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"Esse divinum quoddam,

him, without ever inducing him to act any thing; quod Socrates demonium appellat, cui semper ipse paruerit, nunquam im pellenti, sæpe revocanti."* Plutarch, in his treatise, entitled, "Of the Genius of Socrates," repeats the different opinions of the ancients upon the existence and nature of this genius. I shall confine myself to that one which seems the most natural and reasonable, though he does not lay much stress upon it.f

We know that the divinity has a clear and unerring knowledge of futurity; that man cannot penetrate into its darkness, but by uncertain and confused conjectures; that those who succeed best in that research, are they who by a more exact and studied comparison of the different causes capable of influencing future events, distinguish, with greater force and perspicuity, what will be the result and issue of the conflict of those different causes, in conducting to the success or miscarriage of an effect or enterprise. This foresight and discernment has something divine in it, exalts us above the rest of mankind, assimilates us to the divinity, and makes us participate in some measure in his councils and designs, by giving us an insight and prescience, to a certain degree, of what he has ordained concerning the future. Socrates had a just and penetrating judgment, joined with the most consummate prudence. He might call this judgment and prudence, a "something divine," using indeed a kind of equivocation in the expression, without attributing to himself, however, the merit of his wisdom in conjecturing upon the future. The Abbé Fraguier comes very near the same opinion in the dissertation he has left us upon this subject, in the Memoirs of the Academy of Belles Lettres.‡

The effect, or rather function of this genius, was to stop and prevent his acting, without ever inducing him to act. He received also the same impulse, when his friends were about to engage in any bad affair, and communicated it to them; and several instances are related, wherein they found themselves very unfortunate from not having believed him. Now, what other signifcation can be given to this, than that under mysterious terms, it implies a mind which by its own lights, and the knowledge of mankind, has attained a sort of insight into futurity? And if Socrates had not intended to lessen in his own person the merit of unerring judgment, by attributing to it a kind of instinct, if at bottom he had desired any thing to be understood, besides the general aid of the divine wisdom, which speaks in every man by the voice of reason, would he have escaped, says Xenophon, the censure of arrogance and falsehood?||

"God has always prevented me from speaking to you," says he to Alcibiades, "while the weakness of your age would have rendered my discourses ineffectual to you. But I conceive I may now enter into dispute with you, as an ambitious young man, for whom the laws open a way to the dignities of the republic. Is it not here evident, that prudence prevented Socrates from. treating Alcibiades seriously, at a time when grave and severe conversation would have created in him a disgust, of which perhaps he might never have got the better? And when, in his dialogue upon the commonwealth, Socrates ascribes his avoiding public business to inspiration from above, does he mean any thing more than what he says in his apology, "that a just and good man, who intermeddles with the government in a corrupt state, is not long without perishing?"** If, when he appeared before the judges who were to condemn him, that divine voice was not heard to prevent him, as it was usually upon dangerous occasions, the reason is, that he did not deem it a misfortune for him to die, especially at his age, and in his circumstances.†† It is well known what his prognostication had been long before, upon the unfortunate expedition to Sicily. He attributed it to his dæmon, and declared it to be the inspiration of that spirit. A wise man, who sees an affair ill concerted, and conducted with passion, may easily prophesy upon the event of it, without the aid of a dæmon's inspiration.

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It must be allowed, however, that the opinion which gives to men genli and angels to direct and guard them, was not unknown even to the pagans. Plutarch cites the verses of Menander, in which that poet expressly says, "That every man at his birth has a good genius given him, which attends him during the whole course of his life, as a guide and director."*

Απαντι δαίμων ἀνδρὶ συμπαραςατεί

Ευθυς γενομένω, μυς αγωγὸς τὸ βία
̓Αγαθός.

It is highly probable, that the dæmon of Socrates, which has been so differ ently spoken of, and thereby made a question whether it was a good or bad angel, was no more than the force and rectitude of his judgment, which acting according to the rules of prudence, aided by long experience, and supported by wise reflections, made him foresee the events of those things, upon which he was either consulted, or deliberated himself.

I conceive, at the same time, that he was not sorry the people should believe him inspired, or that he knew futurity by any aid whatever of the divinity. That idea might exalt him very highly in the opinion of the Athenians, and give him an authority, of which the greatest persons of the pagan world were very foud, and which they endeavoured to acquire by secret communications, and pretended conferences with some divinity: but it drew the jealousy of many of the citizens upon him.†

SECTION III.-SOCRATES DECLARED THE WISEST OF MANKIND BY THE ORACLE

THIS declaration of the oracle, so advantageous in appearance for Socrates, did not a little contribute to the excitement of envy and stirring up of enemies against him, as he tells us himself in his apology, wherein he recounts the occasion and true sense of that oracle.‡

Cherephon, a zealous disciple of Socrates, when at Delphos, inquired of the oracle, whether there was a wiser man than Socrates in the world: the priestess replied there was none. This answer perplexed Socrates extremely, who could scarcely comprehend the meaning of it. For on the one side, he well knew, as he says of himself, that there was neither much nor little wisdom in him; and on the other, he could not suspect the oracle of falsehood, the divinity being incapable of telling a lie. He therefore considered it attentively, and took great pains to discover the sense of it. At first he applied himself to a powerful citizen, a statesman, and a great politician, who passed for one of the wisest men of the city, and who was himself as much convinced of his own merit as any body. He found by his conversation that he knew nothing, and insinuated as much to him in terms sufficiently intelligible, which made him extremely odious to that citizen, and all who were present. He did the same by several others of the same profession; and the only result of his inquiry was, to draw upon himself a greater number of enemies. From the statesmen he addressed himself to the poets, whom he found still fuller of self-esteem, but really more void of knowledge and wisdom. He pursued his inquiries to the artisans, and could not meet with one, who, because he succeeded in his own art, did not believe himself very capable, and fully informed in all that was great besides ; which presumption was the almost universal failing of the Athenians. As they had naturally an abundance of wit, they pretended to a knowledge of every thing, and believed themselves capable of pronouncing upon all things. His inquiries among strangers were not more successful.

Socrates, afterwards on comparing himself with all those he had questioned, discovered that the difference between him and them was, that they all be

*De Anim. tranquil. p. 474

Lycurgus and Solon had recourse to the authority of oracles to advance their credit. Zeleucus pretended that his laws had been dictated to him by Minerva. Numa Pompilius boasted his conferences with the goddess Egeria. The first Scipio Africanus made the people believe that the gods gave him scoret Counsels, Even the hand of Sertorius had something divine in it.

Plut. in Apolog, p. 21, 22.

lieved they knew what they did not know, and that for his part he sincerely professed his ignorance. From thence he concluded, that God only is truly wise; and that the true meaning of the oracle was to signify, that all human wisdom was of little value, or, to speak more properly, of no value at all. And as to the oracle's naming him, it no doubt did so, says he, by way of setting him up for an example, as if it intended to declare to all men, the wisest among you is he, who knows, like Socrates, that there is no real wisdom in him."*

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SECTION 1V.-SOCRATES DEVOTES HIMSELF ENTIRELY TO THE INSTRUCTION OF THE YOUTH OF ATHENS.

AFTER having related some particulars in the life of Socrates, it is time to proceed to that in which his character principally and peculiarly consisted; I mean the pains he took to instruct mankind, and particularly to form the youth

of Athens.

He seemed, says Libanius, to be the common father of the republic; so attentive was he to the happiness and advantage of his whole country. But as it is very difficult to correct the aged, and to make people change principles, who revere the errors in which they have grown grey, he devoted his labours principally to the instruction of youth, in order to sow the seeds of virtue in a soi' more fit to produce the fruits of it.t

He had no open school, like the rest of the philosophers, nor set times for his lessons. He had no benches prepared, nor ever mounted a professor's chair. He was the philosopher of all times and seasons. He taught in all places, and upon all occasions. In walking, in conversation, at meals, in the army, and in the midst of the camp, in the public assemblies of the senate or people, in prison itself, and when he drank the poison, he philosophized, says Plutarch, and instructed mankind. And from thence the same judicious author takes occasion to establish a great principle in point of government, which Senecat before him had placed in all its true light. "To be a public man," says he, "it is not necessary to be actually in office, to wear the robe of judge or magistrate, and to sit in the highest tribunals for the administration of justice. Many do this, who, though honoured with the appellation of orators, prætors, and senators, yet if they want the merit of those characters, ought to be regarded as private persons, and often confounded with the lowest and vilest of the populace. But whoever knows how to give wise counsels to those who consult him, to animate the citizens to virtue, and to inspire them with sentiments of probity, equity, generosity, and a love of their country, is the true magistrate and ruler, in whatever condition or place he may be."§

Such was Socrates. The services he rendered the state, by the instructions he gave the youth, and the disciples he formed, were inexpressibly great. No master ever had a greater number of pupils, or more illustrious. Plato, though alone, was worth a multitude. When at the point of death, he blessed and thanked God for three things; that he had been endued with a rational soul, that he was born a Greek and not a barbarian, and that his birth had taken place in the lifetime of Socrates. Xenophon had the same advantage. It is said, that Socrates one day met him in the street, and stopping him with his staff, asked him if he knew where provisions were sold? It was not difficult to

* Socrates in omnibus fere sermonibus sic disputat, ut nihil affirmet ipse, refellat alios; nihil se scire di cat, nisi id ipsum, eoque præstare cæteris, quod illi, quæ nesciant, scire se putent; ipse se nihil scire id num sciat, ob camque rem se arbitrari ab Apolline omnium sapientissimum esse dictum, quod hæc esset una omnia sapientia, non arbitrari se scire quod nesciat.-Cic. Acad. Quæst. l. i. n. 15, 16.

† In Apol. Socrat. p. 641.

Habet ubi se etiam in privato late explicet magnus animus. Ita delituerit (vir ille) ut ubicunque otium suum absconderit, prodisse velit et singulis et universis, ingenio, voce, consilio. Nec enim is solus reip prodest, qui candidatos extrahit, et tuetur reos, et de pace belloque senset, sed qui juventutem exhortatur, qui in tanto bonorum præceptorum inopia virtute instruit animus, qui ad pecuniam luxuriamque cursu ruentes prensat ac retrahit, et si nihil aliud certe moratur, in privato publicum negotium agit. An ille plus præstat, qui inter peregrinos et cives, aut urbanus prætor audientibus adsessoris verba pronunciat, quam qui docet, quid sit justitia, quid pietas, quid patientia, quid fortitudo, quid mortis contemptus, quid deorum intellectus quam gratuitum bonum sit conscientia ?-Senec. de Tranquil. Anim. c. iii. Plut, in Mario, p, 433.

Plut. an seni. sit ger, resp. p. 796,

answer this question. But Socrates having asked in what place men learned virtue, and observing that the second question perplexed him: “ If you desire to know," continued the philosopher," follow me, and you shall be informed." Which he did immediately, and was afterwards the first who collected and published his master's discourses.*

Aristippus, upon a conversation with Ischomachus, in which he had introduced some of the doctrines of Socrates, conceived so ardent a desire to become his disciple, that his health was greatly impaired, till he could go to the fountain head, and imbibe his fill of a philosophy that taught the knowledge and cure of evil.f

What is reported of Euclid the Megarian, gives us a still stronger idea of the desire among the disciples of Socrates to receive the benefit of his instructions. There was at that time an open war between Athens and Megara, which was carried on with so much animosity, that the Athenians obliged their generals to take an oath to lay waste the territory of Megara twice a year, and prohibited the Megarians from setting foot in Attica upon pain of death. This decree could not extinguish nor suspend the zeal of Euclid. He left his city in the evening in the disguise of a woman, with a veil upon his head, and came to the house of Socrates in the night, where he continued till the approach of day, when he returned in the same manner he came.§

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The ardour of the young Athenians to follow him was incredible. They left father and mother, and renounced all parties of pleasure, to attach themselves to him, and to hear his discourses. We may judge of this in the example of Alcibiades, the most ardent and fiery of all the Athenians. The philosopher, however, never spared him, and was always ready to calm the sallies of his passions, and to rebuke his pride, which was his great fault. I have before related some instances of his temper. One day, when Alcibiades was boasting of his wealth, and the great estates in his possession, which generally excites the pride of young people of quality, he carried him to a geographical map, and asked him to find Attica. It was so small that it could scarcely be discerned; he found it, however, though with some difficulty: but upon being desired to point out his own estate there, "It is too small," said he, to be distinguished in so small a space.' "See then," replied Socrates, "how much you are affected about an imperceptible point of land." This reasoning might have been urged much farther. For what was Attica, compared to all Greece, Greece to Europe, Europe to the whole world, and the world itself to the vast extent of the infinite orbs which surround it? What an insect, what a nothing, is the most powerful prince of the earth in the midst of these innumerable bodies and immense spaces, and how much of it does he occupy! The young people of Athens, dazzled with the glory of Themistocles, Čimon and Pericles, and full of a wild ambition, after having received for some time the lessons of the sophists, who promised to make them very great politicians, conceived themselves capable of every thing, and aspired to the highest employments. One of these, named Glauco, had conceived so strong an idea of entering upon the administration of the public affairs, though not twenty years old, that none of his family or friends were able to divert him from a design so little consistent with his age and capacity. Socrates, who had an affection for him on account of Plato his brother, was the only person who could prevail upon him to change his resolution.¶

Meeting him one day, he accosted him so happily with discourse, that he engaged him to listen. You are desirous then to govern the republic," said he to him. "True," replied Glauco. "You cannot have a more noble design," answered Socrates: "For if you succeed, you will have it in your power to serve your friends effectually, to aggrandize your family, and to extend the boundaries of your country. You will make yourself known not only at Athens,

Diog. in Xenoph. p. 120. Aul. Gel. Noct. Att. 1. vi. c. 10.

Plut. de Curios, p. 516.
Aliap. I. iii. c. 28.

Plut. in Pericl.
P. 158.
T Xenoph. Memorab. 1. iii. p. 772--774

out throughout all Greece; and perhaps your renown, like that of Themistocles, may spread abroad among the barbarous nations. In short, wherever you are, you will attract the respect and admiration of the whole world."

So smooth and insinuating a prelude was extremely pleasing to the young man, who was taken on the blind side. He staid willingly, and the conversation continued. "Since you desire to be esteemed and honoured, no doubt your view is to be useful to the public?” “ "Certainly." "Tell me then, I request you, in the name of the gods, what is the first service you propose to render the state?" As Glauco seemed at a loss, and meditated upon what he would answer, "I presume," continued Socrates, "it is to enrich it, that is to say, to augment its revenues. My very thought." "You are well versed then, undoubtedly, in the revenues of the state, and know perfectly to what they may amount; you have not failed to make them your particular study, in order, that, if a fund should happen to fail by any unforeseen accident, you might be able to supply the deficiency by another." "I protest," replied Glauco, "that never entered into my thoughts." "At least you will tell me to what the expenses of the republic amount; for you must know the importance of retrenching such as are superfluous. "I own I am as little informed in this point as the other." "You must therefore refer your design of enriching the state till another time; for it is impossible you should do it, while you are unacquainted with its revenue and expenses.'

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But," said Glauco, "there is still another means which you have not mentioned. A state may be enriched by the ruin of its enemies." "You are in the right," replied Socrates, "but that depends upon its being the strongest ; otherwise it incurs the danger of losing what it has. For which reason, he who talks of engaging in a war, ought to know the forces on both sides; that if he finds his own party strongest, he may boldly advise the war, and if weakest, dissuade the people from undertaking it. Now, do you know the strength of our republic and that of our enemies by sea and land? Have you a statement of them in writing? be so kind as let me see it." "I have it not at present,” said Glauco. "I see then," said Socrates," that we shall not presently enter into a war, if you are charged with the government; for you have abundance of inquiries to make, and much pains to go through, before you will resolve upon it."* He ran over in this manner several other articles no less important, with which Glauco appeared equally unacquainted; till he brought him to confess, how ridiculous those people were, who have the rashness to intrude into government, without any other preparation for the service of the public, than that of a high esteem for themselves, and an immoderate ambition of rising to the first places and dignities. "Be careful, dear Glauco," said he to him, "lest a too warm desire of honours should deceive you into pursuits that may cover you with shame, by setting your incapacity and slender abilities in full light."

Glauco improved from the wise admonitions of Socrates, and took time to inform himself in private, before he ventured to appear in public. This is a lesson for all ages, and may be very useful to persons in all stations and condi

tions of life.

Socrates did not urge his friends to enter early upon public employments; but first to take pains for the attainment of the knowledge necessary to their success in them.f "A man must be very simple," said he, "to believe that the mechanic arts are to be acquired without the help of proper masters, and that the knowledge requisite in governing states, which is the highest degree of human prudence, demands no previous labour and application." His great care in regard to those who aspired to public employments, was to form their manners upon the solid principles of probity and justice; and especially to inspire them with a sincere love of their country, with the most ardent passion for the public good, and a high idea of the power and goodness of the gods. be cause without these qualities, all other abilities serve only to render men more • Xenoph. Memorab. 1. iii. P. 772-774.

↑ Ibid. 1. iv. P. 800.

Ibid. p. 792.

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