when the Wolf seizes any of their Sheep: and they who are governed by you are mere Sheep. But why did you come hither? Was your Desire in any Danger? Your Aversion? Your Pursuits? Your Avoidances? "No," says he: "but my Brother's Wife hath been stolen."Is it not great good Luck then, to be rid of a sorry adulterous Wife?"But must we be held in Contempt by the Trojans?"What are they? Wise Men, or Fools? If wise, why do you go to war with them? If Fools, why do you mind them?
§. 5. Where then doth our Good lie, since it doth not lie in these Things? Tell us, Sir; you who are our Messenger and Spy.Where you do not think, nor are willing to seek it. For, if you were willing, you would find it in yourselves: nor would you wander abroad, nor seek what belongs to others, as your own. Turn your Thoughts into yourselves. Consider the Pre-conceptions which you have. What do you imagine Good to be?What is prosperous, happy, unhindered.Well: and do not you naturally imagine it great? Do not you imagine it valuable? Do not you imagine it incapable of being hurt? In what Materials then must you seek Prosperity, and Exemption from Hindrance?
In
xl. 11. where it is said of the King of Kings, He shall feed his Flock, like a Shepherd: He shall gather the Lambs with his Arm, and carry them in his Bosom; and shall gently lead those that are with young. He accordingly applies this distinguishing Character to himself, in several Places of the New Testament; especially John x.11. 14, 15, 16.
Homer speaks of Agamemnon by this Name (which we see was not unusual in the East) to express his Authority and Care: but Epictetus applies it as a Term of Reproach, to imply Ignorance, and Meanness of Spirit. One cannot help observing, on what is here said of Agamemnon, the Selfishness of the Stoic Doctrine; which, as it all along forbids Pity and Compassion, will have even a King to look upon the Welfare of his People, and a General on the Preservation of his Soldiers, as Matters quite foreign and indifferent to him.