Quod Deterius Potiori Insidiari Soleat

Abel therefore had not learnt any of the arts of reasoning, but he knew what was good by his intellectual disposition alone; on account of which he ought to have refused to go down to the plain, and to have disregarded the invitation of his enemy. For any display of fear is better than being defeated; but such fear a man’s enemies call cowardice, but his friends entitle it safe prudence, and we must believe friends in preference to enemies, inasmuch as they tell us the truth.

And it is on this account, as you see, that Moses rejected the sophists in Egypt, that is to say, in the body whom he calls magicians (for it is owing to the tricks and deceits of their sophistical tricks that good dispositions and good habits are infected and corrupted), saying that he was "not an eloquent man," [*](Exodus iv. 10. ) which is equivalent to saying that he was not formed by nature for the conjectural rhetoric of plausible and specious reasons. And immediately afterwards he confirms the assertion by adding, that he is not only not eloquent, but altogether "void of words," [*]( It is not possible to give the exact force of the original here. The Greek word is ᾶλογος, which usually means "irrational," as derived from λóyος, " reason " which word has also the sense of " a word," " speech." The bible translation in the passage alluded to, Exodus vi. 12, is "who am of uncircumcised lips." ) meaning this, not [*](Exodus iv. 10. ) [*]( It is not possible to give the exact force of the original here. The Greek word is ᾶλογος, which usually means "irrational," as derived from λóyος, " reason " which word has also the sense of " a word," " speech." The bible translation in the passage alluded to, Exodus vi. 12, is "who am of uncircumcised lips." )