek scholar in England -
has been most popular, being many times reprinted. It was some-
what formal and archaic in style, however, and was followed by that
of Long, which was however the work of that author's old age, was
somewhat stiff and cramped in style, and not nearly so readable as
## p. 5500 (#60) ############################################
5500
EPICTETUS
his Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. In the sixth century an elaborate
commentary on the Enchiridion' was written in Greek, by Sim-
plicius. This was translated into English by Stanhope, and was in
turn made the text for a commentary, longer than itself, by Milton's
well-known adversary Salmasius.
Tow. Higginson
FROM THE DISCOURSES
Selections from Higginson's Discourses of Epictetus,' Revised Edition,
Boston, 1891
THE DIVINE SUPERVISION
WHE
HEN a person asked him how any one might be convinced
that his every act is under the supervision of God: "Do
you not think," said Epictetus, "that all things are mutu-
ally connected and united? »
"I do. "
"Well, and do not you think that things on earth feel the
influence of the Heavenly powers? "
"Yes. "
"Else how is it that in their season, as if by express com-
mand, God bids the plants to blossom and they blossom, to bud
and they bud, to bear fruit and they bear it, to ripen it and they
ripen; and when again he bids them drop their leaves, and with-
drawing into themselves to rest and wait, they rest and wait?
Whence again are there seen, on the increase and decrease of the
moon, and the approach and departure of the sun, so great
changes and transformations in earthly things? Have then the
very leaves, and our own bodies, this connection and sympathy
with the whole; and have not our souls much more?
But our
souls are thus connected and intimately joined to God, as being
indeed members and distinct portions of his essence; and must
he not be sensible of every movement of them, as belonging and
connatural to himself? Can even you think of the Divine admin-
istration, and every other Divine subject, and together with these
of human affairs also; can you at once receive impressions on
your senses and your understanding from a thousand objects;
at once assent to some things, deny or suspend your judgment.
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concerning others, and preserve in your mind impressions from
so many and various objects, by whose aid you can revert to
ideas similar to those which first impressed you? Can you retain
a variety of arts and the memorials of ten thousand things?
And is not God capable of surveying all things, and being pres-
ent with all, and in communication with all? Is the sun capable
of illuminating so great a portion of the universe, and of leaving
only that small part of it unilluminated which is covered by the
shadow of the earth; and cannot He who made and moves the
sun, a small part of himself if compared with the whole,- cannot
he perceive all things?
"But I cannot,' say you, 'attend to all things at once. ' Who
asserts that you have equal power with Zeus? Nevertheless, he
has assigned to each man a director, his own good genius, and
committed him to that guardianship,- a director sleepless and
not to be deceived. To what better and more careful guardian
could he have committed each one of us? So that when you
have shut your doors and darkened your room, remember never
to say that you are alone; for you are not alone, but God is
within, and your genius is within; and what need have they of
light to see what you are doing? To this God you likewise
ought to swear such an oath as the soldiers do to Cæsar. For
they, in order to receive their pay, swear to prefer before all
things the safety of Cæsar: and will you not swear, who have
received so many and so great favors; or if you have sworn, will
you not fulfill the oath? And what must you swear? Never to
distrust, nor accuse, nor murmur at any of the things appointed
by him; nor to shrink from doing or enduring that which is in-
evitable. Is this oath like the former? In the first oath persons
swear never to dishonor Cæsar; by the last, never to dishonor
themselves. "
CONCERNING PROVIDENCE
"ARE these the only works of Providence with regard to us?
And what speech can fitly celebrate their praise? For if we had
any understanding, ought we not, both in public and in private,
incessantly to sing and praise the Deity, and rehearse his ben-
efits? Ought we not, whether we dig or plow or eat, to sing
this hymn to God:- Great is God, who has supplied us with
these instruments to till the ground; great is God, who has given
us hands and organs of digestion; who has given us to grow
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insensibly, to breathe in sleep? These things we ought forever
to celebrate; and to make it the theme of the greatest and
divinest hymn, that he has given us the power to appreciate
these gifts, and to use them well. But because the most of you
are blind and insensible, there must be some one to fill this sta-
tion, and lead, in behalf of all men, the hymn to God; for what
else can I do, a lame old man, but sing hymns to God? Were
I a nightingale, I would act the part of a nightingale; were I a
swan, the part of a swan; but since I am a reasonable creature,
it is my duty to praise God. This is my business; I do it; nor
will I ever desert this post, so long as it is permitted me: and I
call on you to join in the same song. "
CONCERNING PARENTAGE
WHY do you, Epicurus, dissuade a wise man from bringing up
children? Why are you afraid that upon their account he may
fall into anxieties? Does he fall into any for a mouse that feeds
Iwithin his house? What is it to him if a little mouse bewails
itself there? But Epicurus knew that if once a child is born, it
is no longer in our power not to love and be solicitous for it.
On the same grounds he says that a wise man will not engage
himself in public business, knowing very well what must follow.
If men are only so many flies, why should he not engage in it?
And does he, who knows all this, dare to forbid us to bring
up children? Not even a sheep or a wolf deserts its offspring;
and shall man? What would you have,- that we should be as
silly as sheep? Yet even these do not desert their offspring.
Or as savage as wolves? Neither do these desert them. Pray,
who would mind you, if he saw his child fallen upon the ground
and crying? For my part, I am of opinion that your father and
mother, even if they could have foreseen that you would have
been the author of such doctrines, would not have thrown you
away.
CONCERNING DIFFICULTIES
DIFFICULTIES are things that show what men are. For the
future, in case of any difficulty, remember that God, like a gym-
nastic trainer, has pitted you against a rough antagonist. For
what end? That you may be an Olympic conqueror; and this
cannot be without toil. No man, in my opinion, has a more
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profitable difficulty on his hands than you have, provided you
will but use it as an athletic champion uses his antagonist.
ppose we were to send you as a scout to Rome.
But no
one ever sends a timorous scout, who when he only hears a noise
or sees a shadow runs back frightened, and says, "The enemy is
at hand. " So now if you should come and tell us: "Things are
in a fearful way at Rome; death is terrible, banishment terrible,
calumny terrible, poverty terrible; run, good people, the enemy is
at hand;" we will answer, Get you gone, and prophesy for your-
self; our only fault is that we have sent such a scout. Diogenes
was sent as a scout before you, but he told us other tidings.
He says that death is no evil, for it is nothing base; that cal-
umny is only the noise of madmen. And what account did this
spy give us of pain, of pleasure, of poverty? He says that to
be naked is better than a purple robe; to sleep upon the bare
ground, the softest bed; and gives a proof of all he says by his
own courage, tranquillity, and freedom, and moreover by a healthy
and robust body. "There is no enemy near," he says; "all is pro-
found peace. " How so, Diogenes? "Look upon me," he says.
“Am I hurt ? Am I wounded? Have I run away from any
one? " This is a scout worth having. But you come and tell us
one tale after another. Go back and look more carefully, and
without fear.
WORDS AND DEEDS
"PRAY, see how I compose dialogues. "
Talk not of that, man, but rather be able to say: See how I
accomplish my purposes; see how I avert what I wish to shun.
Set death before me; set pain, a prison, disgrace, doom, and you
will know me. This should be the pride of a young man come
out from the schools. Leave the rest to others. Let no one ever
hear you waste a word upon them, nor suffer it, if any one com-
mends you for them; but admit that you are nobody, and that
you know nothing. Appear to know only this, never to fail nor
fall. Let others study cases, problems, and syllogisms. Do you
rather contemplate death, change, torture, exile; and all these
with courage, and reliance upon Him who hath called you to
them, and judged you worthy a post in which you may show
what reason can do when it encounters the inevitable.
―――
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OF TRANQUILLITY
CONSIDER, you who are about to undergo trial, what you wish
to preserve, and in what to succeed. For if you wish to preserve
a mind in harmony with nature, you are entirely safe; every-
thing goes well; you have no trouble on your hands. While you
wish to preserve that freedom which belongs to you, and are con-
tented with that, for what have you longer to be anxious? For
who is the master of things like these?
