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comprehending what else was meant by that 

 phrase besides true quiet and content of mind ; 

 which, however expressed, is, I suppose, meant 

 by all to be the best account that can be given 

 of the happiness of man, since no man can pre- 

 tend to be happy without it. 



I have often wondered how such sharp and 

 violent invectives came to be made so generally 

 against Epicurus by the ages that followed him, 

 whose admirable wit, felicity of expression, ex- 

 cellence of nature, sweetness of conversation, 

 temperance of life, and constancy in death 

 made him so beloved by his friends, admired by 

 his scholars, and honored by the Athenians. 

 But this injustice may be fastened chiefly upon 

 the envy and malignity of the Stoics at first, 

 then upon the mistakes of some gross pretend- 

 ers to his sect (who took pleasure only to be 

 sensual), and afterwards, upon the piety of the 

 primitive Christians, who esteemed his princi- 

 ples of natural philosophy more opposite to 

 those of our religion, than either the Platonists, 

 the Peripatetics, or Stoics themselves : yet, I 

 confess, I do not know why the account given 

 by Lucretius of the gods should be thought 

 more impious than that given by Homer, who 

 makes them not only subject to all the weakest 

 passions, but perpetually busy in all the worst 

 or meanest actions of men. 



