Page:All the works of Epictetus - which are now extant; consisting of his Discourses, preserved by Arrian, in four books, the Enchiridion, and fragments (IA allworksofepicte00epic).pdf/38

xxviii and an Account of his Life and Death. Very little Order or Method is to be found in them, or was from the Nature of them to be expected. The Connexion is often scarcely discoverable: a Reference to particular Incidents, long since forgotten, at the same time that it evidences their Genuineness, often renders them obscure in some Places; and the great Corruption of the Text, in others. Yet, under all these Disadvantages, this immethodical Collection is perhaps one of the most valuable Remains of Antiquity; and they, who consult it with any Degree of Attention, can scarcely fail of receiving Improvement. Indeed it is hardly possible to be inattentive to so awakening a Speaker as Epictetus. There is such a Warmth and Spirit in his Exhortations; and his good Sense is enlivened by fuch a Keenness of Wit, and Gaiety of Humour, as render the Study of him, a most delightful as well as profitable Entertainment.

§. 42. For this Reason it was judged proper, that a Translation of him should be undertaken; there being none, I believe, but of the Enchiridion, in any modern Language, excepting a pretty good French one, published about a hundred and fifty Years ago, and so extremely scarce, that I was unable to procure it, till Mr. Harris obligingly lent it me, after I had published the Proposals for printing this: which, notwithstanding the Assistance given me in the Prosecution of it, hath still, I am sensible, great Faults. But they, who will see them the most clearly, will be the readiest to excuse, as they will know best the Difficulty of avoiding them. There is one Circumstance, which, I am apprehensive, must be particularly striking, and possibly shocking to many, the frequent Use of some Words in an unpopular Sense: an Inconvenience, which, however, I flatter myself, the Introduction and Notes will, in some Degree, remove. In the Translation of technical Terms, if the