to be called truly free? In the same way may every inordinate passion be more or less designated as a sort of madness, which degrades men and destroys their freedom They are the slaves of their passions,
4. He who goes into the water for the first time in order to learn how to swim, is guided and held fast by the swimming master by means of a rope, in order that, should he begin to sink, he might be drawn out and rescued without any difficulty. But as soon as the pupil has become somewhat familiarized with the water, and has had some practise in swimming, so that he knows how to keep himself afloat, then he is left free, the restraining rope is withdrawn.
Consider the training of a child. In the beginning leading strings are necessary; careful nurses must guide the child, but only in order to teach it how to walk alone; they have to support its steps, but only in order to show it how to direct them; they have to point out the goal to be aimed at, but only to incite it to hasten toward that goal.
5. In matters that pertain to morality, the young man who has been properly trained is free to choose between good and evil; but when he has been accustomed to choose the good, he perseveres in it, even when he is far removed from parents and teachers. He knows that freedom does not do away with duty, that it does not confer the right to do. whatever he chooses, that it must have refer-
