,,seekers ,,after ,,god    ,,by ,,the   
,,rev4 ,f4 ,w4 ,,farrar1 ,d4,d41        
,f4,r4,s41    ,,canon ,,of              
,,westminster4                ,,seneca4 
,ce nuage frang de rayons qui toucbe    
presqu'  l'immortelle aurore        des 
vrits chrtiennes4--,,pontmaotin4        
,,introductory4    ,on the banks of the 
,baetis--the modern ,guadalquiver1--and 
under the  woods that crown the southern
 slopes of the ,sierra ,morena1 lies the
  beautiful and famous city of ,cordova4
 ,it had been selected by ,marcellus  as
 the site of a ,roman colony2 and so    
many ,romans and ,spaniards of high     
rank chose it for their residence1 that 
it obtained from ,augustus the          
honourable surname of the ,patrician    
,colony4 ,spain1 during this period  of 
the ,empire1 exercised no small         
influence upon the literature and       
politics of ,rome4 ,no less than three  
great ,emperors--,trajan1 ,hadrian1  and
 ,theodosius1--were natives of ,spain4  
,columella1 the writer on  agriculture1 

was born at ,cadiz2 ,quintilian1 the    
great writer on the  education of an    
orator1 was born at ,calahorra2 the poet
 ,martial was a  native of ,bilbilis2   
but ,cordova could boast the yet higher 
honour of  having given birth to the    
,senecas1 an honour which won for it the
  epithet of ,the ,eloquent4 ,a ruin is 
shown to modern travellers which  is    
popularly called the ,house of ,seneca1 
and the fact is at least a  proof that  
the city still retains some memory of   
its illustrious sons4    ,marcus        
,annaeus ,seneca1 the father of the     
philosopher1 was by rank a  ,roman      
knight4 ,what causes had led him or his 
family to settle in ,spain  we do not   
know1 and the names ,annaeus and ,seneca
 are alike obscure4 ,it  has been       
vaguely conjectured that both names may 
involve an allusion to  the longevity of
 some of the founders of the family1 for
 ,annaeus seems  to be connected with   
annus1 a year1 and ,seneca with senex1  
an old  man4 ,the common ,english       

composite plant ragwort is called       
senecio from  the white and feathery    
pappus or appendage of its seeds2 and   
similarly1  ,isidore says that the first
 ,seneca was so named because he was    
born  with white hair4    ,although the 
father of ,seneca was of knightly rank1 
his family had never  risen to any      
eminence2 it belonged to the class of   
nouveaux riches1  and we do not know    
whether it was of ,roman or of ,spanish 
descent4 ,but  his mother ,helvia--an   
uncommon name1 which1 by a curious      
coincidence1  belonged also to the      
mother of ,cicero--was a ,spanish lady2 
and it was  from her that ,seneca1 as   
well as his famous nephew1 the poet     
,lucan1  doubtless derived many of the  
traits which mark their intellect and   
their character4 ,there was in the      
,spaniard a richness and splendour of   
imagination1 an intensity and warmth1 a 
touch of phantasy and flame1  which we  
find in these two men of genius1 and    
which was wholly wanting  to the ,roman 

temperament4    ,of ,cordova itself1    
except in a single epigram1 ,seneca     
makes no mention2  but this epigram     
suffices to show that he must have been 
familiar with  its stirring and         
memorable traditions4 ,the elder ,seneca
 must have been  living at ,cordova     
during all the troublous years of civil 
war1 when his  native city caused equal 
offence to ,pompey and to ,caesar4      
,doubtless1  too1 he would have had     
stories to tell of the noble ,sertorius1
 and of  the tame fawn which gained for 
him the credit of divine assistance2 and
  contemporary reminiscences of that day
 of desperate disaster when  ,caesar1   
indignant that ,cordova should have     
embraced the cause of the  sons of      
,pompey1 avenged himself by a massacre  
of #bb1jjj of the citizens4  ,from his  
mother ,helvia1 ,seneca must often have 
heard about the fierce  and gallant     
struggle in which her country had       
resisted the iron yoke of  ,rome4 ,many 
a time as a boy must he have been told  

how long and how  heroically ,saguntum  
had withstood the assaults and baffled  
the triumph  of ,hannibal2 how bravely  
,viriathus had fought1 and how          
shamefully he  fell2 and how at length  
the unequal contest1 which reduced      
,spain to the  condition of a province1 
was closed1 when the heroic defenders of
  ,numantia1 rather than yield to       
,scipio1 reduced their city to a heap of
  bloodstained ruins4    ,but1 whatever 
may have been the extent to which       
,seneca was influenced by  the ,spanish 
blood which flowed in his veins1 and the
 ,spanish legends on  which his youth   
was fed1 it was not in ,spain that his  
lot was cast4 ,when  he was yet an      
infant in arms his father1 with all his 
family1 emigrated  from ,cordova to     
,rome4 ,what may have been the special  
reason for this  important step we do   
not know2 possibly1 like the father of  
,horace1 the  elder ,seneca may have    
sought a better education for his sons  
than could  be provided by even so      

celebrated a provincial town as         
,cordova2  possibly--for he belonged to 
a somewhat pushing family--he may have  
desired to gain fresh wealth and honour 
in the imperial city4    ,thither we    
must follow him2 and1 as it is our      
object not only to depict  a character  
but also to sketch the characteristics  
of a very memorable  age in the world's 
history1 we must try to get a glimpse of
 the family  in the midst of which our  
young philosopher grew up1 of the kind  
of  education which he received1 and of 
the influences which were likely to     
tell upon him during his childish and   
youthful years4 ,only by such means     
shall we be able to judge of him aright4
 ,and it is worth while to try  and gain
 a right conception of the man1 not only
 because he was very  eminent as a poet1
 an author1 and a politician1 not only  
because he  fills a very prominent place
 in the pages of the great historian1   
who  has drawn so immortal a picture of 
,rome under the ,emperors2 not only     

because in him we can best study the    
inevitable signs which mark1 even  in   
the works of men of genius1 a degraded  
people and a decaying  literature2 but  
because he was1 as the title of this    
volume designates  him1 a ,,seeker      
,,after ,,god4 ,whatever may have been  
the dark and  questionable actions of   
his life--and in this narrative we shall
  endeavor to furnish a plain and       
unvarnished picture of the manner in    
which he lived1--it is certain that1 as 
a philosopher and as a moralist1  he    
furnishes us with the grandest and most 
eloquent series of truths to  which1    
unilluminated by ,christianity1 the     
thoughts of man have ever  attained4    
,the purest and most exalted philosophic
 sect of antiquity was  the sect of the 
,stoics2 and ,stoicism never found a    
literary exponent  more ardent1 more    
eloquent1 or more enlightened than      
,lucius ,annaeus  ,seneca4 ,so nearly1  
in fact1 does he seem to have arrived at
 the truths  of ,christianity1 that to  

many it seemed a matter for marvel that 
he  could have known them without having
 heard them from inspired lips4 ,he  is 
constantly cited with approbation by    
some of the most eminent  ,christian    
fathers4 ,tertullian1 ,lactantius1 even 
,st4 ,augustine himself1  quote his     
words with marked admiration1 and ,st4  
,jerome appeals to him as  our ,seneca4 
,the ,council of ,trent go further      
still1 and quote him as  though he were 
an acknowledged father of the ,church4  
,for many centuries  there were some who
 accepted as genuine the spurious       
letters supposed to  have been          
interchanged between ,seneca and ,st4   
,paul1 in which ,seneca is  made to     
express a wish to hold among the ,pagans
 the same beneficial  position which    
,st4 ,paul held in the ,christian world4
 ,the possibility of  such an           
intercourse1 the nature and extent of   
such supposed obligations1  will come   
under our consideration hereafter4 ,all 
that ,i here desire to  say is1 that in 

considering the life of ,seneca we are  
not only dealing  with a life which was 
rich in memorable incidents1 and which  
was cast  into an age upon which        
,christianity dawned as a new light in  
the  darkness1 but also the life of one 
who climbed the loftiest peaks of the   
moral philosophy of ,paganism1 and who  
in many respects may be regarded  as the
 ,coryphaeus of what has been sometimes 
called a ,natural ,religion4    ,it is  
not my purpose to turn aside from the   
narrative in order to  indulge in moral 
reflections1 because such reflections   
will come with  tenfold force if they   
are naturally suggested to the reader's 
mind by  the circumstances of the       
biography4 ,but from first to last it   
will be  abundantly obvious to every    
thoughtful mind that alike the morality 
and  the philosophy of ,paganism1 as    
contrasted with the splendour of        
revealed  truth and the holiness of     
,christian life1 are but as moonlight is
 to  sunlight4 ,the ,stoical philosophy 

may be compared to a torch which flings 
a faint gleam here and there in the     
dusky recesses of a mighty cavern2      
,christianity to the sun pouring into   
the inmost depths of the same  cavern   
its sevenfold illumination4 ,the torch  
had a value and brightness  of its own1 
but compared with the dawning of that   
new glory it appears  to be dim and     
ineffectual1 even though its brightness 
was a real  brightness1 and had been    
drawn from the same etherial source4    
,,chapter ,i4    ,,the ,,family ,,and   
,,early ,,years ,,of ,,seneca4    ,the  
exact date of ,seneca's birth is        
uncertain1 but it took place in all     
probability about seven years before the
 commencement of the ,christian  era4   
,it will give to his life a touch of    
deep and solemn interest if we  remember
 that1 during all those guilty and      
stormy scenes amid which his  earlier   
destiny was cast1 there lived and taught
 in ,palestine the ,son of  ,god1 the   
,saviour of the world4    ,the problems 

which for many years tormented his mind 
were beginning to  find their solution1 
amid far other scenes1 by men whose     
creed and  condition he despised4 ,while
 ,seneca was being guarded by his       
attendant  slave through the crowded and
 dangerous streets of ,rome on his way  
to  school1 ,st4 ,peter and ,st4 ,john  
were fisher-lads by the shores of       
,gennesareth2 while ,seneca was ardently
 assimilating the doctrine of the  stoic
 ,attalus1 ,st4 ,paul1 with no less     
fervancy of soul1 sat learning at  the  
feet of ,gamaliel2 and long before      
,seneca had made his way1 through  paths
 dizzy and dubious1 to the zenith of his
 fame1 unknown to him that  ,saviour had
 been crucified through whose only      
merits he and we can ever  attain to our
 final rest4    ,seneca was about two   
years old when he was carried to ,rome  
in his  nurse's arms4 ,like many other  
men who have succeeded in attaining     
eminence1 he suffered much from         
ill-health in his early years4 ,he tells

  us of one serious illness from which  
he slowly recovered under the           
affectionate and tender nursing of his  
mother's sister4 ,all his life  long he 
was subject to attacks of asthma1 which1
 after suffering every  form of disease1
 he says that he considers to be the    
worst4 ,at one time  his personal       
sufferings weighed so heavily on his    
spirits that nothing  save a regard for 
his father's wishes prevented him from  
suicide3 and  later in life he was only 
withheld from seeking the deliverance of
 death  by the tender affection of his  
wife ,paulina4 ,he might have used with 
little alteration the words of ,pope1   
that his various studies but served  to 
help him         ,through this long     
disease1 my life4    ,the recovery from 
this tedious illness is the only        
allusion which ,seneca  has made to the 
circumstances of his childhood4 ,the    
ancient writers1  even the ancient      
poets1 but rarely refer1 even in the    
most cursory  manner1 to their early    

years4 ,the cause of this reticence     
offers a  curious problem for our       
inquiry1 but the fact is indisputable4  
,whereas  there is scarcely a single    
modern poet who has not lingered with   
undisguised feelings of happiness over  
the gentle memories of his  childhood1  
not one of the ancient poets has        
systematically touched upon  the theme  
at all4 ,from ,lydgate down to          
,tennyson1 it would be easy to  quote   
from our ,english poets a continuous    
line of lyric songs on the  subject of  
boyish years4 ,how to the young child   
the fir-trees seemed to  touch the sky1 
how his heart leaped up at the sight of 
the rainbow1 how  he sat at his mother's
 feet and pricked into paper the tissued
 flowers  of her dress1 how he chased   
the bright butterfly1 or in his         
tenderness  feared to brush even the    
dust from off its wings1 how he learnt  
sweet  lessons and said innocent prayers
 at his father's knee2 trifles like     
these1 yet trifles which may have been  

rendered noble and beautiful by a       
loving imagination1 have been narrated  
over and over again in the songs  of our
 poets4 ,the lovely lines of ,henry     
,vaughan might be taken as a type  of   
thousands more3--         ,happy those  
early days1 when ,i        ,shined in my
 ,angel infancy4        ,before ,i      
understood this place        ,appointed 
for my second race1        ,or taught my
 soul to fancy aught        ,but a white
 celestial thought2           99        
99       99       99       99           
,before ,i taught my tongue to wound    
,my conscience with a sinful sound      
,or had the black art to dispense       
,a several sin to every sense2          
,but felt through all this fleshy dress1
        ,bright shoots of               
everlastingness4    ,the memory of every
 student of ,english poetry will furnish
 countless  parallels to thoughts like  
these4 ,how is it that no similar poem  
could  be quoted from the whole range of
 ancient literature8 ,how is it that to 

the ,greek and ,roman poets that morning
 of life1 which should have been  so    
filled with natural blessedness1 seems  
to have been a blank8 ,how is  it that  
writers so voluminous1 so domestic1 so  
affectionate as ,cicero1  ,virgil1 and  
,horace do not make so much as a single 
allusion to the  existence of their own 
mothers8    ,to answer this question    
fully would be to write an entire essay 
on the  difference between ancient and  
modern life1 and would carry me far away
  from my immediate subject4#a ,but ,i  
may say generally1 that the  explanation
 rests in the fact that in all          
probability childhood among  the        
ancients was a disregarded1 and in most 
cases a far less happy1  period than it 
is with us4 ,the birth of a child in the
 house of a ,greek  or a ,roman was not 
necessarily a subject for rejoicing4 ,if
 the father1  when the child was first  
shown to him1 stooped down and took it  
in his  arms1 it was received as a      
member of the family2 if he left it     

unnoticed  then it was doomed to death1 
and was exposed in some lonely or barren
  place to the mercy of the wild beasts1
 or of the first passer by4 ,and  even  
if a child escaped this fate1 yet for   
the first seven or eight  years of life 
he was kept in the gynaeceum1 or women's
 apartments1 and  rarely or never saw   
his father's face4 ,no halo of romance  
or poetry was  shed over those early    
years4 ,until the child was full grown  
the absolute  power of life or death    
rested in his father's hands2 he had no 
freedom1  and met with little notice4   
,for individual life the ancients had a 
very  slight regard2 there was nothing  
autobiographic or introspective in      
their temperament4 ,with them public    
life1 the life of the ,state1 was       
everything2 domestic life1 the life of  
the individual1 occupied but a  small   
share of their consideration4 ,all the  
innocent pleasures of  infancy1 the joys
 of the hearth1 the charm of the        
domestic circle1 the  flow and sparkle  

of childish gaity1 were by them but     
little appreciated4  ,the years before  
manhood were years of prospect1 and in  
most cases they  offered but little to  
make them worth the retrospect4 ,it is a
 mark of  the more modern character     
which stamps the writings of ,seneca1 as
  compared with earlier authors1 that he
 addresses his mother in terms of  the  
deepest affection1 and cannot speak of  
his darling little son except  in a     
voice that seems to break with tears4   
,footnote #a3 ,see1 however1 the same   
question treated from a somewhat        
different point of view by ,m4 ,nisard1 
in his charming tudes sur les  ,potes de
 la ,dcadence1 ii4 #ag1 sqq4    ,let us 
add another curious consideration4 ,the 
growth of the personal  character1 the  
reminiscences of a life advancing into  
perfect  consciousness1 are largely     
moulded by the gradual recognition of   
moral  laws1 by the sense of mystery    
evolved in the inevitable struggle      
between  duty and pleasure1--between the

 desire to do right and the temptation  
to  do wrong4 ,but among the ancients   
the conception of morality was so       
wholly different from ours1 their       
notions of moral obligation were1 in    
the immense majority of cases1 so much  
less stringent and so much less         
important1 they had so faint a          
disapproval for sins which we condemn1  
and so weak an indignation against vices
 which we abhor1 that in their  early   
years we can hardly suppose them to have
 often fathomed those  abysmal deeps of 
personality1 the recognition of which is
 a necessary  element of marked         
individual growth4    ,we have1         
therefore1 no materials for forming any 
vivid picture of  ,seneca's childhood2  
but1 from what we gather about the      
circumstances and  the character of his 
family1 we should suppose that he was   
exceptionally  fortunate4 ,the ,senecas 
were wealthy2 they held a good position 
in  society2 they were a family of      
cultivated taste1 of literary pursuits1 

of high character1 and of amiable       
dispositions4 ,their wealth raised them 
above the necessity of those mean cares 
and degrading shifts to eke out  a      
scanty livelihood which mark the career 
of other literary men who were  their   
contemporaries4 ,their rank and culture 
secured them the intimacy  of all who   
were best worth knowing in ,roman       
circles2 and the general  dignity and   
morality which marked their lives would 
free them from all  likelihood of being 
thrown into close intercourse with the  
numerous  class of luxurious epicureans1
 whose unblushing and unbounded vice    
gave  an infamous notority to the       
capital of the world4    ,of ,marcus    
,annaeus ,seneca1 the father of our     
philosopher1 we know few  personal      
particulars1 except that he was a       
professional rhetorician1 who  drew up  
for the use of his sons and pupils a    
number of oratorical  exercises1 which  
have come down to us under the names of 
,suasoriae and  ,controversiae4 ,they   

are a series of declamatory arguments on
 both  sides1 respecting a number of    
historical or purely imaginary subjects2
  and it would be impossible to conceive
 any reading more utterly  unprofitable4
 ,but the elder ,seneca was steeped to  
the lips in an  artificial rhetoric2 and
 these highly elaborated arguments1     
invented in  order to sharpen the       
faculties for purposes of declamation   
and debate1  were probably due partly to
 his note-book and partly to his memory4
 ,his  memory was so prodigious that    
after hearing two thousand words he     
could  repeat them again in the same    
order4 ,few of those who have possessed 
such extraordinary powers of memory have
 been men of first-rate talent1  and the
 elder ,seneca was no exception4 ,but if
 his memory did not improve  his        
original genius1 it must at any rate    
have made him a very agreeable  member  
of society1 and have furnished him with 
an abundant store of  personal and      
political anecdotes4 ,in short1 ,marcus 

,seneca was a  well-to-do1 intelligent  
man of the world1 with plenty of common 
sense1  with a turn for public speaking1
 with a profound dislike and contempt   
for anything which he considered        
philosophical or fantastic1 and with a  
keen eye to the main advantage4    ,his 
wife ,helvia1 if we may trust the       
panegyric of her son1 was on the  other 
hand a far less commonplace character4  
,but for her husband's  dislike to      
learning and philosophy she would have  
become a proficient in  both1 and in a  
short period of study she had made a    
considerable  advance4 ,yet her         
intellect was less remarkable than the  
nobility and  sweetness of her mind2    
other mothers loved their sons because  
their own  ambition was gratified by    
their honours1 and their feminine wants 
supplied by their riches2 but ,helvia   
loved her sons for their own sakes1     
treated them with liberal generosity1   
but refused to reap any personal        
benefit from their wealth1 managed their

 patrimonies with disinterested  zeal1  
and spent her own money to bear the     
expenses of their political  career4    
,she rose superior to the foibles and   
vices of her time4  ,immodesty1 the     
plague-spot of her age1 had never       
infected her pure life4  ,gems and      
pearls had little charms for her4 ,she  
was never ashamed of her  children1 as  
though their presence betrayed her own  
advancing age4 ,you  never stained your 
face1 says her son1 when writing to     
console her in  his exile1 with         
walnut-juice or rouge2 you never        
delighted in dresses  indelicately low2 
your single ornament was a loveliness   
which no age  could destroy2 your       
special glory was a conspicuous         
chastity4 ,we may  well say with ,mr4   
,tennyson--         ,happy he           
,with such a mother6 faith in womankind 
,beats with his blood1 and trust in all 
things high        ,comes easy to him1  
and1 though he trip and fall1        ,he
 shall not blind his soul with clay4    

,nor was his mother ,helvia the only    
high-minded lady in whose society  the  
boyhood of ,seneca was spent4 ,her      
sister1 whose name is unknown1 that     
aunt who had so tenderly protected the  
delicate boy1 and nursed him  through   
the sickness of his infancy1 seems to   
have inspired him with an  affection of 
unusual warmth4 ,he tells us how1 when  
her husband was  ,prefect of ,egypt1 so 
far was she from acting as was usual    
with the wives  of provincial governors1
 that she was as much respected and     
beloved as  they were for the most part 
execrated and shunned4 ,so serious was  
the  evil caused by these ladies1 so    
intolerable was their cruel rapacity1   
that it had been seriously debated in   
the ,senate whether they should  ever be
 allowed to accompany their husbands4   
,not so with ,helvia's  sister4 ,she was
 never seen in public2 she allowed no   
provincial to visit  her house2 she     
begged no favour for herself1 and       
suffered none to be  begged from her4   

,the province not only praised her1 but1
 what was still  more to her credit1    
barely knew anything about her1 and     
longed in vain  for another lady who    
should imitate her virtue and           
self-control4 ,egypt  was the           
headquarters for biting and loquacious  
calumny1 yet even ,egypt  never breathed
 a word against the sanctity of her     
life4 ,and when during  their homeward  
voyage her husband died1 in spite of    
danger and tempest  and the             
deeply-rooted superstition which        
considered it perilous to sail  with a  
corpse on board1 not even the imminent  
peril of shipwreck could  drive her to  
separate herself from her husband's body
 until she had  provided for its safe   
and honorable sepulchre4 ,these are the 
traits of a  good and heroic woman2 and 
that she reciprocated the regard which  
makes  her nephew so emphatic in her    
praise may be conjectured from the fact 
that1 when he made his dbut as a        
candidate for the honours of the        

,state1 she emerged from her habitual   
seclusion1 laid aside for a time  her   
matronly reserve1 and1 in order to      
assist him in his canvass1 faced  for   
his sake the rustic impertinence and    
ambitious turbulence of the  crowds who 
thronged the ,forum and the streets of  
,rome4    ,two brothers1 very different 
from each other in their habits and     
character1 completed the family circle1 
,marcus ,annaeus ,novatus and  ,lucius  
,annaeus ,mela1 of whom the former was  
older the latter younger1  than their   
more famous brother4    ,marcus ,annaeus
 ,novatus is known to history under the 
name of ,junius  ,gallio1 which he took 
when adopted by the orator of that name1
 who was a  friend of his father4 ,he is
 none other than the ,gallio of the     
,acts1 the  ,proconsul of ,achaia1 whose
 name has passed current among          
,christians as a  proverb of complacent 
indifference4#b    ,footnote #b3 ,acts  
xxv4 #ai4    ,the scene1 however1 in    
which ,scripture gives us a glimpse of  

him has  been much misunderstood1 and to
 talk of him as careless ,gallio1 or to 
apply the expression that he cared for  
none of these things1 to  indifference  
in religious matters1 is entirely to    
misapply the spirit of  the narrative4  
,what really happened was this4 ,the    
,jews1 indignant at the  success of     
,paul's preaching1 dragged him before   
the tribunal of ,gallio1  and accused   
him of introducing illegal modes of     
worship4 ,when the  ,apostle was about  
to defend himself1 ,gallio              
contemptuously cut him short  by saying 
to the ,jews1 ,if in truth there were in
 question any act of  injustice or      
wicked misconduct1 ,i should naturally  
have tolerated your  complaint4 ,but if 
this is some verbal inquiry about mere  
technical  matters of your law1 look    
after it yourselves4 ,i do not choose to
 be a  judge of such matters4 ,with     
these words he drove them from his      
judgment-seat with exactly the same fine
 ,roman contempt for the ,jews and      

their religious affairs as was          
subsequently expressed by ,festus to the
  sceptical ,agrippa1 and as had been   
expressed previously by ,pontius        
,pilate#c to the tumultous ,pharisees4  
,exulting at this discomfiture of  the  
hated ,jews and apparently siding with  
,paul1 the ,greeks then went in  a body1
 seized ,sosthenes1 the leader of the   
,jewish synagogue1 and beat  him in full
 view of the ,proconsul seated on his   
tribunal4 ,this was the  event at which 
,gallio looked on with such             
imperturbable disdain4 ,what  could it  
possibly matter to him1 the great       
,proconsul1 whether the ,greeks  beat a 
poor wretch of a ,jew or not8 ,so long  
as they did not make a riot1  or give   
him any further trouble about the       
matter1 they might beat  ,sosthenes or  
any number of ,jews black and blue if it
 pleased them1 for  all he was likely to
 care4    ,footnote #c3 ,matt4 xxvii4   
#bd1 ,see ye to it4 ,cf4 ,acts xiv4 #ae1
 ,look ye  to it4 ,toleration existed in

 the ,roman ,empire1 and the magistrates
  often interfered to protect the ,jews 
from massacre2 but they absolutely  and 
persistently refused to trouble         
themselves with any attempt to          
understand their doctrines or enter into
 their disputes4 ,the tradition  that   
,gallio sent some of ,st4 ,paul's       
writings to his brother ,seneca is      
utterly absurd2 and indeed at this time 
7,a4,d4 #ed71 ,st4 ,paul had written    
nothing except the two ,epistles to the 
,thessalonians4 7,see ,conybeare and    
,howson1 ,st4 ,paul1 vol4 i4 ,ch4 xii42 
,aubertin1 ,snque et ,st4 ,paul47       
,what a vivid glimpse do we here obtain1
 from the graphic picture of an         
eye-witness1 of the daily life in an    
ancient provincial forum2 how           
completely do we seem to catch sight for
 a moment of that habitual  expression  
of contempt which curled the thin lips  
of a ,roman aristocrat  in the presence 
of subject nations1 and especially of   
,jews6 ,if ,seneca  had come across any 

of the ,alexandrian ,jews in his        
,egyptian travels1 the  only impression 
left on his mind was that expressed by  
,tacitus1 ,juvenal1  and ,suetonius1 who
 never mention the ,jews without        
execration4 ,in a  passage1 quoted by   
,st4 ,augustine 7,de ,civit4 ,dei1 iv4  
#aa7 from his lost  book on             
,superstitions1 ,seneca speaks of the   
multitude of their  proselytes1 and     
calls them gens sceleratissima1 a most  
criminal  race4 ,it has been often      
conjectured--it has even been seriously 
believed--that ,seneca had personal     
intercourse with ,st4 ,paul and learnt  
from him some lessons of ,christianity4 
,the scene on which we have just  been  
gazing will show us the utter           
unlikelihood of such a supposition4     
,probably the nearest opportunity which 
ever occurred to bring the  ,christian  
,apostle into intellectual contact with 
the ,roman philosopher  was this        
occasion1 when ,st4 ,paul was dragged as
 a prisoner into the  presence of       

,seneca's elder brother4 ,the utter     
contempt and indifference  with which he
 was treated1 the manner in which he was
 summarily cut  short before he could   
even open his lips in his own defence1  
will give  us a just estimate of the    
manner in which ,seneca would have been 
likely  to regard ,st4 ,paul4 ,it is    
highly improbable that ,gallio ever     
retained  the slightest impression or   
memory of so every-day a circumstance as
  this1 by which alone he is known to   
the world4 ,it is possible that he  had 
not even heard the mere name of ,paul1  
and that1 if he ever thought  of him at 
all1 it was only as a miserable1 ragged1
 fanatical ,jew1 of dim  eyes and       
diminutive stature1 who had once wished 
to inflict upon him a  harangue1 and who
 had once come for a few moments betwixt
 the wind and  his nobility4 ,he would  
indeed have been unutterably amazed if  
anyone  had whispered to him that well  
nigh the sole circumstance which would  
entitle him to be remembered by         

posterity1 and the sole event of his    
life by which he would be at all        
generally known1 was that momentary and 
accidental relation to his despised     
prisoner4    ,but ,novatus--or1 to give 
him his adopted name1 ,gallio--presented
 to his  brother ,seneca1 and to the    
rest of the world1 a very different     
aspect  from that under which we are    
wont to think of him4 ,by them he was   
regarded as an illustrious declaimer1 in
 an age when declamation was the  most  
valued of all accomplishments4 ,it was  
true that there was a sort of  tinkle1 a
 certain falsetto tone in his style1    
which offended men of  robust and severe
 taste2 but this meretricious resonance 
of style was a  matter of envy and      
admiration when affectation was the     
rage1 and when  the times were too      
enervated and too corrupt for the manly 
conciseness  and concentrated force of  
an eloquence dictated by liberty and by 
passion4 ,he seems to have acquired both
 among his friends and among  strangers 

the epithet of dulcis1 the charming or  
fascinating ,gallio3  ,this is more1    
says the poet ,statius1 than to have    
given ,seneca to the  world1 and to have
 begotten the sweet ,gallio4 ,seneca's  
portrait of him  is singularly          
faultless4 ,he says that no one was so  
gentle to any one as  ,gallio was to    
every one2 that his charm of manner won 
over even the  people whom mere chance  
threw in his way1 and that such was the 
force of  his natural goodness that no  
one suspected his behaviour1 as though  
it  were due to art or simulation4      
,speaking of flattery1 in his fourth    
book  of ,natural ,questions1 he says to
 his friend ,lucilius1 ,i used to say to
  you that my brother ,gallio 7whom     
every one loves a little1 even people   
who cannot love him more7 was wholly    
ignorant of other vices1 but  even      
detested this4 ,you might try him in any
 direction4 ,you began to  praise his   
intellect--an intellect of the highest  
and worthiest kind1444  and he walked   

away6 ,you began to praise his          
moderation1 he instantly cut  short your
 first words4 ,you began to express     
admiration for his  blandness and       
natural suavity of manner1444 yet even  
here he resisted  your compliments2 and 
if you were led to exclaim that you had 
found a  man who could not be overcome  
by those insidious attacks which every  
one  else admits1 and hoped that he     
would at least tolerate this compliment 
because of its truth1 even on this      
ground he would resist your flattery2   
not as though you had been awkward1 or  
as though he suspected that you  were   
jesting with him1 or had some secret end
 in view1 but simply  because he had a  
horror of every form of adulation4 ,we  
can easily  imagine that ,gallio was    
,seneca's favorite brother1 and we are  
not  surprised to find that the         
philosopher dedicates to him his three  
books  on ,anger1 and his charming      
little treatise ,on a ,happy ,life4     
,of the third brother1 ,l4 ,annaeus     

,mela1 we have fewer notices2 but1 from 
what we know1 we should conjecture that 
his character no less than his          
reputation was inferior to that of his  
brothers2 yet he seems to have  been the
 favorite of his father1 who distinctly 
asserts that his  intellect was capable 
of every excellence1 and superior to    
that of his  brothers4#d ,this1 however1
 may have been because ,mela1 longing   
only to  long for nothing1 was content  
with his father's rank1 and devoted     
himself wholly to the study of          
eloquence4 ,instead of entering into    
public life1 he deliberately withdrew   
himself from all civil duties1 and      
devoted himself to tranquility and ease4
 ,apparently he preferred to be a       
farmer-general 7publicanus7 and not a   
consul4 ,his chief fame rests in  the   
fact that he was father of ,lucan1 the  
poet of the decadence or  declining     
literature of ,rome4 ,the only anecdote 
about him which has come  down to us is 
one that sets his avarice in a very     

unfavourable light4  ,when his famous   
son1 the unhappy poet1 had forfeited his
 life1 as well  as covered himself with 
infamy by denouncing his own mother     
,attila in  the conspiracy of ,piso1    
,mela1 instead of being overwhelmed with
 shame  and agony1 immediately began to 
collect with indecent avidity his son's 
debts1 as though to show ,nero that he  
felt no great sorrow for his            
bereavement4 ,but this was not enough   
for ,nero's malice2 he told ,mela  that 
he must follow his son1 and ,mela was   
forced to obey the order1  and to die4  
,footnote #d3 ,m4 ,ann4 ,senec4         
,controv4 ii4 ,praef4    ,doubtless     
,helvia1 if she survived her sons and   
grandsons1 must have  bitterly rued the 
day when1 with her husband and her young
 children1 she  left the quiet retreat  
of a life in ,cordova4 ,each of the     
three boys grew  up to a man of genius1 
and each of them grew up to stain his   
memory with  deeds that had been better 
left undone1 and to die violent deaths  

by  their own hands or by a tyrant's    
will4 ,mela died as we have seen2 his   
son ,lucan and his brother ,seneca were 
driven to death by the cruel  orders of 
,nero4 ,gallio1 after stooping to       
panic-stricken supplications  for his   
preservation1 died ultimately by        
suicide4 ,it was a shameful and         
miserable end for them all1 but it was  
due partly to their own errors1  partly 
to the hard necessity of the degraded   
times in which they lived4              
,,chapter ,,ii4    ,,the ,,education    
,,of ,,seneca4    ,for a reason which ,i
 have already indicated--,i mean the    
habitual  reticence of the ancient      
writers respecting the period of their  
boyhood--it is not easy to form a very  
vivid conception of the kind of         
education given to a ,roman boy of good 
family up to the age of fifteen1  when  
he laid aside the golden amulet and     
embroidered toga to assume a  more      
independent mode of life4    ,a few     
facts1 however1 we can gather from the  

scattered allusions of the  poets       
,horace1 ,juvenal1 ,martial1 and        
,persius4 ,from these we learn that  the
 schoolmasters were for the most part   
underpaid and despised1#e  while at the 
same time an erudition alike minute and 
useless was rigidly  demanded of them4  
,we learn also that they were           
exceedingly severe in the  infliction of
 corporeal punishment2 ,orbilius1 the   
schoolmaster of  ,horace1 appears to    
have been a perfect ,dr4 ,busby1 and the
 poet ,martial  records with indignation
 the barbarities of chastisement which  
he daily  witnessed4    ,footnote #e3   
,for the miseries of the literary class1
 and especially of  schoolmasters1 see  
,juv1 ,sat4 vii4    ,the things taught  
were chiefly arithmetic1 grammar--both  
,greek and  ,latin--reading1 and        
repetition of the chief ,latin poets4   
,there was also  a good deal of         
recitation and of theme-writing on all  
kinds of trite  historical subjects4    
,the arithmetic seems to have been      

mainly of a very  simple and severely   
practical kind1 especially the          
computation of  interest and compound   
interest2 and the philology generally1  
both  grammar and criticism1 was        
singularly narrow1 uninteresting1 and   
useless4 ,of what conceivable advantage 
can it have been to any human  being to 
know the name of the mother of ,hecuba1 
of the nurse of  ,anchises1 of the      
stepmother of ,anchemolus1 the number of
 years ,acestes  lived1 and how many    
casks of wine the ,sicilians gave to the
 ,phrygians8  ,yet these were the       
dispicable minutiae which every         
schoolmaster was  then expected to have 
at his fingers' ends1 and every         
boy-scholar to  learn at the point of   
the ferule--trash which was only fit to 
be  unlearned the moment it was known4  
,for this kind of verbal criticism and  
fantastic archaeology ,seneca1 who  had 
probably gone through it all1 expresses 
a profound and very rational  contempt4 
,in a rather amusing passage#f he       

contrasts the kind of use  which would  
be made of a ,virgil lesson by a        
philosopher and a  grammarian4 ,coming  
to the lines1         ,each happiest day
 for mortals speeds the first1          
,then crowds disease behind and age     
accurst1    the philosopher will point  
out why and in what sense the early days
 of  life are the best days1 and how    
rapidly the evil days succeed them1 and 
consequently how infinitely important it
 is to use well the golden dawn  of our 
being4 ,but the verbal critic will      
content himself with the  remark that   
,virgil always uses fugio of the flight 
of time1 and  always joins old age with 
disease1 and consequently that these are
  tags to be remembered1 and plagiarized
 hereafter in the pupils'  original     
composition4 ,similarly1 if the book in 
hand be ,cicero's  treatise ,on the     
,commonwealth1 instead of entering into 
great political  questions1 our         
grammarian will note that one of the    
,roman kings had no  father 7to speak   

of71 and another no mother2 that        
dictators used  formerly to be called   
masters of the people2 that ,romulus    
perished  during an eclipse2 that the   
old form of reipsa was reapse1 and of   
se ipse was sepse2 that the starting    
point in the circus which is  now called
 creta1 or chalk1 used to be called     
caix1 or carcer2  that in the time of   
,ennuis opera meant not only work1 but  
also  assistance1 and so on1 and so on4 
,is this true education8 or rather1     
should our great aim ever be to         
translate noble precepts into daily     
action8 ,teach me1 he says1 to despise  
pleasure and glory2  afterwards you     
shall teach me to disentangle           
difficulties1 to  distinguish           
ambiguities1 to see through obscurities2
 now teach me what  is necessary4       
,considering the condition of much which
 in modern times  passes under the name 
of education1 we may possibly find that 
the  hints of ,seneca are not yet wholly
 obsolete4    ,footnote #f3 ,ep4 cviii4 

,what kind of schoolmaster taught the   
little ,seneca when under the care  of  
the slave who was called pedagogus1 or a
 boy-leader 7whence our  word           
pedagogue71 he daily went with his      
brothers to school through the  streets 
of ,rome1 we do not know4 ,he may have  
been a severe ,orbilius1 or  he may have
 been one of those noble-minded tutors  
whose ideal  portraiture is drawn in    
such beautiful colours by the learned   
and  amiable ,quintilian4 ,seneca has   
not alluded to any one who taught him   
during his early days4 ,the only        
schoolfellow whom he mentions by name   
in his voluminous writings is a certain 
,claranus1 a deformed boy1 whom1  after 
leaving school1 ,seneca never met again 
until they were both old  men1 but of   
whom he speaks with great admiration4   
,in spite of his  hump-back1 ,claranus  
appeared even beautiful in the eyes of  
those who  knew him well1 because his   
virtue and good sense left a stronger   
impression than his deformity1 and his  

body was adorned by the beauty  of his  
soul4    ,it was not until mere         
school-lessons were finished that a boy 
began  seriously to enter upon the      
studies of eloquence and philosophy1    
which  therefore furnish some analogy to
 what we should call a university       
education4 ,gallio and ,mela1 ,seneca's 
elder and younger brothers1  devoted    
themselves heart and soul to the theory 
and practice of  eloquence2 ,seneca made
 the rarer and the wiser choice in      
giving his  entire enthusiasm to the    
study of philosophy4    ,i say the wiser
 choice1 because eloquence is not a     
thing for which one  can give a receipt 
as one might give a receipt for making  
eau-de-,cologne4 ,eloquence is the      
noble1 the harmonious1 the passionate   
expression of truths profoundly         
realized1 or of emotions intensely felt4
  ,it is a flame which cannot be kindled
 by artificial means4 ,rhetoric  may be 
taught if any one thinks it worth       
learning2 but eloquence is a  gift as   

innate as the genius from which it      
springs4 ,cujus vita fulgur1  ejus verba
 tonitrua--if a man's life be lightning1
 his words will be  thunders4 ,but the  
kind of oratory to be obtained by a     
constant practice  of declamation such  
as that which occupied the schools of   
the ,rhetors  will be a very artificial 
lightning and a very imitated           
thunder--not the  artillery of heaven1  
but the ,chinese fire and rolled        
bladders of the  stage4 ,nothing could  
be more false1 more hollow1 more        
pernicious than  the perpetual attempt  
to drill numerous classes of youths into
 a  reproduction of the mere manner of  
the ancient orators4 ,an age of         
unlimited declamation1 an age of        
incessant talk1 is a hotbed in which    
real depth and nobility of feeling runs 
miserably to seed4 ,style is  never     
worse than it is in ages which employ   
themselves in teaching  little else4    
,such teaching produces an emptiness of 
thought concealed  under a plethora of  

words4 ,this age of countless oratorical
 masters was  emphatically the period of
 decadence and decay4 ,there is a hollow
 ring  about it1 a falsetto tone in its 
voice2 a fatiguing literary grimace in  
the manner of its authors4 ,even its    
writers of genius were injured and      
corrupted by the prevailing mode4 ,they 
can say nothing simply2 they are  always
 in contortions4 ,their very indignation
 and bitterness of heart1  genuine as it
 is1 assumes a theatrical form of       
expression4#g ,they  abound in          
unrealities3 their whole manner is      
defaced with would-be  cleaverness1 with
 antitheses1 epigrams1 paradoxes1 forced
 expressions1  figures and tricks of    
speech1 straining after originality and 
profundity  when they are merely        
repeating very commonplace remarks4     
,what else could  one expect in an age  
of salaried declaimers1 educated in a   
false  atmosphere of superficial talk1  
for ever haranguing and perorating about
  great passions which they had never   

felt1 and great deeds which they  would 
have been the last to imitate8 ,after   
perpetually immolating the  ,tarquins   
and the ,pisistratids in inflated       
grandiloquence1 they would go  to lick  
the dust off a tyrant's shoes4 ,how     
could eloquence survive when  the       
magnanimity and freedom which inspired  
it were dead1 and when the  men and     
books which professed to teach it were  
filled with despicable  directions about
 the exact position in which the orator 
was to use his  hands1 and as to whether
 it was a good thing or not for him to  
slap his  forehead and disarrange his   
hair8    ,footnote #g3       ,juvnal1   
lev dans les cris de l'cole             
,poussa jusqu' l'excs sa mordante       
hyperbole4--        ,,boileau4    ,the  
philosophic teaching which even from    
boyhood exercised a powerful            
fascination on the eager soul of ,seneca
 was at least something better  than    
this2 and more than one of his          
philosophic teachers succeeded in       

winning his warm affection1 and in      
moulding the principles and habits of   
his life4 ,two of them he mentions with 
special regard1 namely ,sotion the      
,pythagorean1 and ,attalus the ,stoic4  
,he also heard the lectures of the      
fluent and musical ,fabianus ,papirius1 
but seems to have owed less to him  than
 to his other teachers4    ,sotion had  
embraced the views of ,pythagoras       
respecting the  transmigration of souls1
 a doctrine which made the eating of    
animal food  little better than         
cannibalism or parricide4 ,but1 even if 
any of his  followers rejected this     
view1 ,sotion would still maintain that 
the  eating of animals1 if not an       
impiety1 was at least a cruelty and a   
waste4 ,what hardship does my advice    
inflict on you8 he used to ask4 ,i  do  
but deprive you of the food of vultures 
and lions4 ,the ardent  boy--for at this
 time he could not have been more than  
seventeen years  old--was so convinced  
by these considerations that he became a

  vegetarian4 ,at first the abstinence  
from meat was painful1 but after a  year
 he tells us 7and many vegetarians will 
confirm his experience7 it  was not only
 easy but delightful2 and he used to    
believe1 though he  would not assert it 
as a fact1 that it made his intellect   
more keen and  active4 ,he only ceased  
to be a vegetarian in obedience to the  
remonstrance of his unphilosophical     
father1 who would have easily  tolerated
 what he regarded as a mere vagary had  
it not involved the  danger of giving   
rise to a calumny4 ,for about this time 
,tiberius  banished from ,rome all the  
followers of strange and foreign        
religions2  and1 as fasting was one of  
the rites practiced in some of them1    
,seneca's  father thought that perhaps  
his son might incur1 by abstaining from 
meat1 the horrible suspicion of being a 
,christian or a ,jew6    ,another       
,pythagorean philosopher whom he admired
 and whom he quotes was  ,sextius1 from 
whom he learnt the admirable practice of

 daily  self-examination3--,when the day
 was over1 and he betook himself to his 
nightly rest1 he used to ask himself1   
,what evil have you cured to day8  ,what
 vice have you resisted8 ,in what       
particular have you improved8 ,i  too   
adopt this custom1 says ,seneca1 in his 
book on ,anger1 and ,i daily  plead my  
cause before myself1 when the light has 
been taken away1 and my  wife1 who is   
now aware of my habit1 has become       
silent2 ,i carefully  consider in my    
heart the entire day1 and take a        
deliberate estimate of  my deeds and    
words4    ,it was however the ,stoic    
,attalus who seems to have had the main 
share in  the instruction of ,seneca2   
and his teaching did not involve any    
practical results which the elder       
,seneca considered objectionable4 ,he   
tells us how he used to haunt the school
 of the eloquent philosopher1  being the
 first to enter and the last to leave   
it4 ,when ,i heard him  declaiming1 he  
says1 against vice1 and error1 and the  

ills of life1 ,i  often felt compassion 
for the human race1 and believed my     
teacher to be  exalted above the        
ordinary stature of mankind4 ,in ,stoic 
fashion he used  to call himself a king2
 but to me his sovereignty seemed more  
than  royal1 seeing that it was in his  
power to pass his judgments on kings    
themselves4 ,when he began to set forth 
the praises of poverty1 and to  show how
 heavy and superfluous was the burden of
 all that exceeded the  ordinary wants  
of life1 ,i often longed to leave school
 a poor man4 ,when  he began to         
reprehend our pleasures1 to praise a    
chaste body1 a moderate  table1 and a   
mind pure not from all unlawful but even
 from all  superfluous pleasures1 it was
 my delight to set strict limits to all 
voracity and gluttony4 ,and these       
precepts1 my ,lucilius1 have left some  
permanent results2 for ,i embraced them 
with impetuous eagerness1 and           
afterwards1 when ,i entered upon a      
political career1 ,i retained a few of  

my good beginnings4 ,in consequence of  
them1 ,i have all my life long          
renounced eating oysters and mushrooms1 
which do not satisfy hunger but  only   
sharpen appetite2 for this reason ,i    
habitually abstain from  perfumes1      
because the sweetest perfume for the    
body is none at all3 for  this reason ,i
 do without wines and baths4 ,other     
habits which ,i once  abandoned have    
come back to me1 but in such a way that 
,i merely  substitute moderation for    
abstinence1 which perhaps is a still    
more  difficult task2 since there are   
some things which it is easier for the  
mind to cut away altogether than to     
enjoy in moderation4 ,attalus used to   
recommend a hard couch in which the body
 could not sink2 and1 even in my  old   
age1 ,i use one of such a kind that it  
leaves no impress of the  sleeper4 ,i   
have told you these anecdotes to prove  
to you what eager  impulses our little  
scholars would have to all that is good1
 if any one  were to exhort them and    

urge them on4 ,but the harm springs     
partly from  the fault of preceptors1   
who teach us how to argue1 not how to   
live2  and partly from the fault of     
pupils1 who bring to their teacher a    
purpose of training their intellect and 
not their souls4 ,thus it is  that      
philosophy has been degraded into mere  
philology4    ,in another lively        
passage1 ,seneca brings vividly before  
us a picture of  the various scholars   
assembled in a school of the            
philosophers4 ,after  observing that    
philosophy exercises some influence even
 over those who  do not go deeply in it1
 just as people sitting in a shop of    
perfumes  carry away with them some of  
the odour1 he adds1 ,do we not1 however1
  know some who have been among the     
audience of a philosopher for many      
years1 and have been even entirely      
uncoloured by his teaching8 ,of course  
,i do1 even most persistent and         
continuous hearers2 whom ,i do not call 
pupils1 but mere passing auditors of    

philosophers4 ,some come to hear1  not  
to learn1 just as we are brought into a 
theatre for pleasure's sake1  to delight
 our ears with language1 or with the    
voice1 or with plays4 ,you  will observe
 a large portion of the audience to whom
 the philosopher's  school is a mere    
haunt of their leisure4 ,their object is
 not to lay  aside any vices there1 or  
to accept any law in accordance with    
which  they may conform their life1 but 
that they may enjoy a mere tickling of  
their ears4 ,some1 however1 even come   
with tablets in their hands1 to  catch  
up not things but words4 ,some with     
eager countenances and  spirits are     
kindled by magnificent utterances1 and  
these are charmed by  the beauty of the 
thoughts1 not by the sound of empty     
words2 but the  impression is not       
lasting4 ,few only have attained the    
power of carrying  home with them the   
frame of mind into which they had been  
elevated4    ,it was to this small      
latter class that ,seneca belonged4 ,he 

became a  ,stoic from very early years4 
,the ,stoic philosophers1 undoubtedly   
the  noblest and purest of ancient      
sects1 received their name from the fact
  that their founder ,zeno had lectured 
in the ,painted ,porch or ,stoa         
,paecile of ,athens4 ,the influence of  
these austere and eloquent masters1     
teaching high lessons of morality and   
continence1 and inspiring their  young  
audience with the glow of their own     
enthusiasm for virtue1 must  have been  
invaluable in that effete and drunken   
age4 ,their doctrines  were pushed to   
yet more extravagant lengths by the     
,cynics1 who were so  called from a     
,greek word meaning dog1 from what      
appeared to the  ancients to be the     
dog-like brutality of their manners4    
,juvenal  scornfully remarks1 that the  
,stoics only differed from the ,cynics  
by a  tunic1 which the ,stoics wore and 
the ,cynics discarded4 ,seneca never    
indeed adopted the practices of         
,cynicism1 but he often speaks          

admiringly  of the arch-,cynic          
,diogenes1 and repeatedly refers to the 
,cynic  ,demetrius1 as a man deserving  
of the very highest esteem4 ,i take with
  me everywhere1 writes he to ,lucilius1
 that best of men1 ,demetrius2  and1    
leaving those who wear purple robes1 ,i 
talk with him who is half  naked4 ,why  
should ,i not admire him8 ,i have seen  
that he has no want4 ,any  one may      
despise all things1 but no one can      
possess all things4 ,the  shortest road 
to riches lies through contempt of      
riches4 ,but our  ,demetrius lives not  
as though he despised all things1 but as
 though he  simply suffered others to   
possess them4    ,these habits and      
sentiments throw considerable light on  
,seneca's  character4 ,they show that   
even from his earliest days he was      
capable of  adopting self-denial as a   
principle1 and that to his latest days  
he  retained many private habits of a   
simple and honourable character1 even   
when the exigencies of public life had  

compelled him to modify others4         
,although he abandoned an unusual       
abstinence out of respect for his       
father1 we have positive evidence that  
he resumed in his old age the  spare    
practices which in his enthusiastic     
youth he had caught from the  lessons of
 high-minded teachers4 ,these facts are 
surely sufficient to  refute at any rate
 those gross charges against the private
 character of  ,seneca1 venomously      
retailed by a jealous ,greekling like   
,dio ,cassius1  which do not rest on a  
tittle of evidence1 and seem to be due  
to a mere  spirit of envy and calumny4  
,i shall not again allude to these      
scandals  because ,i utterly disbelieve 
them4 ,a man who in his ,history could1 
as  ,dio ,cassius has done1 put into the
 mouth of a ,roman senator such insane  
falsehoods as he has pretended that     
,fufius ,calenus uttered in full  senate
 against ,cicero1 was evidently actuated
 by a spirit which  disentitles his     
statements to my credence4 ,seneca was  

an inconsistent  philosopher both in    
theory and in practice2 he fell beyond  
all question  into serious errors1 which
 deeply compromise his character2 but1  
so far  from being a dissipated or      
luxurious man1 there is every reason to 
believe that in the very midst of wealth
 and splendour1 and all the  temptations
 which they involve1 he retained alike  
the simplicity of his  habits and the   
rectitude of his mind4 ,whatever may    
have been the almost  fabulous value of 
his five hundred tables of cedar and    
ivory1 they were  rarely spread with any
 more sumptuous entertainment than      
water1  vegetables1 and fruit4 ,whatever
 may have been the amusements common    
among his wealthy and noble             
contemporaries1 we know that he found   
his  highest enjoyment in the innocent  
pleasures of his garden1 and took some  
of his exercise by running races there  
with a little slave4        ,,chapter   
,,iii4    ,,the ,,state ,,of ,,roman    
,,society4    ,we have gleaned from     

,seneca's own writings what facts we    
could  respecting his early education4  
,but in the life of every man there are 
influences of a far more real and       
penetrating character than those which  
come through the medium of schools or   
teachers4 ,the spirit of the age2  the  
general tone of thought1 the prevalent  
habits of social intercourse1  the      
political tendencies which were moulding
 the destiny of the  nation1--these must
 have told1 more insensibly indeed but  
more  powerfully1 on the mind of ,seneca
 than even the lectures of ,sotion and  
of ,attalus4 ,and1 if we have had reason
 to fear that there was much which  was 
hollow in the fashionable education1 we 
shall see that the general  aspect of   
the society by which our young          
philosopher was surrounded from  the    
cradle was yet more injurious and       
deplorable4    ,the darkness is deepest 
just before the dawn1 and never did a   
grosser  darkness or a thicker mist of  
moral pestilence brood over the surface 

of  ,pagan society than at the period   
when the ,sun of ,righteousness arose   
with healing in ,his wings4 ,there have 
been many ages when the dense  gloom of 
a heartless immorality seemed to settle 
down with unusual  weight2 there have   
been many places where1 under the       
gaslight of an  artificial system1 vice 
has seemed to acquire an unusual        
audacity2 but  never probably was there 
any age or any place where the worst    
forms of  wickedness were practiced with
 a more unblushing effrontery than in   
the  city of ,rome under the government 
of the ,caesars4 ,a deeply-seated       
corruption seemed to have fastened upon 
the very vitals of the national         
existence4 ,it is surely a lesson of    
deep moral significance that just as    
they became most polished in their      
luxury they became most vile in their   
manner of life4 ,horace had already     
bewailed that the age of our  fathers1  
worse than that of our grandsires1 has  
produced us who are yet  baser1 and who 

are doomed to give birth to a still more
 degraded  offspring4 ,but fifty years  
later it seemed to ,juvenal that in his 
times  the very final goal of iniquity  
had been attained1 and he exclaims1 in a
  burst of despair1 that posterity will 
add nothing to our immorality2  our     
descendents can but do and desire the   
same crimes as ourselves4 ,he  who would
 see but for a moment and afar off to   
what the ,gentile world  had sunk1 at   
the very period when ,christianity began
 to spread1 may form  some faint and    
shuddering conception from the picture  
of it drawn in the  ,epistle to the     
,romans4    ,we ought to realize this   
fact if we would judge of ,seneca       
aright4 ,let us  then glance at the     
condition of the society in the midst of
 which he  lived4 ,happily we can but   
glance at it4 ,the worst cannot be told4
 ,crimes  may be spoken of2 but things  
monstrous and inhuman should for ever be
  concealed4 ,we can but stand at the   
cavern's mouth1 and cast a single ray   

of light into its dark depths4 ,were we 
to enter1 our lamp would be  quenched by
 the foul things which would cluster    
round it4    ,in the age of ,augustus   
began that long slow agony1 that        
melancholy  process of a society        
gradually going to pieces under the     
dissolving  influence of its own vices  
which lasted almost without interruption
 till  nothing was left for ,rome except
 the fire and sword of barbaric         
invasions4 ,she saw not only her glories
 but also her virtues star by  star     
expire4 ,the old heroism1 the old       
beliefs1 the old manliness and          
simplicity1 were dead and gone2 they had
 been succeeded by prostration  and     
superstition by luxury and lust4        
,there is the moral of all human tales1 
',tis but the same rehearsal of the     
past1       ,first freedom1 and then    
glory2 when that fails1       ,wealth1  
vice1 corruption1--barbarism at last3   
,and history1 with all her volumes vast1
       ,hath but one page2 'tis better  

written here       ,where gorgeous      
tyranny hath thus amassed       ,all    
treasures1 all delights1 that eye or    
ear1       ,heart1 soul could seek1     
tongue ask4    ,the mere elements of    
society at ,rome during this period were
 very  unpromising4 ,it was a mixture of
 extremes4 ,there was no middle class4  
,at  the head of it was an emperor1     
often deified in his lifetime1 and      
separated from even the noblest of the  
senators by a distance of  immeasurable 
superiority4 ,he1 was1 in the startling 
language of ,gibbon1  at once a priest1 
an atheist1 and a god4 #h ,surrounding  
his person and  forming his court were  
usually those of the nobility who were  
the most  absolutely degraded by their  
vices1 their flatteries1 or their abject
  subservience4 ,but even these men were
 not commonly the repositories of       
political power4 ,the people of the     
greatest influence were the freedmen  of
 the emperors--men who had been slaves1 
,egyptians and ,bithynians who  had come

 to ,rome with bored ears and with chalk
 on their naked feet to  show that they 
were for sale1 or who had bawled        
sea-urchins all alive  in the ,velabrum 
or the ,saburra--who had acquired       
enormous wealth by  means often the most
 unscrupulous and the most degraded1 and
 whose  insolence and baseness had kept 
pace with their rise to power4 ,such a  
man was the ,felix before whom ,st4     
,paul was tried1 and such was his       
brother ,pallas1#i whose golden statue  
might have been seen among the          
household gods of the senator1          
afterwards the emperor1 ,vitellius4     
,another of them might often have been  
observed parading the streets  between  
two consuls4 ,imagine an ,edward ,,ii4  
endowed with absolute and  unquestioned 
powers of tyranny1--imagine some        
pestilent ,piers ,gaveston1  or ,hugh de
 le ,spenser exercising over nobles and 
people a hideous  despotism of the back 
stairs1--and you have some faint picture
 of the  government of ,rome under some 

of the twelve ,caesars4 ,what the barber
  ,olivier le ,diable was under ,louis  
,,xi41 what ,mesdames du ,barri and     
,pompadour were under ,louis ,,xv41 what
 the infamous ,earl of ,somerset was    
under ,james ,i41 what ,george ,villiers
 became under ,charles ,i41 will        
furnish us with a faint analogy of the  
far more exaggerated and  detestable    
position held by the freedman ,glabrio  
under ,domitian1 by the  actor          
,tigellinus under ,nero1 by ,pallus and 
,narcissus under ,claudius1 by  the     
obscure knight ,sejanus under the iron  
tyranny of the  gloomy ,tiberius4       
,footnote #h3                           
,to the sound       ,of fifes and drums 
they danced1 or in the shade       ,sung
 ,caesar great and terrible in war1     
,immortal ,caesar6 ',lo1 a god6 a god6  
,he cleaves the yielding skies6' ,caesar
 meanwhile       ,gathers the ocean     
pebbles1 or the gnat       ,enraged     
pursues2 or at his lonely meal          
,starves a wide province2 tastes1       

dislikes1 and flings       ,to dogs and 
sycophants4 ',a god6 a god6'       ,the 
flowery shades and shrines obscene      
return4       ,,dyer1 ,ruins of ,rome4  
,footnote #i3 ,the pride of this man was
 such that he never deigned to  speak a 
word in the presence of his own slaves1 
but only made known his  wishes by      
signs6--,,tacitus4    ,i4 ,it was an age
 of the most enormous wealth existing   
side by side with  the most abject      
poverty4 ,around the splendid palaces   
wandered hundreds  of mendicants1 who   
made of their mendicity a horrible      
trade1 and even  went so far as to steal
 or mutilate infants in order to move   
compassion  by their hideous maladies4  
,this class was increased by the        
exposure of  children1 and by that      
overgrown accumulation of landed        
property which  drove the poor from     
their native fields4 ,it was increased  
also by the  ambitious attempt of people
 whose means were moderate to imitate   
the  enormous display of the numerous   

millionaires4 ,the great ,roman         
conquests  in the ,east1 the plunder of 
the ancient kingdoms of ,antiochus1 of  
,attalus1 of ,mithridates1 had caused a 
turbid stream of wealth to flow  into   
the sober current of ,roman life4 ,one  
reads with silent astonishment  of the  
sums expended by wealthy ,romans on     
their magnificence or their  pleasures4 
,and as commerce was considered         
derogatory to rank and  position1 and   
was therefore pursued by men who had no 
character to lose1  these overgrown     
fortunes were often acquired by wretches
 of the meanest  stamp--by slaves       
brought from over the sea1 who had to   
conceal the holes  bored in their       
ears2#aj or even by malefactors who had 
to obliterate1  by artificial means1 the
 three letters#aa which had been branded
 by the  executioner on their foreheads4
 ,but many of the richest men in ,rome1 
who  had not sprung from this convict   
origin1 were fully as well deserving of 
the same disgraceful stigma4 ,their     

houses were built1 their coffers were   
replenished1 from the drained resources 
of exhausted provincials4 ,every  young 
man of active ambition or noble birth1  
whose resources had been  impoverished  
by debauchery and extravagance1 had but 
to borrow fresh  sums in order to give  
magnificent gladiatorial shows1 and     
then1 if he  could once obtain an       
aedileship1 and mount to the higher     
offices of the  ,state1 he would in time
 become the procurator or proconsul of a
  province1 which he might pillage      
almost at his will4 ,enter the house of 
a ,felix or a ,verres4 ,those splendid  
pillars of mottled green marble were    
dug by the forced labour of ,phrygians  
from the quarry of ,synnada2 that       
embossed silver1 those murrhine vases1  
those jeweled cups1 those  masterpieces 
of antique sculpture1 have all been torn
 from the homes or  the temples of      
,sicily or ,greece4 ,countries were     
pilaged and nations  crushed that an    
,apicius might dissolve pearls#ab in the

 wine he drank1  or that ,lollia        
,paulina might gleam in a second-best   
dress of emeralds  and pearls which had 
cost #dj1jjj1jjj sesterces1 or more than
  #cb1jjjl4#ac    ,footnote #aj3 ,this  
was a common ancient practice2 the very 
words  thrall1 thralldom1 are           
etymologically connected with the roots 
thrill1 trill1 drill1 7,compare ,exod4  
xxi4 #f2 ,deut4 xv4 #ag2 ,plut4  ,cic4  
#bf2 and ,juv4 ,sat4 i4 #ajd47          
,footnote #aa3 ,fur1 thief4 7,see       
,martial1 ii4 #bi47    ,footnote #ab3   
,dissolved pearls1 ,apicius' diet       
'gainst the  epilepsy4--,,ben ,,jonson4 
,footnote #ac3 ,pliny actually saw her  
thus arrayed4 7,nat4 ,hist4 ix4 #ce1    
#cf47    ,each of these gorgeous        
criminals lived in the midst of an      
humble  crowd of flatterers1 parasites1 
clients1 dependents1 and slaves4 ,among 
the throng that at early morning jostled
 each other in the marble  atrium were  
to be found a motley and hetrogeneous   
set of men4 ,slaves  of every age and   

nation--,germans1 ,egyptians1 ,gauls1   
,goths1 ,syrians1  ,britons1 ,moors1    
pampered and consequential freedmen1    
impudent  confidential servants1 greedy 
buffoons1 who lived by making bad jokes 
at  other people's tables2 ,dacian      
gladiators1 with whom fighting was a    
trade2 philosophers1 whose chief claim  
to reputation was the length of  their  
beards2 supple ,greeklings of the       
,tartuffe species1 ready to  flatter and
 lie with consummate skill1 and         
spreading their vile  character like a  
pollution wherever they went3 and among 
all these a  number of poor but honest  
clients1 forced quietly to put up with a
  thousand forms of contumely#ad and    
insult1 and living in discontented      
idleness on the sportula or daily       
largesse which was administered by  the 
grudging liberality of their haughty    
patrons4 ,the stout old ,roman  burgher 
had well-nigh disappeared2 the sturdy   
independence1 the manly  self-reliance  
of an industrial population were all but

 unknown4 ,the  insolent loungers who   
bawled in the ,forum were often mere    
stepsons of  ,italy1 who had been       
dragged thither in chains1--the dregs of
 all  nations1 which had flowed into    
,rome as into a common sewer1#ae        
bringing  with them no heritage except  
the specialty of their national vices4  
,their two wants were bread and the     
shows of the circus2 so long as the     
sportula of their patron1 the occasional
 donative of an emperor1 and  the       
ambition of political candidates        
supplied these wants1 they lived in     
contented abasement1 anxious neither for
 liberty nor for power4    ,footnote    
#ad3 ,few of the many sad pictures in   
the ,satires of ,juvenal  are more      
pitiable than that of the wretched      
,quirites struggling at  their patrons' 
doors for the pittance which formed     
their daily dole4  7,sat i4 #aja47      
,footnote #ae3 ,see ,juv4 ,sat4 iii4    
#fb4 ,scipio1 on being interrupted by   
the mob in the ,forum1                  

exclaimed1--,silence1 ye stepsons of    
,italy6 ,what6  shall ,i fear these     
fellows now they are free1 whom ,i      
myself have brought  in chains to ,rome8
 7,see ,cic4 ,de ,orat4 ii4 #fa47       
,,ii4 ,it was an age at once of atheism 
and superstition4 ,strange to say1  the 
two things usually go together4 ,just as
 ,philippe ,egalit1 ,duke of  ,orleans1 
disbelieved in ,god1 and yet tried to   
conjecture his fate from  the inspection
 of coffee-grounds at the bottom of a   
cup1--just as ,louis  ,,xi4 shrank from 
no perjury and no crime1 and yet        
retained a profound  reverence for a    
little leaden image which he carried in 
his cap1--so the  ,romans under the     
,empire sneered at all the whole crowd  
of gods and  goddesses whom their       
fathers had worshipped1 but gave an     
implicit  credence to sorcerers1        
astrologers1 spirit-rappers1 exorcists1 
and every  species of imposter and      
quack4 ,the ceremonies of religion were 
performed  with ritualistic splendour1  

but all belief in religion was dead and 
gone4 ,that there are such things as    
ghosts and subterranean realms not  even
 boys believe1 says ,juvenal1 except    
those who are still too young  to pay a 
farthing for a bath4 #af ,nothing can   
exceed the cool  impertinence with which
 the poet ,martial prefers the favour of
 ,domitian  to that of the great        
,jupiter of the ,capitol4 ,seneca1 in   
his lost book  ,against                 
,superstitions1#ag openly sneered at the
 old mythological  legends of gods      
married and gods unmarried1 and at the  
gods ,panic and  ,paleness1 and at      
,cloacina1 the goddess of sewers1 and at
 other deities  whose cruelty and       
license would have been infamous even in
 mankind4 ,and  yet the priests1 and    
,salii1 and ,flamens1 and ,augurs       
continued to fulfil  their solemn       
functions1 and the highest title of the 
,emperor himself was  that of ,pontifex 
,maximus1 or ,chief ,priest1 which he   
claimed as the  recognized head of the  

national religion4 ,the common worship  
was  regarded1 says ,gibbon1 by the     
people as equally true1 by the          
philosophers as equally false1 and by   
the magistrates as equally  useful4 ,and
 this famous remark is little more than 
a translation from  ,seneca1 who1 after 
exposing the futility of the popular    
beliefs1 adds3  ,and yet the wise man   
will observe them all1 not as pleasing  
to the  gods1 but as commanded by the   
laws4 ,we shall so adore all that       
ignoble  crowd of gods which long       
superstition has heaped together in a   
long  period of years1 as to remember   
that their worship has more to do with  
custom than with reality4 ,because he   
was an illustrious senator of the       
,roman people1 observes ,st4 ,augustine1
 who has preserved for us this          
fragment1 he worshipped what he blamed1 
he did what he refuted1 he  adored that 
with which he found fault4 ,could       
anything be more hollow or  heartless   
than this8 ,is there anything which is  

more certain to sap the  very           
foundations of morality than the public 
maintenance of a creed  which has long  
ceased to command the assent1 and even  
the respect of its  recognized          
defenders8 ,seneca1 indeed1 and a few   
enlightened  philosophers1 might have   
taken refuge from the superstitions     
which they  abandoned in a truer and    
purer form of faith4 ,accordingly1 says 
,lactantius1 one of the ,christian      
,fathers1 he has said many things like  
ourselves concerning ,god4 #ah ,he      
utters what ,tertullian finely calls    
the testimony of ,a ,,mind ,,naturally  
,,christian4 ,but1 meanwhile1 what      
became of the common multitude8 ,they   
too1 like their superiors1 learnt  to   
disbelieve or to question the power of  
the ancient deities2 but1 as  the mind  
absolutely requires some religion on    
which to rest1 they gave  their real    
devotion to all kinds of strange and    
foreign deities1--to  ,isis and ,osiris1
 and the dog ,anubus1 to ,chaldaean     

magicians1 to ,jewish  exercisers1 to   
,greek quacks1 and to the wretched      
vagabond priests of  ,cybele1 who       
infested all the streets with their     
,oriental dances and  tinkling          
tambourines4 ,the visitor to the ruins  
of ,pompeii may still see  in her temple
 the statue of ,isis1 through whose open
 lips the gaping  worshippers heard the 
murmured answers they came to seek4 ,no 
doubt they  believed as firmly that the 
image spoke1 as our forefathers believed
  that their miraculous ,madonnas nodded
 and winked4 ,but time has exposed  the 
cheat4 ,by the ruined shrine the        
worshipper may now see the secret  steps
 by which the priest got to the back of 
the statue1 and the pipe  entering the  
back of its head through which he       
whispered the answers of  the oracle4   
,footnote #af3 ,,juv4 ,sat4 ii4 #adi4   
,cf4 ,sen4 ,ep4 xxiv4 ,nemo tam puer    
est at ,cerberum timeat1 et tenebras1 c4
    ,footnote #ag3 ,fragm4 xxxiv4       
,footnote #ah3 ,lactantius1 ,divin4     

,inst4 i4 #d4    ,,iii4 ,it was an age  
of boundless luxury1--an age in which   
women  recklessly vied with one another 
in the race of splendour and            
extravagance1 and in which men plunged  
headlong1 without a single  scruple of  
conscience1 and with every possible     
resource at their  command1 into the    
pursuit of pleasure4 ,there was no form 
of luxury1  there was no refinement of  
vice invented by any foreign nation1    
which  had not been eagerly adopted by  
the ,roman patricians4 ,the softness of 
,sybaris1 the manners of ,rhodes and    
,antioch1 and of perfumed1 drunken1     
flower-crowned ,miletus1 were all to be 
found at ,rome4 ,there was no  more of  
the ancient ,roman severity and dignity 
and self-respect4 ,the  descendants of  
,aemilius and ,gracchus--even generals  
and consuls and  praetors--mixed        
familiarly with the lowest canaille of  
,rome in their  vilest and most squalid 
purlieus of shameless vice4 ,they fought
 as  amateur gladiators in the arena4   

,they drove as competing charioteers on 
the race-course4 ,they even condescended
 to appear as actors on the  stage4     
,they devoted themselves with such      
frantic eagerness to the  excitement of 
gambling1 that we read of their staking 
hundreds of pounds  on a single throw of
 the dice1 when they could not even     
restore the  pawned tunics to their     
shivering slaves4 ,under the cold marble
 statues1  or amid the waxen likenesses 
of their famous stately ancestors1 they 
turned night into day with long and     
foolish orgies1 and exhausted land  and 
sea with the demands of their gluttony4 
,woe to that city1 says an  ancient     
proverb1 in which a fish costs more than
 an ox2 and this  exactly describes the 
state of ,rome4 ,a banquet would        
sometimes cost the  price of an estate2 
shell-fish were brought from remote and 
unknown  shores1 birds from ,parthia and
 the banks of the ,phasis2 single dishes
  were made of the brains of the        
peacocks and the tongues of nightingales

  and flamingoes4 ,apicius1 after       
squandering nearly a million of money in
  the pleasures of the table1 committed 
suicide1 ,seneca tells us1 because  he  
found that he had only #hj1jjjl4 left4  
,cowley speaks of--         ,vitellius' 
table1 which did hold        ,as many   
creatures as the ark of old4    ,they   
eat1 said ,seneca1 and then they vomit2 
they vomit1 and then  they eat4 ,but    
even in this matter we cannot tell      
anything like the  worst facts about--  
,their sumptuous gluttonies and gorgeous
 feasts        ,on citron tables and    
,atlantic stone1        ,their wines of 
,setia1 ,gales1 and ,falerne1           
,chios1 and ,crete1 and how they quaff  
in gold1        ,crystal1 and myrrhine  
cups1 embossed with gems        ,and    
studs of pearl4 #ai    ,still less can  
we pretend to describe the unblushing   
and unutterable  degradation of this    
period as it is revealed to us by the   
poets and the  satirists4 ,all things1  
says ,seneca1 are full of iniquity and  

vice2  more crime is committed than can 
be remedied by restraint4 ,we struggle  
in a huge contest of criminality3 daily 
the passion for sin is greater1  the    
shame in committing it is less4444      
,wickedness is no longer committed  in  
secret3 it flaunts before our eyes1 and 
,the citron board1 the bowl embossed    
with gems1                        444   
whatever is known        ,of rarest     
acquisition2 ,tyrian garbs1             
,neptunian ,albion's high testaceous    
food1        ,and flavoured ,chian      
wines1 with incense fumed1        ,to   
slake patrician thirst3 for these their 
rights        ,in the vile atreets they 
prostitute for sale1        ,their      
ancient rights1 their dignities1 their  
laws1        ,their native glorious     
freedom4    has been sent forth so      
openly into public sight1 and has       
prevailed so  completely in the breast  
of all1 that innocence is not rare1 but 
non-existent4    ,footnote #ai3 ,compare
 the lines in ,dyer's little-remembered 

,ruins of  ,rome4    ,,iv4 ,and it was  
an age of deep sadness4 ,that it should 
have been so is an  instructive and     
solemn lesson4 ,in proportion to the    
luxury of the age  were its misery and  
its exhaustion4 ,the mad pursuit of     
pleasure was the  death and degradation 
of all true happiness4 ,suicide--suicide
 out of  pure ennui and discontent at a 
life overflowing with every possible    
means of indulgence--was extraordinarily
 prevalent4 ,the ,stoic  philosophy1    
especially as we see it represented in  
the tragedies  attributed to ,seneca1   
rang with the glorification of it4 ,men 
ran to  death because their mode of life
 had left them no other refuge4 ,they   
died because it seemed so tedious and so
 superfluous to be seeing and  doing and
 saying the same things over and over   
again2 and because they  had exhausted  
the very possibility of the only        
pleasures of which they  had left       
themselves capable4 ,the satirical      
epigram of ,destouches1--         ,ci-gt

 ,jean ,rosbif1 cuyer1        ,qui se   
pendit pour se dsennuyer1    was        
literally and strictly true of many     
,romans during this epoch4              
,marcellinus1 a young and wealthy noble1
 starved himself1 and then had  himself 
suffocated in a warm bath1 merely       
because he was attacked with a          
perfectly curable illness4 ,the         
philosophy which alone professed itself 
able to heal men's sorrows applauded the
 supposed courage of a voluntary  death1
 and it was of too abstract1 too        
fantastic1 and too purely  theoretical a
 character to furnish them with any real
 or lasting  consolations4 ,no sentiment
 caused more surprise to the ,roman     
world than  the famous one preserved in 
the fragment of ,maecenas1--            
,debilem facito manu1          ,debilem 
pede1 cox1        ,tuber adstrue        
gibberum1          ,lubricos quate      
dentes2        ,vita dum superest bene  
est2          ,hanc mihi vel acut       
,si sedeam cruce sustine2    which may  

be paraphrased1--         ,numb my hands
 with palsy1          ,rack my feet with
 gout1        ,hunch my back and        
shoulder1          ,let my teeth fall   
out2        ,still1 if ,life be granted1
          ,i prefer the loss2           
,save my life1 and give me              
,anguish on the cross4    ,seneca1 in   
his #ajast ,letter1 calls this a most   
disgraceful and most  contemptible wish2
 but it may be paralleled out of        
,euripides1 and still  more closely out 
of ,homer4 ,talk not1 says the shade of 
,achilles to  ,ulysses in the           
,odyssey1--         ',talk not of       
reigning in this dolorous gloom1        
,nor think vain lies1' he cried1 'can   
ease my doom4        ,better by far     
laboriously to bear        ,a weight of 
woes1 and breathe the vital air1        
,slave to the meanest hind that begs his
 bread1        ,than reign the sceptred 
monarch of the dead4'    ,but this      
falsehood of extremes was one of the sad
 outcomes of the  popular ,paganism4    

,either1 like the natural savage1 they  
dreaded death  with an intensity of     
terror2 or1 when their crimes and       
sorrows had made  life unsupportable1   
they slank to it as a refuge1 with a    
cowardice which  vaunted itself as      
courage4    ,v4 ,and it was an age of   
cruelty4 ,the shows of gladiators1 the  
sanguinary  combats of wild beasts1 the 
not unfrequent spectacle of savage      
tortures  and capital punishments1 the  
occasional sight of innocent martyrs    
burning to death in their shirts of     
pitchy fire1 must have hardened and     
imbruted the public sensibility4 ,the   
immense prevalence of slavery  tended   
still more inevitably to the general    
corruption4 ,lust1 as  usual1 was hard  
by hate4 ,one hears with perfect        
amazement of the  number of slaves in   
the wealthy houses4 ,a thousand slaves  
was no  extravagant number1 and the vast
 majority of them were idle1 uneducated 
and corrupt4 ,treated as little better  
than animals1 they lost much of  the    

dignity of men4 ,their masters possessed
 over them the power of life  and death1
 and it is shocking to read of the      
cruelty with which they  were often     
treated4 ,an accidental murmur1 a cough1
 a sneeze1 was  punished with rods4     
,mute1 motionless1 fasting1 the slaves  
had to stand  by while their masters    
supped2 ,a brutal and stupid barbarity  
often  turned a house into the shambles 
of an executioner1 sounding with        
scourges1 chains1 and yells4#bj ,one    
evening the ,emperor ,augustus was      
supping at the house of ,vedius ,pollio1
 when one of the slaves1 who was        
carrying a crystal goblet1 slipped down1
 and broke it4 ,transported with  rage  
,vedius at once ordered the slave to be 
seized1 and plunged into the  fish-pond 
as food to the lampreys4 ,the boy       
escaped from the hands of his           
fellow-slaves1 and fled to ,caesar's    
feet to implore1 not that his life      
should be spared--a pardon which he     
neither expected nor hoped--but that  he

 might die by a mode of death less      
horrible than being devoured by  fishes4
 ,common as it was to torment slaves1   
and to put them to death1  ,augustus1 to
 his honor be it spoken1 was horrified  
by the cruelty of  ,vedius1 and         
commanded both that the slave should be 
set free1 that every  crystal vase in   
the house of ,vedius should be broken in
 his presence and  that the fish pond   
should be filled up4 ,even women        
inflicted upon their  female slaves     
punishments of the most cruel atrocity  
for faults of the  most venial          
character4 ,a brooch wrongly placed1 a  
tress of hair  ill-arranged1 and the    
enraged matron orders her slave to be   
lashed and  crucified4 ,if her milder   
husband interferes1 she not only        
justifies the  cruelty1 but asks in     
amazement3 ,what6 is a slave so much of 
a human  being8 ,no wonder that there   
was a proverb1 ,as many slaves1 so many 
foes4 ,no wonder that many masters lived
 in perpetual fear1 and that  the       

tyrant's devilish plea1 necessity1 might
 be urged in favor of that  odious law  
which enacted that1 if a master was     
murdered by an unknown  hand1 the whole 
body of his slaves should suffer        
death1--a law which  more than once was 
carried into effect under the reigns of 
the ,emperors4  ,slavery1 as we see in  
the case of ,sparta and many other      
nations1 always  involves its own       
retribution4 ,the class of free peasant 
proprietors  gradually disappears4 ,long
 before this time ,tib4 ,gracchus1 in   
coming  home from ,sardinia1 had        
observed that there was scarcely a      
single  freeman to be seen in the       
fields4 ,the slaves were infinitely more
  numerous than their owners4 ,hence    
arose the constant dread of servile     
insurrections2 the constant hatred of a 
slave population to which any           
conspirator revolutionist might         
successfully appeal2 and the constant   
insecurity of life1 which must have     
struck terror into many hearts4         

,footnote #bj3 ,juv4 ,sat4 i4 #bai--bbb4
    ,such is but a faint and broad      
outline of some of the features of      
,seneca's age2 and we shall be unjust if
 we do not admit that much at  least of 
the life he lived1 and nearly all the   
sentiments he uttered1  gain much in    
grandeur and purity from the contrast   
they offer to the  common life of--     
,that people victor once1 now vile and  
base1        ,deservedly made vassal1   
who1 once just1        ,frugal1 and     
mild1 and temperate1 conquered well1    
,but govern ill the nations under yoke1 
,peeling their provinces1 exhausted all 
,by lust and rapine2 first ambitious    
grown        ,of triumph1 that insulting
 vanity2        ,then cruel1 by their   
sports to blood inured        ,of       
fighting beasts1 and men to beasts      
exposed1        ,luxurious by their     
wealth1 and greedier still1        ,and 
from the daily scene effeminate4        
,what wise and valient men would seek to
 free        ,these thus degenerate1 by 

themselves enslaved2        ,or could of
 inward slaves make outward free8       
,,milton1 ,paradise ,regained1 iv4      
#acb-ade4        ,,chapter ,,iv4        
,,political ,,condition ,,of ,,rome     
,,under ,,tiberius ,,and ,,caius4       
,the personal notices of ,seneca's life 
up to the period of his manhood  are    
slight and fragmentary4 ,from an        
incidental expression we conjecture     
that he visited his aunt in ,egypt when 
her husband was ,prefect of that        
country1 and that he shared with her the
 dangers of shipwreck when her  husband 
had died on board ship during the       
homeward voyage4 ,possibly the  visit   
may have excited in his mind that deep  
interest and curiosity  about the       
phenomena of the ,nile which appear so  
strongly in several  passages of his    
,natural ,questions2 and1 indeed nothing
 is more likely  than that he suggested 
to ,nero the earliest recorded          
expedition to  discover the source of   
the mysterious river4 ,no other allusion

 to his  travels occur in his writings1 
but we may infer that from very early   
days he had felt an interest for        
physical inquiry1 since while still a   
youth he had written a book on          
earthquakes2 which has not come down  to
 us4    ,deterred by his father from the
 pursuit of philosophy1 he entered on   
the  duties of a profession4 ,he became 
an advocate1 and distinguished himself  
by his genius and eloquence in pleading 
causes4 ,entering on a political        
career1 he became a successful candidate
 for the quaestorship1 which  was an    
important step towards the highest      
offices of the state4 ,during  this     
period of his life he married a lady    
whose name has not been  preserved to   
us1 and to whom we have only one        
allusion1 which is a  curious one4 ,as  
in our own history it has been sometimes
 the fashion for  ladies of rank to have
 dwarves and negroes among their        
attendants1 so it  seems to have been   
the senseless and revolting custom of   

the ,roman  ladies of this time to keep 
idiots among the number of their        
servants4  ,the first wife of ,seneca   
had followed this fashion1 and ,seneca  
in his  fiftieth letter to his friend   
,lucilius#ba makes the following        
interesting allusion to the fact4 ,you  
know1 he says1 that my wife's  idiot    
girl ,harpaste has remained in my house 
as a burdensome legacy4 ,for  personally
 ,i feel the profoundest dislike to     
monstrosities of that kind4  ,if ever ,i
 want to amuse myself with an idiot1 ,i 
have not far to look for  one4 ,i laugh 
at myself4 ,this idiot girl has suddenly
 become blind4 ,now1  incredible as the 
story seems1 it is really true that she 
is unconscious  of her blindness1 and   
consequently begs her attendant to go   
elsewhere1  because the house is dark4  
,but you may be sure that this1 at which
 we  laugh in her1 happens to us all2 no
 one understands that he is  avaricious 
or covetous4 ,the blind seek for a      
guide2 we wander about  without a guide4

    ,footnote #ba3 ,it will be observed 
that the main biographical facts about  
the life of ,seneca are to be gleaned   
from his letters to ,lucilius1 who  was 
his constant friend from youth to old   
age1 and to whom he has  dedicated his  
,natural ,questions4 ,lucilius was a    
procurator of ,sicily1 a  man of        
cultivated taste and high principle4 ,he
 was the author of a poem  on ,aetna1   
which in the opinion of many competent  
judges is the poem  which has come down 
to us1 and has been attributed to       
,varus1 ,virgil1 and  others4 ,it has   
been admirably edited by ,mr4 ,munro4   
7,see ,nat4 ,quaest41  iv4 ad init4 ,ep4
 lxxix47 ,he also wrote a poem on the   
fountain  ,arethusa4 7,nat4 ,quaest4    
iii1 #bf47    ,this passage will furnish
 us with an excellent example of        
,seneca's  invariable method of         
improving every occasion and            
circumstance into an  opportunity for a 
philosophic harangue4    ,by this wife1 
who died shortly before ,seneca's       

banishment to ,corsica1 he  had two     
sons1 one of whom expired in the arms   
and amid the kisses of  ,helvia less    
than a month before ,seneca's departure 
for ,corsica4 ,to the  other1 whose name
 was ,marcus1 he makes the following    
pleasant allusion4  ,after urging his   
mother ,helvia to find consolation in   
the devotion of  his brothers ,gallio   
and ,mela1 he adds1 ,from these turn    
your eyes also  on your grandsons--to   
,marcus1 that most charming little boy1 
in sight of  whom no melancholy can last
 long4 ,no misfortune in the breast of  
any one  can have been so great or so   
recent as not to be soothed by his      
caresses4 ,whose tears would not his    
mirth repress8 whose mind would not  his
 prattling loose from the pressure of   
anxiety8 whom will not that  joyous     
manner of his incline to jesting8 whose 
attention1 even though he  be fixed in  
thought1 will not be attracted and      
absorbed by that  childlike garrulity of
 which no one can grow tired8 ,god grant

 that he  may survive me3 may all the   
cruelty of destiny be weared out on me6 
,whether the prayer of ,seneca was      
granted we do not know2 but1 as we do   
not again hear of ,marcus1 it is        
probable that he died before his father1
  and that the line of ,seneca1 like    
that of so many great men1 became       
extinct in the second generation4    ,it
 was probably during this period that   
,seneca laid the foundations of  that   
enormous fortune which excited the      
hatred and ridicule of his  opponents4  
,there is every reason to believe that  
this fortune was  honourably gained4 ,as
 both his father and mother were        
wealthy1 he had  doubtless inherited an 
ample competency2 this was increased by 
the  lucrative profession of a          
successful advocate1 and was finally    
swollen  by the princely donations of   
his pupil ,nero4 ,it is not improbable  
that  ,seneca1 like ,cicero1 and like   
all the wealthy men of their day1       
increased his property by lending money 

upon interest4 ,no disgrace  attached to
 such a course2 and as there is no proof
 for the charges of  ,dio ,cassius on   
this head1 we may pass them over with   
silent contempt4  ,dio gravely informs  
us that ,seneca excited an insurrection 
in ,britain1  by suddenly calling in the
 enormous sum of #dj1jjj1jjj sesterces2 
but  this is in all probability the     
calumny of a professed enemy4 ,we shall 
refer again to ,seneca's wealth2 but we 
may here admit that it was  undoubtedly 
ungraceful and incongruous in a         
philosopher who was  perpetually        
dwelling on the praises of poverty1 and 
that even in his own  age it attracted  
unfavourable notice1 as we may see from 
the epithet  ,proedives1 the            
over-wealthy1 which is applied to him   
alike by a  satiric poet and by a grave 
historian4 ,seneca was perfectly well   
aware  that this objection could be     
urged against him1 and it must be       
admitted  that the grounds on which he  
defends himself in his treatise ,on a   

,happy  ,life are not very conclusive or
 satisfactory4    ,the boyhood of       
,seneca fell in the last years of the   
,emperor ,augustus1  when1 in spite of  
the general decorum and amiability of   
their ruler1  people began to see       
clearly that nothing was left of liberty
 except the  name4 ,his youth and early 
manhood were spent during those         
three-and-twenty years of the reign of  
,tiberius1 that reign of terror1  during
 which the ,roman world was reduced to a
 frightful silence and  torpor as of    
death2#bb and1 although he was not      
thrown into personal  collision with    
that brutal monster1 he not unfrequently
 alludes to  him1 and to the dangerous  
power and headlong ruin of his wicked   
minister  ,sejanus4 ,up to this time he 
had not experienced in his own person   
those  crimes and horrors which fall to 
the lot of men who are brought into     
close contact with tyrants4 ,this first 
happened to him in the reign of  ,caius 
,caesar1 of whom we are enabled1 from   

the writings of ,seneca alone1  to draw 
a full-length portrait4    ,footnote    
#bb3 ,milton1 ,paradise ,regained1 iv4  
#abh4 ,for a picture of  ,tiberius as he
 appeared in his old age at ,capreae1   
hated of all and  hating1 see ,id4      
#ij-ig4    ,caius ,caesar was the son of
 ,germanicus and the elder ,agrippina4  
,germanicus was the bravest and most    
successful general1 and one of the      
wisest and most virtuous men1 of his    
day4 ,his wife ,agrippina1 in her       
fidelity1 her chastity1 her charity1 her
 nobility of mind1 was the very  model  
of a ,roman matron of the highest and   
purest stamp4 ,strange that  the son of 
such parents should have been one of the
 vilest1 cruelest1  and foulest of the  
human race4 ,so1 however1 it was2 and it
 is a  remarkable fact that scarcely one
 of the six children of this marriage   
displayed the virtues of their father   
and mother1 while two of them1  ,caius  
,caesar and the younger ,agrippina1     
lived to earn an exceptional  infamy by 

their baseness and their crimes4        
,possibly this unhappy result  may have 
been partly due to the sad circumstances
 of their early  education4 ,their      
father1 ,germanicus1 who by his virtue  
and his successes  had excited the      
suspicious jealousy of his uncle        
,tiberius1 was by his  distinct         
connivance1 if not by his actual        
suggestion1 atrociously  poisoned in    
,syria4 ,agrippina1 after being         
subjected to countless cruel  insults1  
was banished in the extremest poverty to
 the island of  ,pandataria4 ,two of the
 elder brothers1 ,nero and ,drusus      
,germanicus1 were  proclaimed public    
enemies3 ,nero was banished to the      
island ,pontia1 and  there put to death2
 ,drusus was kept a close prisoner in a 
secret prison  of the palace4 ,caius1   
the youngest1 who is better known by the
 name  ,caligula1 was summoned by       
,tiberius to his wicked retirement at   
,capreae1  and there only saved his life
 by the most abject flattery and the    

most  adroit submission4    ,capreae is 
a little island of surpassing           
loveliness1 forming one  extremity of   
the ,bay of ,naples4 ,its soil is rich1 
its sea bright and  limpid1 its breezes 
cool and healthful4 ,isolated by its    
position1 it is  yet within easy reach  
of ,rome4 ,at that time1 before         
,vesuvius had  rekindled those wasteful 
fires which first shook down1 and then  
deluged  under lava and scoriae1 the    
little cities of ,herculaneum and       
,pompeii1  the scene which it commanded 
was even more pre-eminently beautiful   
than  now4 ,vineyards and olive-groves  
clothed the sides of that matchless bay1
  down to the very line where the bright
 blue waters seem to kiss with  their   
ripples the many-coloured pebbles of the
 beach4 ,over all1 with its  sides      
dotted with picturesque villas and happy
 villages1 towered the  giant cone of   
the volcano which for centuries had     
appeared to be  extinct1 and which was  
clothed up to the very crater with      

luxurious  vegetation4 ,such was the    
delicious home which ,tiberius disgraced
 for  ever by the seclusion of his old  
age4 ,here he abandoned himself to every
  refinement of wickedness1 and from    
hence1 being by common consent the  most
 miserable of men1 he wrote to the      
,senate that memorable letter in  which 
he confesses his daily and unutterable  
misery under the stings of  a guilty    
conscience1 which neither solitude nor  
power enabled him  to escape4    ,never 
did a fairer scene undergo a worse      
degradation2 and here1 in one  or other 
of the twelve villas which ,tiberius had
 built1 and among the  azure grottoes   
which he caused to be constructed1 the  
youthful ,caius#bc  grew up to manhood4 
,it would have been a terrible school   
even for a  noble nature2 for a nature  
corrupt and bloodthirsty like that of   
,caius  it was complete and total ruin4 
,but1 though he was so obsequious to the
  ,emperor as to originate the jest that
 never had there been a worse  master   

and never a more cringing slave1--though
 he suppressed every sign  of           
indignation at the horrid deaths of his 
mother and his  brothers1--though he    
assiduously reflected the looks1 and    
carefully  echoed the very words1 of his
 patron1--yet not even by the deep      
dissimulation which such a position     
required did he succeed in  concealing  
from the penetrating eye of ,tiberius   
the true ferocity of his  character4    
,not being the acknowledged heir to the 
kingdom1--for ,tiberius  ,gemellus1 the 
youthful grandson of ,tiberius1 was     
living1 and ,caius was  by birth only   
his grand-nephew1--he became a tool for 
the machinations  of ,marco the         
praetorian praefect and his wife ,ennia4
 ,one of his chief  friends was the     
cruel ,herod ,agrippa1#bd who put to    
death ,st4 ,james and  imprisoned ,st4  
,peter1 and whose tragical fate is      
recorded in the #abth  chap4 of the     
,acts4 ,on one occasion1 when ,caius had
 been abusing the  dictator ,sulla1     

,tiberius scornfully remarked that he   
would have all  ,sulla's vices and none 
of his virtues2 and on another1 after a 
quarrel  between ,caius and his cousin1 
the ,emperor embraced with tears his    
young  grandson1 and said to the        
frowning ,caius1 with one of those      
strange  flashes of prevision of which  
we sometimes read in history4 ,why are  
you  so eager8 ,some day you will kill  
this boy1 and some one else will murder 
you4 ,there were some who believed that 
,tiberius deliberately cherished  the   
intention of allowing ,caius to succeed 
him1 in order that the ,roman  world    
might relent towards his own memory     
under the tyranny of a worse  monster   
than himself4 ,even the ,romans1 who    
looked up to the family of  ,germanicus 
with extraordinary affection1 seem early
 to have lost all  hopes about ,caius4  
,they looked for little improvement     
under the  government of a vicious boy1 
ignorant of all things1 or nurtured only
  in the worst1 who would be likely to  

reflect the influence of ,macro1  and   
present the spectacle of a worse        
,tiberius under a worse ,sejanus4       
,footnote #bc3 ,we shall call him       
,caius1 because it is as little correct 
to write of him by the sobriquet        
,caligula as it would be habitually to  
write of our kings ,edward or ,john as  
,longshanks or ,lackland4 ,the name     
,caligula means a little shoe1 and was  
the pet name given to him by the        
soldiers of his father1 in whose camp he
 was born4    ,footnote #bd3 ,josephus  
adds some curious and interesting       
particulars to  the story of this ,herod
 and his death which are not mentioned  
in the  narrative of ,st4 ,luke 7,antiq4
 xix4 #g1 #h4 ,jahn1 ,hebr4             
,commonwealth1   cxxvi47    ,at last    
health and strength failed ,tiberius1   
but not his habitual  dissimulation4 ,he
 retained the same unbending soul1 and  
by his fixed  countenance and measured  
language1 sometimes by an artificial    
affability1 he tried to conceal his     

approaching end4 ,after many restless   
changes1 he finally settled down in a   
villa at ,misenum which had once        
belonged to the luxurious ,lucullus4    
,there the real state of his health  was
 discovered4 ,charicles1 a distinguished
 physician1 who had been  paying him a  
friendly visit on kissing his hand to   
bid farewell1 managed  to ascertain the 
state of his pulse4 ,suspecting that    
this was the case  ,tiberius1 concealing
 his displeasure1 ordered a banquet to  
be spread1  as though in honour of his  
friend's departure1 and stayed longer   
than  usual at table4 ,a similar story  
is told of ,louis ,,xiv4 who1 noticing  
from  the whispers of his courtiers that
 they believed him to be dying1 ate an  
unusually large dinner on the very day  
of his death1 and sarcastically         
observed1 ,il me semble que pour un     
homme qui va mourir je ne mange pas     
mal4 ,but1 in spite of the precautions  
of ,tiberius1 ,charicles informed       
,macro that the ,emperor could not last 

beyond two days4    ,a scene of secret  
intrigue at once began4 ,the court broke
 up into knots  and cliques4 ,hasty     
messengers were sent to the provinces   
and their  armies1 until at last1 on the
 #afth of ,march1 it was believed that  
,tiberius had breathed his last4 ,just  
as on the death of ,louis ,,xv4 a       
sudden noise was heard as of thunder1   
the sound of courtiers rushing  along   
the corridors to congratulate ,louis    
,,xvi4 in the famous words1 ,le  roi est
 mort1 vive le roi1 so a crowd instantly
 thronged round ,caius  with their      
congratulations1 as he went out of the  
palace to assume his  imperial          
authority4 ,suddenly a message reached  
him that ,tiberius had  recovered voice 
and sight4 ,seneca says1 that feeling   
his last hour to be  near1 he had taken 
off his ring1 and1 holding it in his    
shut left hand1  had long lain          
motionless2 then calling his servants1  
since no one  answered his call1 he rose
 from his couch1 and1 his strength      

failing  him1 after a few tottering     
steps fell prostrate on the ground4     
,the news produced the same             
consternation as that which was produced
  among the conspirators at ,adonijah's 
banquet1 when they heard of the         
measures taken by the dying ,david4     
,there was a panic-stricken  dispersion1
 and every one pretended to be grieved1 
or ignorant of what  was going on4      
,caius1 in stupified silence1 expected  
death instead of  empire4 ,macro alone  
did not lose his presence of mind4 ,with
 the utmost  intrepidity1 he gave orders
 that the old man should be suffocated  
by  heaping over him a mass of clothes1 
and that every one should then leave    
the chamber4 ,such was the miserable and
 unpitied end of the ,emperor           
,tiberius1 in the seventy-eighth year of
 his age4 ,such was the death1 and  so  
miserable had been the life1 of the man 
to whom the ,tempter had  already given 
the kingdoms of the world and the glory 
of them1 when he  tried to tempt with   

them the ,son of ,god4 ,that this man   
should have been  the chief ,emperor of 
the earth at a time when its true ,king 
was living  as a peasant in his village 
home at ,nazareth1 is a fact suggestive 
of  many and of solemn thoughts4        
,,chapter ,v4    ,,the ,,reign ,,of     
,,caius4    ,the poet ,gray1 in         
describing the deserted deathbed of our 
own great  ,edward ,,iii41 says3--      
,low on his funeral couch he lies6      
,no pitying heart1 no eye afford        
,a tear to grace his obsequies6         
99       99       99       99       99  
,the swarm that in the noontide beam    
were born8        ,gone to salute the   
rising ,morn4        ,fair laughs the   
,morn1 and soft the zephyr blows1       
,while proudly riding o'er the azure    
realm1        ,in gallant trim the      
gilded vessel goes2        ,youth on the
 prow and ,pleasure at the helm2        
,regardless of the sweeping ,whirlwind's
 sway1      ,that1 hushed in grim       
repose1 expects his evening prey4       

,the last lines of this passage would   
alone have been applicable to ,caius    
,caesar4 ,there was nothing fair or gay 
even about the beginning of his  reign4 
,from first to last it was a reign of   
fury and madness1 and lust  and blood4  
,there was an hereditary taint of       
insanity in this family1  which was     
developed by their being placed on the  
dizzy pinnacle of  imperial despotism1  
and which usually took the form of      
monstrous and  abnormal crime4 ,if we   
would seek a parallel for ,caius        
,caesar1 we must  look for it in the    
history of ,christian ,,vii4 of         
,denmark1 and ,paul of  ,russia4 ,in all
 three we find the same ghastly pallor1 
the same  sleeplessness which compelled 
them to rise1 and pace their rooms at   
night1 the same incessant suspicion2 the
 same inordinate thirst for  cruelty and
 torture4 ,he took a very early         
opportunity to disembarrass  himself of 
his benefactors1 ,macro and ,ennia1 and 
of his rival1 the young  ,tiberius4 ,the

 rest of his reign was a series of      
brutal extravagances4 ,we  have lost the
 portion of those matchless ,annals of  
,tacitus which  contained the reign of  
,caius1 but more than enough to revolt  
and horrify  is preserved in the        
scattered notices of ,seneca1 and in the
 narratives  of ,suetonius in ,latin and
 ,dio ,cassius in ,greek4    ,his       
madness showed itself sometimes in      
gluttonous extravagance1 as when  he    
ordered a supper which cost more than   
#h1jjjl2 sometimes in a  bizarre and    
disgraceful mode of dress1 as when he   
appeared in public  in women's          
stockings1 embroidered with gold and    
pearls2 sometimes in a  personality and 
insolence of demeanor towards every rank
 and class in  ,rome1 which made him ask
 a senator to supper1 and ply him with  
drunken  toasts1 on the very evening on 
which he had condemned his son to death2
  sometimes in sheer raving blasphemy1  
as when he expressed his furious        
indignation against ,jupiter for        

presuming to thunder while he was       
supping1 or looking at the pantomimes2  
but most of all in a ferocity  which    
makes ,seneca apply to him the name of  
,bellua1 or wild monster1  and say that 
he seems to have been produced for the  
disgrace and  destruction of the human  
race4    ,we will quote from the pages  
of ,seneca but one single passage to    
justify  his remark that he was most    
greedy for human blood1 which he ordered
  to stream in his very presence with   
such eagerness as though he were  going 
to drink it up with his lips4 ,he says  
that in one day he scourged  and        
tortured men of consular and quaestorial
 parentage1 knights and  senators1 not  
by way of examination1 but out of pure  
caprice and rage2  he seriously         
meditated the butchery of the entire    
senate2 he expressed a  wish that the   
,roman people had but a single neck1    
that he might strike  it off at one     
blow2 he silenced the screams or        
reproaches of his victims  sometimes by 

thrusting a sponge in their mouths1     
sometimes by having  their mouths gagged
 with their own torn robes1 sometimes by
 ordering  their tongues to be cut out  
before they were thrown to the wild     
beasts4  ,on one occasion1 rising from a
 banquet1 he called for his slippers1   
which were kept by the slaves while the 
guests reclined on the purple  couches1 
and so impatient was he for the sight of
 death1 that1 walking  up and down his  
covered portico by lamplight with ladies
 and senators1  he then and there       
ordered some of his wretched victims to 
be beheaded in  his sight4    ,it is a  
singular proof of the unutterable dread 
and detestation inspired  by some of    
these ,caesars1 that their mere         
countenance is said to have  inspired   
anguish4 ,tacitus1 in the life of his   
father-in-law ,agricola1  mentions the  
shuddering recollection of the red face 
of ,domitian1 as it  looked on at the   
games4 ,seneca speaks in one place of   
wretches doomed to  undergo stones1     

sword1 fire1 and ,caius2 in another he  
says that he had  tortured the noblest  
,romans with everything which could     
possibly cause  the intensest           
agony1--with cords1 plates1 rack1 fire1 
and1 as though it  were the worst       
torture of all1 with his look6 ,what    
that look was1 we  learn from ,seneca   
himself1 ,his face was ghastly pale1    
with a look of  insanity2 his fierce1   
dull eyes were half-hidden under a      
wrinkled brow2  his ill-shaped head was 
partly bald1 partly covered with        
dyed-hair2 his  neck covered with       
bristles1 his legs thin1 and his feet   
mis-shapen4 ,woe  to the nation that    
lies under the heel of a brutal         
despotism2 treble woe  to the nation    
that can tolerate a despot so brutal as 
this6 ,yet this was  the nation in the  
midst of which ,seneca lived1 and this  
was the despot  under whom his early    
manhood was spent4         ,but what    
more oft in nations grown corrupt1      
,and by their vices brought to          

servitude1        ,than to love bondage 
more than liberty1        ,bondage with 
ease than strenuous liberty8    ,it was 
one of the peculiarities of ,caius      
,caesar that he hated the very          
existence of any excellence4 ,he used to
 bully and insult the gods  themselves1 
frowning even at the statues of ,apollo 
and ,jupiter of the  ,capitol4 ,he      
thought of abolishing ,homer1 and order 
the works of ,livy and  ,virgil to be   
removed from all libraries1 because he  
could not bear that  they should be     
praised4 ,he ordered ,julius ,graecinus 
to be put to death  for no other reason 
than this1 ,that he was a better man    
than it was  expedient for a tyrant that
 any one should be2 for1 as ,pliny tells
 us1  the ,caesars deliberately         
preferred that their people should be   
vicious  than that they should be       
virtuous4 ,it was hardly likely that    
such a man  should view with equanimity 
the rising splendour of ,seneca's       
reputation4  ,hitherto1 the young man1  

who was thirty-five years old at the    
accession  of ,caius1 had not written   
any of his philosophic works1 but in all
  probability he had published his      
early1 and no longer extant1 treatises  
on earthquakes1 on superstitions1 and   
the books ,on ,india1 and ,on the       
,manners of ,egypt1 which had been the  
fruit of his early travels4 ,it is      
probable1 too1 that he had recited in   
public some of those tragedies  which   
have come down to us under his name1 and
 in the composition of  which he was    
certainly concerned4 ,all these works1  
and especially the  applause won by the 
public reading of his poems1 would have 
given him  that high literary reputation
 which we know him to have earned4 ,it  
was  not1 however1 this reputation1 but 
the brilliancy and eloquence of his     
orations at the bar which excited the   
jealous hatred of the ,emperor4  ,caius 
piqued himself on the possession of     
eloquence2 and1 strange to  say1 there  
are isolated expressions of his which   

seem to show that1 in  lucid intervals1 
he was by no means devoid of            
intellectual acuteness4  ,for instance1 
there is real humour and insight in the 
nicknames of a  golden sheep which he   
gave to the rich and placid ,silanus1   
and of  ,ulysses in petticoats1 by which
 he designated his grandmother1 the     
august ,livia4 ,the two epigrammetic    
criticisms which he passed upon the     
style of ,seneca are not wholly devoid  
of truth2 he called his works           
,commissiones meras1 or mere            
displays4#be ,in this expression he hit 
off1 happily enough1 the somewhat       
theatrical1 the slightly pedantic and   
pedagogic and professorial character of 
,seneca's diction1 its rhetorical       
ornament and antitheses1 and its        
deficiency in stern masculine           
simplicity and strength4 ,in another    
remark he showed himself a still  more  
felicitous critic4 ,he called ,seneca's 
writings ,arenu sine ,calce1  sand      
without lime1 or1 as we might say1 a    

rope of sand4 ,this epigram  showed a   
real critical faculty4 ,it exactly hits 
off ,seneca's short and  disjointed     
sentences1 consisting as they often do  
of detached  antitheses4 ,it accords    
with the amusing comparison of          
,malebranche1 that  ,seneca's           
composition1 with its perpetual and     
futile recurrences1 calls  up to him the
 image of a dancer who ends where he    
begins4    ,footnote #be3 ,suet4 ,calig4
 liii4    ,but ,caius did not confine   
himself to clever and malignant         
criticism4 ,on  one occasion1 when      
,seneca was pleading in his presence1 he
 was so  jealous and displeased at the  
brilliancy and power of the orator that 
he  marked him out for immediate        
execution4 ,had ,seneca died at this    
period  he would probably have been     
little known1 and he might have left few
  traces of his existence beyond a few  
tragedies of uncertain  authenticity1   
and possibly a passing notice in the    
page of ,dio or  ,tacitus4 ,but destiny 

reserved him for a more splendid and    
more  questionable career4 ,one of      
,caius's favourites whispered to the    
,emperor  that it was useless to        
extinguish a waning lamp2 that the      
health of the  orator was so feeble that
 a natural death by the progress of his 
consumptive tendencies would1 in a very 
short time1 remove him out of  the      
tyrant's way4    ,throughout the        
remainder of the few years during which 
the reign of  ,caius continued1 ,seneca1
 warned in time1 withdrew himself into  
complete  obscurity1 employing his      
enforced leisure in that unbroken       
industry  which stored his mind with    
such encyclopaedic wealth4 ,none of my  
days1  he says1 in describing at a later
 period the way in which he spent his   
time1 is passed in complete ease4 ,i    
claim even a part of the night for  my  
studies4 ,i do not find leisure for     
sleep1 but ,i succumb to it1  and ,i    
keep my eyes at their work even when    
they are wearied and drooping  with     

watchfulness4 ,i have retired1 not only 
from men1 but from affairs1  and        
especially from my own4 ,i am doing the 
work for posterity2 ,i am  writing out  
things which may prove of advantage to  
them4 ,i am  intrusting to writing      
healthful admonitions--compositions1 as 
it were1  of useful medicines4    ,but  
the days of ,caius drew rapidly to an   
end4 ,his gross and unheard-of  insults 
to ,valerius ,asiaticus and ,cassius    
,chaereas brought on him  condign       
vengeance4 ,it is an additional proof1  
if proof were wanting1 of  the          
degradation of ,imperial ,rome1 that the
 deed of retribution was due1  not to   
the people whom he taxed2 not to the    
soldiers1 whole regiments of  whom he   
had threatened to decimate2 not to the  
knights1 of whom scores  had been put to
 death by his orders2 not to the nobles1
 multitudes of  whom had been treated by
 him with conspicuous infamy2 not even  
to the  ,senate1 which illustrious body 
he had on all occasions deliberately    

treated with contumely and hatred1--but 
to the private revenge of an  insulted  
soldier4 ,the weak thin voice of        
,cassius ,chaereas1 tribune of  the     
praetorian cohort1 had marked him out   
for the coarse and calumnious  banter of
 the imperial buffoon2 and he determined
 to avenge himself1 and  at the same    
time rid the world of a monster4 ,he    
engaged several  accomplices in the     
conspiracy1 which was nearly frustrated 
by their want  of resolution4 ,for four 
whole days they hesitated1 while day    
after day1  ,caius presided in person at
 the bloody games of the amphitheatre4  
,on the  fifth day 7,jan4 #bd1 ,a4,d4   
#da71 feeling unwell after one of his   
gluttonous  suppers1 he was indisposed  
to return to the shows1 but at last rose
 to  do so at the solicitation of his   
attendants4 ,a vaulted corridor led from
  the palace to the circus1 and in that 
corridor ,caius met a body of noble     
,asiatic boys1 who were to dance a      
,pyrrhic dance and sing a laudatory ode 

upon the stage4 ,caius wished them at   
once to practice a rehearsal in his     
presence1 but their leader excused      
himself on the grounds of  hoarseness4  
,at this moment ,chaereas asked him for 
the watchword of the  night4 ,he gave   
the watchword1 ,jupiter4 ,receive him in
 his wrath6  exclaimed ,chaereas1       
striking him on the throat1 while almost
 at the same  moment the blow of        
,sabinus cleft the tyrant's jaw1 and    
brought him to  his knee4 ,he crouched  
his limbs together to screen himself    
from further  blows1 screaming aloud1 ,i
 live6 ,i live6 ,the bearers of his     
litter  rushed to his assistance1 and   
fought with their poles1 but ,caius fell
  pierced with thirty wounds2 and1      
leaving the body weltering in its       
blood1 the conspirators rushed out of   
the palace1 and took measures to        
concert with the ,senate a restoration  
of the old ,republic4 ,on the very      
night after the murder the consuls gave 
to ,chaereas the long-forgotten         

watchword of ,liberty4 ,but this little 
gleam of hope proved delusive to  the   
last degree4 ,it was believed that the  
unquiet ghost of the murdered  madman   
haunted the palace1 and long before it  
had been laid to rest by  the forms of  
decent sepulchre1 a new emperor of the  
great ,julian family  was securely      
seated upon the throne4        ,,chapter
 ,,vi4    ,,the ,,reign ,,of ,,claudius1
 ,,and ,,the ,,banishment ,,of ,,seneca4
    ,while the senators were            
deliberating1 the soldiers were acting4 
,they  felt a true1 though degraded1    
instinct that to restore the ancient    
forms  of democratic freedom would be   
alike impossible and useless1 and with  
them the only question lay between the  
rival claimants for the vacant  power4  
,strange to say that1 among these       
claimants1 no one seems ever to  have   
thought of mentioning the prince who    
became the actual successor4    ,there  
was living in the palace at this time a 
brother of the great  ,germanicus1 and  

consequently an uncle of the late       
emperor1 whose name  was ,claudius      
,caesar4 ,weakened both in mind and body
 by the continuous  maladies of an      
orphaned infancy1 kept under the cruel  
tyranny of a  barbarous slave1 the      
unhappy youth had lived in despised     
obscurity among  the members of a family
 who were utterly ashamed of him4 ,his  
mother  ,antonia called him a           
monstrosity1 which ,nature had begun but
 never  finished2 and it became a       
proverbial expression with her1 as is   
said to  have been the case with the    
mother of the great ,wellington1 to say 
of a  dull person1 that he was a greater
 fool than her son ,claudius4 ,his      
grandmother ,livia rarely deigned to    
address him except in the briefest  and 
bitterest terms4 ,his sister ,livilla   
execrated the mere notion of  his ever  
becoming emperor4 ,augustus1 his        
grandfather by adoption1 took  pains to 
keep him as much out of sight as        
possible1 as a  wool-gathering#bf and   

discreditable member of the family1     
denied him  all public honours1 and left
 him a most paltry legacy4 ,tiberius1   
when  looking out for a successor1      
deliberately passed him over as a man of
  deficient intellect4 ,caius kept him  
as a butt for his own slaps and  blows1 
and for the low buffoonery of his       
meanest jesters4 ,if the unhappy        
,claudius came late for dinner1 he would
 find every place occupied1 and  peer   
about disconsolately amid insulting     
smiles4 ,if1 as was his usual  custom1  
he dropped asleep1 after a meal1 he was 
pelted with olives and  date-stones1 or 
rough stockings were drawn over his     
hands that he might  be seen rubbing his
 face with them when he was suddenly    
awaked4    ,footnote #bf3 ,he calls him 
,greek meteoros which implies           
awkwardness  and constant absence of    
mind4    ,this was the unhappy being who
 was now summoned to support the falling
  weight of empire4 ,while rummaging the
 palace for plunder1 a common  soldier  

had spied a pair of feet protruding from
 under the curtains  which shaded the   
sides of an upper corridor4 ,seizing    
these feet1 and  inquiring who owned    
them1 he dragged out an uncouth1        
panic-stricken  mortal1 who immediately 
prostrated himself at his knees and     
begged hard  for mercy4 ,it was         
,claudius1 who scared out of his wits by
 the tragedy  which he had just beheld1 
had thus tried to conceal himself until 
the  storm was passed4 ,why1 this is    
,germanicus6 #bg exclaimed the soldier1 
let's make him emperor4 ,half joking and
 half in earnest1 they hoisted  him on  
their shoulders--for terror had deprived
 him of the use of his  legs--and       
hurried him off to the camp of the      
,praetorians4 ,miserable and  anxious he
 reached the camp1 an object of         
compassion to the crowd of  passers-by1 
who believed that he was being hurried  
off to execution4 ,but  the soldiers1   
who well knew their own interests1      
accepted him with  acclamations1 the    

more so as1 by a fatal precedent1 he    
promised them a  largess of more than   
#hjl4 apiece4 ,the supple ,agrippa 7the 
,herod of  ,acts xii471 seeing how the  
wind lay1 offered to plead his cause    
with the  ,senate1 and succeeded partly 
by arguments1 partly by intimidation1   
and  partly by holding out the not      
unreasonable hopes of a great           
improvement  on the previous reign4     
,footnote #bg3 ,the full name of        
,claudius was ,tiberius ,claudius       
,drusus  ,caesar ,germanicus4    ,for   
although ,claudius had been accused of  
gambling and drunkenness1 not  only were
 no worse sins laid to his charge1 but  
he had successfully  established some   
claim to being considered a learned man4
 ,had fortune  blessed him till death   
with a private station1 he might have   
been the  ,lucien ,bonaparte of his     
family--a studious prince1 who preferred
 the  charms of literature to the       
turmoil of ambition4 ,the anecdotes     
which  have been recorded of him show   

that he was something of an             
archaeologist1 and something of a       
philologian4 ,the great historian ,livy1
  pitying the neglect with which the    
poor young man was treated1 had         
encouraged him in the study of history2 
and he had written memoirs of  his own  
time1 memoirs of ,augustus1 and even a  
history of the civil wars  since the    
battle of ,actium1 which was so correct 
and so candid that his  family          
indignantly suppressed it as a fresh    
proof of his stupidity4    ,such was the
 man who1 at the age of fifty1 became   
master of the  civilized world4 ,he     
offers some singular points of          
resemblance to our  own most mighty and 
dread sovereign1 ,king ,james ,i4 ,both 
were learned1  and both were eminently  
unwise2#bh both of them were authors1   
and both  of them were pedants2 both of 
them delegated their highest powers to  
worthless favourites1 and both of them  
enriched these favourites with  such    
foolish liberality that they remained   

poor themselves4 ,both of them  had been
 terrified into constitutional cowardice
 by their involuntary  presence at deeds
 of blood4 ,both of them1 though of     
naturally good  dispositions1 were      
misled by selfishness into acts of      
cruelty2 and both  of them1 though      
laborious in the discharge of duty1     
succeeded only in  rendering royalty    
ridiculous4 ,king ,james kept ,sir      
,walter ,raleigh in  prison1 and        
,claudius drove ,seneca into exile4 ,the
 parallel1 so far as ,i  am aware1 has  
never been noticed1 but is susceptible  
of being drawn out  into the minutest   
particulars4    ,footnote #bh3          
,knowledge comes1 but wisdom lingers1   
says our own poet4  ,heraclitus had said
 the same thing more than two thousand  
years before  him1 ,greek3 polumaoiae ou
 didasho4    ,one of his first acts was 
to recall his nieces1 ,julia and        
,agrippina1  from the exile into which  
their brother had driven them2 and both 
these  princesses were destined to      

effect a powerful influence on the life 
of  our philosopher4    ,what part      
,seneca had taken during the few        
troubled days after the murder  of      
,caius we do not know4 ,had he taken a  
leading part--had he been one of  those 
who1 like ,chaereas1 opposed the        
election of ,claudius as being  merely  
the substitution of an imbecile for a   
lunatic1--or who1 like  ,sabinus1       
refused to survive the accession of     
another ,caesar1--we should  perhaps    
have heard of it2 and we must therefore 
assume either that he  was still absent 
from ,rome in the retirement into which 
he had been  driven by the jealousy of  
,caius1 or that he contented himself    
with  quietly watching the course of    
events4 ,it will be observed that his   
biography is not like that of ,cicero1  
with whose life we are acquainted  in   
most trifling details2 but that the     
curtain rises and falls on  isolated    
scenes1 throwing into sudden brilliancy 
or into the deepest  shade long and     

important periods of his history4 ,nor  
are his letters and  other writings full
 of those political and personal        
allusions which  convert them into an   
autobiography4 ,they are1 without       
exception1  occupied exclusively with   
philosophical questions1 or else they   
only  refer to such personal            
reminiscences as may best be converted  
into the  text for some ,stoical paradox
 or moral declamation4 ,it is1 however1 
certain from the sequel that ,seneca    
must have seized the opportunity of     
,caius's death to emerge from his       
politic obscurity1 and to occupy a      
conspicuous and brilliant position in   
the imperial court4    ,it would have   
been well for his own happiness and fame
 if he had adopted  the wiser and       
manlier course of acting up to the      
doctrines he professed4  ,a court at    
most periods is1 as the poet says1      
,a golden but a fatal circle1           
,upon whose magic skirts a thousand     
devils        ,in crystal forms sit     

tempting ,innocence1        ,and beckon 
early ,virtue from its centre2    but   
the court of a ,caius1 of a ,claudius1  
or of a ,nero1 was indeed a  place      
wherein few of the wise could find a    
footing1 and still fewer of  the good4  
,and all that ,seneca gained from his   
career of ambition was to  be suspected 
by the first of these ,emperors1        
banished by the second1 and  murdered by
 the third4    ,the first few acts of   
,claudius showed a sensible and kindly  
disposition2  but it soon became fatally
 obvious that the real powers of the    
government would be wielded1 not by the 
timid and absent-minded  ,emperor1 but  
by any one who for the time being could 
acquire an  ascendency over his         
well-intentioned but feeble disposition4
 ,now1 the  friends and confidents of   
,claudius had long been chosen from the 
ranks  of his freedmen4 ,as under ,louis
 ,,xi4 and ,don ,miguel1 the barbers of 
these  monarchs were the real governors1
 so ,claudius was but the minister      

rather than the master of ,narcissus his
 private secretary1 of ,polybius  his   
literary adviser1 and of ,pallas his    
accountant4 ,a third person1 with  whose
 name ,scripture has made us familiar1  
was a freedman of ,claudius4  ,this was 
,felix1 the brother of ,pallas1 and that
 ,procurator who1 though  he had been   
the husband or the paramour of three    
queens1 trembled before  the simple     
eloquence of a feeble and imprisoned    
,jew4#bi ,these men  became proverbial  
for their insolence and wealth2 and     
once1 when  ,claudius was complaining of
 his own poverty1 some one wittily      
replied1  that he would have abundance  
if two of his freedmen would but admit  
him  into partnership with them4        
,footnote #bi3 ,acts xix4    ,but these 
men gained additional power from the    
countenance and intrigues  of the young 
and beautiful wife of ,claudius1        
,valeria ,messalina4 ,in his  marriage1 
as in all else1 ,claudius had been      
pre-eminent in misfortune4  ,he lived in

 an age of which the most frightful sign
 of depravity was  that its women were1 
if possible1 a shade worse than its men2
 and it was  the misery of ,claudius1 as
 it finally proved his ruin1 to have    
been  united by marriage to the very    
worst among them all4 ,princesses like  
the  ,berenice1 and the ,drusilla1 and  
the ,salome1 and the ,herodias of the   
sacred historians were in this age a    
familiar spectacle2 but none of  them   
were so wicked as two at least of       
,claudius's wives4 ,he was  betrothed or
 married no less than five times4 ,the  
lady first destined  for his bride had  
been repudiated because her parents had 
offended  ,augustus2 the next died on   
the very day intended for her nuptials4 
,by  his first actual wife1 ,urgulania1 
whom he had married in early youth1 he  
had two children1 ,drusus and ,claudia2 
,drusus was accidentally choked in      
boyhood while trying to swallow a pear  
which had been thrown up into the  air4 
,very shortly after the birth of        

,claudia1 discovering the               
unfaithfulness of ,urgulania1 ,claudius 
divorced her1 and ordered the  child to 
be stripped naked and exposed to die4   
,his second wife1 ,aelia  ,petina1 seems
 to have been an unsuitable person1 and 
her also he  divorced4 ,his third and   
fourth wives lived to earn a colossal   
infamy--,valeria ,messalina for her     
shameless character1 ,agrippina the     
younger for her unscrupulous ambition4  
,messalina1 when she married1 could     
scarcely have been fifteen years old1   
yet she at once assumed a dominant      
position1 and secured it by means of    
the most unblushing wickedness4    ,but 
she did not reign so absolutely         
undisturbed as to be without her own    
jealousies and apprehensions2 and these 
were mainly kindled by ,julia and       
,agrippina1 the two nieces of the       
,emperor4 ,they were1 no less than      
herself1 beautiful1 brilliant1 and      
evil-hearted women1 quite ready to  make
 their own coteries1 and to dispute1 as 

far as they dared1 the  supremacy of a  
bold but reckless rival4 ,they too1 used
 their arts1 their  wealth1 their rank1 
their political influence1 their        
personal  fascinations1 to secure for   
themselves a band of adherents1 ready1  
when  the proper moment arrived1 for any
 conspiracy4 ,it is unlikely that1 even 
in the first flush of her husband's     
strange and unexpected triumph1         
,messalina should have contemplated with
 any satisfaction their return  from    
exile4 ,in this respect it is probable  
that the ,emperor succeeded in          
resisting her expressed wishes2 so that 
the mere appearance of the two          
daughters of ,germanicus in her presence
 was a standing witness of the          
limitations to which her influence was  
subjected4    ,at this period1 as is    
usual among degraded peoples1 the       
history of the  ,romans degenerates into
 mere anecdotes of their rulers4        
,happily1  however1 it is not our duty  
to enter on the chronique scandaleuse of

  plots and counterplots1 as little     
tolerable to contemplate as the         
factions of the court of ,france in the 
worst periods of its history4 ,we  can  
only ask what possible part a           
philosopher could play at such a  court8
 ,we can only say that his position     
there is not to the credit of  his      
philosophical professions2 and that we  
can contemplate his presence  there with
 as little satisfaction as we look on   
the figure of the  worldly and frivolous
 bishop in ,mr4 ,frith's picture of ,the
 ,last ,sunday  of ,charles ,,ii4 at    
,whitehall4    ,and such inconsistencies
 involve their own retribution1 not only
 in loss  of influence and fair fame1   
but even in direct consequences4 ,it was
 so  with ,seneca4                      
,circumstances--possibly a genuine      
detestation of  ,messalina's exceptional
 infamy--seem to have thrown him among  
the  partisans of her rivals4 ,messalina
 was only waiting her opportunity to    
strike a blow4 ,julia1 possibly as being

 the younger and the less  powerful of  
the two sisters1 was marked out as the  
first victim1 and the  opportunity      
seemed a favourable one for involving   
,seneca in her ruin4  ,his enormous     
wealth1 his high reputation1 his        
splendid abilities1 made  him a         
formidable opponent to the ,empress1 and
 a valuable ally to her  rivals4 ,it was
 determined to get rid of both by a     
single scheme4 ,julia  was accused of an
 intrigue with ,seneca1 and was first   
driven into exile  and then put to      
death4 ,seneca was banished to the      
barren and  pestilential shores of the  
island of ,corsica4    ,seneca1 as one  
of the most enlightened men of his age1 
should have aimed  at a character which 
would have been above the possibility of
 suspicion3  but we must remember that  
charges such as those which were brought
  against him were the easiest of all to
 make1 and the most impossible to       
refute4 ,when we consider who were      
,seneca's accusers1 we are not forced   

to believe his guilt2 his character was 
indeed deplorably weak1 and the  laxity 
of the age in such matters was fearfully
 demoralising2 but there  are sufficient
 circumstances in his favour to justify 
us in returning a  verdict of ,not      
guilty4 ,unless we attach an unfair     
importance to the  bitter calumny of his
 open enemies1 we may consider that the 
general  tenor of his life has          
sufficient weight to exculpate him from 
an  unsupported accusation4    ,of      
,julia1 ,suetonius expressly says that  
the crime of which she was  accused was 
uncertain1 and that she was condemned   
unheard4 ,seneca1 on  the other hand1   
was tried in the ,senate and found      
guilty4 ,he tells us  that it was not   
,claudius who flung him down1 but rather
 that1 when he  was falling headlong1   
the ,emperor supported him with the     
moderation of  his divine hand2 he      
entreated the ,senate on my behalf2 he  
not only  gave me life1 but even begged 
it for me4 ,let it be his to consider1  

adds ,seneca1 with the most dulcet      
flattery1 in what light he may wish  my 
cause to be regarded2 either his justice
 will find1 or his mercy will  make1 it 
a good cause4 ,he will alike be worthy  
of my gratitude1 whether  his ultimate  
conviction of my innocence be due to his
 knowledge or to  his will4    ,this    
passage enables us to conjecture how    
matters stood4 ,the avarice of          
,messalina was so insatiable that the   
non-confiscation of ,seneca's  immense  
wealth is a proof that1 for some reason1
 her fear or hatred of  him was not     
implacable4 ,although it is a remarkable
 fact that she is  barely mentioned1 and
 never once abused1 in the writings of  
,seneca1 yet  there can be no doubt that
 the charge was brought by her          
instigation  before the senators2 that  
after a very slight discussion1 or none 
at  all1 ,claudius was1 or pretended to 
be convinced of ,seneca's culpability2  
that the senators1 with their usual     
abject servility1 at once voted him     

guilty of high treason1 and condemned   
him to death1 and the confiscation  of  
his goods2 and that ,claudius1 perhaps  
from his own respect for  literature1   
perhaps at the intercession of          
,agrippina1 or of some  powerful        
freedman1 remitted part of his sentence1
 just as ,king ,james ,i4  remitted all 
the severest portions of the sentence   
passed on  ,francis ,bacon4    ,neither 
the belief of ,claudius nor the         
condemnation of the ,senate  furnish the
 slightest valid proofs against him4    
,the ,senate at this time  were so base 
and so filled with terror1 that on one  
occasion a mere word  of accusation from
 the freedman of an ,emperor was        
sufficient to make  them fall upon one  
of their number and stab him to death   
upon the spot  with their iron pens4 ,as
 for poor ,claudius1 his administration 
of  justice1 patient and laborious as it
 was1 had already grown into a  public  
joke4 ,on one occasion he wrote down and
 delivered the wise  decision1 that he  

agreed with the side which had set forth
 the truth4  ,on another occasion1 a    
common ,greek whose suit came before him
 grew so  impatient at his stupidity as 
to exclaim aloud1 ,you are an old fool4 
,we are not informed that the ,greek was
 punished4 ,roman usage allowed a  good 
deal of banter and coarse personality4  
,we are told that on one  occasion even 
the furious and bloody ,caligula1 seeing
 a provincial  smile1 called him up1 and
 asked him what he was laughing at4 ,at 
you1  said the man1 you look such a     
humbug4 ,the grim tyrant was so struck  
with the humour of the thing that he    
took no further notice of it4 ,a  ,roman
 knight against whom some foul charge   
had been trumped up1 seeing  ,claudius  
listening to the most contemptible and  
worthless evidence  against him1        
indignantly abused him for his cruel    
stupidity1 and flung  his pen and       
tablets in his face so violently as to  
cut his cheek4 ,in  fact1 the ,emperor's
 singular absence of mind gave rise to  

endless  anecdotes4 ,among other things1
 when some condemned criminals were to  
fight as gladiators1 and addressed him  
before the games in the sublime         
formula--,ave1 ,imperator1 morituri te  
salutamus6 7,hail1 ,caesar6 doomed  to  
die1 we salute thee67 he gave the       
singularly inappropriate answer1  ,avete
 vos6 7,hail ye also67 which they took  
as a sign of pardon1 and  were unwilling
 to fight until they were actually      
forced to do so by the  gestures of the 
,emperor4    ,the decision of such      
judges as ,claudius and his ,senate is  
worth very  little in the question of a 
man's innocence or guilt2 but the       
sentence  was that ,seneca should be    
banished to the island of ,corsica4     
,,chapter ,,vii4    ,,seneca ,,in       
,,exile4    ,so1 in ,a4,d4 #da1 in the  
prime of life and the full vigour of his
  faculties1 with a name stained by a   
charge of which he may have been        
innocent1 but of which he was condemned 
as guilty1 ,seneca bade farewell  to his

 noble-minded mother1 to his loving     
aunt1 to his brothers1 the  beloved     
,gallio and the literary ,mela1 to his  
nephew1 the ardent and  promising young 
,lucan1 and1 above all--which cost him  
the severest  pang--to ,marcus1 his     
sweet and prattling boy4 ,it was a      
calamity which  might have shaken the   
fortitude of the very noblest soul1 and 
it had by  no means come upon him single
 handed4 ,already he had lost his wife1 
he  had suffered from acute and chronic 
ill-health1 he had been bereaved but    
three weeks previously of another little
 son4 ,he had been cut short by  the    
jealousy of one emperor from a career of
 splendid success2 he was  now banished 
by the imbecile subservience of another 
from all that he  held most dear4    ,we
 are hardly able to conceive the        
intensity of anguish with which an      
ancient ,roman generally regarded the   
thought of banishment4 ,in the long     
melancholy wail of ,ovid's ,tristia2 in 
the bitter and heart-rending  complaints

 of ,cicero's ,epistles1 we may see     
something of that intense  absorption in
 the life of ,rome which to most of her 
eminent citizens  made a permanent      
separation from the city and its        
interests a thought  almost as terrible 
as death itself4 ,even the stoical and  
heroic ,thrasea  openly confessed that  
he should prefer death to exile4 ,to a  
heart so  affectionate1 to a disposition
 so social1 to a mind so active and     
ambitious as that of ,seneca1 it must   
have been doubly bitter to exchange  the
 happiness of his family circle1 the    
splendour of an imperial court1  the    
luxuries of enormous wealth1 the refined
 society of statesmen1 and  the         
ennobling intercourse of philosophers   
for the savage wastes of a  rocky island
 and the society of boorish illiterate  
islanders1 or at the  best1 of a few    
other political exiles1 all of whom     
would be as miserable  as himself1 and  
some of whom would probably have        
deserved their fate4    ,the            

,mediteranean rocks selected for        
political exiles--,gyaros1 ,seriphos1   
,scyathos1 ,patmos1 ,pontia1            
,pandataria--were generally rocky1      
barren1  fever-stricken places1 chosen  
by design as the most wretched          
conceivable  spots in which human life  
could be maintained at all4 ,yet these  
islands  were crowded with exiles1 and  
in them were to be found not a few      
princesses of ,caesarian origin4 ,we    
must not draw a parallel to their       
position from that of an ,eleanor1 the  
wife of ,duke ,humphrey1 immured in     
,peel ,castle in the ,isle of ,man1 or  
of a ,mary ,stuart in the ,isle of ,loch
  ,levin--for it was something          
incomparably worse4 ,no care was taken  
even  to provide for their actual wants4
 ,their very lives were not secure4     
,agrippa ,posthumus and ,nero1 the      
brothers of the ,emperor ,caligula1 had 
been so reduced by starvation that both 
of the wretched youths had been  driven 
to support life by eating the materials 

with which their beds  were stuffed4    
,the ,emperor ,caius had once asked an  
exile1 whom he had  recalled from       
banishment1 in what manner he had been  
accustomed to  employ his time on the   
island4 ,i used1 said the flatterer1 to 
pray  that ,tiberius might die1 and that
 you might succeed4 ,it immediately     
struck ,caius that the exiles whom he   
had banished might be similarly         
employed1 and accordingly he sent       
centurions round the islands to put     
them all to death4 ,such were the       
miserable circumstances which might be  
in store for a political outlaw4#cj ,if 
we imagine what must have been  the     
feelings of a d',esprmnil1 when a lettee
 de cachet consigned him  to a prison in
 the ,isle d',hires2 or what a man like 
,burke might have  felt1 if he had been 
compelled to retire for life to the     
,bermudas2 we  may realize to some      
extent the heavy trial which now befel  
the life  of ,seneca4    ,footnote #cj3 
,among the ,jews the homicides who had  

fled to a city of  refuge were set free 
on the high priest's death1 and1 in     
order to  prevent them from praying for 
his death1 the mother and other         
relatives  of the high priest used to   
supply them with clothes and other      
necessaries4 ,see the author's article  
on ,asylum in ,kitto's  ,encyclopedia   
7ed4 ,alexander47    ,corsica was the   
island chosen for his place of          
banishment1 and a spot  more uninviting 
could hardly have been selected4 ,it was
 an island  shaggy and savage1          
intersected from north to south by a    
chain of wild1  inaccessible mountains1 
clothed to their summits with gloomy and
  impenetrable forests of pine and fir4 
,its untamable inhabitants are          
described by the geographer ,strabo as  
being wilder than the wild  beasts4 ,it 
produced but little corn1 and scarcely  
any fruit-trees4 ,it  abounded1 indeed1 
in swarms of wild bees1 but its very    
honey was bitter  and unpalatable1 from 
being infected with the acrid taste of  

the  box-flowers on which they fed4     
,neither gold nor silver were found     
there2 it produced nothing worth        
exporting1 and barely sufficient for    
the mere necessaries of its inhabitants2
 it rejoiced in no great  navigable     
rivers1 and even the trees1 in which it 
abounded1 were neither  beautiful nor   
fruitful4 ,seneca describes it in more  
than one of his  epigrams1 as a         
,terrible isle1 when earliest summer    
glows        ,yet fiercer when his face 
the dog-star shows2    and again as a   
,barbarous land1 which rugged rocks     
surround1        ,whose horrent cliffs  
with idle wastes are crowned1        ,no
 autumn fruit1 no tilth the summer      
yields1        ,nor olives cheer the    
winter-silvered fields3        ,nor     
joyous spring her tender foliage lends1 
,nor genial herb the luckless soil      
befriends2        ,nor bread1 nor sacred
 fire1 nor freshening wave2--           
,nought here--save exile1 and the       
exile's grave6    ,in such a place1 and 

under such conditions1 ,seneca had ample
 need for  all his philosophy4 ,and at  
first it did not fail him4 ,towards the 
close  of his first year of exile he    
wrote the ,consolation to his mother    
,helvia1 which is one of the noblest and
 most charming of all his works4    ,he 
had often thought1 he said1 of writing  
to console her under this deep  and     
wholly unlooked-for trial1 but hitherto 
he had abstained from doing  so1 lest1  
while his own anguish and hers were     
fresh1 he should only  renew the pain of
 the wound by his unskilful treatment4  
,he waited1  therefore till time had    
laid its healing hand upon her sorrows1 
especially because he found no precedent
 for one in his position  condoling with
 others when he himself seemed more in  
need of  consolation1 and because       
something new and admirable would be    
required  of a man who1 as it were1     
raised his head from the funeral pyre to
  console his friends4 ,still he now    
feels impelled to write to her1  because

 to alleviate her regrets will be to lay
 aside his own4 ,he does  not attempt to
 conceal from her the magnitude of the  
misfortune1 because  so far from being a
 mere novice in sorrow1 she has tasted  
it from her  earliest years in all its  
varieties2 and because his purpose was  
to  conquer her grief1 not to extenuate 
its causes4 ,those many miseries  would 
indeed have been in vain1 if they had   
not taught her how to bear              
wretchedness4 ,he will prove to her     
therefore that she has no cause to      
grieve either on his account1 or on her 
own4 ,not on his--because he is  happy  
among circumstances which others would  
think miserable and because  he assures 
her with his own lips that not only is  
he not miserable1  but that he can never
 be made so4 ,every one can secure his  
own  happiness1 if he learns to seek it1
 not in external circumstances1 but  in 
himself4 ,he cannot indeed claim for    
himself the title of wise1 for1  if so1 
he would be the most fortunate of men1  

and near to ,god ,himself2  but1 which  
is the next best thing1 he has devoted  
himself to the study  of wise men1 and  
from them he has learnt to expect       
nothing and to be  prepared for all     
things4 ,the blessings which ,fortune   
had hitherto  bestowed on him1--wealth1 
honours1 glory1--he had placed in such a
  position that she might rob him of    
them all without disturbing him4  ,there
 was a great space between them and     
himself1 so that they could  be taken   
but not torn away4 ,undazzled by the    
glamour of prosperity1  he was unshaken 
by the blow of adversity4 ,in           
circumstances which were  the envy of   
all men he had never seen any real or   
solid blessing1 but  rather a painted   
emptiness1 a gilded deception2 and      
similarly he found  nothing really hard 
or terrible in ills which the common    
voice has so  described4    ,what1 for  
instance1 was exile8 it was but a change
 of place1 an absence  from one's native
 land2 and1 if you looked at the        

swarming multitudes in  ,rome itself1   
you would find that the majority of them
 were practically  in contented and     
willing exile1 drawn thither by         
necessity1 by ambition1  or by the      
search for the best opportunities of    
vice4 ,no isle so wretched  and so bleak
 which did not attract some voluntary   
sojourners2 even this  precipitous and  
naked rock of ,corsica1 the hungriest1  
roughest1 most  savage1 most unhealthy  
spot conceivable1 had more foreigners in
 it than  native inhabitants4 ,the      
natural restlessness and mobility of the
 human  mind1 which arose from its      
aetherial origin1 drove men to change   
from  place to place4 ,the colonies of  
different nations1 scattered all over   
the civilized and uncivilized world even
 in spots the most chilly and           
uninviting1 show that the condition of  
place is no necessary ingredient  in    
human happiness4 ,even ,corsica had     
often changed its owners2 ,greeks  from 
,marseilles had first lived there1 then 

,ligurians and ,spaniards1  then some   
,roman colonists1 whom the aridity and  
thorniness of the rock  had not kept    
away4    ,varro thought that nature1    
,brutus that the consciousness of       
virtue1  were sufficient consolations   
for any exile4 ,how little have ,i lost 
in  comparison with those two fairest   
possessions which ,i shall everywhere   
enjoy--nature and my own integrity6     
,whoever or whatever made the           
world--whether it were a deity1 or      
disembodied reason1 or a divine         
interfusing spirit1 or destiny1 or an   
immutable series of connected           
causes--the result was that nothing1    
except our very meanest  possessions1   
should depend on the will of another4   
,man's best gifts lie  beyond the power 
of man either to give or to take away4  
,this ,universe1  the grandest and      
loveliest work of nature1 and the       
,intellect which was  created to observe
 and to admire it1 are our special and  
eternal  possessions1 which shall last  

as long as we last ourselves4 ,cheerful1
  therefore1 and erect1 let us hasten   
with undaunted footsteps  whithersoever 
our fortunes lead us4    ,there is no   
land where man cannot dwell1--no land   
where he cannot  uplift his eyes to     
heaven2 wherever we are1 the distance of
 the divine  from the human remains the 
same4 ,so then1 as long as my eyes are  
not  robbed of that spectacle with which
 they cannot be satiated1 so long as  ,i
 may look upon the sun and moon1 and fix
 my lingering gaze on the other         
constellations1 and consider their      
rising and setting and the spaces       
between them and the causes of their    
less and greater speed1--while ,i  may  
contemplate the multitude of stars      
glittering throughout the heaven1  some 
stationary1 some revolving1 some        
suddenly blazing forth1 others  dazzling
 the gaze with a flood of fire as though
 they fell1 and others  leaving over a  
long space their trails of light2 while 
,i am in the midst  of such phenomena1  

and mingle myself1 as far as a man may1 
with things  celestial1--while my soul  
is ever occupied in contemplations so   
sublime  as these1 what matters it what 
ground ,i tread8    ,what though fortune
 has thrown me where the most           
magnificent abode is  but a cottage8 the
 humblest cottage1 if it be but the home
 of virtue1  may be more beautiful than 
all temples2 no place is narrow which   
can  contain the crowd of glorious      
virtues2 no exile severe into which you 
may go with such a reliance4 ,when      
,brutus left ,marcellus at ,mitylene1 he
  seemed to be himself going into exile 
because he left that illustrious  exile 
behind him4 ,caesar would not land at   
,mitylene1 because he blushed  to see   
him4 ,marcellus therefore1 though he was
 living in exile and  poverty1 was      
living a most happy and a most noble    
life4         ',one self-approving hour 
whole worlds outweighs        ,of stupid
 starers and of loud huzzas2        ,and
 more true joy ,marcellus exiled feels1 

,than ,caesar with a senate at his      
heels4'    ,and as for poverty every one
 who is not corrupted by the madness of 
avarice and luxury know that it is no   
evil4 ,how little does man need1  and   
how easily can he secure that6 ,as for  
me1 ,i consider myself as  having lost  
not wealth1 but the trouble of looking  
after it4 ,bodily  wants are few--warmth
 and food1 nothing more4 ,may the gods  
and goddesses  confound that gluttony   
which sweeps the sky1 and sea and land  
for birds1  and animals1 and fish2 which
 eats to vomit and vomits to eat1 and   
hunts  over the whole world for that    
which after all it cannot even digest6  
,they might satisfy their hunger with   
little1 and they excite it with  much4  
,what harm can poverty inflict on a man 
who despises such excesses8  ,look at   
the god-like and heroic poverty of our  
ancestors1 and compare  the simple glory
 of a ,camillus with the lasting infamy 
of a luxurious  ,apicius6 ,even exile   
will yield a sufficiency of necessaries1

 but not  even kingdoms are enough for  
superfluities4 ,it is the soul that     
makes us  rich or poor3 and the soul    
follows us into exile1 and finds and    
enjoys  its own blessings even in the   
most barren solitudes4    ,but it does  
not even need philosophy to enable us to
 despise poverty4  ,look at the poor3   
are they not often obviously happier    
than the rich8  ,and the times are so   
changed that what we would now consider 
the poverty  of an exile would then have
 been regarded as the patrimony of a    
prince4  ,protected by such precedents  
as those of ,homer1 and ,zeno1 and      
,menenius  ,agrippa1 and ,regulus1 and  
,scipio1 poverty becomes not only safe  
but  even estimable4    ,and if you make
 the objection that the ills which      
assail me are not  exile only1 or       
poverty only1 but disgrace as well1 ,i  
reply that the soul  which is hard      
enough to resist one wound is           
invulnerable to all4 ,if we  have       
utterly conquered the fear of death1    

nothing else can daunt us4  ,what is    
disgrace to one who stands above the    
opinion of the multitude8  what was even
 a death of disgrace to ,socrates1 who  
by entering a prison  made it cease to  
be disgraceful8 ,cato was twice defeated
 in his  candidature for the praetorship
 and consulship3 well1 this was the     
disgrace of those honours1 and not of   
,cato4 ,no one can be despised by       
another until he has learned to despise 
himself4 ,the man who has learned  to   
triumph over sorrow wears his miseries  
as though they were sacred  fillets upon
 his brow1 and nothing is so entirely   
admirable as a man  bravely wretched4   
,such men inflict disgrace upon disgrace
 itself4 ,some  indeed say that death is
 preferable to contempt2 to whom ,i     
reply that he  who is great when he     
falls is great in his prostration1 and  
is no more  an object of contempt than  
when men tread on the ruins of sacred   
buildings1 which men of piety venerate  
no less than if they stood4    ,on my   

behalf therefore1 dearest mother2 you   
have no cause for endless  weeping3 nor 
have you on your own4 ,you cannot grieve
 for me on selfish  grounds1 in         
consequence of any personal loss to     
yourself2 for you were  ever eminently  
unselfish1 and unlike other women in all
 your dealings  with your sons1 and you 
were always a help and a benefactor to  
them  rather than they to you4 ,nor     
should you give way out of a regret and 
longing for me in my absence4 ,we have  
often previously been separated1  and1  
although it is natural that you should  
miss that delightful  conversation1 that
 unrestricted confidence1 that          
electrical sympathy of  heart and       
intellect that always existed between   
us1 and that boyish glee  wherewith your
 visits always affected me1 yet1 as you 
rise above the  common herd of women in 
virtue1 the simplicity1 the purity of   
your life1  you must abstain from       
feminine tears as you have done from all
 feminine  follies4 ,consider how       

,cornelia1 who had lost ten children by 
death1  instead of wailing for her dead 
sons1 thanked fortune that had made her 
sons ,gracchi4 ,rutilia followed her son
 ,cotta into exile so dearly did  she   
love him1 yet no one saw her shed a tear
 after his burial4 ,she had  shown her  
affection when it was needful1 she      
restrained her sorrow when  it was      
superflous4 ,imitate the example of     
these great women as you have  imitated 
their virtues4 ,i want you not to       
beguile your sorrow by  amusements or   
occupations1 but to conquer it4 ,for you
 may now return  to those philosophical 
studies in which you once showed        
yourself so apt  a proficient1 and which
 formerly my father checked4 ,they will 
gradually  sustain and comfort you in   
your hour of grief4    ,and meanwhile   
consider how many sources of consolation
 already exist  for you4 ,my brothers   
are still with you2 the dignity of      
,gallio1 the  leisure of ,mela1 will    
protect you2 the ever-sparkling mirth of

 my  darling little ,marcus will cheer  
you up2 the training of my little       
favourite ,novatilla will be a duty     
which will assuage your sorrow4 ,for    
your father's sake1 too1 though he is   
absent from you1 you must moderate  your
 lamentations4 ,above all1 your         
sister--that truly faithful1 loving1    
and high-souled lady1 to whom ,i owe so 
deep a debt of affection for her        
kindness to me from my cradle until     
now1--she will yield you the  fondest   
sympathy and the truest consolation4    
,but since ,i know that after all your  
thoughts will constantly revert to  me1 
and that none of your children will be  
more frequently before your  mind than  
,i1--not because they are less dear to  
you than ,i1 but because  it is natural 
to lay the hand most often upon the spot
 which pains1--,i  will tell you how you
 are to think of me4 ,think of me as    
happy and  cheerful1 as though ,i were  
in the midst of blessings2 as indeed ,i 
am1  while my mind1 free from every     

care1 has leisure for its own pursuits1 
and sometimes amuses itself with lighter
 studies1 sometimes1 eager for  truth1  
soars upwards to the contemplation of   
its own nature1 and the  nature of the  
universe4 ,it inquires first of all     
about the lands and  their situation2   
then into the condition of the          
surrounding sea1 its  ebbings and       
flowings2 then it carefully studies all 
this terror-fraught  interspace between 
heaven and earth1 tumultuous with       
thunders and  lightnings1 and the blasts
 of winds1 and the showers of rain1 and 
snow  and hail2 then1 having wandered   
through all the lower regions1 it bursts
  upwards to the highest things1 and    
revels in the most lovely--spectacle  of
 that which is divine1 and1 mindful of  
its own eternity1 passes into  all that 
hath been and all that shall be         
throughout all ages4    ,such in        
briefest outline1 and without any of    
that grace of language with  which      
,seneca has invested it1 is a sketch of 

the little treatise which  many have    
regarded as among the most delightful of
 ,seneca's works4 ,it  presents the     
picture of that grandest of all         
spectacles--         ,a good man        
struggling with the storms of fate4     
,so far there was something truly       
,stoical in the aspect of ,seneca's     
exile4 ,but was this grand attitude     
consistently maintained8 ,did his       
little raft of philosophy sink under    
him1 or did it bear him safely over  the
 stormy waves of this great sea of      
adversity4        ,,chapter ,,viii4     
,,seneca',s ,,philosophy ,,gives ,,way4 
,there are some misfortunes of which the
 very essence consists in their         
continuance4 ,they are tolerable so long
 as they are illuminated by a ray  of   
hope4 ,seclusion and hardship might even
 come at first with some charm  of      
novelty to a philosopher who1 as was not
 unfrequent among the amateur  thinkers 
of his time1 occasionally practised them
 in the very midst of  wealth and       

friends4 ,but as the hopeless years     
rolled on1 as the efforts  of friends   
proved unavailing1 as the loving son1   
and husband1 and father  felt himself   
cut off from the society of those whom  
he cherished in such  tender affection1 
as the dreary island seemed to him ever 
more barbarous  and more barren1 while  
season after season added to its horrors
 without  revealing a single            
compensation1 ,seneca grew more and more
 disconsolate  and depressed4 ,it seemed
 to be his miserable destiny to rust    
away1  useless1 unbefriended1 and       
forgotten4 ,formed to fascinate society1
 here  there were none for him to       
fascinate2 gifted with an eloquence     
which  could keep listening senates     
hushed1 here he found neither subject   
nor  audience2 and his life began to    
resemble a river which1 long before it  
has reached the sea1 is lost in dreary  
marshes and choking sands4    ,like the 
brilliant ,ovid1 when he was banished to
 the frozen wilds of  ,tomi1 ,seneca    

vented his anguish in plaintive wailing 
and bitter verse4  ,in his handful of   
epigrams he finds nothing too severe for
 the place of  his exile4 ,he cries--   
,spare thou thine exiles1 lightly o'er  
thy dead1        ,alive1 yet buried1 be 
thy dust bespread4    ,and addressing   
some malignant enemy--         ,whoe'er 
thou art1--thy name shall ,i repeat8--  
,who o'er mine ashes dar'st to press thy
 feet1        ,and1 uncontented with a  
fall so dread1        ,draw'st          
bloodstained weapons on my darkened     
head1        ,beware6 for nature1       
pitying1 guards the tomb1        ,and   
ghosts avenge th' invaders of their     
gloom1        ,hear1 ,envy1 hear the    
gods proclaim a truth1        ,which my 
shrill ghost repeats to move thy ruth1  
,,wretches ,,are ,,sacred ,,things1--thy
 hands refrain3        ,e'en            
sacrilegious hands from ,,tombs abstain4
    ,the one fact that seems to have    
haunted him most was that his abode in  
,corsica was a living death4    ,but the

 most complete picture of his state of  
mind1 and the most  melancholy memorial 
of his inconsistency as a philosopher1  
is to be  found in his ,consolation to  
,polybius4 ,polybius was one of those   
freedmen of the ,emperor whose bloated  
wealth and servile insolence were  one  
of the darkest and strangest phenomena  
of the time4 ,claudius1 more  than any  
of his class1 from the peculiar         
imbecility of his character1  was under 
the powerful influence of this class of 
men2 and so dangerous  was their power  
that ,messalina herself was forced to   
win her ascendency  over her husband's  
mind by making these men her supporters1
 and  cultivating their favour4 ,such   
were the most excellent ,felix1 the     
judge of ,st4 ,paul1 and the slave who  
became a husband to three               
queens1--,narcissus1 in whose household 
7which moved the envy of the  ,emperor7 
were some of those ,christians to whom  
,st4 ,paul sends greetings  from the    
,christians of ,corinth1#ca--,pallas1   

who never deigned to speak  to his own  
slaves1 but gave all his commands by    
signs1 and who actually  condescended to
 receive the thanks of the ,senate1     
because he1 the  descendant of ,etruscan
 kings1 yet condescended to serve the   
,emperor and  the ,commonwealth2 a      
preposterous and outrageous compliment1 
which  appears to have been solely due  
to the fact of his name being identical 
with that of ,virgil's young hero1 the  
son of the mythic ,evander6    ,footnote
 #ca3 ,rom4 xvi4 #aa4    ,among this    
unworthy crew a certain ,polybius was   
not the least  conspicuous4 ,he was the 
director of the ,emperor's studies1--a  
worthy  ,alcuin to such a ,charlemagne4 
,all that we know about him is that he  
was  once the favourite of ,messalina1  
and afterwards her victim1 and that in  
the day of his eminence the favour of   
the ,emperor placed him so high  that he
 was often seen walking between the two 
consuls4 ,such was the man  to whom1 on 
the occasion of his brother's death1    

,seneca addressed this  treatise of     
consolation4 ,it has come down to us as 
a fragment1 and it  would have been well
 for ,seneca's fame if it had not come  
down to us at  all4 ,those who are      
enthusiastic for his reputation would   
gladly prove it  spurious1 but we       
believe that no candid reader can study 
it without  perceiving its genuineness4 
,it is very improbable that he ever     
intended  it to be published1 and       
whoever suffered it to see the light was
 the  successful enemy of its           
illustrious author4    ,its sad and     
abject tone confirms the inference1     
drawn from an allusion  which it        
contains1 that it was written towards   
the close of the third  year of         
,seneca's exile4 ,he apologises for its 
style by saying that if it  betrayed any
 weakness of thought or inelegance of   
expression this was  only what might be 
expected from a man who had so long been
 surrounded  by the coarse and offensive
 patois of barbarians4 ,we need hardly  

follow him into the ordinary topics of  
moral philosophy with which it  abounds1
 or expose the inconsistency of its tone
 with that of ,seneca's  other writings4
 ,he consoles the freedman with the     
common commonplaces  that death is      
inevitable2 that grief is useless2 that 
we are all born to  sorrow2 that the    
dead would not wish us to be miserable  
for their sakes4  ,he reminds him that1 
owing to his illustrious position1 all  
eyes are  upon him4 ,he bids him find   
consolation in the studies in which he  
has  always shown himself so            
pre-eminent1 and lastly he refers him to
 those  shining examples of magnanimous 
fortitude1 for the climax of which1 no  
doubt1 the whole piece of interested    
flattery was composed4 ,for this        
passage1 written in a crescendo style1  
culminates1 as might have been          
expected1 in the sublime spectacle of   
,claudius ,caesar4 ,so far from         
resenting his exile1 he crawls in the   
dust to kiss ,caesar's beneficent  feet 

for saving him from death2 so far from  
asserting his  innocence--which1        
perhaps1 was impossible1 since to do so 
might have  involved him in a fresh     
charge of treason--he talks with all the
  abjectness of guilt4 ,he belauds the  
clemency of a man1 who1 he tells us     
elsewhere1 used to kill men with as much
 sang froid as a dog eats  offal2 the   
prodigious powers of memory of a divine 
creature who used to  ask people to dice
 and to dinner whom he had executed the 
day before1  and who even inquired as to
 the cause of his wife's absence a few  
days  after having given the order for  
her execution2 the extraordinary        
eloquence of an indistinct stutterer1   
whose head shook and whose broad  lips  
seemed to be in contortions whenever he 
spoke4#cb ,if ,polybius  feels          
sorrowful1 let him turn his eyes to     
,caesar2 the splendour of that  most    
great and radiant deity will so dazzle  
his eyes that all their  tears will be  
dried up in the admiring gaze4 ,oh that 

the bright  occidental star which has   
beamed on a world which1 before its     
rising1  was plunged in darkness and    
deluge1 would only shed one little beam 
upon him6    ,footnote #cb3 ,these      
slight discrepancies of description are 
taken from  counter passages of ,consol1
 ad ,polyb44 and the ,ludus de ,morte   
,caesaris4    ,no doubt these grotesque 
and gorgeous flatteries1 contrasting    
strangely  with the bitter language of  
intense hatred and scathing contempt    
which  ,seneca poured out on the memory 
of ,claudius after his death1 were      
penned  with the sole purpose of being  
repeated in those divine and benignant  
ears4 ,no doubt the superb freedman1 who
 had been allowed so rich a share  of   
the flatteries lavished on his master1  
would take the opportunity--if  not out 
of good nature1 at least out of         
vanity1--to retail them in the  imperial
 ear4 ,if the moment were but           
favourable1 who knows but what at  some 
oblivious and crapulous moment the      

,emperor might be induced to sign  an   
order for our philosopher's recall8     
,let us not be hard on him4 ,exile and  
wretchedness are stern trials1 and  it  
is difficult for him to brave a martyr's
 misery who has no conception  of a     
martyr's crown4 ,to a man who1 like     
,seneca1 aimed at being not only  a     
philosopher1 but also a man of the      
world--who in this very treatise        
criticises the ,stoics for their        
ignorance of life--there would not have 
seemed to be even the shadow of disgrace
 in a private effusion of  insincere    
flattery intended to win the remission  
of a deplorable  banishment4 ,or1 if we 
condemn ,seneca1 let us remember that   
,christians1  no less than philosophers1
 have attained a higher eminence only to
  exemplify a more disastrous fall4 ,the
 flatteries of ,seneca to ,claudius  are
 not more fulsome1 and are infinitely   
less disgraceful1 than those  which     
fawning bishops exuded on his           
counterpart1 ,king ,james4 ,and if the  

,roman ,stoic can gain nothing from a   
comparison with the yet more  egregious 
moral failure of the greatest of        
,christian thinkers---,francis  ,bacon1 
,viscount ,st4 ,alban's--let us not     
forget that a ,savonarola and a         
,cranmer recanted under torment1 and    
that the anguish of exile drew even     
from the starry and imperial spirit of  
,dante ,alighieri words and  sentiments 
for which in his noblest moments he     
might have blushed4        ,,chapter    
,,ix4    ,,seneca',s ,,recall ,,from    
,,exile4    ,of the last five years of  
,seneca's weary exile no trace has been 
preserved to us4 ,what were his         
alternations of hope and fear1 of       
devotion to philosophy and of hankering 
after the world which he had  lost1 we  
cannot tell4 ,any hopes which he may    
have entertained respecting  the        
intervention of ,polybius in his favour 
must have been utterly  quenched when he
 heard that the freedman1 though        
formerly powerful with  ,messalina1 had 

forfeited his own life in consequence of
 her  machinations4 ,but the closing    
period of his days in ,corsica must have
  brought him thrilling news1 which     
would save him from falling into        
absolute despair4    ,for the career of 
,messalina was drawing rapidly to a     
close4 ,the life of  this beautiful     
princess1 short as it was1 for she died 
at a very early  age1 was enough to make
 her name a proverb of everlasting      
infamy4 ,for a  time she appeared       
irresistible4 ,her personal fascination 
had won for her  an unlimited sway over 
the facile mind of ,claudius1 and she   
had either  won over by her intrigues1  
or terrified by her pitiless severity1  
the  noblest of the ,romans and the most
 powerful of the freedmen4 ,but we see  
in her fate1 as we see on every page of 
history1 that vice ever carries  with it
 the germ of its own ruin1 and that a   
retribution1 which is all  the more     
inevitable from being often slow1 awaits
 every violation of the  moral law4     

,there is something almost incredible in
 the penal infatuation which  brought   
about her fall4 ,during the absence of  
her husband at ,ostia1 she  wedded in   
open day with ,c4 ,silius1 the most     
beautiful and the most  promising of the
 young ,roman nobles4 ,she had          
apparently persuaded  ,claudius that    
this was merely a mock-marriage1        
intended to avert some  ominous auguries
 which threatened to destroy the husband
 of ,messalina2  but1 whatever ,claudius
 may have imagined1 all the rest of the 
world knew  the marriage to be real1 and
 regarded it not only as a vile         
enormity1  but also as a direct attempt 
to bring about a usurpation of the      
imperial power4    ,it was by this view 
of the case that the freedman ,narcissus
 roused the  inert spirit and timid     
indignation of the injured ,emperor4    
,while the  wild revelry of the wedding 
ceremony was at its height1 ,vettius    
,valens1  a well-known physician of the 
day1 had in the license of the festival 

struggled up to the top of a lofty tree1
 and when they asked him what he  saw1  
he replied in words which1 though meant 
for jest1 were full of  dreadful        
significance1 ,i see a fierce storm     
approaching from ,ostia4 ,he  had       
scarcely uttered the words when first an
 uncertain rumour1 and then  numerous   
messengers brought the news that        
,claudius knew all1 and was  coming to  
take vengeance4 ,the news fell like a   
thunderbolt on the  assembled guests4   
,silius1 as though nothing had happened1
 went to  transact his public duties in 
the ,forum2 ,messalina instantly sending
 for  her children1 ,octavia and        
,britannicus1 that she might meet her   
husband  with them by her side1 implored
 the protection of ,vibidia1 the eldest 
of  the chaste virgins of ,vesta1 and1  
deserted by all but three companions1   
fled on foot and unpitied1 through the  
whole breadth of the city1 until  she   
reached the ,ostian gate1 and mounted   
the rubbish-cart of a market  gardener  

which happened to be passing4 ,but      
,narcissus absorbed both the  looks and 
the attention of the ,emperor by the    
proofs and the narrative  of her crimes1
 and1 getting rid of the ,vestal by     
promising her that the  cause of        
,messalina should be tried1 he hurried  
,claudius forward1 first  to the house  
of ,silius1 which abounded with the     
proofs of his guilt1 and  then to the   
camp of the ,praetorians1 where swift   
vengeance was taken on  the whole band  
of those who had been involved in       
,messalina's crimes4 ,she  meanwhile1 in
 alternative paroxysms of fury and      
abject terror1 had taken  refuge in the 
garden of ,lucullus1 which she had      
coveted and made her own  by injustice4 
,claudius1 who had returned home1 and   
had recovered some of  his facile       
equanimity in the pleasures of the      
table1 showed signs of  relenting2 but  
,narcissus knew that delay was death1   
and on his own  authority sent a tribune
 and centurions to despatch the         

,empress4 ,they  found her prostrate on 
the ground at the feet of her mother    
,lepida1 with  whom in her prosperity   
she had quarrelled1 but who now came to 
pity and  console her misery1 and to    
urge her to that voluntary death which  
alone  could save her from imminent and 
more cruel infamy4 ,but the mind of     
,messalina1 like that of ,nero          
afterwards1 was so corrupted by         
wickedness  that not even such poor     
nobility was left in her as is implied  
in the  courage of despair4 ,while she  
wasted the time in tears and            
lamentations1  a noise was heard of     
battering at the doors1 and the tribune 
stood by  her in stern silence1 the     
freedman with slavish vituperation4     
,first she  took the dagger in her      
irresolute hand1 and after she had twice
 stabbed  herself in vain1 the tribune  
drove home the fatal blow1 and the      
corpse  of ,messalina1 like that of     
,jezebel1 lay weltering in its blood in 
the  plot of ground of which her crimes 

had robbed its lawful owner4  ,claudius1
 still lingering at his dinner1 was     
informed that she had  perished1 and    
neither asked a single question at the  
time1 nor  subsequently displayed the   
slightest sign of anger1 of hatred1 of  
pity1  or of any human emotion4    ,the 
absolute silence of ,seneca respecting  
the woman who had caused him  the       
bitterest anguish and humiliation of his
 life is1 as we have  remarked already1 
a strange and significant phenomenon4   
,it is clearly  not due to accident1 for
 the vices which he is incessantly      
describing  and denouncing would have   
found in this miserable woman their most
  flagrant illustration1 nor could      
contemporary history have furnished a   
more apposite example of the vindication
 by her fate of the stern  majesty of   
the moral law4 ,but yet1 though ,seneca 
had every reason to  loathe her         
character and to detest her memory1     
though he could not have  rendered to   
his patrons a more welcome service than 

by blackening her  reputation1 he never 
so much as mentions her name4 ,and this 
honourable  silence gives us a          
favourable insight into his character4  
,for it can  only be due to his pitying 
sense of the fact that even ,messalina1 
bad as  she undoubtedly was1 had been   
judged already by a higher ,power1 and  
had  met her dread punishment at the    
hand of ,god4 ,it has been conjectured1 
with every appearance of probability1   
that the blackest of the scandals  which
 were believed and circulated respecting
 her had their origin in  the published 
autobiography of her deadly enemy and   
victorious  successor4 ,the many who had
 had a share in ,messalina's fall would 
be  only too glad to poison every       
reminiscence of her life2 and the deadly
  implacable hatred of the worst woman  
who ever lived would find peculiar      
gratification in scattering every       
conceivable hue of disgrace over the    
acts of a rival whose young children it 
was her dearest object to  supplant4    

,that ,seneca did not deign to chronicle
 even of an enemy what  ,agrippina was  
not ashamed to write1--that he spared   
one whom it was  every one's interest   
and pleasure to malign1--that he        
regarded her  terrible fall as a        
sufficient claim to pity1 as it was a   
sufficient  ,nemesis upon her           
crimes1--is a trait in the character of 
the philosopher  which has hardly yet   
received the credit which it deserves4  
,,chapter ,x4    ,,agrippina1 ,,the     
,,mother ,,of ,,nero4    ,scarcely had  
the grave closed over ,messalina when   
the court was plunged  into the most    
violent factions about the appointment  
of her successor4  ,there were three    
principal candidates for the honour of  
the aged  ,emperor's hand4 ,they were   
his former wife1 ,aelia ,petina1 who had
 only  been divorced in consequence of  
trivial disagreements1 and who was      
supported by ,narcissus2 ,lollia        
,paulina1 so celebrated in antiquity for
  her beauty and splendour1 and who for 

a short time had been the wife of       
,caius2 and ,agrippina the younger1 the 
daughter of the great ,germanicus1  and 
the niece of ,claudius himself4         
,claudius1 indeed1 who had been as      
unlucky as ,henry ,,viii4 himself in the
 unhappiness which had attended his     
five experiments of matrimony1 had made 
the strongest possible  asseverations   
that he would never again submit himself
 to such a yoke4  ,but he was so        
completely a tool in the hands of his   
own courtiers that  no one attached the 
slightest importance to anything which  
he had said4    ,the marriage of an     
uncle with his own niece was considered 
a violation  of natural laws1 and was   
regarded with no less horror among the  
,romans  than it would be among         
ourselves4 ,but ,agrippina1 by the use  
of means the  most unscrupulous1        
prevailed over all her rivals1 and      
managed her  interests with such        
consummate skill that1 before many      
months had  elapsed1 she had become the 

spouse of ,claudius and the ,empress of 
,rome4    ,with this princess the       
destinies of ,seneca were most closely  
intertwined1 and it will enable us the  
better to understand his  position1 and 
his writings1 if we remember that all   
history discloses to  us no phenomenon  
more portentous and terrible than that  
presented to us  in the character of    
,agrippina1 the mother of ,nero4    ,of 
the virtues of her great parents she1   
like their other children1 had          
inherited not one2 and she had          
exaggerated their family tendencies into
  passions which urged her into every   
form of crime4 ,her career from the     
very cradle had been a career of        
wickedness1 nor had any one of the many 
fierce vicissitudes of her life called  
forth in her a single noble or  amiable 
trait4 ,born at ,oppidum ,ubiorum       
7afterwards called in her honour        
,colonia ,agrippina1 and still retaining
 its name in the form ,cologne71  she   
lost her father at the age of three1 and

 her mother 7by banishment7  at the age 
of twelve4 ,she was educated with bad   
sisters1 with a wild and  wicked        
brother1 and under a grandmother whom   
she detested4 ,at the age of  fourteen  
she was married to ,cnaeus ,domitius    
,ahenobarbus1 one of the most  worthless
 and ill-reputed of the young ,roman    
nobles of his day4 ,the  gossiping      
biographies of the time still retain    
some anecdotes of his  cruelty and      
selfishness4 ,they tell us how he once1 
without the slightest  remorse1 ran over
 a poor boy who was playing on the      
,appian ,road2 how on  another occasion 
he knocked out the eye of a ,roman      
knight who had given  him a hasty       
answer2 and how1 when his friend        
congratulated him on the  birth of his  
son 7the young ,claudius ,domitius1     
afterwards the ,emperor  ,nero71 he     
brutally remarked that from people like 
himself and ,agrippina  could only be   
born some monster destined for the      
public ruin4    ,domitius was forty     

years old when he married ,agrippina1   
and the young  ,nero was not born till  
nine years afterwards4 ,whatever there  
was of  possible affection in the       
tigress-nature of ,agrippina was now    
absorbed  in the person of her child4   
,for that child1 from its cradle to her 
own  death by his means1 she toiled and 
sinned4 ,the fury of her own ambition1  
inextricably linked with the            
uncontrollable fierceness of her love   
for  this only son1 henceforth directed 
every action of her life4 ,destiny had  
made her the sister of one ,emperor2    
intrigue elevated her into the wife  of 
another2 her own crimes made her the    
mother of a third4 ,and at first  sight 
her career might have seemed unusually  
successful1 for while still  in the     
prime of life she was wielding1 first in
 the name of her husband1  and then in  
that of her son1 no mean share in the   
absolute government of  the ,roman      
world4 ,but meanwhile that same unerring
 retribution1 whose  stealthy footsteps 

in the rear of the triumphant criminal  
we can track  through page after page of
 history1 was stealing nearer and nearer
 to  her with uplifted hand4 ,when she  
had reached the dizzy pinnacle of       
gratified love and pride to which she   
had waded through so many a deed  of sin
 and blood1 she was struck down into    
terrible ruin and violent  shameful     
death1 by the hand of that very son for 
whose sake she had so  often violated   
the laws of virtue and integrity1 and   
spurned so often  the pure and tender   
obligations which even the heathen had  
been taught  by the voice of ,god within
 their conscience to recognize and to   
adore4    ,intending that her son should
 marry ,octavia1 the daughter of        
,claudius1  her first step was to drive 
to death ,silanus1 a young nobleman to  
whom  ,octavia had already been         
betrothed4 ,her next care was to get rid
 of all  rivals possible or actual4     
,among the former were the beautiful    
,calpurnia  and her own sister-in-law1  

,domitia ,lepida4 ,among the latter was 
the  wealthy ,lollia ,paulina1 against  
whom she trumped up an accusation of    
sorcery and treason1 upon which her     
wealth was confiscated1 but her life    
spared by the ,emperor1 who banished her
 from ,italy4 ,this half-vengeance  was 
not enough for the mother of ,nero4     
,like the daughter of ,herodias in      
sacred history1 she despatched a tribune
 with orders to bring her the  head of  
her enemy2 and when it was brought to   
her1 and she found a  difficulty in     
recognizing those withered and ghastly  
features of a  once-celebrated beauty1  
she is said with her own hand to have   
lifted one  of the lips1 and to have    
satisfied herself that this was indeed  
the head  of ,lollia4 ,to such horrors  
may a woman sink1 when she has abandoned
 the  love of ,god2 and a fair face may 
hide a soul leprous as sin itself4      
,well may ,adolf ,stahr observe that    
,shakespeare's ,lady ,macbeth and       
husband-murdering ,gertrude are mere    

children by the side of this awful      
giant-shape of steely feminine cruelty4 
,such was the princess who1 in the year 
,a4,d4 #di1 recalled ,seneca from       
exile4#cc ,she saw that her cruelties   
were inspiring horror even into a  city 
that had long been accustomed to blood1 
and ,tacitus expressly tells  us that   
she hoped to counterbalance this feeling
 by a stroke of  popularity in recalling
 from the waste solitudes of ,corsica   
the  favourite philosopher and most     
popular author of the ,roman world4 ,nor
  was she content with this public proof
 of her belief in his innocence  of the 
crime which had been laid to his charge1
 for she further procured  for him the  
,praetorship1 and appointed him tutor   
and governor to her  youthful son4 ,even
 in taking this step she did not forget 
her ambitious  views2 for she knew that 
,seneca cherished a secret indignation  
against  ,claudius1 and that ,nero could
 have no more wise adviser in taking    
steps  to secure the fruition of his    

imperial hopes4 ,it might perhaps have  
been  better for ,seneca's happiness if 
he had never left ,corsica1 or set his  
foot again in that ,circean and         
bloodstained court4 ,let it1 however1 be
  added in his exculpation1 that another
 man of undoubted and scrupulous        
honesty1--,afranius ,burrus--a man of   
the old1 blunt1 faithful type of  ,roman
 manliness1 whom ,agrippina had raised  
to the ,prefectship of the  ,praetorian 
cohorts1 was willing to share his danger
 and his  responsibilities4 ,yet he must
 have lived from the first in the very  
atmosphere of base and criminal         
intrigues4 ,he must have formed an      
important member of ,agrippina's party1 
which was in daily and deadly  enmity   
against the party of ,narcissus4 ,he    
must have watched the  incessant        
artifices by which ,agrippina secured   
the adoption of her son  ,nero by an    
,emperor whose own son ,britannicus was 
but three years his  junior4 ,he must   
have seen ,nero always honoured1        

promoted1 paraded before  the eyes of   
the populace as the future hope of      
,rome1 whilst ,britannicus1  like the   
young ,edward ,v4 under the regency of  
his uncle1 was neglected1  surrounded   
with spies1 kept as much as possible out
 of his father's  sight1 and so         
completely thrust into the background   
from all observation  that the populace 
began seriously to doubt whether he were
 alive or  dead4 ,he must have seen     
,agrippina1 who had now received the    
unprecedented honour of the title       
,augusta in her lifetime1 acting  with  
such haughty insolence that there could 
be little doubt as to her  ulterior     
designs upon the throne4 ,he must have  
known that his splendid  intellect was  
practically at the service of a woman in
 whom avarice1  haughtiness1 violence1  
treachery1 and every form of            
unscrupulous  criminality had reached a 
point hitherto unmatched even in a      
corrupt and  pagan world4 ,from this    
time forth the biography of ,seneca must

 assume  the form of an apology rather  
than of a panegyric4    ,footnote #cc3  
,gallio was ,proconsul of ,achaia about 
,a4,d4 #ec1 when ,st4  ,paul was brought
 before his tribunal4 ,very possibly his
 elevation may  have been due to the    
restoration of ,seneca's influence4     
,the ,emperor could not but feel that in
 ,agrippina he had chosen a wife  even  
more intolerable than ,messalina        
herself4 ,messalina had not  interfered 
with the friends he loved1 had not      
robbed him of the insignia  of empire1  
had not filled his palace with a hard   
and unfeminine tyranny1  and had of     
course watched with a mother's interest 
over the lives and  fortunes of his     
children4 ,narcissus would not be likely
 to leave him  long in ignorance that1  
in addition to her other plots and      
crimes1  ,agrippina had been as little  
true to him as his former unhappy wife4 
,the  information sank deep into his    
heart1 and he was heard to mutter that  
it  had been his destiny all along first

 to bear1 and then to avenge1 the       
enormities of his wives4 ,agrippina1    
whose spies filled the palace1 could    
not long remain uninformed of so        
significant a speech2 and she probably  
saw with an instinct quickened by the   
awful terrors of her own guilty         
conscience that the ,emperor showed     
distinct signs of his regret for  having
 married his niece1 and adopted her     
child to the prejudice1 if not  to the  
ruin1 of his own young son4 ,if she     
wanted to reach the goal which  she had 
held so long in view no time was to be  
lost4 ,let us hope that  ,seneca and    
,burrus were at least ignorant of the   
means which she took to  effect her     
purpose4    ,fortune favoured her4 ,the 
dreaded ,narcissus1 the most formidable 
obstacle to her murderous plans1 was    
seized with an attack of the gout4      
,agrippina managed that his physician   
should recommend him the waters of      
,sinuessa in ,campania by way of cure4  
,he was thus got out of the way1 and    

she proceeded at once to her work of    
blood4 ,entrusting the secret to        
,halotus1 the ,emperor's                
praegustator--the slave whose office it 
was to  protect him from poison by      
tasting every dish before him--and to   
his  physician1 ,xenophon of ,cos1 she  
consulted ,locusta1 the ,mrs4 ,turner of
  the period of this classical ,king    
,james1 as to the poison best suited to 
her purpose4 ,locusta was mistress of   
her art1 in which long practice had     
given her a consummate skill4 ,the      
poison must not be too rapid1 lest it   
should cause suspicion2 nor too slow1   
lest it should give the ,emperor  time  
to consult for the interests of his son 
,britannicus2 but it was to  be one     
which should disturb his intellect      
without causing immediate  death4       
,claudius was a glutton1 and the poison 
was given him with all the  more ease   
because it was mixed with a dish of     
mushrooms1 of which he was              
extravagantly fond4 ,agrippina herself  

handed him the choicest mushroom  in the
 dish1 and the poison at once reduced   
him to silence4 ,as was too  frequently 
the case1 ,claudius was intoxicated at  
the time1 and was  carried off to his   
bed as if nothing had happened4 ,a      
violent colic  ensued1 and it was feared
 that this1 with a quantity of wine     
which he  had drunk1 would render the   
poison innocuous4 ,but ,agrippina had   
gone too  far for retreat1 and          
,xenophon1 who knew that great crimes if
 frustrated  are perilous1 if successful
 are rewarded1 came to her assistance4  
,under  pretence of causing him to      
vomit1 he tickled the throat of the     
,emperor  with a feather smeared with a 
swift and deadly poison4 ,it did its    
work1  and before morning the ,caesar   
was a corpse4#cd    ,footnote #cd3      
,there is usually found among the       
writings of ,seneca a most  remarkable  
burlesque called ,ludus de ,morte       
,caesaris4 ,as to its  authorship       
opinions will always vary1 but it is a  

work of such undoubted  genius1 so      
interesting1 and so unique in its       
character1 that ,i have  thought it     
necessary to give in an ,appendix a     
brief sketch of its  argument4 ,we may  
at least hope that this satire1 which   
overflows with  the deadliest contempt  
of ,claudius1 is not from the same pen  
which wrote  for ,nero his funeral      
oration4 ,it has1 however1 been supposed
 7without  sufficient grounds7 to be the
 lost ,greek3 ,apokolokuntoois which    
,seneca  is said to have written on the 
apotheosis of ,claudius4 ,the very name 
is  a bitter satire4 ,it imagines the   
,emperor transformed1 not into a ,god1  
but into a gourd--one of those bloated  
gourds which sun their speckled  bellies
 before the doors of the ,roman         
peasants4 ,the ,senate decreed his      
divinity2 ,seneca translated it into    
pumpkinity 7,merivale1 ,rom4  ,emp4 v4  
#fja74 ,the ,ludus begins by spattering 
mud on the memory of the  divine        
,claudius2 it ends with a shower of     

poetic roses over the glory of  the     
diviner ,nero6    ,as has been the case 
not unfrequently in history1 from the   
times of  ,tarquinius ,priscus to those 
of ,charles ,,ii41 the death was        
concealed  until everything had been    
prepared for the production of a        
successor4  ,the palace was carefully   
watched2 no one was even admitted into  
it  except ,agrippina's most trusty     
partisans4 ,the body was propped up with
  pillows2 actors were sent for by his  
own desire to afford it some  amusement2
 and priests and consuls were bidden to 
offer up their vows  for the life of the
 dead4 ,giving out that the ,emperor was
 getting  better1 ,agrippina took care  
to keep ,britannicus and his two        
sisters1  ,octavia and ,antonia1 under  
her own immediate eye4 ,as though       
overwhelmed  with sorrow she wept1 and  
embraced them1 and above all kept       
,britannicus  by her side1 kissing him  
with the exclamation that he was the    
very  image of his father1 and taking   

care that he should on no account  leave
 her room4 ,so the day wore on till it  
was the hour which the  ,chaldaeans     
declared would be the only lucky hour in
 that unlucky  ,october day4    ,noon   
came2 the palace doors were suddenly    
thrown open3 and ,nero with  ,burrus at 
his side went out to the ,praetorian    
cohort which was on guard4  ,by the     
order of their commandant1 they received
 him with cheers4 ,a few  only          
hesitated1 looking round them and asking
 ,where was ,britannicus8  ,since1      
however1 he was not to be seen1 and no  
one stirred in his favour1  they        
followed the multitude4 ,nero was       
carried in triumph to the camp1  made   
the soldiers a short speech1 and        
promised to each man of them a  splendid
 donative4 ,he was at once saluted      
,emperor4 ,the ,senate followed  the    
choice of the soldiers1 and the         
provinces made no demur4 ,divine  honors
 were decreed to the murdered man1 and  
preparations made for a  funeral which  

was to rival in its splendour the one   
which ,livia had  ordered for ,augustus4
 ,but the will--which beyond all doubt  
had provided  for the succession of     
,britannicus--was quietly done away     
with1 and its  exact provisions were    
never known4    ,and on the first       
evening of his imperial power1 ,nero1   
well aware to whom  he owed his throne1 
gave to the sentinel who came to ask him
 the pass  for the night the grateful   
and significant watchword of ,optima    
,mater1--the best of mothers6           
,,chapter ,,xi4    ,,nero ,,and ,,his   
,,tutor4    ,the imperial youth1 whose  
destinies are now inextricably mingled  
with  those of ,seneca1 was accompanied 
to the throne by the acclamations of    
the people4 ,wearied by the astuteness  
of an ,augustus1 the sullen wrath  of a 
,tiberius1 the mad ferocity of a ,caius1
 the senile insensibility of  a         
,claudius1 they could not but welcome   
the succession of a bright and          
beautiful youth1 whose fair hair floated

 over his shoulders1 and whose  features
 displayed the finest type of ,roman    
beauty4 ,there was nothing in  his      
antecedents to give a sinister augury to
 his future development1 and  all       
classes alike dreamt of the advent of a 
golden age4 ,we can  understand their   
feelings if we compare them with those  
of our own  countrymen when the sullen  
tyranny of ,henry ,,viii4 was followed  
by the  youthful virtue and gentleness  
of ,edward ,,vi4 ,happy would it have   
been  for ,nero if his reign1 like that 
of ,edward1 could have been cut short   
before the thick night of many crimes   
had settled down upon the promise  of   
its dawn4 ,for the first five years of  
,nero's reign--the famous  ,quinquennium
 ,neronis--were fondly regarded by the  
,romans as a period  of almost ideal    
happiness4 ,in reality1 it was ,seneca  
who was ruling in  ,nero's1 name4 ,even 
so excellent an ,emperor as ,trajan is  
said to have  admitted that no other    
prince had nearly equalled the praise of

 that  period4 ,it is indeed probable   
that those years appeared to shine with 
an exaggerated splendour from the       
intense gloom which succeeded them2  yet
 we can see in them abundant            
circumstances which were quite          
sufficient to inspire an enthusiasm of  
hope and joy4 ,the young ,nero was  at  
first modest and docile4 ,his opening   
speeches1 written with all the  beauty  
of thought and language which betrayed  
the style of ,seneca no  less than his  
habitual sentiments1 were full of       
glowing promises4 ,all  those things    
which had been felt to be injurious or  
oppressive he  promised to eschew4 ,he  
would not1 he said1 reserve to himself1 
as  ,claudius had done1 the             
irresponsible decision in all matters of
  business2 no office or dignity should 
be won from him by flattery or          
purchased by bribes2 he would not       
confuse his own personal interests  with
 those of the commonwealth2 he would    
respect the ancient  prerogatives of the

 ,senate2 he would confine his own      
immediate attention  to the provinces   
and the army4    ,nor were such promises
 falsified by his immediate conduct4    
,the odious  informers who had          
flourished in previous reigns were      
frowned upon and  punished4 ,offices of 
public dignity were relieved from unjust
 and  oppressive burdens4 ,nero         
prudently declined the gold and silver  
statues  and other extravagant honours  
which were offered to him by the corrupt
  and servile ,senate1 but he treated   
that body1 which1 fallen as it was1     
continued still to be the main          
representative of constitutional        
authority1 with favour and respect4     
,nobles and officials begun to  breathe 
more freely1 and the general sense of an
 intolerable tyranny was  perceptibly   
relaxed4 ,severity was reserved for     
notorious criminals1 and  was only      
inflicted in a regular and authorized   
manner1 when no one  could doubt that it
 had been deserved4 ,above all1 ,seneca 

had  disseminated an anecdote about his 
young pupil which tended more than  any 
other circumstance to his wide spread   
popularity4 ,england has  remembered    
with gratitude and admiration the       
tearful reluctance of her  youthful     
,edward to sign the death-warrant of    
,joan ,boucher2 ,rome1  accustomed to a 
cruel indifference to human life1       
regarded with  something like transport 
the sense of pity which had made ,nero1 
when  asked to affix his signature to an
 order for execution1 exclaim1 ,how ,i  
wish that ,i did not know how to write6 
,it is admitted that no small share of  
the happiness of this period was  due to
 the firmness of the honest ,burrus1 and
 the wise1 high-minded  precepts of     
,seneca4 ,they deserve the amplest      
gratitude and credit for  this happy    
interregnum1 for they had no easy task  
to perform4 ,besides  the difficulties  
which arose from the base and frivolous 
character of  their pupil1 besides the  
infinite delicacy which was requisite   

for the  restraint of a youth who was   
absolute master of such gigantic        
destinies1  they had the task of curbing
 the wild and imperious ambition of     
,agrippina1 and of defeating the        
incessant intrigues of her many powerful
  dependents4 ,agrippina had no doubt   
persuaded herself that her crimes had   
been mainly committed in the interest of
 her son2 but her conduct showed  that  
she wished him to be a mere instrument  
in her hands4 ,she wished to  govern    
him1 and had probably calculated on     
doing so by the assistance of  ,seneca1 
just as our own ,queen ,caroline        
completely managed ,george ,,ii4  with  
the aid of ,sir ,robert ,walpole4 ,she  
rode in a litter with him2  without his 
knowledge she ordered the poisoning of  
,m4 ,silanus1 a brother  of her former  
victim1 she goaded ,narcissus to death1 
against his will2  through her influence
 the ,senate was sometimes assembled in 
the palace1  and she took no pains to   
conceal from the senators that she was  

herself  seated behind a curtain where  
she could hear every word of their      
deliberations2--nay1 on one occasion1   
when ,nero was about to give  audience  
to an important ,armenian legation1 she 
had the audacity to  enter the          
audience-chamber1 and advance to take   
her seat by the side of  the ,emperor4  
,every one else was struck dumb with    
amazement1 and even  terror1 at a       
proceeding so unusual2 but ,seneca1 with
 ready and admirable  tact1 suggested to
 ,nero that he should rise and meet his 
mother1 thus  obviating a public scandal
 under the pretext of filial affection4 
,but ,seneca from the very first had    
been guilty of a fatal error in the     
education of his pupil4 ,he had governed
 him throughout on the ruinous          
principle of concession4 ,nero was not  
devoid of talent2 he had a  decided turn
 for ,latin versification1 and the few  
lines of his  composition which have    
come down to us1 bizarre and effected as
 they  are1 yet display a certain sense 

of melody and power of language4 ,but   
his vivid imagination was accompained by
 a want of purpose2 and ,seneca1        
instead of trying to train him in habits
 of serious attention and  sustained    
thought1 suffered him to waste his best 
efforts in pursuits  and amusements     
which were considered partly frivolous  
and partly  disreputable1 such as       
singing1 painting1 dancing1 and driving4
 ,seneca  might have argued that there  
was1 at any rate1 no great harm in such 
employments1 and that they probably kept
 ,nero out of worse mischief4 ,but  we  
respect ,nero the less for his          
indifferent singing and harp-twanging   
just as we respect ,louis ,,xvi4 less   
for making very poor locks2 and1 if     
,seneca had adopted a loftier tone with 
his pupil from the first1 ,rome  might  
have been spared the disgraceful folly  
of ,nero's subsequent  buffooneries in  
the cities of ,greece and the theatres  
of ,rome4 ,we may  lay it down as an    
invariable axiom in all high education1 

that it is  never sensible to permit    
what is bad for the supposed sake of    
preventing what is worse4 ,seneca very  
probably persuaded himself that  with a 
mind like ,nero's--the innate           
worthlessness of which he must early    
have recognised--success of any high    
description would be simply  impossible4
 ,but this did not absolve him from     
attempting the only noble  means by     
which success could1 under any          
circumstances1 be attainable4  ,let us1 
however1 remember that his concessions  
to his pupil were mainly  in matters    
which he regarded as indifferent--or1 at
 the worst1 as  discreditable--rather   
than as criminal2 and that his mistake  
probably  arose from an error in        
judgment far more than from any         
deficiency in  moral character4    ,yet 
it is clear that1 even intellectually1  
,nero was the worse for this  laxity of 
training4 ,we have already seen that1 in
 his maiden-speech  before the ,senate1 
every one recognized the hand of        

,seneca1 and many  observed with a sigh 
that this was the first occasion on     
which an  ,emperor had not been able1 at
 least to all appearance1 to address the
  ,senate in his own words and with his 
own thoughts4 ,tiberius1 as an  orator1 
had been dignified and forcible2        
,claudius had been learned and          
polished2 even the disturbed reason of  
,caligula had not been wanting in  a    
capacity for delivering forcible and    
eloquent harangues2 but ,nero's  youth  
had been frittered away in paltry and   
indecorus accomplishments1  which had   
left him neither time nor inclination   
for weightier and  nobler pursuits4     
,the fame of ,seneca has1 no doubt1     
suffered grieviously from the           
subsequent infamy of his pupil2 and it  
is obvious that the dislike of  ,tacitus
 to his memory is due to his connexion  
with ,nero4 ,now1 even  though the      
tutor's system had not been so wise as1 
when judged by an  inflexible standard1 
it might have been1 it is yet clearly   

unjust to  make him responsible for the 
depravity of his pupil2 and it must be  
remembered1 to ,seneca's eternal honour1
 that the evidence of facts1 the        
testimony of contemporaries1 and even   
the grudging admission of ,tacitus      
himself1 establishes in his favour that 
whatever wisdom and moderation          
characterized the earlier years of      
,nero's reign were due to his  counsels2
 that he enjoyed the cordial esteem of  
the virtuous ,burrus2  that he helped to
 check the sanguinary audacities of     
,agrippina2 that the  writings which he 
addressed to ,nero1 and the speeches    
which he wrote for  him1 breathed the   
loftiest counsels2 and that it was not  
until he was  wholly removed from power 
and influence that ,nero1 under the     
fierce  impulses of despotic power1     
developed those atrocious tendencies of 
which the seeds had long been latent in 
his disposition4 ,an ancient  writer    
records the tradition that ,seneca very 
early observed in ,nero a  savagery of  

disposition which he could not wholly   
eradicate2 and that to  his intimate    
friends he used to observe that1 when   
once the lion tasted  human blood1 his  
innate cruelty would return4    ,but    
while we give ,seneca this credit1 and  
allow that his intentions  were         
thoroughly upright1 we cannot but impugn
 his judgment for having  thus          
deliberately adopted the morality of    
expedience2 and we believe  that to this
 cause1 more than to any other1 was due 
the extent of his  failure and the      
misery of his life4 ,we may1 indeed1 be 
permitted to  doubt whether ,nero       
himself--a vain and loose youth1 the son
 of bad  parents1 and heir to boundless 
expectations--would1 under any          
circumstances1 have grown up much better
 than he did2 but it is clear  that     
,seneca might have been held in         
infinitely higher honour but for the    
share which he had in his education4    
,had ,seneca been as firm and wise as   
,socrates1 ,nero in all probability     

would not have been much worse than     
,alcibiades4 ,if the tutor had set      
before his pupil no ideal but the very  
highest1 if he had inflexibly opposed to
 the extent of his ability every        
tendency which was dishonourable and    
wrong1 he might possibly have  been     
rewarded by success1 and have earned the
 indelible gratitude of  mankind2 and if
 he had failed he would at least have   
failed nobly1 and  have carried with him
 into a calm and honourable retirement  
the respect1  if not the affection1 of  
his imperial pupil4 ,nay1 even if he had
 failed  completely1 and lost his life  
in the attempt1 it would have been      
infinitely better both for him and for  
mankind4 ,even ,homer might have  taught
 him that it is better to die than live 
in sin4 ,at any rate he  might have     
known from study and observation that an
 education founded on  compromise must  
always and necessarily fail4 ,it must   
fail because it  overlooks that great   
eternal law of retribution for and      

continuity in  evil1 which is           
illustrated by every single history of  
individuals and of  nations4 ,and the   
education which ,seneca gave to         
,nero--noble as it was in  many         
respects1 and eminent as was its partial
 and temporary success--was  yet an     
education of compromises4 ,alike in the 
studies of ,nero's boyhood  and the     
graver temptations of his manhood1 he   
acted on the  foolishly-fatal principle 
that         ,had the wild oat not been 
sown1        ,the soil left barren      
scarce had grown1        ,the grain     
whereby a man may live4    ,any         
,christian might have predicted the     
result2 one would have thought  that    
even a pagan philosopher might have been
 enlightened enough to  observe it4 ,we 
often quote the lines--         ,the    
child is father of the man1    and      
,just as the twig is bent the tree      
inclines4    ,but the ancients were     
quite as familiar with the same truth   
under other  images4 ,the cask1 wrote   

,horace1 will long retain the odour of  
that  which has once been poured into it
 when new4 ,quintilian1 describing the  
depraved influences which surrounded    
even the infancy of a ,roman child1     
said1 ,from these arise first           
familiarity1 then nature4    ,no one has
 laid down the principle more           
emphatically than ,seneca  himself4     
,take1 for instance1 the following      
passage from his ,letters1 on  evil     
conversation4 ,the conversation1 he     
says1 of these men is very  injurious2  
for1 even if it does no immediate harm1 
it leaves its seeds  in the mind1 and   
follows us even when we have gone from  
the speakers1--a  plague sure to spring 
up in future resurrection4 ,just as     
those who have  heard a symphony carry  
in their ears the tune and sweetness of 
the song  which entangles their         
thoughts1 and does not suffer them to   
give their  whole energy to serious     
matters2 so the conversation of         
flatterers and  of those who praise evil

 things1 lingers longer in the mind than
 the  time of hearing it4 ,nor is it    
easy to shake out of the soul a sweet   
sound2 it pursues us1 and lingers with  
us1 and at perpetual intervals  recurs4 
,our ears therefore must be closed to   
evil words1 and that to the  very first 
we hear4 ,for when they have once begun 
and been admitted1  they acquire more   
and more audacity2 and so he adds a     
little  afterwards1 our days flow on1   
and irreparable life passes beyond our  
reach4 ,yet he who wrote these noble    
words was not only a flatterer to  his  
imperial pupil1 but is charged with     
having deliberately encouraged  him in a
 foolish passion for a freedwoman named 
,acte1 into which ,nero  fell4 ,it was  
of course his duty to recall the        
wavering affections of the  youthful    
,emperor to his betrothed ,octavia1 the 
daughter of ,claudius1 to  whom he had  
been bound by every tie of honour and   
affection1 and his  union with whom gave
 some shadow of greater legitimacy to   

his practical  usurpation4 ,but princes 
rarely love the wives to whom they owe  
any part  of their elevation4 ,henry    
,,vii4 treated ,elizabeth of ,york with 
many  slights4 ,the union of ,william   
,,iii4 with ,mary was overshadowed by   
her  superior claim to the royal power2 
and ,nero from the first regarded with  
aversion1 which ended in assassination1 
the poor young orphan girl who  recalled
 to the popular memory his slender      
pretensions to hereditary  empire1 and  
whom he regarded as a possible rival1 if
 her cowed and  plastic nature should   
ever become a tool in the hands of more 
powerful  intriguers4 ,but we do not    
hear of any attempt on ,seneca's part to
 urge  upon ,nero the fulfillment of    
this high duty1 and we find him sinking 
into the degraded position of an        
accomplice with young profligates like  
,otho1 as the confident of a            
dishonourable love4 ,such conduct1 which
  would have done discredit to a mere   
courtier1 was to a ,stoic  disgraceful4 

,but the principle which led to it is   
the very principle to  which we have    
been pointing1--the principle of moral  
compromise1 the  principle of permitting
 and encouraging what is evil in the    
vain hope of  thereby preventing what is
 worse4 ,it is hardly strange that      
,seneca  should have erred in this way1 
for compromise was the character of his 
entire life4 ,he appears to have set    
before himself the wholly impossible    
task of being both a genuine philosopher
 and a statesman under the  ,caesars4   
,he prided himself on being not only a  
philosopher1 but also a  man of the     
world1 and the consequence was1 that in 
both capacities he  failed4 ,it was as  
true in ,paganism as it is in           
,christianity1 that a man  must make his
 choice between duty and                
interest--between the service of        
,mammon and the service of ,god4 ,no man
 ever gained anything but contempt  and 
ruin by incessantly halting between two 
opinions4    ,and by not taking that    

lofty line of duty which a ,zeno or an  
,antisthenes  would have taken1 ,seneca 
became more or less involved in some of 
the  most dreadful events of ,nero's    
reign4 ,every one of the terrible doubts
  under which his reputation has        
suffered arose from his having permitted
  the principle of expedience to        
supercede the laws of virtue4 ,one or   
two  of these events we must briefly    
narrate4    ,we have already pointed out
 that the ,nemesis which for so many    
years had  been secretly dogging the    
footsteps of ,agrippina made her tremble
 under  the weight of its first cruel   
blows when she seemed to have attained  
the  highest summit of her ambition4    
,very early indeed ,nero began to be    
galled and irritated by the insatiate   
assumption and swollen authority  of the
 best of mothers4 ,the furious          
reproaches which she heaped upon  him   
when she saw in ,acte a possible rival  
to her power drove him to take  refuge  
in the facile and unphilosophic         

worldliness of ,seneca's  concessions1  
and goaded him almost immediately       
afterwards into an  atrocious crime4 ,he
 naturally looked on ,britannicus1 the  
youthful son of  ,claudius1 with even   
more suspicion and hatred than that with
 which he  regarded ,octavia4 ,kings    
have rarely been able to abstain from   
acts of  severity against those who     
might become claimants to the throne4   
,the  feelings of ,king ,john towards   
,prince ,arthur1 of ,henry ,,iv4 towards
 the  ,earl of ,march1 of ,mary towards 
,lady ,jane ,grey1 of ,elizabeth towards
 ,mary  ,stuart1 of ,king ,james towards
 ,lady ,arabella ,stuart1 resembled1 but
  probably by no means equalled in      
intensity1 those of ,nero towards his   
kinsman and adoptive brother4 ,to show  
him any affection was a dangerous       
crime1 and it furnished a sufficient    
cause for immediate removal if any      
attendant behaved towards him with      
fidelity4 ,such a line of treatment     
foreshadowed the catastrophe which was  

hastened by the rage of  ,agrippina4    
,she would go1 she said1 and take with  
her to the camp the  noble boy who was  
now of full age to undertake those      
imperial duties  which a usurper was    
exercising in virtue of crimes which she
 was now  prepared to confess4 ,then let
 the mutilated ,burrus and the          
glib-tongued  ,seneca see whether they  
could be a match for the son of         
,claudius and the  daughter of          
,germanicus4 ,such language1 uttered    
with violent gestures and  furious      
imprecations1 might well excite the     
alarm of the timid ,nero4 ,and  that    
alarm was increased by a recent         
circumstance1 which showed that all  the
 ancestral spirit was not dead in the   
breast of ,britannicus4 ,during  the    
festivities of the ,saturnalia1 which   
were kept by the ancients with  all the 
hilarity of the modern ,christmas1 ,nero
 had been elected by lot  as governor of
 the feast1 and1 in that capacity1 was  
entitled to issue  his orders to the    

guests4 ,to the others he issued trivial
 mandates which  would not make them    
blush2 but ,britannicus in violation of 
every  principle of ,roman decorum1 was 
ordered to stand up in the middle and   
sing a song4 ,the boy1 inexperienced as 
yet even in sober banquets1 and  wholly 
unaccustomed to drunken convivialities1 
might well have faltered2  but he at    
once rose1 and with a steady voice began
 a strain--probably  the magnificent    
wail of ,andromache over the fall of    
,troy1 which has been  preserved to us  
from a lost play of ,ennius--in which he
 indicated his  own disgraceful ejection
 from his hereditary rights4 ,his       
courage and his  misfortunes woke in the
 guests a feeling of pity which night   
and wine  made them less careful to     
disguise4 ,from that moment the fate of 
,britannicus was sealed4 ,locusta1 the  
celebrated poisoner of ancient  ,rome1  
was summoned to the councils of ,nero to
 get rid of ,britannicus1 as  she had   
already been summoned to those of his   

mother when she wished to  disembarrass 
herself of ,britannicus's father4 ,the  
main difficulty was to  avoid discovery1
 since nothing was eaten or drunk at the
 imperial table  till it had been tasted
 by the praegustator4 ,to avoid this    
difficulty  a very hot draught was given
 to ,britannicus1 and when he wished for
  something cooler a swift and subtle   
poison was dropped into the cold  water 
with which it was tempered4 ,the boy    
drank1 and instantly sank from  his     
seat1 gasping and speechless4 ,the      
guests started up in  consternation1 and
 fixed their eyes on ,nero4 ,he with the
 utmost coolness  assured them that it  
was merely a fit of epilepsy1 to which  
his brother  was accustomed1 and from   
which he would soon recover4 ,the terror
 and  agitation of ,agrippina showed to 
every one that she at least was         
guiltless of this dark deed2 but the    
unhappy ,octavia1 young as she was1  and
 doubly terrible on every ground as the 
blow must have been to her1  sat silent 

and motionless1 having already learnt by
 her misfortunes the  awful necessity   
for suppressing under an impassive      
exterior her  affections and sorrows1   
her hopes and fears4 ,in the dead of    
night1 amid  storms and murky rain1     
which were thought to indicate the wrath
 of  heaven1 the last of the ,claudii   
was hastily and meanly hurried into a   
dishonourable grave4    ,we may believe 
that in this crime ,seneca had no share 
whatever1 but we  can hardly believe    
that he was ignorant of it after it had 
been  committed1 or that he had no share
 in the intensely hypocritical edict  in
 which ,nero bewailed the fact of his   
adoptive brother's death1 excused  his  
hurried funeral1 and threw himself on   
the additional indulgence and           
protection of the ,senate4 ,nero showed 
the consciousness of guilt by the       
immense largesses which he distributed  
to the most powerful of his  friends1   
,nor were there wanting men1 says       
,tacitus1 in a most  significant manner1

 who accused certain people1 notorious  
for their  high professions1 of having  
at that period divided among them villas
 and  houses as though they had been so 
much spoil4 ,there can hardly be a      
doubt that the great historian intends  
by this remark to point at  ,seneca1 to 
whom he tries to be fair1 but whom he   
could never quite  forgive for his share
 in the disgraces of ,nero's reign4     
,that avarice was  one of ,seneca's     
temptations is too probable2 that       
expediency was a  guiding principle of  
his conduct is but too evident2 and for 
a man with  such a character to rebut an
 innuendo is never an easy task4 ,nay   
more1  it was after this foul event1 at 
the close of ,nero's first year1 that   
,seneca addressed him in the extravagant
 and glowing language of his  treatise  
on ,clemency4 ,the quality of mercy1 and
 the duty of princes to  practise it1   
has never been more eloquently extolled2
 but it is  accompanied by a fulsome    
flattery which has in it something      

painfully  grotesque as addressed by a  
philosopher to one whom he knew to have 
been  guilty1 that very year1 of an     
inhuman fratricide4 ,imagine some       
,jewish  ,pharisee1--a ,nicodemus or a  
,gamaliel--pronouncing an eulogy on the 
tenderness of a ,herod1 and you have    
some picture of the appearance which    
,seneca's consistency must have worn in 
the eyes of his contemporaries4    ,this
 event took place ,a4,d4 #ee1 in the    
first year of ,nero's  ,quinquennium1   
and the same year was nearly signalized 
by the death of  his mother4 ,a charge  
of pretended conspiracy was invented    
against her1  and it is probable that   
but for the intervention of ,burrus1 who
 with  ,seneca was appointed to examine 
into the charge1 she would have fallen a
  very sudden victim to the cowardly    
credulity and growing hatred of her     
son4 ,the extraordinary and eloquent    
audacity of her defence created a       
reaction in her favour1 and secured the 
punishment of her accusers4 ,but  the   

ties of affection could not long unite  
two such wicked and imperious  natures  
as those of ,agrippina and her son4 ,all
 history shows that there  can be no    
real love between souls exceptionally   
wicked1 and that this is  still more    
impossible when the alliance between    
them has been sealed by  a complicity in
 crime4 ,nero had now fallen into a deep
 infatuation for  ,poppaea ,sabina1 the 
beautiful wife of ,otho1 and she refused
 him her hand  so long as he was still  
under the control of his mother4 ,at    
this time  ,agrippina1 as the just      
consequence of her many crimes1 was     
regarded by  all classes with a         
fanaticism of hatred which in ,poppaea  
,sabina was  intensified by manifest    
self-interest4 ,nero1 always weak1 had  
long  regarded his mother with real     
terror and disgust1 and he scarcely     
needed  the urgency of constant         
application to make him long to get rid 
of her4  ,but the daughter of           
,germanicus could not be openly         

destroyed1 while her  own precautions   
helped to secure her against secret     
assassination4 ,it  only remained to    
compass her death by treachery4 ,nero   
had long compelled  her to live in      
suburban retirement1 and had made no    
attempt to conceal  the open rapture    
which existed between them4 ,anicetus1  
admiral of the  fleet at ,misenum1 and a
 former instructor of ,nero1 suggested  
the  expedient of a pretended public    
reconciliation1 in virtue of which      
,agrippina should be invited to ,baiae1 
and on her return should be placed  on  
board a vessel so constructed as to come
 to pieces by the removal of  bolts4    
,the disaster might then be attributed  
to a mere naval accident1  and ,nero    
might make the most ostentatious display
 of his affection  and regret4    ,the  
invitation was sent1 and a vessel       
specially decorated was ordered to      
await her movements4 ,but1 either from  
suspicion or from secret  information1  
she declined to avail herself of it1 and

 was conveyed to  ,baiae in a litter4   
,the effusion of hypocritical affection 
with which she  was received1 the       
unusual tenderness and honour with which
 she was  treated1 the earnest gaze1 the
 warm embrace1 the varied conversation1 
removed her suspicions1 and she         
consented to return in the vessel of    
honour4 ,as though for the purpose of   
revealing the crime1 the night was      
starry and the sea calm4 ,the ship had  
not sailed far1 and ,crepereius         
,gallus1 one of her friends1 was        
standing near the helm1 while a lady    
named ,acerronia was seated at her feet 
as she reclined1 and both were  vieing  
with each other in the warmth of their  
congratulations upon the  recent        
interview1 when a crash was heard1 and  
the canopy above them  which had been   
weighted with a quantity of lead1 was   
suddenly let go4  ,crepereius was       
crushed to death upon the spot2         
,agrippina and ,acerronia  were saved by
 the projecting sides of the couch on   

which they were  resting2 in the hurry  
and alarm1 as accomplices were mingled  
with a  greater number who were innocent
 of the plot1 the machinery of the      
treacherous vessel failed4 ,some of the 
rowers rushed to one side of the  ship1 
hoping in that manner to sink it1 but   
here too their councils were  divided   
and confused4 ,acerronia1 in the selfish
 hope of securing  assistance1 exclaimed
 that she was ,agrippina1 and was       
immediately  despatched with oars and   
poles2 ,agrippina1 silent and           
unrecognized1  received a wound upon the
 shoulder1 but succeeded in keeping     
herself  afloat till she was picked up  
by fishermen and carried in safety to   
her villa4    ,the hideous attempt from 
which she had been thus miraculously    
rescued  did not escape her keen        
intuition1 accustomed as it was to deeds
 of  guilt2 but1 seeing that her only   
chance of safety rested in              
dissimulation and reticense1 she sent   
her freedman ,agerinus to tell her  son 

that by the mercy of heaven she had     
escaped from a terrible  accident1 but  
to beg him not to be alarmed1 and not to
 come to see her  because she needed    
rest4    ,the news filled ,nero with the
 wildest terror1 and the expectation of 
an  immediate revenge4 ,in horrible     
agitation and uncertainty he instantly  
required the presence of ,burrus and    
,seneca4 ,tacitus doubts whether they   
may not have been already aware of what 
he had attempted1 and ,dion1 to  whose  
gross calumnies1 however1 we need pay no
 attention1 declares that  ,seneca had  
frequently urged ,nero to the deed1     
either in the hope of  overshadowing his
 own guilt1 or of involving ,nero in a  
crime which  should hasten his most     
speedy destruction at the hands of gods 
and men4  ,in the absence of all        
evidence we may with perfect confidence 
acquit the  memory of these eminent men 
from having gone so far as this4    ,it 
must have been a strange and awful      
scene4 ,the young man1 for ,nero was    

but twenty-two years old1 poured into   
the ears their tumult of his  agitation 
and alarm4 ,white with fear1 weak with  
dissipation1 and  tormented by the      
furies of a guilty conscience1 the      
wretched youth  looked from one to      
another of his aged ministers4 ,a long  
and painful  pause ensued4 ,if they     
dissuaded him in vain from the crime    
which he  meditated their lives would   
have been in danger2 and perhaps they   
sincerely thought that things had gone  
so far that1 unless ,agrippina  were    
anticipated1 ,nero would be destroyed4  
,seneca was the first to break  that    
silence of anguish by inquiring of      
,burrus whether the soldiery  could be  
entrusted to put her to death4 ,his     
reply was that the  praetorians would do
 nothing against a daughter of          
,germanicus and that  ,anicetus should  
accomplish what he had promised4        
,anicetus showed himself  prompt to     
crime1 and ,nero thanked him in a       
rapture of gratitude4 ,while  the       

freedman ,agerinus was delivering to    
,nero his mother's message1  ,anicetus  
dropped a dagger at his feet1 declared  
that he had caught him  in the very act 
of attempting the ,emperor's            
assassination1 and hurried  off with a  
band of soldiers to punish ,agrippina as
 the author of  the crime4    ,the      
multitude meanwhile were roaming in wild
 excitement along the shore2  their     
torches were seen glimmering in evident 
commotion about the scene  of the       
calamity1 where some were wading into   
the water in search of the  body1 and   
others were shouting incoherent         
questions and replies4 ,at the  rumour  
of ,agrippina's escape they rushed off  
in a body to her villa to  express their
 congratulations1 where they were       
dispersed by the soldiers  of ,anicetus1
 who had already token possession of it4
 ,scattering or  seizing the slaves who 
came in their way1 and bursting their   
passage  from door to door1 they found  
the ,empress in a dimly-lighted chamber1

  attended only by a single handmaid4   
,dost thou too desert me8  exclaimed the
 wretched woman to her servant1 as she  
rose to slip away4  ,in silent          
determination the soldiers surrounded   
her couch1 and ,anicetus  was the first 
to strike her with a stick4 ,strike my  
womb1 she cried to  him faintly1 as he  
drew his sword1 for it bore ,nero4 ,the 
blow of  ,anicetus was the signal for   
her immediate destruction3 she was      
dispatched with many wounds1 and was    
buried that night at ,misenum on a      
common couch and with a mean funeral4   
,such an end1 many years  previously1   
this sister1 and wife1 and mother of    
emperors had  anticipated and despised2 
for when the ,chaldaeans had assured her
 that  her son would become ,emperor1   
and would murder her1 she is said to    
have  exclaimed1 ,occidat dum imperet1  
,let him slay me if he but reign4    ,it
 only remained to account for the crime1
 and offer for it such lying  defences  
as were most likely to gain credit4     

,flying to ,naples from a  scene which  
had now become awful to him1--for places
 do not change as  men's faces change1  
and1 besides this1 his disturbed        
conscience made him  fancy that he heard
 from the hill of ,misenum the blowing  
of a ghostly  trumpet and wailings about
 his mother's tomb in the hours of      
night1--he  sent from thence a letter to
 the ,senate1 saying that his mother had
 been  punished for an attempt upon his 
life1 and adding a list of her crimes1  
real and imaginary1 the narrative of her
 accidental shipwreck1 and his  opinion 
that her death was a public blessing4   
,the author of this  shameful document  
was ,seneca1 and in composing it he     
reached the nadir  of his moral         
degradation4 ,even the lax morality of a
 most degenerate age  condemned him for 
calmly sitting down to decorate with the
 graces of  rhetoric and antithesis an  
atrocity too deep for the powers of     
indignation4 ,a ,seneca could stoop to  
write what a ,thrasea ,paetus could     

scarcely stoop to hear2 for in the      
meeting of the ,senate at which the     
letter was recited1 ,thrasea rose in    
indignation1 and went straight home     
rather than seem to sanction by his     
presence the adulation of a  matricide4 
,and the composition of that guily1     
elaborate1 shameful letter was the  last
 prominent act of ,seneca's public life4
        ,,chapter ,,xii4    ,,the       
,,beginning ,,of ,,the ,,end    ,nor was
 it unnatural that it should be4 ,moral 
precepts1 philosophic  guidance were no 
longer possible to one whose compliances
 or whose  timidity had led him so far  
as first to sanction matricide1 and then
 to  defend it4 ,he might indeed be     
still powerful to recommend principles  
of  common sense and political          
expediency1 but the loftier lessons of  
,stoicism1 nay1 even the better         
utterances of a mere ordinary ,pagan    
morality1 could henceforth only fall    
from his lips with something of a       
hollow ring4 ,he might interfere1 as we 

know he did1 to render as  innocuous as 
possible the pernicious vanity which    
made ,nero so ready to  degrade his     
imperial rank by public appearances on  
the orchestra or in  the race-course1   
but he could hardly address again such  
noble teachings  as that of the treatise
 on ,clemency to one whom1 on grounds of
 political  expediency1 he had not      
dissuaded from the treacherous murder of
 a  mother1 who1 whatever her           
enormities1 yet for his sake had sold   
her  very soul4    ,although there may  
have been a strong suspicion that foul  
play had been  committed1 the actual    
facts and details of the death of       
,agrippina would  rest between ,nero and
 ,seneca as a guilty secret1 in the     
guilt of which  ,seneca himself must    
have his share4 ,such a position of     
things was the  inevitable death-blow1  
not only to all friendship1 but to all  
confidence1 and ultimately to all       
intercourse4 ,we see in sacred history  
that ,joab's participation in ,david's  

guilty secret gave him the absolute     
mastery over his own sovereign2 we see  
repeatedly in profane history  that the 
mutual knowledge of some crime is the   
invariable cause of  deadly hatred      
between a subject and a king4 ,such     
feelings as ,king ,john  may be supposed
 to have had to ,hubert de ,burgh1 or   
,king ,richard ,,iii4 to  ,sir ,james   
,tyrrel1 or ,king ,james ,i4 to the     
,earl of ,somerset1 such  probably1 in  
still more virulent intensity1 were the 
feelings of ,nero  towards his whilome  
guide1 philosopher1 and friend4    ,for 
,nero very soon learnt that ,seneca was 
no longer necessary to him4  ,for a time
 he lingered in ,campania1 guiltily     
dubious as to the kind of  reception    
that awaited him in the capital4 ,the   
assurances of the vile  crew which      
surrounded him soon made that fear wear 
off1 and when he  plucked up the courage
 to return to his palace1 he might      
himself have  been amazed at the        
effusion of infamous loyalty and venal  

acclamation  with which he was received4
 ,all ,rome poured itself forth to meet 
him2  the ,senate appeared in festal    
robes with their wives and girls and    
boys  in long array2 seats and          
scaffoldings were built up along the    
road by  which he had to pass1 as though
 the populace had gone forth to see a   
triumph4 ,with haughty mein1 the victor 
of a nation of slaves1 he  ascended the 
,capitol1 gave thanks to the gods1 and  
went home to betray  henceforth the full
 perversity of a nature which the       
reverence for his  mother1 such as it   
was1 had hitherto in part restrained4   
,but the  instincts of the populace were
 suppressed rather than eradicated4     
,they  hung a sack from his statue by   
night in allusion to the old punishment 
of parricides1 who were sentenced to be 
flung into the sea1 tied up in a  sack  
with a serpent1 a monkey1 and a cock4   
,they exposed an infant in the  ,forum  
with a tablet on which was written1 ,i  
refuse to rear thee1 lest  thou shouldst

 slay thy mother4 ,they scrawled upon   
the blank walls of  ,rome an iambic line
 which reminded all who read it that    
,nero1 ,orestes1  and ,alcmaeon were    
murderers of their mothers4 ,even ,nero 
must have been  well aware that he      
presented a hideous spectacle in the    
eyes of all who  had the faintest shade 
of righteousness among the people whom  
he ruled4    ,all this took place in    
,a4,d4 #ei1 and we hear no more of      
,seneca till the  year #fb1 a year      
memorable for the death of ,burrus1 who 
had long been his  honest1 friendly1 and
 faithful colleague4 ,in these dark     
times1 when all  men seemed to be       
speaking in a whisper1 almost every     
death of a  conspicuous and high-minded 
man1 if not caused by open violence1    
falls  under the suspicion of secret    
poison4 ,the death of ,burrus may have  
been  due 7from the description7 to     
diphtheria1 but the popular voice       
charged  ,nero with having hastened his 
death by a pretended remedy1 and        

declared  that1 when the ,emperor       
visited his sick bed1 the dying man     
turned away  from his inquiries with the
 laconic answer1 ,i am well4    ,his    
death was regretted1 not only from the  
memory of his virtues1 but  also from   
the fact that ,nero appointed two men as
 his successors1 of  whom the one1      
,fenius ,rufus1 was honorable but       
indolent2 the other and  more powerful1 
,sofonius ,tigellinus had won for       
himself among cruel and  shameful       
associates a pre-eminence of hatred and 
of shame4    ,however faulty and        
inconsistent ,seneca may have been1     
there was at any  rate no possibility   
that he should divide with a ,tigellinus
 the  direction of his still youthful   
master4 ,he was by no means deceived as 
to the position in which he stood1 and  
the few among ,nero's followers in  whom
 any spark of honour was left informed  
him of the incessant  calumnies which   
were used to undermine his influence4   
,tigellinus and his  friends dwelt on   

his enormous wealth and his magnificent 
villas and  gardens1 which could only   
have been acquired with ulterior        
objects1 and  which threw into the shade
 the splendour of the ,emperor himself4 
,they  tried to kindle the inflammable  
jealousies of ,nero's feeble mind by    
representing ,seneca as attempting to   
rival him in poetry1 and as  claiming   
the entire credit of his eloquence1     
while he mocked his divine  singing1 and
 disparaged his accomplishments as a    
harper and charioteer  because he       
himself was unable to acquire them4     
,nero1 they urged was a  boy no longer2 
let him get rid of his schoolmaster1 and
 find sufficient  instruction in the    
example of his ancestors4    ,foreseeing
 how such arguments must end2 ,seneca   
requested an interview  with ,nero2     
begged to be suffered to retire         
altogether from public life2  pleaded   
age and increasing infirmities as an    
excuse for desiring a calm  retreat2 and
 offered unconditionally to resign the  

wealth and honours  which had excited   
the cupidity of his enemies1 but which  
were simply due  to ,nero's unexampled  
liberality during the eight years of his
  government1 towards one whom he had   
regarded as a benefactor and a  friend4 
,but ,nero did not choose to let ,seneca
 escape so lightly4 ,he  argued that1   
being still young1 he could not spare   
him1 and that to  accept his offers     
would not be at all in accordance with  
his fame for  generosity4 ,a proficient 
in the imperial art of hiding           
detestation under  deceitful            
blandishments1 ,nero ended the interview
 with embraces and  assurances of       
friendship4 ,seneca thanked him--the    
usual termination1 as  ,tacitus bitterly
 adds1 of interviews with a ruler--but  
nevertheless  altered his entire manner 
of life1 forbade his friends to throng  
to his  levees1 avoided all companions1 
and rarely appeared in public--wishing  
it to be believed that he was suffering 
from weak health1 or was wholly         

occupied in the pursuit of philosophy4  
,he well knew the arts of courts1  for  
in his book on ,anger he has told an    
anecdote of one who1 being asked  how he
 had managed to attain so rare a gift as
 old age in a palace1  replied1 ,by     
submitting to injuries1 and returning   
thanks for them4  ,but he must have     
known that his life hung upon a thread1 
for in the very  same year an attempt   
was made to involve him in a charge of  
treason as  one of the friends of ,c4   
,calpurnius ,piso1 an illustrious       
nobleman whose  wealth and ability made 
him an object of jealousy and suspicion1
 though  he was naturally unambitious   
and devoid of energy4 ,the attempt      
failed at  the time1 and ,seneca was    
able triumphantly to refute the charge  
of any  treasonable design4 ,but the    
fact of such a charge being made showed 
how  insecure was the position of any   
man of eminence under the deepening     
tyranny of ,nero1 and it precipitated   
the conspiracy which two years          

afterwards was actually formed4    ,not 
long after the death of ,burrus1 when   
,nero began to add sacrilege to  his    
other crimes1 ,seneca made one more     
attempt to retire from ,rome2 and1  when
 permission was a second time refused1  
he feigned a severe illness1  and       
confined himself to his chamber4 ,it was
 asserted1 and believed1 that  about    
this time ,nero made an attempt to      
poison him by the  instrumentality of   
his freedman ,cleonicus1 which was only 
defeated by  the confession of an       
accomplice or by the abstemious habits  
of the  philosopher who now took nothing
 but bread and fruit1 and never quenched
  his thirst except out of the running  
stream4    ,it was during those two     
years of ,seneca's seclusion and        
disgrace that an  event happened of     
imperishable interest4 ,on the orgies of
 a shameful  court1 on the supineness of
 a degenerate people1 there burst--as   
upon  the court of ,charles ,,ii4--a    
sudden lightning-flash of retribution4  

,in  its character1 in its extent1 in   
the devastation and anguish of which it 
was the cause1 in the improvements by   
which it was followed1 in the  lying    
origin to which it was attributed1 even 
in the general  circumstances of the    
period and character of the reign in    
which it  happened1 there is a close and
 singular analogy between the ,great    
,fire  of ,london in #afff and the      
,great ,fire of ,rome in #fd4 ,beginning
 in the  crowded part of the city1 under
 the ,palatine and ,caelian ,hills1 it  
raged1 first for six1 and then again for
 three days1 among the  inflammable     
material of booths and shops1 and driven
 along by a furious  wind1 amid feeble  
and ill-directed efforts to check its   
course1 it burst  irresistibly over     
palaces1 temples1 and porticoes1 and    
amid the narrow  tortuous streets of old
 ,rome1 involving in a common           
destruction the most  magnificent works 
of ancient art1 the choicest manuscripts
 of ancient  literature1 and the most   

venerable monuments of ancient          
superstition4 ,in  a few touches of     
inimitable compression1 such as the     
stern genius of the  ,latin language    
permits1 but which are too condensed for
 direct  translation1 ,tacitus has      
depicted the horror of the              
scene1--wailing of  panic-stricken      
women1 the helplessness of the very aged
 and the very  young1 the passionate    
eagerness for themselves and for others1
 the  dragging along of the feeble or   
the waiting for them1 the lingering and 
the hurry1 the common and inextricable  
confusion4 ,many1 while they  looked    
backward1 were cut off by the flames in 
front or at the sides2 if  they sought  
some neighboring refuge1 they found it  
in the grasp of the  conflagration2 if  
they hurried to some more distant spot1 
that too was  found to be involved in   
the same calamity4 ,at last1 uncertain  
what to  seek or what to avoid1 they    
crowded the streets1 they lay huddled   
together in the fields4 ,some1 having   

lost all their possessions1 died  from  
the want of daily food2 and others1 who 
might have escaped died of  a broken    
heart from the anguish of being bereaved
 of those whom they had  been unable to 
rescue2 while1 to add to the universal  
horror1 it was  believed that all       
attempts to repress the flames were     
checked by  authoritive prohibition2 nay
 more1 that hired incendiaries were seen
  flinging firebrands in new directions1
 either because they had been  bidden to
 do so1 or that they might exercise     
their rapine undisturbed4    ,the       
historians and anecdotists of the time1 
whose accounts must be taken  for what  
they are worth1 attribute to ,nero the  
origin of the  conflagration2 and it is 
certain that he did not return to ,rome 
until  the fire had caught the galleries
 of his palace4 ,in vain did he use     
every exertion to assist the homeless   
and ruined population2 in vain did  he  
order food to be sold to them at a price
 unprecedentedly low1 and  throw open to

 them the monuments of ,agrippa1 his own
 gardens1 and a  multitude of temporary 
sheds4 ,a rumour had been spread that1  
during the  terrible unfolding of that  
great flower of flame1 he had mounted to
  the roof of his distant villa1 and    
delighted with the beauty of the        
spectacle1 exulting in the safe         
sensation of a new excitement1 had      
dressed himself in theatrical attire1   
and sung to his harp a poem on the      
burning of ,troy4 ,such a heartless     
mixture of buffoonery and affectation   
had exasperated the people too deeply   
for forgiveness1 and ,nero thought  it  
necessary to draw off the general odium 
into a new channel1 since  neither his  
largesses nor any other popular measures
 succeeded in  removing from himself the
 ignominy of this terrible suspicion4   
,what  follows is so remarkable1 and1 to
 a ,christian reader1 so deeply         
interesting1 that ,i will give it in the
 very words of that great  historian    
whom ,i have been so closely following4 

,therefore1 to get rid of this report1  
,nero trumped up an accusation  against 
a sect1 detested for their atrocities1  
whom the common people  called          
,christians1 and inflicted on them the  
most recondite punishments4  ,christ1   
the founder of this sect1 had been      
capitally punished by the  ,procurator  
,pontius ,pilate1 in the reign of       
,tiberius2 and this damnable            
superstition1 repressed for the present1
 was again breaking out1 not  only      
through ,judaea1 where the evil         
originated1 but even through the  ,city1
 whither from all regions all things    
that are atrocious or shameful  flow    
together and gain a following4 ,those1  
therefore1 were first  arrested who     
confessed their religion1 and then on   
their evidence a vast  multitude were   
condemned1 not so much on the charge of 
incendiarism1 as  for their hatred      
towards the human race4 ,and mockery was
 added to their  death2 for they were   
covered in the skins of wild beasts and 

were torn  to death by dogs1 or         
crucified1 or set apart for burning1 and
 after the  close of the day were       
reserved for the purpose of nocturnal   
illumination4 ,nero lent his own gardens
 for the spectacle1 and gave a          
chariot-race1 mingling with the people  
in the costume of a charioteer1  or     
driving among them in his chariot2 by   
which conduct he raised a  feeling of   
commiseration towards the sufferers1    
guilty though they were1  and deserving 
of the extremest penalties1 as though   
they were being  exterminated1 not for  
the public interests1 but to gratify the
 savage  cruelty of one man4    ,such   
are the brief but deeply pathetic       
particulars which have come down  to us 
respecting the first great persecution  
of the ,christians1 and such  must have 
been the horrid events of which ,seneca 
was a contemporary1 and  probably an    
actual eye-witness1 in the very last    
year of his life4  ,profoundly as in all
 likelihood he must have despised the   

very name of  ,christian1 a heart so    
naturally mild and humane as his must   
have  shuddered at the monstrous        
cruelties devised against the unhappy   
votaries of this new religion4 ,but to  
the relations of ,christianity with  the
 ,pagan world we shall return in a      
subsequent chapter and we must now      
hasten to the end of our biography4     
,,chapter ,,xiii4    ,,the ,,death ,,of 
,,seneca4    ,the false charge which had
 been brought against ,seneca1 and in   
which the  name of ,piso had been       
involved1 tended to urge that nobleman  
and his  friends into a real and        
formidable conspiracy4 ,many men of     
influence and  distinction joined in it1
 and among others ,annaeus ,lucanus1 the
  celebrated poet-nephew of ,seneca1 and
 ,fenius ,rufus the colleague of        
,tigellinus in the command of the       
imperial guards4 ,the plot was long     
discussed1 and many were admitted into  
the secret1 which was  nevertheless     
marvellously well kept4 ,one of the most

 eager conspirators  was ,subrius       
,flavus1 an officer of the guards1 who  
suggested the plan of  stabbing ,nero as
 he sang upon the stage1 or of attacking
 him as he went  about without guards at
 night in the galleries of his burning  
palace4  ,flavus is even said to have   
cherished the design of subsequently    
murdering ,piso likewise1 and of        
offering the imperial power to ,seneca1 
with the full cognisance of the         
philosopher himself4#ce ,however this   
may have been--and the story has no     
probability--many schemes were          
discussed and rejected1 from the        
difficulty of finding a man             
sufficiently bold and sufficiently in   
earnest to put his own life to  such    
imminent risk4 ,while things were still 
under discussion1 the plot  was nearly  
ruined by the information of ,volusius  
,proculus1 an admiral of  the fleet1 to 
whom it had been mentioned by a         
freedwoman of the name of  ,ephicharis4 
,although no sufficient evidence could  

be adduced against  her1 the            
conspirators thought it advisable to    
hasten matters1 and one of  them1 a     
senator named ,scaevinus1 undertook the 
dangerous task of  assassination4       
,plautius ,lateranus1 the cousul-elect1 
was to pretend to  offer a petition1 in 
which he was to embrace the ,emperor's  
knees and  throw him to the ground1 and 
then ,scaevinus was to deal the fatal   
blow4  ,the theatrical conduct of       
,scaevinus--who took an antique dagger  
from the  ,temple of ,safety1 made his  
will1 ordered the dagger to be          
sharpened1 sat  down to an unusually    
luxurious banquet1 manumitted or made   
presents to  his slaves1 showed great   
agitation1 and finally ordered ligaments
 for  wounds to be prepared1--awoke the 
suspicions of one of his freedmen  named
 ,milichus1 who hastened to claim a     
reward for revealing his  suspicions4   
,confronted with ,milichus1 ,scaevinus  
met and refuted his  accusations with   
the greatest firmness2 but when         

,milichus mentioned  among other things 
that1 the day before1 ,scaevinus had    
held a long and  secret conversation    
with another friend of ,piso named      
,natalis1 and when  ,natalis1 on being  
summoned1 gave a very different account 
of the subject  of this conversation    
from that which ,scaevinus had given1   
they were both  put in chains2 and1     
unable to endure the threats and the    
sight of  tortures1 revealed the entire 
conspiracy4 ,natalis was the first to   
mentioned the name of ,piso1 and he     
added the hated name of ,seneca1  either
 because he had been the confidential   
messenger between the two1  or because  
he knew that he could not do a greater  
favour to ,nero than by  giving him the 
opportunity of injuring a man whom he   
had long sought  every possible         
opportunity to crush4 ,scaevinus1 with  
equal weakness1  perhaps because he     
thought that ,natalis had left nothing  
to reveal1  mentioned the names of the  
others1 and among them of ,lucan1 whose 

complicity in the plot would undoubtedly
 tend to give greater  probability to   
the supposed guilt of ,seneca4 ,lucan1  
after long denying  all knowledge of the
 design1 corrupted by the promise of    
impunity1 was  guilty of the incredible 
baseness of making up for the slowness  
of his  confession by its completeness1 
and of naming among the conspirators his
  chief friend ,gallus and ,pollio1 and 
his own mother ,atilla4 ,the woman      
,ephicharis1 slave though she had once  
been1 alone showed the slightest        
constancy1 and1 by her brave unshaken   
reticence under the most  excruciating  
and varied tortures1 put to shame the   
pusillanimous  treachery of senators and
 knights4 ,on the second day1 when1 with
 limbs  too dislocated to admit of her  
standing1 she was again brought to the  
presence of her executioners1 she       
succeeded1 by a sudden movement1 in     
strangling herself with her own girdle4 
,footnote #ce3 ,see ,juv4 ,sat4 viii4   
#bab4    ,in the hurry and alarm of the 

moment the slightest show of resolution 
would have achieved the object of the   
conspiracy4 ,fenius ,rufus had not  yet 
been named among the conspirators1 and  
as he sat by the side of the  ,emperor1 
and presided over the torture of his    
associates1 ,subrius ,flavus  made him a
 secret sign to inquire whether even    
then and there he should  stab ,nero4   
,rufus not only made a sign of dissent1 
but actually held the  hand of ,subrius 
as it was grasping the hilt of his      
sword4 ,perhaps it  would have been     
better for him if he had not done so1   
for it was not  likely that the numerous
 conspirators would long permit the same
 man to  be at once their accomplice and
 the fiercest of their judges4 ,shortly 
afterwards1 as he was urging and        
threatening1 ,scaevinus remarked1 with a
  quiet smile1 that nobody knew more    
about the matter than he did  himself1  
and that he had better show his         
gratitude to so excellent a  prince by  
telling all he knew4 ,the confusion and 

alarm of ,rufus  betrayed his           
consciousness of guilt2 he was seized   
and bound on the  spot1 and subsequently
 put to death4    ,meanwhile the friends
 of ,piso were urging to take some bold 
and sudden  step1 which1 if it did not  
succeed in retrieving his fortunes1     
would at  least shed lustre on his      
death4 ,but his somewhat slothful       
nature1  weakened still further by a    
luxurious life1 was not to be aroused1  
and  he calmly awaited the end4 ,it was 
customary among the ,roman ,emperors at 
this period to avoid the disgrace and   
danger of public executions by  sending 
a messenger to a man's house1 and       
ordering him to put himself to  death by
 whatever means he preferred4 ,some raw 
recruits--for ,nero dared  not intrust  
any veterans with the duty--brought the 
mandate to ,piso1 who  proceeded to make
 a will full of disgraceful adulation   
towards ,nero1  opened his veins1 and   
died4 ,plautius ,lateranus was not even 
allowed the  poor privilege of choosing 

his own death1 but1 without time even to
  embrace his children1 was hurried off 
to a place set apart for the  punishment
 of slaves1 and there died1 without a   
word1 by the sword of a  tribune whom he
 knew to be one his own accomplices4    
,lucan1 in the prime of his life and the
 full bloom of his genius1 was  believed
 to have joined the plot from his       
indignation at the manner in  which     
,nero's jealousy had repressed his      
poetic fame1 and forbidden him  the     
opportunity of public rectitations4 ,he 
too opened his veins2 and as  he felt   
the deathful chill creeping upwards from
 the extremities of his  limbs1 he      
recited some verses from his own        
,pharsalia1 in which he had  described  
the similar death of the soldier        
,lycidas4 ,they were his last  words4   
,his mother ,atilla1 whom to his        
everlasting infamy1 he had  betrayed1   
was passed over as a victim too         
insignificant for notice1 and  was      
neither pardoned nor punished4    ,but1 

of all the many deaths which were       
brought about by this unhappy and       
ill-managed conspiracy1 none caused more
 delight to ,nero than that of  ,seneca1
 whom he was now able to dispatch by the
 sword1 since he had been  unable to do 
so by secret poison4 ,what share ,seneca
 really had in the  conspiracy is       
unknown4 ,if he were really cognisant of
 it1 he must have  acted with consummate
 tact1 for no particle of convincing    
evidence was  adduced against him4 ,all 
that even ,natalis could relate was1    
that when  ,piso had sent him to        
complain to ,seneca of his not admitting
 ,piso to  more of his intercourse1     
,seneca had replied that it was better  
for them  both to hold aloof from each  
other1 but that his own safety depended 
on  that of ,piso4 ,a tribune was sent  
to ask ,seneca as to the truth of this  
story1 and found1--which was in itself  
regarded as a suspicious                
circumstance1--that on that very day he 
had returned from ,campania to a  villa 

four miles from the city4 ,the tribune  
arrived in the evening1 and  surrounded 
the villa with soldiers4 ,seneca was at 
supper1 with his wife  ,paulina and two 
friends4 ,he entirely denied the truth  
of the evidence1  and said that the only
 reason which he had assigned to ,piso  
for seeing  so little of him was his    
weak health and love of retirement4     
,nero1 who  knew how little prone he was
 to flattery1 might judge whether or no 
it  was likely that he1 a man of        
consular rank1 would prefer the safety  
of a  man of private station to his own4
 ,such was the message which the        
tribune took back to ,nero1 whom he     
found sitting with his dearest and  most
 detestable advisers1 his wife ,poppaea 
and his minister ,tigellinus4  ,nero    
asked whether ,seneca was preparing a   
voluntary death4 ,on the  tribune       
replying that he showed no gloom or     
terror in his language or  countenance1 
,nero ordered that he should at once be 
bidden to die4 ,the  message was taken1 

and ,seneca1 without any sign of alarm1 
quietly  demanded leave to revise his   
will4 ,this was refused him1 and he then
  turned to his friends with the remark 
that1 as he was unable to reward  their 
merits as they had deserved1 he would   
bequeath to them the only1  and yet the 
most precious1 possession left to him1  
namely1 the example  of his life1 and if
 they were mindful of it they would win 
the  reputation alike for integrity and 
for faithful friendship4 ,at the same   
time he checked their tears1 sometimes  
by his conversation1 and  sometimes with
 serious reproaches1 asking them where  
were their  precepts of philosophy1 and 
where the fortitude under trials which  
should have been learnt from the studies
 of many years8 ,did not every  one know
 the cruelty of ,nero8 and what was left
 for him to do but to  make an end of   
his master and tutor after the murder of
 his mother and  his brother8 ,he then  
embraced his wife ,paulina1 and1 with a 
slight  faltering of his lofty          

sternness1 begged and entreated her not 
to enter  on an endless sorrow1 but to  
endure the loss of her husband by the   
aid  of those noble consolations which  
she must derive from the contemplation  
of his virtuous life4 ,but ,paulina     
declared that she would die with him1   
and ,seneca1 not opposing the deed which
 would win her such permanent  glory1   
and at the same time unwilling to leave 
her to future wrongs1  yielded to her   
wish4 ,the veins of their arms were     
opened by the same  blow2 but the blood 
of ,seneca1 impoverished by old age and 
temperate  living1 flowed so slowly that
 it was necessary also to open the veins
 of  his legs4 ,this mode of death1     
chosen by the ,romans as comparatively  
painless1 is in fact under certain      
circumstances most agonizing4 ,worn  out
 by these cruel tortures1 and unwilling 
to weaken his wife's  fortitude by so   
dreadful a spectacle1 glad at the same  
time to spare  himself the sight of her 
sufferings1 he persuaded her to go to   

another  room4 ,even then his eloquence 
did not fail4 ,it is told of ,andr      
,chnier1  the ,french poet1 that on his 
way to execution he asked for writing   
materials to record some of the strange 
thoughts which filled his mind4  ,the   
wish was denied him1 but ,seneca had    
ample liberty to record his last        
utterances4 ,amanuenses were summoned1  
who took down those dying  admonitions1 
and in the time of ,tacitus they still  
were extant4 ,to us1  however1 this     
interesting memorial of a ,pagan        
deathbed is  irrevocably lost4    ,nero1
 meanwhile1 to whom the news of these   
circumstances was taken1  having no     
dislike to ,paulina1 and unwilling to   
incur the odium of too  much bloodshed1 
ordered her death to be prohibited and  
her wounds to be  bound4 ,she was       
already unconscious1 but her slaves and 
freedmen  succeeded in saving her life4 
,she lived a few years longer1          
cherishing  her husband's memory1 and   
bearing in the attenuation of her frame1

 and  the ghastly pallor of her         
countenance1 the lasting proofs of that 
deep  affection which had characterised 
their married life4    ,seneca was not  
yet dead1 and1 to shorten these         
protracted and useless  sufferings1 he  
begged his friend and physician ,statius
 ,annaeus to give  him a draught of     
hemlock1 the same poison by which the   
great philosopher  of ,athens had been  
put to death4 ,but his limbs were       
already cold1 and  the draught proved   
fruitless4 ,he then entered a bath of   
hot water1  sprinkling the slaves who   
stood nearest to him1 with the words    
that he  was pouring a libation to      
,jupiter the ,liberator4#cf ,even the   
warm  water failed to make the blood    
flow more speedily1 and he was finally  
carried into one of those vapour baths  
which the ,romans called  sudatoria1 and
 stifled with its steam4 ,his body was  
burned privately1  without any of the   
usual ceremonies4 ,such had been his own
 wish1  expressed1 not after the fall of

 his fortunes1 but at a time when his   
thoughts had been directed to his latter
 end1 in the zenith of his great  wealth
 and conspicuous power4    ,footnote    
#cf3 ,sicco ,polentone1 an ,italian1 who
 wrote a ,life of ,seneca  7d4 #adfa71  
makes ,seneca a secret ,christian1 and  
represents this as an  invocation of    
,christ1 and says that he baptized      
himself with the water  of the bath6    
,so died a ,pagan philosopher1 whose    
life must always excite our interest    
and pity1 although we cannot apply to   
him the titles of great or good4  ,he   
was a man of high genius1 of great      
susceptibility1 of an ardent and        
generous temperament1 of far-sighted and
 sincere humanity4 ,some of his         
sentiments are so remarkable for their  
moral beauty and profundity that  they  
forcibly remind us of the expressions of
 ,st4 ,paul4 ,but ,seneca fell          
infinitely short of his own high        
standard1 and has contemptuously been   
called the father of all them that wear 

shovel hats4 ,inconsistency is  written 
on the entire history of his life1 and  
it has earned him the  scathing contempt
 with which many writers have treated   
his memory4 ,the  business of a         
philosopher1 says ,lord ,macaulay1 in   
his most scornful  strain1 was to       
declaim in praise of poverty1 with two  
millions sterling  out at usury2 to     
meditate epigrammatic conceits about the
 evils of  luxury in gardens which moved
 the envy of sovereigns2 to rant about  
liberty while fawning on the insolent   
and pampered freedmen of a tyrant2  to  
celebrate the divine beauty of virtue   
with the same pen which had  just before
 written a defence of the murder of a   
mother by a son4  ,seneca1 says         
,niebuhr1 was an accomplished man of the
 world1 who  occupied himself very much 
with virtue1 and may have considered    
himself  to be an ancient ,stoic4 ,he   
certainly believed that he was a most   
ingenious and virtuous philosopher2 but 
he acted on the principle that1  as far 

as he himself was concerned1 he could   
dispense with the laws of  morality     
which he laid down for others1 and that 
he might give way to  his natural       
propensities4    ,in ,seneca's life1    
then1 we see as clearly as in those of  
many professing  ,christians that it is 
impossible to be at once worldly and    
righteous4  ,seneca's utter failure was 
due to the vain attempt to combine in   
his own  person two opposite            
characters--that of a ,stoic and that of
 a courtier4  ,had he been a true       
philosopher1 or a mere courtier1 he     
would have been  happier1 and even more 
respected4 ,to be both was absurd3      
hence1 even in  his writings1 he was    
driven into inconsistency4 ,he is often 
compelled to  abandon the lofty         
utterances of ,stoicism1 and to charge  
philosophers  with ignorance of life4   
,in his treatise on a ,happy ,life he is
 obliged to  introduce a sort of        
indirect autobiographical apology for   
his wealth and  position4#cg ,in spite  

of his lofty pretensions to simplicity1 
in spite  of that sort of amateur       
asceticism which1 in common with other  
wealthy  ,romans1 he occasionally       
practised1 in spite of his final offer  
to  abandon his entire patrimony to the 
,emperor1 we fear that he cannot be     
acquitted of an almost insatiable       
avarice4 ,we need not indeed believe    
the fierce calumnies which charged him  
with exhausting ,italy by a  boundless  
usury1 and even stirring up a war in    
,britain by the severity  of his        
exactions2 but it is quite clear that he
 deserved the title of  ,proedives1 the 
over-wealthy1 by which he has been so   
pointedly  signalized4 ,it is strange   
that the most splendid intellects should
 so  often have sunk under the slavery  
of this meanest vice4 ,in the ,bible we 
read how the rewards of divination      
seduced from his allegiance to ,god  the
 splendid enchanter of ,mesopotamia3    
,in outline dim and vast          ,their
 fearful shadows cast      ,the giant   

form of ,empires on their way           
,to ruin3--one by one          ,they    
tower and they are gone1      ,yet in   
the prophet's soul the dreams of avarice
 stay4           ,no sun or star so     
bright1          ,in all the world of   
light1      ,that they should draw to   
heaven his downward eye3          ,he   
hears the ,almighty's word1          ,he
 sees the angel's sword1      ,yet low  
upon the earth his heart and treasure   
lie4    ,footnote #cg3 ,see ,ad4 ,polyb4
 #cg3 ,ep4 #ge2 ,de ,vit4 ,beat4 #ag1   
#ah1  #bb4    ,and in ,seneca we see    
some of the most glowing pictures of the
 nobility  of poverty combined with the 
most questionable avidity in the pursuit
 of  wealth4 ,yet how completely did he 
sell himself for naught4 ,it is the     
lesson which we see in every            
conspicuously erring life1 and it was   
illustrated less than three years       
afterwards in the terrible fate of the  
tyrant who had driven him to death4 ,for
 a short period of his life1  indeed1   

,seneca was at the summit of power2 yet1
 courtier as he was1 he  incurred the   
hatred1 the suspicion1 and the          
punishment of all the three  ,emperors  
during whose reigns his manhood was     
passed4 ,of all  unsuccessful men1 says 
,mr4 ,froude1 in every shape1 whether   
divine or  human1 or devilish1 there is 
none equal to ,bunyan's ,mr4            
,facing-both-ways--the fellow with one  
eye on heaven and one on  earth--who    
sincerely preaches one thing and        
sincerely does another1 and  from the   
intensity of his unreality is unable    
either to see or feel the               
contradiction4 ,he is substantially     
trying to cheat both ,god and the       
devil1 and is in reality only cheating  
himself and his neighbours4 ,this  of   
all characters upon the earth appears to
 us to be the one of which  there is no 
hope at all1 a character becoming in    
these days alarmingly  abundant2 and the
 aboundance of which makes us find even 
in a ,reineke an  inexpressible relief4 

,and1 in point of fact1 the             
inconsistency of  ,seneca's life was a  
conscious inconsistency4 ,to the        
student1 he  says1 who professes his    
wish to rise to a loftier grade of      
virtue1 ,i  would answer that this is my
 wish also1 but ,i dare not hope it4 ,i 
am  preoccupied with vices4 ,all ,i     
require of myself is1 not to be equal to
  the best1 but only to be better than  
the bad4 ,no doubt ,seneca meant  this  
to be understood merely for modest      
depreciation2 but it was far  truer than
 he would have liked seriously to       
confess4 ,he must have often  and deeply
 felt that he was not living in         
accordance with the light  which was in 
him4    ,it would indeed be cheap and   
easy1 to attribute the general          
inferiority  and the many shortcomings  
of ,seneca's life and character to the  
fact  that he was a ,pagan1 and to      
suppose that if he had known            
,christianity he  would necessarily have
 attained to a loftier ideal4 ,but such 

a style of  reasoning and inference1    
commonly as it is adopted for rhetorical
  purposes1 might surely be refused by  
any intelligent child4 ,a more          
intellectual assent to the lessons of   
,christianity would have probably  been 
but of little avail to inspire in       
,seneca a nobler life4 ,the fact  is1   
that neither the gift of genius nor the 
knowledge of ,christianity  are adequate
 to the ennoblement of the human heart1 
nor does the grace  of ,god flow through
 the channels of surpassing intellect or
 of orthodox  belief4 ,men there have   
been in all ages1 ,pagan no less than   
,christian1  who with scanty mental     
enlightenment and spiritual knowledge   
have yet  lived holy and noble lives3   
men there have been in all ages1        
,christian  no less than ,pagan1 who    
with consummate gifts and profound      
erudition  have disgraced some of the   
noblest words which ever were uttered by
 some  of the meanest lives which were  
ever lived4 ,in the twelfth century was 

there any mind that shone more brightly1
 was there any eloquence which  flowed  
more mightily1 than that of ,peter      
,abelard8 ,yet ,abelard sank  beneath   
the meanest of his scholastic           
cotemporaries in the degradation  of his
 career as much as he towered above the 
highest of them in the  grandeur of his 
genius4 ,in the seventeenth century was 
there any  philosopher more profound1   
any moralist more elevated1 than        
,francis  ,bacon8 ,yet ,bacon could     
flatter a tyrant1 and betray a friend1  
and  receive a bribe1 and be one of the 
latest of ,english judges to adopt the  
brutal expedient of enforcing confession
 by the exercise of torture4 ,if        
,seneca defended the murder of          
,agrippina1 ,bacon blackened the        
character  of ,essex4 ,what ,i would ,i 
do not2 but the thing that ,i would not1
 that ,i  do1 might be the motto for    
many a confession of the sins of genius2
 and  ,seneca need not blush if we      
compare him with men who were his equals

 in  intellectual power1 but whose means
 of grace1 whose privileges1 whose      
knowledge of the truth1 were infinitely 
higher than his own4 ,let the  noble    
constancy of his death shed a light over
 his memory which may  dissipate        
something of those dark shades which    
rest on portions of his  history4 ,we   
think of ,abelard1 humble1 silent1      
patient1 ,god-fearing1  tended by the   
kindly-hearted ,peter in the peaceful   
gardens of ,clugny2 we  think of ,bacon1
 neglected1 broken1 and despised1 dying 
of the chill  caught in a philosophical 
experiment and leaving his memory to the
  judgment of posterity2 let us think of
 ,seneca1 quietly yielding to his       
destiny without a murmur1 cheering the  
constancy of the mourners round  him    
during the long agonies of his enforced 
suicide and dictating some  of the      
purest utterances of ,pagan wisdom      
almost with his latest breath4  ,the    
language of his great contemporary1 the 
,apostle ,st4 ,paul1 will best  help us 

to understand his position4 ,he was one 
of those who was seeking  the ,lord1 if 
haply he might feel after ,him1 and find
 ,him1 though ,he be  not far from every
 one of us3 for in ,him we live1 and    
move1 and have  our being4              
,,chapter ,,xiv4    ,,seneca ,,and ,,st4
 ,,paul4    ,in the spring of the year  
#fa1 not long after the time when the   
murder of  ,agrippina1 and ,seneca's    
justifications of it1 had been absorbing
 the  attention of the ,roman world1    
there disembarked at ,puteoli a troop of
  prisoners1 whom the ,procurator of    
,judaea had sent to ,rome under the     
charge of a centurion4 ,walking among   
them1 chained and weary1 but            
affectionately tended by two younger    
companions1#ch and treated with         
profound respect by little deputations  
of friends who met him at ,appii  ,forum
 and the ,three ,taverns1 was a man of  
mean presence and  weather-beaten       
aspect1 who was handed over like the    
rest to the charge  of ,burrus1 the     

,praefect of the ,praetorian ,guards4   
,learning from the  letters of the      
,jewish ,procurator that the prisoner   
had been guilty of no  serious          
offence1#ci but had used his privilege  
of ,roman citizenship to  appeal to     
,caesar for protection against the      
infuriated malice of his                
co-religionists--possibly also having   
heard from the centurion ,julius  some  
remarkable facts about his behaviour and
 history--,burrus allowed  him1 pending 
the hearing of his appeal1 to live in   
his own hired  apartments4#dj ,this     
lodging was in all probability in that  
quarter of  the city opposite the island
 in the ,tiber1 which corresponds to the
  modern ,trastevere4 ,it was the resort
 of the very lowest and meanest of  the 
populace--that promiscuous jumble of all
 nations which makes ,tacitus  call     
,rome at this time the sewer of the     
universe4 ,it was here  especially that 
the ,jews exercised some of the meanest 
trades in ,rome1  selling matches1 and  

old clothes1 and broken glass1 or       
begging and  fortune-telling on the     
,cestian or ,fabrican bridges4#da ,in   
one of these  narrow1 dark1 and dirty   
streets1 thronged by the dregs of the   
,roman  populace1 ,st4 ,mark and ,st4   
,peter had in all probability lived when
 they  founded the little ,christian    
,church at ,rome4 ,it was undoubtedly in
 the  same despised locality that ,st4  
,paul1--the prisoner who had been       
consigned to the care of ,burrus1--hired
 a room1 sent for the principle  ,jews1 
and for two years taught to ,jews and   
,christians1 to any ,pagans who  would  
listen to him1 the doctrines which were 
destined to regenerate  the world4      
,footnote #ch3 ,luke and ,aristarchus4  
,footnote #ci3 ,acts xxiv4 #bc1 xxvii4  
#c4    ,footnote #dj3 ,acts xxviii4 #cj1
 ,greek3 en idio misthomati4            
,footnote #da3 ,,mart4 ,ep4 i4 #db3     
,,juv4 xiv4 #ahf4 ,in these few         
paragraphs  ,i follow ,m4 ,aubertin1 who
 7as well as many other authors7 has    

collected  many of the principal        
passages in which ,roman writers allude 
to the ,jews  and ,christians4    ,any  
one entering that mean and dingy room   
would have seen a ,jew with  bent body  
and furrowed countenance1 and with every
 appearance of age1  weakness1 and      
disease chained by the arm to a ,roman  
soldier4 ,but it is  impossible that1   
had they deigned to look closer1 they   
should not also  have seen the gleam of 
genius and enthusiasm1 the fire of      
inspiration1  the serene light of       
exalted hope and dauntless courage upon 
those  withered features4 ,and though he
 was chained1 the ,word of ,god was not 
chained4 #db ,had they listened to the  
words which he occasionally  dictated1  
or overlooked the large handwriting     
which alone his weak  eyesight and      
bodily infirmities1 as well as the      
inconvenience of his  chains1 permitted1
 they would have heard or read the      
immortal utterances  which strengthened 
the faith of the nascent and struggling 

,churches in  ,ephesus1 ,philippi1 and  
,colossae1 and which have since been    
treasured  among the most inestimable   
possessions of a ,christian world4      
,footnote #db3 #b ,tim4 ii4 #i4    ,his 
efforts were not unsuccessful2 his      
misfortunes were for the  furtherance of
 the ,gospel2 his chains were manifest  
in all the palace1  and in all other    
places2 #dc and many waxing confident by
 his bonds  were much more bold to speak
 the word without fear4 ,let us not be  
misled  by assuming a wrong explanation 
of these words1 or by adopting the      
,middle ,age traditions which made ,st4 
,paul convert some of the immediate     
favourites of the ,emperor1 and         
electrify with his eloquence an admiring
  ,senate4 ,the word here rendered      
palace #dd may indeed have that         
meaning1 for we know that among the     
early converts were they of  ,caesar's  
household2 #de but these were in all    
probability--if not  certainly--,jews of
 the lowest rank1 who were1 as we know1 

to be found  among the hundreds of      
unfortunates of every age and country   
who  composed a ,roman familia4 ,and it 
is at least equally probable that the   
word praetorium simply means the barrack
 of that detachment of ,roman  soldiers 
from which ,paul's gaolers were taken in
 turn4 ,in such labours  ,st4 ,paul in  
all probability spent two years         
7#fa-fc71 during which  occurred the    
divorce of ,octavia1 the marriage with  
,poppaea1 the death of  ,burrus1 the    
disgrace of ,seneca1 and the many       
subsequent infamies  of ,nero4          
,footnote #dc3 ,phil4 i4 #ab4           
,footnote #dd3 ,greek3 en olo to        
praitorio4    ,footnote #de3 ,phil4 iv4 
#bb4    ,it is out of such materials    
that some early ,christian forger       
thought it  edifying to compose the work
 which is supposed to contain the       
correspondence of ,seneca and ,st4      
,paul4 ,the undoubted spuriousness of   
that work is now universally admitted1  
and indeed the forgery is too  clumsy to

 be even worth reading4 ,but it is worth
 while inquiring whether  in the        
circumstances of the time there is even 
a bare possibility that  ,seneca should 
ever have been among the readers or the 
auditors of ,paul4    ,and the answer   
is1 ,there is absolutely no such        
probability4 ,a vivid  imagination is   
naturally attracted by the points of    
contrast and  resemblance offered by two
 such characters1 and we shall see that 
there  is a singular likeness between   
many of their sentiments and            
expressions4  ,but this was a period in 
which1 as ,m4 ,villemain observes1 from 
one  extremity of the social world to   
the other truths met each other without 
recognition4 ,stoicism1 noble as were   
many of its precepts1 lofty as was  the 
morality it professed1 deeply as it was 
imbued in many respects with  a         
semi-,christian piety1 looked upon      
,christianity with profound contempt4   
,the ,christians disliked the ,stoics1  
the ,stoics despised and persecuted  the

 ,christians4 ,the world knows nothing  
of its greatest men4 ,seneca  would have
 stood aghast at the very notion of his 
receiving the lessons1  still more of   
his adopting the religion1 of a poor1   
accused1 and  wandering ,jew4 ,the      
haughty1 wealthy1 eloquent1 prosperous1 
powerful  philosopher would have smiled 
at the notion that any future ages would
  suspect him of having borrowed any of 
his polished and epigrammatic  lessons  
of philosophic morals or religion from  
one whom1 if he heard of  him1 he would 
have regarded as a poor wretch1 half    
fanatic and half  barbarian4    ,we     
learn from ,st4 ,paul himself that the  
early converts of ,christianity  were   
men in the very depths of poverty1#df   
and that its preachers were  regarded as
 fools1 and weak1 and were despised1 and
 naked1 and  buffeted--persecuted and   
homeless labourers--a spectacle to the  
world1  and to angels1 and to men1 made 
as the filth of the earth and the       
off-scouring of all things4 ,we know    

that their preaching was to the  ,greeks
 foolishness1 and that1 when they spoke 
of ,jesus and the  resurrection1 their  
hearers mocked#dg and jeered4 ,and these
 indications  are more than confirmed by
 many contemporary passages of ancient  
writers4 ,we have already seen the      
violent expressions of hatred which  the
 ardent and high-toned soul of ,tacitus 
thought applicable to the  ,christians2 
and such language is echoed by ,roman   
writers of every  character and class4  
,the fact is that at this time and for  
centuries  afterwards the ,romans       
regarded the ,christians with such      
lordly  indifference that--like ,festus1
 and ,felix and ,seneca's brother       
,gallio--they never took the trouble to 
distinguish them from the ,jews4  ,the  
distinction was not fully realized by   
the ,pagan world till the cruel  and    
wholesale massacre of the ,christians by
 the pseudo-,messiah  ,barchochebas in  
the reign of ,adrian opened their eyes  
to the fact of the  irreconcilable      

differences which existed between the   
two religions4 ,and  pages might be     
filled with the ignorant and scornful   
allusions which the  heathen applied to 
the ,jews4 ,they confused them with the 
whole degraded  mass of ,egyptian and   
,oriental impostors and                 
brute-worshippers2 they  disdained them 
as seditious1 turbulent1 obstinate1 and 
avaricious2 they  regarded them as      
mainly composed of the very meanest     
slaves out of the  gross and abject     
multitude2 their proselytism they       
considered as the  clandestine          
initiation into some strange and        
revolting mystery1 which  involved as   
its direct teachings contempt of the    
gods1 and the negation  of all          
patriotism and all family affection2    
they firmly believed that  they         
worshipped the head of an ass2 they     
thought it natural that none  but the   
vilest slaves and the silliest woman    
should adopt so  misanthropic and       
degraded a superstition2 they           

characterized their  customs as absurd1 
sordid1 foul1 and depraved1 and their   
nation as  prone to superstition1       
opposed to religion4 #dh ,and as far as 
they  made any distinction between ,jews
 and ,christians1 it was for the  latter
 that they reserved their choicest and  
most concentrated epithets  of hatred   
and abuse4 ,a new1 pernicious1          
detestable1 execrable1  superstition is 
the only language with which ,suetonius 
and ,tacitus  vouchsafe to notice it4   
,seneca1--though he must have heard the 
name of  ,christian during the reign of 
,claudius 7when both they and the ,jews 
were  expelled from ,rome1 because of   
their perpetual turbulence1 at the      
instigation of ,chrestus1 as ,suetonius 
ignorantly observed71 and during  the   
,neronian persecution--never once       
alludes to them1 and only mentions  the 
,jews to apply a few contemptuous       
remarks to the idleness of their        
sabbaths1 and to call them a most       
abandoned race4    ,footnote #df3 #b    

,cor4 viii4 #b4    ,footnote #dg3       
,greek3 ,echleuazon1 ,acts xvii4 #cb4   
,the word expresses  the most profound  
and unconcealed contempt4    ,footnote  
#dh3 ,tac4 ,hist4 i4 #ac3 ib4 v4 #e3    
,,juv4 xiv4 #he3 ,pers4 v4 #aij1  c4    
,the reader will now judge whether there
 is the slightest probability  that     
,seneca had any intercourse with ,st4   
,paul1 or was likely to have  stooped   
from his superfluity of wealth1 and     
pride of power1 to take  lessons from   
obscure and despised slaves in the      
purlieus inhabited by  the crowded      
households of ,caesar or ,narcissus4    
,,chapter ,,xv4    ,,seneca',s          
,,resemblances ,,to ,,scripture4    ,and
 yet in a very high sense of the word   
,seneca may be called1 as he is  called 
in the title of this book1 a ,seeker    
after ,god2 and the  resemblances to the
 sacred writings which may be found in  
the pages of  his works are numerous and
 striking4 ,a few of these will probably
  interest our readers1 and will put    

them in a better position for           
understanding how large a measure of    
truth and enlightenment had  rewarded   
the honest search of the ancient        
philosophers4 ,we will place a  few such
 passages side by side with the texts of
 ,scripture which they  resemble or     
recall4    #a4 ,god's ,indwelling       
,presence4    ,know ye not that ye are  
the temple of ,god1 and that the ,spirit
 of ,god  dwelleth in you8 asks ,st4    
,paul 7#a ,cor4 iii4 #af74    ,god is   
near you1 is with you1 is within you1   
writes ,seneca to his  friend ,lucilius1
 in the #dast of those ,letters which   
abound in his most  valuable moral      
reflections2 a sacred ,spirit dwells    
within us1 the  observer and guardian of
 all our evil and our good 444 there is 
no good  man without ,god4    ,and again
 7,ep4 #gc73 ,do you wonder that man    
goes to the gods8 ,god  comes to men3   
nay1 what is yet nearer2 ,he comes into 
men4 ,no good mind  is holy without     
,god4    #b4 ,the ,eye of ,god4    ,all 

things are naked and opened unto the    
eyes of ,him with whom we have  to do4  
7,heb4 iv4 #ac47    ,pray to thy ,father
 which is in secret2 and thy ,father    
which seeth in  secret shall reward thee
 openly4 7,matt4 vi4 #f47    ,seneca    
7,on ,providence1 #a73 ,it is no        
advantage that conscience is  shut      
within us2 we lie open to ,god4         
,letter #hc3 ,what advantage is it that 
anything is hidden from man8  ,nothing  
is closed to ,god3 ,he is present to our
 minds1 and enters into  our central    
thoughts4    ,letter #hc3 ,we must live 
as if we were living in sight of all    
men2 we  must think as though some one  
could and can gaze into our  inmost     
breast4    #c4 ,god is a ,spirit4       
,st4 ,paul1 ,we ought not to think that 
the ,god-head is like unto gold1 or     
silver1 or stone1 graven by art and     
man's device4 7,acts xvii4 #bi47        
,seneca 7,letter #ca73 ,even from a     
corner it is possible to spring up  into
 heaven3 rise1 therefore1 and form      

thyself into a fashion worthy of  ,god2 
thou canst not do this1 however1 with   
gold and silver3 an image  like to ,god 
cannot be formed out of such materials  
as these4    #d4 ,imitating ,god4    ,be
 ye therefore followers 7,greek3        
mimaetai1 imitators7 of ,god1 as  dear  
children4 7,eph4 v4 #a47    ,he that in 
these things righteousness1 peace1 joy  
in the ,holy ,ghost  serveth ,christ is 
acceptable to ,god4 7,rom4 xiv4 #ah47   
,seneca 7,letter #ie73 ,do you wish to  
render the gods propitious8 ,be         
virtuous4 ,to honour them it is enough  
to imitate them4    ,letter #abd3 ,let  
man aim at the good which belongs to    
him4 ,what is  this good8 ,a mind       
reformed and pure1 the imitator of ,god1
 raising itself  above things human1    
confining all its desires within itself4
    #e4 ,hypocrites like whited         
,sepulchres4    ,woe unto you1 ,scribes 
and ,pharisees1 hypocrites6 for ye are  
like unto  whited sepulchres1 which     
indeed appear beautiful outward1 but are

 within  full of dead men's bones1 and  
of all uncleanness4 7,matt1 xxiii4 #bg47
    ,seneca3 ,those whom you regard as  
happy1 if you saw them1 not in their    
externals1 but in their hidden aspect1  
are wretched1 sordid1 base2 like  their 
own walls adorned outwardly4 ,it is no  
solid and genuine felicity2  it is a    
plaster1 and that a thin one2 and so1 as
 long as they can stand  and be seen at 
their pleasure1 they shine and impose on
 us3 when  anything has fallen which    
disturbs and uncovers them1 it is       
evident how  much deep and real foulness
 an extraneous splendour has concealed4 
#f4 ,teaching compared to ,seed4    ,but
 other fell into good ground1 and       
brought forth fruit2 some an            
hundred-fold1 some sixty-fold1 some     
thirty-fold4 7,matt xiii4 #h47          
,seneca 7,letter #ch73 ,words must be   
sown like seed2 which1 although it  be  
small1 when it hath found a suitable    
ground1 unfolds its strength1  and from 
very small size is expanded into the    

largest increase4 ,reason  does the     
same4444 ,the things spoken are few2 but
 if the mind have  received them well1  
they gain strength and grow4    #g4 ,all
 ,men are ,sinners4    ,if we say that  
we have no sin1 we deceive ourselves and
 the truth is  not in us4 7#a ,john i4  
#h47    ,seneca 7,on ,anger1 i4 #ad1 ii4
 #bg73 ,if we wish to be just judges of 
all things1 let us first persuade       
ourselves of this3--that there is not   
one of us without fault4444 ,no man is  
found who can acquit himself2 and  he   
who calls himself innocent does so with 
reference to a witness1 and  not to his 
conscience4    #h4 ,avarice4    ,the    
love of money is the root of all evil4  
7#a ,tim4 vi4 #aj47    ,seneca 7,on     
,tranquillity of ,soul1 #h73 ,riches 444
 the greatest source  of human trouble4 
,be content with such things as ye have4
 7,heb4 xiii4 #e47    ,having food and  
raiment1 let us be therewith content4   
7#a ,tim4 vi4 #h47    ,seneca 7,letter  
#aad73 ,we shall be wise if we desire   

but little2 if  each man takes count of 
himself1 and at the same time measures  
his own  body1 he will know how little  
it can contain1 and for how short  a    
time4    ,letter #aaj3 ,we have polenta1
 we have water2 let us challenge        
,jupiter  himself to a comparison of    
bliss6    ,godliness with contentment is
 great gain4 7#a ,tim4 vi4 #f47         
,seneca 7,letter #aaj73 ,why are you    
struck with wonder and  astonishment8   
,it is all display6 ,those things are   
shown1 not  possessed4444 ,turn thyself 
rather to the true riches1 learn to be  
content with little4    ,it is easier   
for a camel to go through the eye of a  
needle1 than for a  rich man to enter   
into the kingdom of ,god4 7,matt4 xix4  
#bd47    ,seneca 7,letter #bj73 ,he is a
 high-souled man who sees riches spread 
around him1 and hears rather than feels 
that they are his4 ,it is much  not to  
be corrupted by fellowship with riches3 
great is he who in the  midst of wealth 
is poor1 but safer he who has no wealth 

at all4    #i4 ,the ,duty of ,kindness4 
,be kindly affectioned one to another   
with brotherly love4 7,rom4 xii4  #aj47 
,seneca 7,on ,anger1 i4 #e73 ,man is    
born for mutual assistance4    ,thou    
shalt love thy neighbour as thyself4    
7,lev4 xiv4 #ah47    ,letter #dh3 ,you  
must live for another1 if you wish to   
live for  yourself4    ,on ,anger1 iii4 
#dc3 ,while we are among men let us     
cultivate kindness2  let us not be to   
any man a cause either of peril or of   
fear4    #aj4 ,our common ,membership4  
,ye are the body of ,christ1 and members
 in particular4 7#a ,cor4 xii4  #bg47   
,we being many are one body in ,christ1 
and every one members one of  another4  
7,rom4 xii4 #e47    ,seneca 7,letter    
#ie73 ,do we teach that he should       
stretch his hand to  the shipwrecked1   
show his path to the wanderer1 divide   
his bread with  the hungry8444 when ,i  
could briefly deliver to him the formula
 of  human duty3 all this that you see1 
in which things divine and human are    

included1 is one3 we are members of one 
great body4    #aa4 ,secrecy in doing   
,good4    ,let not thy left hand know   
what thy right hand doeth4 7,matt4 vi4  
#c47    ,seneca 7,on ,benefits1 ii4     
#aa73 ,let him who hath conferred a     
favour  hold his tongue4444 ,in         
conferring a favour nothing should be   
more  avoided than pride4    #ab4 ,god's
 impartial ,goodness4    ,he maketh ,his
 sun to rise on the evil and on the     
good1 and sendeth rain  on the just and 
on the unjust4 7,matt4 v4 #de47         
,seneca 7,on ,benefits1 i4 #a73 ,how    
many are unworthy of the light6 and  yet
 the day dawns4    ,id4 vii4 #ca3 ,the  
gods begin to confer benefits on those  
who recognize  them not1 they continue  
them to those who are thankless for     
them4444  ,they distribute their        
blessings in impartial tenor through the
 nations  and peoples2444 they sprinkle 
the earth with timely showers1 they stir
  the seas with wind1 they mark out the 
seasons by the revolution of the        

constellations1 they temper the winter  
and summer by the intervention of  a    
gentler air4    ,it would be a needless 
task to continue these parallels1       
because by  reading any treatise of     
,seneca a student might add to them by  
scores2  and they prove incontestably   
that1 as far as moral illumination was  
concerned1 ,seneca was not far from the 
kingdom of heaven4 ,they have  been     
collected by several writers2 and all of
 these here adduced1  together with many
 others1 may be found in the pages of   
,fleury1  ,troplong1 ,aubertin1 and     
others4 ,some authors1 like ,m4 ,fleury1
 have  endeavoured to show that they can
 only be accounted for by the           
supposition that ,seneca had some       
acquaintance with the sacred writings4  
,m4 ,aubertin1 on the other hand1 has   
conclusively demonstrated that this     
could not have been the case4 ,many     
words and expressions detached from     
their context have been forced into a   
resemblance with the words of           

,scripture1 when the context wholly     
militates against its spirit2 many      
belong to that great common stock of    
moral truths which had been  elaborated 
by the conscientious labours of ancient 
philosophers2 and  there is hardly one  
of the thoughts so eloquently enunciated
 which may  not be found even more nobly
 and more distinctly expressed in the   
writings of ,plato and of ,cicero4 ,in a
 subsequent chapter we shall show  that1
 in spite of them all1 the divergences  
of ,seneca from the spirit of           
,christianity are at least as remarkable
 as the closest of his  resemblances2   
but it will be more convenient to do    
this when we have  also examined the    
doctrines of those two other great      
representatives of  spiritual           
enlightenment in ,pagan souls1          
,epictetus the slave and ,marcus        
,aurelius the emperor4    ,meanwhile1 it
 is a matter for rejoicing that writings
 such as these give  us a clear proof   
that in all ages the ,spirit of the     

,lord has entered  into holy men1 and   
made them sons of ,god and prophets4    
,god left not  ,himself without witness 
among them4 ,the language of ,st4       
,thomas ,aquinas1  that many a heathen  
has had an implicit faith1 is but       
another way of  expressing ,st4 ,paul's 
statement that not having the law they  
were a law  unto themselves1 and showed 
the work of the law written in their    
hearts4 #di ,to them the ,eternal ,power
 and ,godhead were known from the       
things that do appear1 and alike from   
the voice of conscience and the  voice  
of nature they derived a true1 although 
a partial and inadequate1  knowledge4   
,to them the voice of nature was the    
voice of ,god4 ,their  revelation was   
the law of nature1 which was confirmed1 
strengthened1 and  extended1 but not    
suspended1 by the written law of        
,god4#ej    ,footnote #di3 ,rom4 i4 #b4 
,footnote #ej3 ,hooker1 ,eccl4 ,pol4    
iii4 #h4    ,the knowledge thus derived1
 i4e4 the sum-total of religious        

impressions  resulting from the         
combination of reason and experience1   
has been called  natural religion2 the  
term is in itself a convenient and      
unobjectionable one1 so long as it is   
remembered that natural religion  is    
itself a revelation4 ,no antithesis is  
so unfortunate and pernicious  as that  
of natural with revealed religion4 ,it  
is a contrast rather of  words than of  
ideas2 it is an opposition of           
abstractions to which no  facts really  
correspond4 ,god has revealed ,himself1 
not in one but in  many ways1 not only  
by inspiring the hearts of a few1 but by
 vouchsafing  ,his guidance to all who  
seek it4 ,the spirit of man is the      
candle of the  ,lord1 and it is not     
religion but apostasy to deny the       
reality of any of  ,god's revelations of
 truth to man1 merely because they have 
not  descended through a single channel4
 ,on the contrary1 we ought to hail     
with gratitude1 instead of viewing with 
suspicion1 the enunciation by  heathen  

writers of truths which we might at     
first sight have been  disposed to      
regard as the special heritage of       
,christianity4 ,in  ,pythagoras1 and    
,socrates1 and ,plato1--in ,seneca1     
,epictetus1 and ,marcus  ,aurelius--we  
see the light of heaven struggling its  
impeded way through  clouds of darkness 
and ignorance2 we thankfully recognize  
that the souls  of men in the ,pagan    
world1 surrounded as they were by       
perplexities and  dangers1 were yet     
enabled to reflect1 as from the dim     
surface of silver1  some image of what  
was divine and true2 we hail1 with the  
great and  eloquent ,bossuet1 ,,the     
,,christianity ,,of ,,nature4 ,the      
divine image in  man1 says ,st4         
,bernard1 may be burned1 but it cannot  
be burnt out4    ,and this is the       
pleasantest side on which to consider   
the life and the  writings of ,seneca4  
,it is true that his style partakes of  
the defects of  his age1 that the       
brilliancy of his rhetoric does not     

always compensate  for the defectiveness
 of his reasoning2 that he resembles1   
not a mirror  which clearly reflects the
 truth1 but a glass fantastically cut   
into a  thousand spangles2 that side by 
side with great moral truths we         
sometimes find his worst errors1        
contradictions1 and paradoxes2 that his 
eloquent utterances about ,god often    
degenerate into a vague ,pantheism2  and
 that even on the doctrine of           
immortality his hold is too slight to   
save him from waverings and             
contradictions2#ea yet as a moral       
teacher  he is full of real greatness1  
and was often far in advance of the     
general opinion of his age4 ,few men    
have written more finely1 or with  more 
evident sincerity1 about truth and      
courage1 about the essential  equality  
of man1#eb about the duty of kindness   
and consideration to  slaves1#ec about  
tenderness even in dealing with         
sinners1#ed about the  glory of         
unselfishness1#ee about the great idea  

of humanity#ef as  something which      
transcends all the natural and          
artificial prejudices of  country and of
 caste4 ,many of his writings are ,pagan
 sermons and moral  essays of the best  
and highest type4 ,the style1 as        
,quintilian says1  abounds in delightful
 faults1 but the strain of sentiment is 
never  otherwise than high and true4    
,footnote #ea3 ,consol4 ad ,polyb4 #bg2 
,ad ,helv4 #ag2 ,ad ,marc4 #bd1 seqq4   
,footnote #eb3 ,ep4 #cb2 ,de ,benef4    
iii4 #b4    ,footnote #ec3 ,de ,ir1 iii4
 #bi1 #cb4    ,footnote #ed3 ,ibid4 i4  
#ad2 ,de ,vit4 beat4 #bd4    ,footnote  
#ee3 ,ep4 #ee1 #i4    ,footnote #ef3    
,ibid4 #bh2 ,de ,oti ,sapientis1 #ca4   
,he is to be regarded rather as a       
wealthy1 eminent1 and successful ,roman1
  who devoted most of his leisure to    
moral philosophy1 than as a real        
philosopher by habit and profession4    
,and in this point of view his very     
inconsistencies have their charm1 as    
illustrating his ardent1 impulsive1     

imaginative temperament4 ,he was no     
apathetic1 self-contained1 impassible   
,stoic1 but a passionate1 warm-hearted  
man1 who could break into a flood  of   
unrestrained tears at the death of his  
friend ,annaeus ,serenus1#eg  and feel a
 trembling solicitude for the welfare of
 his wife and little  ones4 ,his was no 
absolute renunciation1 no impossible    
perfection2#eh  but few men have painted
 more persuasively1 with deeper emotion1
 or more  entire conviction1 the        
pleasures of virtue1 the calm of a      
well-regulated soul1 the strong and     
severe joys of a lofty self-denial4  ,in
 his youth1 he tells us1 he was         
preparing himself for a righteous  life1
 in his old age for a noble death4#ei   
,and let us not forget1 that  when the  
hour of crisis came which tested the    
real calm and bravery of  his soul1 he  
was not found wanting4 ,with no dread1  
he writes to  ,lucilius1 ,i am preparing
 myself for that day on which1 laying   
aside all  artifice or subterfuge1 ,i   

shall be able to judge respecting myself
  whether ,i merely speak or really feel
 as a brave man should2 whether  all    
those words of haughty obstinacy which  
,i have hurled against fortune  were    
mere pretence and pantomime4444         
,disputations and literary talks1  and  
words collected from the precepts of    
philosophers1 and eloquent  discourse1  
do not prove the true strength of the   
soul4 ,for the mere  speech of even the 
most cowardly is bold2 what you have    
really  achieved will then be manifest  
when your end is near4 ,i accept the    
terms1 ,i do not shrink from the        
decision4 #fj    ,footnote #eg3 ,ep4    
#fc4    ,footnote #eh3 ,martha1 ,les    
,moralistes1 p4 #fa4    ,footnote #ei3  
,ep4 #fa4    ,footnote #fj3 ,ep4 #bf4   
,accipio conditionem1 non reformido     
judicrum4 ,they were courageous  and    
noble words1 and they were justified in 
the hour of trial4 ,when we  remember   
the sins of ,seneca's life1 let us      
recall also the constancy of  his death2

 while we admit the inconsistencies of  
his systematic  philosophy1 let us be   
grateful for the genius1 the enthusiasm1
 the glow  of intense conviction1 with  
which he clothes his repeated utterance 
of  truths1 which1 when based upon a    
surer basis1 were found adequate for    
the moral regeneration of the world4    
,nothing is more easy than to sneer  at 
,seneca1 or to write clever epigrams on 
one whose moral attainments  fell       
infinitely short of his own great ideal4
 ,but after all he was not  more        
inconsistent than thousands of those who
 condemn him4 ,with all his  faults he  
yet lived a nobler and a better life1 he
 had loftier aims1 he  was braver1 more 
self-denying--nay1 even more            
consistent--than the  majority of       
professing ,christians4 ,it would be    
well for us all if those  who pour such 
scorn upon his memory attempted to      
achieve one tithe of  the good which he 
achieved for humanity and for ,rome4    
,his thoughts  deserve our imperishable 

gratitude3 let him who is without sin   
among us  be eager to fling stones at   
his failures and his sins6              
,,epictetus4    ,,chapter ,i4    ,,the  
,,life ,,of ,,epictetus1 ,,and ,,how    
,,he ,,regarded ,,it4    ,in the court  
of ,nero1 ,seneca must have been thrown 
into more or less  communication with   
the powerful freedmen of that ,emperor1 
and especially  with his secretary or   
librarian1 ,epaphroditus4 ,epaphroditus 
was a  constant companion of the        
,emperor2 he was the earliest to draw   
,nero's  attention to the conspiracy in 
which ,seneca himself perished4 ,there  
can  be no doubt that ,seneca knew him1 
and had visited at his house4 ,among    
the slaves who thronged that house1 the 
natural kindliness of the  philosopher's
 heart may have drawn his attentions to 
one little lame  ,phrygian boy1 deformed
 and mean-looking1 whose face--if it    
were any  index of the mind within--must
 even from boyhood have worn a serene   
and  patient look4 ,the great courtier1 

the great tutor of the ,emperor1 the    
great ,stoic and favourite writer of his
 age1 would indeed have been  astonished
 if he had been suddenly told that that 
wretched-looking  little slave-lad was  
destined to attain purer and clearer    
heights of  philosophy than he himself  
had ever done1 and to become quite as   
illustrious as himself1 and far more    
respected as an exponent of ,stoic      
doctrines4 ,for that lame boy was       
,epictetus--,epictetus for whom was     
written the memorable epitaph3 ,i was   
,epictetus1 a slave1 and maimed in      
body1 and a beggar for poverty1 and dear
 to the immortals4    ,although we have 
a clear sketch of his philosophical     
doctrines1 we have  no materials        
whatever for any but the most meagre    
description of his  life4 ,the picture  
of his mind--an effigy of that which he 
alone regarded  as his true self--may be
 seen in his works1 and to this we can  
add  little except a few general facts  
and uncertain anecdotes4    ,epictetus  

was probably born in about the fiftieth 
year of the ,christian  era2 but we do  
not know the exact date of his birth1   
nor do we even know  his real name4     
,epictetus means bought or acquired1 and
 is simply a  servile designation4 ,he  
was born at ,hierapolis1 in ,phrygia1 a 
town  between the rivers ,lycus and     
,meander1 and considered by some to be  
the  capital of the province4 ,the town 
possessed several natural               
wonders--sacred springs1 stalactite     
grottoes1 and a deep cavern  remarkable 
for its mephitic exhalations4 ,it is    
more interesting to us to  know that it 
was within a few miles of ,colossae and 
,laodicea1 and is  mentioned by ,st4    
,paul 7,col4 iv4 #ac7 in connexion with 
those two cities4  ,it must1 therefore1 
have possessed a ,christian ,church from
 the earliest  times1 and1 if ,epictetus
 spent any part of his boyhood there1 he
 might  have conversed with men and     
women of humble rank who had heard read 
in  their obscure place of meeting the  

,epistle of ,st4 ,paul to the           
,colossians1 and the other1 now lost1   
which he addressed to the ,church of    
,laodicea4#fa    ,footnote #fa3 ,col4   
iv4 #af4    ,it is probable1 however1   
that ,hierapolis and its associations   
produced  very little influence on the  
mind of ,epictetus4 ,his parents were   
people  in the very lowest and humblest 
class1 and their moral character could  
hardly have been high1 or they would not
 have consented under any  circumstance 
to sell into slavery their sickly child4
 ,certainly it could  hardly have been  
possible for ,epictetus to enter into   
the world under  less enviable or less  
promising auspices4 ,but the whole      
system of life  is full of divine and   
memorable compensations1 and ,epictetus 
experienced  them4 ,god kindles the     
light of genius where ,he will1 and ,he 
can inspire  the highest and most regal 
thoughts even into the meanest slave3-- 
,such seeds are scattered night and day 
,by the soft wind from ,heaven1         

,and in the poorest human clay          
,have taken root and thriven4    ,what  
were the accidents--or rather1 what was 
the unseen ,providence1 by  man         
nicknamed chance--which assigned        
,epictetus to the house of              
,epaphroditus we do not know4 ,to a     
heart refined and noble there could     
hardly have been a more trying position4
 ,the slaves of a ,roman familia  were  
crowded together in immense gangs2 they 
were liable to the most  violent and    
capricious punishments2 they might be   
subjected to the most  degraded and     
brutalising influences4 ,men sink too   
often to the level to  which they are   
supposed to belong4 ,treated with infamy
 for long years1  they are apt to deem  
themselves worthy of infamy--to lose    
that  self-respect which is the         
invariable concomitant of religious     
feeling1  and which1 apart from         
religious feeling1 is the sole          
preventive of  personal degradation4    
,well may ,st4 ,paul say1 ,art thou     

called1 being a  servant8 care not for  
it3 but if thou mayest be made free1 use
 it  rather4 #fb    ,footnote #fb3 #a   
,cor4 vii4 #ba4    ,it is true that even
 in the heathen world there began at    
this time to  be disseminated among the 
best and wisest thinkers a sense that   
slaves  were made of the same clay as   
their masters1 that they differed from  
freeborn men only in the externals and  
accidents of their position1 and  that  
kindness to them and consideration for  
their difficulties was a  common and    
elementary duty of humanity4 ,i am glad 
to learn1 says  ,seneca1 in one of his  
interesting letters to ,lucilius1 that  
you live on  terms of familiarity with  
your slaves2 it becomes your prudence   
and your  erudition4 ,are they slaves8  
,nay1 they are men4 ,slaves8 ,nay1      
companions4  ,slaves8 ,nay1 humble      
friends4 ,slaves8 ,nay1 fellow-slaves1  
if you but  consider that fortune has   
power over you both4 ,he proceeds1 in a 
passage to which we have already        

alluded1 to reprobate the haughty and   
inconsiderate fashion of keeping them   
standing for hours1 mute and  fasting1  
while their masters gorged themselves at
 the banquet4 ,he  deplores the cruelty 
which thinks it necessary to punish with
 terrible  severity an accidental cough 
or sneeze4 ,he quotes the proverb--a    
proverb  which reveals a whole          
history--,so many slaves1 so many foes1 
and  proves that they are not foes1 but 
that men made them so2 whereas1  when   
kindly treated1 when considerately      
addressed1 they would be silent1  even  
under torture1 rather than speak to     
their master's disadvantage4  ,are they 
not sprung1 he asks1 from the same      
origin1 do they not  breathe the same   
air1 do they not live and die just as we
 do8 ,the  blows1 the broken limbs1 the 
clanking chains1 the stinted food of the
  ergastula or slave-prisons1 excited   
all ,seneca's compassion1 and in  all   
probability presented a picture of      
misery which the world has rarely  seen 

surpassed1 unless it were in that       
nefarious trade which ,england to  her  
shame once practised1 and1 to her       
eternal glory1 resolutely  swept away4  
,but ,seneca's inculcation of tenderness
 towards slaves was in reality  one of  
the most original of his moral          
teachings2 and1 from all that we  know  
of ,roman life1 it is to be feared that 
the number of those who  acted in       
accordance with it was small4 ,certainly
 ,epaphroditus1 the  master of          
,epictetus1 was not one of them4 ,the   
historical facts which we  know of this 
man are slight4 ,he was one of the four 
who accompanied the  tragic and         
despicable flight of ,nero from ,rome in
 the year #fi1 and when1  after many    
waverings of cowardice1 ,nero at last1  
under imminent peril of  being captured 
and executed1 put the dagger to his     
breast1 it was  ,epaphroditus who helped
 the tyrant to drive it home into his   
heart1 for  which he was subsequently   
banished1 and finally executed by the   

,emperor ,domitian4    ,epictetus was   
accustomed to tell one or two anecdotes 
which1 although  given without comment1 
show the narrowness and vulgarity of the
 man4  ,among his slaves was a certain  
worthless cobbler named ,felicio2 as the
  cobbler was quite useless1            
,epaphroditus sold him1 and by some     
chance he  was bought by some one of    
,caesar's household1 and made ,caesar's 
cobbler4  ,instantly ,epaphroditus began
 to pay him the profoundest respect1 and
 to  address him in the most endearing  
terms1 so that if any one asked what    
,epaphroditus was doing1 the answer1 as 
likely as not1 would be1 ,he is  holding
 an important consultation with         
,felicio4    ,on one occasion1 some one 
came to him bewailing1 and weeping1 and 
embracing his knees in a paroxysm of    
grief1 because of all his fortune       
little more than #ej1jjjl4 was left6    
,what did ,epaphroditus do8 asks        
,epictetus2 did he laugh at the man as  
we did8 ,not at all2 on the  contrary1  

he exclaimed1 in a tone of commiseration
 and surprise1 ',poor  fellow6 how could
 you possibly keep silence and endure   
such a  misfortune8'    ,how brutally he
 could behave1 and how little respect he
 inspired1 we may  see in the following 
anecdote4 ,when ,plautius ,lateranus1   
the brave  nobleman whose execution     
during ,piso's conspiracy we have       
already  related1 had received on his   
neck an ineffectual blow of the         
tribune's  sword1 ,epaphroditus1 even at
 that dread moment1 could not abstain   
from  pressing him with questions4 ,the 
only reply which he received from the   
dying man was the contemptuous remark1  
,should ,i wish to say anything1 ,i     
will say it 7not to a slave like you1   
but7 to your master4    ,under a man of 
this calibre it is hardly likely that a 
lame ,phrygian boy  would experience    
much kindness4 ,an anecdote1 indeed1 has
 been handed  down to us by several     
writers1 which would show that he was   
treated with  atrocious cruelty4        

,epaphroditus1 it is said1 once         
gratified his cruelty  by twisting his  
slave's leg in some instrument of       
torture4 ,if you go  on1 you will break 
it1 said ,epictetus4 ,the wretch did go 
on1 and did  break it4 ,i told you that 
you would break it1 said ,epictetus     
quietly1  not giving vent to his anguish
 by a single word or a single groan4    
,stories of heroism no less triumphant  
have been authenticated both in  ancient
 and modern times2 but we may hope for  
the sake of human nature  that this     
story is false1 since another authority 
tells us that  ,epictetus became lame in
 consequence of a natural disease4 ,be  
that  however as it may1 some of the    
early writers against                   
,christianity--such1  for instance1 as  
the physician ,celsus--were fond of     
adducing this  anecdote in proof of a   
magnanimity which not even ,christianity
 could  surpass2 to which use of the    
anecdote ,origen opposed the awful      
silence  of our ,saviour upon the cross1

 and ,gregory of ,nazianzen pointed out 
that1 though it was a noble thing to    
endure inevitable evils1 it was yet     
more noble to undergo them voluntarily  
with an equal fortitude4 ,but even  if  
,epaphroditus were not guilty of        
breaking the leg of ,epictetus1 it is   
clear that the life of the poor youth   
was surrounded by circumstances of  the 
most depressing and miserable character2
 circumstances which would  have forced 
an ordinary man to the low and animal   
level of existence  which appears to    
have contented the great majority of    
,roman slaves4 ,some  of the passages in
 which he speaks about the consideration
 due to this  unhappy class show a very 
tender feeling towards them4 ,it would  
be  best1 he says1 if1 both while making
 your preparations and while  feasting  
at your banquets1 you distribute among  
the attendants some of  the provisions4 
,but if such a plan1 at any particular  
time1 be difficult  to carry out1       
remember that you who are not fatigued  

are being waited  upon by those who are 
fatigued2 you who are eating and        
drinking by those  who are not eating   
and drinking2 you who are conversing by 
those who are  mute--you who are at your
 ease by people under painful           
constraint4 ,and  thus you will neither 
yourself be kindled into unseemly       
passion1 nor  will you in a fit of fury 
do harm to any one else4 ,no doubt      
,epictetus  is here describing conduct  
which he had often seen1 and of which he
 had  himself experienced the           
degradation4 ,but he had early acquired 
a  loftiness of soul and an insight into
 truth which enabled him to  distinguish
 the substance from the shadow1 to      
separate the realities of  life from its
 accidents1 and so to turn his very     
misfortunes into fresh  means of        
attaining to moral nobility4 ,in proof  
of this let us see some  of his own     
opinions as to his state of life4    ,at
 the very beginning of his ,discourses  
he draws a distinction  between the     

things which the gods have and the      
things which they have  not put in our  
own power1 and he held 7being deficient 
here in that  light which ,christianity 
might have furnished to him7 that the   
blessings  denied to us are denied not  
because the gods would not1 but because 
they could not grant them to us4 ,and   
then he supposes that ,jupiter          
addresses him3--    ,o ,epictetus1 had  
it been possible1 ,i would have made    
both your little  body and your little  
property free and unentangled2 but now1 
do not be  mistaken1 it is not yours at 
all1 but only clay finely kneaded4      
,since1  however1 ,i could not do this1 
,i gave you a portion of ourselves1     
namely1  this power of pursuing and     
avoiding1 of desiring and of declining1 
and  generally the power of dealing with
 appearances3 and if you cultivate  this
 power1 and regard it as that which     
constitutes your real  possession1 you  
will never be hindered or impeded1 nor  
will you groan or  find fault with1 or  

flatter any one4 ,do these advantages   
then appear to  you to be trifling8     
,heaven forbid6 ,be content therefore   
with these1 and  thank the gods4    ,and
 again in one of his ,fragments 7viii4  
ix473--    ,freedom and slavery are but 
names1 respectively1 of virtue and of   
vice3  and both of them depend upon the 
will4 ,but neither of them have anything
  to do with those things in which the  
will has no share4 ,for no one is a     
slave whose will is free4    ,fortune is
 an evil bond of the body1 vice of the  
soul2 for he is a  slave whose body is  
free but whose soul is bound1 and1 on   
the contrary1  he is free whose body is 
bound but whose soul is free4    ,who   
does not catch in these passages the    
very tone of ,st1 ,paul when he  says1  
,he that is called in the ,lord1 being a
 servant1 is the ,lord's  freeman3      
likewise also he that is called1 being  
free1 is  ,christ's servant8    ,nor is 
his independence less clearly express   
when he speaks of his  deformity4 ,being

 but the deformity of a body which he   
despised1 he spoke  of himself as an    
ethereal existence staggering under the 
burden of a  corpse4 ,in his admirable  
chapter on ,contentment1 he very        
forcibly lays  down that topic of       
consolation which is derived from the   
sense that the  universe is not made for
 our individual satisfaction4 ,must my  
leg be  lame8 he supposes some querulous
 objector to inquire4 ,slave6 he        
replies1 do you then because of one     
miserable little leg find fault  with   
the universe8 ,will you not concede that
 accident to the existence  of general  
laws8 ,will you not dismiss the thought 
of it8 ,will you not  cheerfully assent 
to it for the sake of him who gave it4  
,and will you be  indignant and         
displeased at the ordinances of ,zeus1  
which he ordained  and appointed with   
the ,destinies1 who were present and    
wove the web of  your being8 ,know you  
not what an atom you are compared with  
the  whole8--that is1 as regards your   

body1 since as regards your reason you  
are no whit inferior to1 or less than   
the gods4 ,for the greatness of  reason 
is not estimated by size or height1 but 
by the doctrines which it  embraces4    
,will you not then lay up your treasure 
in those matters  wherein you are equal 
to the gods8 ,and1 thanks to such       
principles1 a  poor and persecuted slave
 was able to raise his voice in sincere 
and  eloquent thanksgiving to that ,god 
to whom he owed his creation1           
preservation1 and all the blessings of  
this life4    ,speaking of the multitude
 of our natural gifts1 he says1 ,are    
these the  only gifts of ,providence    
towards us8 ,nay1 what power of speech  
suffices  adequately to praise1 or to   
set them forth8 for1 had we but true    
intelligence1 what duty would be more   
perpetually incumbent on us than  both  
in public and in private to hymn the    
,divine1 and bless ,his name and  praise
 ,his benefits8 ,ought we not1 when we  
dig1 and when we plough1 and  when we   

eat1 to sing this hymn to ,god8 ',great 
is ,god1 because ,he hath  given us     
these implements whereby we may till the
 soil2 great is ,god1  because ,he hath 
given us hands1 and the means of        
nourishment by food1  and insensible    
growth1 and breathing sleep2' these     
things in each  particular we ought to  
hymn1 and to chant the greatest and the 
divinest  hymn1 because ,he hath given  
us the power to appreciate these        
blessings1  and continuously to use     
them4 ,what then8 ,since the most of you
 are  blinded1 ought there not to be    
some one to fulfil this province for    
you1  and on behalf of all to sing his  
hymn to ,god8 ,and what else can ,i do1 
who am a lame old man1 except sing      
praises to ,god8 ,now1 had ,i been a    
nightingale1 ,i should have sung the    
songs of a nightingale1 or had ,i  been 
a swan the songs of a swan2 but1 being a
 reasonable being1 it is my  duty to    
hymn ,god4 ,this is my task1 and ,i     
accomplish it2 nor1 so far as  may be   

granted to me1 will ,i ever abandon this
 post1 and you also do ,i  exhort to    
this same song4    ,there is an almost  
lyric beauty about these expressions of 
resignation  and faith in ,god1 and it  
is the utterance of such warm feelings  
towards  ,divine ,providence that       
constitutes the chief originality of    
,epictetus4  ,it is interesting to think
 that the oppressed heathen philosopher 
found  the same consolation1 and enjoyed
 the same contentment1 as the           
persecuted ,christian ,apostle4 ,whether
 ye eat or drink1 says ,st4 ,paul1  or  
whatsoever ye do1 do all to the glory of
 ,god4 ,think of ,god1 says  ,epictetus1
 oftener than you breathe4 ,let         
discourse of ,god be renewed  daily more
 surely than your food4    ,here1 again1
 are his views about his poverty        
7,fragment xix473--    ,examine yourself
 whether you wish to be rich or to be   
happy2 and if you  wish to be rich1 know
 that it neither is a blessing1 nor is  
it  altogether in your own power2 but if

 to be happy1 know that it both is  a   
blessing1 and is in your own power2     
since the former is but a  temporary    
loan of fortune1 but the gift of        
happiness depends upon  the will4       
,just as when you see a viper1 or an    
asp1 or a scorpion1 in a casket of      
ivory or gold1 you do not love or       
congratulate them on the splendour of   
their material1 but because their nature
 is pernicious you turn from and  loathe
 them1 so likewise when you see vice    
enshrined in wealth and the  pomp of    
circumstance do not be astounded at the 
glory of its  surroundings1 but despise 
the meanness of its character4          
,wealth is not among the number of good 
things2 extravagance is  among the      
number of evils1 sober-mindedness of    
good things4 ,now  sober-mindedness     
invites us to frugality and the         
acquisition of real  advantages2 but    
wealth to extravagance1 and it drags us 
away from  sober-mindedness4 ,it is a   
hard matter1 therefore1 being rich to be

  sober-minded1 or being sober-minded to
 be rich4    ,the last sentence will    
forcibly remind the reader of our       
,lord's own  words1 ,how hardly shall   
they that have riches 7or as the        
parallel  passage less startlingly      
expresses it1 ',children1 how hard is it
 for  them that trust in riches to'7    
enter into the kingdom of ,god4    ,but 
this is a favourite subject with the    
ancient philosopher1 and  ,epictetus    
continues3--    ,had you been born in   
,persia1 you would not have been eager  
to live in  ,greece1 but to stay where  
you were1 and be happy2 and1 being born 
in  poverty1 why are you eager to be    
rich1 and not rather to abide in        
poverty1 and so be happy8    ,as it is  
better to be in good health1 being      
hard-pressed on a little  truckle-bed1  
than to roll1 and to be ill in some     
broad couch2 so too it  is better in a  
small competence to enjoy the calm of   
moderate desires1  than in the midst of 
superfluities to be discontented4       

,this1 too1 is a thought which many have
 expressed4 ,gentle sleep1 says         
,horace1 despises not the humble        
cottages of rustics1 nor the shaded     
banks1 nor valleys whose foliage waves  
with the western wind2 and every  reader
 will recall the magnificent words of   
our own great ,shakespeare--            
,why rather1 ,sleep1 liest thou in smoky
 cribs1        ,upon uneasy pallets     
stretching thee1        ,and hush'd with
 buzzing night-flies to thy slumber1    
,than in the perfumed chambers of the   
great1        ,under the canopies of    
costly state1        ,and lull'd with   
sounds of sweetest melody8    ,to the   
subject of freedom1 and to the power    
which man possesses to make  himself    
entirely independent of all surrounding 
circumstances1 ,epictetus  incessantly  
recurs4 ,with the possibility of        
banishment to an  ergastulum perpetually
 before his eyes1 he defines a prison as
 being  any situation in which a man is 
placed against his will2 to ,socrates   

for  instance the prison was no prison1 
for he was there willingly1 and no  man 
need be in prison1 against his will if  
he has learnt1 as one of  his primary   
duties1 a cheerful acquiescence in the  
inevitable4 ,by the  expression of such 
sentiments ,epictetus had anticipated by
 fifteen  hundred years the immortal    
truth so sweetly expressed by ,lovelace3
         ,stone walls do not a prison   
make1          ,nor iron bars a cage2   
,minds innocent and quiet take          
,that for a hermitage4    ,situated as  
he was1 we can hardly wonder that       
thoughts like these  occupied a large   
share of the mind of ,epictetus1 or that
 he had taught  himself to lay hold of  
them with the firmest possible grasp4   
,when asked1  ,who among men is rich8 he
 replied1 ,he who suffices for himself2 
an  expression which contains the germ  
of the truth so forcibly expressed in   
the ,book of ,proverbs1 ,the backslider 
in heart shall be filled with his  own  
ways1 and a good man shall be satisfied 

from himself4 ,similarly1  when asked1  
,who is free8 he replies1 ,the man who  
masters his own  self1 with much the    
same tone of expressions as that of     
,solomon1 ,he  that is slow to anger is 
better than the mighty1 and he that     
ruleth his  spirit than he that taketh a
 city4 ,socrates was one of the great   
models  whom ,epictetus constantly seats
 before him1 and this is one of the     
anecdotes which he relates about him    
with admiration4 ,when ,archelaus  sent 
a message to express the intention of   
making him rich1 ,socrates  bade the    
messenger inform him that at ,athens    
four quarts of meal might  be bought for
 three halfpence1 and the fountains flow
 with water4 ,if  then my existing      
possessions are insufficient for me1 at 
any rate ,i am  sufficient for them1 and
 so they too are sufficient for me4 ,do 
you not  see that ,polus acted the part 
of ,oedipus in his royal state with no  
less  beauty of voice than that of      
,oedipus in ,colonos1 a wanderer and    

beggar8  ,shall then a noble man appear 
inferior to ,polus1 so as not to act    
well  every character imposed upon him  
by ,divine ,providence2 and shall he not
  imitate ,ulysses1 who even in rags was
 no less conspicuous than in the  curled
 nap of his purple cloak8    ,generally 
speaking1 the view which ,epictetus took
 of life is always  simple1 and always  
consistent2 it is a view which gave him 
consolation  among life's troubles1 and 
strength to display some of its noblest 
virtues1 and it may be summed up in the 
following passages of his famous        
,manual3--    ,remember1 he says1 that  
you are an actor of just such a part as 
is  assigned you by the ,poet of the    
play2 of a short part1 if the part be   
short2 of a long part1 if it be long4   
,should ,he wish you to act the part  of
 a beggar1 take care to act it naturally
 and nobly2 and the same if it  be the  
part of a lame man1 or a ruler1 or a    
private man2 for this is  in your power1
 to act well the part assigned to you2  

but to choose  that part is the function
 of another4    ,let not these          
considerations afflict you3 ',i shall   
live despised1 and  the merest nobody2' 
for if dishonour be an evil1 you cannot 
be involved  in evil any more than you  
can be involved in baseness through any 
one  else's means4 ,is it then at all   
your business to be a leading man1 or   
to be entertained at a banquet8 ,by no  
means4 ,how then can it be a  dishonor  
not to be so8 ,and how will you be a    
mere nobody1 since it is  your duty to  
be somebody only in those circumstances 
which are in your  own power1 in which  
you may be a person of the greatest     
importance8    ,honour1 precedence1     
confidence1 he argues in another        
passage1 whether  they be good things or
 evil things1 are at any rate things for
 which  their own definite price must be
 paid4 ,lettuces are sold for a penny1  
and if you want your lettuce you must   
pay your penny2 and similarly1 if  you  
want to be asked out to a person's      

house1 you must pay the price  which he 
demands for asking people1 whether the  
coin he requires be  praise or          
attention2 but if you do not give these1
 do not expect the  other4 ,have you    
then gained nothing in lieu of your     
supper8 ,indeed you  have2 you have     
escaped praising a person whom you did  
not want to  praise1 and you have       
escaped the necessity of tolerating the 
upstart  impertinence of his menials4   
,some parts of this last thought have   
been so beautifully expressed by  the   
,american poet ,lowell that ,i will     
conclude this chapter in his words3     
,earth hath her price for what earth    
gives us2          ,the beggar is tax'd 
for a corner to die in2        ,the     
priest hath his fee who comes and       
shrieves us2          ,we bargain for   
the graves we lie in3        ,at the    
devil's mart are all things sold1       
,each ounce of dross costs its ounce of 
gold1        ,for a cap and bells our   
lives we pay4          ,bubbles we earn 

with our whole soul's tasking1          
',tis only ,god that is given away1     
',tis only heaven may be had for the    
asking4        ,,chapter ,,ii4    ,,life
 ,,and ,,views ,,of ,,epictetus         
7continued74    ,whether any of these   
great thoughts would have suggested     
themselves  spontaneously to            
,epictetus--whether there was an inborn 
wisdom and  nobleness in the mind of    
this slave which would have enabled him 
to  elaborate such views from his own   
consciousness1 we cannot tell2 they do  
not1 however1 express his sentiments    
only1 but belong in fact to the  moral  
teaching of the great ,stoic school1 in 
the doctrines of which he  had received 
instruction4    ,it may sound strange to
 the reader that one situated as        
,epictetus was  should yet have had a   
regular tutor to train him in ,stoic    
doctrines4  ,that such should have been 
the case appears at first sight         
inconsistent  with the cruelty with     
which he was treated1 but it is a fact  

which is  capable of easy explanation4  
,in times of universal luxury and       
display--in times when a sort of        
surface-refinement is found among all   
the wealthy--some sort of respect is    
always paid to intellectual  eminence1  
and intellectual amusements are         
cultivated as well as those of  a       
coarser character4 ,hence a rich ,roman 
liked to have people of literary        
culture among his slaves2 he liked to   
have people at hand who would get  him  
any information which he might desire   
about books1 who could act as  his      
amanuenses1 who could even correct and  
supply information for his  original    
compositions4 ,such learned slaves      
formed part of every large              
establishment1 and among them were      
usually to be found some who bore1 if   
they did not particularly merit1 the    
title of philosophers4 ,these  men--many
 of whom are described as having been   
mere impostors1  ostentatious pedants1  
or ignorant hypocrites--acted somewhat  

like  domestic chaplains in the houses  
of their patrons4 ,they gratified an    
amateur taste for wisdom1 and helped to 
while away in comparative  innocence the
 hours which their masters might        
otherwise have spent in  lassitude or   
sleep4 ,it was no more to the credit of 
,epaphroditus that he  wished to have a 
philosophic slave1 than it is to the    
credit of an  illiterate millionaire in 
modern times that he likes to have works
 of  high art in his drawing-room1 and  
books of reference in his               
well-furnished library4    ,accordingly1
 since ,epictetus must have been        
singularly useless for all  physical    
purposes1 and since his thoughtfulness  
and intelligence could  not fail to     
command attention1 his master determined
 to make him useful  in the only way    
possible1 and sent him to ,caius        
,musonius ,rufus to be  trained in the  
doctrines of the ,stoic philosophy4     
,musonius was the son of a ,roman       
knight4 ,his learning and eloquence1 no 

less than his keen appreciation of      
,stoic truths1 had so deeply kindled    
the suspicions of ,nero1 that he        
banished him to the rocky little island 
of ,gyaros1 on the charge of his having 
been concerned in ,piso's  conspiracy4  
,he returned to ,rome after the suicide 
of ,nero1 and lived in  great           
distinction and respect1 so that he was 
allowed to remain in the  city when the 
,emperor ,vespasian banished all the    
other philosophers of  any eminence4    
,the works of ,musonius have not come   
down to us1 but a few notices of  him1  
which are scattered in the ,discourses  
of his greater pupil1 show  us what kind
 of man he was4 ,the following anecdotes
 will show that he  was a philosopher of
 the strictest school4    ,speaking of  
the value of logic as a means of        
training the reason1  ,epictetus        
anticipates the objection that1 after   
all1 a mere error in  reasoning is no   
very serious fault4 ,he points out that 
it is a fault1  and that is sufficient4 

,i too1 he says1 once made this very    
remark to  ,rufus when he rebuked me for
 not discovering the suppressed premiss 
in  some syllogism4 ',what6' said ,i1   
'have ,i then set the ,capitol on fire1 
that you rebuke me thus8' ',slave6' he  
answered1 'what has the ,capitol to  do 
with it8 ,is there no other fault then  
short of setting the ,capitol  on fire8 
,yes6 to use one's own mere fancies     
rashly1 at random1 anyhow2  not to      
follow an argument1 or a demonstration1 
or a sophism2 not1 in  short1 to see    
what makes for oneself or not1 in       
questioning and  answering--is none of  
these things a fault8'    ,sometimes he 
used to test the ,stoical endurance of  
his pupil by pointing  out the          
indignities and tortures which his      
master might at any moment  inflict upon
 him2 and when ,epictetus answered that1
 after all1 such  treatment was what man
 had borne1 and therefore could bear1 he
 would  reply approvingly that every    
man's destiny was in his own hands2 that

 he  need lack nothing from any one     
else2 that1 since he could derive from  
himself magnanimity and nobility of     
soul1 he might despise the notion of    
receiving lands or money or office4     
,but1 he continued1 when any one  is    
cowardly or mean1 one ought obviously in
 writing letters about such a  person to
 speak of him as a corpse1 and to say1  
',favour us with the  corpse and blood  
of ,so-and-so1' ,for8 in fact1 such a   
man is a mere  corpse1 and nothing more2
 for if he were anything more1 he would 
have  perceived that no man ever suffers
 any real misfortunes by another's      
means4 ,i do not know whether ,mr4      
,ruskin is a student of ,epictetus1 but 
he1 among others1 has forcibly expressed
 the same truth4 ,my friends1 do  you   
remember that old ,scythian custom1 when
 the head of a house died8  ,how he was 
dressed in his finest dress1 and set in 
his chariot1 and  carried about to his  
friends' houses2 and each of them placed
 him at his  table's head1 and all      

feasted in his presence8 ,suppose it    
were offered  to you1 in plain words1 as
 it is offered to you in dire facts1    
that  you should gain this ,scythian    
honour gradually1 while you yet thought 
yourself alive4444 ,would you take the  
offer verbally made by the  death-angel8
 ,would the meanest among us take it1   
think you8 ,yet  practically and verily 
we grasp at it1 every one of us1 in a   
measure2  many of us grasp at it in the 
fulness of horror4    ,the way in which 
,musonius treated would-be pupils much  
resembled the  plan adopted by          
,socrates4 ,it is not easy1 says        
,epictetus1 to train  effeminate youths1
 any more than it is easy to take up    
whey with a hook4  ,but those of fine   
nature1 even if you discourage them1    
desire  instruction all the more4 ,for  
which reason ,rufus often discouraged   
pupils1 using this as a criterion of    
fine and of common natures2 for he  used
 to say1 that just as a stone1 even if  
you fling it into the air1  will fall   

down to the earth by its own gravitating
 force1 so also a  noble nature1 in     
proportion as it is repulsed1 in that   
proportion tends  more in its own       
natural direction4 ,as ,emerson says1-- 
,yet on the nimble air benign           
,speed nimbler messages1        ,that   
waft the breath of grace divine         
,to hearts in sloth and ease4        ,so
 nigh is grandeur to our dust1          
,so near is ,god to man1        ,when   
,duty whispers low1 ',,thou ,,must1'    
,the youth replies1 ',i ,,can4'    ,one 
more trait of the character of ,musonius
 will show how deeply  ,epictetus       
respected him1 and how much good he     
derived from him4 ,in his  ,discourse on
 ,ostentation1 ,epictetus says that     
,rufus was in the habit  of remarking to
 his pupils1 ,if you have leisure to    
praise me1 ,i can  have done you no     
good4 ,he used indeed so to address us  
that each one  of us1 sitting there1    
thought that some one had been privately
 telling  tales against him in          

particular1 so completely did ,rufus    
seize hold of  his characteristics1 so  
vividly did he portray our individual   
faults4    ,such was the man under whose
 teaching ,epictetus grew to maturity1  
and it  was evidently a teaching which  
was wise and noble1 even if it were     
somewhat chilling and austere4 ,it      
formed an epoch in the slave's life2  it
 remoulded his entire character2 it was 
to him the source of blessings  so      
inestimable in their value that it is   
doubtful whether they were              
counter-balanced by all the miseries of 
poverty1 slavery1 and contempt4  ,he    
would probably have admitted that it was
 better for him to have  been sold into 
cruel slavery1 than it would have been  
to grow up in  freedom1 obscurity1 and  
ignorance in his native ,hierapolis4 ,so
 that  ,epictetus might have found1 and 
did find1 in his own person1 an         
additional argument in favour of ,divine
 ,providence3 an additional proof  that 
,god is kind and merciful to all men2 an

 additional intensity of  conviction    
that1 if our lots on earth are not      
equal1 they are at least  dominated by a
 principle of justice and of wisdom1 and
 each man1 on the  whole1 may gain that 
which is best for him1 and that which   
most  honestly and most heartily he     
desires4 ,epictetus reminds us again and
  again that we may have many1 if not   
all1 such advantages as the world  has  
to offer1 if we are willing to pay the  
price by which they are  obtained4 ,but 
if that price be a mean or a wicked one1
 and if we should  scorn ourselves were 
we ever tempted to pay it1 then we must 
not even  cast one longing look of      
regret towards things which can only be 
got by  that which we deliberately      
refuse to give4 ,every good and just man
 may  gain1 if not happiness1 then      
something higher than happiness4 ,let no
 one  regard this as a mere phrase1 for 
it is capable of a most distinct and    
definite meaning4 ,there are certain    
things which all men desire1 and  which 

all men would gladly1 if they could     
lawfully and innocently  obtain4 ,these 
things are health1 wealth1 ease1        
comfort1 influence1  honour1 freedom    
from opposition and from pain2 and yet1 
if you were to  place all these         
blessings on the one side1 and on the   
other side to  place poverty1 and       
disease1 and anguish1 and trouble1 and  
contempt1--yet1 if on this side also you
 were to place truth and  justice1 and a
 sense that1 however densely the clouds 
may gather about  our life1 the light of
 ,god will be visible beyond them1 all  
the noblest  men who ever lived would   
choose1 as without hesitation they      
always have  chosen1 the latter destiny4
 ,it is not that they like failure1 but 
they  prefer failure to falsity2 it is  
not that they love persecution1 but     
they prefer persecution to meanness2 it 
is not that they relish  opposition1 but
 they welcome opposition rather than    
guilty acquiescence2  it is not that    
they do not shrink from agony1 but they 

would not escape  agony by crime4 ,the  
selfishness of ,dives in his purple is  
to them less  enviable than the         
innocence of ,lazarus in rags2 they     
would be chained  with ,john in prison  
rather than loll with ,herod at the     
feast2 they  would fight with beasts    
with ,paul in the arena rather than be  
steeped in  the foul luxury of ,nero on 
the throne4 ,it is not happiness1 but it
 is  something higher than happiness2 it
 is stillness1 it is assurance1 it is   
satisfaction1 it is peace2 the world can
 neither understand it1 nor give  it1   
nor take it away1--it is something      
indescribable--it is the gift  of ,god4 
,the fallacy of being surprised at      
wickedness in prosperity1 and           
righteousness in misery1 can only lie1  
says ,mr4 ,froude1 in words which  would
 have delighted ,epictetus1 and which   
would express the inmost  spirit of his 
philosophy1 in the supposed right to    
happiness4444  ,happiness is not what we
 are to look for4 ,our place is to be   

true to the  best we know1 to seek that1
 and do that2 and if by 'virtue is its  
own  reward' be meant that the good man 
cares only to continue good1 desiring   
nothing more1 then it is a true and a   
noble saying4444 ,let us do right1  and 
then whether happiness come1 or         
unhappiness1 it is no very mighty       
matter4 ,if it come1 life will be sweet2
 if it do not come1 life will be        
bitter--bitter1 not sweet1 and yet to be
 borne4444 ,the well-being of our  souls
 depends only on what we are2 and       
nobleness of character is  nothing else 
but steady love of good1 and steady     
scorn of evil4444  ,only to those who   
have the heart to say1 ',we can do      
without selfish  enjoyment3 it is not   
what we ask or desire1' is there no     
secret4 ,man  will have what he desires1
 and will find what is really best for  
him1  exactly as he honestly seeks for  
it4 ,happiness may fly away1 pleasure   
pall or cease to be obtainable1 wealth  
decay1 friends fail or prove  unkind2   

but the power to serve ,god never fails1
 and the love of ,him is  never         
rejected4        ,,chapter ,,iii4       
,,life ,,and ,,views ,,of ,,epictetus   
7continued47    ,of the life of         
,epictetus1 as distinct from his        
opinions1 there is  unfortunately little
 more to be told4 ,the life of          
,that halting slave1 who in ,nicopolis  
,taught ,arrian1 when ,vespasian's      
brutal son        ,cleared ,rome of what
 most shamed him1    is not an eventful 
life1 and the conditions which          
surrounded it are very  circumscribed4  
,great men1 it has been observed1 have  
often the shortest  biographies2 their  
real life is in their books4    ,at some
 period of his life1 but how or when we 
do not know1 ,epictetus  was manumitted 
by his master1 and was henceforward     
regarded by the world  as free4         
,probably the change made little or no  
difference in his life4  ,if it saved   
him from a certain amount of brutality1 
if it gave him more  uninterrupted      

leisure1 it probably did not in the     
slightest degree  modify the hardships  
of his existence1 and may have caused   
him some  little anxiety as to the means
 of procuring the necessaries of life4  
,he1  of all men1 would have attached   
the least importance to the external    
conditions under which he lived2 he     
always regarded them as falling  under  
the category of things which lay beyond 
the sphere of his own  influence1 and   
therefore as things with which he had   
nothing to do4 ,even  in his most       
oppressed days1 he considered himself1  
by the grace of  heaven1 to be more     
free--free in a far truer and higher    
sense--than  thousands of those who owed
 allegiance to no master's will4        
,whether he  had saved any small sum of 
money1 or whether his needs were        
supplied by  the many who loved and     
honoured him1 we do not know4 ,he was a 
man who  was content with the barest    
necessaries of life1 and we may be sure 
that  he would have refused to be       

indebted to any one for more than these4
    ,it is probable that he never       
married4 ,this may have been due to that
  shade of indifference to the female   
character of which we detect traces     
here and there in his writings4 ,in one 
passage he complains that women  seemed 
to think of nothing but admiration and  
getting married2 and1 in  another1 he   
observes1 almost with a sneer1 that the 
,roman ladies were  fond of ,plato's    
,republic because he allowed some very  
liberal marriage  regulations4 ,we can  
only infer from these passages that he  
had been very  unfortunate in the       
specimens of women with whom he had been
 thrown4 ,the  ,roman ladies of his time
 were certainly not models of character2
 he was  not likely to fall in with very
 exalted females among the slaves of    
,epaphroditus or the ladies of his      
family1 and he had probably never  known
 the love of a sister or a mother's     
care4 ,he did not1 however1 go  the     
length of condemning marriage           

altogether2 on the contrary1 he blames  
the philosophers who did so4 ,but it is 
equally obvious that he approves  of    
celibacy as a counsel of perfection1 and
 indeed his views on the  subject have  
so close and remarkable a resemblance to
 those of ,st4 ,paul  that our readers  
will be interested in seeing them side  
by side4    ,in #a ,cor4 vii4 ,st4      
,paul1 after speaking of the nobleness  
of virginity1  proceeds1 nevertheless1  
to sanction matrimony as in itself a    
hallowed  and honourable estate4 ,it was
 not given to all1 he says1 to abide    
even  as he was1 and therefore marriage 
should be adopted as a sacred and       
indissoluble bond4 ,still1 without being
 sure that he has any divine  sanction  
for what he is about to say1 he         
considers celibacy good for  the present
 distress1 and warns those that marry   
that they shall have  trouble in the    
flesh4 ,for marriage involves a direct  
multiplication of  the cares of the     
flesh3 ,he that is unmarried careth for 

the things that  belong to the ,lord1   
how he may please the ,lord3 but he that
 is married  careth for the things that 
are of the world1 how he may please his 
wife4444 ,and this ,i speak for your own
 profit1 not that ,i may cast a  snare  
upon you1 but for that which is comely1 
and that ye may attend  upon the ,lord  
without distraction4    ,it is clear1   
then1 that ,st4 ,paul regarded virginity
 as a counsel of  perfection1 and       
,epictetus uses respecting it almost    
identically the  same language4         
,marriage was perfectly permissible in  
his view1 but it  was much better for a 
,cynic 7i4e4 for all who carried out    
most fully  their philosophical         
obligations7 to remain single3 ,since   
the condition  of things is such as it  
now is1 as though we were on the eve of 
battle1  ought not the ,cynio to be     
entirely without distraction the ,greek 
word being the very same as that used by
 ,st4 ,paul for the service of  ,god8   
ought he not to be able to move about   

among mankind free from the             
entanglement of private relationships or
 domestic duties1 which if he  neglect  
he will no longer preserve the character
 of a wise and good  man1 and which if  
he observe he will lose the function of 
a messenger1  and sentinel1 and herald  
of the gods8 ,epictetus proceeds to     
point out  that if he is married he can 
no longer look after the spiritual      
interests of all with whom he is thrown 
in contact1 and no longer  maintain the 
rigid independence of all luxuries which
 marked the genuine  philosopher4 ,he   
must1 for instance1 have a bath for his 
child1  provisions for his wife's       
ailments1 and clothes for his little    
ones1 and  money to buy them satchels   
and pens1 and cribs and cups2 and hence 
a  general increase of furniture1 and   
all sorts of undignified  distractions1 
which ,epictetus enumerates with an     
almost amusing  manifestation of        
disgust4 ,it is true 7he admits7 that   
,crates1 a  celebrated cynic1 was       

married1 but it was to a lady as        
self-denying as  himself1 and to one who
 had given up wealth and friends to     
share  hardship and poverty with him4   
,and1 if ,epictetus does not venture to 
say  in so many words that ,crates in   
this matter made a mistake1 he takes    
pains to point out that the             
circumstances were far too exceptional  
to be  accepted as a precedent for the  
imitation of others4    ,but1 inquires  
the interlocutor1 how then is the world 
to get on8 ,the  question seems quite to
 disturb the bachelor equanimity of     
,epictetus2 it  makes him use language  
of the strongest and most energetic     
contempt3 and  it is only when he       
trenches on this subject that he ever   
seems to lose  the nobility and grace1  
the sweetness and light1 which are the  
general  characteristic of his          
utterances4 ,in spite of his complete   
self-mastery  he was evidently a man of 
strong feelings1 and with a natural     
tendency  to express them strongly4     

,heaven bless us1 he exclaims in reply1 
are  they greater benefactors of mankind
 who bring into the world two or  three 
evilly-squalling brats1#fc or those who1
 to the best of their  power1 keep a    
beneficent eye on the lives1 and habits1
 and tendencies of  all mankind8 ,were  
the ,thebans who had large families more
 useful to  their country than the      
childless ,epaminondas2 or was ,homer   
less useful  to mankind than ,priam with
 his fifty good-for-nothing sons8444    
,why1 sir1  the true cynic is a father  
to all men2 all men are his sons and all
  women his daughters2 he has a bond of 
union1 a lien of affection with  them   
all4 7,dissert4 iii4 #bb47    ,footnote 
#fc3 ,greek3 kakorrugcha paidia4        
,another reading is ,greek3  kokorugcha1
 which ,m4 ,martha renders1 ,marmots    
vilain petit museau6  ,it is evident    
that ,epictetus did not like children1  
which makes his  subsequently mentioned 
compassion to the poor neglected child  
still more  creditable to him4    ,the  

whole character of ,epictetus is        
sufficient to prove that he would  only 
do what he considered most desirable and
 most exalted2 and  passages like these1
 the extreme asperity of which ,i have  
necessarily1  softened down1 are1 ,i    
think1 decisive in favour of the        
tradition which  pronounces him to have 
been unmarried4    ,we are told that he 
lived in a cottage of the simplest and  
even meanest  description3 it neither   
needed nor possessed a fastening of any 
kind1  for within it there was no       
furniture except a lamp and the poor    
straw  pallet on which he slept4 ,about 
his lamp there was current in antiquity 
a famous story1 to which he himself     
alludes4 ,as a piece of unwonted  luxury
 he had purchased a little iron lamp1   
which burned in front of the  images of 
his household deities4 ,it was the only 
possession which he  had1 and a thief   
stole it4 ,he will be finely            
disappointed when he comes  again1      
quietly observed ,epictetus4 for he will

 only find an  earthenware lamp next    
time4 ,at his death the little          
earthenware lamp  was bought by some    
genuine hero-worshipper for #c1jjj      
drachmas4 ,the  purchaser hoped1 says   
the satirical ,lucian1 that if he read  
philosophy  at night by that lamp1 he   
would at once acquire in dreams the     
wisdom of  the admirable old man who    
once possessed it4    ,but1 in spite of 
his deep poverty1 it must not be        
supposed that there  was anything       
eccentric or ostentatious in the life of
 ,epictetus4 ,on the  contrary1 his     
writings abound in directions as to the 
proper bearing of  a philosopher in     
life4 ,he warns his students that they  
may have ridicule  to endure4 ,not only 
did the little boys in the streets1 the 
gamins of  ,rome1 appear to consider a  
philosopher fair game1 and think it fine
  fun to mimic his gestures and pull his
 beard1 but he had to undergo the       
sneers of much more dignified people4   
,if1 says ,epictetus1 you want to  know 

how the ,romans regard philosophers1    
listen4 ,maelius1 who had the  highest  
philosophic reputation among them1 once 
when ,i was present1  happened to get   
into a great rage with his people1 and  
as though he had  received an           
intolerable injury1 exclaimed1 ',i      
cannot endure it2 you  are killing me2  
why1 you'll make me like him6 pointing  
to me1  evidently as if ,epictetus were 
the merest insect in existence4 ,and1   
again he says in the ,manual4 ,if you   
wish to be a philosopher1 prepare       
yourself to be thoroughly laughed at    
since many will certainly sneer and     
jeer at you1 and will say1 ',he has come
 back to us as a philosopher all  of a  
sudden1' and ',where in the world did he
 get this superciliousness8'  ,now do   
not you be supercilious1 but cling to   
the things which appear  best to you in 
such a manner as though you were        
conscious of having been  appointed by  
,god to this position4 ,again in the    
little discourse ,on  the ,desire of    

,admiration1 he warns the philosopher   
not to walk as if  he had swallowed a   
poker or to care for the applause of    
those  multitudes whom he holds to be   
immersed in error4 ,for all display1 and
  pretence1 and hypocrisy1 and          
,pharisaism1 and boasting1 and mere     
fruitless book-learning he seems to have
 felt a genuine and profound  contempt4 
,recommendations to simplicity of       
conduct1 courtesy of manner1  and       
moderation of language were among his   
practical precepts4 ,it is  refreshing1 
too1 to know that with the strongest and
 manliest good  sense1 he entirely      
repudiated that dog-like brutality of   
behaviour1 and  repulsive eccentricity  
of self-neglect1 which characterised not
 a few of  the ,cynic leaders4 ,he      
expressly argues that the ,cynic should 
be a man of  ready tact1 and attractive 
presence2 and there is something of     
almost  indignant energy in his words   
when he urges upon a pupil the plain    
duty  of scrupulous cleanliness4 ,in    

this respect our friends the ,hermits   
would  not quite have satisfied him1    
although he might possibly have pardoned
  them on the plea that they abode in   
desert solitudes1 since he bids  those  
who neglect the due care of their bodies
 to live either in the  wilderness or   
alone4    ,late in life ,epictetus      
increased his establishment by taking in
 an old  woman as a servant4 ,the cause 
of his doing so shows an almost         
,christian  tenderness of character4    
,according to the hideous custom of     
infanticide  which prevailed in the     
pagan world1 a man with whom ,epictetus 
was  acquainted exposed his infant son  
to perish4 ,epictetus in pity took the  
child home to save its life1 and the    
services of a female were necessary  to 
supply its wants4 ,such kindness and    
self-denial were all the more  admirable
 because pity1 like all other deep      
emotions1 was regarded by  the ,stoics  
in the light rather of a vice than of a 
virtue4 ,in this  respect1 however1 both

 ,seneca and ,epictetus1 and to a still 
greater  extent ,marcus ,aurelius1 were 
gloriously false to the rigidity of the 
school to which they professed to       
belong4 ,we see with delight that one   
of the ,discourses of ,epictetus was ,on
 the ,tenderness and ,forbearance  due  
to ,sinners2 and he abounds in          
exhortations to forbearance in  judging 
others4 ,in one of his ,fragments he    
tells the following  anecdote3--,a      
person who had seen a poor ship-wrecked 
and almost dying  pirate took pity on   
him1 carried him home1 gave him clothes1
 and  furnished him with all the        
necessaries of life4 ,somebody          
reproached him  for doing good to the   
wicked--,i have honoured1 he replied1   
not the  man1 but humanity in his       
person4    ,but one fact more is known  
in the life of ,epictetus1 ,domitian1   
the  younger son of ,vespasian1         
succeeded his far nobler brother the    
,emperor  ,titus2 and in the course of  
his reign a decree was passed which     

banished  all the philosophers from     
,italy4 ,epictetus was not exempted from
 this  unjust and absurd decree4 ,that  
he bore it with equanimity may be       
inferred from the approval with which he
 tells an anecdote about  ,agrippinus1  
who while his cause was being tried in  
the ,senate went on  with all his usual 
avocations1 and on being informed on his
 return from  bathing that he had been  
condemned1 quietly asked1 ,to death or  
banishment8 ,to banishment1 said the    
messenger4 ,is my property  confiscated8
 ,no1 ,very well1 then let us go as far 
as ,aricia 7about  sixteen miles from   
,rome71 and dine there4    ,there was a 
certain class of philosophers whose     
external mark and whose  sole claim to  
distinction rested in the length of     
their beards2 and when  the decree of   
,domitian was passed these gentleman    
contented themselves  with shaving4     
,epictetus alludes to this in his second
 ,discourse1  ,come1 ,epictetus1 shave  
off your beard1 he imagines some one to 

say to  him4 ,if ,i am a philosopher ,i 
will not1 he replies4 ,then ,i will take
  off your head4 ,by all means1 if that 
will do you any good4    ,he went to    
,nicopolis1 a town of ,epirus1 which had
 been built by ,augustus  in            
commemoration of his victory at ,actium4
 ,whether he ever revisited  ,rome is   
uncertain1 but it is probable that he   
did so1 for we know that  he enjoyed the
 friendship of several eminent          
philosophers and statesmen1  and was    
esteemed and honoured by the ,emperor   
,hadrian himself4 ,he is said  to have  
lived to a good old age1 surrounded by  
affectionate and eager  disciples1 and  
to have died with the same noble        
simplicity which had  marked his life4  
,the date of his death is as little     
known as that of his  birth4 ,it only   
remains to give a sketch of those       
thoughts which1 poor  though he was1 and
 despised1 and a slave1 yet made him    
dear to the  immortals4        ,,chapter
 ,,iv4    ,,the ,,manual ,,and          

,,fragments ,,of ,,epictetus4    ,it is 
nearly certain that ,epictetus never    
committed any of his doctrines  to      
writing4 ,like his great exemplar4      
,socrates1 he contented himself with    
oral instruction1 and the bulk of what  
has come down to us in his name         
consists in the ,discourses reproduced  
for us by his pupil ,arrian4 ,it  was   
the ambition of ,arrian to be to        
,epictetus what ,xenophon had been to   
,socrates1 that is1 to hand down to     
posterity a noble and faithful  picture 
of the manner in which his master had   
lived and taught4 ,with  this view1 he  
wrote four books on ,epictetus1--a life1
 which is now  unhappily lost2 a book of
 conversation or table talk1 which is   
also  lost2 and two books which have    
come down to us1 viz4 the ,discourses   
and the ,manual4 ,it is from these two  
invaluable books1 and from a good  many 
isolated fragments1 that we are enabled 
to judge what was the  practical        
morality of ,stoicism1 as expounded by  

the holy and  upright slave4    ,the    
,manual is a kind of abstract of        
,epictetus's ethical principles1  which1
 with many additional illustrations and 
with more expansion1 are  also explained
 in the ,discourses4 ,both books were so
 popular that by  their means ,arrian   
first came into conspicuous notice1 and 
ultimately  attained the highest        
eminence and rank4 ,the ,manual was to  
antiquity  what the ,imitatio of ,thomas
  ,kempis was to later times1 and what  
,woodhead's ,whole ,duty of ,man or     
,wilberforce's ,practical ,view of      
,christianity have been to large        
sections of modern ,englishmen4 ,it was 
a  clear1 succinct1 and practical       
statement of common daily duties1 and   
the  principles upon which they rest4   
,expressed in a manner entirely simple  
and unornate1 its popularity was wholly 
due to the moral elevation of  the      
thoughts which it expressed4 ,epictetus 
did not aim at style2 his one  aim was  
to excite his hearers to virtue1 and    

,arrian tells us that in  this endeavour
 he created a deep impression by his    
manner and voice4 ,it  is interesting to
 know that the ,manual was widely       
accepted among  ,christians no less than
 among ,pagans1 and that1 so late as the
 fifth  century1 paraphrases were       
written of it for ,christian use4 ,no   
systematic  treatise of morals so simply
 beautiful was ever composed1 and to    
this  day the best ,christian may study 
it1 not with interest only1 but with    
real advantage4 ,it is like the voice of
 the ,sybil1 which1 uttering  things    
simple1 and unperfumed1 and unadorned1  
by ,god's grace reacheth  through       
innumerable years4 ,we proceed to give a
 short sketch of  its contents4         
,epictetus began by laying down the     
broad comprehensive statement that      
there are some things which are in our  
power1 and depend upon ourselves2  other
 things which are beyond our power1 and 
wholly independent of us4  ,the things  
which are in our power are our opinions1

 our aims1 our  desires1 our            
aversions--in a word1 our actions4 ,the 
things beyond our  power are bodily     
accidents1 possessions1 fame1 rank1 and 
whatever lies  beyond the sphere of our 
actions4 ,to the former of these classes
 of  things our whole attention must be 
confined4 ,in that region we may be     
noble1 unperturbed1 and free2 in the    
other we shall be dependent1            
frustrated1 querulous1 miserable4 ,both 
classes cannot be successfully  attended
 to2 they are antagonistic1             
antipathetic2 we cannot serve ,god  and 
,mammon4    ,now1 if we take a right    
view of all these things which in no way
 depend  on ourselves we shall regard   
them as mere semblances--as shadows     
which  are to be distinguished from the 
true substance4 ,we shall not look upon 
them as fit subjects for aversion or    
desire4 ,sin and cruelty1 and  falsehood
 we may hate1 because we can avoid them 
if we will2 but we must  look upon      
sickness1 and poverty1 and death as     

things which are not fit  subjects for  
our avoidance1 because they lie wholly  
beyond our control4    ,this1           
then1--endurance of the inevitable1     
avoidance of the evil--is the  keynote  
of the ,epictetean philosophy4 ,it has  
been summed up in the three  words1     
,greek3 ,anechou kai apechou1 sustine et
 abstine1 ,bear and  forbear1--bear     
whatever ,god assigns to you1 abstain   
from that which  ,he forbids4    ,the   
earlier part of the ,manual is devoted  
to practical advice which  may enable   
men to endure nobly4 ,for instance1 ,if 
there be anything1  says ,epictetus1    
which you highly value or tenderly love1
 estimate at  the same time its true    
nature4 ,is it some possession8 remember
 that it  may be destroyed4 ,is it wife 
or child8 remember that they may die4   
,death1 says an epitaph in ,chester     
,cathedral--         ,death1 the great  
monitor1 comes oft to prove1            
',tis dust we dote on1 when 'tis man we 
love4    ,desire nothing too much4 ,if  

you are going to the public baths and   
are  annoyed or hindered by the         
rudeness1 the pushing1 the abuse1 the   
thievish propensities of others1 do not 
lose your temper3 remind  yourself that 
it is more important that you should    
keep your will in  harmony with nature  
than that you should bathe4 ,and so with
 all  troubles2 men suffer far less from
 the things themselves than from the    
opinions they have of them4    ,if you  
cannot frame your circumstances in      
accordance with your wishes1  frame your
 will into harmony with your            
circumstances4#fd ,when you lose  the   
best gifts of life1 consider them as not
 lost but only resigned to  ,him who    
gave them4 ,you have a remedy in your   
own heart against all                   
trials--continence as a bulwark against 
passion1 patience against  opposition1  
fortitude against pain4 ,begin with     
trifles3 if you are  robbed1 remind     
yourself that your peace of mind is of  
more value and  importance than the     

thing which has been stolen from you4   
,follow the  guidance of nature2 that is
 the great thing2 regret nothing1 desire
  nothing1 which can disturb that end4  
,behave as at a banquet--take with      
gratitude and in moderation what is set 
before you1 and seek for nothing  more2 
a higher and diviner step will be to be 
ready and able to forego  even that     
which is given you1 or which you might  
easily obtain4  ,sympathise with others1
 at least externally1 when they are in  
sorrow and  misfortune2 but remember in 
your own heart that to the brave and    
wise  and true there is really no such  
thing as misfortune2 it is but an ugly  
semblance2 the croak of the raven can   
portend no harm to such a man1 he  is   
elevated above its power4    ,footnote  
#fd3 ,when what thou willest befalls    
not1 thou then must will  what          
befalleth4    ,we do not choose our own 
parts in life1 and have nothing to do   
with  those parts2 our simple duty is   
confined to playing them well4 ,the     

slave  may be as free as the consul2 and
 freedom is the chief of blessings2 it  
dwarfs all others2 beside it all others 
are insignificant1 with it all  others  
become needless1 without it no others   
are possible4 ,no one can  insult you if
 you will not regard his words or deeds 
as insults4#fe  ,keep your eye steadily 
fixed on the great reality of death1 and
 all  other things will shrink to their 
true proportions4 ,as in a voyage1 when 
a ship has come to anchor1 if you have  
gone out to find water1 you may  amuse  
yourself with picking up a little shell 
or bulb1 but you must keep  your        
attention steadily fixed upon the ship1 
in case the captain should  call1 and   
then you must leave all such things lest
 you should be flung  on board1 bound   
like sheep4 ,so in life2 if1 instead of 
a little shell or  bulb1 some wifeling  
or childling be granted you1 well and   
good2 but1 if  the captain call1 run to 
the ship and leave such possessions     
behind you1  not looking back4 ,but if  

you be an old man1 take care not to go a
 long  distance from the ship at all1   
lest you should be called and come too  
late4 ,the metaphor is a significant    
one1 and perhaps the following  lines of
 ,sir ,walter ,scott1 prefixed          
anonymously to one of the chapters  of  
the ,waverley ,novels1 may help to throw
 light upon it3         ,death finds us 
'midst our playthings2 snatches us1     
,as a cross nurse might do a wayward    
child1        ,from all our toys and    
baubles--the rough call        ,unlooses
 all our favourite ties on earth3       
,and well if they are such as may be    
answered        ,in yonder world1 where 
all is judged of truly4    ,footnote    
#fe3 ,compare ,cowper's ,conversation3--
       ,am ,i to set my life upon a     
throw        ,because a bear is rude and
 surly8--,no4--        ,a modest1       
sensible1 and well-bred man        ,will
 not insult me1 and no other can4       
,preserve your just relations to other  
men2 their misconduct does not  affect  

your duties4 ,has your father done      
wrong1 or your brother been  unjust8    
,still he is your father1 he is your    
brother2 and you must  consider your    
relation to him1 not whether he be      
worthy of it or no4    ,your duty       
towards the gods is to form just and    
true opinions respecting  them4 ,believe
 that they do all things well1 and then 
you need never  murmur or complain4     
,as rules of practice1 says ,epictetus1 
prescribe to yourself an ideal1  and    
then act up to it4 ,be mostly silent2   
or1 if you converse1 do not let  it be  
about vulgar and insignificant topics1  
such as dogs1 horses1  racing1 or       
prize-fighting4 ,avoid foolish and      
immoderate laughter1 vulgar             
entertainments1 impurity1 display1      
spectacles1 recitations1 and all        
egotistical remarks4 ,set before you the
 examples of the great and good4  ,do   
not be dazzled by mere appearances4 ,do 
what is right quite  irrespective of    
what people will say or think4 ,remember

 that your body  is a very small matter 
and needs but very little2 just as all  
that the  foot needs is a shoe1 and not 
a dazzling ornament of gold1 purple1 or 
jewelled embroidery4 ,to spend all one's
 time on the body1 or on bodily         
exercises1 shows a weak intellect4 ,do  
not be fond of criticising others1  and 
do not resent their criticisms of you4  
,everything1 he says1 and  this is one  
of his most characteristic precepts1 has
 two handles6 one  by which it may be   
borne1 the other by which it cannot4 ,if
 your brother  be unjust1 do not take up
 the matter by that handle--the handle  
of his  injustice--for that handle is   
the one by which it cannot be taken up2 
but rather by the handle that he is your
 brother and brought up with  you2 and  
then you will be taking it up as it can 
be borne4    ,all these precepts have a 
general application1 but ,epictetus adds
  others on the right bearing of a      
philosopher2 that is1 of one whose      
professed ideal is higher than the      

multitude4 ,he bids him above all       
things not to be censorious1 and not to 
be ostentatious4 ,feed on your  own     
principles2 do not throw them up to show
 how much you have eaten4 ,be           
self-denying1 but do not boast of it4   
,be independent and moderate1 and       
regard not the opinion or censure of    
others1 but keep a watch upon  yourself 
as your own most dangerous enemy4 ,do   
not plume yourself on an  intellectual  
knowledge of philosophy1 which is in    
itself quite  valueless1 but on a       
consistent nobleness of action4 ,never  
relax your  efforts1 but aim at         
perfection4 ,let everything which seems 
best be to  you a law not to be         
transgressed2 and whenever anything     
painful1 or  pleasurable1 or glorious1  
or inglorious1 is set before you1       
remember  that now is the struggle1 now 
is the hour of the ,olympian contest1   
and  it may not be put off1 and that by 
a single defeat or yielding your        
advance in virtue may be either secured 

or lost4 ,it was thus that  ,socrates   
attained perfection1 by giving his heart
 to reason1 and to  reason only4 ,and   
thou1 even if as yet thou art not a     
,socrates1 yet  shouldst live as though 
it were thy wish to be one4 ,these are  
noble  words1 but who that reads them   
will not be reminded of those sacred and
  far more deeply-reaching words1 ,be ye
 perfect1 even as your ,father  which is
 in heaven is perfect ,behold1 now is   
the accepted time2 behold1  now is the  
day of salvation4    ,in this brief     
sketch we have included all the most    
important thoughts in  the ,manual4 ,it 
ends in these words4 ,on all occasions  
we may keep in  mind these three        
sentiments3--    ',lead me1 ,o ,zeus1   
and thou1 ,destiny1 whithersoever ye    
have appointed me  to go1 for ,i will   
follow1 and that without delay4 ,should 
,i be  unwilling1 ,i shall follow as a  
coward1 but ,i must follow all the      
same4'  7,cleanthes47    ',whosoever    
hath nobly yielded to necessity1 ,i hold

 him wise1 and he  knoweth the things of
 ,god4' 7,euripides47    ,and this third
 one also1 ',o ,crito1 be it so1 if so  
be the will of  heaven4 ,anytus and     
,melitus can indeed slay me1 but harm me
 they cannot4'  7,socrates47    ,to this
 last conception of life2 quoted from   
the end of ,plato's  ,apology1          
,epictetus recurs elsewhere3 ,what      
resources have we1 he  asks1 in         
circumstances of great peril8 ,what     
other than the remembrance  of what is  
or what is not in our own power2 what is
 possible to us and  what is not8 ,i    
must die4 ,be it so2 but need ,i die    
groaning8 ,i must be  bound2 but must ,i
 be bound bewailing8 ,i must be driven  
into exile1 well1  who prevent me then  
from going with laughter1 and           
cheerfulness1 and  calm of mind8        
',betray secrets4'    ',indeed ,i will  
not1 for that rests in my own hands4'   
',then ,i will put you in chains4'      
',my good sir1 what are you talking     
about8 ,put me in chains8 ,no1 no6  you 

may put my leg in chains1 but not even  
,zeus himself can master  my will4'     
',i will throw you into prison4'    ',my
 poor little body2 yes1 no doubt4'      
',i will cut off your head4'    ',well  
did ,i ever tell you that my head was   
the only one which could not  be cut    
off8'    ,such are the things of which  
philosophers should think1 and write    
them  daily1 and exercise themselves    
therein4    ,there are many other       
passages in which ,epictetus shows that 
the  free-will of man is his noblest    
privilege1 and that we should not sell  
it for a trifle2 or1 as ,scripture still
 more sternly expresses it1  should not 
sell ourselves for nought4 ,he relates1 
for instance1 the  complete failure of  
the ,emperor ,vespasian to induce       
,helvidius ,priscus  not to go to the   
,senate4 ,while ,i am a ,senator1 said  
,helvidius1 ,i  must go4 ,well1 then1 at
 least be silent there4 ,ask me no      
questions1 and ,i will be silent4 ,but  
,i must ask your opinion4 ,and  ,i must 

say what is right4 ,but ,i will put you 
to death4 ,did ,i ever  tell you ,i was 
immortal8 ,do your part1 and ,i will do 
mine4 ,it is  yours to kill me1 mine to 
die untrembling2 yours to banish me1    
mine to  go into banishment without     
grief4    ,we see from these remarkable 
extracts that the wisest of the heathen 
had1 by ,god's grace1 attained to the   
sense that life was subject to a  divine
 guidance4 ,yet how dim was their vision
 of this truth1 how  insecure their hold
 upon it1 in comparison with that which 
the meanest  ,christian may attain6     
,they never definitely grasped the      
doctrine of  immortality4 ,they never   
quite got rid of a haunting dread that  
perhaps1  after all1 they might be      
nothing better than insignificant and   
unheeded  atoms1 swept hither and       
thither in the mighty eddies of an      
unseen1  impersonal1 mysterious agency1 
and destined hereafter to be sealed amid
  the iron hills1 or         ,to be     
imprisoned in the viewless winds4       

,and blown with reckless violence about 
,the pendent world4    ,their belief in 
a personal deity was confused with their
 belief in  nature1 which1 in the       
language of a modern sceptic1 acts with 
fearful  uniformity3 stern as fate1     
absolute as tyranny1 merciless as death2
 too  vast to praise1 too inexorable to 
propitiate1 it has no ear for prayer1   
no heart for sympathy1 no arm to save4  
,how different the soothing and  tender 
certainty of the ,christian's hope1 for 
whom ,christ has brought  life and      
immortality to light6 ,for chance is not
 only the daughter of  forethought1 as  
the old ,greek lyric poet calls her1 but
 the daughter  also of love4 ,how       
different the prayer of ,david1 even in 
the hours of  his worst agony and shame1
 ,let ,thy loving ,spirit lead me forth 
into  the land of righteousness4        
,guidance1 and guidance by the hand of  
love1  was--as even in that dark season 
he recognised--the very law of his      
life2 and his soul1 purged by           

affliction1 had but a single wish--the  
wish to be led1 not into prosperity1 not
 into a recovery of his lost  glory1 not
 even into the restoration of his lost  
innocence2 but  only1--through paths    
however hard--only into the land of     
righteousness4  ,and because he knew    
that ,god would lead him thitherward1 he
 had no wish1  no care for anything     
beyond4 ,we will end this chapter by    
translating a  few of the isolated      
fragments of ,epictetus which have been 
preserved for  us by other writers4 ,the
 wisdom and beauty of these fragments   
will  interest the reader1 for          
,epictetus was one of the few in the    
very dust  of whose thoughts was gold4  
99       99       99       99       99  
,a life entangled with accident is like 
a wintry torrent1 for it is  turbulent1 
and foul with mud1 and impassable1 and  
tyrannous1 and loud1  and brief4    ,a  
soul that dwells with virtue is like a  
perennial spring2 for it is  pure1 and  
limpid1 and refreshful1 and inviting1   

and serviceable1 and  rich1 and         
innocent1 and uninjurious4           99 
99       99       99       99    ,if you
 wish to be good8 first believe that you
 are bad4    ,compare ,matt4 ix4 #ab1   
,they that be whole need not a          
physician1 but  they that are sick2     
,john ix4 #da1 ,now ye say1 ,we see1    
therefore your  sin remaineth2 and #a   
,john i4 #h1 ,if we say that we have no 
sin1 we  deceive ourselves1 and the     
truth is not in us4           99        
99       99       99       99    ,it is 
base for one who sweetens that which he 
drinks with the gifts of  bees1 to      
embitter by vice his reason1 which is   
the gift of ,god4           99       99 
99       99       99    ,nothing is     
meaner than the love of pleasure1 the   
love of gain1 and  insolence3 nothing   
nobler than high-mindedness1 and        
gentleness1 and  philanthropy1 and doing
 good4           99       99       99   
99       99    ,the vine bears three    
clusters3 the first of pleasure2 the    

second of  drunkenness2 the third of    
insult4    ,he is a drunkard who drinks 
more than three cups2 even if he be not 
drunken1 he has exceeded moderation4    
,our own ,george ,herbert has laid down 
the same limit3--         ,be not a     
beast in courtesy1 but stay1            
,stay at the third cup1 or forego the   
place1        ,wine above all things    
doth ,god's stamp deface4           99  
99       99       99       99    ,like  
the beacon-lights in harbours1 which1   
kindling a great blaze by  means of a   
few fagots1 afford sufficient aid to    
vessels that wander over  the sea1 so1  
also1 a man of bright character in a    
storm-tossed city1  himself content with
 little1 effects great blessings for his
  fellow-citizens4    ,the thought is   
not unlike that of ,shakespeare3        
,how far yon little candle throws its   
beams1        ,so shines a good deed in 
a naughty world4    ,but the metaphor   
which ,epictetus more commonly adopts is
 one no less  beautiful4 ,what good1    

asked some one1 did ,helvidius ,priscus 
do in  resisting ,vespasian1 being but a
 single person8 ,what good1 answers     
,epictetus1 does the purple do on the   
garment8 ,why1 it is splendid in        
itself1 and splendid also in the example
 which it affords4           99       99
       99       99       99    ,as the  
sun does not wait for prayers and       
incantations that he may rise1  but     
shines at once1 and is greeted by all2  
so neither wait thou for  applause1 and 
shouts1 and eulogies1 that thou mayst do
 well2--but be a  spontaneous           
benefactor1 and thou shalt be beloved   
like the sun4           99       99     
99       99       99    ,thales1 when   
asked what was the commonest of all     
possessions1 answered1  ',hope2 for even
 those who have nothing else have hope4'
    ,lead1 lead me on1 my hopes1 says   
,mr4 ,macdonald2 ,i know that ye are    
true and not vain4 ,vanish from my eyes 
day after day1 but arise in new  forms4 
,i will follow your holy deception2     

follow till ye have brought me  to the  
feet of my ,father in heaven1 where ,i  
shall find you all1 with  folded wings1 
spangling the sapphire dusk whereon     
stands ,his throne  which is our home4  
,what ought not to be done do not even  
think of doing4    ,compare             
,guard well your thoughts for thoughts  
are heard in heaven4'           99      
99       99       99       99           
,epictetus1 when asked how a man could  
grieve his enemy1 replied1 ,by          
preparing himself to act in the noblest 
way4    ,compare ,rom4 xii4 #bj1 ,if    
thine enemy hunger1 feed him2 if he     
thirst1  give him drink3 for in so doing
 thou shall heap coals of fire on  his  
head           99       99       99     
99       99    ,if you always remember  
that in all you do in soul or body ,god 
stands by  as a witness1 in all your    
prayers and your actions you will not   
err2 and  you shall have ,god dwelling  
with you4    ,compare ,rev4 iii4 #cj1   
,behold ,i stand at the door and knock3 

if any man  hear my voice1 and open the 
door1 ,i will come in to him and will   
sup  with him1 and he with me4    ,in   
the discourse written to prove that ,god
 keeps watch upon human  actions1       
,epictetus touches again on the same    
topic1 saying that ,god has  placed     
beside each one of us his own guardian  
spirit--a spirit that  sleeps not and   
cannot be beguiled--and has handed us   
each over to that  spirit to protect us4
 ,and to what better or more careful    
guardian could  ,he have entrusted us8  
,so that when you have closed your doors
 and made  darkness within1 remember    
never to say that you are alone4 ,for   
you are  not alone4 ,god1 too1 is       
present there1 and your guardian spirit2
 and  what need have they of light to   
see what you are doing4    ,there is in 
this passage an almost startling        
coincidence of thought with  those      
eloquent words in the ,book of          
,ecclesiasticus3 ,a man that breaketh   
wedlock1 saying thus in his heart1 ,who 

seeth me8 ,i am compassed about  with   
darkness1 the walls cover me1 and nobody
 seeth me3 what need ,i to  fear8 the   
,most ,highest will not remember my     
sins3 such a man only  feareth the eyes 
of man1 and knoweth not that the eyes of
 the ,lord are  ten thousand times      
brighter than the sun1 beholding all the
 ways of men1  and considering the most 
secret parts4 ,he knew all things ere   
ever they  were created3 so also after  
they were perfected ,he looked upon all4
 ,this  man shall be punished in the    
streets of the city1 and where he       
expecteth  not he shall be taken4       
7,ecclus4 xxiii4 #aa-ba47    ,when we   
were children1 our parents entrusted us 
to a tutor who kept a  continual watch  
that we might not suffer harm2 but1 when
 we grow to  manhood1 ,god hands us over
 to an inborn conscience to guard us4   
,we must1  therefore1 by no means       
despise this guardianship1 since in that
 case we  shall both be displeasing to  
,god and enemies to our own conscience4 

,beautiful and remarkable as these      
fragments are we have no space for      
more1 and must conclude by comparing the
 last with the celebrated lines  of     
,george ,herbert3--         ,lord6 with 
what care hast ,thou begirt us round2   
,parents first season us4 ,then         
schoolmasters        ,deliver us to     
laws4 ,they send us bound          ,to  
rules of reason4 ,holy messengers2      
,pulpits and ,sundays1 sorrow dogging   
sin2          ,afflictions sorted2      
anguish of all sizes2        ,fine nets 
and stratagems to catch us in6          
,bibles laid open2 millions of          
surprises2        ,blessings beforehand2
 ties of gratefulness2          ,the    
sound of glory ringing in our ears2     
,without one shame2 within our          
consciences2          ,angels and grace2
 eternal hopes and fears6        ,yet   
all these fences and their whole array1 
,one cunning bosom sin blows quite away4
        ,,chapter ,v4    ,,the          
,,discourses ,,of ,,epictetus4    ,the  

,discourses of ,epictetus1 as originally
 published by ,arrian1  contained eight 
books1 of which only four have come down
 to us4 ,they are  in many respects the 
most valuable expression of his views4  
,there is  something slightly repellent 
in the stern concision1 the imperious   
brevity1 of the ,manual4 ,in the        
,manual1 says ,m4 ,martha1#ff the       
reason of the ,stoic proclaims its laws 
with an impassibility which is  little  
human2 it imposes silence on all the    
passions1 even the most  respectable2 it
 glories in waging against them an      
internecine war1 and  seems even to wish
 to repress the most legitimate impulses
 of generous  sensibility4 ,in reading  
these rigorous maxims one might be      
tempted to  believe that this legislator
 of morality is a man without a heart1  
and1  if we were not touched by the     
original sincerity of the language1 one 
would only see in this lapidary style   
the conventional precepts of a          
chimerical system or the aspirations of 

an impossible perfection4 ,the          
,discourses are more illustrative1 more 
argumentative1 more diffuse1  more      
human4 ,in reading them one feels       
oneself face to face with a human       
being1 not with the marble statue of the
 ideal wise man4 ,the style1  indeed1 is
 simple1 but its athletic nudity is well
 suited to this  militant morality2 its 
picturesque and incisive character1 its 
vigorous  metaphors1 its vulgar         
expressions1 its absence of all         
conventional  elegance1 display a       
certain plebeian originality which gives
 them an  almost autobiographic charm4  
,with trenchant logic and intrepid      
conviction he wrestles with the         
passions1 questions them1 makes them    
answer1 and confounds them in a few     
words which are often sublime4 ,this    
,socrates without grace does not amuse  
us by making his adversary fall  into   
the long entanglement of a captious     
dialogue1 but he rudely seizes  and     
often finishes him with two blows4 ,it  

is like the eloquence of  ,phocion1     
which ,demosthenes compares to an axe   
which is lifted  and falls4    ,footnote
 #ff3 ,moralistes sous l',empire1 p4    
#bjj4    ,epictetus1 like ,seneca1 is a 
preacher2 a preacher with less wealth of
  genius1 less eloquence of expression1 
less width of culture1 but with  far    
more bravery1 clearness1 consistency1   
and grasp of his subject4 ,his  doctrine
 and his life were singularly           
homogeneous1 and his views admit  of    
brief expression1 for they are not      
weakened by any fluctuations1 or        
chequered with any lights and shades4   
,the ,discourses differ from the        
,manual only in their manner1 their     
frequent anecdotes1 their pointed       
illustrations1 and their vivid          
interlocutory form4 ,the remark of      
,pascal1  that ,epictetus knew the      
grandeur of the human heart1 but did not
 know  its weakness1 applies to the     
,manual but can hardly be maintained    
when  we judge him by some of the       

answers which he gave to those who came 
to  seek for his consolation or advice4 
,the ,discourses are not systematic in  
their character1 and1 even if  they     
were1 the loss of the last four books   
would prevent us from working  out their
 system with any completeness4 ,our     
sketch of the ,manual will  already have
 put the reader in possession of the    
main principles and  ideas of           
,epictetus2 with the mental and physical
 philosophy of the  schools he did not  
in any way concern himself2 it was his  
aim to be a  moral preacher1 to ennoble 
the lives of men and touch their hearts4
 ,he  neither plagiarised nor invented1 
but he gave to ,stoicism a practical    
reality4 ,all that remains for us to do 
is to choose from the  ,discourses some 
of his most characteristic views1 and   
the modes by  which he brought them home
 to his hearers4    ,it was one of the  
most essential peculiarities of         
,stoicism to aim at  absolute           
independence1 or self-independence4     

,now1 as the weaknesses  and servilities
 of men arise most frequently from their
 desire for  superfluities1 the true man
 must absolutely get rid of any such    
desire4  ,he must increase his wealth by
 moderating his wishes2 he must despise 
all the luxuries for which men long1 and
 he must greatly diminish the  number of
 supposed necessaries4 ,we have already 
seen some of the  arguments which point 
in this direction1 and we may add       
another from the  third book of         
,discourses4    ,a certain magnificent  
orator1 who was going to ,rome on a     
lawsuit1 had  called on ,epictetus4 ,the
 philosopher threw cold water on his    
visit1  because he did not believe in   
his sincerity4 ,you will get no more    
from  me1 he said1 than you would get   
from any cobbler or greengrocer1 for    
you have only come because it happened  
to be convenient1 and you will  only    
criticise my style1 not really wishing  
to learn principles  ,well1 but1        
answered the orator1 if ,i attend to    

that sort of thing1 ,i  shall be a mere 
pauper like you1 with no plate1 or      
equipage1 or land4  ,i don't want such  
things1 replied ,epictetus2 and1        
besides1 you are  poorer than ,i am1    
after all4 ,why1 how so8 ,you have no   
constancy1 no  unanimity with nature1 no
 freedom from perturbations4 ,patron or 
no  patron1 what care ,i8 ,you do care4 
,i am richer than you4 ,i don't care    
what ,caesar thinks of me4 ,i flatter no
 one4 ,this is what ,i have  instead of 
your silver and gold plate4 ,you have   
silver vessels1 but  earthenware        
reasons1 principles1 appetites4 ,my mind
 to me a kingdom  is1 and it furnishes  
me abundant and happy occupation in lieu
 of your  restless idleness4 ,all your  
possessions seem small to you1 mine seem
  great to me4 ,your desire is          
insatiate1 mine is satisfied4 ,the      
comparison with which he ends the       
discussion is very remarkable4 ,i once  
had the privilege of hearing ,sir       
,william ,hooker explain to the late    

,queen ,adelaide the contents of the    
,kew ,museum4 ,among them was a         
cocoa-nut with a hole in it1 and ,sir   
,william explained to the ,queen that   
in certain parts of ,india1 when the    
natives want to catch the monkeys  they 
make holes in cocoa-nuts1 and fill them 
with sugar4 ,the monkeys  thrust in     
their hands and fill them with sugar2   
the aperture is too  small to draw the  
paws out again when thus increased in   
size2 the  monkeys have not the sense to
 loose their hold of the sugar1 and so  
they  are caught4 ,this little anecdote 
will enable the reader to relish the    
illustration of ,epictetus4 ,when little
 boys thrust their hands into           
narrow-mouthed jars full of figs and    
almonds1 when they have filled  their   
hands they cannot draw them out again1  
and so begin to howl4 ,let  go a few of 
the figs and almonds1 and you'll get    
your hand out4 ,and so  you1 let go your
 desires4 ,don't desire many things1 and
 you'll get  what you do desire4        

,blessed is he that expecteth nothing1  
for he  shall not be disappointed6      
,another of the constant precepts of    
,epictetus is that we should aim  high2 
we are not to be common threads in the  
woof of life1 but like the  laticlave on
 the robe of a senator1 the broad purple
 stripe which gave  lustre and beauty to
 the whole4 ,but how are we to know that
 we are  qualified for this high        
function8 ,how does the bull know1 when 
the lion  approaches1 that it is his    
place to expose himself for all the     
herd8 ,if  we have high powers we shall 
soon be conscious of them1 and if we    
have  them not we may gradually acquire 
them4 ,nothing great is produced at     
once1--the vine must blossom1 and bear  
fruit1 and ripen1 before we have  the   
purple clusters of the grape1--first the
 blade1 then the ear1 after  that the   
full corn in the ear4    ,but whence are
 we to derive this high sense of duty   
and possible  eminence8 ,why1 if ,caesar
 had adopted you1 would you not show    

your proud  sense of ennoblement in     
haughty looks2 how is it that you are   
not proud  of being sons of ,god8 ,you  
have1 indeed1 a body1 by virtue of which
 many  men sink into close kinship with 
pernicious wolves1 and savage lions1    
and crafty foxes1 destroying the        
rational within them1 and so becoming   
greedy cattle or mischievous vermin2 but
 above and beyond this1 ,if1  says      
,epictetus1 a man have once been        
worthily interpenetrated with the       
belief that we all have been in some    
special manner born of ,god1 and  that  
,god is the ,father of gods and men1 ,i 
think that he will never have  any      
ignoble1 any humble thoughts about      
himself4 ,our own great ,milton  has    
hardly expressed this high truth more   
nobly when he says1 that ,he  that holds
 himself in reverence and due esteem1   
both for the dignity of  ,god's image   
upon him1 and for the price of his      
redemption1 which he  thinks is visibly 
marked upon his forehead1 accounts      

himself both a fit  person to do the    
noblest and godliest deeds1 and much    
better worth than  to deject and defile1
 with such a debasement and pollution as
 sin is1  himself so highly ransomed1   
and ennobled to a new friendship and    
filial  relation with ,god4    ,and how 
are we to know that we have made        
progress8 ,we may know it if  our own   
wills are bent to live in conformity    
with nature2 if we be  noble1 free1     
faithful1 humble2 if desiring nothing1  
and shunning nothing  which lies beyond 
our power1 we sit loose to all earthly  
interests2 if  our lives are under the  
distinct governance of immutable and    
noble laws4    ,but shall we not meet   
with troubles in life8 ,yes1            
undoubtedly2 and are  there none at     
,olympia8 ,are you not burnt with heat1 
and pressed for  room1 and wetted with  
showers when it rains8 ,is there not    
more than  enough clamour1 and shouting1
 and other troubles8 ,yet ,i suppose you
  tolerate and endure all these when you

 balance them against the  magnificence 
of the spectacle8 ,and1 come now1 have  
you not received  powers wherewith to   
bear whatever occurs8 ,have you not     
received  magnanimity1 courage1         
fortitude8 ,and why1 if ,i am           
magnanimous1 should ,i  care for        
anything that can possibly happen8 what 
shall alarm or trouble  me1 or seem     
painful8 ,shall ,i not use the faculty  
for the ends for which  it was granted  
me1 or shall ,i grieve and groan at all 
the accidents of  life8 ,on the         
contrary1 these troubles and            
difficulties are strong  antagonists    
pitted against us1 and we may conquer   
them1 if we will1 in  the ,olympic game 
of life4    ,but if life and its burdens
 become absolutely intolerable1 may we  
not  go back to ,god1 from whom we came8
 may we not show thieves and robbers1   
and tyrants who claim power over us by  
means of our bodies and  possessions1   
that they have no power8 ,in a word1 may
 we not commit  suicide8 ,we know how   

,shakespeare treats this question3--    
,for who would bear the whips and scorns
 of time1        ,th' oppressor's wrong1
 the proud man's contumely1        ,the 
pangs of despised love1 the law's delay1
        ,the insolence of office1 and   
the spurns        ,which patient merit  
of the unworthy takes1        ,when he  
himself might his quietus make          
,with a bare bodkin8 ,who would these   
fardels bear1        ,to grunt and sweat
 under a weary life1        ,but that   
the dread of something after death1     
,the undiscovered country from whose    
bourne        ,no traveller returns1    
puzzles the will3        ,and makes us  
rather bear those ills we have          
,than fly to others that we know not of8
    ,but ,epictetus had no materials for
 such an answer4 ,i do not remember a   
single passage in which he refers to    
immortality or the life to come1  and it
 is therefore probable either that he   
did not believe in it at  all1 or that  
he put it aside as one of those things  

which are out of our  own power4 ,yet   
his answer is not that glorification of 
suicide which we  find throughout the   
tragedies of ,seneca1 and which was one 
of the  commonplaces of ,stoicism4 ,my  
friends1 he says1 wait ,god's good time 
till ,he gives you the signal1 and      
dismisses you from this service2 then   
dismiss yourself to go to ,him4 ,but for
 the present restrain yourselves1       
inhabiting the spot which ,he has at    
present assigned you4 ,for1 after  all1 
this time of your sojourn here is short1
 and easy for those who are  thus       
disposed2 for what tyrant1 or thief1 or 
judgment-halls1 are objects  of dread to
 those who thus absolutely disesteem the
 body and its  belongings8 ,stay1 then1 
and do not depart without due cause4    
,it will be seen that ,epictetus permits
 suicide without extolling it1  for in  
another place 7ii4 #a7 he says3 ,what is
 pain8 ,a mere ugly mask2  turn it1 and 
see that it is so4 ,this little flesh of
 ours is acted on  roughly1 and then    

again smoothly4 ,if it is not for your  
interest to bear  it1 the door is open2 
if it is for your interest--endure4 ,it 
is right  that under all circumstances  
the door should be open1 since so men   
end  all trouble4    ,this power of     
endurance is completely the keynote of  
the ,stoical view  of life1 and the     
method of attaining to it1 by practising
 contempt for  all external accidents1  
is constantly inculcated4 ,i have       
already told  the anecdote about        
,agrippinus by which ,epictetus         
admiringly shows that  no extreme of    
necessary misfortune could wring from   
the true ,stoic a  single expression of 
indignation or of sorrow4    ,the       
inevitable1 then1 in the view of the    
,stoics1 comes from ,god1 and it  is our
 duty not to murmur against it4 ,but    
this being the guiding  conception as   
regards ourselves1 how are we to treat  
others8 ,here1 too1  our duties spring  
directly from our relation to ,god4 ,it 
is that relation  which makes us        

reverence ourselves1 it is that which   
should make us  honour others4 ,slave6  
will you not bear with your own brother1
 who1 has  ,god for his father no less  
than you8 ,but they are wicked1         
perhaps--thieves and murderers4 ,be it  
so1 then they deserve all the more      
pity4 ,you don't exterminate the blind  
or deaf because of their  misfortunes1  
but you pity them3 and how much more to 
be pitied are  wicked men8 ,don't       
execrate them4 ,are you yourself so very
 wise8    ,nor are the precepts of      
,epictetus all abstract principles2 he  
often  pauses to give definite rules of 
conduct and practice4 ,nothing1 for     
instance1 can exceed the wisdom with    
which he speaks of habits 7ii4 #ah71    
and the best means of acquiring good    
habits and conquering evil ones4  ,he   
points out that we are the creatures of 
habit2 that every single act  is a      
definite grain in the sand-multitude of 
influences which make up  our daily     
life2 that each time we are angry or    

evil-inclined we are  adding fuel to a  
fire1 and virulence to the seeds of a   
disease4 ,a fever  may be cured1 but it 
leaves the health weaker2 and so also is
 it with  the diseases of the soul4     
,they leave their mark behind them4     
,take the instance of anger4 ,do you    
wish not to be passionate8 do not  then 
cherish the habit within you1 and do not
 add any stimulant thereto4  ,be calm at
 first1 and then number the days in     
which you have not been in  a rage4 ,i  
used to be angry every day1 now it is   
only every other day1  then every third1
 then every fourth day4 ,but should you 
have passed even  thirty days without a 
relapse1 then offer a sacrifice to ,god4
 ,for the  habit is first loosened1 then
 utterly eradicated4 ',i did not yield  
to  vexation today1 nor the next day1   
nor so on for two or three months1 but  
,i restrained myself under various      
provocations4' ,be sure1 if you can say 
that1 that it will soon be all right    
with you4    ,but how is one to do all  

this8 that is the great question1 and   
,epictetus is quite ready to give you   
the best answer he can4 ,we have1  for  
instance1 already quoted one passage in 
which 7unlike the majority  of ,pagan   
moralists7 he shows that he has         
thoroughly mastered the ethical         
importance of controlling even the      
thought of wickedness4 ,another         
anecdote about ,agrippinus will further 
illustrate the same doctrine4 ,it  was  
the wicked practice of ,nero to make    
noble ,romans appear on the stage  or in
 gladiatorial shows1 in order that he   
might thus seem to have their  sanction 
for his own degrading displays4 ,on one 
occasion ,florus1 who  was doubting     
whether or not he should obey the       
mandate1 consulted  ,agrippinus on the  
subject4 ,go by all means1 replied      
,agrippinus4  ,but why don't you go1    
then8 asked ,florus4 ,because1 said     
,agrippinus1 ,i do not deliberate about 
it4 ,he implied by this answer  that to 
hesitate is to yield1 to deliberate is  

to be lost2 we must act  always on      
principles1 we must never pause to      
calculate consequences4  ,but if ,i     
don't go1 objected ,florus1 ,i shall    
have my head cut off4  ,well1 then1 go1 
but ,i won't4 ,why won't you go8        
,because ,i do not  care to be of a     
piece with the common thread of life2 ,i
 like to be the  purple sewn upon it4   
,and if we want a due motive for such   
lofty choice ,epictetus will  supply it4
 ,wish1 he says1 to win the suffrages of
 your own inward  approval1 wish to     
appear beautiful to ,god4 ,desire to be 
pure with your  own pure self1 and with 
,god4 ,and when any evil fancy assails  
you1 ,plato  says1 ',go to the rites of 
expiation1 go as a suppliant to the     
temples of  the gods1 the averters of   
evil4' ,but it will be enough should you
 even  rise and depart to the society of
 the noble and the good1 to live        
according to their examples1 whether you
 have any such friend among the  living 
or among the dead4 ,go to ,socrates1 and

 gaze on his utter mastery  over        
temptation and passion2 consider how    
glorious was the conscious  victory over
 himself6 ,what an ,olympic triumph6    
,how near does it place  him to         
,hercules himself4' ,so that1 by heaven1
 one might justly salute  him1 ',hail1  
marvellous conqueror1 who hast          
conquered1 not these  miserable boxers  
and athletes1 nor these gladiators who  
resemble them4'  ,and should you thus be
 accustomed to train yourself1 you will 
see what  shoulders you will get1 what  
nerves1 what sinews1 instead of mere    
babblements1 and nothing more4 ,this is 
the true athlete1 the man who  trains   
himself to deal with such semblances as 
these4 ,great is the  struggle1 divine  
the deed2 it is for kingdom1 for        
freedom1 for  tranquillity1 for peace4  
,think on ,god2 call upon ,him as thine 
aid and  champion1 as sailors call on   
the ,great ,twin ,brethren in the storm4
 ,and  indeed what storm is greater than
 that which rises from powerful         

semblances that dash reason out of its  
course8 ,what indeed but semblance  is a
 storm itself8 ,since1 come now1 remove 
the fear of death1 and bring  as many   
thunders and lightnings as thou wilt1   
and thou shalt know how  great is the   
tranquillity and calm in that reason    
which is the ruling  faculty of the     
soul4 ,but should you once be worsted1  
and say that you  will conquer          
hereafter1 and then the same again and  
again1 know that  thus your condition   
will be vile and weak1 so that at the   
last you will  not even know that you   
are doing wrong1 but you will even begin
 to  provide excuses for your sin2 and  
then you will confirm the truth of  that
 saying of ,hesiod1--         ',the man 
that procrastinates struggles ever with 
ruin4'    ,even so6 ,so early did a     
heathen moralist learn the solemn fact  
that  only this once ends in there is no
 harm in it4 ,well does ,mr4  ,coventry 
,patmore sing3--         ,how easy to   
keep free from sin2          ,how hard  

that freedom to recall2        ,for     
awful truth it is that men              
,forget the heaven from which they fall4
    ,in another place ,epictetus warns  
us1 however1 not to be too easily       
discouraged in our attempts after       
good2--and1 above all1 never to         
despair4 ,in the schools of the         
wrestling master1 when a boy falls he   
is bidden to get up again1 and to go on 
wrestling day by day till he has        
acquired strength2 and we must do the   
same1 and not be like those poor        
wretches who after one failure suffer   
themselves to be swept along as by  a   
torrent4 ,you need but will he says1 and
 it is done2 but if you  relax your     
efforts1 you will be ruined2 for ruin   
and recovery are both  from             
within4--,and what will you gain by all 
this8 ,you will gain modesty  for       
inpudence1 purity for vileness1         
moderation for drunkenness4 ,if you     
think there are any better ends than    
these1 then by all means go on in  sin1 

for you are beyond the power of any god 
to save4    ,but ,epictetus is          
particularly in earnest about warning us
 that to  profess these principles and  
talk about them is one thing--to act up 
to them quite another4 ,he draws a      
humorous picture of an inconsistent  and
 unreal philosopher1 who--after         
eloquently proving that nothing is  good
 but what pertains to virtue1 and       
nothing evil but what pertains to  vice1
 and that all other things are          
indifferent--goes to sea4 ,a storm      
comes on1 and the masts creak1 and the  
philosopher screams2 and an  impertinent
 person stands by and asks in surprise1 
,is it then vice to  suffer shipwreck8  
because1 if not1 it can be no evil2 a   
question which  makes our philosopher so
 angry that he is inclined to fling a   
log at his  interlocutor's head4 ,but   
,epictetus sternly tells him that the   
philosopher never was one at all1 except
 in name2 that as he sat in the  schools
 puffed up by homage and adulation1 his 

innate cowardice and  conceit were but  
hidden under borrowed plumes2 and that  
in him the name  of ,stoic was usurped4 
,why1 he asks in another passage1 why do
 you call yourself a ,stoic8  ,why do   
you deceive the multitude8 ,why do you  
act the ,jew when you are a  ,greek8    
,don't you see on what terms each person
 is called a ,jew8 or a  ,syrian8 or an 
,egyptian8 ,and when we see some mere   
trimmer we are in  the habit of saying1 
',this is no ,jew2 he is only acting the
 part of  one1' but when a man takes up 
the entire condition of a proselyte1    
thoroughly imbued with ,jewish          
doctrines1 then he both is in reality   
and is called a ,jew4 ,so we            
philosophers too1 dipped in a false dye1
  are ,jews in name1 but in reality are 
something else4444 ,we call  ourselves  
philosophers when we cannot even play   
the part of men1 as  though a man should
 try to heave the stone of ,ajax who    
cannot lift ten  pounds4 ,the passage is
 interesting not only on its own        

account1 but  because of its curious    
similarity both with the language and   
with the  sentiment of ,st4 ,paul--,he  
is not a ,jew who is one outwardly1     
neither is  that circumcision which is  
outward in the flesh1 but he is a ,jew  
who is  one inwardly2 and circumcision  
is that of the heart1 in the spirit and 
not in the latter2 whose praise is not  
of men1 but of ,god4    ,the best way to
 become a philosopher in deed is not by 
a mere study of  books and knowledge of 
doctrines1 but by a steady diligence of 
actions  and adherence to original      
principles1 to which must be added      
consistency  and self control4 ,these   
principles1 says ,epictetus1 produce    
friendship in a house1 unanimity in a   
city1 peace in nations2 they make  a man
 grateful to ,god1 bold under all       
circumstances1 as though dealing  with  
things alien and valueless4 ,now we are 
capable of writing these  things1 and   
reading them1 and praising them when    
they are read1 but we  are far enough   

off following them4 ,hence comes it that
 the reproach of  the ,lacedaemonians1  
that they are 'lions at home1 foxes at  
,ephesus1'  will also apply to us2 in   
the school we are lions1 out of it      
foxes4    ,these passages include1 ,i   
think1 all the most original1 important1
 and  characteristic conceptions which  
are to be found in the ,discourses4     
,they are most prominently illustrated  
in the long and important chapter  on   
the ,cynic philosophy4 ,a genuine       
,cynic--one who was so1 not in          
brutality of manners or ostentation of  
rabid eccentricity1 but a ,cynic  in    
life and in his inmost principles--was  
evidently in the eyes of  ,epictetus one
 of the loftiest of human beings4 ,he   
drew a sketch of his  ideal conception  
to one of his scholars who inquired of  
him upon  the subject4    ,he begins by 
saying that a true ,cynic is so lofty a 
being that he who  undertakes the       
profession without due qualifications   
kindles against him  the anger of       

heaven4 ,he is like a scurrilous        
,thersites1 claiming the  imperial      
office of an ,agamemnon4 ,if you think1 
he tells the young  student1 that you   
can be a ,cynic merely by wearing an old
 cloak1 and  sleeping on a hard bed1 and
 using a wallet and staff1 and begging1 
and  rebuking every one whom you see    
effeminately dressed or wearing purple1 
you don't know what you are about--get  
you gone2 but if you know what a  ,cynic
 really is1 and think yourself capable  
of being one1 then consider  how great a
 thing you are undertaking4    ,first as
 to yourself4 ,you must be absolutely   
resigned to the will of  ,god4 ,you must
 conquer every passion1 abrogate every  
desire4 ,your life  must be             
transparently open to the view of ,god  
and man4 ,other men conceal  their      
actions with houses1 and doors1 and     
darkness1 and guards2 your  house1 your 
door1 your darkness1 must be a sense of 
holy shame4 ,you must  conceal nothing2 
you must have nothing to conceal4 ,you  

must be known as  the spy and messenger 
of ,god among mankind4    ,you must     
teach men that happiness is not there1  
where in their  blindness and misery    
they seek it4 ,it is not in strength1   
for ,myro and  ,ofellius were not happy3
 not in wealth1 for ,croesus was not    
happy3 not  in power1 for the ,consuls  
are not happy3 not in all these         
together1 for  ,nero1 and ,sardanapalus1
 and ,agamemnon sighed1 and wept1 and   
tore their  hair1 and were the slaves of
 circumstances and the dupes of         
semblances4  ,it lies in yourselves3 in 
true freedom1 in the absence or conquest
 of  every ignoble fear2 in perfect     
self-government2 in a power of          
contentment and peace1 and the 'even    
flow of life' amid poverty1 exile1      
disease1 and the very valley of the     
shadow of death4 ,can you face this     
,olympic contest8 ,are your thews and   
sinews strong enough8 ,can you face  the
 fact that those who are defeated are   
also disgraced and whipped8    ,only by 

,god's aid can you attain to this4 ,only
 by ,his aid can you be  beaten like an 
ass1 and yet love those who beat you1   
preserving an  unshaken unanimity in the
 midst of circumstances which to other  
men  would cause trouble1 and grief1 and
 disappointment1 and despair4    ,the   
,cynic must learn to do without friends1
 for where can he find a  friend worthy 
of him1 or a king worthy of sharing his 
moral sceptre8 ,the  friend of the truly
 noble must be as truly noble as        
himself1 and such a  friend the genuine 
,cynic cannot hope to find4 ,nor must he
 marry2  marriage is right and          
honourable in other men1 but its        
entanglements1  its expenses1 its       
distractions1 would render impossible a 
life devoted  to the service of heaven4 
,nor will he mingle in the affairs of   
any commonwealth3 his commonwealth  is  
not ,athens or ,corinth1 but mankind4   
,in person he should be strong1 and     
robust1 and hale1 and in spite of  his  
indigence always clean and attractive4  

,tact and intelligence1 and a  power of 
swift repartee1 are necessary to him4   
,his conscience must be  clear as the   
sun4 ,he must sleep purely1 and wake    
still more purely4 ,to  abuse and insult
 he must be as insensible as a stone1   
and he must place  all fears and desires
 beneath his feet4 ,to be a ,cynic is to
 be this3  before you attempt it        
deliberate well1 and see whether by the 
help of  ,god you are capable of        
achieving it4    ,i have given a sketch 
of the doctrines of this lofty chapter1 
but fully  to enjoy its morality and    
eloquence the reader should study it    
entire1  and observe its generous       
impatience1 its noble ardour1 its vivid 
interrogations1 in which1 says ,m4      
,martha1 one feels as it were a  frenzy 
of virtue and of piety1 and in which the
 plenitude of a great  heart            
tumultuously precipitates a torrent of  
holy thoughts4    ,epictetus was not a  
,christian4 ,he has only once alluded to
 the  ,christians in his works1 and     

there it is under the opprobrious title 
of  ,galileans1 who practised a kind of 
insensibility in painful  circumstances 
and an indifference to worldly interests
 which ,epictetus  unjustly sets down to
 mere habit4 ,unhappily it was not      
granted to  these heathen philosophers  
in any true sense to know what          
,christianity  was4 ,they ignorantly    
thought that it was an attempt to       
imitate the  results of philosophy1     
without having passed through the       
necessary  discipline4 ,they viewed it  
with suspicion1 they treated it with    
injustice4 ,and yet in ,christianity1   
and in ,christianity alone1 they  would 
have found an ideal which would have    
surpassed their loftiest  conceptions4  
,nor was it only an impossible ideal2 it
 was an ideal  rendered attainable by   
the impressive sanction of the highest  
authority1  and one which supported men 
to bear the difficulties of life with   
fortitude1 with peacefulness1 and even  
with an inward joy2 it ennobled  their  

faculties without overstraining them2 it
 enabled them to  disregard the burden  
of present trials1 not by vainly        
attempting to deny  their bitterness or 
ignore their weight1 but in the high    
certainty that  they are the brief and  
necessary prelude to a far more         
exceeding and  eternal weight of glory4 
,,marcus ,,aurelius4                    
,,chapter ,i4    ,,the ,,education ,,of 
,,an ,,emperor4    ,the life of the     
noblest of ,pagan ,emperors may well    
follow that of the  noblest of ,pagan   
slaves4 ,their glory shines the purer   
and brighter from  the midst of a       
corrupt and deplorable society4         
,epictetus showed that a  ,phrygian     
slave could live a life of the loftiest 
exaltation2 ,aurelius  proved that a    
,roman ,emperor could live a life of the
 deepest humility4  ,the one--a         
foreigner1 feeble1 deformed1 ignorant1  
born in squalor1 bred  in degradation1  
the despised chattel of a despicable    
freedman1  surrounded by every          

depressing1 ignoble1 and pitiable       
circumstance of  life--showed how one   
who seemed born to be a wretch could win
 noble  happiness and immortal memory2  
the other--a ,roman1 a patrician1       
strong1  of heavenly beauty1 of noble   
ancestors1 almost born to the purple1   
the  favourite of ,emperors1 the        
greatest conquerer1 the greatest        
philosopher1  the greatest ruler of his 
time-proved for ever that it is possible
 to be  virtuous1 and tender1 and holy1 
and contented in the midst of sadness1  
even on an irresponsible and imperial   
throne4 ,strange that1 of the two1  the 
,emperor is even sweeter1 more simple1  
more admirable1 more humbly  and        
touchingly resigned1 than the slave4 ,in
 him1 ,stoicism loses all its  haughty  
self-assertion1 all its impracticable   
paradox1 for a manly  melancholy which  
at once troubles and charms the heart4  
,it seems1 says  ,m4 ,martha1 that in   
him the philosophy of heathendom grows  
less proud1  draws nearer and nearer to 

a ,christianity which it ignored or     
which it  despised1 and is ready to     
fling itself into the arms of the       
',unknown  ,god4' ,in the sad           
,meditations of ,aurelius we find a pure
 serenity1  sweetness1 and docility to  
the commands of ,god1 which before him  
were  unknown1 and which ,christian     
grace has alone surpassed4 ,if he has   
not  yet attained to charity in all that
 fulness of meaning which  ,christianity
 has given to the word he has already   
gained its unction1  and one cannot read
 his book1 unique in the history of     
,pagan philosophy1  without thinking of 
the sadness of ,pascal and the          
gentleness of ,fnlon4  ,we must pause   
before this soul1 so lofty and so pure1 
to contemplate  ancient virtue in its   
softest brilliancy1 to see the moral    
delicacy to  which profane doctrines    
have attained--how they laid down their 
pride1  and how penetrating a grace they
 have found in their new simplicity4 ,to
  make the example yet more striking1   

,providence1 which1 according to the    
,stoics1 does nothing by chance1        
determined that the example of these    
simple virtues should bloom in the midst
 of all human grandeur--that  charity   
should be taught by the successor of    
blood stained ,caesars1 and  humbleness 
of heart by an ,emperor4    ,aurelius   
has always exercised a powerful         
fascination over the minds of  eminent  
men ,if you set aside1 for a moment1 the
 contemplation of the  ,christian       
verities1 says the eloquent and         
thoughtful ,montesquieu1  search        
throughout all nature1 and you will not 
find a grander object  than the         
,antonines4444 ,one feels a secret      
pleasure in speaking of this  ,emperor2 
one cannot read his life without a      
softening feeling of  emotion4 ,he      
produces such an effect upon our minds  
that we think better  of ourselves1     
because he inspires us with a better    
opinion of mankind4  ,it is more        
delightful1 says the great historian    

,niebuhr1 to speak of  ,marcus ,aurelius
 than of any man in history2 for if     
there is any sublime  human virtue it is
 his4 ,he was certainly the noblest     
character of his  time1 and ,i know no  
other man who combined such unaffected  
kindness1  mildness1 and humility1 with 
such conscientiousness and severity     
towards  himself4 ,we possess           
innumerable busts of him1 for every     
,roman of his  time was anxious to      
possess his portrait1 and if there is   
anywhere an  expression of virtue it is 
in the heavenly features of ,marcus     
,aurelius4    ,marcus ,aurelius was born
 on ,april #bf1 ,a4,d4 #aba4 ,his more  
correct  designation would be ,marcus   
,antoninus1 but since he bore several   
different names at different periods of 
his life1 and since at that age  nothing
 was more common than a change of       
designation1 it is hardly worth  while  
to alter the name by which he is most   
popularly recognised4 ,his  father1     
,annius ,verus1 who died in his         

,praetorship1 drew his blood from a     
line of illustrious men who claimed     
descent from ,numa1 the second ,king  of
 ,rome4 ,his mother1 ,domitia ,calvilla1
 was also a lady of consular and  kingly
 race4 ,the character of both seems to  
have been worthy of their  high dignity4
 ,of his father he can have known       
little1 since ,annius died  when        
,aurelius was a mere infant2 but in his 
,meditations he has left us  a grateful 
memorial of both his parents4 ,he says  
that from his  grandfather he learned   
7or1 might have learned7 good morals and
 the  government of his temper2 from the
 reputation and remembrance of his      
father1 modesty and manliness2 from his 
mother1 piety1 and beneficence1  and    
abstinence not only from evil deeds1 but
 even from evil thoughts2  and1 further1
 simplicity of life far removed from the
 habits of  the rich4    ,the childhood 
and boyhood of ,aurelius fell during the
 reign of ,hadrian4  ,the times were    
better than those which we have         

contemplated in the  reigns of the      
,caesars4 ,after the suicide of ,nero   
and the brief reigns of  ,galba and     
,otho1 the ,roman world had breathed    
more freely for a time  under the rough 
good humour of ,vespasian and the       
philosophic virtue of  ,titus4 ,the     
reign of ,domitian1 indeed1 who         
succeeded his brother ,titus1  was      
scarcely less terrible and infamous than
 that of ,caius or of ,nero2  but that  
prince1 shortly before his murder1 had  
dreamt that a golden  neck had grown out
 of his own1 and interpreted the dream  
to indicate  that a better race of      
princes should follow him4 ,the dream   
was  fulfilled4 ,whatever may have been 
their other faults1 ,nerva1 ,trajan1    
,hadrian1 were wise and kind-hearted    
rulers2 ,antoninus ,pius and ,marcus    
,aurelius were among the very gentlest  
and noblest sovereigns whom the  world  
has ever seen4    ,hadrian1 though an   
able1 indefatigable1 and1 on the whole1 
beneficial  ,emperor1 was a man whose   

character was stained with serious      
faults4 ,it  is1 however1 greatly to his
 honour that he recognized in ,aurelius1
 at  the early age of six years1 the    
germs of those extraordinary virtues    
which afterwards blessed the empire and 
elevated the sentiments of  mankind4    
,hadrian's bad and sinful habits left   
him1 says ,niebuhr1 when  he gazed on   
the sweetness of that innocent child4   
,playing on the boy's  paternal name of 
,verus1 he called him ,verissimus1 'the 
most true4'  ,it is interesting to find 
that this trait of character was so     
early  developed in one who thought that
 all men should speak as they think1    
with an accent of heroic verity4        
,toward the end of his long reign1 worn 
out with disease and weariness1         
,hadrian1 being childless1 had adopted  
as his son ,l4 ,ceionius ,commodus1 a   
man who had few recommendations but his 
personal beauty4 ,upon his death1  which
 took place a year afterwards1 ,hadrian1
 assembling the senators  round his sick

 bed1 adopted and presented to them as  
their future  ,emperor ,arrius          
,antoninus1 better known by the surname 
of ,pius1 which he  won by his gratitude
 to the memory of his predecessor4 ,had 
,aurelius been  older--he was then but  
seventeen--it is known that ,hadrian    
would have  chosen him1 and not         
,antoninus1 for his heir4 ,the latter1  
indeed1 who  was then fifty-two years   
old1 was only selected on the express   
condition  that he should in turn adopt 
both ,marcus ,aurelius and the son of   
the  deceased ,ceionius4 ,thus1 at the  
age of seventeen1 ,aurelius1 who1 even  
from his infancy1 had been loaded with  
conspicuous distinctions1 saw  himself  
the acknowledged heir to the empire of  
the world4    ,we are happily able1     
mainly from his own writings1 to give   
some sketch  of the influences and the  
education which had formed him for this 
exalted station4    ,he was brought up  
in the house of his grandfather1 a man  
who had been  three times consul4 ,he   

makes it a matter of congratulation1 and
  thankfulness to the gods1 that he had 
not been sent to any public  school1    
where he would have run the risk of     
being tainted by that  frightful        
corruption into which1 for many years1  
the ,roman youth had  fallen4 ,he       
expresses a sense of obligation to his  
great-grandfather for  having supplied  
him with good teachers at home1 and for 
the conviction  that on such things a   
man should spend liberally4 ,there was  
nothing  jealous1 barren1 or illiberal1 
in the training he received4 ,he was    
fond  of boxing1 wrestling1 running2 he 
was an admirable player at ball1 and  he
 was fond of the perilous excitement of 
hunting the wild boar4 ,thus1  his      
healthy sports1 his serious studies1 his
 moral instruction1 his  public         
dignities and duties1 all contributed to
 form his character in a  beautiful and 
manly mould4 ,there are1 however1 three 
respects in which  his education seems  
especially worthy of notice2--,i mean   

the  diligence1 the gratitude1 and the  
hardiness in which he was  encouraged by
 others1 and which he practised with all
 the ardour of  generous conviction4    
#a4 ,in the best sense of the word1     
,aurelius was diligent4 ,he alludes     
more than once in his ,meditations to   
the inestimable value of time1  and to  
his ardent desire to gain more leisure  
for intellectual pursuits4  ,he flung   
himself with his usual undeviating      
stedfastness of purpose into  every     
branch of study1 and though he          
deliberately abandoned rhetoric1 he     
toiled hard at philosophy1 at the       
discipline of arms1 at the              
administration of business1 and at the  
difficult study of ,roman               
jurisprudence4 ,one of the acquisitions 
for which he expresses gratitude  to his
 tutor ,rusticus1 is that of reading    
carefully1 and not being  satisfied with
 the superficial understanding of a     
book4 ,in fact1 so  strenuous was his   
labour1 and so great his abstemiousness1

 that his  health suffered by the       
combination of the two4    #b4 ,his     
opening remarks show that he remembered 
all his teachers--even  the most        
insignificant--with sincere gratitude4  
,he regarded each one  of them as a man 
from whom something could be learnt1 and
 from whom he  actually did learn that  
something4 ,hence the honourable        
respect--a  respect as honourable to    
himself as to them--which he paid to    
,fronto1 to  ,rusticus1 to ,julius      
,proculus1 and others whom his noble and
  conscientious gratitude raised to the 
highest dignities of the ,state4 ,he    
even thanks the gods that he made haste 
to place those who brought him  up in   
the station of honour which they seemed 
to desire1 without putting  them off    
with mere hopes of his doing it some    
time after1 because they  were then     
still young4 ,he was far the superior of
 these men1 not only  socially but even 
morally and intellectually2 yet from the
 height of his  exalted rank and        

character he delighted to associate with
 them on the  most friendly terms1 and  
to treat them1 even till his death1 with
  affection and honour1 to place their  
likenesses among his household  gods1   
and visit their sepulchres with wreaths 
and victims4    #c4 ,his hardiness and  
self-denial were perhaps still more     
remarkable4 ,i  wish that those boys of 
our day1 who think it undignified to    
travel  second-class1 who dress in the  
extreme of fashion1 wear roses in their 
buttonholes1 and spend upon ices and    
strawberries what would maintain a  poor
 man for a year1 would learn how        
infinitely more noble was the           
abstinence of this young ,roman1 who    
though born in the midst of  splendour  
and luxury1 learnt from the first to    
loathe the petty vice of  gluttony1 and 
to despise the unmanliness of           
self-indulgence4 ,very early  in life he
 joined the glorious fellowship of those
 who esteem it not  only a duty but a   
pleasure         ,to scorn delights1 and

 live laborious days1    and had learnt 
endurance of labour1 and to want little1
 and to work  with his own hands4 ,in   
his eleventh year he became acquainted  
with  ,diognetus1 who first introduced  
him to the ,stoic philosophy1 and in his
  twelfth year he assumed the ,stoic    
dress4 ,this philosophy taught him to   
prefer a plank bed and skin1 and        
whatever else of the kind belongs to    
the ,grecian discipline4 ,it is said    
that the skin was a concession to  the  
entreaties of his mother1 and that the  
young philosopher himself  would have   
chosen to sleep on the bare boards or on
 the ground4 ,yet he  acted thus without
 self-assertion and without ostentation4
 ,his friends  found him always         
cheerful2 and his calm features1--in    
which a dignity  and thoughtfulness of  
spirit contrasted with the bloom and    
beauty of a  pure and honourable        
boyhood1--were never overshadowed with  
ill-temper or  with gloom4    ,the      
guardians of ,marcus ,aurelius had      

gathered around him all the most        
distinguished literary teachers of the  
age4 ,never had a prince a greater      
number of eminent instructors2 never    
were any teachers made happy by a  more 
grateful1 a more humble1 a more         
blameless1 a more truly royal and       
glorious pupil4 ,long years after his   
education had ceased1 during his        
campaign among the ,quadi1 he wrote a   
sketch of what he owed to them4  ,this  
sketch forms the first book of his      
,meditations1 and is  characterised     
throughout by the most unaffected       
simplicity and modesty4    ,the         
,meditations of ,marcus ,aurelius were  
in fact his private diary1  they are a  
noble soliloquy with his own heart1 an  
honest examination of  his own          
conscience2 there is not the slightest  
trace of their having  been intended for
 any eye but his own4 ,in them he was   
acting on the  principle of ,st4        
,augustine3 ,go up into the tribunal of 
thy conscience1  and set thyself before 

thyself4 ,he was ever bearing about--   
,a silent court of justice in himself1  
,himself the judge and jury1 and himself
        ,the prisoner at the bar4       
,and writing amid all the cares and     
distractions of a war which he          
detested1 he averted his eyes from the  
manifold wearinesses which daily  vexed 
his soul1 and calmly sat down to        
meditate on all the great  qualities    
which he had observed1 and all the good 
lessons that he might  have learnt from 
those who had instructed his boyhood1   
and surrounded  his manly years4    ,and
 what had he learnt8--learnt heartily to
 admire1 and 7we may say7  learnt to    
practise also8 ,a sketch of his first   
book will show us4 ,what  he had gained 
from his immediate parents we have seen 
already1 and we  will make a brief      
abstract of his other obligations4      
,from his governor--to which of his     
teachers this name applies we are  not  
sure--he had learnt to avoid factions at
 the races1 to work hard1  and to avoid 

listening to slander2 from ,diognetus1  
to despise frivolous  superstitions1 and
 to practise self-denial2 from          
,apollonius1 undeviating  steadiness of 
purpose1 endurance of misfortune1 and   
the reception of  favours without being 
humbled by them2 from ,sextus of        
,chaeronea 7a  grandson of the          
celebrated ,plutarch71 tolerance of the 
ignorant1 gravity  without affectation1 
and benevolence of heart2 from          
,alexander1 delicacy  in correcting     
others2 from ,severus1 a disposition to 
do good1 and to  give to others readily1
 and to cherish good hope1 and1 to      
believe that ,i  am beloved of my       
friends2 from ,maximus1 sweetness and   
dignity1 and to  do what was set before 
me without complaining2 from ,alexander 
the  ,platonic1 not frequently to say to
 any one1 nor to write in a letter1     
that ,i have no leisure2 nor continually
 to excuse the neglect of  ordinary     
duties by alleging urgent occupations4  
,to one or two others his obligations   

were still more characteristic and      
important4 ,from ,rusticus1 for         
instance1 an excellent and able man1    
whose  advice for years he was          
accustomed to respect1 he had learnt to 
despise  sophistry and display1 to write
 with simplicity1 to be easily pacified1
  to be accurate1 and--an inestimable   
benefit this1 and one which tinged  the 
colour of his whole life--to become     
acquainted with the ,discourses  of     
,epictetus4 ,and from his adoptive      
father1 the great ,antoninus ,pius1 he  
had derived advantages still more       
considerable4 ,in him he saw the        
example of a sovereign and statesman    
firm1 self-controlled1 modest1          
faithful1 and even tempered2 a man who  
despised flattery and hated  meanness2  
who honoured the wise and distinguished 
the meritorious2 who  was indifferent to
 contemptable trifles1 and indefatigable
 in earnest  business2 one1 in short1   
who had a perfect and invincible soul1  
who1  like ,socrates1 was able both to  

abstain from and to enjoy those things  
which many are too weak to abstain from 
and cannot enjoy without  excess4 #fg   
,piety1 serenity1 sweetness1 disregard  
of empty fame1  calmness1 simplicity1   
patience1 are virtues which he          
attributes to him  in another           
full-length portrait 7vi4 #cj7 which he 
concludes with the  words1 ,imitate all 
this1 that thou mayest have as good a   
conscience  when thy last hour comes as 
he had4    ,footnote #fg3 ,my quotations
 from ,marcus ,aurelius will be made 7by
  permission7 from the forcible and     
admirably accurate translation of ,mr4  
,long4 ,in thanking ,mr4 ,long1 ,i may  
be allowed to add that the ,english     
reader will find in his version the best
 means of becoming acquainted  with the 
purest-and noblest book of antiquity4   
,he concludes these reminiscenses of    
thankfulness with a summary of what  he 
owed to the gods4 ,and for what does he 
thanks the gods8 for being  wealthy1 and
 noble1 and an emperor8 ,nay1 for no    

vulgar or dubious  blessings such as    
these1 but for the guidance which       
trained him in  philosophy1 and for the 
grace which kept him from sin4 ,and here
 it is  that his genuine modesty comes  
out4 ,as the excellent divine used to   
say  when he saw a criminal led past for
 execution1 ,there1 but for the grace   
of ,god1 goes ,john ,bradford1 so1 after
 thanking the gods for the  goodness of 
all his family and relatives1 ,aurelius 
says1 ,further1 ,i owe  it to the gods  
that ,i was not hurried into any offence
 against any of  them1 though ,i had a  
disposition which1 if opportunity had   
offered1  might have led me to do       
something of this kind2 but through     
their favour  there never was such a    
concurrence of circumstances as put me  
to the  trial4 ,further1 that ,i was    
subjected to a ruler and father who took
 away  all pride from me1 and taught me 
that it was possible to live in a       
palace without guards1 or embroidered   
dresses1 or torches1 and statues1  and  

such-like show1 but to live very near to
 the fashion of a private  person1      
without being either mean in thought or 
remiss in action2 that  after having    
fallen into amatory passions ,i was     
cured2 that though it  was my mother's  
fate to die young1 she spent the last   
years of her life  with me2 that        
whenever ,i wished to help any man1 ,i  
was never told that ,i  had not the     
means of doing it2--that ,i had         
abundance of good masters for  my       
children3 for all these thing require   
the help of the gods  and fortune4      
,the whole of the ,emperor's            
,meditations deserve the profound study 
of  this age4 ,the self-denial which    
they display is a rebuke to our         
ever-growing luxury2 their generosity   
contrasts favourably with the           
increasing bitterness of our cynicism2  
their contented acquiescence in  ,god's 
will rebukes our incessant restlessness2
 above all1 their constant  elevation   
shames that multitude of little vices1  

and little meannesses1  which lie like a
 scurf over the conventionality of      
modern life4 ,but this  earlier chapter 
has also a special value for the young4 
,it offers a  picture which it would    
indeed be better for them and for us if 
they  could be induced to study4 ,if    
even under         ,that fierce light   
that beats upon the throne1    the life 
of ,marcus ,aurelius shows no moral     
stain1 it is still more  remarkable that
 the free and beautiful boyhood of this 
,roman prince had  early learnt to      
recognise only the excellences of his   
teachers1 their  patience and firmness1 
their benevolence and sweetness1 their  
integrity  and virtue4 ,amid the        
frightful universality of moral         
corruption he  preserved a stainless    
conscience and a most pure soul2 he     
thanked ,god in  language which breathes
 the most crystalline delicacy of       
sentiment and  language1 that he had    
preserved uninjured the flower of his   
early life1  and that under the calm    

influences of his home in the country1  
and the  studies of philosophy1 he had  
learnt to value chastity as the sacred  
girdle of youth1 to be retained and     
honoured to his latest years4  ,surely1 
says ,mr4 ,carlyle1 a day is coming when
 it will be known again  what virtue is 
in purity and continence of life2 how   
divine is the blush  of young human     
cheeks2 how high1 beneficent1 sternly   
inexorable is the  duty laid on every   
creature in regard to these particulars4
 ,well1 if  such a day never come1 then 
,i perceive much else will never come4  
,magnanimity and depth of insight will  
never come2 heroic purity of  heart and 
of eye2 noble pious valour to amend us  
and the age of bronze  and lacquers1 how
 can they ever come8 ,the scandalous    
bronze-lacquer age  of hungry           
animalisms1 spiritual impotencies1 and  
mendacities will have  to run its course
 till the pit swallow it4               
,,chapter ,,ii4    ,,the ,,life ,,and   
,,thoughts ,,of ,,marcus ,,aurelius4    

,on the death of ,hadrian in ,a4 ,d4    
#ach1 ,antoninus ,pius succeeded to the 
throne1 and1 in accordance with the late
 ,emperor's conditions1 adopted  ,marcus
 ,aurelius and ,lucius ,commodus4       
,marcus had been betrothed at the  age  
of fifteen to the sister of ,lucius     
,commodus1 but the new ,emperor  broke  
off the engagement1 and betrothed him   
instead to his daughter  ,faustina4 ,the
 marriage1 however1 was not celebrated  
till seven years  afterwards1 ,a4,d4    
#adf4    ,the long reign of ,antoninus  
,pius is one of those happy periods that
 have  no history4 ,an almost unbroken  
peace reigned at home and abroad4 ,taxes
  were lightened1 calamities relieved1  
informers discouraged2 confiscation     
were rare1 plots and executions were    
almost unknown4 ,throughout the  whole  
extent of his vast domain the people    
loved and valued their  ,emperor1 and   
the ,emperor's one aim was to further1  
the happiness of his  people4 ,he1 too1 
like ,aurelius1 had learnt that what was

 good for the  bee was good for the     
hive4 ,he strove to live as the civil   
administrator1  of an unaggressive and  
united republic2 he disliked war1 did   
not value  the military title of        
,imperator1 and never deigned to accept 
a triumph4    ,with this wise and       
eminent prince1 who was as amiable in   
his private  relations as he was        
admirable in the discharge of his public
 duties1  ,marcus ,aurelius spent the   
next twenty-three years of his life4 ,so
 close  and intimate was their union1 so
 completely did they regard each other  
as father and son1 that during all that 
period ,aurelius never slept more  than 
twice away from the house of ,antoninus4
 ,there was not a shade of  jealousy    
between them2 each was the friend and   
adviser of the other1  and1 so far from 
regarding his destined heir with        
suspicion1 the ,emperor  gave him the   
designation ,caesar1 and heaped upon him
 all the honours  of the ,roman         
,commonwealth4 ,it was in vain that the 

whisper of malignant  tongues attempted 
to shake this mutual confidence4        
,antoninus once saw  the mother of      
,aurelius in earnest prayer before the  
statue of ,apollo4  ,what do you think  
she is praying for so intently8 asked a 
wretched  mischief-maker of the name of 
,valerius ,omulus3 it is that you may   
die1  and her son reign4 ,this wicked   
suggestion might have driven a prince of
  meaner character into violence and    
disgust1 but ,antoninus passed it over  
with the silence of contempt4    ,it was
 the main delight of ,antoninus to enjoy
 the quiet of his country  villa4       
,unlike ,hadrian1 who traversed immense 
regions of his vast  dominion1          
,antoninus lived entirely either at     
,rome1 or in his beautiful  villa at    
,lorium1 a little seacoast village about
 twelve miles from the  capital4 ,in    
this villa he had been born1 and here he
 died1 surrounded by  the reminiscences 
of his childhood4 ,in this his real home
 it was his  special pleasure to lay    

aside the pomp and burden of his        
imperial rank4  ,he did not1 says       
,marcus1 take the bath at unseasonable  
hours2 he was  not fond of building     
houses1 nor curious about what he eat1  
nor about  the texture and colour of his
 clothes1 nor about the beauty of his   
slaves4 ,even the dress he wore was the 
work of the provincial artist  in his   
little native place4 ,so far from       
checking the philosophic tastes  of his 
adopted son he fostered them1 and sent  
for ,apollonius of ,chalcis  to be his  
teacher in the doctrines of ,stoicism4  
,in one of his notes to  ,fronto1       
,marcus draws the picture of their      
simple country occupations and          
amusements4 ,hunting1 fishing1 boxing1  
wrestling1 occupied the leisure of  the 
two princes1 and they shared the rustic 
festivities of the vintage4  ,i have    
dined1 he writes1 on a little bread4444 
,we perspired a great  deal1 shouted a  
great deal1 and left some gleanings of  
the vintage  hanging on the trellis     

work4444 ,when ,i got home ,i studied a 
little1 but  not to much advantage ,i   
had a long talk with my mother1 who was 
lying on  her couch4 ,who knows how much
 ,aurelius and how much the world may   
have  gained from such conversation as  
this with a mother from whom he had     
learnt to hate even the thought of evil8
 ,nor will any one despise the          
simplicity of heart which made him      
mingle with the peasants as an  amateur 
vintager1 unless he is so tasteless and 
so morose as to think  with scorn of    
,scipio and ,laelius as they gathered   
shells on the  seashore1 or of ,henry   
,,iv4 as he played at horses with his   
little boys on  all-fours4 ,the         
capability of unbending thus1 the       
genuine cheerfulness  which enters at   
due times into simple amusements1 has   
been found not  rarely in the highest   
and purest minds4    ,for many years no 
incident of importance broke the even   
tenor of  ,aurelius's life4 ,he lived   
peaceful1 happy1 prosperous1 and        

beloved1  watching without envy the     
increasing years of his adopted father4 
,but in  the year #afa1 when ,marcus was
 now forty years old1 ,antoninus ,pius1 
who  had reached the age of             
seventy-five1 caught a fever at ,lorium4
 ,feeling  that his end was near1 he    
summoned his friends and the chief men  
of  ,rome to his bedside1 and there     
7without saying a word about his other  
adopted son1 who is generally known by  
the name of ,lucius ,verus7  solemnly   
recommended ,marcus to them as his      
successor2 and then1 giving  to the     
captain of the guard the watchword of   
,equanimity1 as though his  earthly task
 was over he ordered to be transferred  
to the bedroom of  ,marcus the little   
golden statue of ,fortune1 which was    
kept in the  private chamber of the     
,emperors as an omen of public          
prosperity4    ,the very first public   
act of the new ,emperor was one of      
splendid  generosity1 namely1 the       
admission of his adoptive brother       

,lucius ,verus  into the fullest        
participation of imperial honours1 the  
,tribunitian and  proconsular powers1   
and the titles ,caesar and ,augustus4   
,the admission of  ,lucius ,verus to a  
share of the empire was due to the      
innate modesty of  ,marcus4 ,as he was a
 devoted student1 and cared less for    
manly exercises1  in which ,verus       
excelled1 he thought that his adoptive  
brother would be a  better and more     
useful general than himself1 and that he
 could best  serve the ,state by        
retaining the civil administration1 and 
entrusting to  his brother the          
management of war4 ,verus1 however1 as  
soon as he got  away from the immediate 
influence and ennobling society of      
,marcus1 broke  loose from all decency1 
and showed himself to be a weak and     
worthless  personage1 as unfit for war  
as he was for all the nobler duties of  
peace1 and capable of nothing but       
enormous gluttony and disgraceful       
self-indulence4 ,two things only can be 

said in his favour2 the one1  that1     
though depraved1 he was wholly free from
 cruelty2 and the other1  that he had   
the good sense to submit himself        
entirely to his brother1  and to treat  
him with the gratitude and deference    
which were his due4    ,marcus had a    
large family by ,faustina1 and in the   
first year of his  reign his wife bore  
twins1 of whom the one who survived     
became the  wicked and detested ,emperor
 ,commodus4 ,as though the birth of such
 a  child were in itself an omen of     
ruin1 a storm of calamity began at once 
to burst over the long tranquil ,state4 
,an inundation of the ,tiber flung  down
 houses and streets over a great part of
 ,rome1 swept away multitudes  of       
cattle1 spoiled the harvests1 devastated
 the fields1 and caused a  distress     
which ended in wide-spread famine4      
,men's minds were terrified  by         
earthquakes1 by the burning of cities1  
and by plagues or noxious  insects4 ,to 
these miseries1 which the ,emperors did 

their best to  alleviate1 was added the 
horrors of wars and rumours of wars4    
,the  ,partians1 under their king       
,vologeses1 defeated and all but        
destroyed a  ,roman army1 and devastated
 with impunity the ,roman province of   
,syria4  ,the wild tribes of the ,catti 
burst over ,germany with fire and sword2
 and  the news from ,britain was full of
 insurrection and tumult4 ,such were the
  elements of trouble and discord which 
overshadowed the reign of ,marcus       
,aurelius from its very beginning down  
to its weary close4    ,as the ,partian 
war was the most important of the three1
 ,verus was sent  to quell it1 and but  
for the ability of his generals--the    
greatest of  whom was ,avidius          
,cassius--would have ruined             
irretrievably the fortunes  of the      
,empire4 ,these generals1 however1      
vindicated the majesty of the  ,roman   
name1 and ,verus returned in triumph1   
bringing back with him from  the ,east  
the seeds of a terrible pestilence which

 devastated the whole  ,empire and by   
which1 on the outbreak of fresh wars1   
,verus himself was  carried off at      
,aquileia4    ,worthless as he was1     
,marcus1 who in his lifetime had so     
often pardoned  and concealed his       
faults1 paid him the highest honours of 
sepulcre1 and  interred his ashes in the
 mausoleum of ,hadrian4 ,there were not 
wanting  some who charged him with the  
guilt of fratricide1 asserting that the 
death of ,verus had been hastened by his
 means6    ,i have only one reason for  
alluding to atrocious and contemptible  
calumnies like these1 and that is       
because--since no doubt such whispers   
reached his ears--they help to account  
for that deep unutterable  melancholy   
which breathes through the little golden
 book of the  ,emperor's ,meditations4  
,we find1 for instance1 among them this 
isolated  fragment3--    ,a black       
character1 a womanish character1 a      
stubborn character1 bestial1  childish1 
animal1 stupid1 counterfeit1 scurrilous1

 fraudulent1  tyrannical4    ,we know   
not of whom he was thinking--perhaps of 
,nero1 perhaps of  ,caligula1 but       
undoubtedly also of men whom he had seen
 and known1 and  whose very existence   
darkened his soul4 ,the same sad spirit 
breathes  also through the following    
passages3--    ,soon1 very soon1 thou   
wilt be ashes1 or a skeleton1 and either
 a name1  or not even a name2 but name  
is sound and echo4 ,and the things which
 are  much valued in life are empty1 and
 rotten1 and trifling1 and little  dogs 
biting one another1 and little children 
quarrelling1 laughing1 and  then        
straightway weeping4 ,but fidelity1 and 
modesty1 and justice1 and  truth are    
fled         ',up to ,olympus from the  
wide-spread earth4'    7v4 #cc47    ,it 
would be a man's happiest lot to depart 
from mankind without having  had a taste
 of lying1 and hypocrisy1 and luxury1   
and pride4 ,however to  breathe out     
one's life when a man has had enough of 
those things is  the next best voyage1  

as the saying is4 7ix4 #b47    ,enough  
of this wretched life1 and murmuring1   
and apish trifles4 ,why  art thou thus  
disturbed8 ,what is there new in this8  
,what unsettles  thee8444 ,towards the  
gods1 then1 now become at last more     
simple and  better4 7ix4 #cg47 ,the     
thought is like that which dominates    
through the  ,penitential ,psalms of    
,david1--that we may take refuge from   
men1 their  malignity and their         
meanness1 and find rest for our souls in
 ,god4 ,from  men ,david has no hope2   
mockery1 treachery1 injustice1 are all  
that he  expects from them1--the        
bitterness of his enemies1 the far-off  
indifference of his friends4 ,nor does  
this greatly trouble him1 so long  as he
 does not wholly lose the light of      
,god's countenance4 ,i had no  place to 
flee unto1 and no man cared for my soul4
 ,i cried unto thee1 ,o  ,lord1 and     
said1 ,thou art my hope1 and my portion 
in the land of the  living4 ,cast me not
 away from ,thy presence1 and take not  

,thy ,holy  ,spirit from me4    ,but    
whatever may have been his impulse at   
times to give up in despair  all attempt
 to improve the little breed of men     
around him1 ,marcus had  schooled his   
gentle spirit to live continually in far
 other feelings4  ,were men             
contemptible8 ,it was all the more      
reason why he should himself  be noble4 
,were men petty1 and malignant1 and     
passionate and unjust8 ,in  that        
proportion were they all the more marked
 out for pity and  tenderness1 and in   
that proportion was he bound to the     
utmost of his  ability to show himself  
great1 and forgiving1 and calm1 and     
true4 ,thus  ,marcus turns his very     
bitterest experience to gold1 and from  
the  vilenesses of others1 which        
depressed his lonely life1 so far from  
suffering himself to be embittered as   
well as saddened1 he only draws  fresh  
lessons of humanity and love4    ,he    
says1 for instance1 ,begin the morning  
by saying to thyself1 ,i shall  meet    

with the busybody1 the ungrateful1      
arrogant1 deceitful1 envious1  unsocial4
 ,all these things happen to them by    
reason of their ignorance  of what is   
good and evil4 ,but ,i who have seen the
 nature of the good  that it is         
beautiful1 and of the bad that it is    
ugly1 and the nature of  him that does  
wrong that is akin to me1444 and that it
 partakes of the  same portion of the   
divinity1 ,i can neither be injured by  
any of them1  for no one can fix on me  
what is ugly1 nor can ,i be angry with  
my  kinsman1 nor hate him4 ,for we are  
made for co-operation1 like feet1  like 
hands1 like eyelids1 like the rows of   
the upper and lower teeth4 ,to  act     
against one another then is contrary to 
nature2 and it is acting  against one   
another to be vexed and turn away4 7ii4 
#a47 ,another of his  rules1 and an     
eminently wise one1 was to fix his      
thoughts as much as  possible on the    
virtues of others1 rather than on their 
vices4 ,when  thou wishest to delight   

thyself1 think of the virtues of those  
who  live with thee--the activity of    
one1 the modesty of another1 the        
liberality of a third1 and some other   
good quality of a fourth4 ,what a       
rebuke to the contemptuous cynicism     
which we are daily tempted to  display6 
,an infinite being comes before us1 says
 ,robertson1 with a  whole eternity     
wrapt up in his mind and soul1 and we   
proceed to  classify him1 put a label   
upon him1 as we would upon a jar1       
saying1 ,this  is rice1 that is jelly1  
and this pomatum2 and then we think we  
have  saved ourselves the necessity of  
taking off the cover1 ,how differently  
our ,lord treated the people who came to
 ,him6444 consequently1 at ,his  touch  
each one gave out his peculiar spark of 
light4    ,here1 again1 is a singularly 
pithy1 comprehensive1 and beautiful     
piece  of advice3--    ,men exist for   
the sake of one another4 ,teach them or 
bear with them  7viii4 #ei47    ,and    
again3 ,the best way of revenging       

thyself is not to become like the  wrong
 doer4    ,and again1 ,if any man has   
done wrong1 the harm is his own4 ,but   
perhaps  he has not done wrong4 7ix4    
#ch47    ,most remarkable1 however1 are 
the nine rules which he drew up for     
himself1 as subjects for reflection when
 any one had offended  him1 viz4--      
#a4 ,that men were made for each other3 
even the inferior for the sake of  the  
superior1 and these for the sake of one 
another4    #b4 ,the invincible         
influences that act upon men1 and mould 
their opinions  and their acts4    #c4  
,that sin is mainly error and           
ignorance1--an involuntary slavery4     
#d4 ,that we are ourselves feeble1 and  
by no means immaculate2 and that  often 
our very abstinence from faults is due  
more to cowardice and a  care for our   
reputation than to any freedom from the 
disposition to  commit them4    #e4     
,that our judgments are apt to be very  
rash and premature4 ,and in  short a man
 must learn a great deal to enable him  

to pass a correct  judgment on another  
man's acts4    #f4 ,when thou art much  
vexed or grieved1 consider that man's   
life is only  a moment1 and after a     
short time we are all laid out dead4    
#g4 ,that no wrongful act of another can
 bring shame on us1 and that it  is not 
men's acts which disturb us1 but our own
 opinions of them4    #h4 ,that our own 
anger hurts us more than the acts       
themselves4    #i4 ,that benevolence is 
invincible1 if it be not an affected    
smile1 nor  acting a part4 ,for what    
will the most violent man do to thee if 
thou  continuest benevolent to him8     
gently and calmly correcting him1       
admonishing him when he is trying to do 
thee harm1 saying1 ',not so1 my  child3 
we are constituted by nature for        
something else3 ,i shall  certainly not 
be injured1 but thou art injuring       
thyself1 my child' ,and  show him with  
gentle tact and by general principles   
that this is so1 and  that even bees do 
not do as he does1 nor any gregarious   

animal4 ,and this  you must do simply1  
unreproachfully1 affectionately2 without
 rancour1  and if possible when you and 
he are alone4 7xi4 #ah47    ,not so1 my 
child2 thou art injuring thyself1 my    
child4 ,can all  antiquity show anything
 tenderer than this1 or anything more   
close to  the spirit of ,christian      
teaching than these nine rules8 ,they   
were worthy  of the men who1 unlike the 
,stoics in general1 considered          
gentleness to  be a virtue1 and a proof 
at once of philosophy and of true       
manhood4 ,they  are written with that   
effusion of sadness and benevolence to  
which it is  difficult to find a        
parallel4 ,they show how completely     
,marcus had  triumphed over all petty   
malignity1 and how earnestly he strove  
to  fulfil his own precept of always    
keeping the thoughts so sweet and       
clear1 that if any one should suddenly  
ask1 ',what hast thou now in thy        
thoughts8' with perfect openness thou   
mightest immediately answer1 ',this  or 

,that1' ,in short1 to give them their   
highest praise1 they would have         
delighted the great ,christian ,apostle 
who wrote1--    ,warn them that are     
unruly1 comfort the feeble-minded1      
support the  weak1 be patient towards   
all men4 ,see that none render evil for 
evil  unto any man2 but ever follow that
 which is good1 both among yourselves1  
and to all men4 7#a ,thess4 iv4 #ad4    
#ae47    ,count him not as an enemy1 but
 admonish him as a brother4 7#b4 ,thess4
  iv4 #ae47    ,forbearing one another1 
and forgiving one another1 if any man   
have a  quarrel against any4 7,col4 iii4
 #ac47    ,nay1 are they not even in    
full accordance with the mind and spirit
 of  ,him who said1--    ,if thy brother
 trespass against thee1 go and tell him 
his fault  between thee and him alone3  
if he shall hear thee thou hast gained  
thy  brother4    ,in the life of ,marcus
 ,aurelius1 as in so many lives1 we are 
able to  trace the great law of         
compensation4 ,his exalted station1     

during the  later years of his life1    
threw him among many who were false and 
,pharisaical and base2 but his youth had
 been spent under happier  conditions1  
and this saved him from falling into the
 sadness of those  whom neither man nor 
woman please4 ,in his earlier years it  
had been his  lot to see the fairer side
 of humanity1 and the recollection of   
those  pure and happy days was like a   
healing tree thrown into the bitter and 
turbid waters of his reign4             
,,chapter ,,iii4    ,,the ,,life ,,and  
,,thoughts ,,of ,,marcus ,,aurelius     
7continued74    ,marcus was now the     
undisputed lord of the ,roman world4 ,he
 was seated on  the dizziest and most   
splendid eminence which it was possible 
for human  grandeur to obtain4    ,but  
this imperial elevation kindled no glow 
of pride or  self-satisfaction in his   
meek and chastened nature4 ,he regarded 
himself  as being in fact the servant of
 all4 ,it was his duty1 like that of the
  bull in the herd1 or the ram among the

 flocks1 to confront every peril  in his
 own person1 to be foremost in all the  
hardships of war and the  most deeply   
immersed in all the toils of peace4 ,the
 registry of the  citizens1 the         
suppression of litigation1 the elevation
 of public morals1  the restraining of  
consanguineous marriages1 the care of   
minors1 the  retrenchment of public     
expenses1 the limitation of gladitorial 
games and  shows1 the care of roads1 the
 restoration of senatorial privileges1  
the  appointment of none but worthy     
magistrates--even the regulation of     
street traffic--these and numberless    
other duties so completely absorbed  his
 attention that1 in spite of indifferent
 health1 they often kept him  at severe 
labour from early morning till long     
after midnight4 ,his  position indeed   
often necessitated his presence at games
 and shows1 but  on these occasions he  
occupied himself either in reading1 or  
being read  to1 or in writing notes4 ,he
 was one of those who held that nothing 

should be done hastily1 and that few    
crimes were worse than the waste of     
time4 ,it is to such views and such     
habits that we owe the compositions  of 
his works4 ,his ,meditations were       
written amid the painful  self-denial   
and distracting anxieties of his wars   
with the ,quadi and the  ,marcomanni1   
and he was the author of other works    
which unhappily have  perished4 ,perhaps
 of all the lost treasures of antiquity 
there are few  which we should feel a   
greater wish to recover than the lost   
autobiography of this wisest of         
,emperors and holiest of ,pagan men4    
,as for the external trappings of his   
rank1--those gorgeous adjuncts and      
pompous circumstances which excite the  
wonder and envy of mankind1--no  man    
could have shown himself more           
indifferent to them4 ,he recognized     
indeed the necessity of maintaining the 
dignity of his high position4  ,every   
moment1 he says1 think steadily as a    
,roman and a man to do  what thou hast  

in hand with perfect and simple dignity1
 and affection1  and freedom1 and       
justice 7ii4 #e72 and again1 ,let the   
,deity which is in  thee be the guardian
 of a living being1 manly and of ripe   
age1 and  engaged in matters political1 
and a ,roman1 and a ruler1 who has taken
  his post like a man waiting for the   
signal which summons him from life      
7iii4 #e74 ,but he did not think it     
necessary to accept the fulsome  honours
 and degrading adulations which were so 
dear to many of his  predecessors4 ,he  
refused the pompous blasphemy of temples
 and altars1  saying that for every true
 ruler the world was a temple1 and all  
good  men were priests4 ,he declined as 
much as possible all golden statues and 
triumphal designations4 ,all inevitable 
luxuries and splendour1 such as  his    
public duties rendered indispensable1 he
 regarded as a mere hollow  show4       
,marcus ,aurelius felt as deeply as our 
own ,shakespeare seems to  have felt the
 unsubstantiality1 the fleeting         

evanescence of all earthly  things3 he  
would have delighted in the sentiment   
that1         ,we are such stuff        
,as dreams are made on1 and our little  
life        ,is rounded by a sleep4     
,when we have meat before us1 he says1  
and such eatables1 we receive  the      
impression that this is the dead body of
 a fish1 and this is the  dead body of a
 bird1 or of a pig2 and1 again1 that    
this ,falerian is  only a little        
grape-juice1 and this purple robe some  
sheep's wool dyed  with the blood of a  
shellfish3 such then are these          
impressions1 and  they reach the things 
themselves and penetrate them1 and so we
 see what  kind of things they are4     
,just in the same way4444 where there   
are things  which appear most worthy of 
our approbation1 we ought to lay them   
bare1  and look at their worthlessness1 
and strip them of all the words by      
which they are exalted4 7vi4 #ac47      
,what is worth being valued8 ,to be     
received with clapping of hands8 ,no4   

,neither must we value the clapping of  
tongues1 for the praise which  comes    
from the many is a clapping of tongues4 
7vi4 #af47    ,asia1 ,europe1 are       
corners of the universe2 all the sea is 
a drop in the  universe2 ,athos a little
 clod of the universe2 all the present  
time is a  point in eternity4 ,all      
things are little1 changeable1          
perishable  7vi4 #cf47    ,and to       
,marcus too1 no less than to            
,shakespeare1 it seemed that--          
,all the world's a stage1        ,and   
all the men and women merely players2   
for he writes these remarkable words3-- 
,the idle business of show1 plays on the
 stage1 flocks of sheep1 herds1         
exercises with spears1 a bone cast to   
little dogs1 a bit of bread in          
fishponds1 labourings of ants1 and      
burden-carrying runnings about of       
frightened little mice1 puppets pulled  
by strings--this is what life           
resembles4 ,it is thy duty then in the  
midst of such things to show good       

humour1 and not a proud air2 to         
understand however that every man is    
worth just so much as the things are    
worth about which he  busies himself4   
,in fact1 the ,court was to ,marcus a   
burden2 he tells us himself that        
,philosophy was his mother1 ,empire only
 his stepmother2 it was only his  repose
 in the one that rendered even tolerable
 to him the burdens of the  other4      
,emperor as he was1 he thanked the gods 
for having enabled him to  enter into   
the souls of a ,thrasea1 an ,helvidius1 
a ,cato1 a ,brutus4 ,above  all1 he     
seems to have had a horror of ever      
becoming like some of his  predecessors2
 he writes3--    ,take care that thou   
art not made into a ,caesar2#fh take    
care thou art  not dyed with this dye4  
,keep thyself then simple1 good1 pure1  
serious1  free from affectation1 a      
friend of justice1 a worshipper of the  
gods1  kind1 affectionate1 strenuous in 
all proper acts4 ,reverence the gods and
  help men4 ,short is life4 ,there is   

only one fruit of this terrene life2  a 
pious disposition and social acts4 7iv4 
#ai17    ,footnote #fh3 ,marcus here    
invents what ,m4 ,martha justly calls an
  admirable barbarism to express his    
disgust towards such men--,greek3  ora  
mae apukaidaoosaes--take care not to be 
,caesarised4    ,it is the same         
conclusion as that which sorrow forced  
from another  weary and less admirable  
king3 ,let us hear the conclusion of the
 whole  matter3 ,fear ,god1 and keep    
,his commandments2 for this is the whole
  duty of man4    ,but it is time for us
 to continue the meagre record of the   
life of  ,marcus1 so far as the bare and
 gossiping compilations of ,dion        
,cassius1#fi and ,capitolinus1 and the  
scattered allusions of other  writers   
can enable us to do so4    ,footnote    
#fi3 ,as epitomised by ,xiphilinus4     
,it must have been with a heavy heart   
that he set out once more for  ,germany 
to face the dangerous rising of the     
,quadi and ,marcomanni4 ,to  obtain     

soldiers sufficient to fill up the      
vacancies in his army which  had been   
decimated by the plague1 he was forced  
to enrol slaves2 and to  obtain money he
 had to sell the ornaments of the       
palace1 and even some  of the ,empress's
 jewels4 ,immediately before he started 
his heart was  wrung by the death of his
 little boy1 the twin-brother of        
,commodus1  whose beautiful features are
 still preserved for us on coins4 ,early
 in  the war1 as he was trying the depth
 of a ford1 he was assailed by the      
enemy with a sudden storm of missiles1  
and was only saved from imminent  death 
by being sheltered beneath the shields  
of his soldiers4 ,one battle  was fought
 on the ice of the wintry ,danube4 ,but 
by far the most  celebrated event of the
 war took place in a great victory over 
the ,quadi  which he won in ,a4,d4 #agd1
 and which was attributed by the        
,christians to  what is known as the    
,miracle of the ,thundering ,legion4    
,divested of all extraneous additions1  

the fact which occurred1--as            
established by the evidence of medals1  
and by one of the bass-relievi on  the  
,column of ,antonine1--appears to have  
been as follows4 ,marcus  ,aurelius and 
his army had been entangled in a        
mountain defile1 into  which they had   
too hastily pursued a sham retreat of   
the barbarian  archers4 ,in this defile1
 unable either to fight or to fly1 pent 
in by  the enemy1 burned up with the    
scorching heat and tormented by thirst1 
they lost all hope1 burst into wailing  
and groans1 and yielded to a  despair   
from which not even the strenuous       
efforts of ,marcus could arouse  them4  
,at the most critical moment of their   
danger and misery the clouds  began to  
gather1 and heavy shows of rain         
descended1 which the soldiers  caught in
 their shields and helmets to quench    
their own thirst and that  of their     
horses4 ,while they were thus engaged   
the enemy attacked them2  but the rain  
was mingled with hail1 and fell with    

blinding fury in the  faces of the      
barbarians4 ,the storm was also         
accompanied with thunder and  lightning1
 which seems to have damaged the enemy1 
and filled them with  terror1 while no  
casualty occured in the ,roman ranks4   
,the ,romans  accordingly regarded this 
as a ,divine interposition1 and achieved
 a most  decisive victory1 which proved 
to be the practical conclusion of a     
hazardous and important war4    ,the    
,christians regarded the event not as   
providential but as  miraculous1 and    
attributed it to the prayers of their   
brethren in a  legion which1 from this  
circumstance1 received the name of the  
,thundering ,legion4 ,it is however now 
known that one of the legions1          
distinguished by a flash of lightning   
which was represented on their  shields1
 had been known by this name since the  
time of ,augustus2 and the  ,pagans     
themselves attributed the assistance    
which they had received  sometimes to a 
prayer of the pious ,emperor and        

sometimes to the  incantations of an    
,egyptian sorcerer named ,arnuphis4     
,one of the ,fathers1 the passionate and
 eloquent ,tertullian1 attributes  to   
this deliverance an interposition of the
 ,emperor in favour of the  ,christians1
 and appeals to a letter of his to the  
,senate in which he  acknowledged how   
effectual had been the aid he had       
received from  ,christian prayers1 and  
forbade any one hereafter to molest the 
followers  of the new religion1 lest    
they should use against him the weapon  
of  supplication which had been so      
powerful in his favour4 ,this letter is 
preserved at the end of the ,apology of 
,justin ,martyr1 and it adds  that1 not 
only are no ,christians to be injured or
 persecuted1 but that  any one who      
informed against them is to be burned   
alive6 ,we see at once  that this letter
 is one of those impudent and           
transparent forgeries in  which the     
literature of the first five centuries  
unhappily abounds4 ,what  was the real  

relation of ,marcus to the ,christians  
we shall consider  hereafter4    ,to the
 gentle heart of ,marcus1 all war1 even 
when accompanied with  victories1 was   
eminently distasteful2 and in such      
painful and ungenial  occupations no    
small part of his life was passed4 ,what
 he thought of war  and of its successes
 is graphically set forth in the        
following remark3--    ,a spider is     
proud when it has caught a fly1 and     
another when he has  caught a poor hare1
 and another when he has taken a little 
fish in a  net1 and another when he has 
taken wild boars or bears1 and another  
when he has taken ,sarmatians4 ,are not 
these robbers1 when thou  examinest     
their principles8 ,he here condemns his 
own involuntary  actions2 but it was his
 unhappy destiny not to have trodden out
 the  embers of this war before he was  
burdened with another far more painful  
and formidable4    ,this was the revolt 
of ,avidius ,cassius1 a general of the  
old blunt ,roman  type1 whom1 in spite  

of some ominous warnings1 ,marcus both  
loved and  trusted4 ,the ingratitude    
displayed by such a man caused ,marcus  
the  deepest anguish2 but he was saved  
from all dangerous consequences by the  
wide-spread affection which he had      
inspired by his virtuous reign4    ,the 
very soldiers of the rebellious general 
fell away from him2 and1  after he had  
been a nominal ,emperor for only three  
months and six days1  he was            
assassinated by some of his own         
officers4 ,his head was sent to         
,marcus1 who received it with sorrow1   
and did not hold out to the  murderers  
the slightest encouragement4 ,the joy of
 success was swallowed  up in regret    
that his enemy had not lived to allow   
him the luxury of a  genuine            
forgiveness4 ,he begged the ,senate to  
pardon all the family of  ,cassius1 and 
to suffer this single life to be the    
only one forfeited in  consequence of   
civil war4 ,the ,fathers received these 
proofs of clemency  with the rapture    

which they deserved1 and the            
,senate-house resounded  with           
acclamations and blessings4    ,never   
had a formidable conspiracy been more   
quietly and effectually  crushed4       
,marcus travelled through the provinces 
which had favoured the  cause of        
,avidius ,cassius1 and treated them all 
with the most complete  and indulgent   
forbearance4 ,when he arrived in ,syria1
 the correspondence  of ,cassius was    
brought to him1 and1 with a glorious    
magnanimity of which  history affords   
but few examples1 he consigned it all to
 the  flames unread4    ,during this    
journey of pacification1 he lost his    
wife ,faustina1 who died  suddenly in   
one of the valleys of ,mount ,taurus4   
,history1 or the  collection of         
anecdotes which at this period often    
passes as history1  has assigned to     
,faustina a character of the darkest    
infamy1 and it has  even been made a    
charge against ,aurelius that he        
overlooked or condoned  her offences4   

,as far as ,faustina is concerned1 we   
have not much to say1  although there is
 strong reason to believe that many of  
the stories told  of her are            
scandalously exaggerated1 if not        
absolutely false4 ,certain it  is1 that 
most of the imputations upon her memory 
rest on the malignant  anecdotes        
recorded by ,dion1 who dearly loved     
every piece of scandal  which degraded  
human nature4 ,the specific charge      
brought against her  of having tempted  
,cassius from his allegiance is wholly  
unsupported1  even if it be not         
absolutely incompatible with what we    
find in her own  existent letters2 and1 
finally1 ,marcus himself not only loved 
her  tenderly1 as the kind mother of his
 eleven children1 but in his            
,meditations actually thanks the gods   
for having granted him such a  wife1 so 
obedient so affectionate1 and so simple4
 ,no doubt ,faustina was  unworthy of   
her husband2 but surely it is the glory 
and not the shame of  a noble nature to 

be averse from jealousy and suspicion1  
and to trust to  others more deeply than
 they deserve4    ,so blameless was the 
conduct of ,marcus ,aurelius that       
neither the  malignity of contemporaries
 nor the sprit of posthumous scandal has
  succeeded in discovering any flaw in  
the extreme integrity of his life  and  
principles4 ,but meanness will not be   
baulked of its victims4 ,the  hatred of 
all excellence which made ,caligula try 
to put down the memory  of great men    
rages1 though less openly1 in the minds 
of many4 ,they  delight to degrade human
 life into that dull and barren plain in
 which  every molehill is a mountain1   
and every thistle a forest-tree4 ,great 
men are as small in their eyes as they  
are said to be in the eyes of  their    
valets2 and there are multitudes who1 if
 they find         ,some stain or       
blemish in a name of note1        ,not  
grieving that their greatest are so     
small1        ,innate themselves with   
some insane delight1        ,and judge  

all nature from her feet of clay1       
,without the will to lift their eyes1   
and see        ,her godlike head crown'd
 with spiritual fire1        ,and       
touching other worlds4    ,this ,i      
suppose is the reason why1 failing to   
drag down ,marcus ,aurelius  from his   
moral elevation1 some have attempted to 
assail his reputation  because of the   
supposed vileness of ,faustina and the  
actual depravity of  ,commodus4 ,of     
,faustina ,i have spoken already4       
,respecting ,commodus1 ,i  think it     
sufficient to ask with ,solomon3 ,who   
knoweth whether his son  shall be a wise
 man or a fool8 ,commodus was but       
nineteen when his  father died2 for the 
first three years of his reign he ruled 
respectably  and acceptably4 ,marcus    
,aurelius had left no effort untried to 
have him  trained aright by the first   
teachers and the wisest men whom the age
  produced2 and ,herodian distinctly    
tells us that he had lived virtuously   
up to the time of his father's death4   

,setting aside natural affection        
altogether1 and even assuming 7as ,i    
should conjecture from one or two       
passages of his ,meditations7 that      
,marcus had misgivings about his son1   
would it have been easy1 would it have  
been even possible1 to set aside  on    
general grounds a son who had attained  
to years of maturity8 ,however  this may
 be1 if there are any who think it worth
 while to censure ,marcus  because1     
after all1 ,commodus turned out to be   
but a warped slip of  wilderness1 their 
censure is hardly sufficiently          
discriminating to  deserve the trouble  
of refutation4    ,but ,marcus ,aurelius
 cruelly persecuted the ,christians4    
,let us briefly  consider this charge4  
,that persecutions took place in his    
reign is an  undeniable fact1 and is    
sufficiently evidenced by the ,apologies
 of  ,justin ,martyr1 of ,melito ,bishop
 of ,sardis1 of ,athenagoras1 and of    
,apollinarius1 as well as by the ,letter
 of the ,church of ,smyrna  describing  

the martyrdom of ,polycarp1 and that of 
the ,churches of ,lyons  and ,vienne to 
their brethren in ,asia ,minor4 ,it is  
fair1 however1 to  mention that there is
 some documentary evidence on the other 
side2  ,lactantius clearly asserts that 
under the reigns of those excellent     
princes who succeeded ,domitian the     
,church suffered no violence from her   
enemies1 and spread her hands towards   
the ,east and the ,west3  ,tertullian1  
writing but twenty years after the death
 of ,marcus1  distinctly says 7and      
,eusebius quotes the assertion71 that   
there were  letters of the ,emperor1 in 
which he not only attributed his        
delivery  among the ,quadi to the       
prayers of ,christian soldiers in the   
,thundering  ,legion1 but ordered any   
who informed against the ,christians to 
be most  severely punished2 and at the  
end of the works of ,justin ,martyr is  
found  a letter of similar purport1     
which is asserted to have been addressed
 by  ,marcus to the ,senate of ,rome4   

,we may set aside these peremptory      
testimonies1 we may believe that        
,tertullian and ,eusebius were mistaken1
  and that the documents to which they  
referred were spurious2 but this  should
 make us also less certain about the    
prominent participation of  the ,emperor
 in these persecutions4 ,my own belief  
is 7and it is a belief  which could be  
supported by many critical arguments71  
that his share in  causing them was     
almost infinitesimal4 ,if those who love
 his memory  reject the evidence of     
,fathers in his favour1 they may be at  
least  permitted to withhold assent from
 some of the assertions in virtue of    
which he is condemned4    ,marcus in his
 ,meditations alludes to the ,christians
 once only1 and  then it is to make a   
passing complaint of the indifference to
 death1  which appeared to him1 as it   
appeared to ,epictetus1 to arise1 not   
from  any noble principles1 but from    
mere obstinacy and perversity4 ,that he 
shared the profound dislike with which  

,christians were regarded is very       
probable4 ,that he was a cold-blooded   
and virulent persecutor is utterly      
unlike his whole character1 essentially 
at variance with his habitual  clemency1
 alien to the spirit which made him     
interfere in every possible  instance to
 mitigate the severity of legal         
punishments1 and may in short  be       
regarded as an assertion which is       
altogether false4 ,who will believe     
that a man who during his reign built   
and dedicated but one single  temple1   
and that a ,temple to ,beneficence2 that
 a man who so far from  showing any     
jealousy respecting foreign religions   
allowed honour to be  paid to them all2 
that a man whose writings breathe on    
every page the  inmost spirit of        
philanthropy and tenderness1 went out of
 his way to  join in a persecution of   
the most innocent1 the most courageous1 
and the  most inoffensive of his        
subjects8    ,the true state of the case
 seems to have been this4 ,the deep     

calamities  in which1 during the whole  
reign of ,marcus the ,empire was        
involved1  caused wide-spread distress1 
and roused into peculiar fury the       
feelings  of the provincials against men
 whose atheism 7for such they considered
  it to be7 had kindled the anger of the
 gods4 ,this fury often broke out  into 
paroxisms of popular excitement1 which  
none but the firmest-minded  governers  
were able to moderate or to repress4    
,marcus1 when appealed to1  simply let  
the existing law take its usual course4 
,that law was as old  as the time of    
,trajan4 ,the young ,pliny1 ,governor of
 ,bithynia1 had  written to ask ,trajan 
how he was to deal with the ,christians1
 whose  blamelessness of life he fully  
admitted1 but whose doctrines1 he said1 
had emptied the temples of the gods1 and
 exasperated their worshippers4  ,trajan
 in reply had ordered that the          
,christians should not be sought  for1  
but that1 if they were brought before   
the governor1 and proved to  be         

contumacious in refusing to adjure their
 religion1 they were then to  be put to 
death4 ,hadrian and ,antoninus ,pius had
 continued the same  policy1 and ,marcus
 ,aurilius saw no reason to alter it4   
,but this law1  which in quiet times    
might become a mere dead letter1 might  
at more  troubled periods be converted  
into a dangerous engine of persecution1 
as  it was in the case of the venerable 
,polycarp1 and in the unfortunate       
,churches of ,lyons and ,vienne4 ,the   
,pagans believed that the reason why    
their gods were smiling in secret1--    
,looking over wasted lands1             
,blight and famine1 plague and          
earthquake1 roaring deeps and fiery     
sands1--         ,clanging fights1 and  
flaming towns1 and sinking ships1 and   
praying        hands1--    was the      
unbelief and impiety of these hated     
,galileans1 causes of offence  which    
could only be expiated by the death of  
the guilty4 ,their  enemies1 says       
,tertullian1 call aloud for the blood of

 the innocent1  alleging this vain      
pretext for their hatred1 that they     
believe the  ,christians to be the cause
 of every public misfortune4 ,if the    
,tiber has  overflowed its banks1 or the
 ,nile has not overflowed1 if heaven has
  refused its rain1 if famine or the    
plague has spread its ravages1 the  cry 
is immediate1 ',the ,christians to the  
lions4' ,in the first three  centuries  
the cry of ,no ,christianity became at  
times as brutal1 as  violent1 and as    
unreasoning as the cry of ,no ,popery   
has often been in  modern days4 ,it was 
infinitely less disgraceful to ,marcus  
to lend his  ear to the one than it has 
been to some eminent modern statesmen to
 be  carried away by the insensate fury 
of the other4    ,to what extent is     
,marcus ,aurelius to be condemned for   
the martyrdoms  which took place in his 
reign8 ,not1 ,i think1 heavily or       
indiscriminately1 or with vehement      
sweeping censure4 ,common justice       
surely demands that we should not       

confuse the present with the past1 or   
pass judgment on the conduct of the     
,emperor as though he were living in    
the nineteenth century1 or as though he 
had been acting in full  cognisance of  
the ,gospels and the stones of the      
,saints4 ,wise and good  men before him 
had1 in their haughty ignorance1 spoken 
of ,christianity  with execration and   
contempt4 ,the philosophers who         
surrounded his throne  treated it with  
jealousy and aversion4 ,the body of the 
nation firmly  believed the current     
rumours which charged its votaries with 
horrible  midnight assemblies1 rendered 
infamous by ,thyestian banquets and the 
atrocities of nameless superstitions4   
,these foul calumnies--these  hideous   
charges of cannibalism and incest1--were
 supported by the  reiterated perjury of
 slaves under torture1 which in that    
age1 as well  as long afterwards1 was   
preposterously regarded as a sure       
criterion  of truth4    ,christianity in
 that day was confounded with a         

multitude of debased and  foreign       
superstitions2 and the ,emperor in his  
judicial capacity1 if he  ever          
encountered ,christians at all1 was far 
more likely to encounter  those who were
 unworthy of the name1 than to become   
acquainted with the  meek1 unworldly1   
retiring virtues of the calmest1 the    
holiest1 and the  best4 ,when we have   
given their due weight to considerations
 such as  these we shall be ready to    
pardon ,marcus ,aurelius for having1 in 
this  matter1 acted ignorantly1 and to  
admit that in persecuting ,christianity 
he may most honestly have thought that  
he was doing ,god service4 ,the  very   
sincerity of his belief1 the            
conscientiousness of his rule1 the      
intensity of his philanthrophy1 the     
grandeur of his own philosophical       
tenets1 all conspired to make him a     
worse enemy of the ,church than a       
brutal ,commodus or a disgusting        
,heliogabalus4 ,and yet that there was  
not  in him the least propensity to     

persecute2 that these persecutions were 
for the most part spontaneous and       
accidental2 that they were in no        
measure due to his direct instigation1  
or in special accordance with his       
desire1 is clear from the fact that the 
martyrdoms took place in ,gaul  and     
,asia ,minor1 not in ,rome4 ,there must 
have been hundreds of  ,christians in   
,rome1 and under the very eye of the    
,emperor2 nay1 there  were even         
multitudes of ,christians in his own    
army2 yet we never hear of  his having  
molested any of them4 ,melito1 ,bishop  
of ,sardis1 in addressing  the ,emperor1
 expresses a doubt as to whether he was 
really aware of the  manner in which his
 ,christian subjects were treated4      
,justin ,martyr1 in  his ,apology1      
addresses him in terms of perfect       
confidence and deep  respect4 ,in short 
he was in this matter blameless1 but    
unfortunate4 ,it  is painful to think   
that the venerable ,polycarp1 and the   
thoughtful  ,justin may have forfeited  

their lives for their principles1 not   
only in  the reign of so good a man1 but
 even by virtue of his authority2 but we
  must be very uncharitable or very     
unimaginative if we cannot readily      
believe that1 though they had received  
the crown of martyrdom from his  hands1 
the redeemed spirits of those great     
martyrs would have been the  first to   
welcome this holiest of the heathen into
 the presence of a  ,saviour whose      
,church he persecuted1 but to whose     
indwelling ,spirit his  virtues were    
due8 whom ignorantly and unconsciously  
he worshipped1 and  whom had he ever    
heard of ,him and known ,him1 he would  
have loved in his  heart and glorified  
by the consistency of his noble and     
stainless life4    ,the persecution of  
the ,churches in ,lyons and ,vienne     
happened in ,a4,d4  #agg4 ,shortly after
 this period fresh wars recalled the    
,emperor to the  ,north4 ,it is said    
that1 in despair of ever seeing him     
again1 the chief  men of ,rome entreated

 him to address them his farewell       
admonitions1 and  that for three days he
 discoursed to them on philosophical    
questions4  ,when he arrived at the seat
 of war1 victory again crowned his arms4
 ,but  ,marcus was now getting old1 and 
he was worn out with the toils1 trials1 
and travels of his long and weary life4 
,he sunk under mental anxieties  and    
bodily fatigues1 and after a brief      
illness died in ,pannonia1 either  at   
,vienna or ,sirmium1 on ,march #ag1     
,a4,d4 #ahj1 in the fifty-ninth year of 
his age and the twentieth of his reign4 
,death to him was no calamity4 ,he was  
sadly aware that there is no man  so    
fortunate that there shall not be by him
 when he is dying some who  are pleased 
with what is going to happen4 ,suppose  
that he was a good and  wise man1 will  
there not be at last some one to say of 
him1 ',let us at  last breathe freely1  
being relieved from this schoolmaster4  
,it is true  that he was harsh to none  
of us1 but ,i perceive that he tacitly  

condemns  us4'444 ,thou wilt consider   
this when thou art dying1 and wilt      
depart  more contentedly by reflecting  
thus3 ',i am going away from a life in  
which even my associates1 on behalf of  
whom ,i have striven1 and cared1  and   
prayed so much1 themselves wish me to   
depart1 hoping perchance to  get some   
little advantage by it4' ,why then      
should a man cling to a  longer stay    
here8 ,do not1 however1 for this reason 
go away less kindly  disposed to them1  
but preserving thy own character1 and   
continuing  friendly1 and benevolent1   
and kind ,and dreading death far less   
than he  dreaded any departure from the 
laws of virtue1 he exclaims1 ,come      
quickly1 ,o ,death1 for fear that at    
last ,i should forget myself4 ,this     
utterance has been well compared to the 
language which ,bossuet put into  the   
mouth of a ,christian soul3--,o ,death2 
thou dost not trouble my  designs1 thou 
accomplishest them4 ,haste1 then1 ,o    
favourable ,death6444  ,nunc ,dimittis4 

,a nobler1 a gentler1 a purer1 a sweeter
 soul1--a soul less elated by           
prosperity1 or more constant in         
adversity--a soul more fitted by virtue1
  and chastity1 and self-denial to enter
 into the eternal peace1 never  passed  
into the presence of its ,heavenly      
,father4 ,we are not surprised  that    
all1 whose means permitted it1 possessed
 themselves of his statues1  and that   
they were to be seen for years          
afterwards among the household  gods of 
heathen families1 who felt themselves   
more hopeful and more  happy from the   
glorious sense of possibility which was 
inspired by the  memory of one who1 in  
the midst of difficulties1 and breathing
 an  atmosphere heavy with corruption1  
yet showed himself so wise1 so great1   
so good a man4         ,o framed for    
nobler times and calmer hearts6       ,o
 studious thinker1 eloquent for truth6  
,philosopher1 despising wealth and      
death1       ,but patient1 childlike1   
full of life and love6        ,,chapter 

,,iv4    ,,the ,,meditations ,,of       
,,marcus ,,aurelius4    ,emperor as he  
was1 ,marcus ,aurelius found himself in 
a hollow and  troublous world2 but he   
did not give himself up to idle regret  
or  querulous lamentations4 ,if these   
sorrows and perturbations came from the 
gods1 he kissed the hand that smote him2
 he delivered up his broken  sword to   
,fate the conqueror with a humble and a 
manly heart4 ,in any  case he had duties
 to do1 and he set himself to perform   
them with a  quiet heroism--zealously1  
conscientiously1 even cheerfully4       
,the principles of the ,emperor are not 
reducible to the hard and definite      
lines of a philosophic system4 ,but the 
great laws which guided his  actions and
 moulded his views of life were few and 
simple1 and in his  book of             
,meditations1 which is merely his       
private diary written to  relieve his   
mind amid all the trials of war and     
government1 he recurs to  them again and
 again4 ,plays1 war1 astonishment1      

torpor1 slavery1 he  says to himself1   
will wipe out those holy principles of  
thine2 and  this is why he committed    
those principles to writing4 ,some of   
these ,i  have already adduced1 and     
others ,i proceed to quote1 availing    
myself1 as  before1 of the beautiful and
 scholar-like translation of ,mr4       
,george ,long4    ,all pain1 and        
misfortune1 and ugliness seemed to the  
,emperor to be most  wisely regarded    
under a threefold aspect1 namely1 if    
considered in  reference to the gods1 as
 being due to laws beyond their control2
 if  considered with reference to the   
nature of things1 as being subservient  
and necessary2 and if considered with   
reference to ourselves1 as being        
dependent on the amount of indifference 
and fortitude with which we  endure     
them4    ,the following passages will   
elucidate these points of view3--       
,the intelligence of the ,universe is   
social4 ,accordingly it has made the    
inferior things for the sake of the     

superior1 and it has fitted the         
superior to one another4 7v4 #cj47      
,things do not touch the soul1 for they 
are eternal1 and remain  immovable2 but 
our perturbations come only from the    
opinion which is  within4444 ,the       
,universe is ,transformation2 life is   
opinion 7iv4 #c47    ,to the jaundiced  
honey tastes bitter1 and to those bitten
 by mad dogs  water causes fear2 and to 
little children the ball is a fine      
thing4 ,why  then am ,i angry8 ,dost    
thou think that a false opinion has less
 power  than the bile in the jaundiced1 
or the poison in him who is bitten by a 
mad dog8 7vi4 #eb47    ,how easy it is  
to repel and to wipe away every         
impression which is  troublesome and    
unsuitable1 and immediately to be at    
tranquillity4  7v4 #b47    ,the passages
 in which ,marcus speaks of evil as a   
relative thing1--as  being good in the  
making1--the unripe and bitter bud of   
that which shall  be hereafter a        
beautiful flower1--although not         

expressed with perfect  clearness1 yet  
indicate his belief that our view of    
evil things rises in  great measure from
 our inability to perceive the great    
whole of which  they are but subservient
 parts4    ,all things1 he says1 come   
from that universal ruling power1 either
  directly or by way of consequence4    
,and accordingly the lion's gaping      
jaws1 and that which is poisonous1 and  
every hurtful thing1 as a thorn1  as    
mud1 are after-products of the grand and
 beautiful4 ,do not therefore  imagine  
that they are of another kind from that 
which thou dost  venerate1 but form a   
just opinion of the source of all4      
,in another curious passage he says that
 all things which are natural and       
congruent with the causes which produce 
them have a certain beauty and          
attractiveness of their own2 for        
instance1 the splittings and            
corrugations on the surface of bread    
when it has been baked4 ,and again1     
figs when they are quite ripe gape open2

 and in the ripe olives the very        
circumstances of their being near to    
rottenness adds a peculiar beauty  to   
the fruit4 ,and the ears of corn bending
 down1 and the lion's  eyebrows1 and the
 foam which flows from the mouth of wild
 boars1 and  many other things--though  
they are far from being beautiful1 if a 
man  should examine them                
severally--still1 because they are      
consequent upon  the things which are   
formed by nature1 help to adorn them1   
and they  please the mind2 so that if a 
man should have a feeling and deeper    
insight about the things found in the   
universe there is hardly one of  those  
which follow by way of consequence which
 will not seem to him to  be in a manner
 disposed so as to give pleasure4 7iv4  
#b47    ,this congruity to nature--the  
following of nature1 and obedience to   
all  her laws--is the key-formula to the
 doctrines of the ,roman ,stoics4       
,everything which is in any way         
beautiful is beautiful in itself1 and   

terminates in itself1 not having praise 
as part of itself4 ,neither  worse1     
then1 nor better is a thing made by     
being praised4444 ,is such a  thing as  
an emerald made worse than it was1 if it
 is not praised8 or  gold1 ivory1       
purple1 a lyre1 a little knife1 a       
flower1 a shrub8  7iv4 #bj47            
,everything harmonizes with me which is 
harmonious to thee1 ,o ,universe4       
,nothing for me is too early nor too    
late1 which is in due time for thee4    
,everything is fruit to me which thy    
seasons bring1 ,o ,nature6 from thee    
are all things1 in thee are all things1 
to thee all things return4 ,the  poet   
says1 ,dear city of ,cecrops2 and wilt  
not thou say1 ,dear city of  ,god8 7iv4 
#bc47    ,willingly give thyself up to  
fate1 allowing her to spin thy thread   
into  whatever thing she pleases4 7iv4  
#cd47    ,and here1 in a very small     
matter--getting out of bed in a         
morning--is  one practical application  
of the formula3--    ,in the morning    

when thou risest unwillingly1 let these 
thoughts be  present--',i am rising to  
the work of a human being4 ,why1 then1  
am ,i  dissatisfied if ,i am going to do
 the things for which ,i exist1 and for 
which ,i was brought into the world8 ,or
 have ,i been made for this1 to  lie in 
the bedclothes and keep myself warm8'   
',but this is more  pleasant4' ,dost    
thou exist1 then1 to take thy pleasure1 
and not for  action or exertion8 ,dost  
thou not see the little plants1 the     
little  birds1 the ants1 the spiders1   
the bees1 working together to put in    
order  their several parts of the       
universe8 ,and art thou unwilling to do 
the  work of a human being1 and dost    
thou not make haste to do that which is 
according to thy nature8 7v4 #a47 ,go to
 the ant1 thou sluggard2  consider her  
ways1 and be wise6    ,the same         
principle1 that ,nature has assigned to 
us our proper  place--that a task has   
been given us to perform1 and that our  
only care  should be to perform it      

aright1 for the blessing of the great   
,whole of  which we are but             
insignificant parts--dominates through  
the admirable  precepts which the       
,emperor lays down for the regulation of
 our conduct  towards others4 ,some men1
 he says1 do benefits to others only    
because  they expect a return2 some men 
even1 if they do not demand any return1 
are not forgetful that they have        
rendered a benefit2 but others do not   
even know what they have done1 but are  
like a vine which has produced  grapes1 
and seeks for nothing more after it has 
produced its proper  fruit4 ,so we ought
 to do good to others as simple and as  
naturally as a  horse runs1 or a bee    
makes honey1 or a vine bears grapes     
season after  season1 without thinking  
of the grapes which it has borne4 ,and  
in  another passage1 ,what more dost    
thou want when thou hast done a service 
to another8 ,art thou not content to    
have done an act conformable to thy     
nature1 and must thou seek to be paid   

for it1 just as if the eye  demanded a  
reward for seeing1 or the feet for      
walking8    ,judge every word and deed  
which is according to nature to be fit  
for  thee1 and be not diverted by the   
blame which follows444but if a thing is 
good to be done or said1 do not consider
 it unworthy of thee4 7v4 #c47          
,sometimes1 indeed1 ,marcus ,aurelius   
wavers4 ,the evils of life overpower    
him4 ,such as bathing appears to thee1  
he says1 oil1 sweat1 dirt1  filthy      
water1 all things disgusting--so is     
every part of life and  everything      
7viii4 #bd72 and again3--,of human life 
the time is a point1  and the substance 
is in a flux1 and the perception dull1  
and the  composition of the whole body  
subject to putrefaction1 and the soul a 
whirl1 and fortune hard to divine1 and  
fame a thing devoid of judgment4  ,but  
more often he retains his perfect       
tranquillity1 and says1 ,either  thou   
livest here1 and hast already accustomed
 thyself to it1 or thou  art going away1

 and this was thine own will2 or thou   
art dying1 and hast  discharged thy     
duty4 ,but besides these things there is
 nothing4 ,be of  good cheer1 then4 7x4 
#bb47 ,take me1 and cast me where thou  
wilt1 for  then ,i shall keep my divine 
part tranquil1 that is1 content1 if it  
can  feel and act conformably to its    
proper constitution4 7viii4 #de47       
,there is something delightful in the   
fact that even in the ,stoic  philosophy
 there was some comfort to keep men from
 despair4 ,to a holy  and scrupulous    
conscience like that of ,marcus1 there  
would have been an  inestimable         
preciousness in the ,christian doctrine 
of the forgiveness  of the sins4 ,of    
that divine mercy--of that              
sin-uncreating power--the  ancient world
 knew nothing2 but in ,marcus we find   
some dim and faint  adumbration of the  
doctrine1 expressed in a manner which   
might at least  breathe calm into the   
spirit of the philosopher1 though it    
could never  reach the hearts of the    

suffering multitude4 ,for suppose1 he   
says1  that thou hast detached thyself  
from the natural unity1--for thou wast  
made by nature a part1 but now hast cut 
thyself off--yet here is the  beautiful 
provision that it is in thy power again 
to unite thyself4 ,god  has allowed this
 to no other part--after it has been    
separated and cut  asunder1 to come     
together again4 ,but consider the       
goodness with which  ,he has privileged 
man2 for ,he has put it in his power1   
when he has been  separated1 to return  
and to be reunited1 and to resume his   
place ,and  elsewhere he says1 ,if you  
cannot maintain a true and magnanimous  
character1 go courageously into some    
corner where you can maintain  them2 or 
if even there you fail1 depart at once  
from life1 not with  passion1 but with  
modest and simple freedom--which will be
 to have done  at least one laudable    
act4 ,sad that even to ,marcus ,aurelius
 death  should have seemed the only     
refuge from the despair of ultimate     

failure  in the struggle to be wise and 
good6    ,marcus valued temperance and  
self-denial as being the best means of  
keeping his heart strong and pure2 but  
we are glad to learn he did not  value  
the rigours of asceticism4 ,life brought
 with it enough1 and more  than enough1 
of antagonism to brace his nerves2      
enough1 and more than  enough1 of the   
rough wind of adversity in his face to  
make it  unnecessary to add more by his 
own actions4 ,it is not fit1 he says1   
that ,i should give myself pain1 for ,i 
have never intentionally given  pain    
even to another4 7viii4 #db47    ,it was
 a commonplace of ancient philosophy    
that the life of the wise man  should be
 a contemplation of1 and a preparation  
for1 death4 ,it certainly  was so with  
,marcus ,aurelius4 ,the thoughts of the 
nothingness of man1 and  of that great  
sea of oblivion which shall hereafter   
swallow up all that  he is and does1 are
 ever present to his mind2 they are     
thoughts to which  he recurs more       

constantly than any other1 and from     
which he always draws  the same moral   
lesson4    ,since it is possible that   
thou mayest depart from life this very  
moment1 regulate every act and thought  
accordingly4444 ,death certainly1  and  
life1 honour and dishonour1 pain and    
pleasure1 all these things  happen      
equally to good men and bad1 being      
things which make us neither  better nor
 worse4 ,therefore they are neither good
 nor evil4 7ii4 #aa47    ,elsewhere he  
says that ,hippocrates cured diseases   
and died2 and the  ,chaldaeans foretold 
the future and died2 and ,alexander1 and
 ,pompey1 and  ,caesar killed thousands1
 and then died2 and lice destroyed      
,democritus1  and other lice killed     
,socrates2 and ,augustus1 and his wife1 
and  daughter1 and all his descendants1 
and all his ancestors1 are dead2 and    
,vespasian and all his ,court1 and all  
who in his day feasted1 and  married1   
and were sick and chaffered1 and fought1
 and flattered1 and  plotted1 and       

grumbled1 and wished other people to    
die1 and pined to  become kings or      
consuls1 are dead2 and all the idle     
people who are doing  the same things   
now are doomed to die2 and all human    
things are smoke1  and nothing at all2  
and it is not for us1 but for the gods1 
to settle  whether we play the play out1
 or only a part of it4 ,there are many  
grains of frankincense on the same      
altar2 one falls before1 another  falls 
after2 but it makes no difference4 ,and 
the moral of all these  thoughts is1    
,death hangs over thee while thou       
livest3 while it is in  thy power be    
good4 7iv4 #ag47 ,thou hast embarked1   
thou hast made the  voyage1 thou hast   
come to shore2 get out4 ,if1 indeed1 to 
another life  there is no want of gods1 
not even there4 ,but if to a state      
without  sensation1 thou wilt cease to  
be held by pains and pleasures4 7iii4   
#c47    ,nor was ,marcus at all         
comforted under present annoyances by   
the thought  of posthumous fame4 ,how   

ephemeral and worthless human things    
are1 he  says1 and what was yesterday a 
little mucus1 to-morrow will be a mummy 
or ashes4 ,many who are now praising    
thee1 will very soon blame thee1  and   
neither a posthumous name is of any     
value1 nor reputation1 nor  anything    
else4 ,what has become of all great and 
famous men1 and all  they desired1 and  
all they loved8 ,they are smoke1 and    
ash1 and a tale1  or not even a tale4   
,after all their rages and envyings1 men
 are  stretched out quiet and dead at   
last4 ,soon thou wilt have forgotten    
all1  and soon all will have forgotten  
thee4 ,but here1 again1 after such      
thoughts1 the same moral is always      
introduced again3--,pass then through   
the little space of time conformably to 
nature1 and end the journey in  content1
 just as an olive falls off when it is  
ripe1 blessing nature  who produced it1 
and thanking the tree on which it grew  
,one thing  only troubles me1 lest ,i   
should do something which the           

constitution of  man does not allow1 or 
in the way which it does not allow1 or  
what it  does not allow now4    ,to     
quote the thoughts of ,marcus ,aurelius 
is to me a fascinating task4 ,but  ,i   
have already let him speak so largely   
for himself that by this time  the      
reader will have some conception of his 
leading motives4 ,it only  remains to   
adduce a few more of the weighty and    
golden sentences in  which he lays down 
his rule of life4    ,to say all in a   
word1 everything which belongs to the   
body is a stream1  and what belongs to  
the soul is a dream and vapour2 and life
 is a  warfare1 and a stranger's        
sojourn1 and after fame is oblivion4    
,what1  then1 is that which is able to  
enrich a man8 ,one thing1 and only      
one--philosophy4 ,but this consists in  
keeping the guardian spirit within  a   
man free from violence and unharmed1    
superior to pains and pleasures1  doing 
nothing without a purpose1 nor yet      
falsely1 and with  hypocrisy444         

accepting all that happens and all that 
is  allotted 444 and finally waiting for
 death with a cheerful  mind 7ii4 #ag47 
,if thou findest in human life anything 
better than justice1 truth1  temperance1
 fortitude1 and1 in a word1 than thine  
own soul's  satisfaction in the things  
which it enables thee to do according to
  right reason1 and ,in the condition   
that is assigned to thee without thy    
own choice2 if1 ,i say1 thou seest      
anything better than this1 turn to it   
with all thy soul1 and enjoy that which 
thou hast found to be the best4  ,but   
444 if thou findest everything else     
smaller and of less value than  this1   
give place to nothing else4444 ,simply  
and freely choose the  better1 and hold 
to it4 7iii4 #f47    ,body1 soul1       
intelligence3 to the body belong        
sensations1 to the soul  appetites1 to  
the intelligence principles4 ,to be     
impressed by the  senses is peculiar to 
animals2 to be pulled by the strings of 
desire  belongs to effeminate men1 and  

to men like ,phalaris or ,nero2 to be   
guided only by intelligence belongs to  
atheists and traitors1 and men  who do  
their impure deeds when they have shut  
the doors4444 ,there  remains that which
 is peculiar to the good man1 to be     
pleased and  content with what happens1 
and with the thread which is spun for   
him2  and not to defile the divinity    
which is planted in his breast1 nor     
disturb it by a crowd of images2 but to 
preserve it tranquil1 following  it     
obediently as a god1 neither saying     
anything contrary to truth1 nor  doing  
anything contrary to justice4 7iii4     
#af47    ,men seek retreats for         
themselves1 houses in the country1      
sea-shores1  and mountains1 and thou too
 art wont to desire such things very    
much4  ,but this is altogether a mark of
 the commonest sort of men1 for it is in
  thy power whenever thou shalt chose to
 retire into thyself4 ,for nowhere      
either with more quiet or with more     
freedom does a man retire than into  his

 own soul1 particularly when he has     
within him such thoughts that by        
looking into them he is immediately in  
perfect tranquillity1--which is  nothing
 else than the good ordering of the     
mind4 7iv4 #c47    ,unhappy am ,i1      
because this has happened to me8 ,not   
so1 but happy am ,i  though this has    
happened to me1 because ,i continue free
 from pain2  neither crushed by the     
present1 nor fearing the future4 7iv4   
#ai47    ,it is just possible that in   
some of these passages some readers may 
detect a trace of painful               
self-consciousness1 and imagine that    
they  detect a little grain of          
self-complacence4 ,something of         
self-consciousness is perhaps inevitable
 in the diary and examination  of his   
own conscience by one who sat on such a 
lonely height2 but  self-complacency    
there is none4 ,nay1 there is sometimes 
even a cruel  sternness in the way in   
which the ,emperor speaks of his own    
self4 ,he  certainly dealt not with     

himself in the manner of a dissembler   
with ,god4  ,when1 he says 7x4 #h71 thou
 hast assumed the names of a man who is 
good1 modest1 rational1 magnanimous1    
cling to those names2 and if thou       
shouldst lose them1 quickly return to   
them4444 ,for to continue to be  such as
 thou hast hitherto been1 and to be torn
 in pieces1 and defiled  in such a life1
 is the character of a very stupid man1 
and one over-fond  of his life1 and like
 those half-devoured fighters with wild 
beasts1  who1 though covered with wounds
 and gore1 still entreat to be kept till
  the following day1 though they will be
 exposed in the same state to the  same 
claws and bites4 ,therefore fix thyself 
in the possession of these  few names3  
and if thou art able to abide in them1  
abide as if thou were  removed to the   
,islands of the ,blest4 ,alas6 to       
,aurelius1 in this life1  the ,islands  
of the ,blest were very far away4       
,heathen philosophy was  exalted and    
eloquent1 but all its votaries were sad2

 to the peace of  ,god1 which passeth   
all understanding1 it was not given them
 to attain4  ,we see ,marcus wise1      
self-governed1 tender1 thankful1        
blameless1 says  ,mr4 ,arnold1 yet with 
all this agitated1 stretching out his   
arms for  something beyond--tendentemque
 manue ripae ulterioris amore    ,i will
 quote in conclusion but three short    
precepts3--    ,be cheerful1 and seek   
not external help1 nor the tranquillity 
which  others give4 ,a man must stand   
erect1 not be kept erect by  others4    
7iv4 #e47    ,be like the promontory    
against which the waves continually     
break1 but  it stands firm and tames the
 fury of the water around it 7iv4 #di47 
,this comparison has been used many a   
time since the days of ,marcus          
,aurelius4 ,the reader will at once     
recall ,goldsmith's famous lines3--     
,as some tall cliff that rears its awful
 form1        ,swells from the vale1 and
 midway leaves the storm1        ,though
 round its breast the rolling clouds are

 spread1        ,eternal sunshine       
settles on its head4    ,short is the   
little that remains to thee of life4    
,live as on a  mountain4 ,for it makes  
no difference whether a man lives there 
or here1  if he lives everywhere in the 
world as in a civil community4 ,let men 
see1 let them know a real man who lives 
as he was meant to live4 ,if they       
cannot endure him1 let them kill him4   
,for that is better than to live as  men
 do4 7x4 #ae47    ,such were some of the
 thoughts which ,marcus ,aurelius wrote 
in his diary  after days of battle with 
the ,quadi1 and the ,marcomanni1 and the
  ,sarmatae4 ,isolated from others no   
less by moral grandeur than by the      
supremacy of his sovereign rank1 he     
sought the society of his own noble     
soul4 ,i sometimes imagine that ,i see  
him seated on the borders of some       
gloomy ,pannonian forest or ,hungarian  
marsh2 through the darkness the         
watchfires of the enemy gleam in the    
distance2 but both among them1 and  in  

the camp around him1 every sound is     
hushed1 except the tread of the         
sentinel outside the imperial tent2 and 
in that tent long after midnight  sits  
the patient ,emperor by the light of his
 solitary lamp1 and ever and  anon1 amid
 his lonely musings1 he pauses to write 
down the pure and holy  thoughts which  
shall better enable him1 even in a      
,roman palace1 even on  barbarian       
battlefields1 daily to tolerate the     
meanness and the  malignity of the men  
around him2 daily to amend his own      
shortcomings1  and1 as the sun of       
earthly life begins to set1 daily to    
draw nearer and  nearer to the ,eternal 
,light4 ,and when ,i thus think of him1 
,i know not  whether the whole of       
heathen antiquity1 out of its gallery of
 stately  and royal figures1 can furnish
 a nobler1 or purer1 or more lovable    
picture than that of this crowned       
philosopher and laurelled hero1 who  was
 yet one of the humblest and one of the 
most enlightened of all  ancient        

,seekers after ,god4                    
,,conclusion4    ,a sceptical writer has
 observed1 with something like a sneer1 
that the  noblest utterances of ,gospel 
morality may be paralleled from the     
writings of heathen philosophers4 ,the  
sneer is pointless1 and ,christian      
moralists have spontaneously drawn      
attention to the fact4 ,in this  volume1
 so far from trying to conceal that it  
is so1 ,i have taken  pleasure in       
placing side by side the words of       
,apostles and of  ,philosophers4 ,the   
divine origin of ,christianity does not 
rest on its  morality alone4 ,by the aid
 of the light which was within them1 by 
deciphering the law written on their own
 consciences1 however much its  letters 
may have been obliterated or dimmed1    
,plato1 and ,cicero1 and  ,seneca1 and  
,epictetus1 and ,aurelius were enabled  
to grasp and to  enunciate a multitude  
of great and memorable truths2 yet they 
themselves  would have been the first to
 admit the wavering uncertainty of their

  hopes and speculations1 and the       
absolute necessity of a further         
illumination4 ,so strong did that       
necessity appear to some of the wisest  
among them1 that ,socrates ventures in  
express words to prophesy the  future   
advent of some heaven-sent ,guide4#gj   
,those who imagine that  without a      
written revelation it would have been   
possible to learn all  that is necessary
 for man's well-being1 are speaking in  
direct  contradiction of the greatest   
heathen teachers1 in contradiction even 
of  those very teachers to whose writing
 they point as the proof of their       
assertion4 ,augustine was expressing a  
very deep conviction when he said  that 
in ,plato and in ,cicero he met with    
many utterances which were  beautiful   
and wise1 but among them all he never   
found1 ,come unto me1  all ye that      
labour and are heavy laden1 and ,i will 
refresh you4  ,glorious as was the      
wisdom of ancient thought1 its knowledge
 respecting  the indwelling of the      

,spirit1 the resurrection of the body1  
and the  forgiveness of sins1 was but   
fragmentary and vague4 ,bishop ,butler  
has  justly remarked that ,the great    
doctrines of a future state1 the dangers
  of a course of wickedness1 and the    
efficacy of repentance are not only     
confirmed in the ,gospel1 but are       
taught1 especially the last is1 with  a 
degree of light to which that of nature 
is darkness4    ,footnote #gj3 ,xen4    
,mem4 #a1 iv4 #ad2 ,plato1 ,alcib4 ii4  
,the morality of ,paganism was1 on its  
own confession1 insufficient4 ,it  was  
tentative1 where ,christianity is       
authoritative3 it was dim and  partial1 
where ,christianity is bright and       
complete2 it was inadequate to  rouse   
the sluggish carelessness of mankind1   
where ,christianity came in  with an    
imperial and awakening power2 it gives  
only a rule1 where  ,christianity       
supplies a principle4 ,and even where   
its teachings were  absolutely          
coincident with those of ,scripture1 it 

failed to ratify them  with a sufficient
 sanction2 it failed to announce them   
with the same  powerful and contagious  
ardour2 it failed to furnish an         
absolutely  faultless and vivid example 
of their practice2 it failed to inspire 
them  with an irresistible motive2 it   
failed to support them with a powerful  
comfort under the difficulties which    
were sure to be encountered in the  aim 
after a consistent and holy life4       
,the attempts of the ,christian ,fathers
 to show that the truths of ancient     
philosophy were borrowed from ,scripture
 are due in some cases to  ignorance and
 in some to a want of perfect honesty in
 controversial  dealing4 ,that ,gideon  
7,jerubbaal7 is identical with the      
priest  ,hierombalos who supplied       
information to ,sanchoniathon1 the      
,berytian2  that ,thales pieced together
 a philosophy from fragments of ,jewish 
truth  learned in ,phoenicia2 that      
,pythagoras and ,democritus availed     
themselves  of ,hebraic traditions1     

collected during their travels2 that    
,plato is a  mere ,atticising ,moses2   
that ,aristotle picked up his ethical   
system  from a ,jew whom he met in      
,asia2 that ,seneca corresponded with   
,st4 ,paul3  are assertions every bit as
 unhistorical and false as that ,homer  
was  thinking of ,genesis when he       
described the shield of ,achilles1 or   
7as  ,clemens of ,alexandria gravely    
informs us7 that ,miltiades won the     
battle  of ,marathon by copying the     
strategy of the battle of ,beth-,horon6 
,to say  that ,pagan morality kindled   
its faded taper at the ,gospel light1   
whether furtively or unconsciously      
taken1 and that it dissembled the       
obligation1 and made a boast of the     
splendour as though it were  originally 
her own1 or were sufficient in her hands
 for the moral  illumination of the     
world2 is to make an assertion wholly   
untenable4#ga ,seneca1 ,epictetus1      
,aurelius1 are among the truest and     
loftiest of ,pagan moralists1 yet       

,seneca ignored the ,christians1        
,epictetus despised1 and ,aurelius      
persecuted them4 ,all three1 so far as  
they knew anything about the ,christians
 at all1 had unhappily been  taught to  
look upon them as the most detestable   
sect of what they had  long regarded as 
the most degraded and the most          
detestable of religions4    ,footnote   
#ga3 ,see for various statements in this
 passage1 ,josephus1 c4  ,apion4 ii4    
,section #cf2 ,cic4 ,de ,fin4 v4 #be2   
,clem4 ,alex4 ,strom1 #a1  xxii4 #aej1  
xxv4 v4 #ad2 ,euseb42 ,prof4 ,evang4 x4 
#d1 ix4 #e1 c42 ,lactant4  ,inst4 ,div4 
iv4 #b1 c4    ,there is something very  
touching in this fact2 but1 if there be 
something very touching1 there is also  
something very encouraging4 ,god  was   
their ,god as well as ours--their       
,creator1 their ,preserver1 who left    
not ,himself without witness among them2
 who1 as they blindly felt after  ,him1 
suffered their groping hands to grasp   
the hem of ,his robe2 who sent  them    

rain from heaven1 and fruitful seasons1 
filling their hearts with  joy and      
gladness4 ,and ,his ,spirit was with    
them1 dwelling in them1 though  unseen  
and unknown1 purifying and sanctifying  
the temple of their  hearts1 sending    
gleams of illuminating light through the
 gross darkness  which encompassed them1
 comforting their uncertainties1 making 
intercession for them with groaning     
which cannot be uttered4 ,and more  than
 all1 our ,saviour was their ,saviour1  
too2 ,he1 whom they regarded  as a      
crucified malefactor was their true     
invisible ,king2 through ,his           
righteousness their poor merits were    
accepted2 their inward sicknesses  were 
healed2 ,he whose worship they denounced
 as an execrable  superstition stood    
supplicating for them at the right hand 
of the  ,majesty on high1 helping them  
7though they knew ,him not7 to crush all
  that was evil within them1 and        
pleading for them when they persecuted  
even the most beloved of ,his saints1   

,father1 forgive them2 for they  know   
not what they do4    ,yes1 they too were
 all ,his offspring4 ,even if they had  
not been1 should  we grudge that some of
 the children's meat should be given    
unto dogs8  ,shall we deny to these     
unconscious prophecies of heathendom    
their  oracular significance8 ,shall we 
be jealous of the ethical loftiness of  
a ,plato or an ,aurelius8 ,shall we be  
loth to admit that some power of the    
,spirit of ,christ1 even mid the dark   
wanderings of ,seneca's life1 kept  him 
still conscious of a nobler and a better
 way1 or that some sweetness  of a      
divine hope inspired the depressions of 
,epictetus in his slavery8  ,shall our  
eye be evil because ,god in ,his        
goodness granted the heathen  also to   
know such truths as enabled them to     
overcome the allurements of  the visible
 and the terrors of the invisible world8
 ,yes1 if we have of  the ,christian    
,church so mean a conception that we    
look upon it as a mere  human society1  

set up in the world to defend a certain 
religion against  a certain other       
religion4 ,but if on the other hand we  
believe that it  was a society          
established by ,god as a witness for the
 true condition of  all human beings1 we
 shall rejoice to acknowledge its       
members to be  what they believed       
themselves to be1--confessors and       
martyrs for a truth  which they could   
not fully embrace or comprehend1 but    
which1 through  their lives and deaths1 
through the right and wrong acts1 the   
true and  false words1 of those who     
understand them least1 was to manifest  
and  prove itself4 ,those who hold this 
conviction dare not conceal1 or         
misrepresent1 or undervalue1 any one of 
those weighty and memorable  sentences  
which are to be found in the ,meditation
 of ,marcus ,aurelius4  ,if they did1   
they would be underrating a portion of  
that very truth  which the preachers of 
the ,gospel were appointed to set forth2
 they  would be adopting the error of   

the philosophical ,emperor without his  
excuse for it4 ,nor dare they pretend   
that the ,christian teaching had        
unconsciously imparted to him a portion 
of its own light while he seemed  to    
exclude it4 ,they will believe that it  
was ,god's good pleasure that a  certain
 truth should be seized and apprehended 
by this age1 and they  will see         
indications of what that truth was in   
the efforts of ,plutarch  to understand 
the ',daemon' which guided ,socrates1 in
 the courageous  language of ,ignatius1 
in the bewildering dreams of the        
,gnostics1 in the  eagerness of ,justin 
,martyr to prove ,christianity a        
philosophy 444 in the  apprehension of  
,christian principles by ,marcus        
,aurelius1 and in his  hatred of the    
,christians4 ,from every side they will 
derive evidence1  that a doctrine and   
society which were meant for mankind    
cannot depend  upon1 the partial views  
and apprehensions of men1 must go on    
justifying1  reconciling1 confuting1    

those views and apprehensions by the    
demonstration of facts #gb    ,footnote 
#gb3 ,maurice1 ,philos4 of the ,first   
,six ,centuries1 p4 #cg4 ,we  venture   
specially to recommend this weighty and 
beautiful passage to the  reader's      
serious attention4    ,but perhaps some 
reader will say1 ,what advantage1 then1 
can we gain by  studying in ,pagan      
writers truths which are expressed more 
nobly1 more  clearly1 and infinitely    
more effectually in our own sacred      
books8 ,before  answering the question1 
let me mention the traditional          
anecdote#gc of  the ,caliph ,omar4 ,when
 he conquered ,alexandria1 he was shown 
its  magnificent library1 in which were 
collected untold treasures of           
literature1 gathered together by the    
zeal1 the labour1 and the  liberality of
 a dynasty of kings4 ,what is the good  
of all those books8  he said4 ,they are 
either in accordance with the ,koran1 or
 contrary to  it4 ,if the former they   
are superfluous2 if the latter they are 

pernicious4 ,in either case let them be 
burnt4 ,burnt they were1 as  legend     
tells2 but all the world has condemned  
the ,caliph's reasoning as  a piece of  
stupid ,philistinism and barbarous      
bigotry4 ,perhaps the  question as to   
the use of reading ,pagan ethics is     
equally  unphilosophical2 at any rate1  
we can spare but very few words to its  
consideration4 ,the answer obviously is1
 that ,god has spoken to men1  ,greek3  
polymeros kai polytropos1 at sundry     
times and in divers  manners1 #gd with a
 richly variegated wisdom4#ge ,sometimes
 ,he has  taught truth by the voice of  
,hebrew prophets1 sometimes by the voice
 of  ,pagan philosophers4 ,and all ,his 
voices demand our listening ear4 ,if it 
was given to the ,jew to speak with     
diviner insight and intenser power1  it 
is given to the ,gentile also to speak  
at times with a large and lofty         
utterance1 and we may learn truth from  
men of alien lips and another  tongue4  
,they1 too1 had the dream1 the vision1  

the dark saying upon the  harp1 the     
daughter of a voice1 the mystic flashes 
upon the graven  gems4 ,and such truths 
come to us with a singular force and    
freshness2  with a strange beauty as the
 doctrines of a less brightly           
illuminated  manhood2 with a new power  
of conviction from their originality of 
form1  which1 because it is less        
familiar to us1 is well calculated to   
arrest  our attention after it has been 
paralysed by familiar repetitions4 ,we  
cannot afford to lose these heathen     
testimonies to ,christian truth2 or  to 
hush the glorious utterances of ,muse   
and ,sibyl which have justly  outlived  
the drums and tramplings of a hundred   
triumphs4 ,we may make  them infinitely 
profitable to us4 ,if ,st4 ,paul quotes 
,aratus1 and  ,menander1 and            
,epimenides1#gf and perhaps more than   
one lyrical melody  besides1 with       
earnest appreciation1--if the inspired  
,apostle could both  learn himself and  
teach others out of the utterances of a 

,cretan  philosopher and an ,attic      
comedian1 we may be sure that many of   
,seneca's  apophthegams would have      
filled him with pleasure1 and that he   
would have  been able to read ,epictetus
 and ,aurelius with the same noble      
admiration  which made him see with     
thankful emotion that memorable altar   
,,to ,,the  ,,unknown ,,god4            
,footnote #gc3 ,now known to be         
unhistorical4    ,footnote #gd3 ,heb4 i4
 #a4    ,footnote #ge3 ,greek3          
polypoikilos dophia4    ,footnote #gf3  
,see ,acts xvii4 #bh2 #a ,cor42 ,tit4 i4
 #ab4    ,let us then make a brief and  
final sketch of the three great ,stoics 
whose lives we have been contemplating1 
with a view to summing up their         
specialties1 their deficiencies1 and the
 peculiar relations to1 or  divergences 
from1 ,christian truth1 which their     
writings present to us4    ,seneca saepe
 noster1 ,seneca1 often our own1 is the 
expression of  ,tertullian1 and he uses 
it as an excuse for frequent references 

to his  works4 ,yet if1 of the three1 he
 be most like ,christianity in          
particular  passages1 he diverges most  
widely from it in his general spirit4   
,he diverges from ,christianity in many 
of his modes of regarding life1  and in 
many of his most important beliefs4     
,what1 for instance1 is his  main       
conception of the ,deity8 ,seneca is    
generally a ,pantheist4 ,no doubt  he   
speaks of ,god's love and goodness1 but 
with him ,god is no personal  living    
,father1 but the soul of the            
universe--the fiery1 primaeval1  eternal
 principle which transfuses an inert1   
and no less eternal1  matter1 and of    
which our souls are1 as it were1 but    
divine particles or  passing sparks4    
,god1 he says1 is ,nature1 is ,fate1 is 
,fortune1 is the  ,universe1 is the     
all-pervading ,mind4 ,he cannot change  
the substance of  the universe1 ,he is  
himself under the power of ,destiny1    
which is  uncontrollable and immutable4 
,it is not ,god who rolls the thunder1  

it is  ,fate4 ,he does not rejoice in   
,his works1 but is identical with them4 
,in  fact1 ,seneca would have heartily  
adopted the words of ,pope3         ,all
 are but parts of one stupendous whole1 
,whose body nature is1 and ,god the     
soul4    ,though there may be a vague   
sense in which those words may be       
admitted  and explained by ,christians1 
yet1 in the mind of ,seneca1 they led to
  conclusions directly opposed to those 
of ,christianity4 ,with him1 for        
instance1 the wise man is the equal of  
,god2 not ,his adorer1 not ,his         
servant1 not ,his suppliant1 but ,his   
associate1 ,his relation4 ,he differs   
from ,god in time alone4 ,hence all     
prayer is needless he says1 and the     
forms of external worship are           
superfluous and puerile4 ,it is foolish 
to  beg for that which you can impart to
 yourself4 ,what need is there of  vows8
 ,make yourself happy4 ,nay1 in the     
intolerable arrogance which  marked the 
worst aberration of ,stoicism1 the wise 

man is under certain  aspects placed    
even higher than ,god--higher than ,god 
,himself--because  ,god is beyond the   
reach of misfortunes1 but the wise man  
is superior to  their anguish2 and      
because ,god is good of necessity1 but  
the wise man  from choice4 ,this        
wretched and inflated paradox occurs in 
,seneca's  treatise ,on ,providence1 and
 in the same treatise he glorifies      
suicide1  and expresses a doubt as to   
the immortality of the soul4    ,again1 
the two principles on which ,seneca     
relied as the basis of all his  moral   
system are3 first1 the principle that we
 ought to follow ,nature2  and1         
secondly1 the supposed perfectibility of
 the ideal man4    #a4 ,now1 of course1 
if we explain this precept of following 
,nature as  ,juvenal has explained it1  
and say that the voice of ,nature is    
always  coincident with the voice of    
philosophy--if we prove that our real   
nature is none other than the dictate of
 our highest and most nobly  trained    

reason1 and if we can establish the fact
 that every deed of  cruelty1 of shame1 
of lust1 or of selfishness1 is          
essentially  contrary to our            
nature--then we may say with ,bishop    
,butler1 that the  precept to follow    
,nature is a manner of speaking not     
loose and  undeterminate1 but clear and 
distinct1 strictly just and true4 ,but  
how  complete must be the system1 how   
long the preliminary training1 which    
alone can enable us to find any         
practical value1 any appreciable aid to 
a virtuous life1 in a dogma such as     
this6 ,and1 in the hands of ,seneca1  it
 becomes a very empty formula4 ,he      
entirely lacked the keen insight and    
dialectic subtlety of such a writer as  
,bishop ,butler2 and1 in his            
explanation of this ,stoical shibboleth1
 any real meaning which it may  possess 
is evaporated into a gorgeous mist of   
confused declamation and  splendid      
commonplace4    #b4 ,nor is he much more
 fortunate with his ideal man4 ,this    

pompous  abstraction presents us with a 
conception at once ambitious and        
sterile4  ,the ,stoic wise man is a sort
 of moral ,phoenix1 impossible and      
repulsive4  ,he is intrepid in dangers1 
free from all passion1 happy in         
adversity1  calm in the storm2 he alone 
knows how to live1 because he alone     
knows  how to die2 he is the master of  
the world1 because he is master of      
himself1 and the equal of ,god2 he looks
 down upon everything with  sublime     
imperturbability1 despising the         
sadnesses of humanity and  smiling with 
irritating loftiness at all our hopes   
and all our fears4  ,but1 in another    
sketch of this faultless and unpleasant 
monster1 ,seneca  presents us1 not the  
proud athlete who challenges the        
universe and is  invulnerable to all the
 stings and arrows of passion or of     
fate1 but a  hero in the serenity of    
absolute triumph1 more tender1 indeed1  
but still  without desires1 without     
passions1 without needs1 who can fell no

 pity1  because pity is a weakness which
 disturbs his sapient calm6 ,well might 
the eloquent ,bossuet exclaim1 as he    
read of these chimerical  perfections1  
,it is to take a tone too lofty for     
feeble and mortal men4  ,but1 ,o maxims 
truly pompous6 ,o affected              
insensibility6 ,o false and  imaginary  
wisdom6 which fancies itself strong     
because it is hard1 and  generous       
because it is puffed up6 ,how are these 
principles opposed to  the modest       
simplicity of the ,saviour of souls1    
who1 in our ,gospel  contemplating ,his 
faithful ones in affliction1 confesses  
that they will  be saddened by it6 ,ye  
shall weep and lament4 ,shall           
,christians be  jealous of such wisdom  
as ,stoicism did really attain1 when    
they compare  this dry and bloodless    
ideal with ,him who wept over ,jerusalem
 and  mourned by the grave of ,lazarus1 
who had a mother and a friend1 who      
disdained none1 who pitied all1 who     
humbled ,himself to death1 even the     

death of the cross1 whose divine        
excellence we cannot indeed attain      
because ,he is ,god1 but whose example  
we can imitate because ,he was  very    
man8#gg    ,footnote #gg3 ,see ,martha1 
,les ,moralistes1 p4 #ej2 ,aubertin1    
,snque et  ,st4 ,paul p4 #bej4    ,the  
one grand aim of the life and philosophy
 of ,seneca was ,ease4 ,it is  the topic
 which constantly recurs in his books   
,on a ,happy ,life1 ,on  ,tranquility of
 ,mind1 ,on ,anger1 and ,on the ,ease   
and ,on the ,firmness  of the ,sage4 ,it
 is the pitiless apathy1 the stern      
repression1 of every  form of emotion1  
which was constantly glorified as the   
aim of  philosophy4 ,it made ,stilpo    
exclaim1 when he had lost wife1         
property1 and  children1 that he had    
lost nothing1 because he carried in his 
own person  everything which he         
possessed4 ,it led ,seneca into all that
 is most  unnatural1 all that is most   
fantastic1 and all that is least sincere
 in  his writings2 it was the bitter    

source of disgrace and failure in his   
life4 ,it comes out worst of all in his 
book ,on ,anger4 ,aristotle had  said   
that ,anger was a good servant but a bad
 master2 ,plato had  recognized the     
immense value and importance of the     
irascible element in  the moral         
constitution4 ,even ,christian writers1 
in spite of ,bishop  ,butler1 have often
 lost sight of this truth1 and have     
forgotten that to  a noble nature the   
hate of hate and the scorn of scorn are 
as  indispensable as the love of love4  
,but ,seneca almost gets angry  himself 
at the very notion of the wise man being
 angry and indignant  even against moral
 evil4 ,no1 he must not get angry1      
because it would  disturb his sublime   
calm2 and1 if he allowed himself to be  
angry at  wrong-doing1 he would have to 
be angry all day long4 ,this practical  
,epicureanism1 this idle acquiescence in
 the supposed incurability of  evil1    
poisoned all ,seneca's career4 ,he had  
tutored himself1 says  ,professor       

,maurice1 to endure personal injuries   
without indulging an  anger2 he had     
tutored himself to look upon all moral  
evil without anger4  ,if the doctrine is
 sound and the discipline desirable1 we 
must be  content to take the whole      
result of them4 ,if we will not do that1
 we  must resolve to hate oppression and
 wrong1 even at the cost of             
philosophical composure ,but repose is  
not to be our aim3--         ,we have no
 right to bliss1        ,no title from  
the gods to welfare and repose4    ,it  
is one of the truths which seems to me  
most needed in the modern  religious    
world1 that the type of a ,christian's  
virtue must be very  miserable1 and     
ordinary1 and ineffectual1 if he does   
not feel his whole  soul burn within him
 with an almost implacable moral        
indignation at the  sight of cruelty and
 injustice1 of ,pharisaic faithlessness 
and  social crimes4    ,i have thus     
freely criticised the radical defects of
 ,stoicism1 so far  as ,seneca is its   

legitimate exponent2 but ,i cannot      
consent to leave him  with the language 
of depreciation1 and therefore here ,i  
will once more  endorse what an         
anonymous writer has said of him3 ,an   
unconscious  ,christianity covers all   
his sentiments4 ,if the fair fame of the
 man is  sullied1 the aspiration to a   
higher life cannot be denied to the     
philosopher2 if the tinkling cymbal of a
 stilted ,stoicism sometimes  sounds    
through the nobler music1 it still      
leaves the truer melody  vibrating on   
the ear4    #b4 ,if ,seneca sought for  
,,ease1 the grand aim of ,epictetus was 
,,freedom1 of  ,marcus ,aurelius was    
,,self-,,government4 ,this difference of
 aim  characterises their entire        
philosophy1 though all three of them are
  filled with precepts which arise from 
the ,stoical contempt of opinion1  of   
fortune1 and of death4 ,epictetus1 the  
slave1 with imperturbable  calm1        
voluntarily strikes off the desire for  
all those blessings of  which fortune   

had already deprived him4 ,seneca1 who  
lived in the ,court1  fenced himself    
beforehand against misfortune with the  
spirit of a man of  the world and the   
emphasis of a master of eloquence4      
,marcus ,aurelius1 at  the zenith of    
human power--having nothing to dread    
except his passions1  and finding       
nothing above him except immutable      
necessity1--surveys his  own soul and   
meditates especially on the eternal     
march of things4 ,the  one is the       
resigned slave1 who neither desires nor 
fears2 the other1 the  great lord1 who  
has everything to lose2 the third1      
finally1 the emperor1  who is dependent 
only on himself and upon ,god4    ,of   
,epictetus and ,marcus ,aurelius we     
shall have very little to say by way  of
 summary1 for they show no              
inconsistencies and very few of the     
imperfections which characterise        
,seneca's ideal of the ,stoic           
philosophy4  ,the moral peddling1 the   
pedagogic display1 the puerile          

ostentation1  the antithetic brilliancy1
 which we have had to point out in      
,seneca1 are  wanting in them4 ,the     
picture of the inner life1 indeed1 of   
,seneca1 his  efforts after             
self-discipline1 his untiring           
asceticism1 his enthusiasm  for all that
 he esteems holy and of good report-this
 picture1 marred as  it is by rhetoric  
and vain self-conceit1 yet stands out in
 noble  contrast to the swinishness of  
the ,campanian villas1 and is1 in its   
complex entirety1 very sad and          
affecting4 ,and yet we must admit1 in   
the  words of the same writer1 that when
 we go from ,seneca to ,epictetus and   
,marcus ,aurelius1 it is going from the 
florid to the severe1 from varied       
feeling to the impersonal simplicity of 
the teacher1 often from idle  rhetoric  
to devout earnestness4 ,as far as it    
goes1 the morality of  these two great  
,stoics is entirely noble and entirely  
beautiful4 ,if  there be even in        
,epictetus some passing and occasional  

touch of ,stoic  arrogance and ,stoic   
apathy2 if there be in ,marcus ,aurelius
 a depth and  intensity of sadness which
 shows how comparatively powerless for  
comfort  was a philosophy which         
glorified suicide1 which knew but little
 of  immortality1 and which lost in     
vague ,pantheism the unspeakable        
blessing  of realizing a personal       
relation to a personal ,god and         
,father--there is  yet in both of them  
enough and more than enough to show that
 in all ages  and in all countries they 
who have sought for ,god have found     
,him1 that  they have attained to high  
principles of thought and to high       
standards  of action--that they have    
been enabled1 even in the thick         
darkness1  resolutely to place their    
feet at least on the lowest rounds of   
that  ladder of sunbeams which winds up 
through the darkness to the great       
,father of ,lights4    ,and yet the very
 existence of such men is in itself a   
significant  comment upon the           

,scriptural decision that the world by  
wisdom knew not  ,god4 ,for how many    
like them1 out of all the records of    
antiquity1 is it  possible for us to    
count8 ,are there five men in the whole 
circle of  ancient history and ancient  
literature to whom we could1 without a  
sense  of incongruity1 accord the title 
of holy8 ,when we have mentioned        
,socrates1 ,epictetus1 and ,marcus      
,aurelius1 ,i hardly know of another4   
,just men there were in multitudes--men 
capable of high actions2 men  eminently 
worthy to be loved2 men1 ,i doubt not1  
who1 when the children  of the kingdom  
shall be rejected1 shall be gathered    
from the east and  the west with        
,abraham1 ,isaac1 and ,jacob1 into the  
kingdom of heaven4  ,yes1 just men in   
multitudes2 but how many righteous1 how 
many  holy8 ,some1 doubtless1 whom we do
 not know1 whose names were never       
written1 even for a few years1 on the   
records of mankind--men and women  in   
unknown villages and humble homes1 the  

faithful who were not  famous4 ,we do   
not doubt that there were such--but were
 they  relatively numerous8 ,if those   
who rose above the level of the         
multitude--if those whom some form of   
excellence1 and often of virtue1        
elevated into the reverence of their    
fellows--present to us a few  examples  
of stainless life1 can we hope that a   
tolerable ideal of  sanctity was        
attained by any large proportion of the 
ordinary myriads8  ,seeing that the     
dangerous lot of the majority was cast  
amid the  weltering sea of popular      
depravity1 can we venture to hope that  
many of  them succeeded in reaching some
 green island of purity1 integrity1 and 
calm8 ,we can hardly think it2 and yet1 
in the dispensation of the  ,kingdom of 
,heaven we see such a condition daily   
realized4 ,not only do we  see many of  
the eminent1 but also countless         
multitudes of the lowly and  obscure1   
whose common lives are1 as it were1     
transfigured with a light  from heaven4 

,unhappy1 indeed1 is he who has not     
known such men in  person1 and whose    
hopes and habits have not caught some   
touch of  radiance reflected from the   
nobility and virtue of lives like these4
 ,the  thought has been well expressed  
by the author of ,ecce ,homo1 and we may
  well ask with him1 ,if this be so1 has
 ,christ failed1 or can  ,christianity  
die8    ,no1 it has not failed2 it      
cannot die2 for the saving knowledge    
which it  has imparted is the most      
inestimable blessing which ,god has     
granted to  our race4 ,we have watched  
philosophy in its loftiest flight1 but  
that  flight rose as far above the range
 of the ,pagan populace as ,ida or      
,olympus rises above the plain3 and even
 the topmost crests of ,ida and         
,olympus are immeasurably below the blue
 vault1 the body of heaven in its       
clearness1 to which it has been granted 
to some ,christians to attain4 ,as      
regards the multitude1 philosophy had no
 influence over the heart and           

character2 it was sectarian1 not        
universal2 the religion of the few1  not
 of the many4 ,it exercised no creative 
power over political or social  life2 it
 stood in no such relation to the past  
as the ,new ,testament to  the ,old4    
,its best thoughts were but views and   
aspects of the truth2  there was no     
centre around which they moved1 no      
divine life by which  they were         
impelled2 they seemed to vanish and flit
 in uncertain  succession of light4 ,but
 ,christianity1 on the other hand1      
glowed with a  steady and unwavering    
brightness2 it not only swayed the      
hearts of  individuals by stirring them 
to their utmost depths1 but it moulded  
the  laws of nations1 and regenerated   
the whole condition of society4 ,it     
gave to mankind a fresh sanction in the 
word of ,christ1 a perfect  example in  
,his life1 a powerful motive in ,his    
love1 an all sufficient  comfort in the 
life of immortality made sure and       
certain to us by ,his  ,resurrection and

 ,ascension4 ,but if without this       
sanction1 and example1  and motive1 and 
comfort1 the pagans could learn to do   
,his will1--if1  amid the gross darkness
 through which glitters the degraded    
civilization  of imperial ,rome1 an     
,epictetus and an ,aurelius could live  
blameless  lives in a cell and on a     
throne1 and a ,seneca could practise    
simplicity  and self-denial in the midst
 of luxury and pride--how much loftier  
should be both the zeal and the         
attainments of us to whom ,god has      
spoken  by ,his ,son8 ,what manner of   
men ought we to be8 ,if ,tyre and ,sidon
 and  ,sodom shall rise in the judgment 
to bear witness against ,chorazin and   
,bethsaida1 may not the pure lives of   
these great ,seekers after ,god add a   
certain emphasis of condemnation to the 
vice1 the pettiness1 the  mammon-worship
 of many among us to whom ,his love1    
,his nature1 ,his  attributes have been 
revealed with a clearness and fullness  
of knowledge  for which kings and       

philosophers have sought indeed and     
sought  earnestly1 but sought in vain8