CONTENTS.

PAGES
I. The Introduction[1]-66
§ 1. On the Authorship, Form, Design, and Contents of the Book[3]-32
§ 2. On the History of the Captivity[32]-66
(1) The Babylonian Period[38]-43
(2) The Persian Period[43]-66
II. The Translation[67]-110
§ 1. The Prologue[69]-70
§ 2. The First Section: or, The Quest of the Chief Good in Wisdom and in Pleasure[71]-76
§ 3. The Second Section: or, The Quest in Devotion to the Affairs of Business[77]-86
§ 4. The Third Section: or, The Quest in Wealth and in the Golden Mean[87]-96
§ 5. The Fourth Section: or, The Quest Achieved[97]-108
§ 6. The Epilogue[109], 110
III. The Exposition[111]-335
§ 1. The Prologue[113]-126
§ 2. The First Section: or, The Quest in Wisdom and in Pleasure[127]-141
(a) The Quest in Wisdom[127]-133
(b) The Quest in Pleasure[133]-137
(c) Wisdom and Pleasure Compared[138]-140
(d) The Conclusion[140], 141
§ 3. The Second Section: or, The Quest in Devotion to the Affairs of Business[142]-186
(a) The Quest obstructed by Divine Ordinances[143]-145
(b) And by Human Injustice and Perversity[145]-151
(c) It is rendered hopeless by the base Origin of Human Industries[151], 152
(d) Yet these are capable of a nobler Motive and Mode[153]-158
(e) So also a happier and more effective Method of Worship is open to Man;[158]-160
(f) And a more helpful and consolatory Trust in the Divine Providence[161]-164
(g) The Conclusion[164], 165
Application[165]-186
(a) Devotion to Business springs from Jealous Competition:[168], 169
(b) It tends to form a Covetous Temper;[169]-171
(c) To produce a Materialistic Scepticism;[171]-173
(d) To make Worship Formal and Insincere;[173], 174
(e) And to take from Life its Quiet and Innocent Enjoyments[175]-179
(f) The Correctives of this Devotion are,
(1) A Sense of its Perils;[179], 180
(2) And the Conviction that it is opposed to the Will of God as expressed—
(a) In the Ordinances of his Providence,[180]
(b) In the Wrongs which He permits Men to inflict upon us;[181]
(c) But above all in the immortal Cravings which He has quickened in the Soul[182], 183
(g) Practical Maxims deduced from this View of the Business-Life[184]-186
(1) A Maxim on Co-operation[184]
(2) A Maxim on Worship[184], 185
(3) A Maxim on Trust in God[185], 186
§ 4. The Third Section: or, The Quest in Wealth and in the Golden Mean[187]-228
(A) The Quest in Wealth[188]-193
(a) The Man who makes Riches his Chief Good is haunted by Fears and Perplexities:[188]-190
(b) For God has put Eternity into his heart;[190], 191
(c) And much that he gains only feeds Vanity;[191], 192
(d) Neither can he tell what it will be Good for him to have,[192]
(e) Nor foresee what will become of his Gains[192], 193
(B) The Quest in the Golden Mean[193]-209
(a) The Method of the Man who seeks a Competence[195]-199
(b) The Perils to which it exposes him[199]-207
(1) He is likely to compromise Conscience:[200], 201
(2) To be indifferent to Censure:[201]-203
(3) To despise Women:[203]-205
(4) And to be indifferent to Public Wrongs[205]-207
(c) The Preacher condemns this Theory of Human Life[207]-209
Application[209]-228
(A) The Quest in Wealth[212]-218
(a) The Man who makes Riches his Chief Good is haunted by Fears and Perplexities[213], 214
(b) Much that he gains only feeds Vanity[214], 215
(c) He cannot tell what it will be Good for him to have;[215]
(d) Nor foresee what will become of his Gains:[215], 216
(e) And because God has put Eternity into his heart, he cannot be content with Temporal Gains[216]-218
(B) The Quest in the Golden Mean[218]-228
(a) The Method of the Man who seeks a Competence[220]-222
(b) The Perils to which it exposes him[222]-226
(1) He is likely to compromise Conscience:[222]-224
(2) To be indifferent to Censure:[224]
(3) To despise Women:[225]
(4) And to be indifferent to Public Wrongs[226]
(c) The Preacher condemns this Theory of Human Life[227], 228
§ 5. The Fourth Section: or, The Quest Achieved[229]-275
(a) The Chief Good not to be found in Wisdom:[230]-234
(b) Nor in Pleasure:[234]-237
(c) Nor in Devotion to Affairs and its Rewards:[237]-246
(d) But in a wise Use and a wise Enjoyment of the Present Life,[247]-256
(c) Combined with a stedfast Faith in the Life to come[256]-275
§ 6. The Epilogue: In which the Problem of the Book is conclusively Solved[276]-335

INTRODUCTION.

§ 1. ON THE AUTHORSHIP, FORM, DESIGN, AND
CONTENTS OF THE BOOK.

Those who raise the question, "Is life worth living?" answer it by—living on; for no man lives simply to proclaim what a worthless and wretched creature he is. But for the most part the question is mooted in a merely academical and not very sincere spirit. And to the dainty and fastidious pessimist who goes about to imply his own superiority by declaring that the world which contents his fellows is not good enough for him, there still seems no better reply than the rough but rousing and wholesome rebuke which Epictetus gave to such as he some nineteen centuries ago, reminding them that there were many exits from the theatre of life, and advising them, if they disliked the "show", to retire from it by the nearest door of escape, and to make room for spectators of a more modest and grateful spirit.

Of the pessimists of his time he demands, "Was it not God who brought you here? And as what did He bring you? Was it not as a mortal? Was it not as one who was to live with a little portion of flesh upon the earth, and to witness his administration—to behold the great spectacle around you for a little while? After you have beheld the solemn and august spectacle as long as is permitted you, will you not depart when He leads you out, adoring and thankful for what you have heard and seen? For you the solemnity is over. Go away, then, like a modest and grateful person. Make room for others."

"But why," urges the pessimist, "did He bring me into the world on these hard terms?"