Thus reasoning, I withdrew myself out of range, as Zeus did Hector, Far from the scene of slaughter, blood and strife, and resolved henceforth to keep my house. I lead the life you see—a spiritless, womanish life, most men would account it— holding converse with Philosophy, with Plato, with Truth. From my high seat in this vast theatre, I look down on the scene beneath me; a scene calculated to afford much entertainment; calculated also to try a man’s resolution to the utmost.