"For if," says Israel, "I and my cattle drink of thy water, I will pay you a price for it." Not meaning by that such price as is spoken of by the poets, money of silver or gold, or anything else; such among dealers is accustomed to be given to those who sell wares in exchanges for their wares, but the price will be the honour which he now claims;
Section 170
for, in reality, every intemperate, or unjust, or cowardly man, when he sees any one who is more austere either avoiding labour, or subdued by gain, or yielding to any one of the allurements of pleasure, rejoices and exults, and thinks that he himself has received honour. And, moreover, going on in his rejoicing and displaying his exultation to the multitude, he begins to philosophise about his own errors as very unavoidable and not useless, saying that if they were not of such a character, that respectable man, so and so, would never have indulged in them.
Section 171
Let us, then, say to every wicked man, if we drink of thy water, if we touch anything, whatever that is yours, owing to an indiscreet impetuosity, we shall be giving you honour, and acceptance, instead of dishonour and rejection (for these are what you deserve to receive);
Section 172
and, in truth, the matters about which you are anxious are absolutely nothing. Do you think that anything mortal has any real being and existence, and that it is not rather something borne up and suspended by the rope of some false and untrustworthy opinion, resting on empty air, and in no respect differing from deceitful dreams?
Section 173
And if you are unwilling to contemplate the fortunes of particular men, think upon the changes, whether for the better or for the worse, of whole countries and nations. At one time Greece was flourishing, but the Macedonians took away the power of that land; then, in turn, Macedonia became mighty, but that, being divided into small portions became weak, until at last it was entirely extinguished.
Section 174
Before the time of the Macedonians the Persians prospered, but one day overthrew their exceeding and extensive prosperity. And now the Parthians are more powerful than the Persians, who a little while ago were their masters, ever were; and those who were their subjects are now masters. Once, and for a very long time, Egypt was a mighty empire, but its great dominion and glory have passed away like a cloud. What has become of the Ethiopians, and of Carthage, and of the kingdoms of Libya? Where now are the kings of Pontus?
Section 175
What has become of Europe and Asia, and, in short, of the whole of the inhabited world? Is it not tossed up and down and agitated like a ship that is tossed by the sea, at one time enjoying a fair wind and at another time being forced to battle against contrary gales?
Section 176
For the divine Word brings round its operations in a circle, which the common multitude of men call fortune. And then, as it continually flows on among cities, and nations, and countries, it overturns existing arrangements and gives to one person what has previously belonged to another, changing the affairs of individuals only in point of time, in order that the whole world may become, as it were, one city, and enjoy the most excellent of constitutions, a democracy.
Section 177
No one, therefore, of all the objects of human anxiety or of human labour, is of any importance or value; but every such thing is a mere shadow or breath, disappearing before it can get any firm footing; for it comes and then again it departs, like the ebbing tide. For the sea, in its ebb and flow, is at one time borne forwards with great violence, and roaring, and noise, and overflowing its bounds makes a lake of what has previously been dry land; and, at another time, it recedes and makes a large portion of what has been sea, dry land.
Section 178
In the same manner, at times, prosperity overflows a mighty and populous nation, but afterwards turns the impetuosity of its stream in the opposite direction, and does not leave even the slightest drop, so as to suffer no trace whatever to remain of its former richness.
Section 179
But it is not everybody who receives the complete and full meaning of these events, but only those receive it who are accustomed always to proceed in accordance with true and solid reason and limitation; for we find the same men saying both these things, "All the affairs of the created world are absolutely nothing;" and, "We will go by thy mountain."
Section 180
For it is impossible for one who is not in the habit of using high and mountainous roads to repudiate all mortal affairs, and to turn aside and change his paths for what is immortal. Therefore the earthly Edom thinks it right to blockade the heavenly and royal road of virtue, and the divine reason blockades his road, and that of all who follow his opinions;
Section 181
among whom we must enroll Balaam, for he also is a child of the earth, and not a shoot of heaven, and a proof of this is, that he, being influenced by omens and false prophecies, not even when the eye of his soul, which had been closed, recovered its sight, and "saw the angel of God standing against him in the way;" Numbers xxii. 31. not even then did he turn back and desist from doing Numbers xxii. 31. wrong, but giving way to a mighty torrent of folly, he was washed away and swallowed up by it.