So crates was the first, who upon the Reflection he made, that that which happens without us, does
not nearly concern us ; and that the study of it is more curious than useful, applied himself more particularly to the study of Morality, and handled itmoremethodicallyinhisDiscourses.
not nearly concern us ; and that the study of it is more curious than useful, applied himself more particularly to the study of Morality, and handled itmoremethodicallyinhisDiscourses.
Plato - 1701 - Works - a
?
56
The Use ofPlato;
? DiogenesoncerequestedsomeBottlesofWineof
Plato,whosenthimthreedozens. WhenDiogenes methimthenextday; fayshe,Whenoneasksyou how many twice two makes, insteadofansweringfour,
youanswertwenty. ThusundertheColourofre turning him thanks, he reproach'd him with being too prolix inhisDialogues.
Platohavingdefin'dMantobeaTwo-legdAn-
nimal without Wings; Diogenes got a Cock, cut off
His Wings, and carried him to P/aid's School, tel
ling his Scholars, that was the M a n their Master talked of. This Jest made him change his Defi
nition.
Diogenes being reproach'd of continual Beggings
whereas Plato never ask'd for any thing, answer'd thus. TheonlydifferencebetweenPlatoandme,is, thatIbegaloud, andhewhisperswhenhebegs.
As Diogenes one day continued abroad in a very great Snow mixt with Hail, and abundance of Peo ple that saw him were pitying him ; says Plato, If
you have any CompaJJionfor him, look on him no lon ger:therebytoreproachhim, thatwhathedidwas not from any vertuous Principle, but out of Osten
tation and vain Glory.
Itbeinghisperswafion, thatMen were notborn
forrhemselves, butfortheirCountry, fortheirRe
lations and Friends ; he was far from authorizing
the opinion of those w h o believ'd that Philosophy ? had a right of annihilating such essential Obligati
ons ; and taught that the Life of a Philosopher isthe LifeofaMan entirelydevotedtothepublick; who endeavours to become better, only that he may be the more useful ; and that he shuns the hurry of Business then only when his Country refuses his Service, or when he is incapable of serving his Country to good purpose. AndhisownPractisewassutabletothis throughthewholeCourseofhisLife. For'tisre ported that he did not so much as excuse himself
irom tearing of Arms, and that he behav'd himself bravely at the Battel of Tanagra, that of Corinth, and
? ? The Life of Plato. ' 57
and that of Delium, where he obtain'd a considera b l e V i c t o r y -, b u t i t i s n o t k n o w n o n w h a t o c c a s i o n ; for this Battel of Delium is not to be confounded with that which was fought before in the fame place ; in which Socrates was engag'd, and sav'd the Life of Alcibiades, in the first Year of the L X X X I X Olym-
piade, P/atobeingthenbutfiveorsix. yearsold.
And he ferv'dhis Friends with aslittleconcern for hisownLife? ,forhenotonlydidallwe havelaid
before for Dion, but also defended Chabrias the A- thenianGeneralwhenimpleaded attheBar? ,and
when his Accuser Crobylus, to put him out of coun tenance, laid to him, Thou earnest hither to defend others^ littlethinkingthatSocrateshisToyfonisrea
dyforthee. Hemadethisreturn;WhenmyCoun
try formerly had occasionfor my Use, 1 readily ex posedit$butthere'snodangernow beforemetoput
me into a Consternation, and to make me desert my Yriend.
He wouldfaytherewasnothingmoreunworthyof a Wile Man, and which ought to trouble him more than to have allow'd more time for unnecessary trifling anduselessthingsthantheydeserv'd. Thereforehe omitted no occasion of reproving such as he saw were vainly puff'd up on the account of those Qualities of which they rather ought to have been ashanfd. And to this purpose 'tis laid the fame Anniceris of
Cyreneofwhomwehavespokenbefore,whowasa considerable Person both for his Birth, and for his Ingenuity; butvalued himselfaboveallforbeing thebestCharioteer intheWorld,havingaknackto guide a Chariot above those of the best reputation
in that Art, had a mind to shew his Dexterity in his - Presence. AChariotwasbroughtforthispurpose intoa Close belonging to the Academy, where he
made several Turns with that exactness, that the Wheels always ran in the fame Track, and constant lydescrib'dthesameLine. AlltheSpectatorswere charm'd and extolI'dAnniceris to the Skies by theiv Praises:ButPlatoseriouslybla,m'dhim, tellinghim
it
? ? 58 , TheLifeofPlato;
irwas. not possiblebut that he who had spent so much time in so vain and inconsiderable a matter, must needs have neglected other things that were ve ry necessary and important ^ and that a Mind entire ly taken up with such Trifles could not be capable ofapplyingitselftoanythingvaluable, andtruly worthy of admiration.
H e was so free from the vice of Flattery, and the base and servile submissionsof the Orators of that Age, who made themselves Masters of the People onlybyameanandcringingComplaisance, andby
" conforming themselves to their Passions $ that he was
compafd to Epaminondat, aud Agefilaus; who tho they travell'd to many Cities, and conversed with
MenwhosecourseofLifeandMannerswerevery differentyetwhereverthe/were,stillretain'd,intheir Habit, intheirDiscourse,andinalltheirBehaviour, whatwasworthyofthemselves, andlutabletotheir Character. ForPlatowasthelame. Man acSyracuse thathewasintheAcademy,thefamewithDwny-
fius as with Dion : A certain sign that the Maxims of his Philosophy, which were full of force and Vertue had penetrated his Soul,likea deep Tincture, which nothing can either efface or tarnish.
During his laststay in Sicily, Dionyfius having a mind to Regale all Persons of chief Note in his Court, andallhisPhilosophers,PlatoandArijiippus were invited among the rest. In the midst of the Feast the Tyrant ordefd Purple Robes to be brought andgiventoalltheCompany, desiringtofee'em dance. Plato,refus'dtheRobethatwaspresented him, saying, itwouldtoomuchdajhhimoutofCoun tenancetofeehimselfappareWdlikeaWoman. Ari-
fiippus made no such Scruple, but took the Robe and fell a dancing, saying, a very wife W o m a n would never be disrefpet/edfer her dancing.
Plato has been accused of three things, first that his Humour was too Satyrical, which render'd his Writings more piquant than the Strokes of ancient Comedy,, andthemoreunworthy ofaMan ofHo
nour,
? ? >> The Life of Plato. jp
n o u r , i n t h a t h e d i d n o t s p a r e h i s b e s t F r i e n d s ? , f o r instance when in his thoeion he is speaking oiCleom- brotus and Ariftippus, he lays, they * were not present at the Death ^jsSocrates, because they were at AEgina.
The secondthingwithwhichP/atoisreproached,
isanenviousandjealousDisposition, whichmade
him uncapable of enduring an Equal or Partner in any thing whatsoever ? , and engag'd him tacitely to
contradict Xenophon, without ever giving one word of Commendation to the Vertue of that Great Man, notwithstanding his extraordinary Merit.
The thirdthingobjectedagainsthim, isthatma- ny of his Disciples were possessed with a Spirit of Tyranny-, Euphraus for Instance who was at the CourtofPeraiccafKingofMacedonia, hadasmuch Authority asthatPrincehimself, and would notsuf- fer him to entertain any but Geometricians and Phi losophersathisTable^ whichprovedPannenion to kill him after the Death of Periibca* ; and Cal- lippuswhokilPdDiontomakehimselfKingofSy racuse;andEvagonofLampsacuswho havinglent Money tohisCountrey,upontheCittadel, thatwas given him for his Security, would have employ'd this Fort against it to subject it to himself ; and
TymcusofCyzicus, whohavingmadeafreedistribu tion of Corn among the People, would have abus'd the Favour and Authority which that procur'd him, to m a k e h i m s e l f their T y r a n t : A n d in fine C h a r o n o f Tellene, w h o having cruelly brought his Countrey in to subjection, drove away the best Citizens, and gave
their Estates and Wives to his Slaves. LessexaminethefirstoftheseReproaches. Platoj**? *? ? ?
is perhaps the only Person who was ever accused of t'he aj*,*_'"
two Faults directly opposite, and which are destruc- proachof tiveofeachother. Atheneushasaccus'dhimofbe-beingtot
ing too Satyrical, and others have blam'd him fbr*"-'* beingtoomild, andforhavingtaughtaveryconside rable time without displeasing any one ; by which he would insinuate rhat his Doctrine was not good, cr
* See FUto Phqd. at the beginning.
that
? ? 60
The Life osPlato. "
that his method was bad, fince nobody either in hearing or reading him had felt . that trouble which naturally arises from the Sense of one's having been vicious. Butwithouttroublingmy selftoconfute or reconcile these Contradictions, I shall only lay, thatAtheneuswashimselfinanillhumour, whenhe castthisReproachuponPlato: And Ishall make useofthefamewordsagainsthim, whichthisPhi-
' losopherus'dagainstAnytuswhoaccus'dhimofha vingbeenguiltyofCalumny. *Heknowsnotwhat it is to calumniate, for if he did, be would not accuse me of that Vice. And indeed Plato did no ways slanderThemistocles, Pericles,axidThucydides, when he made use of them as Instances to prove, that V e r t u e c o u l d n o t b e a t t a i n ' d , m e r e l y b y I n s t r u c t i o n ? , fince these Men had not made their Children learn it. As for that word he spoke against Aristippus and Cleombrotus, besides that the turn of it is very fine, itmust be ascribed to that Love and Gratitude Plato retain'd towards Socrates, which made him highly resent it, that his two Friends had not atten-
? ded their Master at his Death, because they were at AEgina ? , which by the manner of his Speech one
would take to have been at a hundred Leagues di- .
stance, tho indeed itwas near the Gates of Athens. . And as occasion offers,we shall hereafter examine all the other Satyrical Touches Atheneus charges on him. NotthatIpretendtocrossPlato'sNameout of the number of Satyrical Writers : For on the con traryIamperswadedthatneveranyMan hadafiner k n a c k a t R a i l l e r y -, t h a t t h e m o s t r e f i n ' d S a t y r i s t o belearnedinhisWorks, andthatnonecanteachit
better than he. He may be compar'd to Aristo phanes himself. But it will be no difficult mat
terto make it appear, that as he never threw his DartsagainstanybutMen ofprofligateLives, who by abusing their Character, corrupted Youth, and ruinedReligion: He issofarfromdeservingRe proachesonthisaccount,thathedeservestobehighly v
* In Menon.
piais'd,
? ? theLifeosPlato. 61
prais'd. WifeMen,asaLearned*Fatherofthe Church observes, ought not to give soft and flatter ing Touches ; but on the contrary to give Wounds andtainstotholewho arefallenintogreatFaults,
and cannot be otherwise excited to Repentance and thepractiseofVertue. ThoseDiscourseswhichin stead of carrying pungency and Reproof in 'em, are only calculated to sooth and please, are not becom ingaWiseMan, sinceSolomonhimselflays,The WordsoftheWifeareasGoads. Besidesdoesnot every one know that Laughter is thejust Recom- pence of Ignorance when accompanied with Pride and Vanity. >
The secondAccusation has no more Justice init
than the first, for 'tis chiefly founded on this, thatj<# <<<<*- Xenopbon and Platowrote onthefameSubjects. >ldj$%+
Foreachof 'emmadeanApologyforSocrates,eachX made his Banquet and Treatises of Morality and Policy. IftomakeBooksonthefameSubjectson which othershavetreatedwerealwaysasignofan enviousandjealousMind ;rhisReproach wouldra therfallonXenopbon, who didnotwriteofthe? - ducation of Cyrus, till after he had seen the two first Books of Plato's Common-wealth.
? And itwould be no very easy matter entirely to justify Xenopbon from this spirit of Envy, when one reads the Fragment of a Letter which he wrote
to Escbines, in which he extreamly inveighs against Plato, and charges him with having corrupted the Philosophy of Socrates, by intermixing that of Py thagoras, and makes the end of his going intoSicily tobetheEnjoyment oftheDelicaciesofDionyjius hisTable. TotheseInvectivesofhisPlatomakes noanswer,norspeaksoneWordofXenopbon? ,in
* St. Jerome on that Passage of the XII phap. of EccUf. the WordsoftheWifeareaiGoads. Siraul& hocnocandumest,quod, oicanrur vcrba sapientium pungere, non palpare, necmolli mami atrahere Iasciviam, fed errantibus &tardispa>>nirenciaedolores, & vulnusinfigere. Sicujusigirursermononpungit,fedoblectatio- K m facit audientibus, isle non est sermo sapientis, vcrba quippe wpicntium uc stimuli.
which
Platom
? ? $i
The Use of Plato. '
which his Modesty can scarce be enough commend" e d ? , a n d p e r h a p s t h i s S i l e n c e w a s t h e c h i e f t h i n g r h a t
incensedXenophon. ForthegreatestIndignityone can offer a Writer is (not to fay some ill thing of him,but)tosaynothingatalltohim. Tistrue, Plato in one place writes, that Cyrus was a good General, but that he never had a good Education ; by which some pretend he desighd to deny Xeno-
fbon's Treatise of the Education of Cyrus ; but this
being made only to give the Idea of a great Prince,
and not to pass for a true History, Xenophon could
not be offended ata thing which he believed aswell
asPlato. Infine, that which yetmore discovers
with what SpiritXenophon was animated againsthim,
is the frightful D-scnption he makes of Menon, in
the nth,JBook of his Retreat; where he accuses
him of having betrayed Clearcus, and of having
beentheCauseofhisDeath. MenorfsMisfortune
proceeded from the Intimacy of his Friendship with
Plato, who hadpraisedhim,andinscribedhisName ontheDialoguehecomposed, concerningVertue;
for his pretended Treachery is not at all well prov ed,andhewas sufficientlyjustifiedfromitbyhis Death. Not that IpretendtoaccuseXenophonof Calumny and Imposture : these Vices are not to be foundinaMan ofSobrietyandReligion;butthe Hatred or Jealousy he conceived against Plato, dis pos'd him insensibly to receive all Reports, that were made against such as were engaged in strict Friendshipwithhim. HoweverifMenonhadbeen as bad as Xenophon describes him to have been, since his Villany was not known till after his Death, it can't be charg'd on Plato as a Crime; that he had lpoken in his Praise.
Some moreover support this Accusation, in lay- ing, that Plato, w h o speaks of almost all the Philo-
phers that preceded him, and refutes their Senti ments, speaks not one word of Bemocritus, tho fre quent Occasions presented of saying something of him, ThisisalsobuiltontheTestimonyofAris-
toxenes,
? ? TheLiftof Plato:
toxenes, whoinhishistoricalCommentaries, wrote that Psato would have burnt all the Books of Demo- crituswhich he could heap together, if he had not
beenpreventedbyAmyclasandClyniasy twoPytha gorean Philosophers, who represented tohim, that itwouldsignifynothingtoburn'em, sincetheywere inthehandsofagreatmanyotherMen. Andthis iscountedmore than enoughto make itbelieved that Plato hated Democritus^ and was jealous of his greatReputation. FormypartIconfessthisFable
ofAriftoxenesseemstome tobeveryillinvented: AManwhohasamindtocommithisRival'sBooks totheFlames, doesnotseekforWitnessestosuchan Action. Besidesthissilenceofhisofwhichthey speaksomuch,seemsaverydoubtfulBusiness. If
the Glory of Democritus had touch'd Plato so sensi bly, why did he not take the advantage of so many occasions,thatwerefairlyoffer1dhimtodi minish it, or to cast some blot on it, by, writing a- gainst him, and destroying some one or other of his P r i n c i p l e s ? A n A u t h o r is s e l d o m M a s t e r o f t h a t R e - , sentment with which the Glory of a Competitor inspireshim. Tisaverydifficultmattertocome to a certain determination of things that depend on athousand Circumstances, of which we arewholly ignorant;butthatwhichappearstomemostpro bableisasfollows. 'Tisamrm'd,thatDemocritus neverwenttoAthens^ orifhewentthitherthathe
was always unknown, and never discover'd himself lo much as to Socrates. 'Tis moreover very well
known, thatwhenHippocrates^whowasnowmuch advanced in years, went to Abdera to confer with
Democritus about the Folly that was imputed to h i m -, t h i s P h i l o s o p h e r w a s n o t y e t k n o w n i n G r e e c e ^ norhadhisWorksbeenbroughtthither. Ifthey had been published, they would have sav'd Hippo c r a t e s t h e t r o u b l e o f t h i s V o y a g e ? , f o r t h e y w o u l d have discover'd the great Wisdom of their Author, and the Stupidity and Ignorance of the People, w h o founded this Accusation of Folly only on those Sen
timents,
? ? 64 TheLifeofPlata
timents, which this Philosopher explain'd ist his Writings : N o w the Death of Democritus was not longbeforethatofP/ato. Inaword,Idon'tthink any Passage of Antiquity will make it appear, that theWritingsoftheformerwereknownatAthens, duringtheLifeofthelatter. NayIamofopini on, that there are not wanting some Proofs among the Ancients, that shew they did notbegin to make a noiseintheWorld, tillaftertheBirthofEpicurus.
Whence we may conclude,thatP/atowas sofarfrom hating Democritus, that he never knew him^ nor ever saw any of his Books.
It would not be so easy to justify Plato's proce dure towards E/chines, if that with which he is re- proach'd were true. 'Tis saidhe was sojealous ofthe Reputation and Credit which EJchines had acquired i n t h e C o u r t o f S i c i l y -, t h a t h e m a d e i t h i s b u s i n e s s to seek his ruine by his Insinuations to Dionyjius -y
and that he push'd this malicious and envious Hu* mour so far, that he attributes those Discourses to Criton, which are pretended to have been held by << Escbines with Socrates in Prison ; but this being sup ported only by the Testimony of one Idomeneus, one ofAristotle'sSchollars, 'tismorejusttoguideour Judgment by Plato's Vertue, than to suffer our selves to be prejudic'd against him by mere Calumnies. Would Xenopbon have forgotten a Circumstance that might have done so much honour to EJchines, and
covefd Platowith somuchshame? Andhavewe not in Plutarch the Discourse which Plato made to Dionyjius, to engage him to be kind to Efchines,2xA togivehimsomeMarks of hisEsteem? Nothing
is more opposite to that Magnanimity, for which Plato has been commended, than this Spirit of Envy. Let us fee how he himself speaks of the Envious, in the * <>thBook of Laws. While the Envious M a n thinks to exalt himself above others by Delraffi- onandCalumny,hewandersoutofthePathoftrue Vertue, and balks the Courage of his Competitors^
* Tom, 2.
txbeit
? ? TkLifeofPhtol 6f
when theysee themselves treated withso much Inju
stice j and as he by this means extinguishes allthat noble Emulation which the whole City appeared to have ?
in thisglorious Contention of Vertue, he dispirits it, and diminishes its Resolution and Vigour, as much as in him lies, and renders it less ardent in the pursuit ofGlory. CanoneaccuseaPhilosopherofEnvy, who scarcenames himself inhisown Works, and who attributes all his own Inventions and Notions
to his Master ?
* The third Accusation is still worse founded
thanthetwoformer. TheConditionofaPhiloso pher would be very deplorable ? , if he were to an
swer for all the Actions of his Disciples. None of their Faults can be justly charg'd on him, but those which they committed in pursuance of his Opinions.
The Instance of Dion only may be sufficient to ac quit Plato of the charge of a Tyrannical Spirit. WhatcouldanyonehavedonemorethanDiondid to induce Dionysus the Elder and his Son after him to govern justly, that they might firmly establish
their Dominion ? and when he had taken up a reso
lutiontoexpelthelatter, couldanyonemorevi
gorously oppose this design than Plato did > Besides,
'tisa great piece of Injustice to make Calippus pass
for one of Plato's Dilciples, contrary to what this
Philosopher himself says in his 7th Letter, in which
he assures us that it was not by the study of Philo sophy that Calippusz. cqmx'^. Dion's friendship ? , but
as itusually happens by civilConversation, he having goneofteninhisCompanytotheTheater, toSacri ficesandotherreligiousRites; and theybeing both addicted to the fame kinds ofPleasure;
There isnotonly injustice in thisAccusation, . but also either a greatdeal of Ignorance or agreat deal of Disingenuity. Could Atheneus, who had readandcollectedsomuch, beignorantafterwhat Manner Xenophon defends Socratesagainst his Ene-
* TheFaultsofPUto"iDisciplesotigheriottobethrowriupi
oa him,
k ? mics
? ? 66
7k Use of Plato;
v
mies who charg'd him with all the Violences and InjuriesofCritias and Alcibiades^ laying theguiltof 'em upon him, on pretence that they had been his D i s ciples >and ifhe k n e w this,ought not he to have m a d e uie ofthe fame Maxims to justify P/ato ? As there is
feme Justice in imputing to Masters the Miscarriages . oftheirScholars,whentheybecomeguiltyof'em by following their Opinions' and Principles ; so on the other side 'tis just to ascribe to 'em their great andnobleActions, whentheyare thefruitoftheir Precepts. PlutarchthereforeismorejustthanAthe- tteus, when he places to Plato's Account, all the
greatthingshisDiscipleshaddone. HisWordsare remarkableandentirelyoverthrowallthe Criticism ofthisCensor. *Plato(sayshe)badleftfinedis courses of Laws, and the Government of States ; but
. he had imprejiftillfiner on the hearts of his Disciples.
These turiousdiscoursesengagdYHxon torestore Sici
lyitsancientLiberty. $andPythonand hisBrother
HeraclidestodeliverThracefrom Tyranny bykilling
Cotys. ChabriasandPhocion,thosetwoGreatAthe
nianCaptains, cameout ofthejameSchool. Plato
gave Laws tothe Arcadians by his Disciple Aristony-
itius, tothe EliansbyPhormion, to those of Pyrrah
byNeraedemus, totbd-(Mdians byEudoxus, and
tothose0/StagirabyAristotle. Nay,theRulesofgo
verningwellwhichAlexanderdefir'dof Xenocrates,
were onlyPlato'. ? Precepts. And hethatkindled thatPrincessCourage, andperswadedhim tomake
war withthe King ofPersia,was Delius theEphejian, an intimate friend of this Philosopher*
Atheneus carried his Malignity and Envy yet far ther -, for he writes, that Plato's Timcus, his Gor* ? gias, and his other Dialogues of the like kind, in
whichhetreatsoftheMathematicks,andofNa tural Philosophy, are not so much to be admir'd, as'tis commonly said they are: forhe says thefame things are to be found elsewhere, aswell explained, i f n o t b e t t e r -, a n d h e a s s u r e s t h e W o r l d , t h a t T h e o -
* InhisTreatiseagainstColottstheEpicurean.
pompus
? ? The Lifeof Plato. ' <S7
pompus of Chio writes, that thegreatestpartofhis Dialogues were false and useleis, because some of 'em were taken from Ariflippus, others from An- tifihenes, and others from Bryfon. He adds, that when one expeSs in his Writings the Morals and Wisdomosa Philosopher, onefinisnothingbutBan quets, and. Discourses about Love, which have agreat dealof Indecency, and very little Chastity in 'em which he compos d to the great undervaluing of the Judgment of his Readers.
IwillnotnowlaytheJudgmentofTheopompus ought to be suspected, becauie theAncientshaveac- cus'd him of Malice and Calumny ? , and therefore
Plutarch fays of him, 'tissafer to believe him when hepraises,thanwhenheaccusesanyone. LetPla to's Dialogues be taken as much as he pleases from
Ariflippus, Bryfon and Antifihenes, since their
Works are not now extant, the Testimony of Theo pompus, contrary to Atheneus his Intention, proves that thesevery Dialogueswhichhe hassomuchcon demns are now the best, and most considerable Work on those Matters, that isto be found among
the Ancients.
And if Atheneus passes a Judgment on 'em only
ofhisownhead;I'llventure tofay,'tisnotthe firstFault thisAuthor has committed, who ismore tobecommendedforhisvastLearning,andgreat Collectionswhichweretheproduct of a prodigious Reading, than for his Accuracy and Wisdom in his critical Reflections, and for the Solidity of his Judg ment. IsaManwellqualifiedtojudgofPlato's Writings, when he dares to write, that he can't fee what advantage can be drawn from the Immortality
of the Soul, since after its seperation from the Body, ithas no more any Remembrance or Seniation ?
As to what he fays ol the indecent Discourses Platohasmade ofLovetothegreatundervaluing of theJudgmentofhisReaders;hisaimwastodecry the Dialogue of the Banquet ; but by this he disgra ces himself more than he does that Dialogue. For
F 2 besides,
? ? 68
The Life of Plato. -.
besides that he discovers the Corrttption of'/ his Heart;hemakes itappearthathewasignorantof th? beauty and design of that Dialogue-,' the end ofwhichisonlytodisengageusfromthe'Loveof Earthly Beauties, and to raise us to the Love of the SoveraignBeautywhichisGodhimself. 'NooneI
believewillhesitateinhischoicebetweenthe Judg ment of Atheneus, and that of Origen, who in his Excellent Preface on the Song of Songs, speaks of Thud'sBanquetintheseTerms. DiversLearned
persons among the Greeks, who were desirous to -pe
netrate into Truth, havewritten Dialogues about
Love, toshow that 'tis this only that can raise our
Soulsfrom Earth to Heaven, and that'tisonly by the
helpofthis,thattruefelicityisattainable. The
Questions that are started at Table on this Subjeff,
are made bypersons notso greedy os Dainties, asca
rioustooccasionfineDiscourses. Naysomeof'em
havetaughtinWriting, theWays andArtsofprodu
cingoraugmentingthisLoveintheSoul. ButMen
of carnalInclinationspervertingtheseArts haveem ploy'dthem tosatisfy their Lusts, and abused ''em to
promoteaninfamousConversation. Thereforeitis not to be wonder'd at, if with us among w\wm there aresomany ? ncreignorantpersons, astherearemore illiterate, a Treatise of Love has some danger at tending it5since among the Greeks, who areso Learn edand Wije, there have yetsome been found, who have mistaken these Dialogues, and interpreted 'em in afense quite differentfrom that in which they were written, and who, taking occasionfrom~ what is said in ''em of Love, have fallen into a Snare, whether they trulyfound in these Writings any thing thatincited''cmtoSin;orwhether theCorruptionof their Hearts hinder d :'emfrom understanding 'em.
This Apology strikes at Atheneus, whom Origen without doubt had in his Eye ; when we publish Plato's Phedrus w e (hall examine whether that C e n surepastonitbyDicearcw,Aristotle'sDisciple, in affirming (asDiogenes Lairtim reports) that the
Question
? ? >> Prov. 1. 6.
The Lifeos Plato; 69
Question handled in this Dialogue is Puerile, and the Character of it'Extravagant, ought to be received 5 and whether Cicero had reason to embrace the Sen timent of this Qatick, and to tax P/ato with having
given too mucrf'^uthority to Love.
Let us then without stopping at what has been
written against Plato, endeavour to know him by hisown Works.
Before the Age in which Vythagcras liv'd, Mora lity was treated on only in Sentences and Enigmas : ThereforeSolomon lays,aWifeManwill*under-
JiandthewordsoftheWife, andtheirdarksayings. Pherecydes, and his Disciple Pythagoras, who had brought Treasures of Knowledg with them when they return'd from their Travels, from Babylon, E-
gypt and Persia, were the first that open'd a door to good literature among the Greeks. It was from them, andespeciallyfromPythagoras, thatthefirst BeamsofTruthihin'doutinGreece. Morality was then considerably improv'd, yet itconsisted on lyofPreceptswrap'dupinObscurity. TheMe thod of Reasoning and Demonstrating was not yet inuse. Thisdryway(ifImaysotermit)of
handling Morality, was occasion'd by the Applica tionofMensMindsthenonlytotheknowledgof Numbers,NaturalPhilosophy,andAstronomy.
So crates was the first, who upon the Reflection he made, that that which happens without us, does
not nearly concern us ; and that the study of it is more curious than useful, applied himself more particularly to the study of Morality, and handled itmoremethodicallyinhisDiscourses. Platohis Disciple being convinced of how greatImportance itwastopretervetoMankindsopreciousaTrea sureattemptedtowriteofit. Andthathemight dothistothegreateradvantage, andmightthebet terretain the Air of him who had revived this Sci ence, prefer'd the way of writing in Dialogues, to all other M e t h o d s oftreating a Subject : for besides,
? F i that
? jo
The Life of Plato^
t h a t it is t h e m o s t d i v e r t i n g m a n n e r o f w r i t i n g , i n t h a t
it as itwere exposes a Scene, in which all the Ac- ! torsareseentoperformtheirpartsy one may fay ;it is best fitted to attain the end, which is to per- 1swade and instruct,that itisanimated with the most
Life, and hath all the force of contrary Opinions, whereinthetwo Partiesdefendthemselvesasmuch as they will, or can, and consequently the Victory obtain'd by one over the other can be no longer con tested, at least when the Dialogue is made by a Manofgreatfense,andwhomakesithisonlybu sinesstoenquireafterTruth. BeforePlato'stime thismanner of writing was verylittleknown inthe World : None had practised it but Zeno of Elea, and Alexamenes of Teos ; but the Politeness,Ele gancyandBeauty which'Platogavetothisway of Discourse, occasioned the Glory of this Invention to be ascribed to him, so that he has been look'd upon inallAges as thefirstthat evermade Dia logues.
There are two forts of Truth, that which isal readyknown,andthatwhichisyetunknowntous, andafterwhichwearesearching. . Thisdifference constitutes two principal Characters of Plato'sDia logues. Thoseof'emthattreatonknownTruths, are called, * Explicatory, or Instructive Dialogues ; and those that handle such Truths as are yet u n k n o w n , but enquired after, are called t InquisitiveDialogues. Each of these two kinds is divided into divers Spe cies, according to the Subject of which they treat, orthemanneroftreatingofit. FortheInstructive
Dialogues, either have Speculation for their End, and then they are divided into % Physical, and |Lo
gical,orAction, andthentheyaredividedinto *Po litickand i>Menil? ,and theInquisitive Dialogues are destin'd, either to cExercise or dContest. Those
thataremadeforExerciseareagainoftwo sorts? , in some of 'em Socrates exercises the Mind after
? such.
? 7he Life of Plato. ' 71
fiich a manner, that he causes all forts of Truths to be produced in it, which 'tis capable of rinding out itselfwhenwellassisted. Thereforehecallshim self theMidwife ofMinds, jocoselyalludingtothe
EmploymentofhisMother,whowasaMidwile-, and theseDialogues arecalled'^ObstetricalDialogues. O r else he exercises it only in making it found, and justperceivetheTruths inwhichhe iswillingtoin structit; andthesearecalledtDialoguesofEffay. In fine, those that are destin'dto contest, are alio of two forts j the one4tind are fram'd to accuse certain
Persons, and to expose certain Vices, and are there fore called Dialogues of X Demonstration, cr of A c cusation. These are properly satyrical Dialogues, made for the Reader's Diversion ? , exciting* in his
Mind at the fame time, a just Contempt of those whose Vices are discover'd to him ; and others are calculated to refute and overthrow Errors, and are thereforecall'd\subvertingDialogues. Andthis is the division that has given a third Title to these
Dialoguesjfortheyhavethree. Thefirstisthe nameoftheprincipalPerson. Thesecondistaken from the Subject, and the third iswhat I have been just mentioning, and expresses the Method and Turn . oftheDialogue,andofwhatkinditis. 'Tisonly
the first of these at most which is Ylato\ the last,
of 'em was impos'd by the Platonick Philosophers, and is very ancient, as w e lee by Diogenes Lairtius,
whoknowsonlythisandthefirst. Thesecondisal togethermodern. Itwasgivenbysomethatwere butlittleacquaintedwiththeDoctrineof thisPhi losopher, and were often mistaken. ForInstance, at the head of Gorgiaf, they place this Title, G c r g i a t o f R h e t c r i c k -, w h e r e a s t h e A n c i e n t s c i t e i t onlyunderthenameof*GorgiatSubversive. And 'tissofarfrombeingtrue,thatGorgiat wasmade to teach Rhetorics that on the contrary the design ofitistoexposeandoverthrow theillPrinciple,
F4 by
? ? 7 1
'Tfce ZLi/e of Plato.
bywhichtheOratorswereconducted, whothengOr v e r n e d a l l t h e C i t i e s o f G r e e c e ? , a n d ' t i s a D i a l o g u e p u r e l y m o r a l ? , b u t t h i s S u b j e c t s h a l l b e t r e a t e d m o r e atlengthintheArgument whichshallbeplacedat the head of every Dialogue.
Having explained the Titles of these Dialogues, 'tis needful to fay something of the different divisi onwhichtheAncientshavemadeof'em; Some have put 'em into Fours, being of opinion that P/dtahad respect to the Tetralogies of the Ancient
TragicalPoets,whocompost &ur piecesononeand the f a m e Subject for the four greatreasts o f the A t h e n i a n s ? , b u t I c a n ' t i m a g i n e t h a t a g r e a t P h i l o s o p h e r
shouldhavesofrivolousaReason. Othershavedi vided *em into Threes. ? , and "tis certain that in his
W o r k s there are three Dialogues found that properly make but one and the fame Treatise, as his Theoete- **s, the Sophist, and the Politician. In the first Socrates examines and refutes various Definitions of Science. InthesecondheestablishesdiversDefiniti
ons of the Sophist, which serve to shew the Art of dividing and defining, and at the same time ofmaking theSophistsridiculous. Andinthethirdhedefines a PoliticianorStatesman,andthereisnothingwant ingin thisTreatise, because the Statesman can't be well qualified without being tinctur'd with Philoso phy. ThetenBooksofaCommon-wealth,which are look'd upon as only one Dialogue, are yet appa rently one and the fame Treatise with his Timoeus,
Atlanticus,orCritias. Inthefirst,thatisinthelong Conversation about a Common-wealth, Socratesgives theIdeaofaperfectState. InThnoeushesupportshis Rules and Principles by the knowledg of Nature Which hecommunicates-,andinCritiasheconfirms thisknowledg ofNature,andthoseRulesofMorality and Policy by the Authority of ancient History, . or thatImayuseP/ato'sownWords, theBooksofhis Common-wealth form good Citizens ; his Tirnaus discovers to them the Creation of the World, that this Knowledg may fortify in their Minds the Prin
ciples
? ? TheUseofPlato: . 73
eiples he has given k m ; and his Crjtia? proves to 'em by ancient History, that such was the Life of their first Ancestors, that isof the first Athenians, wholiv'dbeforetheDeluge,whoseExamplehere commendstotheirImitation. Anditwasafterthis manner, that the greatest of Legislators compos'd
the Lives of the Ancient Hebrews and Patriarchs. ExceptingthesesixDialogues, thethreefirstof
whichmake a Treatiseof Logick, andthethreelast a very methodical Treatise of Morality ? , I don't
think-any others of 'em can be connected together by the Continuance of the fame Subject : They are all separate and independant, in respect of the mat ter of 'em, and have no mutual Correspondence or
Resemblance, butbytheMethod orManneroftreat
ing their Subjects, which has been already sufficiently explained. ?
Plato affirms that which is certain, refutes that w h i c h is false, examines that which is doubtful, and does not pronounce any thing on that which is. un certain, or has but little probability.
H i s first M a x i m is n o t t o g i v e o n e ' s C o n s e n t , b u t V " ^ " ' onlytoevidentandcertainTruths, andtodisengagetms"' ato
one's Mind from allkinds of Prejudice.
T h e second is never to attempt to handle Questi
ons which 'tis impossible to decide.
The thirdis. todistinguishwellbetweenwhatwe
know, andwhatwe areignorantof\andnottobe lievewe know what indeedwedon'tunderstand.
From these Maxims it follows, that Plato be lieved there were certain Truths, and consequently, that there were such Principles as might be ternfd Dogmata. Thatis,heaffirm'dsomethingstobeab solutely true ; but because he entirely follow'd So
crates his manner of disputing, and all along a- . voided the decisive Air of the Sophists and D o g m a tists,whoaffirm'deverything, almostcontinually taking simple Probabilities for Truth, he seems po sitive in nothing in his Writings, in which by his
Doubts he endeavours to. convince his Adversaries of the
? ? 74 ? The Life ofPlato.
the Errors he designs to refute, and to make 'em of themselves discover the Truths he has a mind to Ifcach? ,and thusthatPassageofCicerooughttobe understood, who in the first Book of his Acade mics Questions, lays, in Plato'j Books many things aresaid. ProandCon,butevery thingisdoubted,and nothing ever affirmed.
The Ancients inform us, that Plato follow'd He-
raclitm, inthingsthatfallundertheCognizanceof
the Senses, that is in natural and sensible Objects :
Pythagoras in intellectual things, which can't be
comprehended but by the understanding -, and So
crates in those which are only dictatedby Reason, t h a t i s i n M o r a l i t y a n d P o l i c y ? , a n d t h i s d e s e r v e s t o
be explained. PlatofollowedHeraclitusinnaturaland sensible
* things,thatis,hebelievedwithHeraclitus,that therewasbutoneWorld, thatalltilingswerepro d u c e d o f t h e i r C o n t r a r i e s -, t h a t M o t i o n w h i c h h e calls War, causes the production of Beings, and R e s t t h e i r D i s s o l u t i o n -, a n d i n f i n e , t h a t o u r S e n s e s are very subject to be deceived, and that there is no certain Truth in their Depositions.
He followed Pythagoras in intellectual Truths ; that is, he taught, as this Philosopher did, that there is only one God, the Creator of all things ; thattheSoulisimmortal; thatMenoughtconti
nually to labout to purify themselves from theirPas sions and Vices, that they might be united to G o d ; and that after this Life there is a Reward for good Men, and a Punishment fortheWicked ; that be tween God and Men there are different orders of Spirits, who are the Ministers of that first Being. Seeing he drew his Notions from the fame Fountains,
? namely from the Egyptians and Hebrews, 'tis not to be wonder'd at, if he had the fame Doctrine.
But if Plato followed Pythagoras in his Senti ments, he alsoimitated him in the manner of ex plaining them : For he deliver'd 'em only in Enig ma's, and under the Vail of Mysteries, Figures;
and
? ? The Life of PlatoJ 7j and Numbers, that he might not expose such sub
lime Truths to the Raillery of wicked and profane Men, andmightdiscover'emonlytosuchaswere worthy to learn 'em, and who would give them selvesthetroubleofunfoldingthem. *'Tisnot reading ofBooks, fays he, that will communicate this great Knowledg ; itmust be attained byprofound M e ditation -, and every one must for himself draw this
CelestialFirefromitstrueSource. Forbythis17- nion with its Objett t a divine Flame, (kindled on asudden, asfromaFirethatspreads itself
round') illuminates the Mind, and feeds andpre serves itselftherein. And for this reason, asI haveneveryetwritten,soIamresolvedneverto write on these Matters : That is, to explain them afteraclearandintelligiblemanner. $Whoever undertakes it, will never do it to anypurpose; and allthe Goodhe'llreap by hisLabourwillbe,that,
excepting asmall number of Men whom God hasen dowed with Understanding, capable of unravelling
those Celestial Truths of themselves, he'llcausesome todespiseiemrandfillotherswitha vainandrajh
Confidence, as if they understood wonderful things, when indeed they are unacquainted with 'em.
This method often causes great obscurity in the writingsofthisPhilosopher,whichhehas indeedta ken care to augment, in chusing to make use of sometermsthatsignifycontrary things. Andthisis thereasonwhyhecan'tpleaseyoungPeople, who
have not yet attain'd Judgment enough to diicern the Beauty and Solidity of his Dialogues ; nor grown menneitherwhohavenot had thepreparation of thoseStudiesthatwerenecessary,beforethey attemp tedtoreadhim,andwhoarenot capableofReflec tionandMeditation. ForthisreasonAntiphanes, one of Plato's Friendsjocosely compar'd hisWritings
* Tom. 5. t ThisiswhatDavidfaysinthe35thPsalm, bthyLighttve(hallseeLight. ThereisnonebutGod, thatcan enlighten the Minds of Men. % A Remarkable Passage. Plato isno; for witting on the Mysteries of Religion3an Ithose ofNature.
? to
? I
to a City, in which Mens words fteez'd in the Air as soon as they were pronounced, and the following Summer when they came to be warm'd and melted by the Beams of the Sun, the Inhabitants understood whathadbeensaidintheWinterjforPlato'sDis courses ought to be warm'd, and as itwere melted by theraysofanunderstandingwellexercis'd, ifone would know the true sense of 'em.
In fine, he imitated Socrates in what relates to MoralsandPoliticks,thatis,heredue'devery thing to Morality, and made it his whole busineis to en g a g e m e n t o fill u p t h e D u t i e s t h e y o w ' d t o t h e State in which Providence had cast their Lot.
Tis pretended that Plato to his Natural Philoso phy and Morality added Dialectick ; but this ought only to be understood of his bringing it to perfecti on : For Socrates had the use of Dialectics before P l a t o -, a s a p p e a r s b y h i s p r o v i n g a n d r e f u t i n g s o s o l i d lyinConversationwhateverhehadamind toestab lish or overthrow. H o w can itbe imagin'd that Truths were discover'd and prov'd before Plato and Socrates withoutthehelpofDialectick? "Tisimpossible.
These are then the three parts of the Philosophy oftheAcademicks, Morality, NaturalPhilosophy andDialectick;andthesethreepartsmake Philoso phy compleat, inwhich one can'tso much as ima gine a fourth. Natural Philosophy respects Speculati on, Morality Action, and Dialectick is useful both foroneandt'other. For'tisbymeansofthisthat we distinguish Truth from that which has only the A p p e a r a n c e o f it, b o t h i n M o r a l i t y a n d N a t u r a l P h i l o sophy. AndmanyAgesbeforePlato,thePhiloso
phy of the Hebrews was likewise divided into three Rarts, Reasoning, the Knowledg of Nature, and
7 6
The Life of Plated
lorality.
TheMori- ThePlatonicksmakethePerfectionofMorality h'yf? ht to consist in living in conformity to Nature, that name*. ist0theWiUofGodtheonlyAuthorofSoveraign
Happiness hand they teach that the Scope of all our Desires should be to obtain ofHim those good things that
? ? TheLifeof Plato. 77
thatarenecessaryforSoulandBody,andforour State of Life, Thus they divide Good, into that which is divine 'and that which is humane,
^ HumaneGoodsaredistinguishedintoGoodsofthe Body,andGoods ofLife. TheGoodsoftheBody
areHealth,Beauty,goodHumour, Strength,0V. The GoodsofLifearefriends,Riches, infine,every thing that serves to advance Vertue, and let it on work. Fortheyteachthatamanisnotbornfor himselfalone-,butisunitedto allother menby Society, which renders him a member of one and the lame body, to the Advantage of which he ought to refer all his Actions, and Thoughts.
Divine Goods arethe Goods ofthe Soul, thatis,
every thing which renders the Soul capable of know
ing, loving and embracing that which is good and
lovely, CV; And they divide these Goods, into
thoseofNature,audthoseofMorality. TheGoods
of Nature are theImaginationandtheMemory,
which properly depend on the Mind ? and the Goods,
ofMoralityarethosethatareprocuredby studyand
the habit which is form'd^by Exercise and Reason.
That which hasmade butaflightImpressionthey call a certain motion toward Vertue ? ,and that which is
f i n i s h e d is w h a t t h e y t e r m V e n u e ; w h i c h is t h e p e r f e c tionofNature, andthemostexcellentofallGoods. Humane Goods are sobordinate to Divine ; and
when once a man has these he has all the other ; the firstof 'em all isPrudence, the second is Tem perance : from these two mix'd with Courage IpringsJustice,which isthethird,and Valour isthe
fourth. TheyteachthatDivineGoodscan'tbegiven
bymen,andthattheyarenottobeacquiredbyour L a b o u r ? , t h a t t h e y a r S g i v e n o n l y b y t h e f a v o u r o f
God, and thatthey ought tobe sought athis hand alone.
So that they do not equally esteem these three forts of Goods, but prefer those of the Soul before the two others, as infinitely more considerable, and which alone ought $p be sought for themselves.
Hence
? ? 78
TheLife ofPlato:
? Hence it comes, that they make the Happiness of Life to consist only in Vertue, tho at the fame time they maintain, that itcannot bevery happy without theGoodsoftheBody, andtheotherthatarene cessary for the use of Vertue ; and from thence ari ses an indispensible Obligation to Labour, . and to fill uptheDutieswhichNatureimposes:AnObliga tion which engages us to avoid Idleness, and to con temn criminal Pleasures; and which necessarilydis poses us to suffer all sorts of Labour and Pain too,
for that which isjust and honest. From whence Friendship, Justice, and Equity result, which they perfer to all the Pleasures and Advantages of Life.
There is nothing more solid and sublime than theseMorals, which make the chief Good to con sistin beingunited toGod, inobeying his Com mands, and in receiving with Submission whatever comes fromhishand;becauseallGod'sActstowards Menareusefulto'em,iftheyknowhowtomake an Improvement of 'em.
Platoeverywhere insinuatesadisinteressedframe ofMind, andtheContemptofRiches;andteaches to postpone all theGoldintheWorldtotheleast Vertue. He is for a Man's exposing himself to
Death in the defence of Justice, and in maintaining
Laws, Order, and the Publick Good ^ and would
have us avoid, not only all criminal Pleasures, but
Delicacy,Idleness,andtoomuchSleep. Wefind
his Writings full of Precepts of Truth, Chastity,
Temperance, Modesty, Patience, Meekness and H u m i l i t y ? , b u t t h e s e P r e c e p t s a r e a c c o m p a n i e d w i t h
Proofs. ForheutterlyoverthrowsthePrinciplesof
ill Morals, after he has propos'd 'em in their full Strength ? ,and this is the way of Perswasion that
becomes a Philosopher. AlmosteverythinginhisDoctrineisworthy of
Christianity. *ThatwhichhefaysoftheDutyof honouringParents,deservestoberecited. Thefear*
* Precepts of the Honour due to Parents nth Book of Laws. Tm. t,
? f
? ? 7he Use os Plato. 1 79
of God is the foundation of that Duty which Chil
dren owe their Parents ; and if the Gods are pleas'd with the Respett which is rendered to their Images,
which are only dead Representations of the Deity, how much more do they rejoice in those Honours which are given to Parents, who are the living Images of G o d -, a n d t h e o l d e r t h e y a r e , t h e m o r e f o r c e a n d E f ficacyhavetheselivingImagesoftheDeity (whoare kept in the House like the most precious Jewels) to make allforts of Blessings descend on their Children, whogive 'em the Reverence which is due to 'em ; and tobring upon their heads the most dreadful Curses, whentheyrefuseit. ForGodhearsthePrayerswhich Parents address to him cither for or against their Children. Sothatthereisnosurerwaytoplease God than to honour our Parents, and whenever they are respeSed 'tis very grateful and acceptable to
Godhimself Thewayofhonouringthemduly,isto love them more than our own Children, orourselves. And theywhofailinthiiDutyshallbebroughttothe Magistrates constitutedfor thispurpose, who shall take care to punish 'em. *
He everywheremaintains, andparticularlyinhis^Jf Gorgias andCriton, thatnoinjuryistobeoffefdlor'
to any man, no not to such as deal injuriously with us,andmakes itappear,thattointroducethisMaxim intocivilConversation,that'tislawfulforaMan to r e v e n g e h i m s e l f a n d r e n d e r E v i l f o r E v i l , is t o p r e t e n d
tolayafoundation forJusticeininnumerableActs of Injustice, and to open an inexhaustible Source of Crimes, and Acts ofViolence. What Bank would be strong enough to stop such an Inundation of Wicked ness,and what end would therebe of Injury and Revenge ? H e carries his Proofs of this Matter so far, thathis Disciples assure us, thathe that revenges an
Injury,ismore criminal than he that offersit. Heteachesthatisaman haveany degreeof Wif-^MwAE-
dom, he will never undertake the least thing without tf? fPra>r-
theInvocationofGod; andthatifPrayerisnecessary UforeeveryordinaryAction, 'tismuchmoresowhen we
? ? 8o
The Lifeof Plato.
we are about to speak of God, because 'tis God that illuminates our Minds, 'tis he 'that assists us, andwithouthimwecandonothing. Hewellun derstood the Necessity and Beauty of that Precept of Pythagoras. * Begin all thy ASions with Prayer^ thatthoumayji be ableto accomplish-*em. Prayer andActionoughttobeinseparable^ wantofPray errenders Action useless, and want of Action ren dersPrayerineffectual. We oughttoaskwhatwe do,andtodowhatweask. Butheatthefame time affirms, that Men are so blinded by their Pas sions, that they know not how to pray well, unless God instructs'em; andthereforethetruestPrayer,
andthatwhichalonecanbeagreable tohim, isto requestof~-frimtoperformhisown Willinus, and not ours.
The most considerable thing in Morality is the political part of it, the true use of which Plato en deavours to shew, and to reestablish it in that Per fection from whence it fell by the Corruption of Men. In the time pf this Philosopher, Injustice had overtum'd all tho States of Greece; so that there was not one Government left that deserv'd to beapprov'd. Platoinoppositiontothisdisorder gaveaperfectModel ofa mostjustform ofGo vernment, that all States might correct the Vices of theirwayofGovernmentbythisPattern. Tothis purposeheemployshisBooks ofaCommon-wealth,
and those of Laws $ in which he after a wonderful
manner reconciles Policy to Religion, which is the very Basis of it. . " . ? ? : ? .
Prhces
castgovern can never conduct the People well, but by imitating
He shews that Princes and Governors of States,
7ht? aTethe KinS of Kings, the Soveraign Lord of the God. 'World,theonlyandperfectModelofallWisdom
and Justice. For as a Sheep is not capable of guiding the whole Flock, which ought to be under theConductofaShepherd;iboneman isnotca pable alone of conducting others, who all together
* PythizoushisPrecepr*
ought
? ? t tert th, Isa, 60. U i
T k Life of Plato? 81
pughttobesubjecttoGod. Onewouldthinkhe had read that Complaint made by the People of God by the Mouth of * Isaiah, as the greatest of all Miseries, 0 Lord our God, other Lords be/ides thee have had Dominion over us.
t He renders this Truth sensible by a Fable in
which the Vestiges of the Truth of ancient History
are easily discerned. The Memory of the happy ^ c**s*
CourseofLifethefirstMen ledispreservedtoour? % g
Time. They wereabundantlyprovided-forwithoutsi/stMen. a n y L a b o u r ? , t h e E a r t h s p o n t a n e o u s l y f u r n i s h e d t h e m
withallNecessaries: And the Cause oftbeir Happi ness was this j Saturn well knowing that there wen noMan-thatcouldhavean,. AbsoluteEmpire over6- ihers, withoutabandoninghimselftoallsortsofVio lenceand Injustice,subjectedtheNationsnottomen, but to more noble and excellent Beings, as their
L o r d s a n d K i n g s ', n a m e l y t o i n t e l l i g e n t S p i r i t s ( o r
Angels) after thefame manner as we deal with our
C a t t l e -, f o r a s w e d o n ' t s e t a B u l l o v e r a w h o l e H e r d
of his own kind, nor a Goat to govern a Flock of
G o a t s ', b u t p u t t h o s e o f o n e k i n d a n d a n o t h e r u n d e r
theConduSofaMan;soGodwholovesMankind
placed us at first under the Condutt of Angels, who 7
with marvellous Facility, and without any trouble to
them, tookagreatdealofcareoftheirAffairs,and l
by making, Peace, Chastity, Liberty and Justice reign
amongthem, keptallfortsofTroublesandSedi tionsata distancefromthem, andrenderedtheir
Livesveryhappy. ThisFablewhichisfoundedon $ Truth,clearlyshewsus,thatthoseSocietieswhich yieldObediencetoMenandnottoGodcanneverbe happy, a n d will never find the end of their Miseries :
andfarther intimates, that ifwe will behappy, we ? _ ,. must with all our might imitate that manner of Life ^ ^ Men leiunderthereignofSaturn;andthataccor-Saturna. ding to that Immortal Principlewhich isin its, we
*\it. i6. fInthe4*BookofLaws,Tbni. i. . '? *
. $ For the Nation and Kingdom that will not serve thee shall
G should
? ?
The Use ofPlato;
? DiogenesoncerequestedsomeBottlesofWineof
Plato,whosenthimthreedozens. WhenDiogenes methimthenextday; fayshe,Whenoneasksyou how many twice two makes, insteadofansweringfour,
youanswertwenty. ThusundertheColourofre turning him thanks, he reproach'd him with being too prolix inhisDialogues.
Platohavingdefin'dMantobeaTwo-legdAn-
nimal without Wings; Diogenes got a Cock, cut off
His Wings, and carried him to P/aid's School, tel
ling his Scholars, that was the M a n their Master talked of. This Jest made him change his Defi
nition.
Diogenes being reproach'd of continual Beggings
whereas Plato never ask'd for any thing, answer'd thus. TheonlydifferencebetweenPlatoandme,is, thatIbegaloud, andhewhisperswhenhebegs.
As Diogenes one day continued abroad in a very great Snow mixt with Hail, and abundance of Peo ple that saw him were pitying him ; says Plato, If
you have any CompaJJionfor him, look on him no lon ger:therebytoreproachhim, thatwhathedidwas not from any vertuous Principle, but out of Osten
tation and vain Glory.
Itbeinghisperswafion, thatMen were notborn
forrhemselves, butfortheirCountry, fortheirRe
lations and Friends ; he was far from authorizing
the opinion of those w h o believ'd that Philosophy ? had a right of annihilating such essential Obligati
ons ; and taught that the Life of a Philosopher isthe LifeofaMan entirelydevotedtothepublick; who endeavours to become better, only that he may be the more useful ; and that he shuns the hurry of Business then only when his Country refuses his Service, or when he is incapable of serving his Country to good purpose. AndhisownPractisewassutabletothis throughthewholeCourseofhisLife. For'tisre ported that he did not so much as excuse himself
irom tearing of Arms, and that he behav'd himself bravely at the Battel of Tanagra, that of Corinth, and
? ? The Life of Plato. ' 57
and that of Delium, where he obtain'd a considera b l e V i c t o r y -, b u t i t i s n o t k n o w n o n w h a t o c c a s i o n ; for this Battel of Delium is not to be confounded with that which was fought before in the fame place ; in which Socrates was engag'd, and sav'd the Life of Alcibiades, in the first Year of the L X X X I X Olym-
piade, P/atobeingthenbutfiveorsix. yearsold.
And he ferv'dhis Friends with aslittleconcern for hisownLife? ,forhenotonlydidallwe havelaid
before for Dion, but also defended Chabrias the A- thenianGeneralwhenimpleaded attheBar? ,and
when his Accuser Crobylus, to put him out of coun tenance, laid to him, Thou earnest hither to defend others^ littlethinkingthatSocrateshisToyfonisrea
dyforthee. Hemadethisreturn;WhenmyCoun
try formerly had occasionfor my Use, 1 readily ex posedit$butthere'snodangernow beforemetoput
me into a Consternation, and to make me desert my Yriend.
He wouldfaytherewasnothingmoreunworthyof a Wile Man, and which ought to trouble him more than to have allow'd more time for unnecessary trifling anduselessthingsthantheydeserv'd. Thereforehe omitted no occasion of reproving such as he saw were vainly puff'd up on the account of those Qualities of which they rather ought to have been ashanfd. And to this purpose 'tis laid the fame Anniceris of
Cyreneofwhomwehavespokenbefore,whowasa considerable Person both for his Birth, and for his Ingenuity; butvalued himselfaboveallforbeing thebestCharioteer intheWorld,havingaknackto guide a Chariot above those of the best reputation
in that Art, had a mind to shew his Dexterity in his - Presence. AChariotwasbroughtforthispurpose intoa Close belonging to the Academy, where he
made several Turns with that exactness, that the Wheels always ran in the fame Track, and constant lydescrib'dthesameLine. AlltheSpectatorswere charm'd and extolI'dAnniceris to the Skies by theiv Praises:ButPlatoseriouslybla,m'dhim, tellinghim
it
? ? 58 , TheLifeofPlato;
irwas. not possiblebut that he who had spent so much time in so vain and inconsiderable a matter, must needs have neglected other things that were ve ry necessary and important ^ and that a Mind entire ly taken up with such Trifles could not be capable ofapplyingitselftoanythingvaluable, andtruly worthy of admiration.
H e was so free from the vice of Flattery, and the base and servile submissionsof the Orators of that Age, who made themselves Masters of the People onlybyameanandcringingComplaisance, andby
" conforming themselves to their Passions $ that he was
compafd to Epaminondat, aud Agefilaus; who tho they travell'd to many Cities, and conversed with
MenwhosecourseofLifeandMannerswerevery differentyetwhereverthe/were,stillretain'd,intheir Habit, intheirDiscourse,andinalltheirBehaviour, whatwasworthyofthemselves, andlutabletotheir Character. ForPlatowasthelame. Man acSyracuse thathewasintheAcademy,thefamewithDwny-
fius as with Dion : A certain sign that the Maxims of his Philosophy, which were full of force and Vertue had penetrated his Soul,likea deep Tincture, which nothing can either efface or tarnish.
During his laststay in Sicily, Dionyfius having a mind to Regale all Persons of chief Note in his Court, andallhisPhilosophers,PlatoandArijiippus were invited among the rest. In the midst of the Feast the Tyrant ordefd Purple Robes to be brought andgiventoalltheCompany, desiringtofee'em dance. Plato,refus'dtheRobethatwaspresented him, saying, itwouldtoomuchdajhhimoutofCoun tenancetofeehimselfappareWdlikeaWoman. Ari-
fiippus made no such Scruple, but took the Robe and fell a dancing, saying, a very wife W o m a n would never be disrefpet/edfer her dancing.
Plato has been accused of three things, first that his Humour was too Satyrical, which render'd his Writings more piquant than the Strokes of ancient Comedy,, andthemoreunworthy ofaMan ofHo
nour,
? ? >> The Life of Plato. jp
n o u r , i n t h a t h e d i d n o t s p a r e h i s b e s t F r i e n d s ? , f o r instance when in his thoeion he is speaking oiCleom- brotus and Ariftippus, he lays, they * were not present at the Death ^jsSocrates, because they were at AEgina.
The secondthingwithwhichP/atoisreproached,
isanenviousandjealousDisposition, whichmade
him uncapable of enduring an Equal or Partner in any thing whatsoever ? , and engag'd him tacitely to
contradict Xenophon, without ever giving one word of Commendation to the Vertue of that Great Man, notwithstanding his extraordinary Merit.
The thirdthingobjectedagainsthim, isthatma- ny of his Disciples were possessed with a Spirit of Tyranny-, Euphraus for Instance who was at the CourtofPeraiccafKingofMacedonia, hadasmuch Authority asthatPrincehimself, and would notsuf- fer him to entertain any but Geometricians and Phi losophersathisTable^ whichprovedPannenion to kill him after the Death of Periibca* ; and Cal- lippuswhokilPdDiontomakehimselfKingofSy racuse;andEvagonofLampsacuswho havinglent Money tohisCountrey,upontheCittadel, thatwas given him for his Security, would have employ'd this Fort against it to subject it to himself ; and
TymcusofCyzicus, whohavingmadeafreedistribu tion of Corn among the People, would have abus'd the Favour and Authority which that procur'd him, to m a k e h i m s e l f their T y r a n t : A n d in fine C h a r o n o f Tellene, w h o having cruelly brought his Countrey in to subjection, drove away the best Citizens, and gave
their Estates and Wives to his Slaves. LessexaminethefirstoftheseReproaches. Platoj**? *? ? ?
is perhaps the only Person who was ever accused of t'he aj*,*_'"
two Faults directly opposite, and which are destruc- proachof tiveofeachother. Atheneushasaccus'dhimofbe-beingtot
ing too Satyrical, and others have blam'd him fbr*"-'* beingtoomild, andforhavingtaughtaveryconside rable time without displeasing any one ; by which he would insinuate rhat his Doctrine was not good, cr
* See FUto Phqd. at the beginning.
that
? ? 60
The Life osPlato. "
that his method was bad, fince nobody either in hearing or reading him had felt . that trouble which naturally arises from the Sense of one's having been vicious. Butwithouttroublingmy selftoconfute or reconcile these Contradictions, I shall only lay, thatAtheneuswashimselfinanillhumour, whenhe castthisReproachuponPlato: And Ishall make useofthefamewordsagainsthim, whichthisPhi-
' losopherus'dagainstAnytuswhoaccus'dhimofha vingbeenguiltyofCalumny. *Heknowsnotwhat it is to calumniate, for if he did, be would not accuse me of that Vice. And indeed Plato did no ways slanderThemistocles, Pericles,axidThucydides, when he made use of them as Instances to prove, that V e r t u e c o u l d n o t b e a t t a i n ' d , m e r e l y b y I n s t r u c t i o n ? , fince these Men had not made their Children learn it. As for that word he spoke against Aristippus and Cleombrotus, besides that the turn of it is very fine, itmust be ascribed to that Love and Gratitude Plato retain'd towards Socrates, which made him highly resent it, that his two Friends had not atten-
? ded their Master at his Death, because they were at AEgina ? , which by the manner of his Speech one
would take to have been at a hundred Leagues di- .
stance, tho indeed itwas near the Gates of Athens. . And as occasion offers,we shall hereafter examine all the other Satyrical Touches Atheneus charges on him. NotthatIpretendtocrossPlato'sNameout of the number of Satyrical Writers : For on the con traryIamperswadedthatneveranyMan hadafiner k n a c k a t R a i l l e r y -, t h a t t h e m o s t r e f i n ' d S a t y r i s t o belearnedinhisWorks, andthatnonecanteachit
better than he. He may be compar'd to Aristo phanes himself. But it will be no difficult mat
terto make it appear, that as he never threw his DartsagainstanybutMen ofprofligateLives, who by abusing their Character, corrupted Youth, and ruinedReligion: He issofarfromdeservingRe proachesonthisaccount,thathedeservestobehighly v
* In Menon.
piais'd,
? ? theLifeosPlato. 61
prais'd. WifeMen,asaLearned*Fatherofthe Church observes, ought not to give soft and flatter ing Touches ; but on the contrary to give Wounds andtainstotholewho arefallenintogreatFaults,
and cannot be otherwise excited to Repentance and thepractiseofVertue. ThoseDiscourseswhichin stead of carrying pungency and Reproof in 'em, are only calculated to sooth and please, are not becom ingaWiseMan, sinceSolomonhimselflays,The WordsoftheWifeareasGoads. Besidesdoesnot every one know that Laughter is thejust Recom- pence of Ignorance when accompanied with Pride and Vanity. >
The secondAccusation has no more Justice init
than the first, for 'tis chiefly founded on this, thatj<# <<<<*- Xenopbon and Platowrote onthefameSubjects. >ldj$%+
Foreachof 'emmadeanApologyforSocrates,eachX made his Banquet and Treatises of Morality and Policy. IftomakeBooksonthefameSubjectson which othershavetreatedwerealwaysasignofan enviousandjealousMind ;rhisReproach wouldra therfallonXenopbon, who didnotwriteofthe? - ducation of Cyrus, till after he had seen the two first Books of Plato's Common-wealth.
? And itwould be no very easy matter entirely to justify Xenopbon from this spirit of Envy, when one reads the Fragment of a Letter which he wrote
to Escbines, in which he extreamly inveighs against Plato, and charges him with having corrupted the Philosophy of Socrates, by intermixing that of Py thagoras, and makes the end of his going intoSicily tobetheEnjoyment oftheDelicaciesofDionyjius hisTable. TotheseInvectivesofhisPlatomakes noanswer,norspeaksoneWordofXenopbon? ,in
* St. Jerome on that Passage of the XII phap. of EccUf. the WordsoftheWifeareaiGoads. Siraul& hocnocandumest,quod, oicanrur vcrba sapientium pungere, non palpare, necmolli mami atrahere Iasciviam, fed errantibus &tardispa>>nirenciaedolores, & vulnusinfigere. Sicujusigirursermononpungit,fedoblectatio- K m facit audientibus, isle non est sermo sapientis, vcrba quippe wpicntium uc stimuli.
which
Platom
? ? $i
The Use of Plato. '
which his Modesty can scarce be enough commend" e d ? , a n d p e r h a p s t h i s S i l e n c e w a s t h e c h i e f t h i n g r h a t
incensedXenophon. ForthegreatestIndignityone can offer a Writer is (not to fay some ill thing of him,but)tosaynothingatalltohim. Tistrue, Plato in one place writes, that Cyrus was a good General, but that he never had a good Education ; by which some pretend he desighd to deny Xeno-
fbon's Treatise of the Education of Cyrus ; but this
being made only to give the Idea of a great Prince,
and not to pass for a true History, Xenophon could
not be offended ata thing which he believed aswell
asPlato. Infine, that which yetmore discovers
with what SpiritXenophon was animated againsthim,
is the frightful D-scnption he makes of Menon, in
the nth,JBook of his Retreat; where he accuses
him of having betrayed Clearcus, and of having
beentheCauseofhisDeath. MenorfsMisfortune
proceeded from the Intimacy of his Friendship with
Plato, who hadpraisedhim,andinscribedhisName ontheDialoguehecomposed, concerningVertue;
for his pretended Treachery is not at all well prov ed,andhewas sufficientlyjustifiedfromitbyhis Death. Not that IpretendtoaccuseXenophonof Calumny and Imposture : these Vices are not to be foundinaMan ofSobrietyandReligion;butthe Hatred or Jealousy he conceived against Plato, dis pos'd him insensibly to receive all Reports, that were made against such as were engaged in strict Friendshipwithhim. HoweverifMenonhadbeen as bad as Xenophon describes him to have been, since his Villany was not known till after his Death, it can't be charg'd on Plato as a Crime; that he had lpoken in his Praise.
Some moreover support this Accusation, in lay- ing, that Plato, w h o speaks of almost all the Philo-
phers that preceded him, and refutes their Senti ments, speaks not one word of Bemocritus, tho fre quent Occasions presented of saying something of him, ThisisalsobuiltontheTestimonyofAris-
toxenes,
? ? TheLiftof Plato:
toxenes, whoinhishistoricalCommentaries, wrote that Psato would have burnt all the Books of Demo- crituswhich he could heap together, if he had not
beenpreventedbyAmyclasandClyniasy twoPytha gorean Philosophers, who represented tohim, that itwouldsignifynothingtoburn'em, sincetheywere inthehandsofagreatmanyotherMen. Andthis iscountedmore than enoughto make itbelieved that Plato hated Democritus^ and was jealous of his greatReputation. FormypartIconfessthisFable
ofAriftoxenesseemstome tobeveryillinvented: AManwhohasamindtocommithisRival'sBooks totheFlames, doesnotseekforWitnessestosuchan Action. Besidesthissilenceofhisofwhichthey speaksomuch,seemsaverydoubtfulBusiness. If
the Glory of Democritus had touch'd Plato so sensi bly, why did he not take the advantage of so many occasions,thatwerefairlyoffer1dhimtodi minish it, or to cast some blot on it, by, writing a- gainst him, and destroying some one or other of his P r i n c i p l e s ? A n A u t h o r is s e l d o m M a s t e r o f t h a t R e - , sentment with which the Glory of a Competitor inspireshim. Tisaverydifficultmattertocome to a certain determination of things that depend on athousand Circumstances, of which we arewholly ignorant;butthatwhichappearstomemostpro bableisasfollows. 'Tisamrm'd,thatDemocritus neverwenttoAthens^ orifhewentthitherthathe
was always unknown, and never discover'd himself lo much as to Socrates. 'Tis moreover very well
known, thatwhenHippocrates^whowasnowmuch advanced in years, went to Abdera to confer with
Democritus about the Folly that was imputed to h i m -, t h i s P h i l o s o p h e r w a s n o t y e t k n o w n i n G r e e c e ^ norhadhisWorksbeenbroughtthither. Ifthey had been published, they would have sav'd Hippo c r a t e s t h e t r o u b l e o f t h i s V o y a g e ? , f o r t h e y w o u l d have discover'd the great Wisdom of their Author, and the Stupidity and Ignorance of the People, w h o founded this Accusation of Folly only on those Sen
timents,
? ? 64 TheLifeofPlata
timents, which this Philosopher explain'd ist his Writings : N o w the Death of Democritus was not longbeforethatofP/ato. Inaword,Idon'tthink any Passage of Antiquity will make it appear, that theWritingsoftheformerwereknownatAthens, duringtheLifeofthelatter. NayIamofopini on, that there are not wanting some Proofs among the Ancients, that shew they did notbegin to make a noiseintheWorld, tillaftertheBirthofEpicurus.
Whence we may conclude,thatP/atowas sofarfrom hating Democritus, that he never knew him^ nor ever saw any of his Books.
It would not be so easy to justify Plato's proce dure towards E/chines, if that with which he is re- proach'd were true. 'Tis saidhe was sojealous ofthe Reputation and Credit which EJchines had acquired i n t h e C o u r t o f S i c i l y -, t h a t h e m a d e i t h i s b u s i n e s s to seek his ruine by his Insinuations to Dionyjius -y
and that he push'd this malicious and envious Hu* mour so far, that he attributes those Discourses to Criton, which are pretended to have been held by << Escbines with Socrates in Prison ; but this being sup ported only by the Testimony of one Idomeneus, one ofAristotle'sSchollars, 'tismorejusttoguideour Judgment by Plato's Vertue, than to suffer our selves to be prejudic'd against him by mere Calumnies. Would Xenopbon have forgotten a Circumstance that might have done so much honour to EJchines, and
covefd Platowith somuchshame? Andhavewe not in Plutarch the Discourse which Plato made to Dionyjius, to engage him to be kind to Efchines,2xA togivehimsomeMarks of hisEsteem? Nothing
is more opposite to that Magnanimity, for which Plato has been commended, than this Spirit of Envy. Let us fee how he himself speaks of the Envious, in the * <>thBook of Laws. While the Envious M a n thinks to exalt himself above others by Delraffi- onandCalumny,hewandersoutofthePathoftrue Vertue, and balks the Courage of his Competitors^
* Tom, 2.
txbeit
? ? TkLifeofPhtol 6f
when theysee themselves treated withso much Inju
stice j and as he by this means extinguishes allthat noble Emulation which the whole City appeared to have ?
in thisglorious Contention of Vertue, he dispirits it, and diminishes its Resolution and Vigour, as much as in him lies, and renders it less ardent in the pursuit ofGlory. CanoneaccuseaPhilosopherofEnvy, who scarcenames himself inhisown Works, and who attributes all his own Inventions and Notions
to his Master ?
* The third Accusation is still worse founded
thanthetwoformer. TheConditionofaPhiloso pher would be very deplorable ? , if he were to an
swer for all the Actions of his Disciples. None of their Faults can be justly charg'd on him, but those which they committed in pursuance of his Opinions.
The Instance of Dion only may be sufficient to ac quit Plato of the charge of a Tyrannical Spirit. WhatcouldanyonehavedonemorethanDiondid to induce Dionysus the Elder and his Son after him to govern justly, that they might firmly establish
their Dominion ? and when he had taken up a reso
lutiontoexpelthelatter, couldanyonemorevi
gorously oppose this design than Plato did > Besides,
'tisa great piece of Injustice to make Calippus pass
for one of Plato's Dilciples, contrary to what this
Philosopher himself says in his 7th Letter, in which
he assures us that it was not by the study of Philo sophy that Calippusz. cqmx'^. Dion's friendship ? , but
as itusually happens by civilConversation, he having goneofteninhisCompanytotheTheater, toSacri ficesandotherreligiousRites; and theybeing both addicted to the fame kinds ofPleasure;
There isnotonly injustice in thisAccusation, . but also either a greatdeal of Ignorance or agreat deal of Disingenuity. Could Atheneus, who had readandcollectedsomuch, beignorantafterwhat Manner Xenophon defends Socratesagainst his Ene-
* TheFaultsofPUto"iDisciplesotigheriottobethrowriupi
oa him,
k ? mics
? ? 66
7k Use of Plato;
v
mies who charg'd him with all the Violences and InjuriesofCritias and Alcibiades^ laying theguiltof 'em upon him, on pretence that they had been his D i s ciples >and ifhe k n e w this,ought not he to have m a d e uie ofthe fame Maxims to justify P/ato ? As there is
feme Justice in imputing to Masters the Miscarriages . oftheirScholars,whentheybecomeguiltyof'em by following their Opinions' and Principles ; so on the other side 'tis just to ascribe to 'em their great andnobleActions, whentheyare thefruitoftheir Precepts. PlutarchthereforeismorejustthanAthe- tteus, when he places to Plato's Account, all the
greatthingshisDiscipleshaddone. HisWordsare remarkableandentirelyoverthrowallthe Criticism ofthisCensor. *Plato(sayshe)badleftfinedis courses of Laws, and the Government of States ; but
. he had imprejiftillfiner on the hearts of his Disciples.
These turiousdiscoursesengagdYHxon torestore Sici
lyitsancientLiberty. $andPythonand hisBrother
HeraclidestodeliverThracefrom Tyranny bykilling
Cotys. ChabriasandPhocion,thosetwoGreatAthe
nianCaptains, cameout ofthejameSchool. Plato
gave Laws tothe Arcadians by his Disciple Aristony-
itius, tothe EliansbyPhormion, to those of Pyrrah
byNeraedemus, totbd-(Mdians byEudoxus, and
tothose0/StagirabyAristotle. Nay,theRulesofgo
verningwellwhichAlexanderdefir'dof Xenocrates,
were onlyPlato'. ? Precepts. And hethatkindled thatPrincessCourage, andperswadedhim tomake
war withthe King ofPersia,was Delius theEphejian, an intimate friend of this Philosopher*
Atheneus carried his Malignity and Envy yet far ther -, for he writes, that Plato's Timcus, his Gor* ? gias, and his other Dialogues of the like kind, in
whichhetreatsoftheMathematicks,andofNa tural Philosophy, are not so much to be admir'd, as'tis commonly said they are: forhe says thefame things are to be found elsewhere, aswell explained, i f n o t b e t t e r -, a n d h e a s s u r e s t h e W o r l d , t h a t T h e o -
* InhisTreatiseagainstColottstheEpicurean.
pompus
? ? The Lifeof Plato. ' <S7
pompus of Chio writes, that thegreatestpartofhis Dialogues were false and useleis, because some of 'em were taken from Ariflippus, others from An- tifihenes, and others from Bryfon. He adds, that when one expeSs in his Writings the Morals and Wisdomosa Philosopher, onefinisnothingbutBan quets, and. Discourses about Love, which have agreat dealof Indecency, and very little Chastity in 'em which he compos d to the great undervaluing of the Judgment of his Readers.
IwillnotnowlaytheJudgmentofTheopompus ought to be suspected, becauie theAncientshaveac- cus'd him of Malice and Calumny ? , and therefore
Plutarch fays of him, 'tissafer to believe him when hepraises,thanwhenheaccusesanyone. LetPla to's Dialogues be taken as much as he pleases from
Ariflippus, Bryfon and Antifihenes, since their
Works are not now extant, the Testimony of Theo pompus, contrary to Atheneus his Intention, proves that thesevery Dialogueswhichhe hassomuchcon demns are now the best, and most considerable Work on those Matters, that isto be found among
the Ancients.
And if Atheneus passes a Judgment on 'em only
ofhisownhead;I'llventure tofay,'tisnotthe firstFault thisAuthor has committed, who ismore tobecommendedforhisvastLearning,andgreat Collectionswhichweretheproduct of a prodigious Reading, than for his Accuracy and Wisdom in his critical Reflections, and for the Solidity of his Judg ment. IsaManwellqualifiedtojudgofPlato's Writings, when he dares to write, that he can't fee what advantage can be drawn from the Immortality
of the Soul, since after its seperation from the Body, ithas no more any Remembrance or Seniation ?
As to what he fays ol the indecent Discourses Platohasmade ofLovetothegreatundervaluing of theJudgmentofhisReaders;hisaimwastodecry the Dialogue of the Banquet ; but by this he disgra ces himself more than he does that Dialogue. For
F 2 besides,
? ? 68
The Life of Plato. -.
besides that he discovers the Corrttption of'/ his Heart;hemakes itappearthathewasignorantof th? beauty and design of that Dialogue-,' the end ofwhichisonlytodisengageusfromthe'Loveof Earthly Beauties, and to raise us to the Love of the SoveraignBeautywhichisGodhimself. 'NooneI
believewillhesitateinhischoicebetweenthe Judg ment of Atheneus, and that of Origen, who in his Excellent Preface on the Song of Songs, speaks of Thud'sBanquetintheseTerms. DiversLearned
persons among the Greeks, who were desirous to -pe
netrate into Truth, havewritten Dialogues about
Love, toshow that 'tis this only that can raise our
Soulsfrom Earth to Heaven, and that'tisonly by the
helpofthis,thattruefelicityisattainable. The
Questions that are started at Table on this Subjeff,
are made bypersons notso greedy os Dainties, asca
rioustooccasionfineDiscourses. Naysomeof'em
havetaughtinWriting, theWays andArtsofprodu
cingoraugmentingthisLoveintheSoul. ButMen
of carnalInclinationspervertingtheseArts haveem ploy'dthem tosatisfy their Lusts, and abused ''em to
promoteaninfamousConversation. Thereforeitis not to be wonder'd at, if with us among w\wm there aresomany ? ncreignorantpersons, astherearemore illiterate, a Treatise of Love has some danger at tending it5since among the Greeks, who areso Learn edand Wije, there have yetsome been found, who have mistaken these Dialogues, and interpreted 'em in afense quite differentfrom that in which they were written, and who, taking occasionfrom~ what is said in ''em of Love, have fallen into a Snare, whether they trulyfound in these Writings any thing thatincited''cmtoSin;orwhether theCorruptionof their Hearts hinder d :'emfrom understanding 'em.
This Apology strikes at Atheneus, whom Origen without doubt had in his Eye ; when we publish Plato's Phedrus w e (hall examine whether that C e n surepastonitbyDicearcw,Aristotle'sDisciple, in affirming (asDiogenes Lairtim reports) that the
Question
? ? >> Prov. 1. 6.
The Lifeos Plato; 69
Question handled in this Dialogue is Puerile, and the Character of it'Extravagant, ought to be received 5 and whether Cicero had reason to embrace the Sen timent of this Qatick, and to tax P/ato with having
given too mucrf'^uthority to Love.
Let us then without stopping at what has been
written against Plato, endeavour to know him by hisown Works.
Before the Age in which Vythagcras liv'd, Mora lity was treated on only in Sentences and Enigmas : ThereforeSolomon lays,aWifeManwill*under-
JiandthewordsoftheWife, andtheirdarksayings. Pherecydes, and his Disciple Pythagoras, who had brought Treasures of Knowledg with them when they return'd from their Travels, from Babylon, E-
gypt and Persia, were the first that open'd a door to good literature among the Greeks. It was from them, andespeciallyfromPythagoras, thatthefirst BeamsofTruthihin'doutinGreece. Morality was then considerably improv'd, yet itconsisted on lyofPreceptswrap'dupinObscurity. TheMe thod of Reasoning and Demonstrating was not yet inuse. Thisdryway(ifImaysotermit)of
handling Morality, was occasion'd by the Applica tionofMensMindsthenonlytotheknowledgof Numbers,NaturalPhilosophy,andAstronomy.
So crates was the first, who upon the Reflection he made, that that which happens without us, does
not nearly concern us ; and that the study of it is more curious than useful, applied himself more particularly to the study of Morality, and handled itmoremethodicallyinhisDiscourses. Platohis Disciple being convinced of how greatImportance itwastopretervetoMankindsopreciousaTrea sureattemptedtowriteofit. Andthathemight dothistothegreateradvantage, andmightthebet terretain the Air of him who had revived this Sci ence, prefer'd the way of writing in Dialogues, to all other M e t h o d s oftreating a Subject : for besides,
? F i that
? jo
The Life of Plato^
t h a t it is t h e m o s t d i v e r t i n g m a n n e r o f w r i t i n g , i n t h a t
it as itwere exposes a Scene, in which all the Ac- ! torsareseentoperformtheirpartsy one may fay ;it is best fitted to attain the end, which is to per- 1swade and instruct,that itisanimated with the most
Life, and hath all the force of contrary Opinions, whereinthetwo Partiesdefendthemselvesasmuch as they will, or can, and consequently the Victory obtain'd by one over the other can be no longer con tested, at least when the Dialogue is made by a Manofgreatfense,andwhomakesithisonlybu sinesstoenquireafterTruth. BeforePlato'stime thismanner of writing was verylittleknown inthe World : None had practised it but Zeno of Elea, and Alexamenes of Teos ; but the Politeness,Ele gancyandBeauty which'Platogavetothisway of Discourse, occasioned the Glory of this Invention to be ascribed to him, so that he has been look'd upon inallAges as thefirstthat evermade Dia logues.
There are two forts of Truth, that which isal readyknown,andthatwhichisyetunknowntous, andafterwhichwearesearching. . Thisdifference constitutes two principal Characters of Plato'sDia logues. Thoseof'emthattreatonknownTruths, are called, * Explicatory, or Instructive Dialogues ; and those that handle such Truths as are yet u n k n o w n , but enquired after, are called t InquisitiveDialogues. Each of these two kinds is divided into divers Spe cies, according to the Subject of which they treat, orthemanneroftreatingofit. FortheInstructive
Dialogues, either have Speculation for their End, and then they are divided into % Physical, and |Lo
gical,orAction, andthentheyaredividedinto *Po litickand i>Menil? ,and theInquisitive Dialogues are destin'd, either to cExercise or dContest. Those
thataremadeforExerciseareagainoftwo sorts? , in some of 'em Socrates exercises the Mind after
? such.
? 7he Life of Plato. ' 71
fiich a manner, that he causes all forts of Truths to be produced in it, which 'tis capable of rinding out itselfwhenwellassisted. Thereforehecallshim self theMidwife ofMinds, jocoselyalludingtothe
EmploymentofhisMother,whowasaMidwile-, and theseDialogues arecalled'^ObstetricalDialogues. O r else he exercises it only in making it found, and justperceivetheTruths inwhichhe iswillingtoin structit; andthesearecalledtDialoguesofEffay. In fine, those that are destin'dto contest, are alio of two forts j the one4tind are fram'd to accuse certain
Persons, and to expose certain Vices, and are there fore called Dialogues of X Demonstration, cr of A c cusation. These are properly satyrical Dialogues, made for the Reader's Diversion ? , exciting* in his
Mind at the fame time, a just Contempt of those whose Vices are discover'd to him ; and others are calculated to refute and overthrow Errors, and are thereforecall'd\subvertingDialogues. Andthis is the division that has given a third Title to these
Dialoguesjfortheyhavethree. Thefirstisthe nameoftheprincipalPerson. Thesecondistaken from the Subject, and the third iswhat I have been just mentioning, and expresses the Method and Turn . oftheDialogue,andofwhatkinditis. 'Tisonly
the first of these at most which is Ylato\ the last,
of 'em was impos'd by the Platonick Philosophers, and is very ancient, as w e lee by Diogenes Lairtius,
whoknowsonlythisandthefirst. Thesecondisal togethermodern. Itwasgivenbysomethatwere butlittleacquaintedwiththeDoctrineof thisPhi losopher, and were often mistaken. ForInstance, at the head of Gorgiaf, they place this Title, G c r g i a t o f R h e t c r i c k -, w h e r e a s t h e A n c i e n t s c i t e i t onlyunderthenameof*GorgiatSubversive. And 'tissofarfrombeingtrue,thatGorgiat wasmade to teach Rhetorics that on the contrary the design ofitistoexposeandoverthrow theillPrinciple,
F4 by
? ? 7 1
'Tfce ZLi/e of Plato.
bywhichtheOratorswereconducted, whothengOr v e r n e d a l l t h e C i t i e s o f G r e e c e ? , a n d ' t i s a D i a l o g u e p u r e l y m o r a l ? , b u t t h i s S u b j e c t s h a l l b e t r e a t e d m o r e atlengthintheArgument whichshallbeplacedat the head of every Dialogue.
Having explained the Titles of these Dialogues, 'tis needful to fay something of the different divisi onwhichtheAncientshavemadeof'em; Some have put 'em into Fours, being of opinion that P/dtahad respect to the Tetralogies of the Ancient
TragicalPoets,whocompost &ur piecesononeand the f a m e Subject for the four greatreasts o f the A t h e n i a n s ? , b u t I c a n ' t i m a g i n e t h a t a g r e a t P h i l o s o p h e r
shouldhavesofrivolousaReason. Othershavedi vided *em into Threes. ? , and "tis certain that in his
W o r k s there are three Dialogues found that properly make but one and the fame Treatise, as his Theoete- **s, the Sophist, and the Politician. In the first Socrates examines and refutes various Definitions of Science. InthesecondheestablishesdiversDefiniti
ons of the Sophist, which serve to shew the Art of dividing and defining, and at the same time ofmaking theSophistsridiculous. Andinthethirdhedefines a PoliticianorStatesman,andthereisnothingwant ingin thisTreatise, because the Statesman can't be well qualified without being tinctur'd with Philoso phy. ThetenBooksofaCommon-wealth,which are look'd upon as only one Dialogue, are yet appa rently one and the fame Treatise with his Timoeus,
Atlanticus,orCritias. Inthefirst,thatisinthelong Conversation about a Common-wealth, Socratesgives theIdeaofaperfectState. InThnoeushesupportshis Rules and Principles by the knowledg of Nature Which hecommunicates-,andinCritiasheconfirms thisknowledg ofNature,andthoseRulesofMorality and Policy by the Authority of ancient History, . or thatImayuseP/ato'sownWords, theBooksofhis Common-wealth form good Citizens ; his Tirnaus discovers to them the Creation of the World, that this Knowledg may fortify in their Minds the Prin
ciples
? ? TheUseofPlato: . 73
eiples he has given k m ; and his Crjtia? proves to 'em by ancient History, that such was the Life of their first Ancestors, that isof the first Athenians, wholiv'dbeforetheDeluge,whoseExamplehere commendstotheirImitation. Anditwasafterthis manner, that the greatest of Legislators compos'd
the Lives of the Ancient Hebrews and Patriarchs. ExceptingthesesixDialogues, thethreefirstof
whichmake a Treatiseof Logick, andthethreelast a very methodical Treatise of Morality ? , I don't
think-any others of 'em can be connected together by the Continuance of the fame Subject : They are all separate and independant, in respect of the mat ter of 'em, and have no mutual Correspondence or
Resemblance, butbytheMethod orManneroftreat
ing their Subjects, which has been already sufficiently explained. ?
Plato affirms that which is certain, refutes that w h i c h is false, examines that which is doubtful, and does not pronounce any thing on that which is. un certain, or has but little probability.
H i s first M a x i m is n o t t o g i v e o n e ' s C o n s e n t , b u t V " ^ " ' onlytoevidentandcertainTruths, andtodisengagetms"' ato
one's Mind from allkinds of Prejudice.
T h e second is never to attempt to handle Questi
ons which 'tis impossible to decide.
The thirdis. todistinguishwellbetweenwhatwe
know, andwhatwe areignorantof\andnottobe lievewe know what indeedwedon'tunderstand.
From these Maxims it follows, that Plato be lieved there were certain Truths, and consequently, that there were such Principles as might be ternfd Dogmata. Thatis,heaffirm'dsomethingstobeab solutely true ; but because he entirely follow'd So
crates his manner of disputing, and all along a- . voided the decisive Air of the Sophists and D o g m a tists,whoaffirm'deverything, almostcontinually taking simple Probabilities for Truth, he seems po sitive in nothing in his Writings, in which by his
Doubts he endeavours to. convince his Adversaries of the
? ? 74 ? The Life ofPlato.
the Errors he designs to refute, and to make 'em of themselves discover the Truths he has a mind to Ifcach? ,and thusthatPassageofCicerooughttobe understood, who in the first Book of his Acade mics Questions, lays, in Plato'j Books many things aresaid. ProandCon,butevery thingisdoubted,and nothing ever affirmed.
The Ancients inform us, that Plato follow'd He-
raclitm, inthingsthatfallundertheCognizanceof
the Senses, that is in natural and sensible Objects :
Pythagoras in intellectual things, which can't be
comprehended but by the understanding -, and So
crates in those which are only dictatedby Reason, t h a t i s i n M o r a l i t y a n d P o l i c y ? , a n d t h i s d e s e r v e s t o
be explained. PlatofollowedHeraclitusinnaturaland sensible
* things,thatis,hebelievedwithHeraclitus,that therewasbutoneWorld, thatalltilingswerepro d u c e d o f t h e i r C o n t r a r i e s -, t h a t M o t i o n w h i c h h e calls War, causes the production of Beings, and R e s t t h e i r D i s s o l u t i o n -, a n d i n f i n e , t h a t o u r S e n s e s are very subject to be deceived, and that there is no certain Truth in their Depositions.
He followed Pythagoras in intellectual Truths ; that is, he taught, as this Philosopher did, that there is only one God, the Creator of all things ; thattheSoulisimmortal; thatMenoughtconti
nually to labout to purify themselves from theirPas sions and Vices, that they might be united to G o d ; and that after this Life there is a Reward for good Men, and a Punishment fortheWicked ; that be tween God and Men there are different orders of Spirits, who are the Ministers of that first Being. Seeing he drew his Notions from the fame Fountains,
? namely from the Egyptians and Hebrews, 'tis not to be wonder'd at, if he had the fame Doctrine.
But if Plato followed Pythagoras in his Senti ments, he alsoimitated him in the manner of ex plaining them : For he deliver'd 'em only in Enig ma's, and under the Vail of Mysteries, Figures;
and
? ? The Life of PlatoJ 7j and Numbers, that he might not expose such sub
lime Truths to the Raillery of wicked and profane Men, andmightdiscover'emonlytosuchaswere worthy to learn 'em, and who would give them selvesthetroubleofunfoldingthem. *'Tisnot reading ofBooks, fays he, that will communicate this great Knowledg ; itmust be attained byprofound M e ditation -, and every one must for himself draw this
CelestialFirefromitstrueSource. Forbythis17- nion with its Objett t a divine Flame, (kindled on asudden, asfromaFirethatspreads itself
round') illuminates the Mind, and feeds andpre serves itselftherein. And for this reason, asI haveneveryetwritten,soIamresolvedneverto write on these Matters : That is, to explain them afteraclearandintelligiblemanner. $Whoever undertakes it, will never do it to anypurpose; and allthe Goodhe'llreap by hisLabourwillbe,that,
excepting asmall number of Men whom God hasen dowed with Understanding, capable of unravelling
those Celestial Truths of themselves, he'llcausesome todespiseiemrandfillotherswitha vainandrajh
Confidence, as if they understood wonderful things, when indeed they are unacquainted with 'em.
This method often causes great obscurity in the writingsofthisPhilosopher,whichhehas indeedta ken care to augment, in chusing to make use of sometermsthatsignifycontrary things. Andthisis thereasonwhyhecan'tpleaseyoungPeople, who
have not yet attain'd Judgment enough to diicern the Beauty and Solidity of his Dialogues ; nor grown menneitherwhohavenot had thepreparation of thoseStudiesthatwerenecessary,beforethey attemp tedtoreadhim,andwhoarenot capableofReflec tionandMeditation. ForthisreasonAntiphanes, one of Plato's Friendsjocosely compar'd hisWritings
* Tom. 5. t ThisiswhatDavidfaysinthe35thPsalm, bthyLighttve(hallseeLight. ThereisnonebutGod, thatcan enlighten the Minds of Men. % A Remarkable Passage. Plato isno; for witting on the Mysteries of Religion3an Ithose ofNature.
? to
? I
to a City, in which Mens words fteez'd in the Air as soon as they were pronounced, and the following Summer when they came to be warm'd and melted by the Beams of the Sun, the Inhabitants understood whathadbeensaidintheWinterjforPlato'sDis courses ought to be warm'd, and as itwere melted by theraysofanunderstandingwellexercis'd, ifone would know the true sense of 'em.
In fine, he imitated Socrates in what relates to MoralsandPoliticks,thatis,heredue'devery thing to Morality, and made it his whole busineis to en g a g e m e n t o fill u p t h e D u t i e s t h e y o w ' d t o t h e State in which Providence had cast their Lot.
Tis pretended that Plato to his Natural Philoso phy and Morality added Dialectick ; but this ought only to be understood of his bringing it to perfecti on : For Socrates had the use of Dialectics before P l a t o -, a s a p p e a r s b y h i s p r o v i n g a n d r e f u t i n g s o s o l i d lyinConversationwhateverhehadamind toestab lish or overthrow. H o w can itbe imagin'd that Truths were discover'd and prov'd before Plato and Socrates withoutthehelpofDialectick? "Tisimpossible.
These are then the three parts of the Philosophy oftheAcademicks, Morality, NaturalPhilosophy andDialectick;andthesethreepartsmake Philoso phy compleat, inwhich one can'tso much as ima gine a fourth. Natural Philosophy respects Speculati on, Morality Action, and Dialectick is useful both foroneandt'other. For'tisbymeansofthisthat we distinguish Truth from that which has only the A p p e a r a n c e o f it, b o t h i n M o r a l i t y a n d N a t u r a l P h i l o sophy. AndmanyAgesbeforePlato,thePhiloso
phy of the Hebrews was likewise divided into three Rarts, Reasoning, the Knowledg of Nature, and
7 6
The Life of Plated
lorality.
TheMori- ThePlatonicksmakethePerfectionofMorality h'yf? ht to consist in living in conformity to Nature, that name*. ist0theWiUofGodtheonlyAuthorofSoveraign
Happiness hand they teach that the Scope of all our Desires should be to obtain ofHim those good things that
? ? TheLifeof Plato. 77
thatarenecessaryforSoulandBody,andforour State of Life, Thus they divide Good, into that which is divine 'and that which is humane,
^ HumaneGoodsaredistinguishedintoGoodsofthe Body,andGoods ofLife. TheGoodsoftheBody
areHealth,Beauty,goodHumour, Strength,0V. The GoodsofLifearefriends,Riches, infine,every thing that serves to advance Vertue, and let it on work. Fortheyteachthatamanisnotbornfor himselfalone-,butisunitedto allother menby Society, which renders him a member of one and the lame body, to the Advantage of which he ought to refer all his Actions, and Thoughts.
Divine Goods arethe Goods ofthe Soul, thatis,
every thing which renders the Soul capable of know
ing, loving and embracing that which is good and
lovely, CV; And they divide these Goods, into
thoseofNature,audthoseofMorality. TheGoods
of Nature are theImaginationandtheMemory,
which properly depend on the Mind ? and the Goods,
ofMoralityarethosethatareprocuredby studyand
the habit which is form'd^by Exercise and Reason.
That which hasmade butaflightImpressionthey call a certain motion toward Vertue ? ,and that which is
f i n i s h e d is w h a t t h e y t e r m V e n u e ; w h i c h is t h e p e r f e c tionofNature, andthemostexcellentofallGoods. Humane Goods are sobordinate to Divine ; and
when once a man has these he has all the other ; the firstof 'em all isPrudence, the second is Tem perance : from these two mix'd with Courage IpringsJustice,which isthethird,and Valour isthe
fourth. TheyteachthatDivineGoodscan'tbegiven
bymen,andthattheyarenottobeacquiredbyour L a b o u r ? , t h a t t h e y a r S g i v e n o n l y b y t h e f a v o u r o f
God, and thatthey ought tobe sought athis hand alone.
So that they do not equally esteem these three forts of Goods, but prefer those of the Soul before the two others, as infinitely more considerable, and which alone ought $p be sought for themselves.
Hence
? ? 78
TheLife ofPlato:
? Hence it comes, that they make the Happiness of Life to consist only in Vertue, tho at the fame time they maintain, that itcannot bevery happy without theGoodsoftheBody, andtheotherthatarene cessary for the use of Vertue ; and from thence ari ses an indispensible Obligation to Labour, . and to fill uptheDutieswhichNatureimposes:AnObliga tion which engages us to avoid Idleness, and to con temn criminal Pleasures; and which necessarilydis poses us to suffer all sorts of Labour and Pain too,
for that which isjust and honest. From whence Friendship, Justice, and Equity result, which they perfer to all the Pleasures and Advantages of Life.
There is nothing more solid and sublime than theseMorals, which make the chief Good to con sistin beingunited toGod, inobeying his Com mands, and in receiving with Submission whatever comes fromhishand;becauseallGod'sActstowards Menareusefulto'em,iftheyknowhowtomake an Improvement of 'em.
Platoeverywhere insinuatesadisinteressedframe ofMind, andtheContemptofRiches;andteaches to postpone all theGoldintheWorldtotheleast Vertue. He is for a Man's exposing himself to
Death in the defence of Justice, and in maintaining
Laws, Order, and the Publick Good ^ and would
have us avoid, not only all criminal Pleasures, but
Delicacy,Idleness,andtoomuchSleep. Wefind
his Writings full of Precepts of Truth, Chastity,
Temperance, Modesty, Patience, Meekness and H u m i l i t y ? , b u t t h e s e P r e c e p t s a r e a c c o m p a n i e d w i t h
Proofs. ForheutterlyoverthrowsthePrinciplesof
ill Morals, after he has propos'd 'em in their full Strength ? ,and this is the way of Perswasion that
becomes a Philosopher. AlmosteverythinginhisDoctrineisworthy of
Christianity. *ThatwhichhefaysoftheDutyof honouringParents,deservestoberecited. Thefear*
* Precepts of the Honour due to Parents nth Book of Laws. Tm. t,
? f
? ? 7he Use os Plato. 1 79
of God is the foundation of that Duty which Chil
dren owe their Parents ; and if the Gods are pleas'd with the Respett which is rendered to their Images,
which are only dead Representations of the Deity, how much more do they rejoice in those Honours which are given to Parents, who are the living Images of G o d -, a n d t h e o l d e r t h e y a r e , t h e m o r e f o r c e a n d E f ficacyhavetheselivingImagesoftheDeity (whoare kept in the House like the most precious Jewels) to make allforts of Blessings descend on their Children, whogive 'em the Reverence which is due to 'em ; and tobring upon their heads the most dreadful Curses, whentheyrefuseit. ForGodhearsthePrayerswhich Parents address to him cither for or against their Children. Sothatthereisnosurerwaytoplease God than to honour our Parents, and whenever they are respeSed 'tis very grateful and acceptable to
Godhimself Thewayofhonouringthemduly,isto love them more than our own Children, orourselves. And theywhofailinthiiDutyshallbebroughttothe Magistrates constitutedfor thispurpose, who shall take care to punish 'em. *
He everywheremaintains, andparticularlyinhis^Jf Gorgias andCriton, thatnoinjuryistobeoffefdlor'
to any man, no not to such as deal injuriously with us,andmakes itappear,thattointroducethisMaxim intocivilConversation,that'tislawfulforaMan to r e v e n g e h i m s e l f a n d r e n d e r E v i l f o r E v i l , is t o p r e t e n d
tolayafoundation forJusticeininnumerableActs of Injustice, and to open an inexhaustible Source of Crimes, and Acts ofViolence. What Bank would be strong enough to stop such an Inundation of Wicked ness,and what end would therebe of Injury and Revenge ? H e carries his Proofs of this Matter so far, thathis Disciples assure us, thathe that revenges an
Injury,ismore criminal than he that offersit. Heteachesthatisaman haveany degreeof Wif-^MwAE-
dom, he will never undertake the least thing without tf? fPra>r-
theInvocationofGod; andthatifPrayerisnecessary UforeeveryordinaryAction, 'tismuchmoresowhen we
? ? 8o
The Lifeof Plato.
we are about to speak of God, because 'tis God that illuminates our Minds, 'tis he 'that assists us, andwithouthimwecandonothing. Hewellun derstood the Necessity and Beauty of that Precept of Pythagoras. * Begin all thy ASions with Prayer^ thatthoumayji be ableto accomplish-*em. Prayer andActionoughttobeinseparable^ wantofPray errenders Action useless, and want of Action ren dersPrayerineffectual. We oughttoaskwhatwe do,andtodowhatweask. Butheatthefame time affirms, that Men are so blinded by their Pas sions, that they know not how to pray well, unless God instructs'em; andthereforethetruestPrayer,
andthatwhichalonecanbeagreable tohim, isto requestof~-frimtoperformhisown Willinus, and not ours.
The most considerable thing in Morality is the political part of it, the true use of which Plato en deavours to shew, and to reestablish it in that Per fection from whence it fell by the Corruption of Men. In the time pf this Philosopher, Injustice had overtum'd all tho States of Greece; so that there was not one Government left that deserv'd to beapprov'd. Platoinoppositiontothisdisorder gaveaperfectModel ofa mostjustform ofGo vernment, that all States might correct the Vices of theirwayofGovernmentbythisPattern. Tothis purposeheemployshisBooks ofaCommon-wealth,
and those of Laws $ in which he after a wonderful
manner reconciles Policy to Religion, which is the very Basis of it. . " . ? ? : ? .
Prhces
castgovern can never conduct the People well, but by imitating
He shews that Princes and Governors of States,
7ht? aTethe KinS of Kings, the Soveraign Lord of the God. 'World,theonlyandperfectModelofallWisdom
and Justice. For as a Sheep is not capable of guiding the whole Flock, which ought to be under theConductofaShepherd;iboneman isnotca pable alone of conducting others, who all together
* PythizoushisPrecepr*
ought
? ? t tert th, Isa, 60. U i
T k Life of Plato? 81
pughttobesubjecttoGod. Onewouldthinkhe had read that Complaint made by the People of God by the Mouth of * Isaiah, as the greatest of all Miseries, 0 Lord our God, other Lords be/ides thee have had Dominion over us.
t He renders this Truth sensible by a Fable in
which the Vestiges of the Truth of ancient History
are easily discerned. The Memory of the happy ^ c**s*
CourseofLifethefirstMen ledispreservedtoour? % g
Time. They wereabundantlyprovided-forwithoutsi/stMen. a n y L a b o u r ? , t h e E a r t h s p o n t a n e o u s l y f u r n i s h e d t h e m
withallNecessaries: And the Cause oftbeir Happi ness was this j Saturn well knowing that there wen noMan-thatcouldhavean,. AbsoluteEmpire over6- ihers, withoutabandoninghimselftoallsortsofVio lenceand Injustice,subjectedtheNationsnottomen, but to more noble and excellent Beings, as their
L o r d s a n d K i n g s ', n a m e l y t o i n t e l l i g e n t S p i r i t s ( o r
Angels) after thefame manner as we deal with our
C a t t l e -, f o r a s w e d o n ' t s e t a B u l l o v e r a w h o l e H e r d
of his own kind, nor a Goat to govern a Flock of
G o a t s ', b u t p u t t h o s e o f o n e k i n d a n d a n o t h e r u n d e r
theConduSofaMan;soGodwholovesMankind
placed us at first under the Condutt of Angels, who 7
with marvellous Facility, and without any trouble to
them, tookagreatdealofcareoftheirAffairs,and l
by making, Peace, Chastity, Liberty and Justice reign
amongthem, keptallfortsofTroublesandSedi tionsata distancefromthem, andrenderedtheir
Livesveryhappy. ThisFablewhichisfoundedon $ Truth,clearlyshewsus,thatthoseSocietieswhich yieldObediencetoMenandnottoGodcanneverbe happy, a n d will never find the end of their Miseries :
andfarther intimates, that ifwe will behappy, we ? _ ,. must with all our might imitate that manner of Life ^ ^ Men leiunderthereignofSaturn;andthataccor-Saturna. ding to that Immortal Principlewhich isin its, we
*\it. i6. fInthe4*BookofLaws,Tbni. i. . '? *
. $ For the Nation and Kingdom that will not serve thee shall
G should
? ?
