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trate, he seems to have reposed implicit confidence in the benevolence of the Deity even unto death', and to have believed in

b Socrates is full of expressions indicating that implicit confidence in the justice and benevolence of the Deity, which is the root and foundation of all religious faith.

In the Theætetus, Θεὸς οὐδαμῇ οὐδαμῶς ἄδικος, ἀλλ ̓ ὡς οἷόν τε δικαιότατος, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν αὐτῷ ὁμοιότερον οὐδὲν ἢ ὃς ἂν ἡμῶν αὖ γένηται ὅτι δικαιότατος. Bekker, pars ii. vol. i. p. 247. In the Gorgias, Μὴ γὰρ τοῦτο μὲν, τὸ ζῆν ὁποσονδὴ χρόνον, τόν γε ὡς ἀληθῶς ἄνδρα εὐκτέον ἐστὶ καὶ οὐ φιλοψυχη τέον, ἀλλ ̓ ἐπιτρεψάντα περὶ τούτων τῷ Θεῷ. Bekker, pars ii. vol. i. p. 142. Again, in the same treatise, speaking of the unjust and intemperate man, Οὔτε γὰρ ἂν ἄλλῳ ἀνθρώπῳ προσφιλὴς ἂν εἴη ὁ τοιοῦτος οὔτε Θεῷ. Bekker, pars ii. vol. i. p. 133. In the Theages, a treatise ascribed to Plato, 'Eav μὲν τῷ Θεῷ φίλον ᾖ, πάνυ πολὺ ἐπιδώσεις καὶ ταχὺ, εἰ δὲ μὴ, οὔ. Bekker, pars ii. vol. iii. p. 280. In the Apologia, Οὐδὲ ἀμελεῖται ὑπὸ Θεῶν τὰ τούτου πράγματα. Bekker, pars i. vol. ii. p. 189. Vide also Alcibiades I. if this dialogue ́was really written by Plato, which admits of some doubt. SOC. Οὐ καλῶς λέγεις, Ὦ ̓Αλκιβιάδη.

ALC. ̓Αλλὰ πῶς χρὴ λέγειν ;

SOC. Ὅτι ἐὰν Θεὸς ἐθέλῃ, p. 373.

SOC. Ὁ ἐπίτροπος ὁ ἐμὸς βελτίων ἐστὶ καὶ σοφώτερος ἢ Περικλῆς ὁ σός.

ALC. Τίς οὗτος, ὦ Σώκρατες ;

SOC. Θεός, ὦ ̓Αλκιβιάδη, κ. τ. λ. Bekker, pars ii. vol. iii. p. 345.

It may be worth mentioning also, that Socrates considered suicide a criminal act of disobedience to the Deity: because we are here at our post assigned us by the gods,

him as a rewarder of them that diligently seek him, in spite of all the doubts that confounded his understanding, and the wrongs and oppressions which he endured. Whatever were his views on the abstract question of the universal soul, he is uniform in teaching that no happiness in this life was perfect, and that our happiness in another would depend upon our conduct during our present existence. He reasoned as Hooker reasoned, that no sensible, no moral and civil perfection, was sufficient to satisfy the desires which nature had implanted. He exhorted men to aspire (to

and may not leave without their permission. Tóde yé pos δοκεῖ, ὦ Κέβης, εὖ λέγεσθαι, τὸ Θεοὺς εἶναι ἡμῶν τοὺς ἐπιμελοévous. Phædo, p. 13.

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c In the Convivium of Plato, Socrates is represented as making celestial love the source of every duty towards gods and men; and admonishing his hearers, that all the labours and desires of the soul ought to aim at that supreme archetype of beauty and truth, which is perfect in itself, uniform and unchangeable, and in the possession of which alone complete happiness can be found. Convivium, pars ii. vol. ii. Plato, Bekker, p. 444, &c.

Sentences like these remind us of bishop Butler's sermon on the Love of God; and some of the most beautiful passages in the earlier parts of Hooker's Ecclesiastical

use the words of Hooker) to "something

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spiritual and divine; that which exceed"eth the reach of sense, yea somewhat "above the capacity of reason, which with "hidden exaltation it rather surmiseth than "conceiveth"." This divine felicity in a future state was to consist in the contemplation of truth in its substantial beauty and perfection, of which we only see the shadow here below, through the dark medium of the senses and imagination. Hence

Polity, vid. p. 260. vol. i. 8vo. edit. Leighton's 4th and 5th Lectures are also written very much in the spirit of Plato's exhortations; Leighton's Works, vol. iv.

d Appendix, notes H and I.

e Cedant igitur hi omnes (says Augustin, speaking of other sects) illis philosophis qui non dixerunt beatum esse hominem, fruentem corpore, vel fruentem animo, sed fruentem Deo. August. Civ. Dei, lib. viii. c. 8.

It is very true, that some of St. Augustin's observations respecting the similarity of Plato's sentiments to the precepts of Christianity, are applicable only to the refinements introduced by the later Platonists: yet Plato himself certainly inculcated the notion to which the words above cited allude.

f Vide that beautiful passage in the Phædo, unequalled perhaps for the flowing harmony of its language in the whole compass of Greek literature; in which he describes the effect of the passions in darkening the under

his continual exhortations to die daily, (they are almost the words of Plato ;) to subdue, even to their utter extinction, those corrupt affections which alike darken the understanding, and are the cause of all moral evil. He asserts, in the language of holy writ, that the wars and fightings which exist among mankind, proceed from the unruly passions that war in their members", and that it was only by overcoming these, and practising virtue, which was an imitation of the Deity, that we could hope to enjoy the happiness of the Deity hereafter i.

standing, and the power of philosophy in emancipating the soul from their tyranny. Plato, Bekker, pars ii. vol. pp. 55-58.

iii.

8 True philosophers, οὐδὲν ἄλλο αὐτοὶ ἐπιτηδεύουσιν ἢ ἀποOvýσxeiv Te xai Telváva. Phædo, Bekker, p. 16.

* Καὶ γὰρ πολέμους καὶ στάσεις καὶ μάχας οὐδὲν ἄλλο παρέχει ἢ τὸ σῶμα καὶ αἱ τούτου ἐπιθυμίαι. Phædo, page 21. compare St. James iv. 1.

1 Διὸ καὶ πειρᾶσθαι χρὴ ἐνθένδε ἐκεῖσε φεύγειν ὅτι ταχίστα. φυγὴ δὲ ΟΜΟΙΩΣΙΣ ΘΕΩΙ κατὰ τὸ δυνατόν. ΟΜΟΙΩΣΙΣ δὲ δίκαιον καὶ ὅσιον μετὰ φρόνησεως γενέσθαι. Theaetetus, Bekker, pars ii. vol. i. p. 247. It was the saying of the Pythagorean philosophers, from whom Plato probably borrowed the sentiment: τέλος ἀνθρώπου ὁμοίωσις θεῷ. Eusebius asserts that this idea, of its being the perfection of man to imitate the Deity, was taken from the Hebrew scriptures.

In the spirit of the precept, which teaches that obedience is better than sacrifice, he declares that God is not propitiated by offerings and victims, but by the virtues of the soul, by piety, justice, and truth. He cautions his hearers against pride and highmindedness, by admonishing them that the man who adhered to what was just, with a humble and well-regulated temper, would enjoy happiness and the favour of the Deity, while he who indulged an insolent spirit, swelling with pride and ambition, would be left deserted by God. In listening to such sentiments, who does not recollect the language of inspiration, which declares that God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble1? He teaches, that not only evil

Μωσεῖ δὲ καὶ ἐν τούτοις ὥσπερ μεμαθητευμένος ὁ Πλάτων τοιαδ ̓ ἐν τῷ ̓Αλκιβιάδῃ φησίν. κ. τ. λ. Eusebius, Præp. Evangel. lib. xi. cap. 27. Vigeri edit. Paris. 1628. Plato, Alcibiad. Bekker, pars ii. vol. iii. p. 368.

* Καὶ γὰρ ἂν δεινὸν εἴη, εἰ πρὸς τὰ δῶρα καὶ τὰς θυσίας απο βλέπουσιν ἡμῶν οἱ θεοὶ, ἀλλὰ μὴ πρὸς τὴν ψυχὴν, ἄν τις ὅσιος xai díxasos av Tuyxávy. Alcibiades II. Bekker, pars i. vol.

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1 Vid. Plato de Legibus, lib. iv. Bekker, pars iii. vol. 355. Eusebius, Præp. Evangel. lib. xi. cap. 13. St. James, iv.6.

ii.

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