,a ,,few ,,days ,,in ,,athens2          
,,being                                 
,,the ,,translation                     
,,of                             ,a     
,,greek ,,manuscript                    
,,discovered ,,in ,,herculaneum4        
,,by                                    
,,frances ,,wright1                     
,,author ,,of                   8,,views
 ,,of ,,society ,,and ,,manners ,,in    
,,america40                             
8----joining bliss to virtue1 the glad  
ease                 ,of ,epicurus1     
seldom understood40                     
,,boston3                               
,,published ,,by ,j4 ,p4 ,,mendum4      
#ahej4                                  
,,to                                    
,,jeremy ,,bentham1                     
,,as ,a ,,testimony                     
,,of                 ,,her ,,admiration 
,,of ,,his ,,enlightened ,,sentiments1  
,,useful ,,labors1                      
,,and ,,active ,,philanthropy1          
,,and ,,of                       ,,her  

,,gratitude ,,for ,,his ,,friendship1   
,,this ,,work                           
,,is                                    
,,respectfully ,,and ,,affectionately   
,,inscribed                             
,,by                                    
,,frances ,,wright4         ,london1    
,march #abth1 #ahbb4                    
,,to ,,the ,,reader4      ,that ,i may  
not obtain credit for more learning than
 ,i possess1 ,i beg to  acknowledge the 
assistance ,i have received in my       
version of the curious  relict of       
antiquity now offered to the public from
 the beautiful ,italian  ,,mss4 of the  
erudite ,professor of ,greek in the     
university of 99999999994 ,i  hesitate  
to designate more clearly the           
illustrious ,hellenist whose  labors    
have brought to light this curious      
fragment4 ,since the  establishment of  
the saintly domination of the ,vandals  
throughout the  territories of the      
rebellious and heterodox ,italy1 and    
particularly in  consequence of the     

ordinance of his most orthodox1 most    
legitimate1 and  most ,austrian majesty1
 bearing that his dominions being in    
want of good  subjects1 his colleges are
 forbidden to send forth good           
scholars1#a it  has become necessary for
 the gownsmen of the classic peninsula  
to banish  all profane learning from    
their lectures and their libraries1 and 
to  evince a holy abhorrence of the     
sciences and arts which they erst       
professed4 ,the list of the class books 
now employed in the transalpine  schools
 is exceedingly curious2 ,i regret that 
,i have mislaid the one  lately supplied
 to me by an illustrious ,italian exile4
 ,my memory recalls  to me only that1 in
 the school of rhetoric1 the orations of
 ,cicero are  superseded by those of the
 ,marquis of ,londonderry1 and the      
philippics of  ,demosthenes by those of 
,m4 de ,peyronnet2 that the professors  
of history  have banished the decades of
 ,livy for the ,martyrs of ,mons4 de    
,chateaubriand2 and that the students of

 ,greek1 in place of the ,odes of       
,pindar1 and the retreat of the ten     
thousand from ,cunaxa1 construe the     
hexameters of the ,english ,laureate1   
and the advance of ,louis the ,,xviii4  
upon ,ghent4 ,in this state of the      
,italian world of ,letters1 it is not   
surprising that the scholar1 to whose   
perseverance1 ingenuity1 and  learning1 
the public are indebted for the         
following fragment1 should  object to   
lay claim to the honor which is his due4
    ,footnote #a3      ,je ne veux pas  
de savans dans mes etats1 je veux de    
bons sujets1 was    the dictum of the   
,austrian ,autocrat to an ,italian      
,professor4    ,the original ,,ms4 fell 
into the hands of my erudite            
correspondent in the  autumn of the year
 #ahag4 ,from that period until the     
commencement of last  winter1 all his   
leisure hours were devoted to the       
arduous task of  unrolling the leaves1  
and decyphering the half defaced        
characters4 ,the  imperfect condition of

 the ,,ms4 soon obliged him to forego   
his first  intention of transcribing the
 original ,greek2 he had recourse1      
therefore1 to an ,italian version1      
supplying the chasms1 consisting        
sometimes of a word1 sometimes of a     
line1 and occasionally of a phrase1     
with a careful and laborious study of   
the context4 ,while this version  was   
printing at ,florence1 a ,,ms4 copy was 
transmitted to me in ,paris1  with a    
request that ,i would forthwith see it  
translated into the ,english  and       
,french languages4 ,the former version  
,i undertook myself1 and can  assure the
 reader that it possesses the merit of  
fidelity4 ,the first  erudite translator
 has not conceived it necessary to      
encumber the volume  with marginal      
notes2 nor have ,i found either the     
inclination or the  ability to supply   
them4 ,those who should wish to refer to
 the allusions  scattered through the   
old classics to the characters and      
systems here  treated of1 will find much

 assistance from the marginal           
authorities of  the eloquent and        
ingenious ,bayle4    ,i have only to    
add1 that the present volume comprises  
little more than a  third of the        
original ,,ms42 it will be sufficient1  
however1 to enable the  public to form  
an estimate of the probable value of the
 whole4                                 
,a ,,few ,,days ,,in ,,athens4          
,,chapter ,i4      8,oh6 monstrous10    
cried the young ,theon1 as he came from 
the portico of  ,zeno4 8,ye ,gods6 and  
will ye suffer your names to be thus    
blasphemed8 ,why  do ye not strike with 
thunder the actor and teacher of such   
enormities8  ,what6 will ye suffer our  
youth1 and the youth of after ages1 to  
be  seduced by this shameless           
,gargettian8 ,shall the ,stoic portico  
be  forsaken for the garden of          
,epicurus8 ,minerva1 shield thy city6   
,shut the  ears of thy sons against the 
voice of this deceiver60    ,thus did   
,theon give vent to the indignation     

which the words of  ,timocrates had     
worked up within him4 ,timocrates had   
been a disciple of  the new school2 but1
 quarrelling with his master1 had fled  
to the  followers of ,zeno2 and to make 
the greater merit of his apostacy1 and  
better to gain the hearts of his new    
friends1 poured forth daily  execrations
 on his former teacher1 painting him and
 his disciples in the  blackest colors  
of deformity2 revealing1 with a         
countenance distorted as  with horror1  
and a voice hurried and suppressed as   
from the agonies of  dreadful           
recollections1 the secrets of those     
midnight orgies1 where1 in  the midst of
 his pupils1 the philosopher of         
,gargettium officiated as  master of the
 accursed ceremonies of riot and        
impiety4    ,full of these nocturnal    
horrors the young ,theon traversed with 
hasty  steps the streets of ,athens1    
and1 issuing from the city1 without     
perceiving that he did so1 took the road
 to the ,pirus4 ,the noise of the       

harbor roused him to recollection1 and  
feeling it out of tune with his         
thoughts1 he turned up the more peaceful
 banks of ,cephisus1 and1 seating       
himself on the stump of a withered      
olive1 his feet almost washed by the    
water1 he fell back again into his      
reverie4 ,how long he had sat he knew   
not1 when the sound of gently           
approaching footsteps once more recalled
  him4 ,he turned his head1 and1 after a
 start and gaze of astonishment1  bent  
with veneration to the figure before    
him4 ,it was of the middle  size1 and   
robed in white1 pure as the vestments of
 the ,pythia4 ,the  shape1 the attitude1
 the foldings of the garment1 were such 
as the  chisel of ,phidias would have   
given to the ,god of ,elocution4 ,the   
head  accorded with the rest of the     
figure2 it sat upon the shoulders with a
  grace that a painter would have paused
 to contemplate--elevated1 yet  somewhat
 inclining forward1 as if habituated    
gently to seek and  benevolently to     

yield attention4 ,the face a poet would 
have gazed upon1  and thought he beheld 
in it one of the images of his fancy    
embodied4 ,the  features were not cast  
for the statuary2 they were noble but   
not  regular4 ,wisdom beamed mildly from
 the eye1 and candor was on the broad   
forehead3 the mouth reposed in a soft1  
almost imperceptible smile1 that  did   
not curl the lips or disturb the cheeks1
 and was seen only in the  serene and   
holy benignity that shone over the whole
 physiognomy3 ,it was  a gleam of       
sunshine sleeping on a lucid lake4 ,the 
first lines of age  were traced on the  
brow and round the chin1 but so gently  
as to mellow  rather than deepen        
expression3 the hair indeed seemed      
prematurely  touched by time1 for it was
 of a pure silver1 thrown back from the 
forehead1 and fringing the throat behind
 with short curls4 ,he received         
benignly the salutation of the youth1   
and gently with his hand returning      
it--8,let me not break your meditations2

 ,i would rather share than disturb     
them40 ,if the stranger's appearance had
 enchanted ,theon1 his voice did  now   
more so3 never had a sound so sweet1 so 
musical1 struck upon his  ear4          
8,surely ,i behold and hear a divinity60
 he cried1 stepping backwards1 and  half
 stooping his knee with veneration4     
8,from the groves of the academy1 ,i    
see10 said the sage1 advancing and      
laying his hand on the youth's shoulder4
    ,theon looked up with a modest      
blush1 and encouraged by the sweet      
aspect  of the sage1 replied1 8,no2 from
 the ,stoic portico40    8,ah6 ,i had   
not thought ,zeno could send forth such 
a dreamer4 ,you are in  a good school10 
he continued1 observing the youth       
confused by this  remark1 8a school of  
real virtue2 and1 if ,i read faces well1
 as ,i think  ,i do1 ,i see a pupil that
 will not disgrace its doctrines40      
,theon's spirit returned2 the stranger  
had that look1 and voice1 and  manner1  
which instantly give security to the    

timid1 and draw love from  the feeling  
heart4 8,if you be man1 you exert more  
than human influence  over the souls of 
your fellows4 ,i have seen you but one  
moment1 and that  moment has laid me at 
your feet40    8,not quite so low1 ,i   
hope10 returned the sage with a smile2  
8,i had  always rather be the companion 
than the master40    8,either1 both10   
said the eager youth1 and seizing the   
half-extended hand  of the sage1 pressed
 it respectfully to his lips4    8,you  
are an enthusiast1 ,i see4 ,beware1 my  
young friend6 such as you must  be the  
best or the worst of men40    8,then1   
had ,i you for a guide1 ,i should be the
 best40    8,what6 do you a stoic ask a 
guide80    8,i1 a stoic6 ,oh6 would ,i  
were6 ,i yet stand but on the threshhold
 of the  temple40    8,but standing     
there you have at least looked within   
and seen the  glories1 and will not that
 encourage you to advance8 ,who that    
hath seen  virtue doth not love her1 and
 pant after her possession80    8,true1 

true2 ,i have seen virtue in her noblest
 form--,alas6 so noble1 that  my eyes   
have been dazzled by the contemplation4 
,i have looked upon ,zeno  with         
admiration and despair40    8,learn     
rather to look with love4 ,he who but   
admires virtue1 yields her  but half her
 due4 ,she asks to be approached1 to be 
embraced--not with  fear1 but with      
confidence--not with awe but with       
rapture40    8,yet who can gaze on ,zeno
 and ever hope to rival him80    8,you1 
my young friend3 ,why should you not8   
,you have innocence2 you have           
sensibility2 you have enthusiasm2 you   
have ambition--,with what better        
promise could ,zeno begin his career8   
,courage6 courage6 my son60  stopping1  
for they had insensibly walked towards  
the city during the  dialogue1 and      
laying his hand on ,theon's head1 8,we  
want but the will to  be as great as    
,zeno40    ,theon had drawn his breath  
for a sigh1 but his action and the look 
that  accompanied it1 changed the sigh  

to a smile4 8,you would make me vain40  
8,no2 but ,i would make you confident4  
,without confidence ,homer had never    
written his ,iliad--,no2 nor would ,zeno
 now be worshipped in his portico40     
8,do you then think confidence would    
make all men ,homers and ,zenos80       
8,not all2 but a good many4 ,i believe  
thousands to have the seeds of          
excellence in them1 who never discover  
the possession4 ,but we were not        
speaking of poetry and philosophy1 only 
of virtue--all men certainly  cannot be 
poets or philosophers1 but all men may  
be virtuous40    8,i believe10 returned 
the youth with a modest blush1 8if ,i   
might walk  with you each day on the    
borders of ,cephisus1 ,i should         
sometimes play  truant at the portico40 
8,ye gods forbid 7exclaimed the sage    
playfully7 that ,i should steal a       
proselyte6 ,from ,zeno too8 ,it might   
cost me dear4--,what are you thinking   
of80 he resumed1 after a pause4    8,i  
was thinking10 replied ,theon1 8what a  

loss for man that you are not  teacher  
in the gardens in place of the son of   
,neocles40    8,do you know the son of  
,neocles80 asked the sage4    8,the gods
 forbid that ,i should know him more    
than by report6 ,no1  venerable         
stranger2 wrong me not so much as to    
think ,i have entered the  gardens of   
,epicurus4 ,it is not long that ,i have 
been in ,athens1 but ,i  hope1 if ,i    
should henceforth live my life here1 ,i 
should never be  seduced by the advocate
 of vice40    8,from my soul ,i hope the
 same4 ,but you say you have not long   
been in  ,athens--,you are come here to 
study philosophy40    8,yes2 my father  
was a scholar of ,xenocrates2 but when  
he sent me from  ,corinth1 he bade me   
attend all the schools1 and fix with    
that which  should give me the highest  
views of virtue40    8,and you have     
found it to be that of ,zeno40    8,i   
think ,i have3 but ,i was one day nearly
 gained by a young ,pythagorean1  and   
have been often in danger of becoming   

one of the academy40    8,you need not  
say in danger3 ,for though ,i think you 
choose well in  standing mainly by      
,zeno1 ,i would have you attend all the 
schools1 and  that with a willing ear4  
,there is some risk in following one    
particular  sect1 even the most perfect1
 lest the mind become warped and the    
heart  contracted4 ,yes1 young man6 it  
is possible that this should happen even
  in the portico4 ,no sect without its  
prejudices and its predilections40      
8,i believe you say true40    8,i know  
,i say true10 returned the sage in a    
tone of playfulness he had  more than   
once used2 8,i know ,i say true2 and had
 ,i before needed  evidence to confirm  
my opinion1 this our present            
conversation would have  afforded it40  
8,how so80    8,nay1 were ,i to explain1
 you would not now credit me3 ,no man   
can see his  own prejudices2 no1 though 
a philosopher should point at them4 ,but
  patience1 patience6 ,time and         
opportunity shall right all things4     

,why1  you did not think10 he resumed   
after a short pause1 8you did not really
  think you were without prejudices8    
,eighteen1 not more1 if ,i may judge by 
complexion1 and without prejudices6     
,why1 ,i should hardly dare to assert   
,i was myself without them1 and ,i      
believe ,i have fought harder and       
somewhat longer against them than you   
can have done40    8,what would you have
 me do80 asked the youth1 timidly4      
8,have you do8--,why1 ,i would have you 
do a very odd thing--,no other than to  
take a turn or two in ,epicurus's       
garden40    8,epicurus's garden6 ,oh6   
,jupiter60    8,very true1 by ,juno60   
8,what6 ,to hear the laws of virtue     
confounded and denied8--,to hear vice   
exculpated1 advocated1                  
panegyrized8--,impiety and atheism      
professed and  inculcated8--,to witness 
the nocturnal orgies of vice and        
debauchery8--,ye  gods1 what horrors has
 ,timocrates revealed60    8,horrors1 in
 truth1 somewhat appalling1 my young    

friend2 but ,i should  apprehend        
,timocrates to be a little mistaken4    
,that the laws of virtue  were ever     
confounded and denied1 or vice advocated
 and panegyrized1 by  any professed     
teacher1 ,i incline to doubt4 ,and were 
,i really to hear  such things1 ,i      
should simply conclude the speaker mad1 
or otherwise that  he was amusing       
himself by shifting the meaning of      
words1 and that by the  term virtue he  
understood vice1 and so by the contrary4
 ,as to the  inculcating of impiety and 
atheism1 this may be exaggerated or     
misunderstood4 ,many are called impious1
 not for having a worse1 but a          
different religion from their neighbors2
 and many atheistical1 not for  the     
denying of ,god1 but for thinking       
somewhat peculiarly concerning him4     
,upon the nocturnal orgies of vice and  
debauchery ,i can say nothing2 ,i am    
too profoundly ignorant of these        
matters1 either to exculpate or condemn 
them4 ,such things may be1 and ,i never 

hear of them4 ,all things are  possible4
 ,yes10 turning his benignant face full 
upon the youth1 8even  that ,timocrates 
should lie40    8,this possibility had  
indeed not occurred to me40    8,no1 my 
young friend2 and shall ,i tell you why8
 ,because he told you  absurdities4 ,let
 an impostor keep to probability1 and he
 will hardly  impose4 ,by dealing in the
 marvellous1 he tickles the imagination1
 and  carries away the judgment2 and    
judgment once gone1 what shall save even
  a wise man from folly80    8,i should 
truly rejoice1 to find the ,gargettian's
 doctrine less  monstrous than ,i have  
hitherto thought them4 ,i say less      
monstrous1 for  you would not wish me to
 think them good40    8,i would wish you
 to think nothing good1 or bad either1  
upon my  decision4 ,the first and the   
last thing ,i would say to man is1 think
 for  yourself6 ,it is a bad sentence of
 the ,pythagoreans1 #8,the master said  
so4' ,if the young disciple you         
mentioned should ever succeed in your   

conversion1 believe in the              
metempsychosis for some other reason    
than  that ,pythagoras #8taught it4'0   
8,but1 if ,i may ask1 do you think well 
of ,epicurus80    8,i meant not to make 
an apology for ,epicurus1 only to give a
 caution  against ,timocrates--but see1 
we are in the city2 and fortunately so1 
for  it is pretty nigh dark4 ,i have a  
party of young friends awaiting me1     
and1 but that you may be apprehensive of
 nocturnal orgies1 ,i would ask  you to 
join us40    8,i shall not fear them    
where ,i have such a conductor10 replied
 the  youth1 laughing4    8,i do not    
think it quite so impossible1 however1  
as you seem to do10  said the sage1     
laughing in his turn1 with much humor1  
and entering a  house as he spoke2 then 
throwing open with one arm a door1 and  
with the  other gently drawing the youth
 along with him1 8,i am ,epicurus60     
,,chapter ,,ii4      ,the astonished1   
the affrighted ,theon started from the  
arm of the sage1  and1 staggering       

backwards1 was saved1 probably1 from    
falling1 by a  statue that stood against
 the wall on one side of the door3 he   
leaned  against it1 pale and almost     
fainting4 ,he knew not what to do1      
scarcely  what to feel1 and was totally 
blind to all the objects around him4    
,his  conductor1 who had possibly       
expected his confusion1 did not turn to 
observe it1 but advanced in such a      
manner as to cover him from the view  of
 the company1 and1 still to give time   
for recollection1 stood  receiving and  
returning salutations4    8,well met1 my
 sons6 and ,i suppose you say well met1 
also4 ,are you  starving1 or am ,i to be
 starved8 ,have you ate up the supper1  
or only sat  longing for it1 cursing my 
delay80    8,the latter1 only the       
latter10 cried a lively youth1 hurrying 
to meet  his master4 ,another and       
another advanced1 and in a moment he was
 locked  in a close circle4    8,mercy6 
mercy60 cried the philosopher1 8drive me
 a step further and you  will overturn a

 couple of statues40 ,then1 looking over
 his shoulder1 8,i  have brought you1 if
 he has not run away1 a very pleasant   
young  ,corinthian1 for whom1 until he  
gain his own tongue1 ,i shall demand    
reception40 ,he held out his hand with a
 look of bewitching  encouragement1 and 
the yet faltering ,theon advanced4 ,the 
mist had now  passed from his eyes1 and 
the singing from his ears1 and both room
 and  company stood revealed before him4
 ,perhaps1 had it not been for this     
motion1 and still more this look of the 
sage1 he had just now made a  retreat   
instead of an advance4 8,in the hall of 
,epicurus--in that hall  where          
,timocrates had beheld0--oh6 horrid     
imagination6 8,and he a disciple  of    
,zeno1 the friend of ,cleanthes--the son
 of a follower of ,plato--had he        
crossed the threshhold of vice1 the     
threshhold of the impious  ,gargettian60
 ,yes2 he had certainly fled1 but for   
that extended hand1 and  that bewitching
 smile4 ,these however conquered4 ,he   

advanced1 and with an  effort at        
composure1 met the offered hand4 ,the   
circle made way1 and  ,epicurus         
presented 8a friend40 8,his name you    
must learn from himself1 ,i  am only    
acquainted with his heart1 and that1 on 
a knowledge of two  hours1 ,i pronounce 
myself in love with40    8,then he shall
 be my brother10 cried the lively youth 
who had before  spoken1 and he ran to   
the embrace of ,theon4    8,when shall  
we use our own eyes1 ears1 and          
understandings80 said the  sage1 gently 
stroking his scholar's head4 8,see6 our 
new friend knows not  how to meet your  
premature affection40    8,he waits10   
returned the youth archly1 8to receive  
the same commendation  of me that ,i    
have of him4 ,let the master say he is  
in love with my  heart1 and he too will 
open his arms to a brother40    8,i hope
 he is not such a fool10 gaily replied  
the sage4 ,then with an  accent more    
serious1 but still sweeter1 8,i hope he 
will judge all  things1 and all people1 

with his own understanding1 and not with
 that of  ,epicurus1 or yet of a wiser  
man4 ,when may ,i hope this of ,sofron10
  smiling and shaking his head1 8can    
,sofron tell me80    8,no1 indeed he    
cannot10 rejoined the scholar1 smiling  
and shaking his  head also1 as in       
mimicry of his master4    8,go1 go1 you 
rogue6 and show us to our supper3 ,i    
more than half suspect  you have        
devoured it40 ,he turned1 and familiarly
 taking ,theon by the  shoulder1 walked 
up the room1 or rather gallery1 and     
entered a spacious  rotunda4    ,a lamp1
 suspended from the centre of the       
ceiling1 lighted a table spread  beneath
 it with a simple but elegant repast4   
,round the walls1 in niches  at equal   
distances1 stood twelve statues1 the    
work of the best masters2  on either    
hand of these burned a lamp on a small  
tripod4 ,beside one of  the lamps1 a    
female figure was reclining on a couch1 
reading with  earnest study from a book 
that lay upon her knee4 ,her head was so

 much  bowed forward as to conceal her  
face1 besides that it was shadowed by   
her hand1 which1 the elbow supported on 
an arm of the couch1 was spread  above  
her brows as a relief from the glare of 
the light4 ,at her feet was  seated a   
young girl1 by whose side lay a small   
cithara1 silent1 and  forgotten by its  
mistress4 ,crete might have lent those  
eyes their  sparkling jet1 but all the  
soul of tenderness that breathed from   
them  was pure ,ionian4 ,the full and   
ruddy lips1 half parted1 showed two rows
  of pearls which ,thetis might have    
envied4 ,still a vulgar eye would not   
have rested on the countenance3 the     
features wanted the ,doric harmony1  and
 the complexion was tinged as by an     
,afric sun4 ,theon1 however1 saw  not   
this1 as his eyes fell on those of the  
girl1 uplifted to the  countenance of   
her studious companion4 ,never was a    
book read more  earnestly than was that 
face by the fond and gentle eyes which  
seemed to  worship as they gazed4 ,the  

sound of approaching feet caught the ear
 of  the maiden4 ,she rose1 blushed1    
half returned the salute of the master1 
and timidly drew back some paces4 ,the  
student was still intent upon the       
scroll over which she hung1 when the    
sage advanced towards her1 and  laying a
 finger on her shoulder1 8,what read    
you1 my daughter80 ,she  dropped her    
hand1 and looked up in his face4 ,what a
 countenance was then  revealed6 ,it was
 not the beauty of blooming1 blushing   
youth1 courting  love and desire4 ,it   
was the self-possessed dignity of       
ripened womanhood1  and the noble       
majesty of mind1 that asked respect and 
promised delight  and instruction4 ,the 
features were not those of ,venus1 but  
,minerva4 ,the  eye looked deep and     
steady from beneath two even brows1 that
 sense1 not  years1 had slightly knit in
 the centre of the forehead1 which else 
was  uniformly smooth and polished as   
marble4 ,the nose was rather ,roman than
  ,grecian1 yet perfectly regular1 and  

though not masculine1 would have  been  
severe in expression1 but for a mouth   
where all that was lovely and  graceful 
habited4 ,the chin was elegantly        
rounded1 and turned in the  ,greek      
manner4 ,the color of the cheeks was of 
the softest and palest  rose1 so pale1  
indeed1 as scarcely to be discernible   
until deepened by  emotion4 ,it was so  
at this moment3 startled by the address 
of the sage1  a bright flush passed over
 her face4 ,she rolled up the book1     
dropped it  on the couch1 and rose4 ,her
 stature was much above the female      
standard1  but every limb and every     
motion was symmetry and harmony4 8,a    
treatise of  ,theophrastus2--eloquent1  
ingenious and chimerical4 ,i have a     
fancy to  answer it40 ,her voice was    
full and deep1 like the tones of a harp 
when  its chords are struck by the hand 
of a master4    8,no one could do it    
better10 replied the sage4 8,but ,i     
should have  guessed the aged           
,peripatetic already silenced by the    

most acute1  elegant1 and subtle pen of 
,athens40 ,she bowed to the compliment4 
8,is that then the famous ,leontium80   
muttered ,theon4 8,timocrates must be  a
 liar40    8,i know not10 resumed       
,leontium1 8that ,i should this evening 
have so  frequently thought             
,theophrastus wrong1 if he had not made 
me so  continually feel that he thought 
himself right4 ,must ,i seek the cause  
of  this in the writer's or the reader's
 vanity80    8,perhaps10 said the       
master1 smiling1 8you will find that it 
lies in  both40    8,i believe you have 
it10 returned ,leontium4 8,theophrastus1
 in betraying  his self-love1 hurt mine4
 ,he who is about to prove that his own 
way of  thinking is right1 must bear in 
mind that he is about also to prove that
  all other ways of thinking are wrong4 
,and if this should make him slow  to   
enter on the undertaking1 it should make
 him yet more careful1 when  he does    
enter on it1 to do it with becoming     
modesty4 ,we are surely  imperiously    

called upon to make a sacrifice of our  
own vanity1 before we  call upon others 
to make a sacrifice of theirs4 ,but ,i  
would not  particularize ,theophrastus  
for sometimes forgetting this1 as ,i    
have  never known but one who always    
remembers it4 ,gentleness and modesty   
are  qualities at once the most         
indispensable to a teacher1 and the most
  rarely possessed by him4 ,it was these
 that won the ears of the ,athenian     
youth to ,socrates1 and it is these10   
inclining to the ,master1 8that will    
secure them to ,epicurus40    8,could ,i
 accept your praise1 my daughter1 ,i    
should have no doubt of the  truth of   
your prophecy4 ,for1 indeed1 the mode of
 delivering a truth  makes1 for the most
 part1 as much impression on the mind of
 the listener  as the truth itself4 ,it 
is as hard to receive the words of      
wisdom from  the ungentle1 as it is to  
love1 or even to recognize virtue in the
  austere40 ,he drew near the table as  
he spoke4 ,often during supper were  the

 eyes of ,theon riveted on the face of  
this female disciple4 ,such  grace6 such
 majesty6 ,more than all1 such          
intellect6 ,and this--this was  the     
,leontium ,timocrates had called a      
prostitute without shame or  measure6   
,and this was the ,epicurus he had      
blasted with names too vile  and        
horrible to repeat even in thought6 ,and
 these--continuing his inward  soliloquy
 as he looked round the board--these    
were the devoted victims of  the vice of
 an impious master4    8,you arrived    
most seasonably this evening10 cried    
,sofron1 addressing the  ,philosopher2  
8most seasonably for the lungs of two of
 your scholars40    8,and for the ears  
of a third10 interrupted ,leontium4 8,i 
was fairly  driven into exile40         
8,what was the subject80 asked          
,epicurus4    8,whether the vicious were
 more justly objects of indignation or  
of  contempt3 ,metrodorus argued for the
 first1 and ,i for the latter4 ,let the 
master decide40    8,he will give his   

opinion certainly2 but that is not      
decision40    8,well2 and your opinion  
is that of----40    8,neither40         
8,neither6 ,i had no idea the question  
had more than two sides40    8,it has   
yet a third2 and ,i hardly ever heard a 
question that had not4  ,had ,i regarded
 the vicious with indignation1 ,i had   
never gained one to  virtue4 ,had ,i    
viewed them with contempt1 ,i had never 
sought to gain  one40    8,how is it10  
said ,leontium1 8that the scholars are  
so little familiar  with the temper of  
their master8 ,when did ,epicurus look  
on the vicious  with other than         
compassion80    8,true10 said           
,metrodorus4 8,i know not how ,i forgot 
this1 when perhaps it  is the only point
 which ,i have more than once1 presumed 
to argue with  him3 and upon which ,i   
have persisted in retaining a different 
opinion40    8,talk not of presumption1 
my son4 ,who has not a right to think   
for  himself8 ,or who is he whose voice 
is infallible1 and worthy to silence    

those of his fellow-men8 ,and remember1 
that your remaining unconvinced  by my  
arguments on one occasion1 can only tend
 to make your conviction  more          
flattering to me upon others4 ,yet1 on  
the point in question1 were ,i  anxious 
to bring you over to my opinion1 ,i know
 one1 whose argument1  better and more  
forcible than mine1 will ere long most  
effectually do  so40    8,who mean you80
    8,no other than old hoary ,time10   
said the ,master1 8who1 as he leads us  
gently onwards in the path of life1     
demonstrates to us many truths that  we 
never heard in the schools1 and some    
that1 hearing there1 we found  hard to  
receive4 ,our knowledge of human life   
must be acquired by our  passage through
 it2 the lessons of the sage are not    
sufficient to impart  it4 ,our knowledge
 of men must be acquired by our own     
study of them2 the  report of others    
will never convince us4 ,when you1 my   
son1 have seen  more of life1 and       
studied more men1 you will find1 or at  

least1 ,i  think you will find1 that the
 judgment is not false which makes us   
lenient to the failings--yea6 even to   
the crimes of our fellows4 ,in  youth1  
we act on the impulse of feeling1 and we
 feel without pausing to  judge4 ,an    
action1 vicious in itself1 or that is so
 merely in our  estimation1 fills us    
with horror1 and we turn from its agent 
without  waiting to listen to the plea  
which his ignorance could make to our   
mercy4 ,in our ripened years1 supposing 
our judgment to have ripened  also1 when
 all the insidious temptations that     
misguided him1 and all the              
disadvantages that he has labored under1
 perhaps from his birth1 are  apparent  
to us--it is then1 and not till then1   
that our indignation at  the crime is   
lost in our pity of the man40    8,i am 
the last10 said ,metrodorus1 a crimson  
blush spreading over his  face1 8who    
should object to my master his clemency 
towards the  offending4 ,but there are  
vices1 different from those he saved me 

from1  which1 if not more unworthy1 are 
perhaps more unpardonable1 because      
committed with less temptation2 and more
 revolting1 as springing less  from     
thoughtless ignorance than calculating  
depravity40    8,are we not prone10 said
 the sage1 8to extenuate our foibles1   
even while  condemning them8 ,and does  
it not flatter our self-love1 to weigh  
our own  vices against those of more    
erring neighbors80    ,the scholar      
leaned forwards1 and stooping his face  
towards the hand of  his master1 where  
it rested on the table1 laid the        
deepening crimson of  his cheek upon it4
 8,i mean not to exculpate the early    
vices of  ,metrodorus4 ,i love to       
consider them in all their enormity2 for
 the more  heinous the vices of his     
youth1 the greater is the debt of       
gratitude his  manhood has to repay to  
thee4 ,but tell me10 he added1 and      
lifted his  eyes to the benignant face  
of the sage1 8tell me1 oh6 my friend and
  guide6 was the soul of ,metrodorus1   

found base or deceitful2 or has his     
heart proved false to gratitude and     
affection80    8,no1 my son1 no10 said  
,epicurus1 his face beaming with        
goodness1 and a  tear glistening in his 
eye4 8,no6 ,vice never choked the warm  
feelings of  thy heart1 nor clouded the 
fair ingenuousness of thy soul4 ,but1 my
 son1  a few years later1 and who shall 
say what might have been8 ,trust me1    
none can drink of the cup of vice with  
impunity4 ,but you will say1 that  there
 are qualities of so mean or so horrible
 a nature1 as to place the  man that is 
governed by them out of the pale of     
communion with the  virtuous4 ,malice1  
cruelty1 deceit1 ingratitude--crimes    
such as these1  should you think1 draw  
down upon those convicted of them no    
feelings  more mild than abhorrence1    
execration1 and scorn4 ,and yet1        
perhaps1  these were not always natural 
to the heart they now sway4 ,fatal      
impressions1 vicious example1 operating 
on the plastic frame of  childhood1 may 

have perverted all the fair gifts of    
nature1 may have  distorted the tender  
plant from the seedling1 and crushed all
 the  blossoms of virtue in the germ4   
,say1 shall we not compassionate the    
moral disease of our brother1 and try   
our skill to restore him to  health8    
,but is the evil beyond cure8 ,is the   
mind strained into  changeless          
deformity1 and the heart corrupted in   
the core8 ,greater then1  much greater1 
will be our compassion4 ,for is not his 
wretchedness  complete1 when his errors 
are without hope of correction8 ,oh6 my 
sons6  the wicked may work mischief to  
others1 but they never can inflict a    
pang such as they endure themselves4 ,i 
am satisfied1 that of all the  miseries 
that tear the heart of man1 none may    
compare with those it  feels beneath the
 sway of baleful passions40    8,oh60   
cried ,theon1 turning with a timid blush
 towards ,epicurus1 8,i have  long owned
 the power of virtue1 but surely till   
this night ,i never felt  its           

persuasion40    8,i see you were not    
born for a stoic10 said the master      
smiling1 8,why1 my  son1 what made you  
fall in love with ,zeno80    8,his      
virtues10 said the youth1 proudly4      
8,his fine face1 and fine talking10     
returned the philosopher1 with a tone   
of playful irony4 8,nay6 don't be       
offended20 and stretched his hand to    
,theon's shoulder1 who reclined on the  
sofa next him4 8,i admire your  master  
very much1 and go to hear him very      
often40    8,indeed60    8,indeed8 ,yes1
 indeed4 ,is it so wonderful80    8,you 
were not there0--,theon stopped and     
looked down in confusion4    8,to-day1  
you mean8 ,yes1 ,i was2 and heard a     
description of myself that  might match 
in pleasantry with that in #8,the       
,clouds'#b of old  ,socrates4 ,pray     
don't you find it very like80 ,he leaned
 over the side of  the couch1 and looked
 in ,theon's face4    ,footnote #b3     
,alluding to the comedy of              
,aristophanes1 in which ,socrates was   

indecently ridiculed4    8,i--,i--0 ,the
 youth stammered and looked down4       
8,think it is10 said the sage1 as if    
concluding the sentence for him4        
8,no1 think it is not2 swear it is not20
 burst forth the eager youth1 and       
looked as he would have thrown himself  
at the philosopher's feet4 8,oh6  why   
did you not stand forth and silence the 
liar80    8,truly1 my son1 the liar was 
too pleasant to be angry with1 and too  
absurd to be answered40    8,and yet he 
was believed80    8,of course40    8,but
 why then not answer him80    8,and so  
,i do4 ,i answer him in my life4 ,the   
only way in which a  philosopher should 
ever answer a fool1 or1 as in this case1
 a knave40    8,i am really bewildered10
 cried ,theon1 gazing in the            
philosopher's1 and  then in ,leontium's 
countenance1 and then throwing a glance 
round the  circle4 8,i am really        
bewildered with astonishment and with   
shame10 he  continued1 casting down his 
eyes1 8that ,i should have listened to  

that  liar ,timocrates6 ,what a fool you
 must think me60    8,no more of a fool 
than ,zeno10 said the sage1 laughing4   
8,what a  philosopher listened to1 ,i   
cannot much blame a scholar for         
believing40    8,oh6 that ,zeno knew    
you60    8,and then he would certainly  
hate me40    8,you joke40    8,quite    
serious4 ,don't you know that who       
quarrels with your doctrine1  must      
always quarrel with your practice8      
,nothing is so provoking as that  a man 
should preach viciously and act         
virtuously40    8,but you do not preach 
viciously40    8,i hope not4 ,but those 
will call it so1 aye6 and in honest     
heart think  it so1 who preach a        
different1 it need not be a better1     
doctrine40    8,but ,zeno mistakes your 
doctrine40    8,i have no doubt he      
expounds it wrong40    8,he mistakes it 
altogether4 ,he believes that you own no
 other law--no  other principle of      
action--than pleasure40    8,he believes
 right40    8,right8 ,impossible6 ,that 

you teach men to laugh at virtue1 and to
 riot  in luxury and vice40    8,there  
he believes wrong40    ,theon looked as 
he felt1 curious and uncertain4 ,he     
gazed first on the  philosopher1 and1   
when he did not proceed1 timidly round  
the circle4  ,every face had a smile on 
it4    8,the orgies are concluded10 said
 ,epicurus1 rising1 and turning with    
affected gravity to the young           
,corinthian4 8,you have seen the horrors
 of  the night2 if they have left any   
curiosity for the mysteries of the day1 
seek our garden to-morrow at sunrise1   
and you shall be initiated40            
,,chapter ,,iii4      ,the steeds of the
 sun had not mounted the horizon1 when  
,theon took the  road to the garden4 ,he
 found the gate open4 ,the path he      
entered on was  broad and even1 and     
shaded on either side by rows of cork1  
lime1 oak1  and other the finest trees  
of the forest3 pursuing this for some   
way1 he  suddenly opened on a fair and  
varied lawn1 through which the          

,illissus1  now of the whitest silver in
 the pale twilight1 stole with a gentle 
and  noiseless course4 ,crossing the    
lawn1 he struck into a close thicket3   
the  orange1 the laurel1 and the myrtle1
 hung over his head1 whose flowers1     
slowly opening to the breeze and light  
of morning1 dropped dews and  perfumes4 
,a luxurious indolence crept over his   
soul2 he breathed the  airs1 and felt   
the bliss of ,elysium4 ,with slow and   
measured steps he  threaded the maze1   
till he entered suddenly on a small open
 plot of  verdure in face of a beautiful
 temple4 ,the place was three parts     
encircled with a wood of flowering      
shrubs1 the rest was girded by the      
winding ,illissus1 over which the eye   
wandered to glades and softly  swelling 
hills1 whose bosoms now glowed beneath  
the dyes of ,aurora4 ,the  building was 
small and circular2 ,doric1 and of the  
marble of ,paros3 an  open portico1     
supported by twenty pillars1 ran round  
the edifice3 the  roof rose in a dome4  

,the roseate tints of the east fell on  
the polished  columns1 like the blush of
 love on the cheek of ,diana1 when she  
stood  before her ,endymion4    ,theon  
stopped3 the scene was heavenly4 ,long  
had he gazed in silent and  calm        
delight1 when his eye was attracted by  
the waving of a garment on  one side of 
the temple4--,he advanced1 and beheld a 
figure leaning against  one of the      
pillars4 ,the sun at that moment shot   
his first beam above the  hills3 it fell
 full upon the face of the son of       
,neocles3 it was raised1  and the eyes  
were fixed as in deep meditation4 ,the  
features reposed in  the calm of wisdom3
 the arms were folded1 and the drapery  
fell in masses  to the feet4 ,theon flew
 towards him then suddenly stopped1     
fearing to  break upon his thoughts4 ,at
 the sound1 the sage turned his head1   
8,welcome1 my son10 he said1 advancing  
to meet him1 8,welcome to the  garden of
 pleasure1 may you find it the abode of 
peace1 of wisdom1 and  of virtue40      

,theon bowed his head upon the hand of  
the master4 8,teach me1 guide me1  make 
me what you will--my soul is in your    
hand40    8,it is yet tender1 yet pure10
 said the ,gargettian2 8years shall     
strengthen it--,oh6 let them not sully  
it6 ,see that luminary6 lovely and      
glorious in the dawn1 he gathers        
strength and beauty to his meridian1    
and passes in peace and grandeur to his 
rest4 ,so do thou1 my son4 ,open  your  
ears and your eyes2 know1 and choose    
what is good2 enter the path  of virtue1
 and thou shalt follow it1 for thou     
shalt find it sweet4  ,thorns are not in
 it1 nor is it difficult or steep3 like 
the garden you  have now entered1 all   
there is pleasure and repose40    8,ah60
 cried ,theon1 8how different is virtue 
in your mouth and in  ,zeno's40    8,the
 doctrine of ,zeno10 replied the sage1  
8is sublime3 many great men  shall come 
from his school2 an amiable world1 from 
mine4 ,zeno hath his  eye on man1       
,i--mine on men3 none but philosophers  

can be stoics2  ,epicureans all may be40
    8,but10 asked ,theon1 8is there more
 than one virtue80    8,no1 but men     
clothe her differently2 some in clouds  
and thunders2 some  in smiles and       
pleasures4 ,doctors1 my son1 quarrel    
more about words than  things1 and more 
about the means than the end4 ,in the   
,portico1 in the  ,lycum1 in the        
,academy1 in the school of ,pythagoras1 
in the ,tub of  ,diogenes1 the teacher  
points you to virtue2 in the ,garden he 
points you  to happiness4 ,now open your
 eyes1 my son1 and examine the two      
,deities4--,say1 are they not the same8 
virtue1 is it not happiness8 and is  not
 happiness1 virtue80    8,is this1 then1
 the secret of your doctrine80    8,no  
other40    8,but--but--where then is the
 dispute8 ,truly1 as you have said1 in  
words  not things40    8,yes1 in a great
 measure1 yet not altogether3 ,we are   
all the wooers of  virtue1 but we are   
wooers of a different character40       
8,and may she not then favor one1 more  

than another80    8,that is a question10
 replied the ,gargettian playfully1     
8that each will  answer in his own      
favor4 ,if you ask me10 he continued    
with one of his  sweetest tones and     
smiles1 8,i shall say--that ,i feel     
myself virtuous1  because my soul is at 
rest40    8,if this be your criterion1  
you should with the stoics deny that    
pain is  an evil40    8,by no means3 so 
much the contrary1 ,i hold it the       
greatest of all evils1  and the whole   
aim of my life1 and of my philosophy1 is
 to escape from  it4 ,to deny that pain 
is an evil is such another quibble as   
the ,elean's  denial of motion3 that    
must exist to man which exists to his   
senses2 and  as to existence or         
non-existence abstracted from them1     
though it may  afford an idle argument  
for an idle hour1 it can never enter as 
a truth1  from which to draw            
conclusions1 in the practical lessons of
 a master4 ,to  deny that pain is an    
evil1 seems more absurd than to deny its

 existence1  which has also been done1  
for its existence is only apparent from 
its  effect upon our senses2 how then   
shall we admit the existence1 and deny  
the effect1 which alone forces that     
admittance8 ,but we will leave these    
matters to the dialecticians of the     
,portico4 ,i feel myself virtuous       
because my soul is at rest3 ,with evil  
passions ,i should be disturbed and     
uneasy2 with uncontrolled appetites ,i  
should be disordered in body as  well as
 mind1--for this reason1 and for this   
reason only1 ,i avoid both40    8,only60
    8,only3 virtue is pleasure2 were it 
not so1 ,i should not follow it40       
,theon was about to break forth in      
indignant astonishment3 the ,sage       
softly laid a hand upon his arm2 and1   
with a smile and bend of the head       
demanding attention1 proceeded3 8,the   
masters who would have us to follow     
virtue for her own sake1 independent of 
any pleasure or advantage that  we may  
find in the pursuit1 are sublime        

visionaries1 who build a theory  without
 examining the ground on which they     
build it1 who advance  doctrines without
 examining principles4 ,why do ,i gaze  
on the ,cupid of  ,praxiteles8 because  
it is beautiful2 because it gives me    
pleasurable  sensations4 ,if it gave me 
no pleasurable sensations1 should ,i    
find it  beautiful2 should ,i gaze upon 
it2 or would you call me wise if then ,i
  gave a drachma for its possession8    
,what other means have we of judging  of
 things than by the effect they produce 
upon our senses8 ,our senses  then being
 the judges of all things1 the aim of   
all men is to gratify  their senses2 in 
other words1 their aim is pleasure or   
happiness3 and if  virtue were not found
 to conduce to this1 men would do well  
to shun her1  as they now do well to    
shun vice40    8,you own then no        
pleasure but virtue1 and no misery but  
vice40    8,not at all3 ,i think virtue 
only the highest pleasure1 and vice1 or 
ungoverned passions and appetites1 the  

worst misery4 ,other pleasures are      
requisite to form a state of perfect    
ease2 which is happiness2 and other     
miseries are capable of troubling1      
perhaps destroying1 the peace of the    
most virtuous and the wisest man40      
8,i begin to see more reason in your    
doctrine10 said the youth1 looking  up  
with a timid blush in the face of the   
,philosopher4    8,and less monstrous   
depravity10 replied the ,gargettian1    
laughing4 8,my  young friend10 he       
continued more seriously1 8learn        
henceforth to form  your judgments upon 
knowledge1 not report4 ,credulity is    
always a  ridiculous1 often a dangerous 
failing3 it has made of many a clever   
man1  a fool2 and of many a good man1 a 
knave4 ,but have you nothing to urge    
against me8 ,you say you see more reason
 in my doctrine1 which implies  that you
 think me less wrong1 but not right40   
8,i am a young disputant10 answered     
,theon1 8and very unfit to engage with  
such a master40    8,that does not      

follow2 a bad logician may have a good  
understanding2 and  a young mind may be 
an acute one4 ,if my argument have truth
 in it1 less  than a philosopher will   
see it2 and if it have not1 less than a 
logician  may refute it40    8,i think  
,i could urge some objections10 replied 
,theon2 8but they are so  confused and  
indistinct1 ,i almost fear to bring them
 forth40    8,i dare say ,i could       
forestall the most of them10 said the   
,master4 8,but ,i  had rather leave your
 mind to its own exercise4 ,think over  
the matter at  leisure1 and you shall   
start your questions some evening or    
morning  among my scholars4 ,knowledge  
is better imparted in a dialogue than a 
lecture2 and a dialogue is not the worse
 for having more than two               
interlocutors4 ,so6 our walk has well   
ended with our subject4 ,let us see     
what friends are here4 ,there are surely
 voices40    ,their route had been      
circular1 and had brought them again in 
front of  the temple4 8,this is a       

favorite lodgment of mine10 said the    
,sage1  ascending the noble flight of   
steps and entering the open door4 ,the  
apartment1 spacious1 vaulted1 and       
circular1 occupied the whole of the     
building4 ,the walls were adorned with  
fine copies of the best pieces of       
,zeuxis and ,parrhasius1 and some       
beautiful originals of ,appelles4 ,a    
statue1 the only one in the apartment1  
was raised on a pedestal in the  centre4
 ,it was a ,venus ,urania1 by the hand  
of ,lysippus1 well chosen as  the       
presiding deity in the gardens of       
virtuous pleasure4 ,the ceiling1  rising
 into a noble dome1 represented the     
heavens--a ground of deep blue2  the    
stars1 sun1 and planets in raised gold4 
,but two living figures soon  fixed the 
attention of ,theon4 ,in one he         
recognized ,metrodorus1 though he  had  
not the evening before much observed his
 countenance4 ,he stood at a  painter's 
easel4 ,his figure was more graceful    
than dignified1 his face  more          

expressive than handsome4 ,the eyes1    
dark1 piercing and brilliant1  were bent
 in a painter's earnest gaze on his     
living study4 ,the forehead  was short1 
raised much at the temples and          
singularly over the brows4 ,the  hair of
 a dark glossy brown1 short and curled4 
,the cheeks at the moment  deeply       
flushed with the eagerness and1 perhaps1
 the impatience1 of an  artist4 ,the    
mouth curled voluptuously1 yet not      
without a mixture of  satire2 the chin  
curved upwards1 slightly ,grecian1      
assisted this  expression4 ,his study   
was ,leontium4 ,she stood1 rather than  
leaned1  against a pilaster of the wall2
 one arm supported on a slab of marble1 
an unrolled book half lying on the same1
 and half in her opened hand4  ,the     
other arm1 partly hid in the drapery1   
dropped loosely by her side4  ,her fine 
face turned a little over the left      
shoulder1 to meet the eye of  the       
painter4 ,not a muscle played2 the lips 
seemed not to breathe3 so  calm1 so     

pale1 so motionless--she looked a       
statue2 so noble1 so severely           
beautiful--she looked the ,minerva of   
,phidias4    8,i cannot do it60 cried   
,metrodorus1 flinging down his pencil4  
8,i had  need be ,appelles1 to take that
 face40 ,he pushed back his easel in    
disgust4    8,what60 said ,leontium1 her
 fine features relaxing into a heavenly 
smile1  8and is all my patience to go   
for nothing80    8,i am a blundering    
blind ,botian6 a savage ,spartan60      
continued the  disappointed artist4     
8,there60 and seizing a brush1 was about
 to demolish  his work4    8,for your   
life60 cried ,leontium2 and starting    
forward1 pulled aside his  hand4 8,oh6  
the mad ill-temper of a genius6 ,why1   
friend1 if my face were  half so fine as
 that1 ,juno would be jealous of it40   
8,and who knows that she is not8 ,a     
daub6 a vile daub60 still muttered the  
impatient scholar1 yet his face         
gradually relaxing its anger1 as in     
spite of itself1 till it turned to meet 

,leontium's with a smile4    8,and there
 stand the ,master and the young        
,corinthian laughing at you10  said     
,leontium4    ,they approached4 8,are   
you a judge80 asked ,metrodorus of      
,theon4    8,i am afraid not1 though the
 confession will mar my compliments40   
8,but ,i am10 said the ,gargettian      
humorously3 8,and though ,i have all the
  inclination in the world1 yet ,i      
cannot quarrel with the performance4    
,well outlined and finely colored4 ,the 
attitude and air hit exactly4 ,the      
features too--perhaps--the only possible
 perhaps my ill-nature can stumble  on1 
perhaps the expression is too blooming1 
and less mental than that of  the       
original40    8,why there--there it is60
 cried the scholar1 his face resuming   
all its  vexation4 8,the look of an     
idiot instead of a genius40    8,not    
quite that either3 only of a ,hebe      
instead of a ,juno4 ,more like our      
,hedeia40    8,like a monster60 muttered
 the angry artist4    8,oh6 ,hercules1  

oh6 ,hercules60 cried the sage4 8,what  
it is to rub a sore  place6 ,better     
break a man's leg than blow a feather on
 his razed shin4  ,had ,i 7turning to   
,theon7 told him he had drawn a         
humpbacked ,thersites he  would have    
blessed me1 rather than for this pretty 
compliment of a  blooming-faced ,hebe40 
8,i might as well have done one as the  
other3 they were equally like the       
original40    8,i must bow to that      
compliment10 said ,leontium1 laying her 
hand on her  breast1 and inclining with 
affected gravity to the painter4    ,he 
tried in vain to resist the laugh2 then 
looking to the master--8,what  would you
 have me turn it to80    8,as you object
 to a ,hebe1 to a philosopher by all    
means4 ,silver the head  a little1 it   
may be an admirable ,epicurus40         
8,nay6 don't make the madman furious10  
said ,leontium1 placing her hand on     
,metrodorus's shoulder2 then1 addressing
 ,theon1 8,pray1 young man1 if you  want
 to be a philosopher1 never find an eye 

for painting1 a finger for  music1 or a 
brain for poetry4 ,any one of these will
 keep a man from  wisdom40    8,but not 
a woman1 ,i suppose10 retorted          
,metrodorus1 8as you have all  three40  
8,ready at compliments this morning3 but
 if you wanted a bow for this1  you     
should have given it with a more        
gracious face4 ,but come1 my poor       
friend2 we will try to put you in good  
humor--,nothing like a little  flattery 
for this4 ,here1 my young ,corinthian6  
7walking to the other side  of the room 
to a newly finished picture that stood  
against the wall1 and  beckoning ,theon 
towards her7 you may without skill      
perceive the beauty  of this work1 and  
the excellence of the likeness40    ,it 
was indeed striking4 8,admirable60 cried
 ,theon after a long gaze of            
admiration1 and then turning to compare 
it with the original4    8,a little     
flattered1 and more than a little1 ,i   
fear10 said ,epicurus with  a smile1 as 
he moved towards them4    8,flattered60 

exclaimed ,metrodorus2 8a ,parrhasius   
could not flatter such  an original40   
8,you see how my scholars spoil me10    
said the ,gargettian to ,theon4    8,but
 you think10 continued ,metrodorus1     
8that ,i have done it common  justice40 
8,much more than common3--,it is your   
master's self4 ,the dignity of his      
figure1 the grace of his attitude1 the  
nobility of his features1 the  divine   
benignity of his expression4--,had we   
not the original to worship1  we might  
worship your copy40    ,they were       
interrupted by the entrance of a crowd  
of disciples1 in the  midst of whose    
salutations young ,sofron rushed in1    
breathless with  running and convulsed  
with laughter4                          
,,chapter ,,iv4      8,prepare          
yourselves6 ,prepare yourselves60 cried 
the panting scholar4  8,oh6 ,pollux6    
such a couple6 ,the contrast might      
convulse a ,scythian40    8,what is it8 
,what is the matter80 cried a dozen     
voices4    8,i'll explain               

directly--,give me breath--and yet ,i   
must be quick1 for they  are close on my
 heels4 ,gryphus1 the cynic--some of you
 must have seen  him4 ,well1 he's coming
 side by side with young ,lycaon40      
8,coming here60 said the master smiling4
 8,what can have procured me the  honor 
of such a visit80    8,oh6 your fame1 of
 course40    8,i suspect you are making 
a fool of the old cynic10 said          
,epicurus4    8,nay1 if he be a fool1 he
 is one without my assistance3 ,lycaon  
and ,i  were standing on the steps of   
the ,prytaneum1 disputing about         
something1  ,i forget what1 when by came
 ,gryphus1 and stopping short at bottom 
of the  steps1 #8,are you disciples of  
,epicurus1 of ,gargettium8' #8,we are1' 
answered ,i1 for ,lycaon only stood     
staring in amazement4 #8,you may show me
  the way to him then4' #8,with all my  
heart1' ,i again replying1 ,lycaon not  
yet finding his tongue4 #8,we are1 at   
present1 for the ,gardens1 and shall    
hold it an honor to be conductors to so 

extraordinary a personage4' ,i  wanted  
to put him between us1 but ,lycaon      
seemed unambitious of his share  in this
 distinction1 for1 stepping back1 he    
slipped round to my other  side4 ,oh6   
,jupiter6 ,i shall never forget the     
contrast between my two  companions4    
,the rough1 dirty1 hairy cynic on my    
right hand1 and the  fine1 smooth1      
delicate1 pretty ,aristippian on my     
left4 ,we brought the  whole street at  
our heels4 ,lycaon would have slunk     
away1 but ,i held him  tight by the     
sleeve4 ,when we were fairly in the     
,gardens1 ,i gave them the  slip at a   
cross-path1 and run on before to give   
timely notice1 as you  see4 ,but1 lo6   
,behold60    ,the two figures now       
appeared at the door4 ,the contrast was 
not much less  singular than the scholar
 had represented2 and there was a sort  
of faint  prelude to a universal laugh1 
which1 however1 a timely look from the  
,master instantly quelled4 ,lycaon1 from
 the lightness of his figure1 and       

delicacy of his features and complexion1
 might have been mistaken for a  female3
 his skin had the whiteness of the lily1
 and the blushing red of  the rose3 his 
lips the vermil of coral3 his hair soft 
and flowing2 in  texture1 silk2 in      
color1 gold3 his dress was chosen with  
studied nicety1  and disposed with      
studied elegance3 the tunic of the      
whitest and finest  linen1 fastened at  
the shoulder with a beautiful onyx3 the 
sash of  exquisite embroidery1 and the  
robe of the richest ,tyrian1 falling in 
luxuriant folds from the shoulders1 and 
over the right arm1 which  gracefully   
sustained its length1 for the greater   
convenience in walking3  the sandals1   
purple1 with buttons of gold4 ,gryphus1 
short1 square1 and  muscular2 his tunic 
of the coarsest and not the cleanest    
woollen1 in  some places worn           
threadbare1 and with one open rent of   
considerable  magnitude that proved the 
skin to be as well engrained as its     
covering2  his girdle1 a rope3 his      

cloak1 or rather rag1 had the appearance
 of a  sail taken from the wreck of an  
old trader3 his feet bare1 and thickly  
powdered with dust3 of his face1 little 
more might be distinguished than  the   
nose2 the lower part being obscured by a
 bushy and wide-spreading  beard1 and   
the upper1 by a profusion of long1      
tangled and grisly hair4  ,the wondering
 disciples opened a passage for this    
singular intruder1  who1 without looking
 to the right or the left1 walked on1   
and stopped  before ,epicurus4    8,i   
suppose you are the ,master1 by the     
needless trouble ,i see you take1  in   
coming to meet me40    8,when ,gryphus  
has possibly walked a mile to meet      
,epicurus1 ,epicurus may  without much  
trouble walk a step to meet ,gryphus40  
8,in my walk of a mile10 returned the   
cynic1 8there was no trouble3 ,i  took  
it for my own pleasure40    8,and my    
walk of a step ,i also took for mine40  
8,aye1 the pleasure of ceremony60    8,i
 may hope1 then1 this your visit is from

 something more than  ceremony--perhaps 
a feeling of real friendship1 or as a   
mark of your good  opinion40    8,i hate
 useless words10 returned the cynic1    
8and am not come here either  to make   
any1 or hearken to any4 ,i have heard   
you much talked of lately4  ,our streets
 and our porticoes buzz eternally with  
your name1 till now  all wise men are   
weary of it4 ,i come to tell you this1  
and to advise you  to shut the gates of 
your gardens forthwith1 and to cease the
 harangues  of a master2 since you only 
pass for a philosopher among fools1 and 
for  a fool among philosophers40    8,i 
thank you for your honest advice and    
information1 friend2 but as the  object 
of a master is not to teach the wise1   
but only the unwise1 do you  not think  
,i may still harangue among fools to    
some little purpose1  though ,gryphus1  
and all sages1 will of course justly    
hold me in  contempt80    8,and so that 
fools may be made wise1 the wise are to 
be plagued with  folly80    8,nay1 you  

would surely cease to think that folly  
which could make a fool  wise40    8,a  
fool wise6 ,and who but a fool would    
think that possible80    8,i grant it   
were difficult3 but may it not also     
sometimes be difficult  to discover who 
is a fool1 and who not8 ,among my       
scholars there1 some  doubtless may be  
fools1 and some possibly may not be     
fools40    8,no10 interrupted the cynic2
 8or they would not be your scholars40  
8,ah6 ,i being a fool myself4 ,well     
reminded6 ,i had forgot that was one of 
our premises4 ,but then1 ,i being a     
fool1 and all my scholars being fools1  
,i do not see how much harm can be done1
 either by my talking folly1 or  their  
hearkening to it40    8,no1 if wise men 
were not forced to hearken also4 ,i tell
 you that our  streets and our porticoes
 buzz with your name and your nonsense4 
,keep  all the fools of ,athens in your 
gardens1 and lock the gates1 and you may
  preach folly as long and as loud as   
you please40    8,i have but one        

objection to this2 namely1 that my      
gardens would not  hold all the fools of
 ,athens4 ,suppose1 therefore1 the wise 
men1 being a  smaller body1 were shut   
into a garden1 and the city and the rest
 of  ,attica left for the fools80    8,i
 told you10 cried the cynic1 in a voice 
of anger1 8that ,i hate useless  words40
    8,nay1 friend1 why then walk a mile 
to speak advice to me8 ,no words so     
useless as those thrown at a fool40     
8,very true1 very true20 and so saying1 
the stranger turned his back1 and       
quitted the temple4    8,there10 said   
the son of ,neocles to his smiling      
disciples1 8is a good  warning to any1  
or all of us1 who would be              
philosophers40    8,nay1 master10 cried 
,sofron1 8do you think us in danger of  
following the  pleasant example of this 
savage8 ,do you1 indeed1 expect to see  
,lycaon  there1 with beard1 head and    
clothing1 after the fashion of          
,gryphus80    8,not beard1 head and     
clothing1 perhaps10 answered the        

,gargettian2  8pride1 vanity1 and       
ambition1 may take less fearful         
coverings than  these40    8,pride1     
vanity1 and ambition8 ,i should rather  
suspect ,gryphus of the  want of all    
three40    8,nay1 my son1 believe me all
 those three qualities were concerned in
 the  carving of those three frightful  
appendages of our cynic's person4 ,pride
  need not always lead a man to cut     
mount ,athos in two1 like ,xerxes2 nor  
ambition1 to conquer a world1 and weep  
that there is yet not another to        
conquer1 like ,alexander2 nor vanity1 to
 look in a stream at his own face  till 
he fall in love with it1 like           
,narcissus4 ,when we cannot cut an      
,athos1 we may leave uncut our beard2   
when we cannot mount a throne1 we  may  
crawl into a tub2 and when we have no   
beauty1 we may increase our  ugliness4  
,if a man of small1 or even of moderate 
talents1 be smitten  with a great desire
 of distinction1 there is nothing too   
absurd1 perhaps  nothing too            

mischievous1 for him to commit4 ,our    
friend1 the cynic1  happily for himself 
and his neighbors1 seems disposed to    
rest with the  absurd4 ,erostratus took 
to the mischievous--to eternize his name
  destroying that temple1 by the        
building of which ,ctesiphon            
immortalized  his4 ,be it our care to   
keep equally clear of the one as of the 
other40    8,do you1 then10 asked       
,theon1 8think a desire of distinction a
 vicious  desire80    8,i think it is   
often a dangerous desire1 and very often
 an unhappy one40    8,but surely very  
often a fortunate one10 said ,leontium4 
8,without it1  would there ever have    
been a hero80    8,and perhaps10        
returned the sage1 with a smile1 8the   
world might have  been as happy if there
 had not40    8,well1 without arguing   
for an ,achilles1 would there have been 
a ,homer80    8,i agree with you10      
replied the ,master1 more seriously4    
8,the desire of  distinction1 though    
often a dangerous1 and often an unhappy 

desire1 is  likewise often1 though ,i   
believe here sometimes were a better    
word1 a  fortunate one4 ,it is dangerous
 in the head of a fool2 unhappy1 in that
  of a man of moderate abilities1 or    
unfavorable situation1 who can  conceive
 a noble aim1 but lacks the talent or   
the means necessary for  its attainment4
 ,it is fortunate only in the head of a 
genius1 the heart  of a sage1 and in a  
situation convenient for its development
 and  gratification4 ,these three things
 you will allow do not often meet in    
one person40    8,yet10 said ,theon1    
8how many great men has ,athens         
produced80    8,but it is not a         
consequent that they were happy80       
8,happy or not happy1 who would refuse  
their fate80    8,i like that feeling10 
replied the ,gargettian2 8nor do ,i     
dissent from  it4 ,the fate of greatness
 will always be enviable1 even when the 
darkest  storms trouble its course4     
,well-merited fame has in itself a      
pleasure so  much above all pleasures1  

that it may weigh in the balance against
 all  the accumulated evils of          
mortality4 ,grant then our great men to 
have  been fortunate2 are they1 as you  
say1 so many8--,alas6 my son1 we may    
count them on our fingers4 ,a           
generation1 the most brilliant in       
genius1  leaves out of its thousands and
 millions but three or four1 or a dozen1
  to the worship1 even to the knowledge 
of futurity40    8,and these1 only these
 three1 four1 or a dozen1 have a right  
to the  desire of distinction80    8,as 
to the right10 replied the sage1        
playfully1 8,i mean not to dispute      
that4 ,the right lies with all men in   
our democracy to sit in a tub1 or  to   
walk in a dirty tunic40    8,but you    
will allow of no end in ambition but an 
absurd one40    8,i have not expressed  
myself well1 or you have not understood 
me well1  if you draw that conclusion4  
,i surely have granted our great men to 
have  had great ends of ambition40      
8,but is it only great men1 or men      

destined to be great1 that may have     
such ends80    8,i allowed that others  
might2 ,i only said that they would be  
unhappy in  consequence4 ,the perfection
 of wisdom1 and the end of true         
philosophy1  is to proportion our wants 
to our possessions1 our ambitions to our
  capacities40    8,then10 cried        
,metrodorus1 8,i have substantially     
proved myself this  morning to be no    
philosopher1 when ,i chose a study      
beyond the reach of  my pencil40        
8,no10 said ,leontium1 playfully tapping
 his shoulder1 8the ,master will  make a
 distinction between what is beyond the 
reach of our capacity1 and  what beyond 
the reach of our practice4 ,erostratus  
might never have  planned the edifice he
 destroyed2 ,ctesiphon could not always 
have  planned it40 ,the smile that      
accompanied these words1 lighted one yet
  more brilliant in the face of         
,metrodorus4 ,theon guessed that he felt
  more than admiration and more than    
friendship for this female disciple4    

8,your remark was well timed and well   
pointed10 said the ,master1 8and has    
saved me some talking40    8,i am not   
sure of that10 cried ,sofron1 stepping  
forwards2 8for though  ,leontium has so 
nicely worded the distinction between   
want of capacity  and want of practice  
in the general1 ,i should like to be    
told1 how a man  is to make this        
distinction between his own in          
particular8 ,for instance1  ,i have a   
fancy to turn philosopher1 and supersede
 my master2 how am ,i to  tell1 at my   
first nonplus in logic or invention1    
whether the defect be  in my capacity or
 my practice80    8,if it be only in the
 last1 ,i apprehend you will easily     
perceive it2 if  in the first1 not so   
readily4 ,a man1 if he set about the    
search1 will  quickly discover his      
talents2 he may continue it to his death
 without  discovering his deficiencies4 
,the reason is plain2 the one hurts our 
self-love1 the other flatters it40      
8,and yet10 interrupted ,theon1 8,i     

think1 in my first interview with the   
,philosopher of ,gargettium1 he         
remarked1 that thousands had the seeds  
of  excellence in them who never found  
them out40    8,i see you have a good   
memory10 returned the ,master1 8,i did  
say so1 and  ,i think it still4 ,many   
might have been heroes1 and many        
philosophers1  had they had a desire to 
be either2 had accident or ambition made
 them  look into themselves1 and inquire
 into their powers2 but though jewels   
be hid in a sack of oats1 they will     
never be found1 unless the oats be      
shaken4 ,remember1 however1 we are now  
speaking of one class of men  only--the 
ambitious3 and the ambitious will never 
have any seeds in them1  bad or good1   
that will not generate and produce their
 proper fruit4  ,ambition is the spur1  
and the necessary spur1 of a great mind 
to great  action2 when acting upon a    
weak mind it impels it to absurdity1 or 
sours  it with discontent40    8,nay1   
then10 said ,sofron1 8'tis but a        

dangerous inmate1 as minds go2 and  ,i1 
for one1 had better have none of it1 for
 ,i doubt ,i am not born to be  an      
,epicurus1 and ,i am certain ,i have no 
inclination to be a ,gryphus40          
8,well10 said the ,master1 8we have at  
least to thank ,gryphus for our         
morning's dialogue4 ,if any of us wish  
to prosecute it farther1 we may do  it  
over our repast--the sun has reached his
 noon1 so let us to the bath40    ,they 
left the temple1 and crossing the       
gardens in an opposite direction  from  
that by which ,theon had entered1 soon  
reached a gate1 which1 to his  surprise1
 opened on a court at the back of the   
,gargettian's house1 the  same in which 
he had supped the preceding evening4    
,,chapter ,v4      ,the fervor of the   
day had declined1 when ,theon issued to 
the street from  the house of ,epicurus3
 at that instant he met in the face his 
friend  ,cleanthes2 he ran to his       
embrace2 but the young stoic1 receding  
with  mingled astonishment and          

horror--8,ye gods6 from the house of    
,epicurus80    8,i do not marvel at your
 surprise10 returned ,theon1 8nor1 if ,i
 recall my  own feelings of yesterday1  
at your indignation40    8,answer me    
quickly10 interrupted ,cleanthes2 8is   
,theon yet my friend80    8,and does    
,cleanthes doubt it80    8,what may ,i  
not doubt1 when ,i see you come from    
such a mansion80    8,nay1 my brother10 
said ,theon1 kindly throwing his arm    
round the neck of  his friend1 and      
drawing him onwards1 8,i have been in no
 mansion of vice1  or of folly40    8,i 
do not understand you10 returned the    
stoic1 but half yielding to his         
kindness2 8,i do not know what to think1
 or what to fear40    8,fear nothing2   
and think only good10 said the          
,corinthian3 8,true1 ,i come  from the  
gardens of pleasure1 where ,i have heard
 very little of  pleasure1 and a very   
great deal of virtue40    8,i see how it
 is10 returned the other2 8you have lost
 your principles1  and ,i1 my friend40  

8,i do not think ,i have lost the first1
 and ,i am very sure you have not  lost 
the last60    8,no60 exclaimed          
,cleanthes2 8but ,i tell you1 yes20 and 
his cheeks  flushed1 and his eyes       
flashed with indignation3 8,i have lost 
my  friend1 and you have lost yours4    
,go60 he continued1 and drew himself    
from the arm of ,theon4 8,go6 ,cleanthes
 hath no fellowship with an  apostate   
and a libertine40    8,you wrong me2 and
 you wrong ,epicurus10 said his friend1 
in a tone of  more reproach than anger3 
8,but ,i cannot blame you2 yesterday ,i 
had  myself been equally unjust4 ,you   
must see him1 you must hear him1        
,cleanthes4 ,this alone can undeceive   
you--can convince you2 convince you  of 
my innocence1 and ,epicurus's virtue40  
8,epicurus's virtue6 your               
innocence8--,what is ,epicurus to me8   
,what is he1  or should he be to you8   
,your innocence8 ,and is this fastened  
to the  mantle of ,epicurus3 see him to 
be convinced of your innocence80        

8,yes1 and of your own injustice3 ,oh6  
,cleanthes1 what a fool do ,i now  know 
myself to have been6 ,to have listened  
to the lies of ,timocrates6 ,to  have   
believed all his absurdities6 ,come1 my 
friend6 come with me and  behold the    
face of the ,master he blasphemes60     
8,theon1 one master1 and but one master1
 is mine4 ,to me1 whether  ,timocrates  
exaggerate or even lie1 it matters      
nothing40    8,it does1 or it should10  
said the ,corinthian4 8,will a disciple 
of ,zeno  not open his eyes to truth8   
,not see an error and atone for it1 by  
acknowledging it8 ,i do not ask you to  
be the disciple of ,epicurus--,i only   
ask you to be just to him1 and that for 
your own sake1 more than mine1  or even 
his40    8,i see you are seduced--,i see
 you are lost10 cried the stoic1 fixing 
on  him a look in which sorrow struggled
 with indignation4 8,i thought myself  a
 stoic1 but ,i feel the weakness of a   
woman in my eyes4--,thou wert as my     
brother1 ,theon2 and thou--thou also art

 beguiled by the ,syren--left virtue    
for pleasure1 ,zeno for ,epicurus40     
8,i have not left ,zeno40    8,you      
cannot follow both--you cannot be in the
 day and under the night at  one and the
 same time40    8,i tell you there is no
 night in the gardens of ,epicurus40    
8,is there no pleasure there10 cried the
 stoic1 his mouth and brows  curling    
with irony4    8,yes1 there is pleasure 
there3 the pleasure of wisdom and       
virtue40    8,ah6 have you learnt the   
,gargettian subtleties so soon8 ,you    
have  doubtless already worshipped      
virtue under the form of the courtezan  
,leontium2 and wisdom under that of her 
master and paramour1 the son of         
,neocles40    8,how little you know of  
either60 returned ,theon4 8,but ,i knew 
as little  yesterday40    ,cleanthes    
stopped4 ,they were before the stoic    
portico4 8,farewell6 ,return  to your   
gardens4 ,farewell60    8,we do not yet 
part10 said ,theon3 8,zeno is still my  
master40 ,he followed  his friend up the

 steps4 ,a crowd of disciples were      
assembled1 waiting  the arrival of their
 master4 ,some1 crowded into groups1    
listened to the  harangues of an elder  
or more able scholar3 others walking in 
parties of  six or a dozen1 reasoning1  
debating1 and disputing3 while          
innumerable  single figures1 undisturbed
 by the buzz around them1 leaned against
 the  pillars1 studying each from a     
manuscript1 or stood upon the steps with
  arms folded1 and heads dropped on     
their bosoms1 wrapped in silent         
meditations4 ,at the entrance of        
,cleanthes1 the favored pupil of their  
master1 the scholars made way1 and the  
loud hum slowly hushed into  silence4   
,he advanced to the centre1 and the     
floating crowd gathered and  compressed 
into a wide and deep circle4 ,all eyes  
bent on the youth in  expectant         
curiosity1 for his countenance was      
disturbed1 and his manner  abrupt4      
,cleanthes was of the middle size3 so   
slender1 that you wondered at the       

erectness of his gait and activity of   
his motion4 ,his neck was small2  his   
shoulders falling2 his head elegantly   
formed2 the hair smooth and  close cut2 
the forehead narrow1 and somewhat deeply
 lined for one so  young3 the eyebrows  
marked and even1 save a slight bend     
upwards1 as by a  frown1 above the nose4
 ,the eyes blue2 but their gaze was too 
earnest1  and their spirit too clear1 to
 leave any of the melting softness so   
usual with that color3--,and yet there  
were moments when this would appear  in 
them2 and when it did1 it went to the   
soul of him who observed it1  but such  
moments were short and rare4 ,the nose  
was finely and perhaps  too delicately  
turned2 the mouth--mild and always in   
repose4 ,the cheeks  were thin1 and     
though slightly flushed1 the face had a 
look of paleness  till enthusiasm awoke1
 and deepened all its dyes4 ,the whole  
expression  had more spirituality and   
variety1 and the manner more agitation1 
than  you would have looked for in the  

first and favorite pupil of ,zeno4 ,the 
youth turned a rapid glance round the   
circle3 he threw out his right  arm2 the
 mantle dropped from his shoulder1 and  
in a varied1 piercing1  and yet         
melodious voice he began--    8,my      
friends6 ,my brothers6 ,disciples of    
,zeno and of virtue4 ,give me your      
ears1 and awake your faculties6 ,how    
shall ,i tell the dangers that  surround
 you8 ,how shall ,i paint the demon that
 would ensnare you2  ,timocrates hath   
escaped from his enchantments1 and told 
us that riot and  revelling were in his 
halls1 that impiety was in his mouth2   
vice in his  practice2 deformity in his 
aspect3 and we thought that none but    
souls  born for error1 already steeped  
in infamy1 or sunk in effeminacy1 could 
be taken in his toils and seduced by his
 example4 ,but behold6 he hath  changed 
his countenance--he hath changed his    
tongue3--amid his revels he  hath put on
 the garb of decency3 in his riot he    
talks of innocence2 in  his             

licentiousness1 of virtue4 ,behold the  
youth6 they run to him with  greedy     
ears--they throng his gardens and his   
porticoes4 ,athens1 ,attica1  ,greece1  
all are the ,gargettian's4 ,asia1       
,italy1 the burning ,africa and  the    
frozen ,scythia--all1 all send ready    
pupils to his feet4 ,oh6 what  shall we 
say8 ,oh6 how shall we stem the torrent8
 ,oh6 how shall we fence  our           
hearts--how our ears from the song of   
the ,syren8--to what mast shall  we bind
 ourselves1 to what pilot shall we      
trust1 that we may pass the  shores in  
safety without dashing on the           
rocks8--,but why do ,i speak8 ,why  do  
,i enquire8 ,why do ,i exhort8 ,is not  
the contagion already among us8 ,in  the
 school of ,zeno--in this portico--in   
this circle are there not               
waverers--,yea1 are there not           
apostates80 ,emotion choked his         
utterance3 he  paused1 and glanced his  
kindled eyes round upon the audience4   
,every  breath was held in expectation2 

each looked on the other in doubt1      
dismay1 and inquiry4 ,theon's heart beat
 quick and high3 he advanced one  step1 
and raised his arm to speak2 but        
,cleanthes1 gathering his breath1  again
 in a rapid voice continued3--    8,does
 this silence speak conscious guilt1 or 
startled innocence8 ,the  last3 ,i will 
believe the last4 ,praise be to the     
gods6 praise to our  guardian1 ,minerva6
 praise to our great1 our glorious      
master1 there are  yet some sons left to
 ,athens and to ,greece1 who shall      
respect1 follow1  and attain to virtue6 
,some choice and disciplined souls who  
shall stand  forth the light and        
ornament of their age1 and whose names  
shall be in  honor with those yet       
unborn4 ,rouse1 rouse up your energies6 
,oh6 be firm  to ,zeno1 and to virtue6  
,i tell you not--,zeno tells you not1   
that virtue  is found in pleasure's     
repose4 ,resistance1 energy1            
watchfulness1  patience1 and            
endurance--these1 these must be your    

practice1 must be your  habit1 ere you  
can reach the perfection of your nature4
 ,the ascent is  steep1 is long1 is     
arduous4 ,to-day you must ascend a step1
 and to-morrow  a step1 and to-morrow1  
and to-morrow--and yet shall you be far 
from the  summit1 from rest1 and from   
security4 ,does this appal you8 ,does   
this  disgust you8 ,go then to the      
,gardens6 ,go to the man of             
,gargettium--he who  calls himself      
philosopher1 and who loves and teaches  
folly6 ,go1 go to  him1 and he shall    
encourage and soothe you4 ,he shall end 
your pursuit1  and give you your        
ambition6 ,he shall show you virtue     
robed in pleasures1  and lolling in     
ease6 ,he shall teach you wisdom in a   
song1 and happiness  in impiety6--,but  
,i am told1 that ,timocrates hath lied2 
that ,epicurus is  not a libertine2 nor 
,leontium a prostitute2 nor the youth of
 the ,garden  the ministers to their    
lusts4 ,be it so4 ,timocrates must      
answer to  himself1 whether his tale be 

the outpourings of indignant truth1 or  
the  subtle inventions of malevolence3  
with his own conscience be the secret3  
to us it matters nothing4 ,we1 who have 
nought to do with the doctrines  of     
,epicurus1 have nought to do with his   
practice4 ,let him who would  vindicate 
the one1 vindicate the other3 let him   
come forth and say1 that  the master in 
the ,gardens is not only pure in action1
 but perfect in  theory4 ,let him say1  
that he worships virtue as virtue1 and  
shuns vice  as vice4 ,let him say that  
he arms the soul with fortitude1        
ennobles it  with magnanimity1 chastens 
it with temperance1 enlarges it with    
beneficence1 perfects it with           
justice2--and let him moreover say1 that
 he  does this1 not that the soul so    
schooled and invigorated may lie in the 
repose of virtue1 but that it may exult 
in its honor1 and be fitted for  its    
activity4 ,fie on that virtue which     
prudence alone directs6 ,which  teaches 
to be just that the laws may not punish1

 or our neighbors  revenge3--to be      
enduring--because complainings were     
useless1 and weakness  would bring on us
 insult and contempt3--to be            
temperate--that our body may  keep its  
vigor1 our appetites retain their       
acuteness1 and our  gratifications and  
sensualities their zest3--to serve our  
friends--that  they may serve us2--our  
country--because its defence and        
well-being  comprehends our own4 ,why   
all this is well--but is there nothing  
more8 ,is  it our ease alone we shall   
study1 and not our dignity8--,though all
 my  fellow-men were swept away1 and not
 a mortal nor immortal eye were left  to
 approve or condemn--should ,i not      
here--within this breast1 have a judge  
to dread1 and a friend to conciliate8   
,prudence and pleasure6 ,was it from    
such principles as these that the virtue
 of ,solon1 of ,miltiades1 of           
,aristides1 of ,socrates1 of ,plato1 of 
,xenophon1 of all our heroes and all    
our sages1 had its spring and its       

nourishment8 ,was it such virtue as     
this that in ,lycurgus put by the       
offered crown8--that in ,leonidas stood 
at ,thermopyl8--that in the dying       
,pericles gloried that he had never     
caused a citizen to mourn8 ,was it such 
virtue as this--that spoke in  ,socrates
 before his judges8--that sustained him 
in his prison--and when  the door was   
open1 and the sails of the ready ship   
unfurled1 made him  prefer death to     
flight2 his dignity to his existence80  
,again the young orator paused1 but his 
indignant soul seemed still to  speak   
from his flashing eyes4 ,his cheeks     
glowed as fire1 and the big  drops      
rolled from his forehead4 ,at this      
moment the circle behind him  gave way4 
,zeno advanced into the midst3 he stood 
by the head and  shoulders above the    
crowd3 his breast1 broad and manly3 his 
limbs1 cast  in strength and symmetry3  
his gait1 erect1 calm1 and dignified3   
his  features1 large1 grand1 and        
regular1 seemed sculptured by the chisel

 for  a colossal divinity3 the forehead1
 broad and serene1 was marked with the  
even lines of wisdom and age2 but no    
harsh wrinkles1 nor playing muscles     
disturbed the repose of his cheeks1 nor 
had sixty years touched with one  thread
 of silver his close black hair2 the    
eyes1 dark and full1 fringed  with long 
straight lashes1 looked in severe and   
steady wisdom from under  their correct 
and finely arched brows3 the nose came  
from the forehead1  straight and even3  
the mouth and chin1 were firm and       
silent4 ,wisdom  undisturbable1         
fortitude unshakeable1 self-respect1    
self-possession1 and  self-knowledge    
perfected1 were in his face1 his        
carriage1 and his tread4    ,he stopped 
before the youth1 who had turned at his 
approach4 8,my son10  fixing his calm   
gaze on the working countenance of his  
pupil1 8what hath  disturbed thy soul80 
,cleanthes laid a hand on his laboring  
breast3 he  made one violent effort for 
composure and speech3 it failed4 ,the   

hot  blood forsook his cheeks3 it rushed
 again3 again it fled3 he gasped1 and   
dropped fainting at the feet of his     
,master4                                
,,chapter ,,vi4      ,theon rushed      
forward3 ,he knelt2 he raised the head  
of his friend3  ,breathless1 agitated1  
terrified1 he called his name with the  
piercing  cry of agony and despair4 ,all
 was commotion and confusion4 ,the      
scholars  pressed forward tumultuously2 
but ,zeno1 raising his arm1 and looking 
steadily round1 cried 8,silence60 ,the  
crowd fell back1 and the stillness  of  
night succeeded4 ,then motioning the    
circle towards the street1 to  give way 
and admit the air1 he stooped and       
assisted ,theon to support his  reviving
 pupil4 ,cleanthes raised his head1     
turned his eyes wildly  around1 and then
 fixed them on his master4    8,gently10
 said ,zeno1 as the youth struggled in  
their arms for  recollection1 8gently1  
my son40 ,but he made the effort3 he    
gained his  feet1 and throwing out his  

arm to a pillar near him1 turned his    
head  aside1 and for some moments       
combated with his weakness in silence4  
,his  limbs still trembled1 and his face
 had yet the hues of death1 when1       
pressing his hand with convulsive       
strength against the pillar1 he  proudly
 drew up his form1 turned his eyes again
 upon his master1 and  mustering his    
broken respiration1 8,blame me1 but do  
not despise me40    8,i shall do        
neither1 my son3 the weakness was in the
 body1 not the  mind40    8,there has   
been want of command in both4 ,i ask not
 to be excused40 ,then  turning round to
 his companions1 8,i may be a warning if
 not an example4  ,the ,spartans expose 
the drunkenness of their ,helots to     
confirm their  youth in sobriety3 let   
the weakness of ,cleanthes teach the    
sons of ,zeno  equanimity2 and let them 
say1 ,if in the portico weakness be     
found1 what  shall it be in the         
,gardens8 ,but10 he continued1          
addressing his master1  8will ,zeno     

pardon the scholar who1 while enforcing 
his nervous doctrines  on others1 has   
swerved from them himself80    8,thou   
judgest thy fault as thou shouldst judge
 it10 returned ,zeno2 8but  comfort1 my 
son6 ,he who knows1 and knowing can     
acknowledge his  deficiency1 though his 
foot be not on the summit1 yet hath he  
his eye  there4 ,but say the cause1 and 
surely it must be a great one1 that     
could  disturb the self-possession of my
 disciple40    8,the cause was indeed a 
great one2 no less than the apostacy of 
a  scholar from ,zeno to ,epicurus40    
,zeno turned his eyes round the circle3 
there was no additional severity  in    
them1 and no change in his manner1 or in
 his deep1 sonorous voice1  when1       
addressing them1 he said1 8,if one or   
more1 or all of my disciples  be wearied
 of virtue1 let them depart4 ,let them  
not fear upbraidings or  exhortations2  
the one were useless to you1 the other  
unworthy of me4 ,he  who sighs for      
pleasure1 the voice of wisdom can never 

reach1 nor the  power of virtue touch4  
,in this ,portico truth will never be   
softened to  win a sickly ear2 nor the  
severity of virtue1 will it ever be     
veiled to  win a feeble heart4 ,he who  
obeys in act and not in thought2 he who 
disciplines his body and not his mind2  
he who hath his foot in the  ,portico1  
and his heart in the ,gardens2 he hath  
no more to do with ,zeno1  than a wretch
 sunk in all the effeminacy of a        
,median1 or the gross  debauchery of a  
,scythian4 ,there is no midway in       
virtue2 no halting place  for the soul  
but perfection4 ,you must be all1 or you
 may be nothing4 ,you  must determine to
 proceed to the utmost1 or ,i encourage 
ye not to begin4  ,i say to ye1 one and 
all1 give me your ears1 your            
understandings1 your  souls1 and your   
energies1 or depart60 ,again he looked  
round upon his  scholars4 ,a long and   
deep silence succeeded3 when young      
,theon1 breaking  through his awe1 and  
his timidity1 advanced into the centre1 

and craving  sufferance with his hand1  
addressed the assembly4    8,though ,i  
should forfeit the esteem of ,zeno and  
the love of his  disciples1 ,i have no  
choice but to speak4 ,honor and justice 
demand this  of me3 first1 to remove    
suspicion from this assembly2 next1 to  
vindicate  the character of a sage whom 
the tongue of a liar hath traduced2 and1
  lastly1 to conciliate my own esteem1  
which ,i value beyond even the  esteem  
of the venerated ,zeno1 and of my       
beloved ,cleanthes40 ,he paused2  and   
turning to ,zeno1--8,with permission of 
the master1 ,i would speak40    8,speak1
 my son3 we attend40 ,zeno retreated    
among his disciples2 and  ,cleanthes1   
anxious and agitated for his friend1    
placed himself behind  the screen of a  
pillar4 ,with a varying cheek and a     
tremulous voice1 the  youth began3--    
8,in addressing an assembly accustomed  
to the manly elocution of a ,zeno1  and 
the glowing eloquence of a ,cleanthes1  
,i know ,i shall be forgiven by  my     

companions1 and ,i hope even by my      
severe master1 the blushes and          
hesitations of timidity and             
inexperience4 ,i open my mouth for the  
first  time in public2 and in what a    
public is it8 ,let not1 therefore1 my   
confusion be thought the confusion of   
guilt2 but1 as it truly is1 of  bashful 
inexperience4 ,first1 to remove         
suspicion from this assembly3--let  not 
the scholars look with doubt on each    
other2 let not the master look  with    
doubt on his scholars4 ,i am he who have
 communed with the son of  ,neocles2--,i
 am he who have entered the gardens of  
pleasure2--,i am he whom  ,cleanthes    
hath pointed at as the apostate from    
,zeno to ,epicurus40 ,a  tumult arose   
among the scholars4 ,surprise1          
indignation1 and scorn1  variously      
looked from their faces1 and murmured   
from their tongues4    8,silence60 cried
 ,zeno1 casting his severe glance round 
the circle4  8,young man1 proceed40     
,this burst of his audience rather      

invigorated than dashed the youth4 ,he  
freely threw forth his arm2 his eyes    
lighted with fire1 and the ready  words 
flowed from his lips3--8,i merit not the
 hiss of scorn1 nor the  burst of       
indignation4 ,desist1 my brothers1 till 
my artless tale be  told2--till you have
 heard1 not my apology1 but my          
justification4  ,yesterday1 at this     
hour1 ,i left the ,portico1 heated to   
fury by the  philippic of ,timocrates   
against ,epicurus and his disciples2    
indignant at  the city that did not     
drive such a teacher from its walls2    
against the  gods who did not strike him
 with their thunders4 ,thus venting my  
feelings in soliloquy1 after a long     
ramble ,i seated myself on the banks  of
 ,cephisus1 and was awakened from a     
reverie by the approach of a  stranger3 
his aspect had the wisdom of a sage1 and
 the benignity of a  divinity4 ,i       
yielded him the homage of youthful      
respect and admiration3  he condescended
 to address me4 ,he gave me the precepts

 of virtue with  the gentle and honied  
tongue of kindness and persuasion4 ,i   
listened1 ,i  admired1 and ,i loved4 ,we
 did not conclude our walk until sunset3
 he bade  me to his supper4 ,i entered  
his house1 and he told me ,i beheld     
,epicurus4  ,could ,i have drawn back8  
,should ,i have drawn back8 ,no3 my     
heart  answers1 no4 ,your sufferance1 my
 friends6 ,do not interrupt me6 ,do not 
call me an apostate6 ,in the presence of
 the gods2 in the presence of my        
master1 whom ,i fear as them2 in the    
presence of my own conscience1 which  ,i
 fear more than both1 ,i swear that ,i  
am not so6 ,i mean not to explain  or to
 justify the philosophy of ,epicurus3 ,i
 know but little of it4 ,i  only        
know--,i only affirm1 that his tongue   
has given new warmth to my love  of     
virtue1 and new vigor to my pursuit of  
it3--,i only affirm1 that  persuasion1  
simple1 ungarnished persuasion1 is in   
his lips2 benevolence  in his aspect2   
urbanity in his manners3 generosity1    

truth1 and candor in  his               
sentiments3--,i only affirm1 that order1
 innocence1 and content1 are  in his    
halls and his gardens2 peace and        
brotherly love with his  disciples2 and 
that1 in the midst of these1 he is      
himself the  philosopher1 the parent1   
and the friend4 ,i see the sneer of     
contempt  upon your lips1 my brothers2  
alas6 even on the unperturbed           
countenance  of my master ,i read       
displeasure40    8,no1 my son10 said    
,zeno1 8thou dost not4 ,continue thy    
artless tale4 ,if  there be error1 it   
lies with the deceiver1 not the         
deceived4 ,and you1 my  sons and        
disciples1 banish from your faces and   
your breasts every  expression and every
 thought unworthy of your honest        
companion1 and your  upright sect4 ,for 
remember1 if to abhor falsehood and vice
 be noble1 to  distrust truth and       
innocence is mean4 ,my son1 proceed40   
8,thanks for your noble confidence1 my  
master3 it makes me proud1 for ,i       

deserve it4 ,yes6 even should ,i1 as ,i 
perceive you apprehend1 be  deceived1 ,i
 feel that this open confession of my   
present perfect  conviction is honorable
 both to myself and to ,zeno4--,it      
proves that in  his school ,i have      
learnt candor1 though ,i have yet to    
learn discernment4  ,and yet1 methinks1 
however imperfect my youthful           
discernment1 it is not  now in error4   
,if ever ,i saw simple1 unadorned       
goodness2 if ever ,i heard  simple1     
unadorned truth2 it is in--it is from   
,epicurus4 ,again your  sufferance1 my  
friends6 ,again your sufferance1 my     
master6 ,i am not--,i  wish not to be1 a
 disciple of the ,gardens3 virtue may be
 in them--excuse  me1 virtue is in them1
 but there is a virtue in the ,portico  
which ,i  shall worship to my latest    
hour4 ,here1 here ,i first learned--here
 ,i first  saw to what a glorious height
 of greatness a mortal might ascend--how
  independent he might be of fortune2   
how triumphant over fate6 ,young1       

innocent1 and inexperienced1 ,i came to 
,athens in search of wisdom and  virtue4
 #8,attend all the schools1 and fix with
 that which shall give you  the noblest 
aims1' said my father1 when he gave me  
his parting blessing4  ,he being an     
academician1 ,i had1 of course1 somewhat
 imbibed the  principles of ,plato1 and 
conceived a love for his school3 ,on    
first  hearing ,crates1 therefore1 ,i   
thought myself satisfied4 ,accident made
 me  acquainted with a young            
,pythagorean3 ,i listened to his simple 
precepts2  ,i loved his virtues1 and    
almost fell into his superstitions4     
,from these  ,theophrastus awakened me2 
and ,i was nearly fixed as a            
,peripatetic1 when  ,i met the eloquent1
 enthusiastic ,cleanthes4 ,he brought me
 to the  ,portico1 where ,i found all   
the virtues of all the schools united1  
and  crowned with perfection4 ,but when 
,i preferred ,zeno1 ,i did not despise  
my  former masters4 ,i still sometimes  
visit the ,lycum and the ,academy1 and  

still the young ,pythagorean is my      
friend4 ,a pure mind should1 ,i think1  
respect virtue wherever it be found3 and
 if then in the ,lycum and the          
,academy1 why not the ,gardens8 ,zeno1  
in teaching austerity1 does not  teach  
intolerance2 much less1 ,i am sure1 does
 he teach ingratitude3 and  if ,i did   
not feel for the sage of ,gargettium    
both respect and love1 ,i  were the most
 ungrateful soul in ,athens2 and if     
feeling both1 ,i feared  to acknowledge 
both1 ,i were the meanest4 ,and now1 my 
brothers1 ask  yourselves what would be 
your indignation at the youth1 who for  
his  vices being driven from this       
,portico1 should run to the ,lycum1 and 
accuse1 to the sons of ,aristotle1 our  
great ,zeno of that sensuality and      
wickedness which had here wrought his   
own disgrace1 and his own  banishment8  
,would ye not hate such a wretch8 ,would
 ye not loathe him8  ,would ye not curse
 him8 ,my brothers6 this day have ,i    
learned such a  wretch to be            

,timocrates4 ,is he here8--,i hope he   
is3 ,i hope he hears me  denounce him   
for a defamer and an ingrate40    8',tis
 false60 cried ,timocrates1 bursting in 
fury from the crowd4 8',tis  false6 ,i  
swear0--    8,beware of perjury60 said a
 clear1 silver voice1 from without the  
circle4 8,give way1 ,athenians6 ',tis   
for me to take up this quarrel40    ,the
 crowd divided4 ,every eye turned       
towards the opening4 ,theon shouted     
with triumph1 ,timocrates stood blank   
with dismay--for they recognised the    
voice and the form of the son of        
,neocles4                               
,,chapter ,,vii4      ,the ,sage        
advanced towards ,theon3 he laid a hand 
on either of his  shoulders1 and kissed 
his glowing forehead4 8,thanks to my    
generous  defender4 ,your artless tale1 
my son1 if it have not gained the ear of
  ,zeno1 hath fixed the heart of        
,epicurus4 ,oh6 ever keep this candor   
and  this innocence60 ,he turned his    
benign face round the circle3           

8,athenians6  ,i am ,epicurus40 ,this   
name so despised and execrated1 did it  
not raise a  tumult in the assembly8    
,no2 every tongue was chained1 every    
breath  suspended1 every eye riveted    
with wonder and admiration4 ,theon had  
said  the truth3 it was the aspect of a 
sage and a divinity4 ,the face was a    
serene mirror of a serene mind3 its     
expression spoke like music to the      
soul4 ,zeno's was not more calm and     
unruffled2 but here was no severity1  no
 authority1 no reserve1 no              
unapproachable majesty1 no repelling    
superiority3 all was benevolence1       
mildness1 openness and soothing         
encouragement4 ,to see1 was to love2 and
 to hear1 was to trust4  ,timocrates    
shrunk from the eye of his master3 it   
fell upon him with a  fixed and deep    
gaze1 that struck more agony into his   
guilty soul1 than  had the flash of a   
,cleanthes1 or the glance of a ,zeno4   
,the wretch sunk  beneath it3 he        
trembled2 he crouched2 he looked as he  

would have  supplicated mercy2 but his  
tongue cleaved to his palate1 and shame 
withheld him from quite dropping on his 
knees4 8,go6 ,i will spare thee4  ,give 
way1 ,athenians60 ,the scholars opened a
 passage3 again the ,sage  waved his    
hand1 and the criminal slunk away4      
8,your pardon1 ,zeno10 said the         
,gargettian1 8,i know the youth3 he is  
not  worthy to stand in the ,portico40  
8,i thank you10 returned the ,master1   
8and my disciples thank you4 ,the  gods 
forbid that we should harbor vice1 or   
distrust virtue4 ,i see1 and ,i  recant 
my error3 henceforth if ,i cannot       
respect the teacher1 ,i shall  respect  
the man40    8,i respect both10 said    
,epicurus1 reclining his head to the    
stoic4 8,i  have long known and admired 
,zeno3 ,i have often mixed with the     
crowd in  his ,portico1 and felt the    
might of his eloquence4 ,i do not expect
 a  similar return from him1 nor do ,i  
wish to allure his scholars to my       
,gardens4 ,i know the severity of their 

master1 and the austerity1 may ,i  say1 
the intolerance of his rules4 ,but for  
one10 and he laid his hand  upon the    
head of ,theon1 8for this one1 ,i would 
bespeak clemency4 ,let not  that be     
imputed to him as a crime1 which has    
been the work of accident  and of       
,epicurus3 and let me also say for him1 
as well as for myself--he  has lost in  
the ,gardens no virtues1 if a few       
prejudices40    8,son of ,neocles10 said
 ,zeno1 8,i feared you yesterday1 but ,i
 fear you  doubly to-day4 ,your         
doctrines are in themselves enticing1   
but coming  from such lips1 ,i fear they
 are irresistible4 ,methinks ,i cast a  
prophet's eye on the map of futurity1   
and ,i see the sage of ,gargettium      
standing on the pinnacle of fame1 and a 
world at his feet4 ,the world is        
prepared for this3 the ,macedonian1 when
 he marched our legions to the  conquest
 of ,persia1 struck the death-blow at   
,greece4 ,persian luxury1 and  ,persian 
effeminacy1 which before crept1 now came

 with strides upon us4  ,our youth1     
dandled on the lap of indulgence1 shall 
turn with sickened  ears from the severe
 moral of ,zeno1 and greedily suck in   
the honied  philosophy of ,epicurus4    
,you will tell me that you too teach    
virtue4 ,it  may be so4 ,i do not see   
it2 but it may be so4 ,i do not conceive
 how  there can be two virtues1 nor yet 
how two roads to the same4 ,this1       
however1 ,i shall not argue4 ,i will    
grant that in your system1 as           
elucidated by your practice1 there may  
be something to admire1 and much  to    
love2 but when your practice shall be   
dead1 and your system alone  shall      
survive1 where then shall be the        
security of its innocence2--where  the  
antidote of its poison8 ,think not that 
men shall take the good and  not the    
evil2 soon they shall take the evil and 
leave the good4 ,they  shall do more2   
they shall pervert the very nature of   
the good1 and make  of the whole1 evil  
unmixed4 ,soon1 in the shelter of your  

bowers1 all  that is vicious shall find 
a refuge4 ,effeminacy shall steal in    
under the  name of ease2 sensuality and 
debauchery in the place of innocence and
  refinement2 the pleasures of the body 
instead of those of the mind4  ,whatever
 may be your virtues1 they are but the  
virtues of temperament1  not of         
discipline2 and such of your followers  
as shall be like you in  temperament may
 be like you in practice3 but let them  
have boiling  passions and urgent       
appetites1 and your doctrines shall set 
no fence  against the torrent2 shall    
ring no alarm to the offender4 ,tell us 
not  that that is right which admits of 
evil construction--that that is virtue  
which leaves an open gate to vice4 ,i   
said that with a prophet's eye ,i  saw  
your future fame2 but such fame as ,i   
foresee can but ill satisfy the         
ambition of a sage4 ,your ,gardens shall
 be crowded1 but they shall be          
disgraced2 your name shall be in every  
mouth1 but every mouth shall be         

unworthy that speaks it2 nations shall  
have you in honor1 but ere it is  so    
they shall be in ruin3 our degenerated  
country shall worship you1 and  expire  
at your feet4 ,zeno1 meantime1 may be   
neglected1 but he shall  never be       
slandered2 the ,portico may be forsaken1
 but shall never be  disgraced2 its     
doctrines may be discarded1 but shall   
never be  misconstrued4 ,i am not       
deceived by my present popularity4 ,no  
school now  in such repute as mine2 but 
,i know this will not last4 ,the iron   
and the  golden ages are run2 youth and 
manhood are departed2 and the weakness  
of  old age steals upon the world4 ,but1
 ,oh6 son of ,neocles6 in this gloomy   
prospect a proud comfort is mine3 ,i    
have raised the last bulwark to the     
fainting virtue of man1 and the         
departing glory of nations3--,i have    
done  more3 when the virtue and glory of
 nations shall be dead1 and when in     
their depraved generations some solitary
 souls1 born for better things1  shall  

see and mourn the vices around them1    
here in the abandoned ,portico  shall   
they find a refuge2 here1 shutting their
 eyes upon the world1 they  shall learn 
to be a world to themselves2--here1     
steeled in fortitude1  shall they look  
down in high1 unruffled majesty on the  
slaves and the  tyrants of earth4       
,epicurus6 when thou canst say this of  
the ,gardens1  then1 and not till then1 
call thyself a sage and a man of        
virtue40 ,he  ceased2 but his full tones
 seemed yet to sound in the ears of his 
listening auditors4 ,there was a long   
pause1 when the ,gargettian in  notes1  
like the breathing flutes of ,arcadia1  
began his reply4    8,zeno1 in his      
present speech1 has rested much of the  
truth of his system  on its expediency3 
,i therefore shall do the same by mine4 
,the door of my  ,gardens is ever open1 
and my books are in the hands of the    
public2 to  enter therefore1 here1 into 
the detail or the expounding of the     
principles of my philosophy were equally

 out of place and out of season4        
#8,tell us not that that is right which 
admits of evil construction2--that  that
 is virtue which leaves an open gate to 
vice4' ,this is the thrust  which ,zeno 
now makes at ,epicurus2 and did it hit1 
,i grant it were a  mortal one4 ,from   
the flavor1 we pronounce of the fruit2  
from the beauty  and the fragrance1 of  
the flower2 and in a system of morals1  
or of  philosophy1 or of whatever else1 
what tends to produce good we pronounce 
to be good1 what to produce evil1 we    
pronounce to be evil4 ,i might  indeed  
support the argument1 that our opinion  
with regard to the first  principles of 
morals has nought to do with our        
practice2--that whether ,i  stand my    
virtue upon prudence1 or propriety1 or  
justice1 or benevolence1  or self-love1 
that my virtue is still one and the     
same2--that the dispute  is not about   
the end1 but the origin2 that of all the
 thousands who have  yielded homage to  
virtue1 hardly one has thought of       

inspecting the  pedestal she stands     
upon2 that as the mariner is guided by  
the tides1  though ignorant of their    
causes1 so does a man obey the rules of 
virtue  though ignorant of the          
principles on which those rules are     
founded2 and  that the knowledge of     
those principles would affect the       
conduct of the  man1 no more than       
acquaintance with the causes of the     
tides would affect  the conduct of the  
mariner4 ,but this ,i shall not argue2  
in doing so ,i  might seem but to fight 
you flying4 ,i shall meet your objection
 in the  face4 ,and ,i say--that        
allowing the most powerful effects to   
spring from  the first grounds of a     
moral system2--the worst or the         
best1--that mine1  if the best is to be 
so judged by the good it does and the   
evil it  prevents1 must be ranked among 
the best4 ,if1 as you say1 and ,i partly
  believe1 the iron and the golden ages 
are past1 the youth and the  manhood of 
the world1 and that the weakness of old 

age is creeping on  us1--then1 as you   
also say1 our youth1 dandled on the lap 
of indulgence1  shall turn with sickened
 ears from the severe moral of ,zeno2   
and then  ,i say1 that in the ,gardens1 
and in the ,gardens only1 shall they    
find a  food1 innocent1 yet adapted to  
their sickly palates2 an armor1 not of  
iron fortitude1 but of silken           
persuasion1 that shall resist the       
progress  of their degeneracy1 or throw 
a beauty even over their ruin4 ,but1    
perhaps1 though ,zeno should allow this 
last effect of my philosophy to  be     
probable1 he will not approve it3 his   
severe eye looks with scorn1  not pity1 
on the follies and vices of the world4  
,he would annihilate  them1 change them 
to their opposite virtues1 or he would  
leave them to  their full and natural   
sweep4 #8,be perfect1 or be as you are4 
,i allow of  no degrees of virtue1 so   
care not for the degrees of vice4 ,your 
ruin1 if  it must be1 let it be in all  
its horrors1 in all its vileness3 let it

  attract no pity1 no sympathy3 let it  
be seen in all its naked deformity1  and
 excite the full measure of its merited 
abhorrence and disgust4' ,thus  says the
 sublime ,zeno1 who sees only man as he 
should be4 ,thus says the  mild         
,epicurus1 who sees man as he is3 ,with 
all his weaknesses1 all his  errors1 all
 his sins1 still owning fellowship with 
him1 still rejoicing  in his welfare and
 sighing over his misfortunes3 ,i call  
from my ,gardens  to the thoughtless1   
the headstrong1 and the idle4--#8,where 
do ye wander1  and what do ye seek8--,is
 it pleasure8 behold it here4 ,is it    
ease8 enter  and repose4' ,thus do ,i   
court them from the table of drunkenness
 and the  bed of licentiousness3 ,i     
gently awaken their sleeping faculties1 
and  draw the veil from their           
understandings4 #8,my sons6 do you seek 
pleasure8  ,i seek her also4 ,let us    
make the search together4 ,you have     
tried wine1  you have tried love2 you   
have sought amusement in revelling1 and 

forgetfulness in indolence4 ,you tell me
 you are disappointed3 that your        
passions grew1 even while you gratified 
them2 your weariness increased  even    
while you slept4 ,let us try again4 ,let
 us quiet our passions1 not  by         
gratifying1 but subduing them2 let us   
conquer our weariness1 not by  rest1 but
 by exertion4' ,thus do ,i win their    
ears and their confidence4  ,step by    
step ,i lead them on4 ,i lay open the   
mysteries of science2 ,i  expose the    
beauties of art2 ,i call the graces and 
the muses to my aid2  the song1 the     
lyre1 and the dance4 ,temperance        
presides at the repast2  innocence1 at  
the festival2 disgust is changed to     
satisfaction2  listlessness1 to         
curiosity2 brutality1 to elegance2 lust 
gives place to  love2 ,bacchanalian     
hilarity to friendship4 ,tell me not1   
,zeno1 that the  teacher is vicious who 
washes depravity from the youthful      
heart2 who  lays the storm of its       
passions1 and turns all its             

sensibilities to good4  ,i grant that ,i
 do not look to make men happy4 ,to     
teach them that in the  discharge of    
their duties as sons1 as husbands1 as   
fathers1 as citizens1  lies their       
pleasure and their interest2--and when  
the sublime motives of  ,zeno shall     
cease to affect an enervated generation1
 the gentle  persuasions of ,epicurus   
shall still be heard and obeyed4 ,but   
you warn me  that ,i shall be slandered1
 my doctrines misinterpreted1 and my    
school  and my name disgraced4 ,i doubt 
it not4 ,what teacher is safe from      
malevolence1 what system from           
misconstruction8 ,and does ,zeno really 
think himself and his doctrines secure8 
,he knows not1 then1 man's  ignorance   
and man's folly4 ,some few generations1 
when the amiable  virtues of ,epicurus1 
and the sublime excellence of ,zeno     
shall live no  longer in remembrance or 
tradition1 the fierce or ambitious      
bigots of  some new sect may alike      
calumniate both2 proclaim the one for a 

libertine1 and the other for a          
hypocrite4 ,but ,i will allow that ,i am
  more open to detraction than ,zeno3   
that while your school shall be         
abandoned1 mine shall more probably be  
disgraced4 ,but it will be the  same    
cause that produces the two effects4 ,it
 will be equally the  degeneracy of man 
that shall cause the discarding of your 
doctrines1 and  the perversion of mine4 
,why then should the prospect of the    
future  disturb ,epicurus more than     
,zeno8 ,the fault will not lie with me  
any more  than you2 but with the vices  
of my followers1 and the ignorance of my
  judges4 ,i follow my course1 guided by
 what ,i believe to be wisdom2 with  the
 good of man at my heart1 adapting my   
advice to his situation1 his            
disposition1 and his capacities4 ,my    
efforts may be unsuccessful1 my         
intentions may be calumniated2 but as ,i
 know these to be benevolent1 so  ,i    
shall continue these1 unterrified and   
unruffled by reproaches1  unchilled by  

occasional ingratitude and frequent     
disappointment40 ,he  ceased1 and again 
laying his hand on the shoulder of      
,theon1 led him to  his ,master4 8,i ask
 not ,zeno to admire me as a teacher1   
but let him not  blame this scholar for 
loving me as a man40    8,i shall not   
blame him10 said the ,stoic1 8but ,i    
wish that ,i may not soon  distrust him4
 ,i wish he may not soon forget ,zeno1  
and forsake the  ,portico40    ,the     
shades of evening now fell on the city1 
and the assembly divided4               
,,chapter ,,viii4      ,the sun was in  
its fervor1 when ,theon issued from one 
of the public  baths4 ,he was not       
disposed for rest1 yet the heat of the  
streets was  insufferable4 8,i will seek
 the ,gardens10 he thought1 8and loiter 
in  their cool shades until the ,master 
join me40 ,reaching the house of the    
,gargettian1 and the entrance to the    
,gardens being shorter through it  than 
by the public gate1 he entered1 and     
sought the passage he had  before       

traversed4 ,he however took a wrong one1
 and1 after wandering for  some time1   
opened a door1 and found himself in a   
library4 ,epicurus was  sitting in deep 
study1 with his tablets before him2 his 
pen in one hand1  his forehead supported
 on the other4 ,metrodorus1 on the      
opposite side of  the room1 was engaged 
in transcribing4    ,theon stopped1 and1
 making a short apology1 hastily        
retired4 8,stay60  cried the ,master4   
,theon again entered1 but did not       
advance much within  the threshhold4    
8,when ,i bade you stay1 ,i did not mean
 to fix you as doorkeeper4 ,come in1    
and shut the door behind you40 ,theon   
joyfully obeyed1 and hurried to  seize  
the extended hand of the sage4 8,since  
you have intruded on the  sanctuary1 ,i 
shall not drive you out40 ,he motioned  
the youth to a place  on his couch4     
8,and now1 what pretty things am ,i to  
say to you for your  yesterday's defence
 of the wicked ,gargettian8 ,you should 
have come home  with me last night1 when

 we were both hot from the combat1 and  
then ,i  could have made you an eloquent
 compliment in full assembly at the     
,symposium1 and you would as eloquently 
have disclaimed it with one of  your    
modest blushes40    8,then1 truly1 if   
the ,master had such an intention1 ,i am
 very glad ,i did  not follow him4 ,but 
,i passed the evening at my own         
lodgings1 with my  friend ,cleanthes40  
8,trying to talk him into good humor and
 charity1 was it80    8,something so40  
8,and you succeeded80    8,why1 ,i don't
 know2 he did not leave me in worse     
humor than he came40    8,nay1 then it  
must have been in better4 ,explanation  
always approaches or  widens the        
differences between friends40    8,yes1 
but we also entered into argument40     
8,dangerous ground that1 to be sure4    
,and your fight1 of course1 ended in  a 
drawn battle80    8,you pay me more than
 a merited compliment1 in concluding    
that to be a  thing of course40         
8,nay1 your pardon6 ,i pay you any thing

 but a compliment4 ,it is not that  ,i  
conclude your rhetoric and your logic   
equal1 but your obstinacy and  your     
vanity40    8,do you know1 ,i don't     
think myself either obstinate or vain10 
said  ,theon1 smiling4    8,had ,i      
supposed you did1 ,i might not have seen
 occasion to give you the  information40
    8,but on what grounds do you think  
me obstinate and vain80    8,your years2
 your years4 ,and do you think there is 
a man under twenty  that is not both80  
8,why1 ,i should think an old man1 at   
least1 more obstinate than a young      
one40    8,i grant you when he is       
obstinate1 which is pretty often1 but   
not  quite always2 and when he is vain1 
the same4 ,but whilst many old men  have
 vanity and obstinacy in the superlative
 degree1 all young men have  those      
qualities in the positive4 ,i believe   
your share to be tolerably  moderate1   
but do not suppose that you have no     
share at all4 ,well1 and  now tell me1  
was it not a drawn battle80    8,i      

confess it was4 ,at least1 we neither of
 us convinced the other40    8,my son1  
it would have added one more to the     
seven wonders if you had4 ,i  incline to
 doubt1 if two men1 in the course of an 
olympiad1 enter on an  argument from the
 honest and single desire of coming at  
the truth1 or  if1 in the course of a   
century1 one man comes from an argument 
convinced  by his opponent40    8,well1 
then1 if you will allow me no credit for
 not being convinced1 you  may at least 
for my not being silenced1 ,i1 so young 
an arguer1 and  ,cleanthes so practised 
a one60    8,you broke the ice          
beforehand yesterday in the ,portico10  
said the  ,philosopher1 tapping his     
shoulder4 8,after that generous instance
 of  confidence1 ,i shall not marvel if 
you now find a tongue upon all proper   
occasions4 ,and trust me1 the breaking  
of the ice is a very important  matter4 
,many an orator has made but one spring 
to the land1 and his  legs1 after he had
 taken courage to make the first stroke4

 ,cleanthes  himself found this4 ,you   
know his history8 ,he first appeared in 
,athens as  a wrestler1 a stranger to   
philosophy and learning of all kinds4   
,in our  streets1 however1 the buzz of  
it could not fail to reach him4 ,he ran 
full speed into the school of ,crates4  
,his curiosity1 joined to his  complete 
ignorance1 gave him so singular an      
appearance1 and produced  from him so   
many simple questions1 and blundering   
replies1 that he  received from his     
fellow disciples the nickname of the    
,ass4 ,but the ,ass  persevered1 and    
soon after1 entering the ,portico he    
applied with such  intense diligence to 
the unravelling the mysteries of ,zeno's
 philosophy1  that he speedily secured  
the esteem of his ,master1 and the      
respect of  his companions4 ,but his    
timidity was for some time extreme1 and 
probably  nothing but a sudden          
excitement could have enabled him to    
break through  it4 ,this1 however1      
accidentally occurred1 and he is now the

 ready and  powerful orator that you    
know him40    8,i have often heard10    
said ,theon1 8and really not without    
some  scepticism1 the change that a few 
years have wrought in ,cleanthes2--a    
brawny wrestler6 who could believe it8  
and a dull1 ignorant ,barbarian60       
8,the world always adds marvel to the   
marvellous4 ,a brawny wrestler he  never
 was2 though certainly something stouter
 and squarer in person than  he is now2 
and though ignorant1 he was not dull4   
,intense application1  and some say1 the
 fasting of poverty1 as well as         
temperance1 rapidly  reduced his body1  
and spiritualized his mind40    8,the   
fasting of poverty60 cried ,theon1 8do  
you believe this80    8,i fear it is    
possible10 returned the ,master4 8,at   
least it is asserted  that he possessed 
but four drachmas when he left the      
school of wrestling  for that of        
philosophy2 and it does not well appear 
that he now follows  any other trade    
than that of a scholar2 one which       

certainly brings very  little           
nourishment to the body1 whatever it    
might do to the mind40    8,but his     
,master2 do you think ,zeno would suffer
 him to want the  necessaries of life80 
8,the actual necessaries1 somehow or    
other1 he certainly has2 but ,i can     
believe he will make very few serve1 and
 procure those few with some            
difficulty1 rather than be indebted even
 to his ,master40    8,or his friend60  
said ,theon4    8,nay1 remember1 you are
 not a friend of very long standing1 and
  something his junior in years40       
8,but should that prevent him from      
giving me his confidence on such an     
occasion80    8,perhaps not1 but allow  
something to the ,stoic pride40    8,i  
can allow nothing to it here40    8,no1 
because it touches your own4 #8,thus do 
,i tread on the pride of  ,plato1' said 
,diogenes1 setting his foot on the robe 
of the ,academic4  #8,yes1 with the     
greater pride of ,diogenes1' returned   
,plato4 ,but ,i have  made you grave1   

which was not my intention4 ,metrodorus1
 how go you on80    8,writing the last  
word4--,there6--,and now10 rising and   
advancing towards  ,theon1 8let me      
embrace the youth who so nobly took up  
the vindication of  my insulted ,master4
 ,perhaps you may not know how          
peculiarly ,i am  indebted to you4      
,timocrates is the brother of           
,metrodorus40    8,how60    8,i blush to
 own it40    8,you need not blush1 my   
loved son2 you have done more than a    
brother's  duty towards him1 and more   
than a disciple's duty towards me4 ,i   
suppose10 turning to ,theon1 8as you are
 a ,stoic1 you have not read the  able  
treatises of ,metrodorus in support of  
my doctrines1 and defence of  my        
character4 ,in the last1 indeed1 he has 
done more than ,i wished40    8,i own ,i
 have not1 but ,i will read them40      
8,what6 in the face of ,zeno80    8,aye1
 and of the whole ,portico40    8,we    
need not doubt the young ,corinthian's  
courage10 said ,metrodorus1  8after his 

noble confidence yesterday40    8,i see 
the ,master has not been silent10       
returned ,theon1 8and that he has  given
 me more praise than is my due40        
8,metrodorus can tell you that is not my
 custom10 said the ,gargettian4  8,by   
,pollux6 if you continue your visits to 
the ,garden1 you must look to  be       
handled very roughly4 ,i aim the blow at
 every fault ,i see2 and ,i have  a very
 acute pair of eyes4 ,i find out the    
most secret sins1--turn the  souls of my
 scholars inside out2 so be warned in   
time60    8,i do not fear you10 returned
 the ,corinthian4    8,not fear me1 you 
rogue80    8,no1 ,i love you too well4  
,but10 continued ,theon1 8let me now    
make my  acknowledgments to the ,master 
for his coming forward so seasonably    
yesterday1 and giving me the victory4   
,how you astonished me6 ,i almost  took 
you a second time for a divinity40      
8,i will tell you how it happened10     
returned ,epicurus3 8,chancing to be    
called into the street yesterday1 just  

after you left the house1 ,i saw  your  
meeting with ,cleanthes2 and guessing   
from his first address1 that  you would 
have to stand a siege1 ,i followed you  
to the ,portico1 and took  my place1    
unnoticed1 among the crowd1 ready1 if   
occasion should require1  to offer my   
succor40    8,and you heard then all    
that passed80    8,i did40    8,i beg   
your pardon for the digression10 said   
,theon2 8but ,i think you  have more    
forbearance and more candor than any man
 ,i ever heard of40    8,if it be so1   
these useful qualities have not been    
attained without much  study and        
discipline2 for ,zeno is mistaken in    
thinking all my virtues  the children of
 temperament4 ,i very early perceived   
candor to be the  quality the most      
indispensable in the composition of a   
philosopher1 and  therefore very early  
set my whole efforts to the attaining of
 it4 ,and  when once ,i fairly engaged  
in the work1 ,i did not find it either  
long or  difficult4 ,i had naturally a  

mild temper1 and a sensitive heart1 and 
these gifts were here of inconceivable  
use to me4 ,feeling kindly towards  my  
fellow-creatures1 ,i could the easier   
learn to pity rather than hate  their   
faults2 to smile1 rather than frown at  
their follies4--,this was a  great step 
gained1 but the next was more           
difficult--to be slow in  pronouncing   
what is a fault1 and what is a folly4   
,our superstition would  haunt with the 
furies the man who should take his      
sister to wife1 while  the customs of   
,egypt would commend him4 ,how has the  
astronomer been  laughed at1 who made   
the earth revolve round the stationary  
sun2 and yet  who can say but the age   
may come1 when this shall be established
 as a  truth8 ,prejudices1 when once    
seen as prejudices1 are easily yielded4 
,the  difficulty is to come at the      
knowledge of them4 ,a thousand lectures 
had  ,i read to myself1 ere ,i could    
calmly say1 upon all occasions1 ,it does
  not follow that the thing is1 because 

,i think it is2 and till ,i could  say  
this1 ,i never presumed to call myself a
 philosopher4 ,when ,i had  schooled    
myself into candor1 ,i found ,i was     
possessed of forbearance2  for1 indeed1 
it is hardly possible to possess the one
 without the  other40    8,i cannot     
understand10 said ,theon1 8how1 with    
your mildness1 your  candor1 and your   
good humor1 you have so many enemies40  
8,am ,i not the founder of a new sect80 
8,yes1 but so have been many others40   
8,and you think ,i have more enemies    
than any8 ,if it be so1 perhaps in      
those peaceable qualities you have      
enumerated1 you may seek the cause4     
,remember the ,cynics and ,stoics1 7and 
,i believe most of my enemies are       
either among them1 or of their making17 
do you think any of those three         
unpresuming virtues would secure their  
approbation8 ,they do not love to  see a
 man take the place of a philosopher1   
without the airs of one1 and1  as you   
may perceive1 ,i want these most        

entirely4 ,then you must remember  also 
my popularity2 for of course my         
mildness1 candor1 and good humor1  along
 with other agreeable virtues which     
shall be nameless1 help to  secure me a 
thousand friends2 and he who has many   
friends1 must have  many enemies1 for   
you know he must be the mark of envy1   
jealousy1 and  spleen40    8,i cannot   
endure to think that it should be so10  
said ,theon4    8,much less can ,i10    
said ,metrodorus4    8,my sons1 never   
pity the man who can count more than a  
friend for every  enemy1 and ,i do      
believe that ,i can do this6 ,yes1 my   
young ,stoic1 ,zeno  may have fewer     
enemies1 and as many disciples1 but ,i  
doubt if he have so  many devoted       
children as ,epicurus40    8,i know he  
has not10 cried ,metrodorus1 curling his
 lip in proud scorn4    8,you need not  
look so fierce upon your knowledge10    
said the ,master1  smiling4    8,you are
 too mild1 too candid10 returned the    
scholar1 8and that is your  only fault40

    8,then ,i am a most faultless       
person1 and ,i only wish ,i could return
 the  compliment to ,metrodorus1 but his
 lip curls too much1 and his cheeks are 
too apt to kindle40    8,i know it1 ,i  
know it10 said the scholar4    8,then   
why not mend it80    8,because ,i am not
 at all sure1 but that it is better     
unmended4 ,if you  would but turn more  
fiercely upon your enemies1 or let me do
 so for you1  they would respect you    
more1 for they would fear you more40    
8,but as ,i am not a god1 nor a king1   
nor a soldier1 ,i have no claim to      
fear2 and as ,i am a philosopher1 ,i    
have no wish for it4 ,then1 as to       
respect1 do you really think yourself   
more worthy of it than your  ,master80  
8,nay10 said ,metrodorus1 blushing1     
8that is too severe a rub40    8,grant  
that it was merited4 ,no1 no1 my son1 we
 will convince all we can1  we will     
silence as few as possible1 and we will 
terrify none40    8,remember the exit of
 ,timocrates10 said ,theon1 8was not    

that made in  terror80    8,yes2 but it 
was the work of his conscience1 not of  
my eyes2 if the  first had been silent1 
,i imagine he would have stood the last 
very  well40    8,do not name the       
wretch10 cried ,metrodorus indignantly4 
8,oh6 my young  ,corinthian1 did you    
know all the patience and forbearance   
that his  ,master had shown towards him1
 all the pains he took with him1 the    
gentleness with which he admonished him1
 the seriousness with which he  warned  
him1 the thousand times that he forgave 
him2 and then at last1  when he dared to
 insult his ,master's adopted child1 the
 lovely ,hedeia1  and the indignant     
disciples thrust him from the ,gardens1 
he goes to our  enemies1 the enemies of 
his ,master1 and feeds their malice with
 infernal  lies4 ,curses of the furies  
on the wretch60    8,fie6 how darest    
thou80 said ,epicurus1 thrusting his    
scholar  indignantly from him4 8,thy    
anger is unworthy of a man1 how much    
then  of a brother6 ,go1 and recollect  

thyself1 my son60 softening his voice1  
as he saw a tear in ,metrodorus's       
eye4--8,the ,corinthian will accompany  
you to the ,gardens1 ,i will join you   
when ,i have concluded this             
treatise40--,metrodorus took the arm of 
,theon1 and they left the  apartment4   
,,chapter ,,ix4      8,do not10 said    
,metrodorus to ,theon1 8take me as the  
best sample of the  pupils of ,epicurus4
 ,we are not all so hot brained and hot 
tongued40    8,nay60 returned his       
companion1 8,i am too young in          
philosophy to blame  your warmth4 ,in   
your place1 ,i should have been as hot  
myself40    8,i am glad to hear it4 ,i  
like you the better for the sentiment4  
,but the  sun scorches dreadfully1 let  
us seek shelter40    ,they turned into a
 thicket1 and proceeding some way1      
caught on the still  air the notes of a 
flute4 ,they advanced and came to a     
beautiful bank of  verdure1 bordered by 
the river1 and shadowed by a group of   
thick and  wide spreading oaks4 8,it is 

,leontium10 said ,metrodorus4 8,no other
 in  ,attica can breathe the flute so   
sweetly40 ,they turned one of the       
trunks1  and found her lying on the     
turf2 her shoulder leaning against a    
tree1  and her figure raised on one     
elbow4 ,beside her was seated the black 
eyed  girl1 whom ,theon had before seen2
 her taper fingers twining into a       
wreath the scented flowers1 which were  
lightly thrown into her lap by  the gay 
,sofron1 who stood at some distance     
among the shrubs4    8,enough6 enough60 
said the gentle voice of the girl1 as   
the youth shook  down in showers the    
leaves and nectareous odors of the      
overripe  blossoms4 8,enough6 enough6   
stay thy hand1 thou heedless ravager60  
8,thank thee for thy words1 although    
they chide me10 said the boy1  letting  
go the bough which he had just seized1  
with a bound1 light as  that of the     
shrub when it sprung upward from his    
hand4 8,thou hast but  one feeling in   
thy soul1 ,boidion2 and thy nature      

belies the sunny clime  which saw its   
birth4 ,friendship is all to thee1 and  
that friendship is  but for one40       
8,in truth1 thou repayest his cares but 
coldly10 said ,leontium1 taking  the    
pipe from her mouth1 and smiling on the 
dark haired maiden4    8,but ,i repay   
not thine coldly10 said ,boidion1       
kissing the hand of her  friend4    8,i 
am well punished for the neglect of my  
morning's lecture10 said  ,sofron       
impatiently1 as he snatched his book    
from the ground1 and turned  away4      
8,part not in anger1 brother60 exclaimed
 ,boidion4 ,but the youth had  vanished1
 and in his place1 ,metrodorus and      
,theon stood before her4    ,the        
startled girl was about to rise1 when   
,leontium laying her hand on  her arm1  
8,rest thee1 thou timid fawn10 and the  
maiden resumed her seat4    8,i         
rejoice10 said ,theon1 as he placed     
himself with ,metrodorus by the  side of
 ,leontium1 and took up the pipe which  
had fallen from her hand1  8,i rejoice  

to find this little instrument restored 
to ,athens40    8,say not restored to   
,athens10 returned ,leontium1 8only     
admitted into the  ,garden4 ,i doubt our
 vain youth still remember the curse of 
,alcibiades1  and looking in their      
mirror1 vow that none but fools would   
play on it40    8,this recalls to me10  
said ,theon1 8that ,i have heard1 among 
the various  reports concerning the     
,garden current in the mouths of the    
,athenians1  very contradictory ones as 
to the place allowed in it to the       
sciences  and liberal arts1 and to music
 in particular40    8,i suppose10 said  
,metrodorus1 8that you heard our whole  
employment was  eating1 drinking1 and   
rioting in all licentiousness40         
8,true ,i did hear so2 and ,i fear ,i   
must confess1 half believed it4 ,but ,i 
also heard your licentiousness described
 in various ways2 sometimes as  grossly 
sensual1 enlivened by no elegancies of  
art2 veiled1 adorned1 if  ,i may use the
 expression1 by no refinement4 ,in      

short1 that ,epicurus  laughed as well  
at the fine arts as the grave sciences4 
,from others  again1 ,i learned that    
music1 dancing1 poetry1 and painting    
were pressed  into the service of his   
philosophy2 that ,leontium strung the   
lyre1  ,metrodorus the harp1 ,hedeia    
moved in the dance1 ,boidion raised the 
song  to ,venus2 that his halls were    
covered with voluptuous pictures1 the   
walks of his gardens lined with indecent
 statues40    8,and you may now perceive
 the truth10 replied ,metrodorus1 8with 
your own  eyes and ears40    8,but10    
said ,leontium1 8the young ,corinthian  
may be curious to know the  sentiments  
of our ,master1 and his advice regarding
 the pursuit of the  sciences and the   
liberal arts4 ,i can readily perceive10 
addressing  herself to ,theon1 8the     
origin of the two contradictory reports 
you have  just mentioned4 ,the first you
 would hear from the followers of       
,aristippus1 who1 though not            
acknowledging the name1 follow the      

tenets  of his philosophy1 and have long
 been very numerous in our degenerate   
city4 ,these1 because ,epicurus         
recommends but a moderate culture of    
those  arts1 which by them are too often
 made the elegant incentives to         
licentious pleasure1 accuse him of      
neglecting them altogether4 ,the        
,cynics1 and other austere sects1 who   
condemn all that ministers to the       
luxury1 ease1 or recreation of man1     
exaggerate his moderate use of these    
arts into a vicious encouragement of    
voluptuousness and effeminacy4 ,you     
will perceive1 therefore1 that between  
the two reports lies the truth4  ,every 
innocent recreation is permitted in the 
,garden4 ,it is not poetry1  but        
licentious poetry1 that ,epicurus       
condemns2 not music1 but voluptuous     
music2 not painting1 but licentious     
pictures2 not dancing1 but loose        
gestures4 ,yet thus he displeases alike 
the profligate and the austere1  for    
these he is too moderate1 and for those 

too severe4 ,with regard to  the        
sciences1 if it be said1 that they are  
neglected among us1 ,i do not  say that 
our ,master1 though himself versed in   
them1 as in all other  branches of      
knowledge1 greatly recommends them to   
our study4 ,but that  they are not      
unknown1 let ,polynus be evidence4 ,he1 
one of the most  amiable men of our     
school1 and one most highly favored by  
our ,master1  you must have heard       
mentioned throughout ,greece as a       
profound  geometrician40    8,yes10     
replied ,theon2 8but ,i have also heard1
 that since entering the  ,garden1 he   
has ceased to respect his science40     
8,i am not aware of that10 said         
,leontium1 8though ,i believe he no     
longer  devotes to it all his time1 and 
all his faculties4 ,epicurus called him 
from his diagrams1 to open to him the   
secrets of physics1 and the  beauties of
 ethics2 to show him the springs of     
human action1 and lead  him to the study
 of the human mind4 ,he taught him that 

any single study1  however useful and   
noble in itself1 was yet unworthy the   
entire employ  of a curious and powerful
 intellect3 that the man who pursued one
 line  of knowledge1 to the exclusion of
 others1 though he should follow it up  
to its very head1 would never be either 
learned or wise3 that he who  pursues   
knowledge1 should think no branch of it 
unworthy attention2  least of all1      
should he confine it to those which are 
unconnected with  the business1 and add 
nothing to the pleasures of life3 that  
further not  our acquaintance with      
ourselves1 nor our fellows2 that tend   
not to  enlarge the sphere of our       
affections1 to multiply our ideas and   
sensations1 nor extend the scope of our 
inquiries4 ,on this ground1 he  blamed  
the devotion of ,polynus to a science   
that leads to other truths  than those  
of virtue1 to other study than that of  
man40    8,i am obliged to you for the  
explanation10 said ,theon2 8not because 
,i  could any longer have given credit  

to the absurd reports of your  ,master's
 enemies2 but because whatever opens to 
me the character and  opinions of such a
 man1 interests and improves me40       
8,you will find this10 said ,metrodorus1
 8the more you consider them4 ,the  life
 of ,epicurus is a lesson of wisdom4 ,it
 is by example1 even more than  precept1
 that he guides his disciples4 ,without 
issuing commands1 he  rules             
despotically4 ,his wishes are divined1  
and obeyed as laws2 his  opinions are   
repeated as oracles2 his doctrines      
adopted as demonstrated  truths4 ,all is
 unanimity in the ,garden4 ,we are a    
family of brothers1 of  which ,epicurus 
is the father4 ,and ,i say not this in  
the praise of the  scholars1 but the    
,master4 ,many of us have had bad       
habits1 many of us  evil propensities1  
many of us violent passions4 ,that our  
habits are  corrected1 our propensities 
changed1 our passions restrained1 lies  
all  with ,epicurus4 ,what ,i myself owe
 him1 none but myself know4 ,the giddy  

follower of licentious pleasure1 the    
headstrong victim of my passions1  he   
has made me taste of the sweets of      
innocence1 and brought me into the  calm
 of philosophy4 ,it is thus--thus1 by   
rendering us happy1 that he lays  us at 
his feet1--thus that he gains1 and holds
 the empire of our  minds1--thus that by
 proving himself our friend1 he secures 
our respect1  our submission1 and our   
love4 ,he cannot but know his power1 yet
 he  exerts it in no other way1 than to 
mend our lives1 or to keep them         
innocent4 ,in argument1 as you may have 
observed1 he always seeks to  convince  
rather than sway4 ,he is as free from   
arrogance as from  duplicity2 he would  
neither force an opinion on the mind1   
nor conceal  from it a truth4 ,ask his  
advice1 and it is ever ready1--his      
opinion1 and  he gives it clearly4 ,free
 from prejudice himself1 he is tender to
 that  of others2 yet no fear of        
censure1 or desire of popularity1 ever  
leads  him to humor it1 either in his   

lessons1 or his writings4 ,candor1 as   
you  have already remarked1 is the      
prominent feature of his mind2 it is the
  crown of his perfect character4--,i   
say this1 my young ,corinthian1 who     
know him4 ,his soul1 indeed1 is open to 
all2 but ,i have approached very  near  
it1 and considered its inmost recesses4 
,yes1 ,i am proud to say it--,i  am one 
of those he has drawn most closely into 
his intimacy4 ,with all my              
imperfections and errors1 he has adopted
 me as a son2 and1 inferior as ,i  am in
 years1 wisdom1 and virtue1 he deigns to
 call me his friend40    ,tears here    
filled the eyes of the scholar2--he     
seemed about to resume1  when a slight  
sound made the party turn their heads1  
and they saw the  ,master at their      
side4--8,do not rise1 my children1 ,i   
will seat myself  among you40 ,theon    
perceived he had heard the closing      
sentence of  ,metrodorus1 for the water 
glistened in his eyes as he fixed them  
tenderly upon him4 8,thanks1 my son1 for

 this tribute of thy gratitude2 ,i  have
 heard thy eulogy1 and ,i accept it     
joyfully4 ,let all men10 and he  turned 
his eye upon ,theon1 8be above flattery2
 but let not a sage be  above praise4   
,he that is so is either arrogant or    
insincere4 ,for myself1  ,i own that the
 commendations of my friends fill me    
with triumph1 as the  assurance of their
 affection does with satisfaction4 ,the 
approbation of  our familiars1 who are  
with us in our secret hours1 hear our   
private  converse1 know the habits of   
our lives1 and the bent of our          
dispositions1 is1 or should be to us1   
far more pleasing and triumphant  than  
the shouts of a multitude1 or the       
worship of the world40    ,there was a  
pause of some minutes1 when ,leontium   
took up the word4 8,i  have been        
explaining1 though very shortly and     
imperfectly1 your views  concerning the 
studies most proper to be pursued by    
men4 ,i believe the  ,corinthian has    
some curiosity on this point40    ,theon

 assented4    8,knowledge10 said the    
,master1 8is the best riches that man   
can possess4  ,without it1 he is a      
brute2 with it1 he is a god4 ,but like  
happiness1 he  often pursues it without 
finding it2 or1 at best1 obtains of it  
but an  imperfect glimpse4 ,it is not   
that the road to it is either dark or   
difficult1 but that he takes a wrong    
one2 or if he enters on the right1  he  
does so unprepared for the journey4 ,now
 he thinks knowledge one with           
erudition1 and shutting himself up in   
his closet1 he cons all the lore  of    
antiquity2 he fathoms the sciences1     
heaps up in his memory all the  sayings 
of the dead1 and reckoning the value of 
his acquisitions by the  measure of the 
time and labor he hath expended on them1
 he is satisfied  he hath reached his   
end1 and from his retirement1 looking   
down upon his  more ignorant1 because   
less learned1 brethren1 he calls them   
children  and barbarians4 ,but1 alas6   
learning is not wisdom1 nor will books  

give  understanding4 ,again1 he takes a 
more inviting road3 he rushes into the  
crowd2 he rolls down the stream of      
pleasure2 he courts the breath of       
popularity2 he unravels or weaves the   
riddles of intrigue2 he humors the      
passions of his fellows1 and rises upon 
them to name and power4 ,then1  laughing
 at the credulity1 ignorance1 and vice1 
he hath set his throne  upon1 he says1  
that to know the world is the only      
knowledge1 and to see  to dupe it1 is to
 be wise4 ,yet knowledge of the world is
 not knowledge  of man1 nor to triumph  
in the passions of others1 is not to    
triumph over  our own4 ,no1 my sons1    
that only is real1 is sterling          
knowledge1 which  goes to make us better
 and happier men1 and which fits us to  
assist the  virtue and happiness of     
others4 ,all learning is useful1 all the
 sciences  are curious1 all the arts are
 beautiful2 but more useful1 more       
curious1  and more beautiful1 is the    
perfect knowledge and perfect government

 of  ourselves4 ,though a man should    
read the heavens1 unravel their laws1   
and  their revolutions2 though he should
 dive into the mysteries of matter1  and
 expound the phenomena of earth and air2
 though he should be  conversant with   
all the writings1 and the sayings1 and  
the actions of  the dead2 though he     
should hold the pencil of ,parrhasius1  
the chisel of  ,polycletes1 or the lyre 
of ,pindar2 though he should do one or  
all of  these things1 yet know not the  
secret springs of his own mind1 the     
foundation of his opinions1 the motives 
of his actions2 if he hold not  the rein
 over his passions2 if he have not      
cleared the mist of all  prejudices from
 his understanding2 if he have not      
rubbed off all  intolerance from his    
judgments2 if he know not to weigh his  
own actions1  and the actions of others1
 in the balance of justice--that man    
hath not  knowledge2 nor1 though he be a
 man of science1 a man of learning1 or  
an  artist1 he is not a sage4 ,he must  

yet sit down1 patient1 at the feet of   
philosophy4 ,with all his learning1 he  
hath yet to learn1 and perhaps a  harder
 task1 he hath to unlearn40    ,the     
,master here paused1 but the ears of    
,theon still hung upon his lips4  8,do  
not cease10 he exclaimed4 8,i could     
listen to you through eternity40    8,i 
cannot promise to declaim quite so      
long10 returned the sage1 smiling4      
8,but if you wish it1 we will follow out
 the topic when we have joined  our     
other friends40    ,they rose1 and bent 
their steps to the public walk4         
,,chapter ,x4      ,epicurus stood in   
the midst of his expectant scholars4    
8,my sons10 he  said1 8why do you enter 
the ,garden8 ,is it to seek happiness1  
or to seek  virtue and                  
knowledge8--,attend1 and ,i will show   
you that in finding one1  you shall find
 the three4 ,to be happy1 we must be    
virtuous2 and when we  are virtuous1 we 
are wise4 ,let us then begin3 and first1
 let us for  awhile hush our passions   

into slumber1 forget our prejudices1 and
 cast  away our vanity and our pride4   
,thus patient and modest1 let us come to
  the feet of ,philosophy2 let us say to
 her1 #8,behold us1 scholars and        
children1 gifted by nature with         
faculties1 affections1 and              
passions4--,teach us their use1 and     
their guidance4 ,show us how to turn    
them to account--how best to make them  
conduce to our ease1 and minister  to   
our enjoyment4'    8#8,sons of earth1'  
says the ,deity1 #8you have spoken      
wisely2 you feel that  you are gifted by
 nature with faculties1 affections1 and 
passions2 and  you perceive that on the 
right exertion and direction of these   
depends  your well-being4 ,it does so4  
,your affections both of soul and body  
may  be shortly reduced to two1 pleasure
 and pain2 the one troublesome1 and  the
 other agreeable4 ,it is natural and    
befitting1 therefore1 that you  shun    
pain1 and desire and follow after       
pleasure4 ,set forth then on the        

pursuit2 but ere you start1 be sure that
 it is in the right road1 and  that you 
have your eye on the true object4       
,perfect pleasure1 which is  happiness1 
you will have attained when you have    
brought your bodies and  souls into a   
state of satisfied tranquillity4 ,to    
arrive at this1 much  previous exertion 
is requisite2 yet exertion1 not violent1
 only constant  and even4 ,and first1   
the body1 with its passions and         
appetites1 demands  gratification and   
indulgence4 ,but beware6 for here are   
the hidden rocks  which may shipwreck   
your bark on its passage1 and shut you  
out forever  from the haven of repose4  
,provide yourselves then with a skilled 
pilot1  who may steer you through the   
,scylla and ,charybdis of your carnal   
affections1 and point the steady helm   
through the deep waters of your         
passions4 ,behold her6 ,it is ,prudence1
 the mother of the virtues1 and the     
handmaid of wisdom4 ,ask1 and she will  
tell you1 that gratification will  give 

new edge to the hunger of your          
appetites1 and that the storm of the    
passions shall kindle with indulgence4  
,ask1 and she will tell you1 that       
sensual pleasure is pain covered with   
the mask of happiness4 ,behold1 she     
strips it from her face1 and reveals the
 features of disease1  disquietude1 and 
remorse4 ,ask1 and she will tell you1   
that happiness is  not found in tumult1 
but tranquillity2 and that1 not the     
tranquillity of  indolence and inaction1
 but of a healthy contentment of soul   
and body4  ,ask1 and she will tell you1 
that a happy life is like neither to a  
roaring torrent1 nor a stagnant pool1   
but to a placid and crystal  stream1    
that flows gently and silently along4   
,and now1 ,prudence shall  bring to you 
the lovely train of the virtues4        
,temperance1 throwing a  bridle on your 
desires1 shall gradually subdue and     
annihilate those  whose present         
indulgence would only bring future evil2
 and others more  necessary and more    

innocent1 she shall yet bring down to   
such becoming  moderation1 as shall     
prevent all disquiet to the soul1 and   
injury to the  body4 ,fortitude shall   
strengthen you to bear those diseases   
which even  temperance may not be       
efficient to prevent2 those afflictions 
which fate  may level at you2 those     
persecutions which the folly or malice  
of man  may invent4 ,it shall fit you to
 bear all things1 to conquer fear1 and  
to  meet death4 ,justice shall give you 
security among your fellows1 and        
satisfaction in your own breasts4       
,generosity shall endear you to others1 
and sweeten your own nature to          
yourselves4 ,gentleness shall take the  
sting from the malice of your enemies1  
and make you extract double sweet  from 
the kindness of friends4 ,gratitude     
shall lighten the burden of  obligation1
 or render it even pleasant to bear4    
,friendship shall put the  crown on your
 security and your joy4 ,with these1 and
 yet more virtues1  shall prudence      

surround you4 ,and1 thus attended1 hold 
on your course in  confidence1 and moor 
your barks in the haven of repose4'     
8,thus says ,philosophy1 my sons1 and   
says she not wisely8 ,tell us1 ye who   
have tried the slippery paths of        
licentiousness1 who have given the rein 
to your passions1 and sought pleasure in
 the lap of voluptuousness2 tell  us1   
did ye find her there8 ,no1 ye did not1 
or ye would not now inquire  of her from
 ,epicurus4 ,come1 then1 ,philosophy    
hath shown ye the way4  ,throw off your 
old habits1 wash impurity from your     
hearts2 take up the  bridle of your     
passions2 govern your minds1 and be     
happy4 ,and ye1 my  sons1 to whom all   
things are yet new2 whose passions1 yet 
in the bud1  have never led you to pain 
and regret2 ye who have yet to begin    
your  career1 come ye1 also6 ,philosophy
 hath shown ye the way4 ,keep your      
hearts innocent1 hold the bridle of your
 passions1 govern your minds1  and be   
happy4 ,but1 my sons1 methinks ,i hear  

you say1 #8,you have shown us  the      
virtues rather as modifiers and         
correctors of evil1 than as the  givers 
of actual and perfect good4 ,happiness1 
you tell us1 consists in  ease of body  
and mind2 yet temperance cannot secure  
the former from  disease1 nor can all   
the virtues united ward affliction from 
the  latter4' ,true1 my children1       
,philosophy cannot change the laws of   
nature2  but she may teach us to        
accommodate to them4 ,she cannot annul  
pain2 but  she can arm us to bear it4   
,and though the evils of fate be many1  
are not  the evils of man's coming more8
 ,nature afflicts us with disease2 but  
for  once that it is the infliction of  
nature1 ninety-nine times it is the     
consequence of our own folly4 ,nature   
levels us with death2 but how mild  is  
the death of nature1 with ,philosophy to
 spread the pillow1 and  friendship to  
take the last sigh1 to the protracted   
agonies of  debauchery1 subduing the    
body by inches1 while ,philosophy is not

 there  to give strength1 nor friendship
 consolation1 but while the flames of   
fever are heated by impatience1 and the 
stings of pain envenomed by  remorse6   
,and tell me1 my sons1 when the body of 
the sage is stretched on  the couch of  
pain1 hath he not his mind to minister  
delight to him8 ,hath  he not conscience
 whispering that his present evil is not
 chargeable to  his own past folly1 but 
to the laws of nature1 which no effort  
or  foresight of his could have         
prevented8 ,hath he not memory to bring 
to  him past pleasures1 the pleasures of
 a well-spent life1 on which he may     
feed even while pain racks his members1 
and fever consumes his vitals8  ,or1    
what if agony overpower his frame1 and  
cripple his faculties1 is  there not    
death at hand to reach him deliverance8 
,here1 then1 is death1  that giant of   
terror1 acting as a friend4 ,but does he
 interrupt our  enjoyments as well as   
our sufferings8 ,and is it for this we  
fear him8  ,ought we not rather to      

rejoice1 seeing that the day of life has
 its  bright and its clouded hours1 that
 we are laid to sleep while the sun of  
joy yet shines1 before the storm of fate
 has broken our tranquillity1 or  the   
evening of age bedimmed our prospect8   
,death1 then1 is never our foe4  ,when  
not a friend1 he cannot be worse than   
indifferent4 ,for while we  are1 death  
is not2 and while death is1 we are not4 
,to the wise1 then1  death is nothing4  
,examine the ills of life1 are they not 
of our own  creation1 or take they not  
their darkest hues from our passions or 
our  ignorance8 ,what is poverty1 if we 
have temperance1 and can be satisfied   
with a crust1 and a draught from the    
spring8--if we have modesty1 and can    
wear a woollen garment as gladly as a   
,tyrian robe8 ,what is slander1 if  we  
have no vanity that it can wound1 and no
 anger that it can kindle8  ,what is    
neglect1 if we have no ambition that it 
can disappoint1 and no  pride that it   
can mortify8 ,what is persecution1 if we

 have our own  bosoms in which to       
retire1 and a spot of earth to sit down 
and rest  upon8 ,what is death1 when    
without superstition to clothe him with 
terrors1 we can cover our heads1 and go 
to sleep in his arms8 ,what a  list of  
human calamities are here               
expunged--,poverty1 slander1 neglect1   
disappointment1 persecution1 death6     
,what yet remains8 ,disease8 ,that1     
too1 we have shown temperance can often 
shun1 and ,philosophy can always        
alleviate4 ,but there is yet a pain1    
which the wisest and the best of men    
cannot escape2 that all of us1 my sons1 
have felt1 or have to feel4 ,do  not    
your hearts whisper it8 ,do you not tell
 me1 that in death there is  yet a      
sting8 ,that ere he aim at us1 he may   
level the beloved of our  soul8 ,the    
father1 whose tender care hath reared   
our infant minds--the  brother1 whom the
 same breast hath nourished1 and the    
same roof  sheltered1 with whom1 side by
 side1 we have grown like two plants by 

a  river1 sucking life from the same    
fountain and strength from the same     
sun--the child whose gay prattle        
delights our ears1 or whose opening     
understanding fixes our hopes2 the      
friend of our choice1 with whom we  have
 exchanged hearts1 and shared all our   
pains and pleasures1 whose eye  hath    
reflected the tear of sympathy1 whose   
hand hath smoothed the couch  of        
sickness4 ,ah6 my sons1 here is indeed a
 pain1 a pain that cuts into  the soul4 
,there are masters who will tell you    
otherwise1 who will tell  you that it is
 unworthy of a man to mourn even here4  
,but such1 my sons1  speak not the truth
 of experience1 or ,philosophy1 but the 
subtleties of  sophistry and pride4 ,he 
who feels not the loss1 hath never felt 
the  possession4 ,he who knows not the  
grief1 hath never known the joy4 ,see   
the price of a friend in the duties we  
render him1 and the sacrifices we  make 
to him1 and which1 in making1 we count  
not sacrifices1 but  pleasures6 ,we     

sorrow for his sorrow2 we supply his    
wants1 or if we  cannot1 we share them4 
,we follow him to exile4 ,we close      
ourselves in his  prison2 we soothe him 
in sickness2 we strengthen him in death3
 nay1 if  it be possible1 we throw down 
our life for his4 ,oh6 what a treasure  
is  that for which we do so much6 ,and  
is it forbidden us to mourn its loss8   
,if it be1 the power is not with us to  
obey4 ,should we1 then1 to avoid  the   
evil1 forego the good8 ,shall we shut   
love from our hearts1 that we  may not  
feel the pain of his departure8 ,no2    
happiness forbids it4  ,experience      
forbids it4 ,let him who hath laid on   
the pyre the dearest of  his soul1 who  
hath washed the urn with the bitterest  
tears of grief--let  him say if his     
heart hath ever formed the wish that it 
had never shrined  within it whom he now
 deplores4 ,let him say if the pleasures
 of the  sweet communion of his former  
days doth not still live in his         
remembrance4 ,if he love not to recall  

the image of the departed1 the  tones of
 his voice1 the words of his discourse1 
the deeds of his  kindness1 the amiable 
virtues of his life6 ,if1 while he weeps
 the loss  of his friend1 he smiles not 
to think that he once possessed him4 ,he
 who  knows not friendship1 knows not   
the purest pleasure of earth4 ,yet if   
fate deprive us of it1 though we grieve1
 we do not sink2 ,philosophy is  still  
at hand1 and she upholds us with        
fortitude4 ,and think1 my sons1  perhaps
 in the very evil we dread1 there is a  
good2 perhaps the very  uncertainty of  
the tenure gives it value in our eyes2  
perhaps all our  pleasures take their   
zest from the known possibility of their
  interruption4 ,what were the glories  
of the sun1 if we knew not the gloom  of
 darkness8 ,what the refreshing breezes 
of morning and evening1 if we  felt not 
the fervors of noon8 ,should we value   
the lovely flower1 if it  bloomed       
eternally2 or the luscious fruit1 if it 
hung always on the  bough8 ,are not the 

smiles of the heavens more beautiful in 
contrast with  their frowns1 and the    
delights of the seasons more grateful   
from their  vicissitudes8 ,let us then  
be slow to blame nature1 for perhaps in 
her  apparent errors there is a hidden  
wisdom4 ,let us not quarrel with fate1  
for perhaps in our evils lie the seeds  
of our good4 ,were our body never       
subject to sickness1 we might be        
insensible to the joy of health4 ,were  
our life eternal1 our tranquillity might
 sink into inaction4 ,were our          
friendship not threatened with          
interruption1 it might want much of its 
tenderness4 ,this1 then1 my sons1 is our
 duty1 for this is our interest  and our
 happiness3 to seek our pleasures from  
the hands of the virtues1  and for the  
pain which may befall us1 to submit to  
it with patience1 or  bear up against it
 with fortitude4 ,to walk1 in short1    
through life  innocently and tranquilly3
 and to look on death as its gentle     
termination1 which it becomes us to meet

 with ready minds1 neither  regretting  
the past1 nor anxious for the future40  
,the ,sage had scarcely ceased1 when a  
scholar advanced from the crowd1  and   
bowing his head with reverence1 stooped 
and touched the knees of his  ,master4  
8,refuse not my homage10 he said1 8nor  
call the expression of it               
presumptuous40 ,epicurus raised him in  
his arms1 8,colotes1 ,i am more  proud  
of the homage of thy young mind1 than ,i
 should be of that of the  assembled    
crowd of ,olympia4 ,may thy master1 my  
son1 never lose his power  over it1 as  
,i feel that he will never abuse it40   
,,chapter ,,xi4      ,the sun had far   
declined from its meridian1 yet no cool 
breeze tempered  the fervors of the     
heat4 ,the air was chained in oppressive
 stillness1  when suddenly a bustling   
wind shook the trees1 and a low growling
  reverberated round the horizon4 ,the  
scholars retired before the  threatening
 storm2 but ,theon1 his ear still filled
 with the musical  voice of the sage1   

and his heart imbued with his gentle    
precepts1  lingered to feed alone upon  
the thoughts they had awakened in him4  
8,how  mad is the folly of man60 he     
said1 as he threw his back against a    
tree4--8,professing to admire wisdom and
 love virtue1 and yet ever  persecuting 
and slandering both4--,how vain is it to
 look for credit by  teaching truth1 or 
to seek fame by the road of virtue60    
8,thy regret is idle1 my son10 said a   
well known voice in his ear4    8,oh6 my
 guardian spirit60 cried the startled   
youth--8,is it you80    8,i linger10    
said the ,gargettian1 8to watch the     
approach of the storm1  and ,i suppose  
you do the same40    8,no10 returned the
 youth1 8,i hardly heeded the heavens40 
8,they are singular1 however1 at this   
moment40 ,theon looked where the  sage  
pointed2 a dark mass of vapors was piled
 upon the head of ,hymettus1  from which
 two columns1 shooting forth like the   
branches of some giant  oak1 spread     
themselves over the sky4 ,the opposing  

sun1 fast travelling  to the horizon1   
looked red through the heated           
atmosphere1 and flashed a  deep glare on
 their murky sides4 ,soon half the      
landscape was blackened  with the       
sinking clouds1 that each moment        
increasing in bulk and  density1 seemed 
to touch the bosom of the earth4 ,the   
western half glowed  with a brilliant   
light1 like molten gold4 ,the distant   
outline was marked  with a pencil of    
fire1 while the gardens and villas that 
speckled the  plaid1 seemed illuminated 
in jubilee4    8,see10 said the sage1   
stretching his hand towards the gilded  
scene1 8see  the image of that fame     
which is not founded in virtue4 ,thus   
bright may  it shine for a moment1 but  
the cloud of oblivion or infamy comes   
fast to  cover its glory40    8,is it   
so80 said ,theon4 8,do not the vile of  
the earth fill the tongues  of men1 and 
are not the noble forgotten8 ,does not  
the titled murderer  inscribe his name  
on the tablets of eternity1 with the    

sword which is  dipped in the blood of  
his fellows8--,and does not the man who 
hath spent  his youth1 and manhood1 and 
age1 in the courts of wisdom--who has   
planted  peace at the hearth1 and given 
truth to the rising age1 does he not go 
down to the grave in silence1 his bones 
unhonored1 and his name  forgotten80    
8,possibly his name2 but1 if he have    
planted peace at the hearth1 and  given 
truth to the rising age1 surely not his 
better part--his virtues4  ,do not      
confound noise with fame4 ,the man who  
is remembered1 is not  always honored2  
and reflect1 what a man toils for1 that 
probably will he  win4 ,the titled      
murderer1 who weaves his fate with that 
of empires1 will  with them go down to  
posterity4 ,the sage1 who does his work 
in the  silence of retirement1          
unobserved in his own generation1 will  
pass into  the silence of the grave1    
unknown to the future40    8,but suppose
 he be known8 ,how few worshippers crowd
 to his shrine1 and  what millions to   

that of the other60    8,and those few1 
my son1 who are they8 ,the wise of the  
earth1 the  enlightened patriot1 the    
discerning philosopher4 ,and who are the
  millions8 ,the ignorant1 the          
prejudiced1 and the idle4 ,nor yet1 let 
us so  wrong the reason of our species1 
as to say1 that they always give honor  
to the mischievous rather than the      
useful--gratitude to their oppressors1  
rather than their benefactors4 ,in      
instances they may be blind1 but in  the
 gross they are just4 ,the splendor of  
action1 the daring of  enterprise1 or   
the glitter of majesty1 may seize their 
imagination1 and  so drown their        
judgment1 but never is it the tyranny of
 power1 the  wantonness of cruelty1 the 
brutality of vice1 which they adore1 any
 more  than it is the innocence and     
usefulness of virtue1 which they        
despise4  ,the united experience of     
mankind has pronounced virtue to be the 
great  good3 nay1 so universal is the   
conviction1 that even those who insult  

her in their practice1 bow to her in    
their understanding4 ,man is for the    
most part more fool than knave1 more    
weak than depraved in action1 more      
ignorant than vicious in judgment2 and  
seldom is he so weak and so  ignorant1  
as not to see his own interest1 and     
value him who promotes it4  ,but say1   
that he often slanders the virtuous1 and
 persecutes the wise2  he does it more  
in error than from depravity4 ,he is    
credulous1 and on  the report of malice1
 takes virtue for hypocrisy3--he is     
superstitious1  and some of the truths  
of wisdom appear to him profane4 ,say he
 does  homage to vice2--you will find   
when he does it1 he believes her to be  
virtue4 ,hypocrisy has masked her       
deformity1 or talent decked her with    
beauty4 ,is here1 then1 subject for     
wrath8 ,rather1 surely1 for  compassion4
 ,is here matter for disgust8 ,rather1  
surely1 for exertion4  ,the darker the  
ignorance1 the more praise to the sage  
who dispels  it2--the deeper the        

prejudice1 more fame to the courage     
which braves it4  ,but may the courage  
be vain8 ,may the sage fall the victim  
of the  ignorance he combats8--,he may2 
he often has4 ,but ere he engage1 knows 
he  not the risk8--,the risk is to      
himself2 the profit to mankind4 ,to a   
benevolent soul1 the odds is worth the  
throw2 and though it be against  him at 
the present1 he may win it in the       
future4 ,the sage1 whose vision  is     
cleared from the mists of prejudice1 can
 stretch it over the existing  age1 to  
the kindling horizon of the succeeding1 
and see1 perhaps1 unborn  generations   
weeping the injustice of their fathers1 
and worshipping  those truths which they
 condemned4 ,or is it otherwise8 ,lives 
he in the  old age of the world1 and    
does he see the stream of time flowing  
through  a soil yet more rank with      
prejudice and evil8 ,say1 then1--were   
the praise  of such a world a fit object
 of his ambition1 or shall he be jealous
 of  the fame which ignorance yields to 

the unworthy8 ,but any way1 my son1 it  
is not the voice of fame that we should 
seek in the practice of virtue1  but the
 peace of self-satisfaction4 ,the object
 of the sage is to make  himself        
independent of all that he cannot       
command within himself4 ,yet1  when ,i  
speak of independence1 ,i mean not      
indifference2 while we make  ourselves  
sufficient for ourselves1 we need not   
forget the crowd about  us4 ,we are not 
wise in the contempt of others1 but in  
calm approbation  of ourselves40        
8,still dost thou drop thy head1 my     
son80 said the gentle philosopher1      
laying a hand on the shoulder of his    
young friend4    8,your words sink deep 
into my soul10 replied ,theon2 8yet they
 have not  chased the melancholy they   
found there4 ,i have not such a world in
  myself as to be independent of that   
about me1 nor can ,i forgive the        
offences of my fellows1 merely because  
they commit them from ignorance4  ,nay1 
is not their very ignorance often a     

crime1 when the voice of truth  is      
whispering in their ear80    8,and if   
they do not hear her whisper in the one 
ear1 it is because  prejudice is crying 
aloud into the other40    8,prejudice6  
,i hate prejudice10 said ,theon4        
8,and so do ,i10 said the ,master4      
8,yes1 but ,i am provoked with it40     
8,i suspect that will not remove the    
evil40    8,nothing will remove it4 ,it 
is inherent in men's nature40    8,then 
as we are men1 it may be inherent in    
ours4 ,trust me1 my son1 it is  better  
to correct ourselves1 than to find fault
 with our neighbors40    8,but is it not
 allowed to do both8 ,can we help seeing
 the errors of the  world in which we   
live1 and seeing1 can we help being     
angry at them80    8,certainly not the  
seeing them1 but ,i hope1 very possibly1
 the being  angry with them4 ,he that   
loses temper with the folly of others1  
shows  that he has folly himself4 ,in   
which case they have as much right to   
complain of his1 as he of theirs4 ,and  

have ,i not been trying to show  you1   
that when you are wise you will be      
independent of all that you  cannot     
command within yourself8 ,you say you   
are not so now4 ,i admit it1  but when  
you are wise you will be so4 ,and till  
you are wise1 you have  surely no title 
to quarrel with another's ignorance40   
8,i can never be independent of my      
friends10 returned ,theon4 8,i must ever
  feel the injustice done to them1      
though ,i might be regardless of that   
which affected merely myself40    8,why 
so8 ,what would enable you to disregard 
that done to yourself80    8,conscious  
innocence4 ,pride1 if you will4         
,contempt of the folly and  ignorance of
 my judges40    8,well1 and are you less
 conscious of the innocence of your     
friend8 ,if  you are1 where is your     
indignation8 ,and if you are not1 have  
you less  pride for him than for        
yourself8 ,do you respect that folly and
 ignorance  in his judges that you      
despise in your own80    8,i believe it 

will not stand argument10 said ,theon4  
8,but you must  forgive me if1 when ,i  
contemplate ,epicurus1 ,i feel indignant
 at the  slander which dares to breathe 
upon his purity40    8,and do you think 
you were yourself an object of          
indignation1 when you  spoke of him as a
 monster of vice60    8,yes1 ,i feel ,i 
was40    8,but he felt otherwise10 said 
the ,master1 8and which1 think you1 is  
likely to feel most wisely80    8,ah6 ,i
 hope it is ,epicurus10 said the youth1 
snatching his instructor's  hand4 ,their
 conversation was here interrupted by   
the bursting of the  storm4 ,the fire   
flashed round the horizon1 the thunder  
cracked over the  zenith1 and the first 
big drops fell from the burdened clouds4
 8,we are  near the ,temple10 said the  
sage1 8let us seek shelter under its    
portico4  ,we may watch the storm there1
 without a wet skin40 ,they had hardly  
gained it1 when the rain poured down in 
torrents4 ,ilissus1 whom the  burning   
sun had of late faded into a feeble     

rill1 soon filled and  overflowed his   
bed3 wave after wave1 in sudden swell1  
came roaring down1  as if he now first  
burst to life from the womb of his      
parent mountain4  ,but the violence of  
the storm soon spent its strength4      
,already the  thunder broke with longer 
intervals1 and a faint light1 like the  
opening  of morning1 gleamed over the   
western heavens4 ,at length the sun     
cleared  his barrier of clouds4 ,he     
stood on the verge of the waves1 and    
shot his  level rays over the blazing   
,salamis and the glistening earth4 ,the 
sage  stood with his young friend in    
silent admiration1 when the eye of the  
latter was attracted by a horseman1 who 
came full gallop over the plain1        
directly towards them4 ,the object of   
his attention had nearly reached  the   
river1 when he perceived the rider to be
 a female4 ,the swift feet of  the steed
 now touched the opposite brink4 8,great
 ,jove6 she will not  attempt the       
passage60 exclaimed the youth1 as he    

sprung towards the  river4 8,stop6      
stop60 he cried4 ,she checked the rein1 
but too late4 ,the  animal1 accustomed  
to the passage1 and blinded by speed1   
plunged into  the flood4 ,theon tore his
 robe from his shoulders1 and was about 
to make  the plunge on his side1 when he
 was grasped by ,epicurus4    8,be not  
rash4 ,the horse is strong1 and the     
rider skilful40 ,the voice  that uttered
 these words was calm and distinct1 but 
its wonted music was  changed into the  
deep tone of suppressed horror4 ,even at
 that moment1  the accent struck        
,theon's ear4    8,do you know her8 ,is 
she your friend8 ,is she dear to you8   
,if so--10 he  made another effort to   
throw himself forward1 but was still    
restrained  by ,epicurus4 ,he looked    
into the philosopher's face4 ,there was 
no motion  in it1 save a quivering round
 the mouth1 while the eyes were fixed in
  aching gaze on the struggling animal4 
,he breasted the water midway1 when     
seemingly frightened at the rapidity of 

the current1 he tried to turn4  ,the    
rider saw the danger1 she curbed the    
rein1 she tried with voice and  effort  
to urge him to the conflict4 ,theon     
looked again at the sage4 ,he  saw he   
had loosened his mantle1 and was        
prepared to try the flood4 8,i  conjure 
you1 by the gods60 said the youth1 8what
 is my life to yours80  ,he grasped the 
sage in his turn4 8,let me save her6 ,i 
will save her--,i  swear it60 ,they both
 struggled a moment for the leap4 8,i   
swear10  continued ,theon1 with furious 
energy1 8that if you go1 ,i will        
follow40  ,he made another effort1 and  
dashed from the hold of ,epicurus into  
the  river4 ,naturally strong1 he was   
doubly so at this moment4 ,he felt not  
fear1 he saw not danger4 ,in a moment he
 was in the centre of the               
current--another stroke1 and he had     
seized the mane of the steed4 ,but the  
terrified animal even then gave way to  
the stream4 ,the rider still  struggled 
for her seat4 ,but her strength fast    

failed1 she stretched out  her hand with
 a feeble cry of despair4 ,theon shot   
forward yet swifter  than the tide2 he  
drove with a shock against the horse1   
and caught with  one arm the expiring   
girl4 ,then1 half yielding to the       
current1 he parted  with the other the  
roaring waters1 and with effort almost  
superhuman  grappled with their fury4   
,panting1 choking1 bewildered1 yet never
  relaxing1 he reached1 but he knew not 
how1 the land4 ,when he recovered       
recollection he found himself lying on a
 couch1 in the arms of ,epicurus4       
8,where am ,i10 he said1 8and where is  
the lovely girl80    8,safe1 safe1 as   
her generous deliverer4 ,oh6 my son6 now
 indeed my son1  when ,i owe to thee my 
,hedeia40    8,was it your adopted      
child1 then80 cried the youth1 with a   
shout of  delirious joy1 as he threw    
himself on the breast of the sage4 8,but
 tell  me10 he said1 rising and looking 
round on ,metrodorus1 who1 with two     
other scholars1 stood beside the couch1 

8how came ,i here80    8,i believe10    
said ,metrodorus1 8the ,master swam to  
your aid--at least1 we  found him       
lifting you and ,hedeia from the water40
    8,i watched your strength1 my son1  
and reserved mine till it should fail2  
when ,i observed it to do so1 ,i came to
 your assistance4 ,now1 compose         
yourself awhile1 and ,i will go and put 
myself into a dry tunic40               
,,chapter ,,xii4      ,theon1 rising    
recruited from the warm bath1 and his   
limbs being well  rubbed with ointments1
 joined the party at supper in health   
and spirits4  ,it consisted of the      
,master1 ,leontium1 ,metrodorus1 and two
 other  scholars1 whose persons were new
 to him4 ,there was something in the    
gentle manners of one1 not unmixed with 
a little awkwardness1 the grave  repose 
of his features1 the abstract thought   
that lined his forehead1  and fixed his 
mild eye1 that led him to guess it was  
,polynus4 ,the  other1 whose gait had   
the dignity of manhood1 and the polish  

of art2  whose face1 without being      
handsome1 had that beauty which refined 
sentiment and a well stored mind always 
throw more or less into the  features2  
whose whole appearance showed at once   
the fine scholar and the  amiable man1  
fixed instantly ,theon's attention and  
curiosity4 ,all  received the youth with
 congratulations1 and ,metrodorus1 as he
 held him  in his embrace1 jokingly     
upbraided him as a greedy and barbarous 
invader1 who was carrying off1 in his   
single person1 the whole love and  honor
 of the ,garden4 8,but yet10 he added1  
8have a care2 for ,i doubt you  have    
secured the envy also40    8,i believe  
it10 said ,theon4 8,at least ,i know ,i 
should envy you1 or any  of your        
fraternity1 who had risked his life1    
aye1 or lost it1 in the  service of your
 ,master1 or any your ,master loved40   
8,well said1 my dear youth10 said the   
stranger1 taking his hand2 8and  when   
you have seen more of the nymph you so  
gallantly rescued1 you will  perhaps    

think the man a no less object of envy1 
who should risk his life  for her1 or   
any she loved40    ,they moved to the   
table1 when ,leontium whispered ,theon1 
8,hermachus of  ,mytelene1 the bosom    
friend of ,epicurus40    8,i thank you10
 replied ,theon1 8you have well read my 
curiosity40    ,the party were about to 
place themselves1 when a sound in the   
passage  turned all eyes to the door4   
8,yes1 nurse1 you may just peaceably let
 me  take my own way4 ,go1 go1 ,i am    
quite well1 quite warm1 and quite       
active4  ,i tell you1 you have rubbed my
 skin off--would you rub away my flesh  
too80 ,and in came1 with the light foot 
of a nymph of ,dian1 the young  ,hedeia4
 ,a white garment1 carelessly adjusted1 
fell1 with inimitable  grace1 over her  
airy form2 in equal negligence1 her long
 hair1 still  moist from the recent     
waves1 and dishevelled by the anxious   
rubbing of  her careful attendant1 hung 
down her shoulders to her zone4 ,her    
face1  though pale from late alarm and  

fatigue1 beaming with life and joy4 ,her
  full dark eyes sparkling with         
intelligence1 and her lips1 though their
  coral was slightly faded1 lovely with 
smiles4 ,in one hand she held a  goblet1
 in the other a chaplet of myrtle4      
8,which is my hero80 she asked1  in a   
voice more sweet than the evening       
zephyr1 as she looked round the  board4 
8,am ,i right80 approaching ,theon4 ,the
 youth1 as he gazed on the  lovely face1
 forgot to answer4 8,nay1 is it a       
statue80 leaning forward1  and gazing in
 her turn1 as if in curious inspection4 
8,no1 a slave10 said ,theon1 half       
smiling1 half blushing1 as he stooped   
his knee1 while she placed the garland  
on his head4    8,i come to pledge you10
 she said1 putting the cup to her lips1 
8and to  bid you pledge me10 presenting 
it with bewitching grace to the youth4  
,he  took it in speechless ecstasy from 
her taper fingers1 and turning that     
side to his mouth which had received the
 touch of her's1 quaffed off at  once   

the draught of wine and love4           
8,beware10 said a voice in his ear2 8it 
is the cup of ,circe40 ,he turned1      
,polynus stood behind him2 but when he  
saw his motionless features1 he  could  
hardly believe the whisper had been     
uttered by him4    8,i know10 continued 
the fair one1 pointing to the table1    
8there is but  cold beverage here for a 
drowned man4 ,my wise father may know to
 give  comfort to the mind1 but come to 
my good nurse1 when you want the        
comfort of the body4 ,she is the most   
skilful compounder of elixirs1          
philters1 and every palatable medicine  
that you might haply find in all        
,greece1 all ,asia1 aye1 or all the     
earth4 ,and now make way10 putting back 
the surrounding company1 and leading    
,theon by the arm to the upper end  of  
the table4 8,behold the king of the     
feast40    8,that is1 if you are the    
queen10 said the intoxicated youth4     
8,oh6 certainly10 placing herself by his
 side1 8,i never refuse  consequence1   

whenever ,i can get it40    8,wherever  
you can take it1 you mean10 said the    
,master laughing4    8,and is not that  
every where80 said ,hermachus1 bowing to
 the fair girl4    8,yes1 ,i believe it 
is4 ,a pretty face1 my friends1 may     
presume much2 a  willful nature may     
carry all things4 ,i have both to       
perfection2 have ,i  not80    8,praise  
to ,venus1 and the ,graces60 said       
,leontium2 8our sister has  brought a   
heart as gay from the college of        
,pythagoras1 as she took into  it40     
8,to be sure2 and did you expect        
otherwise8 ,psha6 you philosophers know 
nothing of human nature4 ,i could have  
told you before this last  experiment1  
that humor lies in contrast1 and that a 
wag will find more  subject in a synod  
of grave sages than a crew of laughing  
wits4 ,you must  know10 turning to      
,theon1 8,i have been on a visit to a   
wise man1 a very  wise man1 who has     
followed from his youth up the whim1 and
 all very wise  men have whims1 of      

restoring the neglected school of       
,pythagoras to its  pristine greatness4 
,accordingly1 he has collected and      
brought up some  dozen submissive youths
 to his full satisfaction2 for not one  
of them  dare know his right hand from  
his left1 but on his master's authority1
  doubly backed by that of the great    
founder4 ,they have1 in short1 no  purse
 of their own1 no time of their own1 no 
tongue of their own1 no  will of their  
own1 and no thought of their own4 ,you  
cannot conceive a  more perfect         
community4 ,one more virtuously insipid1
 more scientifically  absurd1 or more   
wisely ignorant40    8,fie1 fie1 you    
giddy jade10 said the ,master1 smiling1 
while he tried to  frown4    8,giddy1   
not at all4 ,i am delivering grave      
matter of fact story40    8,and we are  
all ear10 said ,hermachus1 8so pray let 
us have the whole of  it40    8,the     
whole8 nay1 you have it already4 ,an    
abode of the blessed2 a house  with     
twelve bodies in it1 and one brain to   

serve them all40    8,why10 replied     
,hermachus1 8,i believe you have at home
 some hundred  bodies in the same       
predicament40    8,to be sure2 and so ,i
 told the sage ,pythagorean1 when he    
looked so  complacently on his twelve   
pieces of mechanism1 and assured him    
that  were it not for me1 there would   
not be a single original in the ,garden 
save the ,master4 ,i assure you1 father1
 ,i gave just as matter of fact a       
description of your household1 as ,i now
 do of the old ,pythagorean's4  ,and1 a 
most singular coincidence1 ,i remember  
he cried1 #8,fie1 fie1' just  as you did
 now4 ,once more1 it was a most perfect 
household2 with the  men1 all peace1    
method1 virtue1 learning1 and absurdity3
 with the women1  all silence1 order1   
ignorance1 modesty1 and stupidity40     
8,and pray1 sister10 said ,metrodorus1  
8what made you leave a society that     
afforded such food to your satire80     
8,because1 brother1 the richest food    
cloys the fastest4 ,i passed three  days

 to my perfect satisfaction2 a fourth   
would have killed me40    8,and your    
friends1 too10 said the philosopher1    
shaking his head4    8,killed them8     
,they never knew they had life1 till ,i 
found it out for  them4 ,no1 no1 ,i left
 sore hearts behind me4 ,the ,master    
indeed1--ah6 the  ,master6--,poor man1  
shall ,i confess it8 ,before ,i left the
 house1 he caught  one of his pupils    
looking into a mirror with a candle1    
heard that  another had stirred the fire
 with a sword1 and oh6 more dreadful    
than  all1 that a third had swallowed a 
bean4#c ,if ,i could have staid three   
days longer1 ,i might have wound my     
girdle round the necks of the whole     
dozen1 brought them on my back1 and laid
 them at the feet of ,epicurus40        
,footnote #c3      ,alluding to the     
whimsical superstitions of ,pythagoras1 
or1 perhaps it    were more just to say1
 of his followers4    8,and what said   
the ,master all this time80 said        
,leontium4    8,said he8 what said he8  

umph6 ,i never heard what he said1 for  
,i was  reading what he felt40    8,and 
what felt he80 asked ,hermachus4        
8,just what you have felt--and you too10
 looking at ,polynus4 8,aye1 and  you   
also1 very sage philosopher20 and       
turning short round to ,theon1  8what   
you have to feel1 if you have to feel1  
if you have not yet  felt--that ,i was  
vastly witty1 vastly amusing1 and vastly
 beautiful40    8,and do you think10    
said the ,gargettian1 8when we feel all 
this1 we  can't be angry with you80     
8,nay1 what do you think8 ,but no1 no1  
,i know you all better than you  know   
yourselves4 ,and ,i think you cannot1 or
 if you can1 'tis as the  poet1 who     
curses the muse he burns to propitiate4 
,oh6 philosophy6  philosophy6 thou usest
 hard maxims and showest a grave face1  
yet thy  maxims are but words1 and thy  
face but a mask4 ,a skilful histrion1   
who1  when the buskin is off1 paint1    
plaster1 and garment thrown aside1      
stands  no higher1 no fairer1 and no    

more mighty1 than the youngest1 poorest1
  and simplest of thy gaping            
worshippers4 ,ah6 friends6 laugh and    
frown2  but show me the man1 the wisest1
 the gravest1 or the sourest1 that a    
bright pair of eyes can't make a fool   
of40    8,ah6 you proud girl10 said     
,hermachus1 8tremble6 remember the      
blue-eyed  ,sappho died at last for a   
,phaon40    8,well1 if such be my fate1 
,i must submit4 ,i do not deny1 because 
,i have  been wise hitherto1 that ,i may
 not turn fool with the philosophers1   
before ,i die40    8,what an excellent  
school for the rearing of youth10 said  
the ,master1  8the old ,pythagorean must
 think mine40    8,judging from me as a 
specimen1 you mean4 ,and trust me now1  
father1 ,i am  the best4 ,do ,i not     
practise what you preach8 ,what you show
 the way to1  do ,i not possess8 ,look  
at my light foot1 look in my laughing   
eye1 read  my gay heart1 and tell--if   
pleasure be not mine4 ,confess then1    
that ,i  take a shorter cut to the goal 

than your wiser scholars1 aye1 than your
  wisest self4 ,you study1 you lecture1 
you argue1 you exhort4 ,and what is  it 
all for8 as if you could not be good    
without so much learning1 and  happy    
without so much talking4 ,here am ,i--,i
 think ,i am very good1 and ,i  am quite
 sure ,i am very happy2 yet ,i never    
wrote a treatise in my life1  and can   
hardly listen to one without a yawn40   
8,theon10 said ,epicurus1 smiling1 8you 
see now the priestess of our  midnight  
orgies40    8,ah6 poor youth1 you must  
have found the ,garden but a dull place 
in my  absence4 ,but have patience1 it  
will be better in future40    8,more    
dangerous10 said ,polynus4    8,never   
mind him10 whispered ,hedeia1 in the    
,corinthian's ear1--8he is not  the     
grave man that a bright pair of eyes    
cannot make a fool of4 ,this is  very   
odd10 she continued1 looking round the  
board4 8,here am ,i1 the  stranger1 and 
one too half drowned1 charged with the  
entertaining of  this whole learned     

society40    8,nay1 my girl10 said the  
,master1 8thou hadst need to be whole   
drowned1  ere your friends might secure 
the happiness of being listened to40    
8,indeed1 ,i believe it's true2 and     
considering that the greatest pleasure  
of life is the being listened to1 ,i    
wonder how any one was found to pick  me
 out of the water4 ,the ,corinthian1 to 
be sure1 did not know what he  saved2   
but that the ,master should wet his     
tunic in my service1 is a very          
unaccountable circumstance4 ,is there   
any reason for it in philosophy80    8,i
 am afraid none40    8,or in            
mathematics80 turning to ,polynus4      
8,now1 just see there a proof  of my    
argument4 ,can any man look more like   
wisdom1 or less like  happiness8 ,this  
comes of diagrams and ethics4 ,my young 
,corinthian1 take  warning40    8,i wish
 we could fix you to a diagram10 said   
,leontium4    8,the ,graces forfend6 and
 why should you wish it8 ,think you it  
would make  me wiser8 ,let ,polynus be  

judge1 if ,i am not wiser than he4 ,i   
admire the  different prescriptions that
 are given by different doctors4 ,the   
wife of  the good ,pythagorean          
recommended me a distaff40    8,well10  
said ,hermachus1 8that might do         
equally40    8,pray1 why don't you take 
one yourself80    8,i1 you see1 am busy 
with philosophy40    8,and so am ,i1    
with laughing at it4 ,ah6 my sage       
brother1 every man thinks  that         
perfection1 that he is himself--that the
 only knowledge that he  possesses--and 
that the only pleasure that he pursues4 
,trust me1 there  are as many ways of   
living as there are men1 and one is no  
more fit to  lead another1 than a bird  
to lead a fish1 or a fish a quadruped40 
8,you would make a strange world1 were  
you the queen of it10 said  ,hermachus1 
laughing4    8,just as strange1 and no  
stranger than it is at present4 ,for    
why8 ,i  should take it as ,i found it1 
and leave it as ,i found it4 ',tis you  
philosophers1 who would rub and twist1  

and plague and doctor it1 and  fret your
 souls out1 to bring all its            
heterogeneous parts1 fools1 wits1       
knaves1 simpletons1 grave1 gay1 light1  
heavy1 long faced and short  faced1     
black1 white1 brown1 straight and       
crooked1 tall1 short1 thin and  fat1 to 
fit together1 and patient reflect each  
other1 like the acorns of  an oak1 or   
the modest wives and helpless daughters 
of the good citizens  of ,athens2 'tis  
you1 ,i say1 who would make a strange   
world1 were you  kings of it--you would 
shorten and lengthen1 clip1 pull1 and   
carve men's  minds to fit your systems1 
as the tyrant did men's bodies to fit   
his  bed40    8,i grant there's some    
truth1 my girl1 in thy nonsense10 said  
the ,master4    8,and ,i grant that     
there is not a philosopher in ,athens1  
who would have  granted as much1 save   
thyself4 ,you will find1 my young hero10
 turning to  ,theon1 8that my father    
philosophises more sense1 that is1 less 
absurdity1 than any man since the seven 

sages1 nay6 even than the seven  sages  
philosophized themselves4 ,he only lacks
 to be a perfectly wise  man----0       
8,to burn10 said the ,master1 8his books
 of philosophy1 and to sing a tune  to  
thy lyre40    8,no1 it shall do to let  
me sing a tune to it myself40 ,she      
bounded from  the couch and the room1   
and returned in a moment1 with the      
instrument in  her hand4 8,fear not10   
she said1 nodding to the sage1 as she   
lightly  swept the chords1 8,i shall not
 woo my own lover1 but your mistress40  
8,come1 ,goddess6 come6 not in thy      
power1                    ,with gait and
 garb austere1                    ,and  
threatening brow severe1                
,like stern ,olympus in the judgment    
hour2                  ,but come with   
looks and heart assuring1               
,come with smiling eyes alluring1       
,moving soft to ,lydian measures1       
,girt with graces1 loves1 and pleasures1
                  ,bound with ,basilea's
 zone4                  ,come1 ,virtue6 

come6 in joyous tone                    
,we bid thee welcome to our hearth1     
,for well we know1 that thou alone      
,canst give the purest bliss of earth40 
8,no thanks1 no thanks4 ,i shall take my
 own reward10 and stealing behind       
,epicurus1 she threw her white arms     
round his neck1 and laid her cheek on   
his lips4 ,then rising1 8,good dreams be
 with you60 and waving round her  hand1 
and throwing a smile on ,theon1 vanished
 in an instant4 ,the youth  saw and     
heard no more1 but sat as in a dream1   
until the party divided4    8,have a    
care10 whispered the ,master1 as he     
followed him into the  vestibule4       
8,cupid is a knavish god1 he can pierce 
the hearts of others1  and hold a shield
 before his own40                       
,,chapter ,,xiii4      ,night's         
refreshing airs fanned the cheeks of    
,theon1 and rustled the  myrtle on his  
brow2 but the subtle fever of love which
 swept through his  veins1 and throbbed 
in his heart and temples1 was beyond    

their cooling  influence4 ,the noisy    
business of life had now given place in 
the streets  to noisy merriment4 ,the   
song and the dance sounded from the open
  portals2 and the young votaries of    
,bacchus1 in all the frenzy of the  god1
 rushed from the evening banquet1 to the
 haunts of midnight excess1  while the  
trembling lover glided past to the      
stolen interview1 shrinking  even from  
the light of ,day's pale sister4 ,theon 
turned abruptly from the  crowd1 and    
sought instinctively a public walk1 at  
this hour always  private1 where he had 
often mused on the mysteries of         
philosophy1 and  taxed his immature     
judgment to hold the balance between the
 doctrines of  her contending schools4  
,no thoughts so deep and high now filled
 his  youthful fancy4 ,he wandered on1  
his senses steeped in delirium not less 
potent than that of wine1 until his     
steps were suddenly arrested by a       
somewhat rude encounter with a human    
figure1 advancing with a pace more      

deliberate than his own4 ,he started    
backwards and his eyes met those of     
,cleanthes4 ,the stoic paused a moment1 
then moved to pass on4 ,but ,theon1     
however little he might have desired    
such a companion at such a moment1      
hailed him by name1 and placed himself  
at his side4 ,again ,cleanthes  gazed on
 him in silence2 when ,theon1 following 
the direction of his  glance1 raised a  
hand to his temples1 and removed1 with a
 conscious  blush1 the offending        
garland4 ,he held it for a moment2 then1
 placing it  in his bosom--8,you        
misjudge this innocent token2--a pledge 
of  acknowledgment for a life redeemed  
from the waves40    8,would that ,i     
might receive a pledge of the redemption
 of thy virtue1  ,theon1 from the flood 
of destruction6 ,for thy sake ,i have   
opened the  volumes of this smooth      
deceiver4 ,and shall a few fair words   
and a fairer  countenance shield such   
doctrines from opprobrium8 ,shall he who
 robs  virtue of her sublimity1 the     

,gods of their power1 man of his        
immortality1 and creation of its        
providence1 pass for a teacher of       
truth1 and expounder of the laws of     
nature8 ,where is thy reason1 ,theon8   
where thy moral sense8 to see1 in       
doctrines such as these1 aught but      
impiety and crime1 or to imagine1 that  
he1 who advocates them1 can merit  aught
 but the scorn of the wise1 and the     
opprobrium of the good80    8,i know not
 such to be the doctrines of ,epicurus10
 said the youth1 8and  you will excuse  
my farther reply1 until ,i shall have   
examined the  philosophy you so         
bitterly1 and apparently so justly      
condemn40    8,the philosophy8 honor it 
not with the name40    8,nay10 returned 
,theon with a smile1 8there are so many 
absurdities  honored with that          
appellative1 in ,athens1 that the       
compliment might pass  unchallenged1    
although applied to one less worthy     
than1 in my eyes1  appears the sage of  
,gargettium4 ,but10 preventing the angry

 interruption  of the stoic1 8my        
slowness to judge and to censure offends
 your  enthusiasm4 ,the experience of   
three days has taught me this caution4  
,my  acquaintance1 as yet1 is rather    
with the philosopher than the           
philosophy2 my prejudices at first were 
equally strong against both4  ,having   
discovered my error with respect to one1
 ought ,i not to read1  listen1 and     
examine1 before ,i condemn the other8   
,and1 the rather1 as all  that ,i have  
heard in the garden has hitherto        
convinced my reason1 and  awakened my   
admiration and love40    8,permit me the
 question10 said ,cleanthes1 stopping   
short1 and fixing his  piercing glance  
on the countenance of his               
companion--8,honor ye the ,gods1  and   
believe ye in a creating cause1 and a   
superintending ,providence80    8,surely
 ,i do10 said ,theon4    8,how1 then1   
venerate ye the man who proclaims his   
doubt of both80    8,so1 in my hearing1 
has never the son of ,neocles40    8,but

 he has and does in the hearing of the  
world40    8,i have so heard1 and ranked
 it among the libels of his enemies40   
8,he has so written1 and the fact is    
acknowledged by his friends40    8,i    
will read his works10 said ,theon1 8and 
question the writer4 ,a mind  more      
candid1 whatever be its errors1 exists  
not1 ,i am persuaded1 than  that of     
,epicurus2 ,i should have said also1 a  
mind more free of errors4  ,but he has  
taught me to think no mind1 however     
wise1 infallible40    8,call ye such    
doctrines1 errors8 ,i should rather term
 them crimes40    8,i object not to the 
word10 said ,theon4 8,i will examine    
into this4 ,the  ,gods have ye in their 
keeping6 ,good night40 ,they entered the
 city1 and  the friends divided4        
,,chapter ,,xiv4      ,uneasy thoughts  
bred unquiet slumbers2 and ,theon rose  
from a restless  couch1 before the first
 blush of ,aurora tinged the forehead of
 the sky4  ,he trod the paths of the    
garden1 and waited with impatience1 for 

the  first time not unmixed with        
apprehension1 the appearance of the     
,master4  ,the assertions of ,cleanthes 
were corroborated by the testimony of   
the  public2 but that testimony he had  
learned to despise4 ,they were made     
after perusal of ,epicurus's writings2  
with these writings he was still        
unacquainted4 ,had they been            
misinterpreted8 ,cleanthes was no       
,timocrates4  ,if prejudiced1 he was    
incapable of wilful misrepresentation2  
and he was  too familiar with the       
science of philosophy1 so grossly to    
misunderstand  a reasoner1 as lucid as  
appeared to be ,epicurus4 ,these musings
 were soon  interrupted4 ,the morning   
star still glowed in the kindling east1 
when he  heard approaching footsteps1   
and turning from the shades upon a small
  open lawn where a crystal fountain    
flowed from the inverted urn of a       
recumbent naiad1 he was greeted by the  
,sage4    8,oh6 no10 exclaimed ,theon1  
half audibly1 as he gazed on the serene 

countenance before him1 8this man is not
 an atheist40    8,what thoughts are    
with you1 my son1 this morning80 said   
the  philosopher1 with kind solicitude4 
8,i doubt your plunge in ,ilyssus       
disturbed your dreams4 ,did the image of
 a fair nymph1 or of a river god  flit  
round your couch1 and drive sleep from  
your eyelids80    8,i was in some danger
 from the first10 said the youth1 half  
smiling1  half blushing1 8until a       
visitant of a different character1 and  
one1 ,i  imagine1 more wont to soothe   
than to disturb the mind1 brought to my 
imagination a host of doubts and fears1 
which your presence alone has           
dispelled40    8,and who played the part
 of your incubus80 demanded the ,sage4  
8,even yourself1 most benign and        
indulgent of men40    8,truly1 ,i grieve
 to have acted so ill by thee1 my son4  
,it shall be well1  however1 if having  
inflicted the disease1 ,i may be its    
physician40    8,on leaving you last    
night10 said ,theon1 8,i encountered    

,cleanthes4 ,he  came from the perusal  
of your writings1 and brought charges   
against them  which ,i was unprepared to
 answer40    8,let us hear them1 my son2
 perhaps1 until you shall have perused  
them  yourself1 we may assist your      
difficulty40    8,first1 that they deny 
the existence of the ,gods40    8,i see 
but one other assertion1 that could     
equal that in folly10 said  ,epicurus4  
8,i knew it60 exclaimed ,theon1         
triumphantly2 8,i knew it was           
impossible4  ,but where will not        
prejudice lead men1 when even the       
upright ,cleanthes  is capable of       
slander80    8,he is utterly incapable  
of it10 said the ,master2 8and the      
inaccuracy1  in this case1 ,i rather    
suspect to rest with you than with him4 
,to deny  the existence of the ,gods    
would indeed be presumption in a        
philosopher2  a presumption equalled    
only by that of him who should assert   
their  existence40    8,how60 exclaimed 
the youth1 with a countenance in which  

astonishment  seemed to suspend every   
other expression4    8,as ,i never saw  
the ,gods1 my son10 calmly continued the
 ,sage1 8,i cannot  assert their        
existence2 and1 that ,i never saw them1 
is no reason for  my denying it40       
8,but do we believe nothing except that 
of which we have ocular  demonstration80
    8,nothing1 at least1 for which we   
have not the evidence of one or more of 
our senses2 that is1 when we believe on 
just grounds1 which1 ,i grant1  taking  
men collectively1 is very seldom40      
8,but where would this spirit lead us8  
,to impiety6--to ,atheism6--to all1     
against which ,i felt confidence in     
defending the character and  philosophy 
of ,epicurus60    8,we will examine     
presently1 my son1 into the meaning of  
the terms you  have employed4 ,but as   
respects your defence of my philosophy1 
,i am sorry  that you presumed so much1 
where you knew so little4 ,let this     
serve for  another caution against      
pronouncing before you examine1 and     

asserting  before you enquire4 ,it is my
 usual custom10 continued the ,master1  
8with  the youth who frequent my        
,school1 to defer the discussion of all 
important questions1 until they are     
naturally1 in the course of events1     
suggested to their own minds4 ,their    
curiosity once excited1 it is my        
endeavor1 so far as in me lies1 to      
satisfy it4 ,when you first entered  the
 ,garden1 your mind was unfit for the   
examination of the subject you  have now
 started3 it is no longer so2 and we    
will therefore enter upon  the enquiry1 
and pursue it in order40    8,forgive me
 if ,i express--if ,i acknowledge10 said
 the youth1 slightly  recoiling from his
 instructor1 8some reluctance to enter  
on the  discussion of truths1 whose very
 discussion would seem to argue a       
doubt1--and--0    8,and what then80     
8,that very doubt were a crime40    8,it
 is there that ,i wished to lead you2   
and with the examination of this  point 
we shall rest1 until time and           

circumstances lead you to push the      
investigation farther4 ,i have in me    
little of the spirit of proselytism4  ,a
 mere abstract opinion1 supposing it not
 to affect the conduct or  disposition  
of him who holds it1 would be in my eyes
 of very minor  importance4 ,and it is  
only in so far as ,i believe that all   
our opinions1  however apparently       
removed from any practical consequences1
 do always  more or less affect one or  
the other--our conduct or our           
dispositions--that ,i am at the pains to
 correct in my scholars1 those  which   
appear to me erroneous4 ,i understand   
you to say1 that to enter  upon the     
discussion of certain opinions1 which   
you consider as sacred  truths1 would   
appear to argue a doubt of those truths1
 and that a doubt  would here constitute
 a crime4 ,now as ,i think such a belief
 inconsistent  with candor and          
charity--two feelings1 indispensable    
both for the  enjoyment of happiness    
ourselves1 and for its distribution to  

others1 ,i  shall challenge its         
investigation4 ,if the doubt of any     
truth shall  constitute a crime1 then   
the belief of the same truth should     
constitute  a virtue40    8,perhaps a   
duty would rather express it40    8,when
 you charge the neglect of any duty as a
 crime1 or account its  fulfilment a    
virtue1 you suppose the existence of a  
power to neglect or  fulfil2 and it is  
the exercise of this power1 in the one  
way or the  other1 which constitutes the
 merit or demerit4 ,is it not so80      
8,certainly40    8,does the human mind  
possess the power to believe or         
disbelieve1 at  pleasure1 any truths    
whatsoever80    8,i am not prepared to  
answer3 but ,i think it does1 since it  
possesses  always the power of          
investigation40    8,but1 possibly1 not 
the will to exercise the power4 ,take   
care lest ,i  beat you with your own    
weapons4 ,i thought this very           
investigation  appeared to you a crime40
    8,your logic is too subtle10 said   

the youth1 8for my inexperience40       
8,say rather1 my reasoning too close4   
,did ,i bear you down with sounding     
words and weighty authorities1 and      
confound your understanding with        
hair-drawn distinctions1 you would be   
right to retreat from the  battery40    
8,i have nothing to object to the       
fairness of your deductions10 said      
,theon4 8,but would not the doctrine be 
dangerous that should establish  our    
inability to help our belief2 and might 
we not stretch the  principle1 until we 
asserted our inability to help our      
actions80    8,we might and with reason4
 ,but we will not now traverse the      
ethical  pons asinorum of necessity--the
 most simple and evident of moral       
truths1 and the most darkened1 tortured1
 and belabored by moral  teachers4 ,you 
enquire if the doctrine we have essayed 
to establish1 be  not dangerous4 ,i     
reply--not1 if it be true4 ,nothing is  
so dangerous as  error1--nothing so safe
 as truth4 ,a dangerous truth would be a

  contradiction in terms1 an anomaly in 
things40    8,but what is a truth80 said
 ,theon4    8,it is pertinently asked4  
,a truth ,i consider to be an           
ascertained fact2  which truth would be 
changed into an error1 the moment the   
fact1 on  which it rested1 was          
disproved40    8,i see1 then1 no fixed  
basis for truth40    8,it surely has the
 most fixed of all--the nature of       
things4 ,and it is  only an imperfect   
insight into that nature1 which         
occasions all our  erroneous            
conclusions1 whether in physics or      
morals40    8,but where1 if we discard  
the gods1 and their will1 as engraven on
 our  hearts1 are our guides in the     
search after truth80    8,our senses1   
and our faculties as developed in and by
 the exercise of  our senses1 are the   
only guides with which ,i am acquainted4
 ,and ,i do not  see why1 even admitting
 a belief in the gods1 and in a         
superintending  providence1 the senses  
should not be viewed as the guides1     

provided by  them1 for our direction and
 instruction4 ,but here is the evil     
attendant  on an ungrounded belief1     
whatever be its nature4 ,the moment we  
take one  thing for granted we take     
other things for granted3 we are started
 in a  wrong road1 and it is seldom we  
can gain the right one1 until we have   
trodden back our steps to the starting  
place4 ,i know of but one thing1  that a
 philosopher should take for granted2   
and that only because he is  forced to  
do it by an irresistible impulse of his 
nature2 and because1  without doing so1 
neither truth nor falsehood could exist 
for him4 ,he  must take for granted the 
evidence of his senses2 in other words1 
he  must believe in the existence of    
things1 as they exist to his senses4 ,i 
know of no other existence1 and can     
therefore believe in no other2          
although1 reasoning from analogy1 ,i may
 imagine other existences to  be4 ,this1
 for instance1 ,i do as respects the    
gods4 ,i see around me in  the world ,i 

inhabit an infinite variety in the      
arrangement of matter2--a  multitude of 
sentient beings1 possessing different   
kinds1 and varying  grades of power and 
intelligence1--from the worm that crawls
 in the dust1  to the eagle that soars  
to the sun1 and man who marks to the sun
 its  course4 ,it is possible1 it is    
moreover probable1 that1 in the worlds  
which ,i see not1--in the boundless     
infinitude and eternal duration of      
matter1 beings may exist1 of every      
countless variety1 and varying grades   
of intelligence1 inferior and superior  
to our own1 until we descend to a       
minimum1 and rise to a maximum1 to which
 the range of our observation  affords  
no parallel1 and of which our senses are
 inadequate to the  conception4 ,thus   
far1 my young friend1 ,i believe in the 
gods1 or in what  you will of existences
 removed from the sphere of my          
knowledge4 ,that you  should believe1   
with positiveness1 in one unseen        
existence or another1  appears to me no 

crime1 although it may appear to me     
unreasonable3 and  so1 my doubt of the  
same should appear to you no moral      
offence1 although  you might account it 
erroneous4 ,i fear to fatigue your      
attention1 and  will1 therefore1        
dismiss1 for the present1 these abstruse
 subjects4    8,but we shall both be    
amply repaid for their discussion1 if   
this truth  remain with you--that an    
opinion1 right or wrong1 can never      
constitute a  moral offence1 nor be in  
itself a moral obligation4 ,it may be   
mistaken2  it may involve an absurdity1 
or a contradiction4 ,it is a truth2 or  
it is  an error3 it can never be a crime
 or a virtue40                          
,,chapter ,,xv4      ,theon remained    
transfixed to the same spot of earth on 
which the ,sage  left him4 ,a confused  
train of thoughts travelled through his 
brain1  which his reason sought in vain 
to arrest1 or to analyze4 ,at one moment
  it seemed as if a ray of light had    
dawned upon his mind1 opening to it a   

world of discovery as interesting as it 
was novel4 ,then suddenly he  started as
 from the brink of a precipice1 whose   
depths were concealed in  darkness4     
8,cleanthes then had justly expounded   
the doctrines of the  garden4--,but did 
these doctrines involve the delinquency 
which he had  hitherto supposed8 ,were  
they inconsistent with reason1 and      
irreconcilable with virtue8 ,if so1 ,i  
shall be able to detect their  fallacy10
 said the youth1 pursuing his soliloquy 
aloud4 8,it were a poor  compliment to  
the truths ,i have hitherto worshipped1 
did ,i shrink from  their investigation4
 ,and yet1 to question the power of the 
,gods6 ,to  question their very         
existence6 ,to refuse the knee of homage
 to that  great first cause of all      
things1 that speaks1 and breathes1 and  
shines  resplendent throughout all      
animated nature6 ,to dispute ,i know not
  what--of truths1 as self-evident as   
they are sacred2 which speak to our     
eyes and our ears2 to those very senses 

whose testimony alone is without  appeal
 in the garden60    8,do you object to  
the testimony1 young ,corinthian80 said 
a voice1 which  ,theon recognised as    
that of ,metrodorus4    8,you arrive    
opportunely10 said ,theon2 8that is1 if 
you will listen to  the questions of my 
doubting and embarrassed mind40    8,say
 rather1 if ,i can answer them40    8,i 
attribute to you the ability10 said     
,theon1 8since ,i have heard you  quoted
 as an able expounder of the philosophy 
of the garden40    8,in the absence of  
our ,zeno10 said the scholar with a     
smile1 8,i  sometimes play the part of  
his ,cleanthes4 ,and though you may find
 me  less eloquent than my brother of   
the porch1 ,i will promise equal        
fidelity to the text of my original4    
,but here is one1 who can expound  the  
doctrine in the letter and the spirit2  
and1 with such an assistant1  ,i should 
not fear to engage all the scholars and 
all the masters in  ,athens40    8,nay1 
boast rather of thy cause than of thy   

assistant10 said ,leontium1             
approaching1 and playfully tapping the  
shoulder of ,metrodorus2 8nor yet  belie
 thy own talents1 my brother4 ,the      
,corinthian will smile at thy  false    
modesty1 when he shall have studied thy 
writings1 and listened to  thy logical  
discourses4 ,i imagine10 she continued1 
turning her placid  gaze on the youth1  
8that you have hitherto listened to more
 declamation  than reasoning4 ,i might  
also say1 to more sophistry1 seeing that
 you  have walked and talked in the     
,lyceum40    8,say rather1 walked and   
listened40    8,in truth and ,i believe 
it10 she returned with a smile1 8and    
would that  your good sense in this were
 more common2 and that men would rest   
content with straining their ears1 and  
forbear from submitting their           
understandings1 or torturing those of   
their neighbors40    8,it might seem    
strange10 said ,metrodorus1 8that the   
pedantry of  ,aristotle should find so  
many imitators1 and his dark sayings so 

many  believers1 in a city1 too1 now    
graced and enlightened by the simple    
language1 and simple doctrines of an    
,epicurus4--,but the language of truth  
is too simple for inexperienced ears4   
,we start in search of knowledge1  like 
the demi-gods of old in search of       
adventure1 prepared to encounter        
giants1 to scale mountains1 to pierce   
into ,tartarean gulfs1 and to carry  off
 our prize from the gripe of some dark  
enchanter1 invulnerable to all  save to 
charmed weapons and deity-gifted        
assailants4 ,to find none of all  these 
things1 but1 in their stead1 a smooth   
road through a pleasant  country1 with a
 familiar guide to direct our curiosity1
 and point out  the beauties of the     
landscape1 disappoints us of all exploit
 and all  notoriety2 and our vanity     
turns but too often from the fair and   
open  champaign1 into error's dark      
labyrinths1 where we mistake mystery for
  wisdom1 pedantry for knowledge1 and   
prejudice for virtue40    8,i admit the 

truth of the metaphor10 said ,theon4    
8,but may we not  simplify too much as  
well as too little8 ,may we not push    
investigation  beyond the limits        
assigned to human reason1 and1 with a   
boldness  approaching to profanity1     
tear1 without removing1 the veil which  
enwraps  the mysteries of creation from 
our scrutiny80    8,without challenging 
the meaning of the terms you have       
employed10 said  ,metrodorus1 8,i would 
observe1 that there is little danger of 
our pushing  investigation too far4     
,unhappily the limits prescribed to us  
by our few  and imperfect senses must   
ever cramp the sphere of our            
observation1 as  compared to the        
boundless range of things2 and that1    
even when we shall  have strained and   
improved our senses to the uttermost4   
,we trace an  effect to a cause1 and    
that cause to another cause1 and so on1 
till we  hold some few links of a chain1
 whose extent1 like the charmed circle1 
is without beginning as without end40   

8,i apprehend the difficulties10        
observed ,leontium1 8which embraces the 
mind of our young friend4 ,like most    
aspirants after knowledge1 he has a     
vague and incorrect idea of what he is  
pursuing1 and still more1 of what  may  
be attained4 ,in the schools you have   
hitherto frequented10 she  continued1   
addressing the youth1 8certain images of
 virtue1 vice1 truth1  knowledge1 are   
presented to the imagination1 and these 
abstract  qualities1 or we may call     
them1 figurative beings1 are made at    
once the  objects of speculation and    
adoration4 ,a law is laid down1 and the 
feelings and opinions of men are        
predicated upon it2 a theory is built1  
and all animate and inanimate nature is 
made to speak in its support2 an        
hypothesis is advanced1 and all the     
mysteries of nature are treated as      
explained4 ,you have heard of1 and      
studied various systems of philosophy2  
but real philosophy is opposed to all   
systems4 ,her whole business is         

observation2 and the results of that    
observation constitute all her          
knowledge4 ,she receives no truths1     
until she has tested them by            
experience2 she advances no opinions1   
unsupported by the testimony of  facts2 
she acknowledges no virtue1 but that    
involved in beneficial  actions2 no     
vice1 but that involved in actions      
hurtful to ourselves or  to others4     
,above all1 she advances no dogmas1--is 
slow to assert what  is1--and calls     
nothing impossible4 ,the science of     
philosophy is simply a  science of      
observation1 both as regards the world  
without us1 and the  world within2 and1 
to advance in it1 are requisite only    
sound senses1  well developed and       
exercised faculties1 and a mind free of 
prejudice4  ,the objects she has in     
view1 as regards the external world1    
are1 first1  to see things as they are1 
and secondly1 to examine their          
structure1 to  ascertain their          
properties1 and to observe their        

relations one to the  other4--,as       
respects the world within1 or the       
philosophy of mind1 she has  in view1   
first1 to examine our sensations1 or the
 impressions of  external things on our 
senses2 which operation involves1 and is
 involved  in1 the examination of those 
external things themselves3 secondly1 to
  trace back to our sensations1 the     
first development of all our  faculties2
 and again1 from these sensations1 and  
the exercise of our  different faculties
 as developed by them1 to trace the     
gradual formation  of our moral         
feelings1 and of all our emotions3      
thirdly1 to analyze all  these our      
sensations1 thoughts1 and               
emotions1--that is1 to examine the      
qualities of our own internal1 sentient 
matter1 with the same1 and yet  more1   
closeness of scrutiny1 than we have     
applied to the examination of  the      
matter that is without us3 finally1 to  
investigate the justness of  our moral  
feelings1 and to weigh the merit and    

demerit of human actions2  which is1 in 
other words1 to judge of their tendency 
to produce good or  evil1--to excite    
pleasurable or painful feelings in      
ourselves or others4  ,you will observe1
 therefore1 that1 both as regards the   
philosophy of  physics1 and the         
philosophy of mind1 all is simply a     
process of  investigation4 ,it is a     
journey of discovery1 in which1 in the  
one case1  we commission our senses to  
examine the qualities of that matter    
which  is around us1 and in the other1  
endeavor1 by attention to the varieties 
of our consciousness1 to gain a         
knowledge of those qualities of matter1 
which constitute our susceptibilities of
 thought and feeling40    8,this        
explanation is new to me10 observed     
,theon1 8and1 ,i will confess1          
startling to my imagination4 ,it is pure
 materialism60    8,you may so call it10
 rejoined ,leontium1 8but1 when you have
 so called  it--what then8 ,the question
 remains3 is it true8 or is it false80  

8,i should be disposed to say--false1   
since it confounds all my  preconceived 
notions of truth and error1 of right and
 wrong40    8,of truth and error1 of    
right and wrong1 in the sense of correct
 or  incorrect is1 ,i presume1 your     
meaning10 said ,leontium4 8,you do not  
involve moral rectitude or the contrary1
 in a matter of opinion80    8,if the   
opinion have a moral or immoral tendency
 ,i do10 said the youth4    8,a simple  
matter of fact can have no such         
tendency1 or ought not1 if we  are      
rational creatures40    8,and would not1
 if we were always reasoning beings10   
said ,metrodorus2  8but as the ignorance
 and superstition which surround our    
infancy and  youth1 favor the           
development of the imagination at the   
expense of the  judgment1 we are ever   
employed in the coining of chimeras1    
rather than  in the discovery of truths2
 and if ever the poor judgment make an  
effort  to dispel these fancies of the  
brain1 she is repulsed1 like a          

sacrilegious intruder into religious    
mysteries40    8,until our opinions are 
made to rest on facts10 said ,leontium1 
8the  error of our young friend--the    
most dangerous of all errors1 being one 
of  principle and involving many--must  
ever pervade the world4 ,and it was     
because ,i suspected this leading       
misconception of the very nature--of the
  very end and aim of the science he is 
pursuing1 that ,i attempted an          
explanation of what should be sought1   
and of what can alone be attained4  ,in 
philosophy--that is1 in                 
knowledge--enquiry is every thing3      
theory and  hypothesis are worse than   
nothing4 ,truth is but approved facts4  
,truth1  then1 is one with the knowledge
 of these facts4 ,to shrink from        
enquiry1  is to shrink from knowledge4  
,and to prejudge an opinion as true or  
false1 because it interferes with some  
preconceived abstraction we call  vice  
or virtue1 is as if we were to draw the 
picture of a man we had  never seen1 and

 then1 upon seeing him1 were to dispute 
his being the man  in question1 because 
unlike our picture40    8,but if this   
opinion interfered with another1 of     
whose truth we imagined  ourselves      
certain80    8,then clearly1 in one or  
the other1 we are mistaken2 and the only
 way to  settle the difficulty1 is to   
examine and compare the evidences of    
both40    8,but are there not some      
truths self-evident80    8,there are a  
few which we may so call4 ,that is to   
say1 there are some  facts1 which we    
admit upon the evidence of a simple     
sensation2 as1 for  instance1 that a    
whole is greater than its part2 that two
 are more than  one3 which we receive   
immediately upon the testimony of our   
sense of  sight or of touch40    8,but  
are there no moral truths of the same   
nature80    8,i am not aware of any4    
,moral truth1 resting entirely upon the 
ascertained consequences of actions1    
supposes a process of observation  and  
reasoning40    8,what call you1 then1 a 

belief in a presiding providence1 and a 
great  first cause80    8,a belief      
resting upon testimony2 which belief    
will be true or false1  according to the
 correctness or incorrectness of that   
testimony40    8,is it not rather a     
self-evident moral truth80    8,in my   
answer1 ,i shall have to divide your    
question into two4 ,first1 it  cannot be
 a moral truth1 since it is not deduced 
from the consequences  of human action4 
,it can be simply a truth1 that is1 a   
fact4 ,secondly1 it  is not a           
self-evident truth1 since it is not     
evident to all minds1 and  frequently   
becomes less and less evident1 the more 
it is examined40    8,but is not the    
existence of a first or creating cause  
demonstrated to  our senses1 by all we  
see1 and hear1 and feel80    8,the      
existence of all that we see and hear   
and feel is demonstrated to  our senses2
 and the belief we yield to this        
existence is immediate and              
irresistible1 that is1 intuitive4--,the 

existence of the creating cause1  that  
you speak of1 is not demonstrated to our
 senses2 and therefore the  belief in it
 cannot be immediate and irresistible4  
,i prefer the  expression #8creating' to
 #8first' cause1 because it seems to    
present a  more intelligible meaning4   
,when you shall have examined farther   
into the  phenomena of nature1 you will 
see1 that there can be as little a first
  as a last cause40    8,but there must 
be always a cause1 producing an effect80
    8,certainly2 and so your            
cause1--creating all that we see and    
hear and  feel--must itself have a      
producing cause1 otherwise you are in   
the same  difficulty as before40    8,i 
suppose it a ,being unchangeable and    
eternal1 itself unproduced1 and         
producing all things40    8,unchangeable
 it may be1--eternal it must be--since  
every thing is  eternal40    8,every    
thing eternal80    8,yes2 that is1 the  
elements composing all substances are1  
so far as we  know and can reason1      

eternal1 and in their nature            
unchangeable2 and it  is apparently only
 the different disposition of these     
eternal and  unchangeable atoms that    
produces all the varieties in the       
substances  constituting the great      
material whole1 of which we form a part4
 ,those  particles1 whose peculiar      
agglomeration or arrangement1 we call a 
vegetable to-day1 pass into1 and form   
part of1 an animal to-morrow2 and  that 
animal again1 by the falling asunder of 
its constituent atoms1 and  the         
different approximation and             
agglomeration of the same1--or1 of the  
same with other atoms1--is transformed  
into some other substance  presenting a 
new assemblage of qualities4 ,to this   
simple exposition of  the phenomena of  
nature 7which1 you will observe1 is not 
explaining  their wonders1 for that is  
impossible1 but only observing them17 we
  are led by the exercise of our senses4
 ,in studying the existences which      
surround us1 it is clearly our business 

to use our eyes1 and not our            
imaginations4 ,to see things as they    
are1 is all we should attempt1 and  is  
all that is possible to be done4        
,unfortunately1 we can do but little    
even here1 as our eyes serve us to see  
but a very little way4 ,but1 were  our  
eyes better--were they so good as to    
enable us to observe all the  arcana of 
matter1 we could never acquire any other
 knowledge of them1  than that they are 
as they are2--and1 in knowing this1 that
 is1 in seeing  every link in the chain 
of occurrences1 we should know all that 
even an  omniscient being could know4   
,one astronomer traces the course of the
  sun round the earth1 another imagines 
that of the earth round the sun4  ,some 
future improvements in science may      
enable us to ascertain which  conjecture
 is the true one4 ,we shall then have   
ascertained a fact1 which  fact may lead
 to the discovery of other facts1 and so
 on4 ,until this  plain and simple view 
of the nature of all science be         

generally  received1 all the advances we
 may make in it are comparatively as    
nothing4 ,until we occupy ourselves in  
examining1 observing1 and  ascertaining1
 and not in explaining1 we are idly and 
childishly  employed4--,with every truth
 we may discover we shall mix a thousand
  errors2 and1 for one matter of fact1  
we shall charge our brain with a        
thousand fancies4 ,to this leading      
misconception of the real1 and only     
possible object of philosophical        
enquiry1 ,i incline to attribute all the
  modes and forms of human superstition4
 ,the vague idea that some  mysterious  
cause not merely precedes but produces  
the effect we  behold1 occasions us to  
wander from the real object in search of
 an  imaginary one4 ,we see the sun rise
 in the east3 ,instead of confining our 
curiosity to the discovery of the time  
and manner of its rising1 and of  its   
course in the heavens1 we ask also--why 
does it rise8 ,what makes  it move8 ,the
 more ignorant immediately conceive some

 ,being spurring it  through the        
heavens1 with fiery steeds1 and on      
wheels of gold1 while the  more learned 
tell us of laws of motion1 decreed by an
 almighty fiat1 and  sustained by an    
almighty will4 ,imagine the truth of    
both suppositions3  ,in the one case1 we
 should see the application of what we  
call physical  power in the driver and  
the steeds followed by the motion of the
 sun1  and in the other1 an almighty    
volition followed by the motion of the  
sun4 ,but1 in either case1 should we    
understand why the sun  moved8--why or  
how its motion followed what we call the
 impulse of  the propelling power1 or   
the propelling volition8 ,all that we   
could  then know1 more than we now know1
 would be1 that the occurrence of  the  
motion of the sun was preceded by       
another occurrence2 and if we           
afterwards frequently observed the same 
sequence of occurrences1 they  would    
become associated in our mind as        
necessary precedent and  consequent--as 

cause and effect3 and we might give to  
them the  appellation of law of nature1 
or any other appellation2 but they would
  still constitute merely a truth--that 
is1 a fact1 and envelope no other       
mystery1 than that involved in every    
occurrence and every existence40        
8,but1 according to this doctrine10 said
 ,theon1 8there would be no less  reason
 in attributing the beautiful           
arrangement of the material world to    
the motion of a horse1 than to the      
volition of an almighty mind40    8,if  
,i saw the motion of a horse followed by
 the effect you speak of1 ,i  should    
believe in some relation between them2  
and if ,i saw it follow the  volition of
 an almighty mind--the same40    8,but  
the cause would be inadequate to the    
effect40    8,it could not be so1 if it 
were the cause4 ,for what constitutes   
the  adequacy of which you speak8       
,clearly only the contact1 or immediate 
proximity of the two occurrences4 ,if   
any sequence could in fact be more      

wonderful than another1 it should rather
 seem to be for the consequent  to      
impart grandeur to the precedent--the   
effect to the cause1--than for  the     
cause to impart grandeur to the effect4 
,but in reality all sequences  are      
equally wonderful4 ,that light should   
follow the appearance of the  sun1 is   
just as wonderful1 and no more so1 as if
 it were to follow the  appearance of   
any other body--and did light follow the
 appearance of a  black stone it would  
excite astonishment simply because we   
never saw  light follow such an         
appearance before4 ,accustomed1 as we   
now are1 to  see light when the sun     
rises1 our wonder would be1 if we did   
not see  light when he rose3 but were   
light regularly to attend the appearance
 of  any other body1 our wonder at such 
a sequence would1 after a time1  cease2 
and we should then say1 as we now say1  
there is light1 because  such a body has
 risen2 and imagine then1 as we imagine 
now1 that we  understand why light is4  

8,in like manner all existences are     
equally wonderful4 ,an ,african lion is 
in himself nothing more extraordinary   
than a ,grecian horse2 although the     
whole people of ,athens will assemble to
 gaze on the lion1 and exclaim1  how    
wonderful6 while no man observes the    
horse40    8,true--but this is the      
wondering of ignorance40    8,i         
reply--true again1 but so is all        
wondering4 ,if1 indeed1 we should       
consider it in this and in all other    
cases as simply an emotion of           
pleasurable surprise1 acknowledging the 
presence of a novel object1 the  feeling
 is perfectly rational2 but if it       
imagine any thing more  intrinsically   
marvellous in the novel existence than  
in the familiar  one1 it is then clearly
 the idle--that is1 the unreasoned and  
unreflecting marvelling of ignorance4   
,there is but one real wonder to  the   
thinking mind3 it is the existence of   
all things2 that is1 the  existence of  
matter4 ,and the only rational ground of

 this one great  wonder is1 that the    
existence of matter is the last link in 
the chain of  cause and effect1 at which
 we can arrive4 ,you imagine yet another
  link--the existence of a power        
creating that matter4--,my only         
objections  to this additional link1 or 
superadded cause1 are1 that it is       
imagined1 and that it leaves the wonder 
as before2 unless1 indeed1 we  should   
say that it has superadded other        
wonders1 since it supposes a  power1 or 
rather1 an existence possessing a power1
 of which we never saw  an example40    
8,how so8 ,does not even man possess a  
species of creating power8 ,and do  you 
not suppose1 in your inert matter1 that 
very property which others  attribute1  
with more reason it appears to me1 to   
some superior and  unknown existence80  
8,by no means4 ,no existence1 that we   
know of1 possesses creating power1  in  
the sense you suppose4 ,neither the     
existence we call a man1 nor any  of the
 existences1 comprised under the generic

 names of matter1 physical  world1      
nature1 c41 possesses the power of      
calling into being its own  constituent 
elements1 nor the constituent elements  
of any other  substance4 ,it can change 
one substance into another substance1 by
  altering the position of its          
particles1 or intermingling them with   
others3 but it cannot call into being1  
any more than it can annihilate1  those 
particles themselves4 ,the hand of man  
causes to approach particles  of earth  
and of water1 and by their              
approximation1 produces clay2 to  which 
clay it gives a regular form1 and1 by   
the application of fire1  produces the  
vessel we call a vase4 ,you may say that
 the hand of man  creates the vase2 but 
it does not create the earth1 or the    
water1 or the  fire2 neither has the    
admixture of these substances added to1 
or  subtracted from1 the sum of their   
elementary atoms4 ,observe1 therefore1  
there is no analogy between the power   
inherent in matter of changing its      

appearance and qualities1 by a simple   
change in the position of its           
particles1 and that which you attribute 
to some unseen existence1 who1  by a    
simple volition1 should have called into
 being matter itself1 with  all its     
wonderful properties4 ,an existence     
possessing such a power ,i  have never  
seen2 and though this says nothing      
against the possibility of  such an     
existence1 it says every thing against  
my belief in it4 ,and  farther1 the     
power which you attribute to this       
existence--that of willing  every thing 
out of nothing1--being1 not only what ,i
 have never seen1 but  that of which ,i 
cannot with any distinctness            
conceive--it must appear to  me the     
greatest of all improbabilities40       
8,our young friend10 observed           
,metrodorus1 8lately made use of an     
expression1 the error involved in which1
 seems to be at the root of his         
difficulty4 ,in speaking of matter10 he 
continued1 turning to ,theon1 8you      

employed the epithet inert4 ,what is    
your meaning8 ,and what matter do  you  
here designate80    8,all matter surely 
is1 in itself1 inert40    8,all matter  
surely is1 in itself1 as it is10 said   
,metrodorus with a  smile2 8and that1 ,i
 should say1 is living and active4      
,again1 what is  matter80    8,all that 
is evident to our senses10 replied      
,theon1 8and which stands  opposed to   
mind40    8,all matter then is inert    
which is devoid of mind4 ,what1 then1 do
 you  understand by mind80    8,i       
conceive some error in my definition10  
said ,theon1 smiling4 8,should ,i       
say--thought--you would ask if every    
existence devoid of thought was  inert1 
or if every existence1 possessing life1 
possessed thought80    8,i should so    
have asked4 ,mind or thought ,i consider
 a quality of that  matter constituting 
the existence we call a man1 which      
quality we find  in a varying degree in 
other existences2 many1 perhaps all     
animals1  possessing it4 ,life is       

another quality1 or combination of      
qualities1 of  matter1 inherent in--we  
know not how many existences4 ,we find  
it in  vegetables2 we might perceive it 
even in stones1 could we watch their    
formation1 growth1 and decay4 ,we may   
call that active principle1  pervading  
the elements of all things1 which       
approaches and separates the  component 
particles of the ever changing1 and yet 
ever during  world--life4 ,until you    
discover some substance1 which undergoes
 no  change1 you cannot speak of inert  
matter3 it can only be so1 at least1    
relatively1--that is1 as compared with  
other substances40    8,the classing of 
thought and life among the qualities of 
matter is new  to me40    8,what is in a
 substance cannot be separate from it4  
,and is not all  matter a compound of   
qualities8 ,hardness1 extension1 form1  
color1  motion1 rest--take away all     
these1 and where is matter8 ,to conceive
 of  mind independent of matter1 is as  
if we should conceive of color          

independent of a substance colored3     
,what is form1 if not a body of a       
particular shape8 ,what is thought1 if  
not something which thinks8  ,destroy   
the substance1 and you destroy its      
properties2 and so  equally--destroy the
 properties1 and you destroy the        
substance4 ,to  suppose the possibility 
of retaining the one1 without the other1
 is an  evident absurdity40    8,the    
error of conceiving a quality in the    
abstract often offended me in  the      
,lyceum10 returned the youth1 8but ,i   
never considered the error as  extending
 to mind and life1 any more than to vice
 and virtue40    8,you stopped short    
with many others10 said ,leontium4 8,it 
is indeed  surprising how many acute    
minds will apply a logical train of     
reasoning  in one case1 and invert the  
process in another exactly similar40    
8,to return1 and1 if you will1 to       
conclude our discussion10 said          
,metrodorus1 8,i will observe that no   
real advances can be made in the        

philosophy of mind1 without a deep      
scrutiny into the operations of  nature1
 or material existences4 ,mind being    
only a quality of matter1 the  study we 
call the philosophy of mind1 is         
necessarily only a branch of  general   
physics1 or the study of a particular   
part of the philosophy of  matter40     
8,i am indebted to your patience10 said 
the youth1 8and would fain  intrude     
farther on it4 ,i will confine myself at
 present1 however1 to one  observation4 
,the general view of things1 which you  
present to my mind1  the simplicity of  
which ,i will confess to be yet more    
fascinating than  its novelty1 is       
evidently unfavorable to religion1--and1
 if so1  unfavorable to virtue40    8,an
 opportunity will1 to-day1 be afforded  
you10 said ,leontium1 8of  examining    
this important question in detail4 ,at  
the request of some of  our youth1 the  
,master will himself give his views on  
the subject40    8,i am all curiosity10 
said ,theon4 8,other teachers have      

commanded my  respect1 inflamed my      
imagination1 and1 ,i believe1 often     
controlled my  reason4 ,the son of      
,neocles inspires me with love1 and wins
 me to  confidence by encouraging me to 
exercise my own judgment1 in scanning   
his arguments1 and examining the        
groundwork of his own opinions4 ,with   
such a teacher1 and in such a school1 ,i
 feel suspicion to be wholly  misplaced2
 and ,i shall now start in the road of  
enquiry1 anxious only to  discover      
truth1 and willing to part with every   
erroneous opinion1 the  moment it shall 
be proved to be erroneous40      ,,note1
 ,,by ,,the ,,translator4 ,how          
beautifully have the modern discoveries 
in chymistry and natural philosophy1 and
 the more accurate analysis of    the   
human mind--sciences unknown to the     
ancient world--substantiated the        
leading principles of the ,epicurean    
ethics and physics--the only    ancient 
school of either1 really deserving the  
name6      ,to what have all our        

ingenious inventions and contrivances1  
for the    analysis of material         
substances1 led us1 but to the atoms of 
,epicurus8    ,to what1 our accurate    
observation of the decomposition of     
substances1    and the arresting and    
weighing of their most subtle and       
invisible    elements1 but to the       
eternal and unchangeable nature of those
 atoms8    ,we have1 in the course of   
our scrutiny1 superadded to the         
wonderful    qualities of matter with   
which he was acquainted1 those which we 
call    attraction1 repulsion1          
electricity1 magnetism1 c4 ,how do these
    discoveries multiply and magnify the
 living powers inherent in the    simple
 elements of all existences1 and point  
our admiration to the    sagacity of    
that intellect which1 #b1jjj years ago1 
started in the true    road of enquiry2 
while1 at this day1 thousands of        
teachers and    millions of scholars are
 stumbling in the paths of error6       
,if we look to our mental philosophy1 to

 what has our scrutiny led1 but    to   
the leading principles of ,epicurean    
ethics8 ,in the                         
pleasure1--utility1--propriety of human 
action--7whatever word we employ1    the
 meaning is the same7--in the           
consequences of human actions1 that     
is1 in their tendency to promote our    
good or our evil1 we must ever    find  
the only test of their intrinsic merit  
or demerit4      ,it might seem strange 
that1 while the truth of the leading    
principles    of the ,epicurean         
philosophy have been long admitted by   
all sound    reasoners1 the abuse of the
 school and of its founder is continued 
to    this day3 this might and would    
seem strange and incomprehensible1 did  
we not1 on every subject1 find the same 
cowardly fear of facing1    openly and  
honestly1 the prejudices of men4        
,teachers1 aware of the    ignorance of 
those they teach1 develope their        
doctrines in language    intelligible   
only to the few2 or1 where they hazard a

 more distinct    exposition of truth1  
shelter themselves from obloquy1 by     
echoing the    vulgar censure against   
those who have taught the same truth1   
with more    explicitness1 before them4 
,the mass1 even of what is called the   
educated world1 know nothing of the     
principles they decry1 or of the        
characters they abuse4 ,it is easy1     
therefore1 by joining in the abuse      
against the one1 to encourage a belief  
that we cannot be advocating    the     
other4 ,this desire of standing fair    
with the wise1 without    incurring the 
enmity of the ignorant1 may suit with   
the object of    those who acquire      
knowledge only for its display1 or for  
the    gratification of mere curiosity4 
,but they1 whose nobler aim1 and        
higher gift it is1 to advance the human 
mind in the discovery of    truth1 must 
stand proof equally to censure and to   
praise4 ,that such    lips and such pens
 should employ equivocation1 or other   
artifice1 to    turn aside the wrath of 

ignorance1 is degrading to themselves   
and    mortifying to their admirers4    
,the late amiable and enlightened       
teacher1 ,thomas ,brown1 of ,edinburgh1 
whose masterly exposition of old    and 
new truths1 and exposure of modern as   
well as ancient errors1 has    so       
advanced the science he professed1 is   
yet chargeable with this    weakness4   
,after inculcating the leading          
principles1 the whole of his            
beautiful system1 he condescends to     
soothe the prejudices which all    his  
arguments have tended to uproot1 by     
passing a sweeping censure on    the    
school1 whose doctrines he has borrowed 
and taught4 ,we might    say--how       
unworthy of such a mind6 ,but we will   
rather say--how is it to    be lamented 
that such a mind bears not within itself
 the conviction1    that all truths are 
important to all men2 and that to employ
    deception with the ignorant1 is to  
defeat our own purpose2 which is1       
surely1 not to open the eyes of those   

who already see1 but to    enlighten the
 blind6                                 
,,chapter ,,xvi4      ,a more than usual
 crowd attended the instructions of the 
,sage4 ,the gay1  and the curious1 the  
learned1 and the idle1 of all ages1 and 
of either  sex1 from the restless       
population of the city2 many citizens of
 note1  collected from various parts of 
,attica2 and no inconsiderable portion  
of  strangers from foreign states and   
countries4    ,they were assembled on   
the lawn1 surrounding the temple already
  frequently mentioned4 ,the contracting
 waters of ,ilyssus flowed nearly in    
their accustomed bed2 and earth and air1
 refreshed by the storm of the          
preceding night1 resisted the rays of   
the uncurtained sun1 now climbing  high 
in the heavens4 ,a crowd of             
recollections rushed on the young mind  
of ,theon1 as he entered the beautiful  
enclosure1 and gazed on the stream      
which formed one of its boundaries4 ,his
 thoughts again played truant to        

philosophy1 and his rapid glance sought 
another and a fairer form than  any it  
found there1 when the approach of       
,epicurus divided the throng1  and      
hushed the loud murmur of tongues into  
silence4 ,the ,sage passed on1  and it  
was not till he ascended the marble     
steps1 and turned to address  the       
assembly1 that ,theon perceived he had  
been followed by the beautiful  being   
who ruled his fancy4 ,the hues of ,hebe 
now dyed her lips and her  cheeks2 but  
the laughing smiles of the preceding    
evening were changed  for the composure 
of respectful attention4 ,her eye caught
 that of ,theon4  ,she gave a blush and 
a smile of recognition4 ,then1 seating  
herself at  the base of a column to the 
right of her father1 her face resumed   
its  composure1 and her full dark eyes  
fastened on the countenance of the      
,sage1 in a gaze of mingled admiration  
and filial love4    8,fellow citizens1  
and fellow-men6 ,we purpose1 this day1  
to examine a  question of vital         

importance to human kind3 no less a one 
than the  relations we bear to all the  
existences that surround us2 the        
position  we hold in this beautiful     
material world2 the origin1 the object1 
and  the end of our being2 the source   
from which we proceed1 and the goal to  
which we tend4--,this question embraces 
many4 ,it embraces all most  interesting
 to our curiosity1 and influential over 
our happiness4 ,its  correct or         
incorrect solution must ever regulate1  
as it now regulates1  our rule of       
conduct1 our conceptions of right and   
wrong2 must start us  in the road of    
true or false enquiry1 and either open  
our minds to such  a knowledge of the   
wonders working in and around us1 as our
 senses and  faculties can attain1 or   
close them forever with the bands of    
superstition1 leaving us a prey to fear1
 the slaves of our ungoverned           
imaginations1 wondering and trembling at
 every occurrence in nature1 and  making
 our own existence and destiny sources  

of dread and of mystery40    8,ere we   
come to this important enquiry1 it      
behooves us to see that we  come with   
willing minds2 that we say not1 #8so far
 will we go and no  farther2 we will    
make one step1 but not two2 we will     
examine1 but only  so long as the result
 of our examination shall confirm our   
preconceived  opinions4' ,in our search 
after truth1 we must equally discard    
presumption and fear4 ,we must come with
 our eyes and our ears1 our  hearts and 
our understandings1 open2 anxious1 not  
to find ourselves  right1 but to        
discover what is right2 asserting       
nothing which we cannot  prove2         
believing nothing which we have not     
examined2 and examining all  things     
fearlessly1 dispassionately1            
perseveringly40    8,in our preceding   
discourses1 and1 for such as have not   
attended these1  in our writings1 we    
have endeavored to explain the real     
object of  philosophical enquiry2 we    
have directed you to the investigation  

of  nature1 to all that you see of      
existences and occurrences around you2  
and we have shown that1 in these        
existences1 and occurrences1 all that   
can be known1 and all that there is to  
be known1 lies hid4 ,we have  exhorted  
you to use your eyes1 and your          
judgments1 never your  imagination2 to  
abstain from theory1 and rest with      
facts2 and to  understand that in the   
accumulation of facts1 as regards the   
nature and  properties of substances1   
the order of occurrences1 and the       
consequences  of actions1 lies the whole
 science of philosophy1 physical and    
moral4 ,we  have seen1 in the course of 
our enquiry1 that in matter itself1     
exist  all causes and effects2 that the 
eternal particles1 composing all        
substances1 from the first and last     
links in the chain of occurrences1  or  
of cause and effect1 at which we can    
arrive2 that the qualities1  inherent in
 these particles1 produce1 or are       
followed by certain  effects2 that the  

changes1 in position1 of these          
particles1 produce or  are followed by  
certain other qualities and effects2    
that the sun  appears1 and that light   
follows his appearance2 that we throw a 
pearl  into vinegar1 and that the pearl 
vanishes from our eyes1 to assume the   
form or forms of more subtle1 but not   
less real substances2 that the          
component particles of a human being    
fall asunder1 and that1 instead of  a   
man1 we find a variety of other         
substances or existences1 presenting    
new appearances1 and new properties or  
powers2 that a burning coal  touches our
 hand1 that the sensation of pain       
follows the contact1 that  the desire to
 end this sensation is the next effect  
in succession1 and  that the muscular   
motion of withdrawing the hand1         
following the desire1  is another4 ,that
 in all this succession of existences   
and events1 there  is nothing but what  
we see1 or what we could see1 if we had 
better eyes2  that there is no mystery  

in nature1 but that involved in the very
  existence of all things2 and that     
things being as they are1 is no more    
wonderful1 than it would be1 if they    
were different4 ,that an analogous      
course of events1 or chain of causes and
 effects1 takes place in morals  as in  
physics3 that is to say1 in examining   
those qualities1 of the  matter         
composing our own bodies1 which we call 
mind1 we can only trace a  train of     
occurrences1 in like manner as we do in 
the external world2  that our           
sensations1 thoughts1 and emotions1 are 
simply effects  following causes1 a     
series of consecutive phenomena1        
mutually producing  and produced40      
8,when we have taken this view of       
things1 observe how all abstruse        
questions disappear2 how all science is 
simplified2 all knowledge  rendered easy
 and familiar to the mind6 ,once started
 in this only true  road of enquiry1    
every step we make is one in advance4   
,to whatever  science we apply1 that is1

 to whatever part of matter1 or to      
whichever  of its qualities1 we direct  
our attention1 we shall1 in all         
probability1  make important1 because   
true1 discoveries4 ,is it the philosophy
 of  nature in general1 or any one of   
those subdivisions of it1 which we call 
the philosophy of ,mind1 ,ethics1       
,medicine1 ,astronomy1 ,geometry1 c41   
the  moment we occupy ourselves in      
observing and arranging in order the    
facts1 which are discovered in the      
course of observation1 we acquire       
positive knowledge1 and may safely      
undertake to develope it to others40    
8,the ascertaining the nature of        
existences1 the order of occurrences1   
and the consequences of human actions   
constituting1 therefore1 the whole  of  
knowledge1 what is there to prevent each
 and all of us from extending  our      
discoveries to the full limits          
prescribed by the nature of our         
faculties and duration of our existence8
 ,what noble employment can we  invent8 

what pleasure so pure1 so little liable 
to disappointment8 ,what  is there to   
hold us back8--,what is there not to    
spur us forward8 ,does our  ignorance   
start from the very simplicity of       
knowledge8 ,do we fear to  open our eyes
 lest we should see the light8 ,does the
 very truth we seek  alarm us in its    
attainment8--,how is it that1 placed in 
this world as on a  theatre of          
observation1 surrounded by wonders and  
endowed with faculties  wherewith to    
scan these wonders1 we know so little of
 what is1 and  imagine so much of what  
is not8 ,other animals1 to whom man     
accounts  himself superior1 exercise the
 faculties they possess1 trust their    
testimony1 follow the impulses of their 
nature1 and enjoy the happiness  of     
which they are capable4 ,man alone1 the 
most gifted of all known  existences1   
doubts the evidence of his superior     
senses1 perverts the  nature and uses of
 his multiplied faculties1 controls his 
most innocent1  as well as his noblest  

impulses1 and turns to poison all the   
sources of  his happiness4 ,to what are 
we to trace this fatal error1 this cruel
  self-martyrdom1 this perversion of    
things from their natural bent8 ,in  the
 over-development of one faculty and    
neglect of another1 we must seek  the   
cause4 ,in the imagination1 that source 
of our most beautiful  pleasures1 when  
under the control of judgment1 we find  
the source of our  worst afflictions40  
8,from an early age ,i have made the    
nature and condition of man my study4   
,i have found him in many countries of  
the earth1 under the influence of  all  
varieties of climate and circumstance2  
,i have found him the savage  lord of   
the forest1 clothed in the rough skins  
of animals less rude than  himself1     
sheltered in the crevices of the        
mountains and caves of the  earth from  
the blasts of winter and heats of the   
summer sun2 ,i have  found him the slave
 of masters debased as himself1         
crouching to the foot  that spurns him1 

and showing no signs of miscalled       
civilization but its  sloth and its     
sensualities2 ,i have found him the lord
 over millions1  clothed in purple and  
treading courts of marble2 the cruel    
destroyer of  his species1 marching     
through blood and rapine1 to thrones of 
extended  dominion2 the iron-hearted    
tyrant1 feasting on the agonies of his  
victims1 and wringing his treasure from 
the hard earned mite of  industry2 ,i   
have found him the harmless but ignorant
 tiller of the soil1  eating the simple 
fruits of his labor1 sinking to rest    
only to rise  again to toil1 toiling to 
live and living only to die2 ,i have    
found him  the polished courtier1 the   
accomplished scholar1 the gifted artist1
 the  creating genius2 the fool and the 
knave2 rich and a beggar2 spurning and  
spurned4    8,under all these forms and 
varieties of the external and internal  
man1  still1 with hardly an exception1  
,i have found him unhappy4 ,with more   
capacity for enjoyment than any other   

creature1 ,i have seen him  surpassing  
the rest of existences only in suffering
 and crime4 ,why is  this and from      
whence8 ,what master error1 for some    
there must be1 leads  to results so     
fatal--so opposed to the apparent nature
 and promise of  things8 ,long have ,i  
sought this error--this main-spring of  
human folly  and human crime4 ,i have   
traced1 through all their lengthened    
train of  consequents and causes1 human 
practice and human theory2 ,i have      
threaded  the labyrinth to its dark     
beginning2 ,i have found the first link 
in the  chain of evil2 ,i have found    
it--in all countries--among all tribes  
and  tongues and nations2 ,i have found 
it1--,fellow-men1 ,i have found it      
in--,,religion60    ,a low murmur here  
rose from one part of the assembly4 ,a  
deep and  breathless silence succeeded4 
,the ,sage turned his gaze slowly       
around1  and with a countenance1 pure   
and serene as the skies which shone     
above  him1 proceeded3--    8,we have   

named the leading error of the human    
mind1--the bane of human  happiness--the
 perverter of human virtue6 ,it is      
,religion--that dark  coinage of        
trembling ignorance6 ,it is             
,religion--that poisoner of human       
felicity6 ,it is ,religion--that blind  
guide of human reason6 ,it is           
,religion--that dethroner of human      
virtue6 which lies at the root of all   
the evil and all the misery that pervade
 the world6    8,not hastily formed1    
still less hastily expressed1 has been  
the opinion  you hear this day4 ,a long 
train of reflection led to the          
discarding of  religion as an error1 a  
life of observation to the denouncing it
 as an  evil4 ,in considering it as     
devoid of truth1 ,i am but one of many4 
,few  have looked deeply and steadily   
into the nature of things1 and not      
called in question belief in existences 
unseen and causes unknown4 ,but  while  
smiling at the credulity of their       
fellow-beings1 philosophers have        

thought reason good only for themselves4
 ,they have argued that religion1       
however childish a chimera in itself1   
was useful in its tendencies3  that1 if 
it rested upon nothing1 it supported all
 things2 that it was  the stay of       
virtue1 and the source of happiness4    
,however opposed to  every rule in      
philosophy1 physical and moral2 however 
apparently in  contradiction to reason  
and common sense1 that a thing untrue   
could be  useful2 that a belief in facts
 disproved or unproved could afford a   
sustaining prop to a just rule of       
practice2 the assertion came supported  
by so universal a testimony of mankind1 
and by individual names of such         
authority in practical wisdom and       
virtue1 that ,i hesitated to call it    
mistaken4 ,and as human happiness       
appeared to me the great desideratum1   
and its promotion the only object       
consistent with the views of a teacher  
of men1 ,i forbore from all expression  
of opinion1 until ,i had fully          

substantiated1 to my own conviction1    
both its truth and its tendency4  ,the  
truth of my opinion is substantiated1 as
 we have seen1 by an  examination into  
the nature of things2 that is1 into the 
properties of  matter1 which are alone  
sufficient to produce all the chances   
and  changes that we behold4 ,its       
tendency is discovered by an examination
  into the moral condition of man4      
8,the belief in supernatural existences1
 and expectation of a future  life1 are 
said to be sources of happiness1 and    
stimuli to virtue4 ,how1  and in what   
way8 ,is it proved by experience8 ,look 
abroad over the earth3  every where the 
song of praise1 the prayer of           
supplication1 the smoke of  incense1 the
 blow of sacrifice1 arise from forest1  
and lawn1 from  cottage1 palace1 and    
temple1 to the gods of human idolatry4  
,religion is  spread over the earth4 ,if
 she be the parent of virtue and        
happiness1  they too should cover the   
earth4 ,do they so8 ,read the annals of 

human  tradition6 ,go forth and observe 
the actions of men6 ,who shall speak of 
virtue--who of happiness1 that hath eyes
 to see and ears to hear and  hearts to 
feel8 ,no6 experience is against the    
assertion4 ,the world is  full of       
religion1 and full of misery and crime4 
8,can the assertion be sustained by     
argument1 by any train of reasoning     
whatsoever8 ,imagine a ,deity under any 
fashion of existence2 how are our       
dreams concerning him in an imaginary   
heaven to affect our happiness or  our  
conduct on a tangible earth8 ,affect it 
indeed they may for evil1 but  how for  
good8 ,the idea of an unseen ,being1    
ever at work around and about  us1 may  
afflict the human intellect with idle   
terrors1 but can never  guide the human 
practice to what is rational and        
consistent with our  nature4 ,grant     
that1 by any possibility1 we could      
ascertain the existence  of one god1 or 
of a million of gods3 we see them not1  
we hear them not1  we feel them not4    

,unless they were submitted to our      
observation1 were  fashioned like unto  
us1 had similar desires1 similar        
faculties1 a  similar organization1 how 
could their mode of existence afford a  
guide  for ours8 ,as well should the    
butterfly take pattern from the lion1 or
  the lion from the eagle1 as man from a
 god4 ,to say nothing of the            
inconsistency of the attributes1 with   
which all gods are decked1 it is  enough
 that none of them are ours4 ,we are    
men2 they are gods4 ,they  inhabit other
 worlds2 we inhabit the earth4 ,let them
 enjoy their  felicity2 and let us1 my  
friends1 seek ours4    8,but it is not  
that religion is merely useless1 it is  
mischievous4 ,it is  mischievous by its 
idle terrors2 it is mischievous by its  
false  morality2 it is mischievous by   
its hypocrisy2 by its fanaticism2 by its
  dogmatism2 by its threats2 by its     
hopes2 by its promises4 ,consider it    
under its mildest and most amiable form1
 it is still mischievous as  inspiring  

false motives of action1 as holding the 
human mind in bondage1  and diverting   
the attention from things useful1 to    
things useless4 ,the  essence of        
religion is fear1 as its source is      
ignorance4 ,in a certain  stage of human
 knowledge1 the human mind must of      
necessity1 in its  ignorance of the     
properties of matter1 and its dark      
insight into the  chain of phenomena    
arising out of those properties--must of
 necessity  reason falsely on every     
occurrence and existence in nature2 it  
must of  necessity1 in the absence of   
fact1 give the rein to fancy1 see a     
miracle  in every uncommon event1 and   
imagine unseen agents as producing all  
that  it beholds4 ,in proportion as the 
range of our observation is enlarged1   
and as we learn to connect and arrange  
the phenomena of nature1 we  curtail our
 list of miracles1 the number of our    
supernatural agents4 ,an  eclipse is    
alarming to the vulgar1 as denoting the 
wrath of offended  deities2 to the man  

of science it is a simple occurrence1 as
 easily  traced to its cause1 as any the
 most familiar to our observation4 ,the 
knowledge of one generation is the      
ignorance of the next4 ,our             
superstitions decrease as our           
attainments multiply2 and the fervor of 
our religion declines as we draw nearer 
to the conclusion which destroys  it    
entirely4 ,the conclusion1 based upon   
accumulated facts1 as we have  seen1    
that matter alone is at once the thing  
acting1 and the thing acted             
upon1--eternal in duration1 infinitely  
various and varying in appearance2      
never diminishing in quantity1 and      
always changing in form4 ,without some  
knowledge of what is styled natural     
philosophy1 or physics1 no  individual  
can attain this conclusion4 ,and in a   
certain stage of that  knowledge1 more  
or less advanced according to the       
acuteness of the  intellect1 it will be 
impossible for any individual1 not      
mentally  obtuse1 to shun that          

conclusion4 ,this truth is one of       
infinite  importance4 ,the moment we    
consider the hostility directed against 
what  is called ,atheism1 as the natural
 result of deficient information1 the   
mind must be diseased which could resent
 that hostility4 ,and perhaps a  simple 
statement of the truth would best lead  
to examination of the  subject1 and to  
the conversion of mankind4    8,imagine 
this conversion1 my friends6 ,imagine   
the creature man in the  full exercise  
of all his faculties2 not shrinking from
 knowledge1 but  eager in its pursuit2  
not bending the knee of adulation to    
visionary  beings armed by fear for his 
destruction1 but standing erect in calm 
contemplation of the beautiful face of  
nature2 discarding prejudice1 and       
admitting truth without fear of         
consequences2 acknowledging no judge but
  reason1 no censor but that in his own 
breast6 ,thus considered1 he is         
transformed into the god of his present 
idolatry1 or rather into a far  nobler  

being1 possessing all the attributes    
consistent with virtue and  reason1 and 
none opposed to either4 ,how great a    
contrast with his actual  state6 ,his   
best faculties dormant2 his judgment    
unawakened within him2  his very senses 
misemployed2 all his energies           
misdirected2 trembling  before the      
coinage of his own idle fancy2 seeing   
over all creation a  hand of tyranny    
extended2 and instead of following      
virtue1 worshipping  power6 ,monstrous  
creation of ignorance6 monstrous        
degradation of the  noblest of known    
existences6 ,man1 boasting of superior  
reason1 of moral  discrimination1       
imagines a being at once unjust1 cruel1 
and  inconsistent2 then kissing the     
dust1 calls himself its slave6 #8,this  
world is1' says the ,theist1 #8therefore
 it was made'--,by whom8--#8,by a  being
 more powerful than ,i4' ,grant this    
infantine reasoning1 what  follows as   
the conclusion8 #8,that we must fear    
him1' says the ,theist4--,and  why8 ,is 

his power directed against our          
happiness8 ,does your god amuse  himself
 by awakening the terrors of more       
helpless beings8 ,fear him then  indeed 
we may2 and1 let our conduct be what it 
will1 fear him we must4  #8,he is good  
as well as powerful1' says the ,theist2 
#8therefore the object  of love4'--,how 
do we ascertain his goodness8 ,i see    
indeed a beautiful and  curious world2  
but ,i see it full of moral evils1 and  
presenting many  physical imperfections4
 ,is he all-powerful8 perfect good or   
perfect evil  might exist4 ,is he       
all-powerful and all-good8 perfect good 
must  exist4 ,of the sentient beings    
comprised in the infinity of matter ,i  
know  but those which ,i behold4 ,i set 
no limits to the number of those which  
,i  behold not2 no bounds to their      
power4 ,one or many1 may have given     
directions to the elementary atoms1 and 
may have fashioned this earth as  the   
potter fashions its clay4 ,beings       
possessing such power may exist1  and   

may have exercised it4 ,all-powerful    
still they are not1 or being  so1 they  
are wicked3 evil exists4 ,i know not    
what may be--but this my  moral sense   
tells me ,,cannot be--a fashioner of the
 world ,i inhabit1 in  his nature       
all-good and all-powerful4 ,i see yet   
another impossibility2 a  fashioner of  
this world in his nature all-good and   
fore-knowing4  ,granting the possibility
 of the attributes1 their united        
existence were  an impossible           
supposition in the architect of our     
earth4    #8,let us accord his goodness1
 the most pleasing and valuable         
attribute4  ,your god is then the object
 of our love1 and of our pity4 ,of our  
love1  because being benevolent in his  
own nature1 he must have intended to    
produce happiness in forming ours2 of   
our pity1 because we see that he  has   
failed in his intention4 ,i cannot      
conceive a condition more  unfortunate  
than that of a deity contemplating this 
world of his  creation4 ,is he the      

author of some--say1 of much happiness8 
of what  untold misery is he equally the
 author8 ,i cannot conceive a being more
  desperately--more hopelessly wretched 
than that we have now pictured4 ,the    
worst of human miseries shrink into     
comparative insignificancy before  those
 of their author4 ,how must every sigh  
drawn from the bosom of man  rend the   
heart of his god6 ,how must every       
violence committed on earth  convulse   
the peace of heaven6 unable to alter    
what he had fashioned1 how  must he     
equally curse his power and his         
impotence6 ,and1 in bewailing our       
existence1 how must he burn to          
annihilate his own6    8,we will now    
suppose his power without limit2 and his
 knowledge  extending to the future1 as 
to the past4 ,how monstrous the         
conception6  ,what demon drawn from the 
fevered brain of insanity1 ever         
surpassed this  deity in malignity6     
,able to make perfection1 he hath sown  
through all  nature the seed of evil4   

,the lion pursues the lamb2 the vulture1
 in his  rage1 tears the dove from her  
nest4 ,man1 the universal enemy1        
triumphs  even in the sufferings of his 
fellow-beings2 in their pain finds his  
own  joy2 in their loss1 his gain2 in   
the frenzy of his violence1 working out 
his own destruction2 in the folly of his
 ignorance cursing his own race1  and   
blessing its cruel author6 ,your deity  
is the author of evil1 and you  call him
 good2 the inventor of misery1 and you  
call him happy6 ,what  virtuous mind    
shall yield homage to such a ,being8    
,who shall say1 that  homage1 if        
rendered1 degrades not the worshipper8  
,or1 who shall say1  that homage1 when  
rendered1 shall pacify the idol8 ,will  
abjectness in  the slave ensure mercy in
 the tyrant8 ,or1 if it should1 my      
friends1  which of us would be the      
abject8 ,are men found bold to resist   
earthly  oppression1 and shall they bow 
before injustice1 because she speak from
  ,heaven8 ,does the name of ,harmodius 

inspire our songs8 ,do crowns of  laurel
 bind the temples of ,aristogition8 ,let
 our courage rise higher  than theirs1  
my friends2 and1 if worthy of ambition1 
our fame6 ,dethrone1  not the tyrant of 
,athens1 but the tyrant of the          
earth6--not the oppressor  of           
,athenians1 but the oppressor of        
mankind6 ,stand forth6 ,stand erect6    
,say to this god1 #8if you made us in   
malice1 we will not worship you in      
fear4 ,we will judge of you by your     
works3 and judge your works with our    
reason4 ,if evil pervade them1 you are  
chargeable with it1 as their  author4   
,we care not to conciliate your         
injustice1 any more than to  strive with
 your power4 ,we judge of the future    
from the past4 ,and as you  have        
disposed of us in this world1 so1 if it 
please you to continue our  being1 must 
you dispose of us in another4 ,it would 
be idle to strive  with ,omnipotence1 or
 to provide against the decrees of      
,omniscience4 ,we  will not torment     

ourselves by imagining your intentions2 
nor debase  ourselves by expostulations4
 ,should you punish1 in us1 the evil you
 have  made1 you will punish it as      
unjustly as you made it maliciously4    
,should  you reward in us the good1 you 
will reward it absurdly1 as it was      
equally your work1 and not ours4'       
8,let us now concede in argument the    
union of all the enumerated  attributes4
 ,let us accord the existence of a being
 perfect in goodness1  wisdom1 and      
power1 who shall have made all things by
 his volition1 and  decreed all         
occurrences in his wisdom4 ,such a being
 must command our  admiration and       
approval3 he can command no more4 ,as he
 is good and wise1  he is superior to   
all praise2 as he is great and happy1 he
 is  independent of all praise4 ,as he  
is the author of our happiness1 he has  
ensured our love2 but as he is our      
creator1 he may command from us no      
duties4 ,supposing a god1 all duties    
rest with him4 ,if he has made us1 he   

is bound to make us happy2 and failing  
in the duty1 he must be an object  of   
just abhorrence to all his sentient     
creation4 ,kindness received must       
necessarily inspire affection4 ,this    
kindness1 in a divine creator1 as in  an
 earthly parent1 is a solemn duty1--a   
sacred obligation1--the  non-performance
 of which were the most atrocious of    
crimes4 ,when  performed1 love from the 
creature1 as from the child1 is a       
necessary  consequence1 and an          
all-sufficient reward4    8,allowing    
then to the ,theist his god1 we stand to
 him in no relation  that can inspire   
fear1 or involve duty4 ,he can give us  
no happiness that  he was not bound to  
bestow3 he can cherish us with no       
tenderness1 that  he was not bound to   
yield4 ,it is for him to gratify all our
 desires1--or1  if they be erroneous1 to
 correct them4 ,it is for us to demand  
every good  in his power to grant1 or in
 ours to enjoy4 ,let then1 the          
theologist  banish fear and duty from   

his creed4 ,it is love--love alone that 
can be  claimed by gods or yielded by   
men4    8,have we said enough6 ,surely  
the absurdity of all the doctrines of   
religion1 and the iniquity of many1 are 
sufficiently evident4 ,to fear a  being 
on account of his power1 is degrading2  
to fear him if he be good1  ridiculous4 
,prove to us his existence2 and prove to
 us his perfections2  prove to us his   
parental care2 love springs up in our   
bosoms1 and repays  his bounty4 ,if he  
care not to show us his existence1 he   
desires not the  payment of our love1   
and finds in the contemplation of his   
own works1  their reward4    8,but1 says
 the ,theist1 his existence is          
evident--and1 not to acknowledge  it1 a 
crime4 ,it is not so to me1 my friends4 
,i see no sufficient  evidence of his   
existence2 and to reason of its         
possibility1 ,i hold to  be an idle     
speculation4 ,to doubt that which is    
evident is not in our  power4 ,to       
believe that which is not evident1 is   

equally impossible to  us4 ,theist6 thou
 makest of thy god a being more weak1   
more silly than  thyself4 ,he punisheth 
as a crime the doubt of his existence6  
,why1 then1  let him declare his        
existence1 and we doubt no more4 ,should
 the  wandering tribes of ,scythia doubt
 the existence of ,epicurus1 should     
,epicurus be angry8 ,what vanity--what  
absurdity--what silliness1 oh6  ,theist6
 do ye not suppose in your god6 ,let him
 exist1 this god1 in all  the perfection
 of a poet's imagery2 ,i lift to him a  
forehead assured and  serene4 #8,i see  
thee1 oh6 ,god6 in thy power1 and admire
 thee3 ,i see thee  in thy goodness1 and
 approve thee4 ,such homage only is     
worthy of thee to  receive1 and of me to
 render4' ,and what does he reply8      
#8,thou art right1  creature of my      
fashioning6 ,thou canst not add nor take
 away from the sum  of my felicity4 ,i  
made thee to enjoy thy own1 not to      
wonder at mine4 ,i  have placed thee    
amid objects of desire1 ,i have given   

thee means of  enjoyment4 ,enjoy1 then6 
,be happy6 ,it was for that ,i made     
thee4'    8,harken1 then1 my children6  
hearken to your teacher6 ,let it be a   
god or  a philosopher who speaks1 the   
injunction is the same3 ,enjoy1 and be  
happy6 ,is life short8 ,it is an evil3  
,but render life happy1 its  shortness  
is the only evil4 ,i call to you1 as1 if
 he exist1 ,god must  call to you from  
heaven3 ,enjoy1 and be happy6 ,do you   
doubt the way8  ,let ,epicurus be your  
guide4 ,the source of every enjoyment is
 within  yourselves4 ,good and evil lie 
before you4 ,the good is--all which can 
yield you pleasure3 the evil--what must 
bring you pain4 ,here is no  paradox1 no
 dark saying1 no moral hid in fables4   
8,we have considered the unsound fabric 
of religion4 ,it remains to  consider   
that1 equally unsound1 of morals4 ,the  
virtue of man is false as  his faith4   
,what folly invented1 knavery supports4 
,let us arise in our  strength1 examine1
 judge1 and be free60    ,the teacher   

here paused4 ,the crowd stood1 as if yet
 listening4 8,at a  convenient season1  
my children1 we will examine farther    
into the nature  of man and the science 
of life40                               
,,the ,,end4                            
----------------------------------------
--------------------------------        
,,transcriber',s ,,notes       #a4      
,silently corrected obvious             
typographical errors and variations in  
spelling4   #b4 ,retained archaic1      
non-standard1 and uncertain spellings as
 printed4   #c4 ,enclosed italics font  
in underscores4