ain of his beneficence; at the same
time, he enjoys the pleasure of being esteemed by others. The exercise
of gratitude, filial affection, and reverence for the gods, is
necessary, in order to avoid the hatred and contempt of all men.
Friendships are contracted for the sake of mutual benefit; but by
degrees they ripen into such disinterested attachment, that they are
continued without any prospect of advantage. Between friends there is a
kind of league, that each will love the other as himself. A true friend
will partake of the wants and sorrows of his friend, as if they were his
own; if he be in want, he will relieve him; if he be in prison, he will
visit him; if he be sick, he will come to him; nay-situations may occur,
in which he would not scruple to die for him. It cannot then be doubted,
that friendship is one of the most useful means of procuring a secure,
tranquil, and happy life."

No man will, we think, find anything in the foregoing summary to justify
the foul language used against Epicurus, and his moral philosophy; the
secret is in the physical doctrines, and this secret is, that Epicurus
was actually, if not intentionally, an Atheist. The following is a
summary of his physical doctrine:--

"Nothing can ever spring from nothing, nor can anything ever return to
nothing. The universe always existed, and will always remain; for there
is nothing into which it can be changed. There is nothing in Nature, nor
can anything be conceived, besides body and space. Body is that which
possesses the properties of bulk, figure, resistance, and gravity: it is
this alone which can touch or be touched. Space is the region which
is, or may be, occupied by body, and which affords it an opportunity of
moving freely. That there are bodies in the universe is attested by
the senses. That there is also space is evident; since otherwise bodies
would have no place in which to move or exist, and of their existence
and motion we have the certain proof of perception. Besides these, no
third nature can be conceived; for such a nature must either have bulk
and solidity, or want them; that is, it must either be body or space:
this does not, however, preclude the existence of qualities, which have
no subsistence but in the body to which they belong.

"The universe, consisting of body and space, is infinite, for it has
no limits. Bodies are infinite in multitude; space is infinite in
magnitude. The term above, or beneath, high or low, canno