" treat of Hols, of Love, and of the Care ofEarth- " ly
andPeriflnible
things, this we pare away.
Plato - 1701 - Works - a
Our Age so much resembles thatwhereinthisPhilosopherliv'd,thatinall ap- jpearance,ifthiswifeMan now findssomeintelli gent Judges who will do Him Justice, he'll find a greater number of Persons extreamly prejudic'd; Who will be sure to condemn him.
In an Age wherein nothing is esteem'd but Riches ; wherein
that Slavery, which leads to Wealth, is prefefd
to Liberty, and M e n chuse rather to nourish the . Vi-
tes of others by their Flatteries, than to augment
their own Vertues by their Labour. The Tempe
rance, Frugality, Fortitude, Justice and Liberty of Socrates will be laugh'd at ? and this will be hue the
accomplishmentofwhathepredicted. *IfmyFel low-Citizens (says he) have not been able to endufe my Alaxims, much less will they be tolerable to Strangers.
The greatest part will not give themselves so muchtroubleastoreadhim. tTheywillmuch lboner read the Milesian Tables, as St. Jerome fays, that is such Pieces as corrupt the Heart and Mind,
than Dialogues which inspire nothing but Wisdom; And among those that will read him, many will do it only out of Curiosity, for in our Time we maymakethesameComplaintthatwasmadehere
tofore by Taunts the Philosopher, anancientCom mentator on Plato. One asks for Plato's Dialogue oftheBanquet,tohavethepleasure ofseeing,the ExceileS'ofAlcibiades. Another. forhisPhoedrm, because 'tis a Treatise of Criticism, and the Ora tion of Tysas is examin'd in it; and others desire
* Apology 69. f Mulcoq; pars major est Milesias fabulis revolventium, quam Platonis Libros; St. Jerome in the Priface <<) UsXll Book on Isaiah.
C 2 those
? ? io
A Discourse on Plato^
thoseDialogueswhichhave the greatestReputation, and are accounted the best Pen'd,only for a frivolous Pleasure ; and not one of all these thinks of e m bellishing his Mind by reading of these Books, so
as to become more Modest, Temperate, Just, Pa tient, and Pious.
But those who will prove the least favourable to Socrates, area sortof Men who highly valuethem selves upon their refin'd Wit ; and a great many of thosewhoaretakenwiththePompandGayappear ances of the World.
The former not having Eyes piercing enough to discover the secret Light of those hidden Beauties that adorn these Dialogues, will count Socrates a Dull and Languid Author, because he has no Witti cisms,norGentileTurns. AnobscurePersonwho never did any thing worthy to be read, shall call in question the Reputation of Socrates, a Person who has been an honour to Humane Nature by theEx cellency of his Understanding ; and shall prefer him self to him, trampling under his Feet * the Tejii- tnonies which allthe learned Men of Antiquity, and allGreecehaverendred him,thatforgoodSense, Wit, 'Pleasantness, Subtilty, Strtngth, Variety and. Abundance, heexcelledallthateverhadappearedin theWorld. AManmusthaveagreatStockof good Opinion of himself, to appeal from so solemn aJudgment, andtomake hisappealtohimselftoo.
The latterarecommonly corruptedby reading fri volous Books, which are wholly Compos'd for Ostentation, and as Montagne fays, can't perceive Riches unless they make a pompous Show, and Ib h a v e a d i s g u s t f o r e v e r y t h i n g t h a t is P l a i n a n d S i m p l e -, b e i n g p e r s u a d e d t h a t w h a t i s N a t u r a l a n d E a s y , is a Kin to Dulness and Stupidity. These will think itbelow'emtoattendtoaPhilosopherwho enter- tains'em only with such Discourses as they countVul- garand Trivial,whoisscarceevertobefound outof Shops-, who talks only of Husband-men, Smiths,.
Z Cictrtinhis3dBooliof Oratory.
Masons,
? ? A Discourse on Plato. '
2 v
Masons, Carpenrers, Shoemakers, and Taylors and is eternally hammering on the fame Subjects and representing the same Images. '
9 There are not wanting good Reasons to prove to
em, thatasaMan sometimesisthoughtplump and in good Cafe, when he is only swelPd and bloated- 10 that which is frequently taken for Accuracy of Judgment, is the Effect of some Distemper/and notatallthemark ofaniceandfineRelish. The highestandmostsublime Conceptionsareoftenhid
underaformthatappearsVileand Contemptible, Are not the most Celestial Truths propos'd to vk m the Gospel under Popular Images and Modes of Ex
pression, like those us'd by Socrates? That which creeps on the Earth, is no less capable than that whichisraisdtotheHeavens, ofservingforaRe presentation to let the greatest Secrets,both o f N a t u r e andGraceintoourUnderstanding. Nay,manytimes tnemolt bimpleand Common Ideas arethemost
propertoimpressTruthontheMinds ofMen,forbe sidesthatthesearemoreproportionate tous, theydo
not Transport usout of our selves asthemost Mag nificentIdeasda Ifnonebutgreatanddaziing Imagescouldstrikeus, Godwouldnothavefaii'dto have constantly employ'd 'em, and since'tisno more difficult for him to change Men than to illuminate
em, he would have been so far from making his spirit stoop to the Manners and Customs of those whom he inspired; that on the contrary he would have transform'dtheirMannersandCustoms,tosub.
ject e m in some sort to his Spirit, and yes he did not dp thus. When he inspires Daniel, he leaves himtospeaklikeaManEducatedinaRoyalCourt h e u s e s o n l y G r e a t a n d M a g n i f i c e n t I d e a s -, a n d w h e n he inspires a Shepherd, such a one as Amos, he leaveshim toexplainhimselfbysuchTermsaswere moltfamiliartohim hbuttheTruthiseverywhere equally sublime, and as it receives no accession to its Lustre by the Majesty of Figures, so neither does it lose, any thing of its Glory by their Simpli-
C? city
? ? %I
A DiscourseonPlato.
city. Socraieswassowellpersuaded, thatthisSim plicity was alone capable to move and correct the Minds of Men, that when Critiaf, the'most Cruel of theThirty Tyrants, commanded him to let all
the Artificers alone, and talk no more of 'em, he answer'd ; * I muji then let all those Consequences a* lonetoo,whichIdrawfrom*em,and mustspeakno mere, either of Holiness or Justice, or any otherDu ties that become a Good Man. ? '
But perhaps our Censors will have less deference forthe Authority of Reasons, that for that of Ex amples : Tis therefore necessary to give them an Account of what pais'd in the Time of Socrates himself; and to (new 'em the Characters, both of his Friends and Enemies.
Ontheonesidewerethemost stupidandmost
corruptamongthePeople,someofwhom,through
ignorance, laugh'd at his Morality, and the manner
pf his Behaviour : Others through the Corruption ? of theirHearts, couldnotendure his Generous Li
berty.
On theotherside,Persons ofthe greatest Ho
nour, and of chief Note in the Commonwealth ; Pericles, Niciaf, Xenophon, Apollodorus, Criton, Critobulus, Eschinoe, Antifthenes, &c. These found infiniteCharmsinhisConversation. Whoisitthat isignorantof Alcibiades? No Man had more Wit, pratruergustofthings? ,hewasoneofthebest made, Bravest, most Gallant, most Magnificent, most Ambitious, and Nicest Men in the World -,
he was at the Head of the Athenians, he comman ded their Armies, he had won severalBattles,he had glitter'd in the Courts of Kings, and had not been rudely treated by Queens. According to the M a x i m s of the World, there's nothing more Bright and Il lustriousthansuchaManasthis. Yetthisfame Alcibiadesamidstall-thisGloryandPomp, issofar* frombeingoffendedatSocrateshisway andman ner of Deportment, which-were so opposite to his own, that,henosoonerbecameacquaintedwithhim,
* Xtntph. intheistBookoftheMemorableThingsofSoeratts* ''. ',':? /? '? . '. '? :">'? ,',:. -'-j"v\ i. i. '? >>V i:';. ,. ,. ,; ",but
? ? clistifiic. 30. 18.
A DiscourseonPlato^ 15
but he was struck with such a sense of his Merit, and the solid Gracefulness of his Conversation, that he knew not how to leave him ? ,he was enchanted
with his Discourses, which he preferd tothe most e x c e l l e n t M u f i c k ? , * h e c o n f e s s e s , t h a t a M a n c o u l d
neitherhear him speak, nor even hear others repeat
whathehadsaid,withoutbeingtransported. The
Force and Truth of his Words drew Tears from
him, and made him even leap for Joy. He com-
par'dhim to certain Statues of Satyrs and Silenes,
which were made to open and shut; to look on the o u t - s i d e o f ' e m , n o t h i n g w a s m o r e u g l y ? , b u t w h e n
they were open'd, allthe Deities were found in'em together. Hehardlylov'dorrespectedanyonebe sideshim,andhenevermet. withhim,buthetook off from his own Head the Crown, which he, ac cordingtotheCustom,woreondaysofCeremony,
andputitontheHead ofSocrates. Thereforethereisnomedium,wemustjudgeof?
Socrates either as the worst and meanest of the Athe niansdid, orlikePeric/esandAJcibiades-ywe may take our Choice.
All these Contradictions which I have foreseen, and which indeed may make these Dialogues be come tothegreatestpartofReaderstlikethose exquisite Dainties that were formerlyset on Tombs, have not diseourag'd me, but only convinc'd me
that a. bare Translation, though never so exact and faithful, would not make a iufficient impression on theMindsofsome Men, ifitwerenotsupported by something, that might prevent all these Iqcon- veniencies, or at least a good part of 'em-, and I could think but of two ways to succeed inthis,
Thefirstwas,toplaceanArgumentattheHead of everyDialogue,toexplaintheSubjectofit,to unfoldtheArtandMethod ofit,andtotakepar ticular notice ofevery thinginitof the greatest im-
* IntheDialogueoftheBanquet.
t O^uafiappositionesEpularum circumposu^ Sepulchro, Ec-
C 4 portance.
? ? ^4
A DiscourseonPlato^
portance. TheArgumentsofMarsiliusYicinus6,9
not go to the Matter of Fact ; besides, they are tod
abstracted, and are abundantly more difficult to be'
understood than -the Dialogues themselves. And
those of IV Serres are too wide and indefinite, they
never well fix the State of the Question, or the Quality of the Proofs ? , nor do they eVer explain ei
therPlato'sDesign,orhisAddress. Now anArgu ment ought to be a faithful Guide always to attend the Reader, to conduct him where-ever he goes,and alwaystosethim intotherightPath.
The secondway was tomake Remarks toelucidate the principal Difficulties^ render the hidden Beau ties discernable, to explain the Train of Reasoning,, and the Solidity of the Principles and 'Proofs, and tohelptodiscoverwhat isfalse,from that which istrue.
Marsilius Yicinus did not so much as think of this*
Be Serres on thisAccount ismOreusefulthanhej
forbyhisMarginal Notesheatleasthinders'you
from losing the Thread of Plato's Reasoning, and
makes you comprehend the Train and Progress of his
Proofs : But yet he abandons you in the greatest dif ficulties. ? '. . -? -
In the Time of Maximus Tyrius, that is in the secondAge, itwasvery earnestlydesired,thatsome one would undertake to elucidate those obscure and knotty Pasiages of Plato-, above all in what respects his Opinions in Theology, and many Philosophers l a b o u r ' d i n t h i s W o r k , a s m a y b e s e e n i n h i s L i f e -y butwithsolittle success,thatinsteadofresolving the Difficulties, they have increased 'em. They, have scarce assisted m e once or twice in the Ten Dia logues which I have Translated ^ and they would have very often led me into Mistakes if I would havefollowed'em. -: >''? ? -. :. ? ? ? :
Thecauseof theirErrors was, that they did not draw from the true Fountain, and had a mind, to ex plain Plato by Arifiotle's Principles, which are very
different from those of Plato, The latterisrnost *>. ? -. <; i,? . ? ;;. . . -. ? . . . . commonly
? ? A discourseonPlato. xj
commonly conformable to sound Theology, or may be very easily reduc'd to it by his own Principles well explain'd:But'tisotherwisewithhisDisciple, and where Plato may be once corrected by Aristotle, Aristotlemay be correcteda hundred times by P/ato.
Idon'tpresumesomuchonmy own Ability,as
to think I have filled up all the Devoirs of a good
Interpreter; without doubt some Difficulties will
yet be found in that which I have Translated, but
perhaps all of 'em ought not to be imputed to me.
ObscuritiesordinarilyarisefromthreeCauses, from
the Sublimity of the Subject, from the Igonrance
of the Interpreter, and from the Incapacity or Un-
attentionoftheReader. Itwillbereasonablefor the Reader to accuse me of some pf 'em ? ,but let
him also sometimes accuse,either the Subject or him
self: If this Conduct be observed, I may venture
to hope for the Diminution of these Difficulties. ? At the end of the first Volume the Reader will
find an Abridgment of Three Dialogues, which are alsoentirelyTranslatedin-thesame Volume. That which has given occasion to this Repetition, is as follows^ I had a very great desire to publish Plato inFrench, but I made this Reflection-, that Philo sophy, as Plato himself somewhere says, requires FreeMenwho areMasters:oftheirTime^andwho, provided they findthe Truth, don'tenquire whether the Discourses that lead to it, are long or short : But nothing inour Time ismore rarelyfound, than theseFreeMen. Some aresooppress'dwithCare and Business, that they are scarce ever at their own disposal i and others are so continually agitated and shuffled by a Thousand passions, that they are always in Action, without doing,any thing, and resemble so many fugitive Slaves.
Therefore to Accomodate Plato to the Occupa tionsof theformer,andtherestlessHumourofthe latter, I thought such Abridgments might be made, as would be of very great Use ; and I made some, in which I preserved, the best I could, the Spirit of
! ;. . Socrates
? ? 1$
A piscourseonPlato^
4
Socrates and his Method, so that none of his Prin cipalStrokesmightbelost. FromhenceIluppos'd two considerable Advantages might be drawn. First, ThatbythismeansPlatomightbereadinaWeeks time, and then, that the Truths he teaches, would be more deeply fix'd in the Mind; because the Proofsbeingmorecontracted,wouldmakeamore livelyImpression. Iwasfartherconfirm'dinthis Thought by observing the effect these Abridgments producedonallthat heard'emread; everyonewas mov'd by 'em, and could not chuie but feel the force of 'em.
But it must be confess'd to the Glory of Plato^ andperhapssomewhattomyShametoo,thatwhen Iwason thepointofcommitting'em tothePress, and was willing to review 'em by the Original, I was my selfdisgusted with my Work, and found in the Original so many Elegancies which I had not been able to preserve ; that I was afraid I should make it sustain too great a loss in not publishing it entire, for nothing can be taken from it, that is not worthytobeadmired. Andtothinkthereareany VacuitiesanduselesspartsinhisWritings, isbutta deceiveonesself. Thereisagreatdealofdiffe rence between a Man's quitting his Subject, and soundingittothebottom. Plutoalwaysgoesback
to firstPrinciples, and examines every Subject on all its different sides; he maintains that this is the only way to make sure Demonstrations ; and he is every where such an Enemy to long Discourses, that is, iiich as are useless, that he looks upon 'em as the Rock on which Truth is split, and as the Cha racter, not of a Philosopher, but of a Sophist. This obliged m e to alter m y Resolution : However, in Obedience to some Persons of very great Merit, who desired these Abridgments of me, I have pub lishedthree, thatthePublick may draw some pro fitfrom 'em, or at least may make a Judgment of 'em.
? ? J DiscourseonPlatoJ %%
I might here have a fair occasion to answer the . Invectivesthathavebeen madeagainstPlato inour Time:Butsincetheycome onlyfromsuchPersons
asneverreadsomuchasoneofhisDialogues;per haps they'll change their Sentiments when once theyhavereadhim. Besides,'tiswaftingofones Time todefend Platohfor he sufficientlydefends himself-, and that may be said of him with yet more Justice, which thegreatestof the Latin Histo- rianssaidofGz/0,equallyridiculingthe PraisesCi cerohadgivenhim,andtheSatyrsCesarhadmade on him. * None could ever augment the Glory ofthisGreatMan byhisPraises^nordiminishitby
his Satyrs.
* CujusGloria? nequcprofuitquisquamIaudando,neevit<<pe<< randoquisquamnocuic. TitMIwjfw.
THE
? ? iS
THE
LIFE of PLATO,
WITH
An AccountofthePrincipalof
his Opinions in Philosophy.
G O D waspleas'dtoendowthefirstMan with true Wisdom ^ but the Passions sooncommunicated tohim theirMortal
Poyson, and precipitated him into a
stateofRebellion against hisMaker, and
so made him lose all the advantages of his Origin. Tk'*jsy/Tis from thisFountain hisPosterity have deriv'd all
mt Seas their Errors. Being unhappily taught what Good es Philofo-they had lost, by the Evils they suffer'd, they made fkrs. theirbestEfrprtstorepairtheirloss. ButsinceMan
in a state of Perfection had not strength enough to keep that Happiness he enjoy'd ; h o w should he be able when in a state of Corruption, to put himself in possession (if that true Good, of which Sin had d e p r i v e d h i m ? N o , 'tis n o t t o b e e x p e c t e d f r o m h i m , that he should conduct us back to our former Feli city. , This is the work of God and not of Man.
All the wife Pagans may in this respect be com- par'dtodrunkenMen,whowhiletheyhaveamind to return Home, knock at every Door, and take eve ryHousefortheirown. SomeremainsofReason still gave 'em a discovery of what they ought to seek ; and an inexhaustible Source of Blindness and Corruption, still hinder'd 'em from finding it, or if theyfounditfromembracingit. Socrateswasthe first of 'em, who was eminently distinguish'd from othersbyaclearerandpurerLight (whichperhaps
? '-* was
? ? 7he Life os Plated
i p
WastheRewardofhisModestyandHumility)and acquir'd a more sublime and certainknowledg ofthe DutiesofMan, oftheNatureofGod, oftheLaw ofNature,andofJustice. ThereforeP/atolaysof him, thatheaddedFiretoFire,therebysignifying, that by amassing together those degrees of Light,
which he found scatter'dup and down ; and giving 'em a new Lustre by his luminous and fruitful Mind, he spread Light far and near,and rais'dagreat Flame outofthat,which beforehistime,wasbutanum ber of little Sparks almost buried under the Ashes : But this sublime knowledg of his, was not without amixture of many Errors;sothattogainadvantage by his Doctrine, which has been preferv'd and im- prov'd by P/ato, care must be taken to separate the
T r u t h s w h i c h it p l e a s ' d G o d t o d i s c o v e r t o h i m , f r o m the Falshoods and Illusions, in which he himself in- volv'd'em. Thiswemay mostcertainlydo, since we have thetruemeasure ofTruth. inourHands, whichistheWordofGod. Allhefays,thatis conformable to this, is undoubtedly true; and m a y moreover serve to prove the Truths of the Christian Religion ;and whatever isopposite to it, isthe fruit ofFalshoodandError. AndtheDoctrineofPlato itselfhasthisadvantage, thatsuchanExamenas w e plead for is one of his principal Rules, and his firstPrinciple;forhemaintains, thatnothingought ever to be received in any Science, but what agrees
with *EternalTruth,andwiththeOraclesofGod. Plato founded the Old Academy on the Opinions of Pythagoras, those of Heraclitus, and those of Socrates, and by adding to the discoveries of these
greatMenthatLightwhichhehadacquir'dinhis Tiavels, and had deriv'd from the fame Springs, he
establishedaSect ofPhilosophersmuch more perfect than rhose that had appeared in the World before
him. However, Ishallnotlookbacksofarasthose
* By this Eternal Truth Plata means an ancient Tradition, whichhepretendsthefirstMeqreceivedfromGod, andtransmit ted to (heir Posterity.
Philqfo-
? ? 36
The Life of Plato; '
PhilosophersIhavemention'd, whoseOpinionsmay beseeninDiogenesLaertius. IllsaybutaWord ofthembytheway,andconfiningmyself*onlyto whatrelatestoP/ata. IshallfirstgiveanAccount o f h i s L i f e ? , a f t e r t h i s I s h a l l e x p l a i n h i s D o c t r i n e , and examin it with respect to Morality, Religion, Policy,PhysicksandLogick. Ishallasmuchas in m e lies, discover the Source, both of the Truths
and Errors he teaches : I shall speak of his way of treating the Subjects on which he insists: Frorri
thence I shall proceed to make a Judgment of his Stile ? , I shall speak of his Principal Interpreters,
aridinfineshallgiveaTranslationof someof his Dialogues ; the Method and- Subjects of which I shall explain j and here I shall remark whatever I thinkmaybestillofusetous. 'Tiswithsucha disposition of Mind as this, that we should read theWorksoftheHeathens;forthosewhoaretoo much enamour'd of 'em, and take up with them, never find enough Truth in 'em to give 'em Satis faction and Righteousness enough to fortifie 'em a- gainst Vice, but continue to want the true Food of Souls,andremainindigentofsolidVertue. This Method I speak of, is taught us by a * Learned
Father of the Church, and was followed by him self, as he informs us in the t Letter he wrote to Pope Damafus -, in which, after he had applied to thispurpose, the t Law God gave his People, con cerning a strange Woman, when taken Captive in War, who was not to be married to an Israelite, tillhehadcaus'dhertochangeherClothes, tobe purified, and to have her Nails and her Hair cut ; headds. |"WedothefamewhenwereadtheHea- " then Philosophers (who to us are thatstrange Wo-
* St. Jtromi. f Letter 145. t D ^ >> c*><</>. ar.
I Itaque & nos facere solemus quando Philosophos Icgimiw,' quando inmanus nostras iibri vcniunt sapientiae saecularis ; siquid i n c i s u t i l e r e p e r i m u s , a d n o s t r u m d o g m a c o n v c r t i m u s , si q u i d v c - ro superfluum, de Idolis, de amore, de cura saxularium rerun),' rixcradimus,hisCalviciumiaducimus,hxcinunguiummorem fen o acutissimo refecamcs.
& man)
? ? The Use of Plato. ^r C( m a n ) a n d w h e n t h e B o o k s o f t h e W i s d o m o f t h i s
"Worldfallintoourhands. Ifwefindany thing
" in V/# that isprofitable, we make use of it by re- w ferring it to our own Principles ; and when we
"findanythinguselessandsuperfluous, aswhenthey .
" treat of Hols, of Love, and of the Care ofEarth- " ly andPeriflnible things, this we pare away. These " are the Clothes zvhich we take from this strange
"Woman;thesearctheAailsandHairwecutoff " with ajharp Injirument.
By this means we restore to the good Philosophy
and sound Theology of the Ancient Hebrews, what
the Greeks have itollen from 'em, for they are en richedonly with theirSpoils.
Plato descended from a Brother of Solon, and consequently was of the Family of Codrus King of Athens, and thus his Genealogy may be Trac'd to Neptune by Neleus King of Pylos, from whom Codrw descended in the Fifth Generation : So that in respect of his Birth, his Nobility was as great as any the Pride of any Man can flatter themselves withal. Arifion having efpous'd his Cousin Ger man Periffione, * 'tispretendedthat Apolloappear'd to him in a Dream, and forbad him to approach hisWife, becauseshewaswithChildbyHim. Ari
fionobey'd; and now look'd upon PeriUione no more as his Wife, but as a Goddess, till she was deliver'dofPlato,o\\the Day of Apollo's f Nativity, astheDeliansaffirm. Plutarchmakesa Reflection upon this, which deserves not tobe forgot. He fays, Those thathavemade Apollo Plato'sFather, have donethatGod nodishonourinattributingtohimthe ProductionofaMan, whoisthePhysicianofSouls; and labours to cure 'em of the most violent Passions, and most dangerous Distempers. And St. Jerome
* These Suppositions were usual in chose Timei, for instance, there was soon after this, a W o m a n of the Kingdom of Pontus, who persuaded a multitude ot People that (fee was with Child by ApUo,andwasbroughttoBedofaSon,whowasnam'dSilems, , whomLyftndtrwaswillingtomakeuseoftocarry on theDesign hehadlaidtomakehimselfKingofSpartt. fThe7thofFeb.
some-
? ? 7k LifeofPlato:
somewhere observes, That those Philosophers who firstgave out this Fable, did not believe that he w h o m they look'd upon as the Prince of Wisdom, could be born of any other than a Virgin.
P / a t o w a s b o r n t h e first Y e a r o f t h e E i g h t y e i g h t h Olympiade, thatis426 Years beforethe Nativityof JesusChrifl. HewasatfirstcalFdArijiocles,af tertheName ofhisGrand-Farher:His Wrestling- Master calFd him Plato, from his broad square Shoulders ; and he continued ever after to bear this Name. InhisInfancyashewasoneDaysleeping under a Myrtle Tree, 'tis said a Swarm of Bees settledupon hisLips, which was taken asan Omen tosignifiethathisStyle wouldbeextreamlysweet. H e began his Studies under a Grammarian call'd Dio nysus, made his Exercises under Arison of Argos, learn'd Musick of Draco the Athenian j and under
Metellus of Agrigentum, he apply'd himself to
Painting and Poesy ; he even made some Tragedies
which he burnt when he was 20 Years of Age, after
hehadheardSocrates. TothisPhilosopherheen tirely adher'd ? , and having a marvellous Inclina
tion to Vertue, made so good a Proficiency by the DiscoursesofthisRighteousMan, thatat25Years of Age he gave such proofs of his extraordinary Wisdom, asmade itappearthathewasalreadyca pable of Governing a State.
The Lacedemonians had then made themselves Masters of Athens, and Lysander established there' theGovernmentof30, who atfirstRul'dwithsome
kind ofMildness, butsoonaftermade use ofa Ty rannicalPower. AtthisJuncturePlatogaveavery considerable Instance of the freedom of his Soul, and ihew'dhecouldnottruckletomake hisCourttoa
Tyrant. Lysander,whomadeallstooptohim,and had render'd himself formidable by his Cruelties, kept somePoetsabouthim,whomadeittheirbusi ness to celebrate his Glory, and flatter his Vanity. Antimachus and Niceratm were of this Number j. theymadeVersesinPraiseofLysander,bywayof
Emubf-'
? ? TheLifeofPhtol 33
lation-, he being, made Judge of their Perfor mance, gave the Prize to Nice-ratits. Antimacbus overborn with this Disgrace, suppressed his Poem. Plato who lov'dhim for hisfinePoetry, endeavour'd to encourage him, and without fearing Lysander's Resentment, told him, that he was not so much to
beblam'dashis Judge-,for(saidhe)Ignoranceis as bad a Distemper in the Eyes of the Mind, as blindness in those of the Body.
PlatosMerit which now began to be much taken noticeof, induc'dtheMinistersofTyrannytomake the greatest efforts they could to draw him to their Party, and to engage him to concern himself in the Government. Nothingwaspropos'dtohimbut
what was suitable to his Age, and agreeable to his Maxims. Indeed allhis Ambitionlayinadesire
of making the Knowledge he had acquir'd, servicea- bletohisCountrey? ,andhewas sofarpersuaded
bythePromisesofthoseThirtyTyrants, thathedid not deipair of inducing 'em at length to abandon t h e i r A r b i t r a r y M e t h o d s ? , a n d G o v e r n t h e C i t y w i t h
alltheWisdom andModerationofgoodMagistrates.
While he employ'd his Thoughts to this purpose
NightandDay, andwasinsearchofthemost pro
per means to make this Design successful, he care
fullyobserve alltheirSteps:Butsoonperceiv'd thattheMischiefgrewworseand worse? ,andthat
the Spirit of Tyranny was too deeply rooted, to leave him any hope of being able to destroy it. * These Thirty Tyrants filled the whole City with
Murders and Proscriptions-, and while he had a share in the Publick Affairs, itcame to this Point, that he must either be a Confederate in their Crimes, oraVictimtotheirFury. Thepressure-ofthisMis fortune, whichnonebutGodhimselfcouldredress; gaveachecktohisAmbition,andmadehim willing to wait for more favourable Times.
Fortunesoonappear'dwillingtosecond hisgood Intentions ; for the Thirty Tyrants were expell'd,
*SeeXenophon'sHistoryofGreece, Lib. a.
D and
? ? 54
The Life of Plato. '
and the Form of the Government quite changed.
Tnis gave a little Revival to Plata's Hopes, when
almostextiiiguiiiied. Butitwasnotlongbeforehe
perceiv'd thatthis new form ofGovernment was no
better chan the former ; and that the State everyday
receivdnew Wounds. NaySocrateshimselfwas
sacrificed upon this Revolution. The Laws were
trampled under foot, Order and Discipline were no
more regarded, and all Authority was in the Hands
ofthePeople, who were alwaysmore formidable
than any Tyrants could be. It was impossible to
rectify this Disorder, for a M a n that should under t a k e i t h a d n e e d o f g o o d f r i e n d s ? , a n d i n f o g r e a t a
Confusion, the Fidelity ot' old Friends becomes as suspectedasthatofnew onesisdangerous.
Plato knew not what to determine under these Circumstances. Hehadnoexpectationofhelpfrom the ne i-ibouring Cities, where Confusion reigned noleisthanitdidatAthens. In anAge wherein Philosophy was advane'd to its highest perfection, Injusticewzscarriedtothelastextremity, whichis theordinaryeffectofthatContempt ofTruthwhich Men sometimes manifest, when it shines upon 'em withthegreatestevidence. TiiisInundationofIn justice and Violence augmented the love which Plato boreroPhilosophy5HecasthimselfintoitsArms as into a safe Port, fully convine'd that the Welfare of Cities and of particular Persons depend on it ; and thatitisimpossibletobehappywithoutit. Atthis time he heard the Discourses of Cratylus w h o taught thePhilosophyosHeraclitm, andHermogeneswho taughtthatofParmenides. Heafterwardwentto
Megara to see Euclid who founded the Megarick
Sect. FromMegarahepals'dtoCyrenetoperfect
himselfintheMathematicksunderTheodoras, who
wasthegreatestMathematicianofhisTime. He then visited Egypt, and conversed a long time with
theEgyptianPriests, whotaughthimagreatpart of their Traditions, and made him acquainted with the Books of Moses, and those of the Prophets.
While
? ? IbeLtfeof Plato. ? ><
While he was at Memphis there arriv'd a Lacede monian whowassentbyAgesilamtodesirethePriest Connuphts to explain a certain Inscription which was fdtindonaCopperPlatein. theTombofAlcmene. This Priest after he had spent three days in looking
over all forts of Figures and Characters, aniwer'd, that the Letters of this Plate were such as were used in Egypt, inthetimeofP/"<? /v? <<s, that Herculej1. had carried them into Gteece, and that they con tainsanAdmonitionwhichGod gavetheGreeksto live in Peace ; by instituting Sports in honour of rhe
Muses, by the study of Philosophy, and other parts of Learning, and by disputing one against another With Reasons, and Words of justice, with a design onlytoknowtheTruthandtofollowtheDictates ofit. TisprobablethisPriestwasnotabletoread theInscription,butwiselymade useofsofavourable
an occasiontoappeasetheGrecian Wars, whichwas infinitely better than if he had read it-
This Stratagem of Connuphis was soon serviceable toPlatoforalikedesign^forwhenhewasupon his return with Simmia*, and on the Coast of Caria, he met some Men that came from Delos; who en treated him to explain a very terrible Prediction which they had received from the Oracle of Apollo. The Purport of it was, that the Miseries under which the Greeks labour'd should not cease, till they had doubled the Cubical Altar which was in hisTemple. Theytoldhimtheyhadattemptedto put this Order in execution, but that when they had doubled each side of the Altar, instead of making it
double as they hop'd to have done,' and as the G o d requir'd, theymade iteightfold;whichmade 'em fear the continuation of their Calamities. Plato calling to mind what the Egyptian Priest had done, told 'em, that God did but mock the Greeks for their Contempt of Sciences ? , and by reproaching 'em of their Ignorance and Stupidity, exhorted 'em seriously to apply themselves to the study of Geo
metry, which alone would make 'em able to find D2 two
? ? j6
The Life of Plato:
two proportional Lines to double a Cubical Body by equallyaugmentingallitsDimensions. Andadded, that ifthey had a mind to correct: their Work, it was but to address themselves to Eudoxus or heli con;butthatGodhadnodesignatalltohave his Altar doubled, and that the only thing he requir'd by the Oracle was, that they should lay down their Arms to converse with the Muses, and moderate their Passionsby the Study of Letters, and Sciences; in rendering mutual Love and Service, instead of
hatinganddestroyingoneanother. Hewentafter this into Italy, where he heard Philolaus and Eury- tus, who were Pythagorean Philosophers. 'From thence he pais'd into Sicily to fee the Wonders of that Island : By this time he had arrived to forty
. 'YearsofAge.
This Voyage, which was purely the effectof his
Curiosity, laid the first foundations of the Liberty ' of Syracuse, and made way for those great things that were put in Execution by Dion, * the Brother-in-Law and Favourite ofDoinyJius the Elder. Therewasatthattime aYoung Man who was
Su Plu-naturally Couragious and Magnanimous;butha- tarchintheving had a Servile Education under a Tyrant, and lift */ Di- being accustom'd to the Submissions and Slavery of a
Cringing and Timerous Courtier, and which is yet more pernicious, brought up in Luxury, Opulence, and Laziness, would have suffer'd those precious Seeds cf Vertue to die in his Soul, had not Plato reviv'dthembyhisDiscourses. Hehadnosooner heard the Precepts of this Philosopher, but his Mind was so infiam'd with the loveof Vertue, that he desir'd nothing so much as to embrace and fol low it. And perceiving with what facility Plato had chang'd his Mind, he believd he might pro duce the fame effect upon that of Dionyjius too, and couldnotresttillhehadengag'dthisPrinceto haveaConferencewithhim. Dionyjius,whothen
* For he was the Son of Hissaims, whose Daughter Dimjfiu had married.
enjoy'd
? ? The Lifeos Plato. \l
enjoy'da great deal of Leisures-consented to this En- terview. Their Discourse was wholly on Vertue,and they presently fell into a Dispute about the Nature of truefortitude: Platoprov'dthatthiscouldby nomeansbeattributedtoTyrants,whoaresofar from being Valiant and Brave, that they are more
WeakandTimorousthanSlaves. Theyafterwards came to speak of Utility, and of Justice. Plato Ihew'd that nothing could be properly said to be useful, but that which is Honest and Just;and madeitappear,thattheLifeofJustMen was happy amidst the greatest Adversity ; and that of the Unjust miserable in the very bosom of
Prosperity. Bionysiuswhofoundhimselfconvinc'd
by his own Experience, could no longer hold the
Discourse, but with a pretence of making a Jest of
his Morals, told him bis Discoursesfavour'd of OldAge; towhichP/atoreplied,thatbisfavoured
of Tyranny. This Prince not accustom'd to hear such odious Truths, ask'd him very importunately forwhathecameinto 5icily? Platoanswer'dthat, HecamethithertoseekagoodMan. Andbythy Speech, replied Dionysius, itseems thou baft not
yet found one.
In another Conference which was no less smart
than the former, the Tyrant to intimate to Plato, thathe ought to conduct himself with more Cau tionbeforehim,andnottousesoprovokingaLi bertyofSpeech, mention'dthesetwoVersestohim. ,
-* In every Tyrant's Court He a meer Slave becomes' who enters free.
Plato return'd him these two Lines, changing the. latterthus,
-In every Tyrant's Court
Who enters'free, shall nere become a Slave.
tosignifiethataTrue Philosophercan neverlose
* These are cwo Lines of Sophocles. .
D3 to&
? ? 8
The Ufa of Plato.
hisLiberty. DionfearingthePrince'sDispleasure
hereupon would have some fatal effect, ask d a
DismissionforPlato,thathemighttakethe advan^
tage of a Vessel that was to carry back Poluides the
Lacedemonian Ambassador. D/o/Tvyfozs gave him leave
to go ? ,but pressed the Ambassador with great im
portunity, either to take P/ata's Life away by the way, or at least to sellhim? ,assuring him, this
woulddohimno injury. ForifheisaJustMan (fayshe)he'llbeasbappyinSlaveryasinthe enjoy mentofLiberty, "TissaidPoluidescarriedhimto
? theIsleofAEgina, whereaLawhadbeenpublished, by which all Athenians that mould come ashoar there, were order'd to be put to death. Plato there forewastaken,andbroughtbeforetheJudges. He expected his Sentence without shewing any token
o f f e a r ? , w h i c h m a d e o n e o f * e m t h i n k f i t t o s a y , that he was a Philosopher, and not an Athenian.
This word spoken after a jesting manner, sav'd his Life. He,wasonlycondemn'dtobe sold,andwas immediatelybought forThirty*Mina'sbyaCyre- niannamed Anniceris, who set him at Liberty,lent himbacktoAthens,andwouldbynomeansbere- imburs'd ; telling them, That as the Athenians were not the only Persons who knew Plato's Merit, so t h e y w e r e n o t t h e o n l y P e r s o n s w h o w e r e w o r t h y to. renderhimService. However,Platofaysnothing pf alltheseparticularsinhisSeventhLetter, where he speaks of this Voyage into Sicily h and sis pro bable he would not have forgotten to speak at least of his Benefactor,
AftertheDeathof Dionyjiusthe Elder,hisSon
Dionyjius the Younger succeeded ; who had been veryillEducated? ,forhisFather, whowasjealous
evenofhisown Children, had alwaysstrictlykept him from Company ; lest if he should come to knowhimself,andtoconversewithMenofSense, who were weary of Slavery, he should Conspire againsthim. ThisYoungPrincewasnosoonerup-
f About Sixty Pound Sterling, or something more.
OH
? ? The Life of Plato. 39
on the Throne, but he was so dazzled with his Grandeur, that he knew not where he was, and so became an eafie prey to his Courtiers, who forgot nothing that might corrupt him, and became the in genious and industrious Ministers of his Pleasures. Nothing was to be seen in the Pallace but horrible Corruption of Manners and Excesses. They had
Debauches that held Tor Three Months together, during which time, all Wife and Sober Men, whose presence alone would have cendemn'd ci disturb'd these shameful Divertisements, were forbidden to
enter. Dion, whose concern for the State made him fear the Pleasures of the Young Dionyjioe more than ever he had fear'dthe Cruelty of hisFather, lost no opportunity of letting him know what Precipices were before him, and how certain his Fall would be $ and believing hisVices sprang only from Ignorance and Idleness, he endavoured to put him upon some Honourable Exercises, and tomake him inLovewiththeSciences,especiallythatwhich aimsattheReformationofManners. Hetoldhim, nothing but Vertue could give him a solid Happiness, whichwould extenditsInfluencetoallhisPeople. That his Father had in vain flatterd himself, that
hehadlefthimanEmpirebound with Adamantine Chains, since these Chains would loon be soften'd byhisDebauches. ThatFearandForcewerenot the true Supports of a Throne, but the Affection and Love of Subjects, which, he said, was always the consequence of the Vertue and Justice of Prin-
'ces. He represented to him, that True Grandeur consists not in having great Equipages, superb Pallaces, sumptuous Fumiture,/ and fine Clothes 5 but in having the Pallace of the Mind royally a- dorn'd : And that none but Ylato was capable of communicating to him all the Vertues that ought to embellishaPrince'sSoul. Byentertaininghimwith such Discourses as these, in which he always thus intermix'd the great Truths he had learn'd from this Philosopher^ he inspir'd him with such
D4 an
? ? 40
7 he Life os Phto.
,an ardent, or rather furious desire to draw him to ;his Court, and to put himself under his Direction, Ithat he lent Couriers to Athens with very pressing
Letters of his own, accompanied with other Letters of Dio/1% and of allthe Pythagorean Philosophers that were inGreat Greece ; who entreated him ve- S earnestlytotakethe advantageofthefavourable
pportunity the Divine Providence offer'd him, to make a Philosopher of a King ; and conjur'd him to come with expedition, before the Debauches of theCourthadmade thisPrincealterhisResolution, w h o at present was passionately in Love with Philo sophy.
These great Promises did not immediately move Vlato,whoknewYoungPeopletoowell, topro mise himself any thing certain from the Flashes of a Young Prince, whole Inclinations commonly are variousand opposite, and frequently pass suddenly off;andinwhomtheLoveofVenuedoesnotal ways take root deeply enough to resist the Efforts ofthoseViceswhichattaquehimonallsides. So that Tlato did not know how to resolve on this Voyage; butatlength,afterhehadconsider'd, that in curing only one Man, he should make a
whole Nation happy, and that perhaps God was
openingaway forhim here, actuallytosetonfoot
that Perfect Government of which he had already
giventheIdeainthefirstBooks ofhis Common
wealth ; he resolv'dto go, not out of Vanity, or to
acquireRiches,ashisEnemieshave accusedhim-,
but was overcome only by the respect: he bore to ? himself, that he might not give the World an oc
casion to reproach him, that he only discours'd of Vertue, but never voluntarily put himself ina Con dition to reduce it to practise.
To theseReasonstherewasaddedanotherMotive m u c h m o r e p r e s s i n g ? , a n d t h a t w a s , t h a t i t w o u l d b e
a shame for him to abandon Dion in the dangerous Circumstances he was in, attack'd on all fides by the Calumnies of his Enemies ; w h o because they could
not
? ? The Life of Plato: 41
not bear the-Severity of his Manners, and the W i s dom of his Conduct, endeavour'd to render him sus pected to Dionysus, and who would infallibly de stroyhim, if this Prince had time given him to re lapseintohisformerDisorders. ThiscasttheBal
ance indetetmining Plato to quit hisEmployments at64yearsofAge, togoyitmaybewithtoomuch Confidence, as himself confesses, to deal with the Caprices of a young Tyrant.
He was received in Sicily with all possible marks ofHonour. Dionysuswasnotcontentonlytofend himaGalleyadorn'dwithRibbands, asifhehad beenaGod, butalsowenthimselftoreceivehimat
thePortinamagnificentCharriot, intowhichhe took hirrii and render'd thanks to the Gods by a pub- lick Sacrifice for his Arrival, as the greatest Felicity that could happen ro his Government.
This so happy beginning had yet happier Conse q u e n c e s -, f o r , a s i f s o m e G o d h a d a p p e a r ' d a n d t a k e n Measure in changing of Hearts-, the whole Court lecamesoreform'd, atleastinappearance, thatthe 'allace of Dionyjius was more like a School of Phi- osophers, or a sacred Temple, than the place of a
Tyrant's Residence.
Some days after'Plato'sArrivalthetimeofan
Anniversary Sacrificecame about, which was wont to be offer'd in the Castle for the Prince's Prosperity.
The HeraldhavingaccordingtotheCustom, pro nounced with a loud Voice the solemn Prayer in this Form, May itplease the Gods long tomaintain the Tyranny,andtopreservetheTyrant. Dionysuswho began to hate those Names, cry'd aloud to him. Whatwiltthouneverleavecursingme? Bywhich words 'twasjudg'dtheDiscoursesofPlkohadmade a real and strong Impression on his M i n d : This m a d e allthose that favour'd this Tyrannical Form of Go
vernment, believe 'twas best to lose no time, and that it w a s n e c e i l a r y t o r u i n e D i o n a n d P l a t o b e f o r e t h e y had acquir'd Authority and Power enough over the Tyrant, to render all their Efforts useless. They
soon
? ? 4i
The Life ofPlato.
soon found 3n occasion very favourable to their de
sign, nor did they fail to make their advantage ofit.
Plato had alreadyperswaded D'wnysius todismiss
ten thousaud Forreigners which compos'd his Guard,
to disband ten thousand Horse, with the greatest
part of his Infantry, and to reduce the 400 Galleys,
which he always kept equip'd, to a very small n u m
ber. Those illdesigningMenmisrepresentedthis
Advice, and would have perswaded Dionysias that
Dion had engag'd thisSophist to induce him to dis
trusthisGuards, andtherestofhisTroops, thatib
the Athenians finding him without defence might
come and ravage Sicily, and revenge themselves for t h e L o s s e s t h e y h a d s u s t a i n e d u n d e r N i c i a s ? , o r e l s e
with a design to expel him, and to take his place himselfintheThrone. ThisCalumny, whichwas plausibleenoughtosurprizeaTyrant, didnothow ever produce half the effect: they expected from it. Only Dion became a Victim to the Anger ofDionyfi- us, who caus'd him to be put on board a Vessel in h i s P r e s e n c e ? , a n d s h a m e f u l l y b a n i s h e d h i m .
At-thesametime itwas reportedatSyracuse, that hehadalsoputPlatotodeath; butthisStoryhad no foundation -, for Dionysioe on the contrary re doubledhisCaressestowardshim, eitherbecausehe believed, that he had been first deluded by the Ar tifices of Dion, or else because indeed he himself could not tell h o w to live without seeing and hear ing him.
The Love he had for Plato augmented every day, and advanc'd to that excess, that he became as jea lous of him, as of a Mistress, and us'd his utmost Efforts, to oblige him to prefer his Friendship to that of Dion : But, as Plato said, he took a wrong Course to obtain thisPreference ; for he endeavour'd to acquire itonly by demonstrations ofan ambitious and tyrannical Love, instead of meriting it, if that had been possible, by a conformity of Manners,, in makinganImprovementofhisMaxims, anduniting himselftohimbythebondsofVertue. HisTi-
moutousness
? ? 7heLife ofPlato^ 43
mouroushess rather than his 111humour hinder'd him from taking this method : for tho he passionately lov'dPlato, hescarcedar'dtoseehim butbystealth, for fear of irritating such as were displeas'd with thisIntimacybetween'em; sothathealwaysfluc
tuated between desire, and fear, and thereby render'd all Plato's Exhortations useless to him, andremain'd aSlavetohisVices. Howeverbecausehefear'dhe would leaveSicilywithout hispermission, heorder'd him to lodge in the Castle, on pretence co do him honour,butinrealitytosecurehisPerson. There
he endeavour'd to gain his Heart by the most magni ficentOffershecouldthinkof. He fliew'dhimhis Treasures, and told him all that he desir'd of him wastobecomeMasterofhisForces,andofallhis Power, provided he would love him more than Dion. FewPhilosopherswouldhaveresistedsuch powerfulTemptations. ButPlato,whocouldmake V ertue give place to Vice in his Soul, constantly told him,thathewouldlovehimasmuchasDion,when oncehewasastrulyvertuousasHe. Thisthrew the Tyrant into an horrible Rage ; he threaten'd him with Death, and the next moment beg'd pardon for allhisViolence. Platowouldhavefo^undhisPrison moretolerable, ifhehadbeentheObjectofhisHa
tred;forhewaseverydayoblig'dtousenewMa nagement to make the Obligations of Hospitality a- greewiththeInterestsofPhilosophy. Infine,he had the good Fortnne tobe deliver'dfrom thisCap tivity. ForaWarbrokeout,whichsoredDionys ustosendhimbackintoGreece. Athisdeparture he would have loaded him with Presents, which Platorefus'd, contenting himself with thePromise hemade him ofrecallingDion,vthentheWar should beonceended. WhenhewasreadytoembarkDiony-
fiussaidtohim. Plato,whenthouartintheAca demy with thyPhilosophers thou wiltspeak illofme. Godforbid (reply'd Plato) that voc should have so much time to lose in the Academy ax to talk ofYYxo- nysius, Thedisinteresiedr. elsofPlatoappear'don
many
? ? 44
Tk LifeofPlato. '
many occasions, as his Rivals themselves could not chusebutgrant. Dionyjiushavingamindtomake Presents to the Philosophers of his Court, and put ting it to their choice what to have, Ariftippus de- fir'dMoney, and Plato ask'donly for Books; upon which ArijiippushelngralliedforhisAvarice,made answer, Plato loves Books, and I love Money.
As he return'd into Greeee he pass'd by Olympia to
fee the Games ; and there gave marks of a Modesty
notmuch differing from deep Humility, and suchas deseivetoberemarked. Hehappenedtolodgewith
some Strangers of considerable Note ; He eat with 'em,pass'dwholeDaysintheirCompany, livdaf teramostsimpleandordinarymanner, withoutever speaking a word to 'em either of Socrates or the A- cademy;andwithoutlettingthemknowanything more of himself than that his Name was Plate. These Strangers were extremely pleas'd that they hadfoundaManofsosweetandsociableaTem per ; but because he spoke only of very common Matters, they never thought he was that Philoso pher,whoseNamewassowellknown.
The Games being ended, they went with him to Athens, where he furnished 'em with Lodgings; they were no'Tooner come thither, but they entreat ed him to carry 'em to fee that great Man, who borethelameName withhim,andwastheDisci pleofSocrates. Platotold'emsmiling,thathim selfwastheMan. TheseStrangerswerefurpriz'd,
that they had so long polTess'd so great a Person a- mong 'em without knowing him ? ,and could not
sufficiently admire that he had liv'd with 'em after
1so plain and simple a manner, and that he had shown ? that by the sweetness of his Manners alone, without
,thehelp of hisWit and Eloquence, he could gain ^the friendship of allPersons with whom he con- nvers'd.
Some time after this, he gave the People * Plays, , for which Dion furnished the Habits, and was at
* They'werc Tngedies.
all
? ? 7keLifeof Plato. " 45
all the Charge : P/ato being willing to let him have thisHonour, thathis Magnificencemight acquire him ayetgreaterInterestintheGood-Will ofthe Athenians. ItisnotknownwhetherDionmadea long stay at Athens ; this only is certain, that Plata
forgotnothing thatmight induce him to moderate his Resentment, and not to attempt any thing a- gainstDionyfius. Herepresentedtohim,thatthe Injustice that had been done him, and the ill Con-
? duct of that Prince, were not a lawful occasion of takingup Arms against him ? ,That he ought to re
ducehimbyReason,ortowaitforsomeChangeof
Fortune.
that Slavery, which leads to Wealth, is prefefd
to Liberty, and M e n chuse rather to nourish the . Vi-
tes of others by their Flatteries, than to augment
their own Vertues by their Labour. The Tempe
rance, Frugality, Fortitude, Justice and Liberty of Socrates will be laugh'd at ? and this will be hue the
accomplishmentofwhathepredicted. *IfmyFel low-Citizens (says he) have not been able to endufe my Alaxims, much less will they be tolerable to Strangers.
The greatest part will not give themselves so muchtroubleastoreadhim. tTheywillmuch lboner read the Milesian Tables, as St. Jerome fays, that is such Pieces as corrupt the Heart and Mind,
than Dialogues which inspire nothing but Wisdom; And among those that will read him, many will do it only out of Curiosity, for in our Time we maymakethesameComplaintthatwasmadehere
tofore by Taunts the Philosopher, anancientCom mentator on Plato. One asks for Plato's Dialogue oftheBanquet,tohavethepleasure ofseeing,the ExceileS'ofAlcibiades. Another. forhisPhoedrm, because 'tis a Treatise of Criticism, and the Ora tion of Tysas is examin'd in it; and others desire
* Apology 69. f Mulcoq; pars major est Milesias fabulis revolventium, quam Platonis Libros; St. Jerome in the Priface <<) UsXll Book on Isaiah.
C 2 those
? ? io
A Discourse on Plato^
thoseDialogueswhichhave the greatestReputation, and are accounted the best Pen'd,only for a frivolous Pleasure ; and not one of all these thinks of e m bellishing his Mind by reading of these Books, so
as to become more Modest, Temperate, Just, Pa tient, and Pious.
But those who will prove the least favourable to Socrates, area sortof Men who highly valuethem selves upon their refin'd Wit ; and a great many of thosewhoaretakenwiththePompandGayappear ances of the World.
The former not having Eyes piercing enough to discover the secret Light of those hidden Beauties that adorn these Dialogues, will count Socrates a Dull and Languid Author, because he has no Witti cisms,norGentileTurns. AnobscurePersonwho never did any thing worthy to be read, shall call in question the Reputation of Socrates, a Person who has been an honour to Humane Nature by theEx cellency of his Understanding ; and shall prefer him self to him, trampling under his Feet * the Tejii- tnonies which allthe learned Men of Antiquity, and allGreecehaverendred him,thatforgoodSense, Wit, 'Pleasantness, Subtilty, Strtngth, Variety and. Abundance, heexcelledallthateverhadappearedin theWorld. AManmusthaveagreatStockof good Opinion of himself, to appeal from so solemn aJudgment, andtomake hisappealtohimselftoo.
The latterarecommonly corruptedby reading fri volous Books, which are wholly Compos'd for Ostentation, and as Montagne fays, can't perceive Riches unless they make a pompous Show, and Ib h a v e a d i s g u s t f o r e v e r y t h i n g t h a t is P l a i n a n d S i m p l e -, b e i n g p e r s u a d e d t h a t w h a t i s N a t u r a l a n d E a s y , is a Kin to Dulness and Stupidity. These will think itbelow'emtoattendtoaPhilosopherwho enter- tains'em only with such Discourses as they countVul- garand Trivial,whoisscarceevertobefound outof Shops-, who talks only of Husband-men, Smiths,.
Z Cictrtinhis3dBooliof Oratory.
Masons,
? ? A Discourse on Plato. '
2 v
Masons, Carpenrers, Shoemakers, and Taylors and is eternally hammering on the fame Subjects and representing the same Images. '
9 There are not wanting good Reasons to prove to
em, thatasaMan sometimesisthoughtplump and in good Cafe, when he is only swelPd and bloated- 10 that which is frequently taken for Accuracy of Judgment, is the Effect of some Distemper/and notatallthemark ofaniceandfineRelish. The highestandmostsublime Conceptionsareoftenhid
underaformthatappearsVileand Contemptible, Are not the most Celestial Truths propos'd to vk m the Gospel under Popular Images and Modes of Ex
pression, like those us'd by Socrates? That which creeps on the Earth, is no less capable than that whichisraisdtotheHeavens, ofservingforaRe presentation to let the greatest Secrets,both o f N a t u r e andGraceintoourUnderstanding. Nay,manytimes tnemolt bimpleand Common Ideas arethemost
propertoimpressTruthontheMinds ofMen,forbe sidesthatthesearemoreproportionate tous, theydo
not Transport usout of our selves asthemost Mag nificentIdeasda Ifnonebutgreatanddaziing Imagescouldstrikeus, Godwouldnothavefaii'dto have constantly employ'd 'em, and since'tisno more difficult for him to change Men than to illuminate
em, he would have been so far from making his spirit stoop to the Manners and Customs of those whom he inspired; that on the contrary he would have transform'dtheirMannersandCustoms,tosub.
ject e m in some sort to his Spirit, and yes he did not dp thus. When he inspires Daniel, he leaves himtospeaklikeaManEducatedinaRoyalCourt h e u s e s o n l y G r e a t a n d M a g n i f i c e n t I d e a s -, a n d w h e n he inspires a Shepherd, such a one as Amos, he leaveshim toexplainhimselfbysuchTermsaswere moltfamiliartohim hbuttheTruthiseverywhere equally sublime, and as it receives no accession to its Lustre by the Majesty of Figures, so neither does it lose, any thing of its Glory by their Simpli-
C? city
? ? %I
A DiscourseonPlato.
city. Socraieswassowellpersuaded, thatthisSim plicity was alone capable to move and correct the Minds of Men, that when Critiaf, the'most Cruel of theThirty Tyrants, commanded him to let all
the Artificers alone, and talk no more of 'em, he answer'd ; * I muji then let all those Consequences a* lonetoo,whichIdrawfrom*em,and mustspeakno mere, either of Holiness or Justice, or any otherDu ties that become a Good Man. ? '
But perhaps our Censors will have less deference forthe Authority of Reasons, that for that of Ex amples : Tis therefore necessary to give them an Account of what pais'd in the Time of Socrates himself; and to (new 'em the Characters, both of his Friends and Enemies.
Ontheonesidewerethemost stupidandmost
corruptamongthePeople,someofwhom,through
ignorance, laugh'd at his Morality, and the manner
pf his Behaviour : Others through the Corruption ? of theirHearts, couldnotendure his Generous Li
berty.
On theotherside,Persons ofthe greatest Ho
nour, and of chief Note in the Commonwealth ; Pericles, Niciaf, Xenophon, Apollodorus, Criton, Critobulus, Eschinoe, Antifthenes, &c. These found infiniteCharmsinhisConversation. Whoisitthat isignorantof Alcibiades? No Man had more Wit, pratruergustofthings? ,hewasoneofthebest made, Bravest, most Gallant, most Magnificent, most Ambitious, and Nicest Men in the World -,
he was at the Head of the Athenians, he comman ded their Armies, he had won severalBattles,he had glitter'd in the Courts of Kings, and had not been rudely treated by Queens. According to the M a x i m s of the World, there's nothing more Bright and Il lustriousthansuchaManasthis. Yetthisfame Alcibiadesamidstall-thisGloryandPomp, issofar* frombeingoffendedatSocrateshisway andman ner of Deportment, which-were so opposite to his own, that,henosoonerbecameacquaintedwithhim,
* Xtntph. intheistBookoftheMemorableThingsofSoeratts* ''. ',':? /? '? . '. '? :">'? ,',:. -'-j"v\ i. i. '? >>V i:';. ,. ,. ,; ",but
? ? clistifiic. 30. 18.
A DiscourseonPlato^ 15
but he was struck with such a sense of his Merit, and the solid Gracefulness of his Conversation, that he knew not how to leave him ? ,he was enchanted
with his Discourses, which he preferd tothe most e x c e l l e n t M u f i c k ? , * h e c o n f e s s e s , t h a t a M a n c o u l d
neitherhear him speak, nor even hear others repeat
whathehadsaid,withoutbeingtransported. The
Force and Truth of his Words drew Tears from
him, and made him even leap for Joy. He com-
par'dhim to certain Statues of Satyrs and Silenes,
which were made to open and shut; to look on the o u t - s i d e o f ' e m , n o t h i n g w a s m o r e u g l y ? , b u t w h e n
they were open'd, allthe Deities were found in'em together. Hehardlylov'dorrespectedanyonebe sideshim,andhenevermet. withhim,buthetook off from his own Head the Crown, which he, ac cordingtotheCustom,woreondaysofCeremony,
andputitontheHead ofSocrates. Thereforethereisnomedium,wemustjudgeof?
Socrates either as the worst and meanest of the Athe niansdid, orlikePeric/esandAJcibiades-ywe may take our Choice.
All these Contradictions which I have foreseen, and which indeed may make these Dialogues be come tothegreatestpartofReaderstlikethose exquisite Dainties that were formerlyset on Tombs, have not diseourag'd me, but only convinc'd me
that a. bare Translation, though never so exact and faithful, would not make a iufficient impression on theMindsofsome Men, ifitwerenotsupported by something, that might prevent all these Iqcon- veniencies, or at least a good part of 'em-, and I could think but of two ways to succeed inthis,
Thefirstwas,toplaceanArgumentattheHead of everyDialogue,toexplaintheSubjectofit,to unfoldtheArtandMethod ofit,andtotakepar ticular notice ofevery thinginitof the greatest im-
* IntheDialogueoftheBanquet.
t O^uafiappositionesEpularum circumposu^ Sepulchro, Ec-
C 4 portance.
? ? ^4
A DiscourseonPlato^
portance. TheArgumentsofMarsiliusYicinus6,9
not go to the Matter of Fact ; besides, they are tod
abstracted, and are abundantly more difficult to be'
understood than -the Dialogues themselves. And
those of IV Serres are too wide and indefinite, they
never well fix the State of the Question, or the Quality of the Proofs ? , nor do they eVer explain ei
therPlato'sDesign,orhisAddress. Now anArgu ment ought to be a faithful Guide always to attend the Reader, to conduct him where-ever he goes,and alwaystosethim intotherightPath.
The secondway was tomake Remarks toelucidate the principal Difficulties^ render the hidden Beau ties discernable, to explain the Train of Reasoning,, and the Solidity of the Principles and 'Proofs, and tohelptodiscoverwhat isfalse,from that which istrue.
Marsilius Yicinus did not so much as think of this*
Be Serres on thisAccount ismOreusefulthanhej
forbyhisMarginal Notesheatleasthinders'you
from losing the Thread of Plato's Reasoning, and
makes you comprehend the Train and Progress of his
Proofs : But yet he abandons you in the greatest dif ficulties. ? '. . -? -
In the Time of Maximus Tyrius, that is in the secondAge, itwasvery earnestlydesired,thatsome one would undertake to elucidate those obscure and knotty Pasiages of Plato-, above all in what respects his Opinions in Theology, and many Philosophers l a b o u r ' d i n t h i s W o r k , a s m a y b e s e e n i n h i s L i f e -y butwithsolittle success,thatinsteadofresolving the Difficulties, they have increased 'em. They, have scarce assisted m e once or twice in the Ten Dia logues which I have Translated ^ and they would have very often led me into Mistakes if I would havefollowed'em. -: >''? ? -. :. ? ? ? :
Thecauseof theirErrors was, that they did not draw from the true Fountain, and had a mind, to ex plain Plato by Arifiotle's Principles, which are very
different from those of Plato, The latterisrnost *>. ? -. <; i,? . ? ;;. . . -. ? . . . . commonly
? ? A discourseonPlato. xj
commonly conformable to sound Theology, or may be very easily reduc'd to it by his own Principles well explain'd:But'tisotherwisewithhisDisciple, and where Plato may be once corrected by Aristotle, Aristotlemay be correcteda hundred times by P/ato.
Idon'tpresumesomuchonmy own Ability,as
to think I have filled up all the Devoirs of a good
Interpreter; without doubt some Difficulties will
yet be found in that which I have Translated, but
perhaps all of 'em ought not to be imputed to me.
ObscuritiesordinarilyarisefromthreeCauses, from
the Sublimity of the Subject, from the Igonrance
of the Interpreter, and from the Incapacity or Un-
attentionoftheReader. Itwillbereasonablefor the Reader to accuse me of some pf 'em ? ,but let
him also sometimes accuse,either the Subject or him
self: If this Conduct be observed, I may venture
to hope for the Diminution of these Difficulties. ? At the end of the first Volume the Reader will
find an Abridgment of Three Dialogues, which are alsoentirelyTranslatedin-thesame Volume. That which has given occasion to this Repetition, is as follows^ I had a very great desire to publish Plato inFrench, but I made this Reflection-, that Philo sophy, as Plato himself somewhere says, requires FreeMenwho areMasters:oftheirTime^andwho, provided they findthe Truth, don'tenquire whether the Discourses that lead to it, are long or short : But nothing inour Time ismore rarelyfound, than theseFreeMen. Some aresooppress'dwithCare and Business, that they are scarce ever at their own disposal i and others are so continually agitated and shuffled by a Thousand passions, that they are always in Action, without doing,any thing, and resemble so many fugitive Slaves.
Therefore to Accomodate Plato to the Occupa tionsof theformer,andtherestlessHumourofthe latter, I thought such Abridgments might be made, as would be of very great Use ; and I made some, in which I preserved, the best I could, the Spirit of
! ;. . Socrates
? ? 1$
A piscourseonPlato^
4
Socrates and his Method, so that none of his Prin cipalStrokesmightbelost. FromhenceIluppos'd two considerable Advantages might be drawn. First, ThatbythismeansPlatomightbereadinaWeeks time, and then, that the Truths he teaches, would be more deeply fix'd in the Mind; because the Proofsbeingmorecontracted,wouldmakeamore livelyImpression. Iwasfartherconfirm'dinthis Thought by observing the effect these Abridgments producedonallthat heard'emread; everyonewas mov'd by 'em, and could not chuie but feel the force of 'em.
But it must be confess'd to the Glory of Plato^ andperhapssomewhattomyShametoo,thatwhen Iwason thepointofcommitting'em tothePress, and was willing to review 'em by the Original, I was my selfdisgusted with my Work, and found in the Original so many Elegancies which I had not been able to preserve ; that I was afraid I should make it sustain too great a loss in not publishing it entire, for nothing can be taken from it, that is not worthytobeadmired. Andtothinkthereareany VacuitiesanduselesspartsinhisWritings, isbutta deceiveonesself. Thereisagreatdealofdiffe rence between a Man's quitting his Subject, and soundingittothebottom. Plutoalwaysgoesback
to firstPrinciples, and examines every Subject on all its different sides; he maintains that this is the only way to make sure Demonstrations ; and he is every where such an Enemy to long Discourses, that is, iiich as are useless, that he looks upon 'em as the Rock on which Truth is split, and as the Cha racter, not of a Philosopher, but of a Sophist. This obliged m e to alter m y Resolution : However, in Obedience to some Persons of very great Merit, who desired these Abridgments of me, I have pub lishedthree, thatthePublick may draw some pro fitfrom 'em, or at least may make a Judgment of 'em.
? ? J DiscourseonPlatoJ %%
I might here have a fair occasion to answer the . Invectivesthathavebeen madeagainstPlato inour Time:Butsincetheycome onlyfromsuchPersons
asneverreadsomuchasoneofhisDialogues;per haps they'll change their Sentiments when once theyhavereadhim. Besides,'tiswaftingofones Time todefend Platohfor he sufficientlydefends himself-, and that may be said of him with yet more Justice, which thegreatestof the Latin Histo- rianssaidofGz/0,equallyridiculingthe PraisesCi cerohadgivenhim,andtheSatyrsCesarhadmade on him. * None could ever augment the Glory ofthisGreatMan byhisPraises^nordiminishitby
his Satyrs.
* CujusGloria? nequcprofuitquisquamIaudando,neevit<<pe<< randoquisquamnocuic. TitMIwjfw.
THE
? ? iS
THE
LIFE of PLATO,
WITH
An AccountofthePrincipalof
his Opinions in Philosophy.
G O D waspleas'dtoendowthefirstMan with true Wisdom ^ but the Passions sooncommunicated tohim theirMortal
Poyson, and precipitated him into a
stateofRebellion against hisMaker, and
so made him lose all the advantages of his Origin. Tk'*jsy/Tis from thisFountain hisPosterity have deriv'd all
mt Seas their Errors. Being unhappily taught what Good es Philofo-they had lost, by the Evils they suffer'd, they made fkrs. theirbestEfrprtstorepairtheirloss. ButsinceMan
in a state of Perfection had not strength enough to keep that Happiness he enjoy'd ; h o w should he be able when in a state of Corruption, to put himself in possession (if that true Good, of which Sin had d e p r i v e d h i m ? N o , 'tis n o t t o b e e x p e c t e d f r o m h i m , that he should conduct us back to our former Feli city. , This is the work of God and not of Man.
All the wife Pagans may in this respect be com- par'dtodrunkenMen,whowhiletheyhaveamind to return Home, knock at every Door, and take eve ryHousefortheirown. SomeremainsofReason still gave 'em a discovery of what they ought to seek ; and an inexhaustible Source of Blindness and Corruption, still hinder'd 'em from finding it, or if theyfounditfromembracingit. Socrateswasthe first of 'em, who was eminently distinguish'd from othersbyaclearerandpurerLight (whichperhaps
? '-* was
? ? 7he Life os Plated
i p
WastheRewardofhisModestyandHumility)and acquir'd a more sublime and certainknowledg ofthe DutiesofMan, oftheNatureofGod, oftheLaw ofNature,andofJustice. ThereforeP/atolaysof him, thatheaddedFiretoFire,therebysignifying, that by amassing together those degrees of Light,
which he found scatter'dup and down ; and giving 'em a new Lustre by his luminous and fruitful Mind, he spread Light far and near,and rais'dagreat Flame outofthat,which beforehistime,wasbutanum ber of little Sparks almost buried under the Ashes : But this sublime knowledg of his, was not without amixture of many Errors;sothattogainadvantage by his Doctrine, which has been preferv'd and im- prov'd by P/ato, care must be taken to separate the
T r u t h s w h i c h it p l e a s ' d G o d t o d i s c o v e r t o h i m , f r o m the Falshoods and Illusions, in which he himself in- volv'd'em. Thiswemay mostcertainlydo, since we have thetruemeasure ofTruth. inourHands, whichistheWordofGod. Allhefays,thatis conformable to this, is undoubtedly true; and m a y moreover serve to prove the Truths of the Christian Religion ;and whatever isopposite to it, isthe fruit ofFalshoodandError. AndtheDoctrineofPlato itselfhasthisadvantage, thatsuchanExamenas w e plead for is one of his principal Rules, and his firstPrinciple;forhemaintains, thatnothingought ever to be received in any Science, but what agrees
with *EternalTruth,andwiththeOraclesofGod. Plato founded the Old Academy on the Opinions of Pythagoras, those of Heraclitus, and those of Socrates, and by adding to the discoveries of these
greatMenthatLightwhichhehadacquir'dinhis Tiavels, and had deriv'd from the fame Springs, he
establishedaSect ofPhilosophersmuch more perfect than rhose that had appeared in the World before
him. However, Ishallnotlookbacksofarasthose
* By this Eternal Truth Plata means an ancient Tradition, whichhepretendsthefirstMeqreceivedfromGod, andtransmit ted to (heir Posterity.
Philqfo-
? ? 36
The Life of Plato; '
PhilosophersIhavemention'd, whoseOpinionsmay beseeninDiogenesLaertius. IllsaybutaWord ofthembytheway,andconfiningmyself*onlyto whatrelatestoP/ata. IshallfirstgiveanAccount o f h i s L i f e ? , a f t e r t h i s I s h a l l e x p l a i n h i s D o c t r i n e , and examin it with respect to Morality, Religion, Policy,PhysicksandLogick. Ishallasmuchas in m e lies, discover the Source, both of the Truths
and Errors he teaches : I shall speak of his way of treating the Subjects on which he insists: Frorri
thence I shall proceed to make a Judgment of his Stile ? , I shall speak of his Principal Interpreters,
aridinfineshallgiveaTranslationof someof his Dialogues ; the Method and- Subjects of which I shall explain j and here I shall remark whatever I thinkmaybestillofusetous. 'Tiswithsucha disposition of Mind as this, that we should read theWorksoftheHeathens;forthosewhoaretoo much enamour'd of 'em, and take up with them, never find enough Truth in 'em to give 'em Satis faction and Righteousness enough to fortifie 'em a- gainst Vice, but continue to want the true Food of Souls,andremainindigentofsolidVertue. This Method I speak of, is taught us by a * Learned
Father of the Church, and was followed by him self, as he informs us in the t Letter he wrote to Pope Damafus -, in which, after he had applied to thispurpose, the t Law God gave his People, con cerning a strange Woman, when taken Captive in War, who was not to be married to an Israelite, tillhehadcaus'dhertochangeherClothes, tobe purified, and to have her Nails and her Hair cut ; headds. |"WedothefamewhenwereadtheHea- " then Philosophers (who to us are thatstrange Wo-
* St. Jtromi. f Letter 145. t D ^ >> c*><</>. ar.
I Itaque & nos facere solemus quando Philosophos Icgimiw,' quando inmanus nostras iibri vcniunt sapientiae saecularis ; siquid i n c i s u t i l e r e p e r i m u s , a d n o s t r u m d o g m a c o n v c r t i m u s , si q u i d v c - ro superfluum, de Idolis, de amore, de cura saxularium rerun),' rixcradimus,hisCalviciumiaducimus,hxcinunguiummorem fen o acutissimo refecamcs.
& man)
? ? The Use of Plato. ^r C( m a n ) a n d w h e n t h e B o o k s o f t h e W i s d o m o f t h i s
"Worldfallintoourhands. Ifwefindany thing
" in V/# that isprofitable, we make use of it by re- w ferring it to our own Principles ; and when we
"findanythinguselessandsuperfluous, aswhenthey .
" treat of Hols, of Love, and of the Care ofEarth- " ly andPeriflnible things, this we pare away. These " are the Clothes zvhich we take from this strange
"Woman;thesearctheAailsandHairwecutoff " with ajharp Injirument.
By this means we restore to the good Philosophy
and sound Theology of the Ancient Hebrews, what
the Greeks have itollen from 'em, for they are en richedonly with theirSpoils.
Plato descended from a Brother of Solon, and consequently was of the Family of Codrus King of Athens, and thus his Genealogy may be Trac'd to Neptune by Neleus King of Pylos, from whom Codrw descended in the Fifth Generation : So that in respect of his Birth, his Nobility was as great as any the Pride of any Man can flatter themselves withal. Arifion having efpous'd his Cousin Ger man Periffione, * 'tispretendedthat Apolloappear'd to him in a Dream, and forbad him to approach hisWife, becauseshewaswithChildbyHim. Ari
fionobey'd; and now look'd upon PeriUione no more as his Wife, but as a Goddess, till she was deliver'dofPlato,o\\the Day of Apollo's f Nativity, astheDeliansaffirm. Plutarchmakesa Reflection upon this, which deserves not tobe forgot. He fays, Those thathavemade Apollo Plato'sFather, have donethatGod nodishonourinattributingtohimthe ProductionofaMan, whoisthePhysicianofSouls; and labours to cure 'em of the most violent Passions, and most dangerous Distempers. And St. Jerome
* These Suppositions were usual in chose Timei, for instance, there was soon after this, a W o m a n of the Kingdom of Pontus, who persuaded a multitude ot People that (fee was with Child by ApUo,andwasbroughttoBedofaSon,whowasnam'dSilems, , whomLyftndtrwaswillingtomakeuseoftocarry on theDesign hehadlaidtomakehimselfKingofSpartt. fThe7thofFeb.
some-
? ? 7k LifeofPlato:
somewhere observes, That those Philosophers who firstgave out this Fable, did not believe that he w h o m they look'd upon as the Prince of Wisdom, could be born of any other than a Virgin.
P / a t o w a s b o r n t h e first Y e a r o f t h e E i g h t y e i g h t h Olympiade, thatis426 Years beforethe Nativityof JesusChrifl. HewasatfirstcalFdArijiocles,af tertheName ofhisGrand-Farher:His Wrestling- Master calFd him Plato, from his broad square Shoulders ; and he continued ever after to bear this Name. InhisInfancyashewasoneDaysleeping under a Myrtle Tree, 'tis said a Swarm of Bees settledupon hisLips, which was taken asan Omen tosignifiethathisStyle wouldbeextreamlysweet. H e began his Studies under a Grammarian call'd Dio nysus, made his Exercises under Arison of Argos, learn'd Musick of Draco the Athenian j and under
Metellus of Agrigentum, he apply'd himself to
Painting and Poesy ; he even made some Tragedies
which he burnt when he was 20 Years of Age, after
hehadheardSocrates. TothisPhilosopherheen tirely adher'd ? , and having a marvellous Inclina
tion to Vertue, made so good a Proficiency by the DiscoursesofthisRighteousMan, thatat25Years of Age he gave such proofs of his extraordinary Wisdom, asmade itappearthathewasalreadyca pable of Governing a State.
The Lacedemonians had then made themselves Masters of Athens, and Lysander established there' theGovernmentof30, who atfirstRul'dwithsome
kind ofMildness, butsoonaftermade use ofa Ty rannicalPower. AtthisJuncturePlatogaveavery considerable Instance of the freedom of his Soul, and ihew'dhecouldnottruckletomake hisCourttoa
Tyrant. Lysander,whomadeallstooptohim,and had render'd himself formidable by his Cruelties, kept somePoetsabouthim,whomadeittheirbusi ness to celebrate his Glory, and flatter his Vanity. Antimachus and Niceratm were of this Number j. theymadeVersesinPraiseofLysander,bywayof
Emubf-'
? ? TheLifeofPhtol 33
lation-, he being, made Judge of their Perfor mance, gave the Prize to Nice-ratits. Antimacbus overborn with this Disgrace, suppressed his Poem. Plato who lov'dhim for hisfinePoetry, endeavour'd to encourage him, and without fearing Lysander's Resentment, told him, that he was not so much to
beblam'dashis Judge-,for(saidhe)Ignoranceis as bad a Distemper in the Eyes of the Mind, as blindness in those of the Body.
PlatosMerit which now began to be much taken noticeof, induc'dtheMinistersofTyrannytomake the greatest efforts they could to draw him to their Party, and to engage him to concern himself in the Government. Nothingwaspropos'dtohimbut
what was suitable to his Age, and agreeable to his Maxims. Indeed allhis Ambitionlayinadesire
of making the Knowledge he had acquir'd, servicea- bletohisCountrey? ,andhewas sofarpersuaded
bythePromisesofthoseThirtyTyrants, thathedid not deipair of inducing 'em at length to abandon t h e i r A r b i t r a r y M e t h o d s ? , a n d G o v e r n t h e C i t y w i t h
alltheWisdom andModerationofgoodMagistrates.
While he employ'd his Thoughts to this purpose
NightandDay, andwasinsearchofthemost pro
per means to make this Design successful, he care
fullyobserve alltheirSteps:Butsoonperceiv'd thattheMischiefgrewworseand worse? ,andthat
the Spirit of Tyranny was too deeply rooted, to leave him any hope of being able to destroy it. * These Thirty Tyrants filled the whole City with
Murders and Proscriptions-, and while he had a share in the Publick Affairs, itcame to this Point, that he must either be a Confederate in their Crimes, oraVictimtotheirFury. Thepressure-ofthisMis fortune, whichnonebutGodhimselfcouldredress; gaveachecktohisAmbition,andmadehim willing to wait for more favourable Times.
Fortunesoonappear'dwillingtosecond hisgood Intentions ; for the Thirty Tyrants were expell'd,
*SeeXenophon'sHistoryofGreece, Lib. a.
D and
? ? 54
The Life of Plato. '
and the Form of the Government quite changed.
Tnis gave a little Revival to Plata's Hopes, when
almostextiiiguiiiied. Butitwasnotlongbeforehe
perceiv'd thatthis new form ofGovernment was no
better chan the former ; and that the State everyday
receivdnew Wounds. NaySocrateshimselfwas
sacrificed upon this Revolution. The Laws were
trampled under foot, Order and Discipline were no
more regarded, and all Authority was in the Hands
ofthePeople, who were alwaysmore formidable
than any Tyrants could be. It was impossible to
rectify this Disorder, for a M a n that should under t a k e i t h a d n e e d o f g o o d f r i e n d s ? , a n d i n f o g r e a t a
Confusion, the Fidelity ot' old Friends becomes as suspectedasthatofnew onesisdangerous.
Plato knew not what to determine under these Circumstances. Hehadnoexpectationofhelpfrom the ne i-ibouring Cities, where Confusion reigned noleisthanitdidatAthens. In anAge wherein Philosophy was advane'd to its highest perfection, Injusticewzscarriedtothelastextremity, whichis theordinaryeffectofthatContempt ofTruthwhich Men sometimes manifest, when it shines upon 'em withthegreatestevidence. TiiisInundationofIn justice and Violence augmented the love which Plato boreroPhilosophy5HecasthimselfintoitsArms as into a safe Port, fully convine'd that the Welfare of Cities and of particular Persons depend on it ; and thatitisimpossibletobehappywithoutit. Atthis time he heard the Discourses of Cratylus w h o taught thePhilosophyosHeraclitm, andHermogeneswho taughtthatofParmenides. Heafterwardwentto
Megara to see Euclid who founded the Megarick
Sect. FromMegarahepals'dtoCyrenetoperfect
himselfintheMathematicksunderTheodoras, who
wasthegreatestMathematicianofhisTime. He then visited Egypt, and conversed a long time with
theEgyptianPriests, whotaughthimagreatpart of their Traditions, and made him acquainted with the Books of Moses, and those of the Prophets.
While
? ? IbeLtfeof Plato. ? ><
While he was at Memphis there arriv'd a Lacede monian whowassentbyAgesilamtodesirethePriest Connuphts to explain a certain Inscription which was fdtindonaCopperPlatein. theTombofAlcmene. This Priest after he had spent three days in looking
over all forts of Figures and Characters, aniwer'd, that the Letters of this Plate were such as were used in Egypt, inthetimeofP/"<? /v? <<s, that Herculej1. had carried them into Gteece, and that they con tainsanAdmonitionwhichGod gavetheGreeksto live in Peace ; by instituting Sports in honour of rhe
Muses, by the study of Philosophy, and other parts of Learning, and by disputing one against another With Reasons, and Words of justice, with a design onlytoknowtheTruthandtofollowtheDictates ofit. TisprobablethisPriestwasnotabletoread theInscription,butwiselymade useofsofavourable
an occasiontoappeasetheGrecian Wars, whichwas infinitely better than if he had read it-
This Stratagem of Connuphis was soon serviceable toPlatoforalikedesign^forwhenhewasupon his return with Simmia*, and on the Coast of Caria, he met some Men that came from Delos; who en treated him to explain a very terrible Prediction which they had received from the Oracle of Apollo. The Purport of it was, that the Miseries under which the Greeks labour'd should not cease, till they had doubled the Cubical Altar which was in hisTemple. Theytoldhimtheyhadattemptedto put this Order in execution, but that when they had doubled each side of the Altar, instead of making it
double as they hop'd to have done,' and as the G o d requir'd, theymade iteightfold;whichmade 'em fear the continuation of their Calamities. Plato calling to mind what the Egyptian Priest had done, told 'em, that God did but mock the Greeks for their Contempt of Sciences ? , and by reproaching 'em of their Ignorance and Stupidity, exhorted 'em seriously to apply themselves to the study of Geo
metry, which alone would make 'em able to find D2 two
? ? j6
The Life of Plato:
two proportional Lines to double a Cubical Body by equallyaugmentingallitsDimensions. Andadded, that ifthey had a mind to correct: their Work, it was but to address themselves to Eudoxus or heli con;butthatGodhadnodesignatalltohave his Altar doubled, and that the only thing he requir'd by the Oracle was, that they should lay down their Arms to converse with the Muses, and moderate their Passionsby the Study of Letters, and Sciences; in rendering mutual Love and Service, instead of
hatinganddestroyingoneanother. Hewentafter this into Italy, where he heard Philolaus and Eury- tus, who were Pythagorean Philosophers. 'From thence he pais'd into Sicily to fee the Wonders of that Island : By this time he had arrived to forty
. 'YearsofAge.
This Voyage, which was purely the effectof his
Curiosity, laid the first foundations of the Liberty ' of Syracuse, and made way for those great things that were put in Execution by Dion, * the Brother-in-Law and Favourite ofDoinyJius the Elder. Therewasatthattime aYoung Man who was
Su Plu-naturally Couragious and Magnanimous;butha- tarchintheving had a Servile Education under a Tyrant, and lift */ Di- being accustom'd to the Submissions and Slavery of a
Cringing and Timerous Courtier, and which is yet more pernicious, brought up in Luxury, Opulence, and Laziness, would have suffer'd those precious Seeds cf Vertue to die in his Soul, had not Plato reviv'dthembyhisDiscourses. Hehadnosooner heard the Precepts of this Philosopher, but his Mind was so infiam'd with the loveof Vertue, that he desir'd nothing so much as to embrace and fol low it. And perceiving with what facility Plato had chang'd his Mind, he believd he might pro duce the fame effect upon that of Dionyjius too, and couldnotresttillhehadengag'dthisPrinceto haveaConferencewithhim. Dionyjius,whothen
* For he was the Son of Hissaims, whose Daughter Dimjfiu had married.
enjoy'd
? ? The Lifeos Plato. \l
enjoy'da great deal of Leisures-consented to this En- terview. Their Discourse was wholly on Vertue,and they presently fell into a Dispute about the Nature of truefortitude: Platoprov'dthatthiscouldby nomeansbeattributedtoTyrants,whoaresofar from being Valiant and Brave, that they are more
WeakandTimorousthanSlaves. Theyafterwards came to speak of Utility, and of Justice. Plato Ihew'd that nothing could be properly said to be useful, but that which is Honest and Just;and madeitappear,thattheLifeofJustMen was happy amidst the greatest Adversity ; and that of the Unjust miserable in the very bosom of
Prosperity. Bionysiuswhofoundhimselfconvinc'd
by his own Experience, could no longer hold the
Discourse, but with a pretence of making a Jest of
his Morals, told him bis Discoursesfavour'd of OldAge; towhichP/atoreplied,thatbisfavoured
of Tyranny. This Prince not accustom'd to hear such odious Truths, ask'd him very importunately forwhathecameinto 5icily? Platoanswer'dthat, HecamethithertoseekagoodMan. Andbythy Speech, replied Dionysius, itseems thou baft not
yet found one.
In another Conference which was no less smart
than the former, the Tyrant to intimate to Plato, thathe ought to conduct himself with more Cau tionbeforehim,andnottousesoprovokingaLi bertyofSpeech, mention'dthesetwoVersestohim. ,
-* In every Tyrant's Court He a meer Slave becomes' who enters free.
Plato return'd him these two Lines, changing the. latterthus,
-In every Tyrant's Court
Who enters'free, shall nere become a Slave.
tosignifiethataTrue Philosophercan neverlose
* These are cwo Lines of Sophocles. .
D3 to&
? ? 8
The Ufa of Plato.
hisLiberty. DionfearingthePrince'sDispleasure
hereupon would have some fatal effect, ask d a
DismissionforPlato,thathemighttakethe advan^
tage of a Vessel that was to carry back Poluides the
Lacedemonian Ambassador. D/o/Tvyfozs gave him leave
to go ? ,but pressed the Ambassador with great im
portunity, either to take P/ata's Life away by the way, or at least to sellhim? ,assuring him, this
woulddohimno injury. ForifheisaJustMan (fayshe)he'llbeasbappyinSlaveryasinthe enjoy mentofLiberty, "TissaidPoluidescarriedhimto
? theIsleofAEgina, whereaLawhadbeenpublished, by which all Athenians that mould come ashoar there, were order'd to be put to death. Plato there forewastaken,andbroughtbeforetheJudges. He expected his Sentence without shewing any token
o f f e a r ? , w h i c h m a d e o n e o f * e m t h i n k f i t t o s a y , that he was a Philosopher, and not an Athenian.
This word spoken after a jesting manner, sav'd his Life. He,wasonlycondemn'dtobe sold,andwas immediatelybought forThirty*Mina'sbyaCyre- niannamed Anniceris, who set him at Liberty,lent himbacktoAthens,andwouldbynomeansbere- imburs'd ; telling them, That as the Athenians were not the only Persons who knew Plato's Merit, so t h e y w e r e n o t t h e o n l y P e r s o n s w h o w e r e w o r t h y to. renderhimService. However,Platofaysnothing pf alltheseparticularsinhisSeventhLetter, where he speaks of this Voyage into Sicily h and sis pro bable he would not have forgotten to speak at least of his Benefactor,
AftertheDeathof Dionyjiusthe Elder,hisSon
Dionyjius the Younger succeeded ; who had been veryillEducated? ,forhisFather, whowasjealous
evenofhisown Children, had alwaysstrictlykept him from Company ; lest if he should come to knowhimself,andtoconversewithMenofSense, who were weary of Slavery, he should Conspire againsthim. ThisYoungPrincewasnosoonerup-
f About Sixty Pound Sterling, or something more.
OH
? ? The Life of Plato. 39
on the Throne, but he was so dazzled with his Grandeur, that he knew not where he was, and so became an eafie prey to his Courtiers, who forgot nothing that might corrupt him, and became the in genious and industrious Ministers of his Pleasures. Nothing was to be seen in the Pallace but horrible Corruption of Manners and Excesses. They had
Debauches that held Tor Three Months together, during which time, all Wife and Sober Men, whose presence alone would have cendemn'd ci disturb'd these shameful Divertisements, were forbidden to
enter. Dion, whose concern for the State made him fear the Pleasures of the Young Dionyjioe more than ever he had fear'dthe Cruelty of hisFather, lost no opportunity of letting him know what Precipices were before him, and how certain his Fall would be $ and believing hisVices sprang only from Ignorance and Idleness, he endavoured to put him upon some Honourable Exercises, and tomake him inLovewiththeSciences,especiallythatwhich aimsattheReformationofManners. Hetoldhim, nothing but Vertue could give him a solid Happiness, whichwould extenditsInfluencetoallhisPeople. That his Father had in vain flatterd himself, that
hehadlefthimanEmpirebound with Adamantine Chains, since these Chains would loon be soften'd byhisDebauches. ThatFearandForcewerenot the true Supports of a Throne, but the Affection and Love of Subjects, which, he said, was always the consequence of the Vertue and Justice of Prin-
'ces. He represented to him, that True Grandeur consists not in having great Equipages, superb Pallaces, sumptuous Fumiture,/ and fine Clothes 5 but in having the Pallace of the Mind royally a- dorn'd : And that none but Ylato was capable of communicating to him all the Vertues that ought to embellishaPrince'sSoul. Byentertaininghimwith such Discourses as these, in which he always thus intermix'd the great Truths he had learn'd from this Philosopher^ he inspir'd him with such
D4 an
? ? 40
7 he Life os Phto.
,an ardent, or rather furious desire to draw him to ;his Court, and to put himself under his Direction, Ithat he lent Couriers to Athens with very pressing
Letters of his own, accompanied with other Letters of Dio/1% and of allthe Pythagorean Philosophers that were inGreat Greece ; who entreated him ve- S earnestlytotakethe advantageofthefavourable
pportunity the Divine Providence offer'd him, to make a Philosopher of a King ; and conjur'd him to come with expedition, before the Debauches of theCourthadmade thisPrincealterhisResolution, w h o at present was passionately in Love with Philo sophy.
These great Promises did not immediately move Vlato,whoknewYoungPeopletoowell, topro mise himself any thing certain from the Flashes of a Young Prince, whole Inclinations commonly are variousand opposite, and frequently pass suddenly off;andinwhomtheLoveofVenuedoesnotal ways take root deeply enough to resist the Efforts ofthoseViceswhichattaquehimonallsides. So that Tlato did not know how to resolve on this Voyage; butatlength,afterhehadconsider'd, that in curing only one Man, he should make a
whole Nation happy, and that perhaps God was
openingaway forhim here, actuallytosetonfoot
that Perfect Government of which he had already
giventheIdeainthefirstBooks ofhis Common
wealth ; he resolv'dto go, not out of Vanity, or to
acquireRiches,ashisEnemieshave accusedhim-,
but was overcome only by the respect: he bore to ? himself, that he might not give the World an oc
casion to reproach him, that he only discours'd of Vertue, but never voluntarily put himself ina Con dition to reduce it to practise.
To theseReasonstherewasaddedanotherMotive m u c h m o r e p r e s s i n g ? , a n d t h a t w a s , t h a t i t w o u l d b e
a shame for him to abandon Dion in the dangerous Circumstances he was in, attack'd on all fides by the Calumnies of his Enemies ; w h o because they could
not
? ? The Life of Plato: 41
not bear the-Severity of his Manners, and the W i s dom of his Conduct, endeavour'd to render him sus pected to Dionysus, and who would infallibly de stroyhim, if this Prince had time given him to re lapseintohisformerDisorders. ThiscasttheBal
ance indetetmining Plato to quit hisEmployments at64yearsofAge, togoyitmaybewithtoomuch Confidence, as himself confesses, to deal with the Caprices of a young Tyrant.
He was received in Sicily with all possible marks ofHonour. Dionysuswasnotcontentonlytofend himaGalleyadorn'dwithRibbands, asifhehad beenaGod, butalsowenthimselftoreceivehimat
thePortinamagnificentCharriot, intowhichhe took hirrii and render'd thanks to the Gods by a pub- lick Sacrifice for his Arrival, as the greatest Felicity that could happen ro his Government.
This so happy beginning had yet happier Conse q u e n c e s -, f o r , a s i f s o m e G o d h a d a p p e a r ' d a n d t a k e n Measure in changing of Hearts-, the whole Court lecamesoreform'd, atleastinappearance, thatthe 'allace of Dionyjius was more like a School of Phi- osophers, or a sacred Temple, than the place of a
Tyrant's Residence.
Some days after'Plato'sArrivalthetimeofan
Anniversary Sacrificecame about, which was wont to be offer'd in the Castle for the Prince's Prosperity.
The HeraldhavingaccordingtotheCustom, pro nounced with a loud Voice the solemn Prayer in this Form, May itplease the Gods long tomaintain the Tyranny,andtopreservetheTyrant. Dionysuswho began to hate those Names, cry'd aloud to him. Whatwiltthouneverleavecursingme? Bywhich words 'twasjudg'dtheDiscoursesofPlkohadmade a real and strong Impression on his M i n d : This m a d e allthose that favour'd this Tyrannical Form of Go
vernment, believe 'twas best to lose no time, and that it w a s n e c e i l a r y t o r u i n e D i o n a n d P l a t o b e f o r e t h e y had acquir'd Authority and Power enough over the Tyrant, to render all their Efforts useless. They
soon
? ? 4i
The Life ofPlato.
soon found 3n occasion very favourable to their de
sign, nor did they fail to make their advantage ofit.
Plato had alreadyperswaded D'wnysius todismiss
ten thousaud Forreigners which compos'd his Guard,
to disband ten thousand Horse, with the greatest
part of his Infantry, and to reduce the 400 Galleys,
which he always kept equip'd, to a very small n u m
ber. Those illdesigningMenmisrepresentedthis
Advice, and would have perswaded Dionysias that
Dion had engag'd thisSophist to induce him to dis
trusthisGuards, andtherestofhisTroops, thatib
the Athenians finding him without defence might
come and ravage Sicily, and revenge themselves for t h e L o s s e s t h e y h a d s u s t a i n e d u n d e r N i c i a s ? , o r e l s e
with a design to expel him, and to take his place himselfintheThrone. ThisCalumny, whichwas plausibleenoughtosurprizeaTyrant, didnothow ever produce half the effect: they expected from it. Only Dion became a Victim to the Anger ofDionyfi- us, who caus'd him to be put on board a Vessel in h i s P r e s e n c e ? , a n d s h a m e f u l l y b a n i s h e d h i m .
At-thesametime itwas reportedatSyracuse, that hehadalsoputPlatotodeath; butthisStoryhad no foundation -, for Dionysioe on the contrary re doubledhisCaressestowardshim, eitherbecausehe believed, that he had been first deluded by the Ar tifices of Dion, or else because indeed he himself could not tell h o w to live without seeing and hear ing him.
The Love he had for Plato augmented every day, and advanc'd to that excess, that he became as jea lous of him, as of a Mistress, and us'd his utmost Efforts, to oblige him to prefer his Friendship to that of Dion : But, as Plato said, he took a wrong Course to obtain thisPreference ; for he endeavour'd to acquire itonly by demonstrations ofan ambitious and tyrannical Love, instead of meriting it, if that had been possible, by a conformity of Manners,, in makinganImprovementofhisMaxims, anduniting himselftohimbythebondsofVertue. HisTi-
moutousness
? ? 7heLife ofPlato^ 43
mouroushess rather than his 111humour hinder'd him from taking this method : for tho he passionately lov'dPlato, hescarcedar'dtoseehim butbystealth, for fear of irritating such as were displeas'd with thisIntimacybetween'em; sothathealwaysfluc
tuated between desire, and fear, and thereby render'd all Plato's Exhortations useless to him, andremain'd aSlavetohisVices. Howeverbecausehefear'dhe would leaveSicilywithout hispermission, heorder'd him to lodge in the Castle, on pretence co do him honour,butinrealitytosecurehisPerson. There
he endeavour'd to gain his Heart by the most magni ficentOffershecouldthinkof. He fliew'dhimhis Treasures, and told him all that he desir'd of him wastobecomeMasterofhisForces,andofallhis Power, provided he would love him more than Dion. FewPhilosopherswouldhaveresistedsuch powerfulTemptations. ButPlato,whocouldmake V ertue give place to Vice in his Soul, constantly told him,thathewouldlovehimasmuchasDion,when oncehewasastrulyvertuousasHe. Thisthrew the Tyrant into an horrible Rage ; he threaten'd him with Death, and the next moment beg'd pardon for allhisViolence. Platowouldhavefo^undhisPrison moretolerable, ifhehadbeentheObjectofhisHa
tred;forhewaseverydayoblig'dtousenewMa nagement to make the Obligations of Hospitality a- greewiththeInterestsofPhilosophy. Infine,he had the good Fortnne tobe deliver'dfrom thisCap tivity. ForaWarbrokeout,whichsoredDionys ustosendhimbackintoGreece. Athisdeparture he would have loaded him with Presents, which Platorefus'd, contenting himself with thePromise hemade him ofrecallingDion,vthentheWar should beonceended. WhenhewasreadytoembarkDiony-
fiussaidtohim. Plato,whenthouartintheAca demy with thyPhilosophers thou wiltspeak illofme. Godforbid (reply'd Plato) that voc should have so much time to lose in the Academy ax to talk ofYYxo- nysius, Thedisinteresiedr. elsofPlatoappear'don
many
? ? 44
Tk LifeofPlato. '
many occasions, as his Rivals themselves could not chusebutgrant. Dionyjiushavingamindtomake Presents to the Philosophers of his Court, and put ting it to their choice what to have, Ariftippus de- fir'dMoney, and Plato ask'donly for Books; upon which ArijiippushelngralliedforhisAvarice,made answer, Plato loves Books, and I love Money.
As he return'd into Greeee he pass'd by Olympia to
fee the Games ; and there gave marks of a Modesty
notmuch differing from deep Humility, and suchas deseivetoberemarked. Hehappenedtolodgewith
some Strangers of considerable Note ; He eat with 'em,pass'dwholeDaysintheirCompany, livdaf teramostsimpleandordinarymanner, withoutever speaking a word to 'em either of Socrates or the A- cademy;andwithoutlettingthemknowanything more of himself than that his Name was Plate. These Strangers were extremely pleas'd that they hadfoundaManofsosweetandsociableaTem per ; but because he spoke only of very common Matters, they never thought he was that Philoso pher,whoseNamewassowellknown.
The Games being ended, they went with him to Athens, where he furnished 'em with Lodgings; they were no'Tooner come thither, but they entreat ed him to carry 'em to fee that great Man, who borethelameName withhim,andwastheDisci pleofSocrates. Platotold'emsmiling,thathim selfwastheMan. TheseStrangerswerefurpriz'd,
that they had so long polTess'd so great a Person a- mong 'em without knowing him ? ,and could not
sufficiently admire that he had liv'd with 'em after
1so plain and simple a manner, and that he had shown ? that by the sweetness of his Manners alone, without
,thehelp of hisWit and Eloquence, he could gain ^the friendship of allPersons with whom he con- nvers'd.
Some time after this, he gave the People * Plays, , for which Dion furnished the Habits, and was at
* They'werc Tngedies.
all
? ? 7keLifeof Plato. " 45
all the Charge : P/ato being willing to let him have thisHonour, thathis Magnificencemight acquire him ayetgreaterInterestintheGood-Will ofthe Athenians. ItisnotknownwhetherDionmadea long stay at Athens ; this only is certain, that Plata
forgotnothing thatmight induce him to moderate his Resentment, and not to attempt any thing a- gainstDionyfius. Herepresentedtohim,thatthe Injustice that had been done him, and the ill Con-
? duct of that Prince, were not a lawful occasion of takingup Arms against him ? ,That he ought to re
ducehimbyReason,ortowaitforsomeChangeof
Fortune.
