Epictetus his Morals, with Simplicius his comment made English from the Greek, by George Stanhope ...

COMMENT.

AS this Consideration, That the desirable Things of this World are not, cannot be

our Happiness, though we should suppose a Man never so prosperous, should restrain our Eager∣ness, and check our too forward Desires after them; so that other Reflection, that no Exter∣nal Misfortunes can make us truly miserable, should be an Argument no less prevailing to buoy up our Spirits, and make us entertain them with Courage and Resolution.

To this purpose, our Author urges the fol∣lowing Instance of a Man in great Grief and Lamentation for some Calamity; the Death or the Distance of a Darling Child, the Loss of an Estate, and being reduced to extreme Poverty, or the like. And the Caution he gives upon such Occasions, is, that the Spectators would not suffer themselves to be born down by the Tor∣rent of this Man's Tears, and carried into an Erroneous Opinion of his being made misera∣ble by any of these Disasters: For, they are to recollect themselves, and consider, that no Mans Happiness or Unhappiness does, or ever can de∣pend upon his Successes in the World, or any of the Good or Bad Events from without.

But if this be so, how comes it then to pass, that this Person is so infinitely afflicted, as if some real Ill had happened to him? The Acci∣dent, it is plain, cannot be Evil in its own Nature; for were it so, all Persons that lay un∣der the same Misfortune, would feel the same Impressions, and be carried to an equal Excess of Grief: For this is a Rule in Nature, that Natural Qualities have always the same Opera∣tion; and what feels hot to one, will feel so to every one that touches it. At this rate then, every one that buries a Son must mourn and la∣ment;

and yet Anaxagoras, when News was brought him of the Death of his, made Answer, with all the Bravery and Unconcernedness in the World, Well, I knew my Child could be no more than mortal. But what then i•• the true Cause of all this Melancholy? Nothing else, but the Man's own Notions of this Accident: this is the Root of all the Disease; and our Opinions are properly our own. So that we will grant the Ground of this excessive Grief to be not only a seeming, but a real Evil; but then the Mistake of the Person still remains; for it is not in any Accident from without, but rises entirely from within himself, and is ow∣ing to nothing else but his own wrong Appre∣hensions. And this is both a real Evil, and properly ones own too, because Opinions are some of those Things within our own Power, and the Truth and Falshood of these depends purely upon the Will, and falls within the Com∣pass of our own Choice.

You will ask perhaps, in the next place, what Behaviour is proper in such a Case? Is no Com∣passion due to this afflicted mistaken Man? And must I only with a sullen Magisterial Pride con∣demn his Error, and chide or scorn his Folly? By no means. This Deportment is unsuitable to the Character of a Good Man. You are allowed therefore to pity and comply with him, to condescend in some measure to his Frailties, to speak kind and tender Things, and if you see Occasion, to drop a few Tears for Compa∣ny. Nor is all this to be put on merely for Ostentation, or to shew Good Nature: For, Dissimulation and Trick is what no Ci••••um∣stance

can render excusable to a Good Man. But your Trouble may be real; and indeed, there is but too just a Pretence for it, when you see such an Instance of Humane Infirmity, as a Man that can think the Misfortunes of the World worth so immoderate a Concern.

But still you must set Bounds to your Pity and Condescension, for Grief is catching; and there∣fore be sure to take care, that it do not fasten upon your Mind, and so you fall into the same Disease, of a real Concern for the Accident it self. If once you sink so low, you are for the future incapable of doing the Sorrowful any Ser∣vice. He that would be serviceable to another's Cure, and quiet the Anguish of his Passions, must make some Advances indeed, and some Compliances, but he must be sure to keep out of the Reach of Infection too. A Man that stands still upon the Bank, and will not so much as step into the Water, can never draw his Friend out when he is drowning; and a Man that jumps in, and lets the same Stream carry him away too, can as little do it. He that ap∣pears insensible, and void of all tender Impressi∣ons, will never be able to compose another's Passion, and bring him to Reason; but he that suffers the same Passion to overcome his own Reason too, will be so far from serving his Friend, that he himself must be beholding to the Assistance of some third Friend.