BOOK I
'To pleasant songs my work was erstwhile
given, and bright were all my labours then;
but now in tears to sad refrains am I
compelled to turn. Thus my maimed Muses guide
my pen, and gloomy songs make no feigned tears
bedew my face. Then could no fear so
overcome to leave me companionless upon my way.
They were the pride of my earlier bright-lived
days: in my later gloomy days they are the
comfort of my fate; for hastened by
unhappiness has age come upon me without warning,
and grief hath set within me the old age of her
gloom. White hairs are scattered untimely on
my head, and the skin hangs loosely from my
worn-out limbs.
'Happy is that death which thrusts not itself
upon men in their pleasant years, yet comes to
them at the oft-repeated cry of their sorrow.
Sad is it how death turns away from the
unhappy with so deaf an ear, and will not close,
cruel, the eyes that weep. Ill is it to trust to
Fortune's fickle bounty, and while yet she smiled
upon me, the hour of gloom had well-nigh
overwhelmed my head. Now has the cloud put off
its alluring face, wherefore without scruple my
life drags out its wearying delays.
'Why, O my friends, did ye so often puff me
up, telling me that I was fortunate? For he
that is fallen low did never firmly stand.'
While I was pondering thus in silence, and
using my pen to set down so tearful a complaint,
there appeared standing over my head a woman's
form, whose countenance was full of majesty,
whose eyes shone as with fire and in power of
insight surpassed the eyes of men, whose colour
was full of life, whose strength was yet intact
though she was so full of years that none would
ever think that she was subject to such age as
ours. One could but doubt her varying stature,
for at one moment she repressed it to the
common measure of a man, at another she
seemed to touch with her crown the very
heavens: and when she had raised higher her
head, it pierced even the sky and baffled the
sight of those who would look upon it. Her
clothing was wrought of the finest thread by
subtle workmanship brought to an indivisible
piece. This had she woven with her own
hands, as I afterwards did learn by her own
shewing. Their beauty was somewhat dimmed
by the dulness of long neglect, as is seen in the
smoke-grimed masks of our ancestors. On the
border below was inwoven the symbol II, on
that above was to be read a Τ
1 And between
the two letters there could be marked degrees,
by which, as by the rungs of a ladder, ascent
might be made from the lower principle to the
higher. Yet the hands of rough men had torn
this garment and snatched such morsels as they
could therefrom. In her right hand she carried
books, in her left was a sceptre brandished.
When she saw that the Muses of poetry were
present by my couch giving words to my
lamenting, she was stirred a while; her eyes
flashed fiercely, and said she, ' Who has
suffered these seducing mummers to approach
this sick man? Never do they support those
in sorrow by any healing remedies, but rather
do ever foster the sorrow by poisonous sweets.
These are they who stifle the fruit-bearing
harvest of reason with the barren briars of the
passions: they free not the minds of men from
disease, but accustom them thereto. I would
think it less grievous if your allurements drew
away from me some uninitiated man, as happens
in the vulgar herd. In such an one my labours
would be naught harmed, but this man has
been nourished in the lore of Eleatics and
Academics; and to him have ye reached?
Away with you, Sirens, seductive unto
destruction! leave him to my Muses to be cared for
and to be healed.'
Their band thus rated cast a saddened glance
[3:1]
— Π and Θ are the first letters of the Greek
words denoting Practical and Theoretical, the two divisions of philosophy.
upon the ground, confessing their shame in
blushes, and passed forth dismally over the
threshold. For my part, my eyes were dimmed
with tears, and I could not discern who was
this woman of such commanding power. I
was amazed, and turning my eyes to the ground
I began in silence to await what she should do.
Then she approached nearer and sat down
upon the end of my couch: she looked into
my face heavy with grief and cast down by
sorrow to the ground, and then she raised her
complaint over the trouble of my mind in these
words.
'Ah me! how blunted grows the mind when
sunk below the o'erwhelming flood! Its own
true light no longer burns within, and it would
break forth to outer darknesses. How often
care, when fanned by earthly winds, grows to
a larger and unmeasured bane. This man has
been free to the open heaven: his habit has it
been to wander into the paths of the sky: his
to watch the light of the bright sun, his to
inquire into the brightness of the chilly moon;
he, like a conqueror, held fast bound in its
order every star that makes its wandering circle,
turning its peculiar course. Nay, more, deeply
has he searched into the springs of nature,
whence came the roaring blasts that ruffle the
ocean's bosom calm: what is the spirit that
makes the firmament revolve; wherefore does
the evening star sink into the western wave but
to rise from the radiant East; what is the
cause which so tempers the season of Spring
that it decks the earth with rose-blossoms;
whence comes it to pass that Autumn is prolific
in the years of plenty and overflows with
teeming vines: deeply to search these causes was
his wont, and to bring forth secrets deep in
Nature hid.
'Now he lies there; extinct his reason's light,
his neck in heavy chains thrust down, his
countenance with grievous weight downcast; ah!
the brute earth is all he can behold.
'But now,' said she,' is the time for the
physician's art, rather than for complaining.'
Then fixing her eyes wholly on me, she said,
' Are you the man who was nourished upon
the milk of my learning, brought up with my
food until you had won your way to the power
of a manly soul? Surely I had given you
such weapons as would keep you safe, and your
strength unconquered; if you had not thrown
them away. Do you know me? Why do
you keep silence? Are you dumb from shame
or from dull amazement? I would it were
from shame, but I see that amazement has
overwhelmed you.'
When she saw that I was not only silent,
but utter]y tongue-tied and dumb, she put her
hand gently upon my breast, and said,' There
is no danger: he is suffering from drowsiness,
that disease which attacks so many minds which
have been deceived. He has forgotten himself
for a moment and will quickly remember, as
soon as he recognises me. That he may do
so, let me brush away from his eyes the
darkening cloud of thoughts of matters perishable.'
So saying, she gathered her robe into a fold
and dried my swimming eyes.
Then was dark night dispelled, the shadows
fled away, and my eyes received returning
power as before. 'Twas just as when the
heavenly bodies are enveloped by the west
wind's rush, and the sky stands thick with
watery clouds; the sun is hidden and the
stars are not yet come into the sky, and night
descending from above o'erspreads the earth:
but if the north wind smites this scene, launched
forth from the Thracian cave, it unlocks the
imprisoned daylight; the sun shines forth, and
thus sparkling Phœbus smites with his rays our
wondering eyes.
In such a manner were the clouds of grief
scattered. Then I drew breath again and
engaged my mind in taking knowledge of my
physician's countenance. So when I turned
my eyes towards her and fixed my gaze upon
her, I recognised my nurse, Philosophy, in
whose chambers I had spent my life from
earliest manhood. And I asked her,'
Wherefore have you, mistress of all virtues, come
down from heaven above to visit my lonely
place of banishment? Is it that you, as well as
I, may be harried, the victim of false charges? '
'Should I,' said she,' desert you, my nursling?
Should I not share and bear my part of the
burden which has been laid upon you from
spite against my name? Surely Philosophy
never allowed herself to let the innocent go
upon their journey unbefriended. Think you
I would fear calumnies? that I would be
terrified as though they were a new
misfortune? Think you that this is the first time
that wisdom has been harassed by dangers
among men of shameless ways? In ancient
days before the time of my child, Plato, have
we not as well as nowadays fought many a
mighty battle against the recklessness of folly?
And though Plato did survive, did not his
master, Socrates, win his victory of an unjust
death, with me present at his side? When
after him the followers of Epicurus, and in turn
the Stoics, and then others did all try their
utmost to seize his legacy, they dragged me, for
all my cries and struggles, as though to share
me as plunder; they tore my robe which I
had woven with mine own hands, and snatched
away the fragments thereof: and when they
thought I had altogether yielded myself to
them, they departed. And since among them
were to be seen certain signs of my outward
bearing, others ill-advised did think they wore
my livery: thus were many of them undone by
the errors of the herd of uninitiated. But if
you have not heard of the exile of Anaxagoras,
1
[7:1]
— Anaxagoras went into exile from Athens about
450 B.C.
nor the poison drunk by Socrates,
1 nor the
torture of Zeno,
2 which all were of foreign
lands, yet you may know of Canius,
3 Seneca,
4
and Soranus,
5 whose fame is neither small nor
passing old. Naught else brought them to
ruin but that, being built up in my ways, they
appeared at variance with the desires of
unscrupulous men. So it is no matter for your wonder
if, in this sea of life, we are tossed about by
storms from all sides; for to oppose evil men is
the chief aim we set before ourselves. Though
the band of such men is great in numbers, yet
is it to be contemned: for it is guided by no
leader, but is hurried along at random only by
error running riot everywhere. If this band when
warring against us presses too strongly upon us,
our leader, Reason, gathers her forces into her
citadel, while the enemy are busied in
plundering useless baggage. As they seize the most
worthless things, we laugh at them from above,
untroubled by the whole band of mad marauders,
and we are defended by that rampart to which
riotous folly may not hope to attain.
'He who has calmly reconciled his life to
fate, and set proud death beneath his feet, can
[8:1]
— Socrates was executed by the Athenian state,
B.C. 399.
[8:2]
— Zeno of Elea was tortured by Nearchus, tyrant
of Elea, about 440 B.C.
[8:3]
— Canius was put to death by Caligula, c. A.D.
40.
[8:4]
— Seneca was driven to commit suicide by
Nero, A.D. 66.
[8:5]
— Soranus was condemned to death by Nero,
A.D. 66.
look fortune in the face, unbending both to
good and bad: his countenance unconquered he
can shew. The rage and threatenings of the
sea will not move him though they stir from its
depths the upheaving swell: Vesuvius's furnaces
may never so often burst forth, and he may
send rolling upwards smoke and fire; the
lightning, whose wont it is to smite down lofty
towers, may flash upon its way, but such men
shall they never move. Why then stand they
wretched and aghast when fierce tyrants rage in
impotence? Fear naught, and hope naught:
thus shall you have a weak man's rage disarmed.
But whoso fears with trembling, or desires
aught from them, he stands not firmly rooted,
but dependent: thus has he thrown away his
shield; he can be rooted up, and he links for
himself the very chain whereby he may be
dragged.
'Are such your experiences, and do they
sink into your soul?' she asked.' Do you
listen only as "the dull ass to the lyre"?
Why do you weep? Wherefore flow your
tears? " Speak, nor keep secret in thine
heart." If you expect a physician to help
you, you must lay bare your wound.'
Then did I rally my spirit till it was strong
again, and answered,' Does the savage
bitterness of my fortune still need recounting? Does
it not stand forth plainly enough of itself?
Does not the very aspect of this place strike
you? Is this the library which you had chosen
for yourself as your sure resting-place in my
house? Is this the room in which you would
so often tarry with me expounding the
philosophy of things human and divine? Was my
condition like this, or my countenance, when I
probed with your aid the secrets of nature, when
you marked out with a wand the courses of the
stars, when you shaped our habits and the rule
of all our life by the pattern of the
universe?
1
Are these the rewards we reap by yielding
ourselves to you? Nay, you yourself have
established this saying by the mouth of Plato,
that commonwealths would be blessed if they
were guided by those who made wisdom their
study, or if those who guided them would make
wisdom their study.
2 By the mouth of that
same great man did you teach that this was the
binding reason why a commonwealth should be
governed by philosophers, namely that the helm
of government should not be left to
unscrupulous or criminal citizens lest they should bring
corruption and ruin upon the good citizens.
3
Since, then, I had learned from you in quiet
and inaction of this view, I followed it further,
for I desired to practise it in public government.
You and God Himself, who has grafted you in
the minds of philosophers, are my witnesses
that never have I applied myself to any office
of state except that I might work for the
[10:1]
— Boethius means that his chief ' philosophical '
studies had been physics, astronomy, and ethics.
[10:2]
— Plato, Repub. v 473.
[10:3]
— Plato, Repub. vi, 488, 489.
common welfare of all good men. Thence
followed bitter quarrels with evil men which
could not be appeased, and, for the sake of
preserving justice, contempt of the enmity of
those in power, for this is the result of a free
and fearless conscience. How often have I
withstood Conigastus 1 to his face, whenever he
has attacked a weak man's fortune! How
often have I turned by force Trigulla,
1 the
overseer of the Emperor's household, from an
unjust act that he had begun or even carried
out! How many times have I put my own
authority in danger by protecting those wretched
people who were harried with unending false
charges by the greed of barbarian Goths which
ever went unpunished! Never, I say, has any
man depraved me from justice to injustice. My
heart has ached as bitterly as those of the
sufferers when I have seen the fortunes of our
subjects ruined both by the rapacity of persons
and the taxes of the state. Again, in a time
of severe famine, a grievous, intolerable sale
by compulsion was decreed in Campania, and
devastation threatened that province. Then I
undertook for the sake of the common welfare a
struggle against the commander of the Imperial
guard; though the king was aware of it, I
fought against the enforcement of the sale, and
fought successfully. Paulinus was a man who
had been consul: the jackals of the court had
[11:1]
— Conigastus and Trigulla were favourite officers
of the Emperor, Theodoric, the Goth: they used their
influence with him for the oppression of the weak.
in their own hopes and desires already swallowed
up his possessions, but I snatched him from
their very gaping jaws. I exposed myself to
the hatred of the treacherous informer Cyprian,
that I might prevent Albinus, also a former
consul, being overwhelmed by the penalty of a
trumped-up charge. Think you that I have
raised up against myself bitter and great quarrels
enough? But I ought to have been safer
among those whom I helped; for, from my
love of justice, I laid up for myself among the
courtiers no resource to which I might turn
for safety. Who, further, were the informers
upon whose evidence I was banished? One
was Basilius: he was formerly expelled from
the royal service, and was driven by debt to
inform against me. Again, Opilio and
Gaudentius had been condemned to exile by the
king for many unjust acts and crimes: this
decree they would not obey, and they sought
sanctuary in sacred buildings, but when the
king was aware of it, he declared that if they
departed not from Ravenna before a certain
day, they should be driven forth branded upon
their foreheads. What could be more stringent
than this? Yet upon that very day information
against me was laid by these same men and
accepted. Why so? Did my character deserve
this treatment? Or did my prearranged
condemnation give credit and justification to my
accusers? Did Fortune feel no shame for this?
If not for innocence calumniated, at any rate for
the baseness of the calumniators?
'Would you learn the sum of the charges
against me? It was said that "I had desired
the safety of the Senate." You would learn
in what way. I was charged with "having
hindered an informer from producing papers by
which the Senate could be accused of treason."
What think you, my mistress? Shall I deny
it lest it shame you? Nay, I did desire the
safety of the Senate, nor shall ever cease to
desire it. Shall I confess it? Then there
would have been no need to hinder an informer.
Shall I call it a crime to have wished for the
safety of that order? By its own decrees
concerning myself it has established that this
is a crime. Though want of foresight often
deceives itself, it cannot alter the merits of
facts, and, in obedience to the Senate's
command, I cannot think it right to hide the truth
or to assent to falsehood.
'However, I leave it to your judgment and
that of philosophers to decide how the justice of
this may be; but I have committed to writing for
history the true course of events, that posterity
may not be ignorant thereof. I think it unnecessary
to speak of the forged letters through which I am
accused of " hoping for the freedom of Rome."
Their falsity would have been apparent if I had
been free to question the evidence of the
informers themselves, for their confessions have
much force in all such business.
'But what avails it? No liberty is left to
hope for. Would there were any! I would
answer in the words of Canius, who was accused
by Gaius Cæsar,
1 Germanicus's son, of
being
cognisant of a plot against himself: " If I had
known of it, you would not have."
'And in this matter grief has not so blunted
my powers that I should complain of wicked
men making impious attacks upon virtue: but
at this I do wonder, that they should hope to
succeed. Evil desires are, it may be, due to
our natural failings, but that the conceptions of
any wicked mind should prevail against
innocence while God watches over us, seems to me
unnatural. Wherefore not without cause has
one of your own followers asked, " If God is,
whence come evil things? If He is not,
whence come good? "
'Again, let impious men, who thirst for the
blood of the whole Senate and of all good
citizens, be allowed to wish for the ruin of us
too whom they recognise as champions of the
Senate and all good citizens: but surely such as
I have not deserved the same hatred from the
members of the Senate too?
'Since you were always present to guide me
in my words and my deeds, I think you
remember what happened at Verona. When
King Theodoric, desiring the common ruin of
the Senate, was for extending to the whole
order the charge of treason laid against Albinus,
you remember how I laboured to defend the
innocence of the order without any care for my
own danger? You know that I declare this
truthfully and with no boasting praise of self.
[14:1]
— The Emperor Caligula.
For the secret value of a conscience, that
approves its own action, is lessened somewhat
each time that it receives the reward of fame
by displaying its deeds. But you see what
end has fallen upon my innocency. In the
place of the rewards of honest virtue, I am
suffering the punishments of an ill deed that
was not mine. And did ever any direct
confession of a crime find its judges so well
agreed upon exercising harshness, that neither
the liability of the human heart to err, nor the
changeableness of the fortune of all mankind,
could yield one dissentient voice? If it had
been said that I had wished to burn down
temples, to murder with sacrilegious sword
their priests, that I had planned the massacre
of all good citizens, even so I should have been
present to plead guilty or to be convicted, before
the sentence was executed. But here am I,
nearly five hundred -miles away, without the
opportunity of defending myself, condemned to
death and the confiscation of my property
because of my tao great zeal for the Senate.
Ah! well have they deserved that none should
ever be liable to be convicted on such a charge!
Even those who laid information have seen the
honour of this accusation, for, that they might
blacken it with some criminal ingredient, they
had need to lie, saying that I had violated my
conscience by using unholy means to obtain
offices corruptly. But you, by being planted
within me, dispelled from the chamber of my
soul all craving for that which perishes, and
where your eyes were looking there could be
no place for any such sacrilege. For you
instilled into my ears, and thus into my daily
thoughts, that saying of Pythagoras, " Follow
after God." Nor was it seemly that I, whom
you had built up to such excellence that you
made me as a god, should seek the support of
the basest wills of men. Yet, further, the
innocent life within my home, my gathering of
most honourable friends, my father-in-law
Symmachus,
l a man esteemed no less in his
public life than for his private conscientiousness,
these all put far from me all suspicion of this
crime. But—O the shame of it!—it is from
you that they think they derive the warrant for
such a charge, and we seem to them to be allied
to ill-doing from this very fact that we are steeped
in the principles of your teaching, and trained in
your manners of life. Thus it is not enough
that my deep respect for you has profited me
nothing, but you yourself have received wanton
contumely from the hatred that had rather fallen
on me. Yet besides this, is another load added
to my heap of woes: the judgment of the world
looks not to the deserts of the case, but to the
evolution of chance, and holds that only this
has been intended which good fortune may
chance to foster: whence it comes that the
good opinion of the world is the first to desert
the unfortunate. It is wearisome to recall what
were the tales by people told, or how little
[16:1]
— Symmachus was executed by Theodoric
at the same time as Boethius.
their many various opinions agreed. This
alone I would fain say: it is the last burden
laid upon us by unkind fortune, that when any
charge is invented to be fastened upon unhappy
men, they are believed to have deserved all
they have to bear. For kindness I have
received persecutions; I have been driven from
all my possessions, stripped of my honours, and
stained for ever in my reputation. I think I
see the intoxication of joy in the sin-steeped
dens of criminals: I see the most abandoned
of men intent upon new and evil schemes of
spying: I see honest men lying crushed with
the fear which smites them after the result of
my perilous case: wicked men one and all
encouraged to dare every crime without fear of
punishment, nay, with hope of rewards for the
accomplishment thereof: the innocent I see
robbed not merely of their peace and safety,
but even of all chance of defending themselves.
So then I may cry aloud:—
'Founder of the star-studded universe, resting
on Thine eternal throne whence Thou turnest
the swiftly rolling sky, and bindest the stars
to keep Thy law; at Thy word the moon now
shines brightly with full face, ever turned to her
brother's light, and so she dims the lesser
lights; or now she is herself obscured, for
nearer to the sun her beams shew her pale
horns alone. Cool rises the evening star at
night's first drawing nigh: the same is the
morning star who casts off the harness that she bore
before, and paling meets the rising sun. When
winter's cold doth strip the trees, Thou settest
a shorter span to day. And Thou, when
summer comes to warm, dost change the short
divisions of the night. Thy power doth order
the seasons of the year, so that the western
breeze of spring brings back the leaves which
winter's north wind tore away; so that the
dog-star's heat makes ripe the ears of corn
whose seed Arcturus watched. Naught breaks
that ancient law: naught leaves undone the
work appointed to its place. Thus all things
Thou dost rule with limits fixed: the lives of
men alone dost Thou scorn to restrain, as a
guardian, within bounds. F or why does
Fortune with her fickle hand deal out such
changing lots? The hurtful penalty is due to
crime, but falls upon the sinless head: depraved
men rest at ease on thrones aloft, and by their
unjust lot can spurn beneath their hurtful heel
the necks of virtuous men. Beneath obscuring
shadows lies bright virtue hid: the just man
bears the unjust's infamy. They suffer not for
forsworn oaths, they suffer not for crimes
glozed over with their lies. But when their
will is to put forth their strength, with triumph
they subdue the mightiest kings whom peoples
in their thousands fear. O Thou who dost
weave the bonds of Nature's self, look down
upon this pitiable earth! Mankind is no base
part of this great work, and we are tossed on
Fortune's wave. Restrain, our Guardian, the
engulfing surge, and as Thou dost the unbounded
heaven rule, with a like bond make true and
firm these lands.'
While I grieved thus in long-drawn pratings,
Philosophy looked on with a calm countenance,
not one whit moved by my complaints Then
said she,' When I saw you in grief and in tears
I knew thereby that you were unhappy and in
exile, but I knew not how distant was your
exile until your speech declared it. But you
have not been driven so far from your home;
you have wandered thence yourself: or if you
would rather hold that you have been driven,
you have been driven by yourself rather than
by any other. No other could have done so
to you. For if you recall your true native
country, you know that it is not under the rule
of the many-headed people, as was Athens of old,
but there is one Lord, one King, who rejoices in
the greater number of his subjects, not in their
banishment. To be guided by his reins, to bow
to his justice, is the highest liberty. Know
you not that sacred and ancient law of your
own state by which it is enacted that no man,
who would establish a dwelling-place for himself
therein, may lawfully be put forth? For there
is no fear that any man should merit exile, if
he be kept safe therein by its protecting walls.
But any man that may no longer wish to dwell
there, does equally no longer deserve to be
there. Wherefore it is your looks rather than
the aspect of this place which disturb me.l It
[19:1]
— Cp. Prose iv. of this book,p. 9.
is not the walls of your library, decked with
ivory and glass, that I need, but rather the
resting-place in your heart, wherein I have not
stored books, but I have of old put that which
gives value to books, a store of thoughts from
books of mine. As to your services to the
common weal, you have spoken truly, though
but scantily, if you consider your manifold
exertions. Of all wherewith you have been
charged either truthfully or falsely, you have
but recorded what is well known. As for the
crimes and wicked lies of the informers, you
have rightly thought fit to touch but shortly
thereon, for they are better and more fruitfully
made common in the mouth of the crowd that
discusses all matters. You have loudly and
strongly upbraided the unjust ingratitude of the
Senate: you have grieved over the charges
made against myself, and shed tears over the
insult to my fair fame: your last outburst of
wrath was against Fortune, when you complained
that she paid no fair rewards according to
deserts: finally, you have prayed with passionate
Muse that the same peace and order, that are seen
in the heavens, might also rule the earth. But
you are overwhelmed by this variety of mutinous
passions: grief, rage, and gloom tear your mind
asunder, and so in this present mood stronger
measures cannot yet come nigh to heal you.
Let us therefore use gentler means, and since,
just as matter in the body hardens into a
swelling, so have these disquieting influences,
let these means soften by kindly handling the
unhealthy spot, until it will bear a sharper
remedy.
'When the sign of the crab doth scorch the
field, fraught with the sun's most grievous rays,
the husbandman that has freely intrusted his
seed to the fruitless furrow, is cheated by the
faithless harvest-goddess; and he must turn him
to the oak tree's fruit.
'When the field is scarred by the bleak north
winds, wouldst thou seek the wood's dark
carpet to gather violets? If thou wilt enjoy
the grapes, wouldst thou seek with clutching
hand to prune the vines in spring? 'Tis in
autumn Bacchus brings his gifts. Thus God
marks out the times and fits to them peculiar
works: He has set out a course of change, and
lets no confusion come. If aught betake itself
to headlong ways, and leaves its sure design, ill
will the outcome be thereto.
'First then,' she continued,' will you let me
find out and make trial of the state of your
mind by a few small questions, that so I may
understand what should be the method of your
treatment? '
'Ask,' said I,' what your judgment would
have you ask, and I will answer you.'
Then said she,' Think you that this universe
is guided only at random and by mere chance?
or think you there is any rule of reason
constituted in it? '
'No, never would I think it could be so, nor
believe that such sure motions could be made at
random or by chance. I know that God, the
founder of the universe, does overlook His
work; nor ever may that day come which shall
drive me to abandon this belief as untrue.'
'So is it,' she said,' and even so you cried
just now, and only mourned that mankind alone
has no part in this divine guardianship: you
were fixed in your belief that all other things
are ruled by reason. Yet, how strange! how
much I wonder how it is that you can be so
sick though you are set in such a health-giving
state of mind! But let us look deeper into it:
I cannot but think there is something lacking.
Since you are not in doubt that the universe is
ruled by God, tell me by what method you
think that government is guided? '
'I scarcely know the meaning of your
question; much less can I answer it.'
'Was I wrong,' said she,' to think that
something was lacking, that there was some
opening in your armour, some way by which
this distracting disease has crept into your soul?
But tell me, do you remember what is the aim
and end of all things? what the object to
which all nature tends? '
'I have heard indeed, but grief has blunted
my memory.'
'But do you not somehow know whence all
things have their source? '
'Yes,' I said; ' that source is God.'
'Is it possible that you, who know the
beginning of all things, should not know their end?
But such are the ways of these distractions,
such is their power, that though they can move
a man's position, they cannot pluck him from
himself or wrench him from his roots. But
this question would I have you answer: do
you remember that you are a man? '
'How can I but remember that? '
'Can you then say what is a man? '
'Need you ask? I know that he is an
animal, reasoning and mortal; that I know, and
that I confess myself to be.'
'Know you naught else that you are? ' asked
Philosophy.
'Naught,' said I.
'Now,' said she,' I know the cause, or the
chief cause, of your sickness. You have
forgotten what you are. Now therefore I have
found out to the full the manner of your
sickness, and how to attempt the restoring of your
health. You are overwhelmed by this
forgetfulness of yourself: hence you have been thus
sorrowing that you are exiled and robbed of all
your possessions. You do not know the aim
and end of all things; hence you think that if
men are worthless and wicked, they are
powerful and fortunate. You have forgotten by what
methods the universe is guided; hence you
think that the chances of good and bad fortune
are tossed about with no ruling hand. These
things may lead not to disease only, but
even to death as well. But let us thank the
Giver of all health, that your nature has not
altogether left you. We have yet the chief
spark for your health's fire, for you have a true
knowledge of the hand that guides the universe:
you do believe that its government is not subject
to random chance, but to divine reason.
Therefore have no fear. From this tiny spark the
fire of life shall forthwith shine upon you. But
it is not time to use severer remedies, and since
we know that it is the way of all minds to
clothe themselves ever in false opinions as they
throw off the true, and these false ones breed a
dark distraction which confuses the true insight,
therefore will I try to lessen this darkness for a
while with gentle applications of easy remedies,
that so the shadows of deceiving passions may
be dissipated, and you may have power to
perceive the brightness of true light.'
'When the stars are hidden by black clouds,
no light can they afford. When the boisterous
south wind rolls along the sea and stirs the
surge, the water, but now as clear as glass,
bright as the fair sun's light, is dark,
impenetrable to sight, with stirred and scattered sand.
The stream, that wanders down the
mountain's side, must often find a stumbling-block, a
stone within its path torn from the hill's own
rock. So too shalt thou: if thou wouldst see
the truth in undimmed light, choose the straight
road, the beaten path; away with passing joys!
away with fear! put vain hopes to flight! and
grant no place to grief! Where these
distractions reign, the mind is clouded o'er, the
soul is bound in chains.'