TheMori-
ThePlatonicksmakethePerfectionofMorality
h'yf?
Plato - 1701 - Works - a
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
? ? 8t
The Use of Plata
should govern our families and Cities according to its DiSates; takingthiswifeDispensationoftheUnder standing forour firstandchiefLaw. ForifaKingy
if"NobleswhogoverninanOligarchy, oriftheYeo- fie who aresupreme in Republicks, think of nothing but how to satiate their Passions, and drown them selves inSensuality, and run like madmen aftersuch Pleasures as only irritate their insatiable Intempe rance : *Tis impossible they should forbear to trample on the hai&, and there can be nosafety tosucb as
obey ''em.
thechoice HegivesadmirablePreceptsfortheEstablishment of Priests os Priests and Magistrates ? , he would not have iuch
andMa. - chosen,whohavenothingtorecommend 'em but gistrates. their Bjrt]^ their Riches, Credit, or Power, but
would have the choice of 'em regulated only by theirMeritandPiety. *Thosearethebest(says he) who yield the greatest Obedience to the haws, andexcelalltherestoftheirFellow-Citizens inthat refpeQ. Thefirstplacesoughttobegiven to those ofthefirstRank, thesecond to those ofthesecond Degree, and so os the rest in proportion, as every one distinguishes himself, and is disposed to look on himself, not as Master of the haws, but as their Servant, forwhereverthehawisMistress,and t h e M a g i s t r a t e s its S e r v a n t s , t h e r e S t a t e s a r e o b s e n f d toprosper, andaboundwithalltheBlessingsonecan expeSlfromthehandofGod: Whereasinallplaces wheretheMagistrate is Master, and thehaw his Servant and Slave, there nothing is to be expeSed but Ruin and Desolation.
t He would have none made Priests till they are sixtyyearsofAge. Hefays,theyshouldbelawful ly begotten, and without any bodily Imperfettion $ that they should besuch as have been educated in chast Families, and have their handsfreefrom the
stainofBlood, thattheyshouldnotbetaintedwith any of those Pollutions that are offensive to God - and cr; incompatible with the Sanffity of their Cha.
*Tom. 2. f1VBook>Tom,2.
. ' ratter ?
? ? TheLifeof Plato. g,
? aE? er;and that theirParentsshould,besuch ashave Irtfd with thefame Purity of Conversation.
He proves, thatthoseLawswhicharemadesole ly for the Profit of the Legislator, and not for the
rublickGood, arenotproperlyLaws, butthePro duct of Self-Love and Injustice.
He (hews, that of all Governments the Monar- Monarch]
ehical is the most perfect, because it approaches tbtmost nearesttothefirstModel ;butthatthePowerofitferfea"s
ought to be mitigated by the L a w which is to go- ? lnfTM vern as the Supream Reason.
After having shown the Good and Evil of all known. Governments, hemaintains,thatallpoliti cal Schemes which tend to render the Ruler power ful to the detriment of the Subject, and which
make alltheVettue oftheSovereigntoconsistin
confirming and augmenting his Power, leaving Jus
tice, Patience, Goodness, Fidelity, and Humanity
to private Persons, as Vertues only becoming Slaves,
are no bettejr than open Tyranny ; and that the end tj>i md of of true Policy is to make all the Members of the M'true. Fi'
Community live together in Society as so many '^'
Brothers, after the most happy manner that can be,
without either Poverty, or very great Riches, ac
cordingtotheRulesofJusticeandHoliness. To*>>Mph', engagePrincestoemployMen accordingtothedisMmaccord*
ferentTalentstheydiscerninthem, he*relatesthistiuJi. Fable, which he calls a 'Phoenician Lie, because 'tis ttakenoutoftheBooksoftheHebrews. Hear
(fays he) this fable, you who'are the Inhabitants of thisCity-,youare allBrethren, butGodwhocrea tedyou mingled Gold in those who are worthy tocom mand; therefore they are the mofl excellent and ho nourable^ HemingledStiverinthosewhoareca pableof assistingthemin theirFuntlions;andIron and Brass in those who are fitfor nothing but to be
. * %d Book of Laws, foist, i. f Eufebius shows thit Plato deriv'd this Fable from what God fays in the Prophecy of ? v? W* cB. 22. v. 18. SonofMantheHouseoflentilstomebe- tSutl tftofs 5 all ihtf are Brass aid Tin, and tron and Lead.
G 2 Husband-
? ? | i
Husband-men and Artificers : And as we are all Parents, we have ordinarily Children that resemble us ; but it alsosometimes happens, that he who is mix'd with Gold, has Children who are only mix'd with Silver ; and he who ismix'd with Silver, hath Childrenmix'dwithGold,andsoostherest. That therefore which God in aspecial manner recommends to Princes, is to take firiffer notice of their Children than of any thing else, that they may well discover what was mix'd with 'em in their first formation 5 that ifthey perceive Iron or Brass in it, they may n o t s h e w ' e m a n y p i t y >( b u t p l a c e ' e m i n t h e R a n k t o which they were destin'd by Nature, and make ''em Husband-men, orArtificers;andasforsuch"asare found to be temper d with Gold or Silver, that they should destinesome of 'em togovern, and the rest to assist a n d e a s e t h e m b y t h e i r M i n i s t r y ; t h e r e b e i n g a n Oraclewhichpredi&s, thattbeCityshallperishwhen under the Government of Iron cr Brass.
ThisTreatiseisfull ofadmirableMaxims, and such as are worthy to be ingraven on the Hearts of allMankind. 'Tistrue,thereisoneveryconfider-
84
The Life of Plato. "
a iiftBin
\r? LS F? " an(* T u u m from the Government which he forms, in-
able defect in it, in that Plato to take away M e u m tKK? ' ftitutesaCommunity,notonlyofEstates,butal
soofWomenandChildren. . ThisNotionwasnot entirelyChimerical, sinceit. hadalreadybeenputin practice in part among the Lacedemonians, and some other Nations 5 but that does not excuse it from being a most vitious Usage ? , for the Authority of Customcan'trenderthatGoodwhichisinitsown NatureEvil. ThisCommunityofThingsandPer sons can't conduct this Lawgiver to the end he pro poses, but on the contrary sets him at a greater dis tance from it, and makes him lose the advantage of all he has before established ; for instead of uni ting his Citizens this divides 'em, by breaking asun
der all Relations, and all the most sacred Ties of Nature, and trampling on Laws, and Religion, HonourandDecency. BeforetbeChristiansshew'cl
their
? ? The Lifeof Phto; 85
theirIndignationagainstaMaxim sofullofWick edness and Error, the Pagans discerned the falshood o f i t ? , f o r A r i s t o t l e a t t a c k s i t i n t h e I I B o o k o f
hisPoliticks. NayP/atohimselfabandonsitinhis 6thBook of Laws, where he restores all that honour to Marriage of which he had before di vestedit. ,
Besides this Fault, there is another taken notice of,andthatistheEducationofWomen, towhom heassignsthefameEmployments asMen commit tingto'emtheCommandofArmies,andtheGo
vernmentofStates. HefoundedthisNotionona Maxim of Socrates, who held, that Women were capableofthefameVertuesasMen, thotheycan't carrythem tothelastPerfection. Exceptingthese , two things, which yet occasion very solid, and veiy
useful Reflections, there isnothing among the Wri
tings of the Pagans, which better deserves to be read,
andretained,thanPlato'sBookofaRepublics and
those of Laws : They have a Beauty on 'em that
may be called Divine ^ and indeed they appear to
beaCopyofatrulydivineOriginal. Forthis
* Republick of which Plato gives an Idea, kBbe,
true Draught of the Common-wealth of the^fe-
brewsundertheConductofMoses. Weseeinboth
the lame Simplicity of Manners, the fame way of
living, and the fame end propos'd. The -Miseries of both proceed from the fame Causes ? , that ison
lyfrom theDisobedienceofthePeoplehandtheir
forgetfulness of their principal Duties ; and their
Prosperity always springs from their diligent Atten
dance on the fame Duties, and their readinessto 0-
bey. ButhereisonethingthatseemstobeveryMosesthe
remarkable. PlatowillhavehiswiseMantobeofJ*'? _ a wonderful Genius, and Temper ; he must have l0forms-bis had a miraculous and divine Education; he must wijeMan. fromhisYouthhavegivenMarksofhisgreatZeal --- forrhe Publick Good ; he must be fir, both for a ContemplativeandActiveLife;hemustbeanE-
* Plato'sRepublic! ? ,theDraughtofchatoftheHOrewi* G3 nemy
>' ,'
? ? U
The Life of Plata. 1
nemy ofGrandeur,andattainitonlyby Obedience5 this Obedience must be the occasion of his taking the Conduct of a People j he must govern them ac cordingtotheInstitutionsofGod to whom he isonly a Vicegerent ; Religion must be the principle and end of all his Enterprizes ; he must have both Se verityandMeekness;hemustbearm'dwithCou
rage and Temperance, with Justice and Wisdom ? , and must make it his business to render those w h o m hegovernstheFriendsofGod. Andthesearethe
-principal Strokes in Moses his Picture j so that if the Idea of our Philosopher does honour to this Le gislator, and his People whose Grandeur he repre s e n t s -, o n e m a y f a y t h e T r u t h a c c o m p l i s h e d i n o n e and t'other does yet more honour to the Philosopher,
by shewing his great Wisdom, and the extent of hi$ Mind. If Plato had had this Idea with out any knowledg of the History of Moses (which yet I do not believe) nothing can be imagined greater-,hewouldbemorethanaMan. And if he form'd it only on this History, which he had read, or learn'd by Tradition in Egypt ; it wafcavery greatDemonstrationof hisWisdom, that
h^Rscern'd the Beauty of it, and follow'dit as a Pattern.
I'untTon RsveUtion. Wise-manregulatesthoseunderhisConduct. First
As Moses r? gnlated the People of God, so Plato's
'he instructsthem inReligion, aboutwhich heestab l i s h e s n o t h i n g w i t h o u t h a v i n g c o n s u l t e d G o d -, t h a t is nothing but what is conformable to true Traditi ons,andancientOracles. Hefortifiesthemagainst thePoysonoftheTheologyofthePoetswho inter
mix Lies with the Truth, and against the Religion ofcredulousandsuperstitiousPeople. Heteaches 'emtobelievethereisoneonlytrueGod, who be inginfinitelyGood lovesMankind, andiswillingto render'emhappy,andwhoashe isalsoinfinitely
laws? Juftmakesnonehappybutthosewhoresemblehim, Torn. '2. andpunishessuchasdishonourthesacredCharacter hehadimprintedon'era, Hetells'emthatGoda*
yoe.
? ? Ihe Life ofPlato: 87
wearetaughtbyancient"Tradition* havinginhim selfthebeginnings themiddleandtheendosallthings, always goes on his way according to his Nature with
out ever stepping aside : H e is followed by Justice which never fails to punish the Transgressions commit
tedagainflhisLaw. ThosewhowouldbeHappy',_,- conformtothis Divine Justice with + Humility? ,pence0t^.
whereas he that becomesproud because os hisRiches,milky,.
Honours, orBeauty (forBeautyoftenbetraysyoung
people into Extravagancy and Folly) and who hag
presumption enough to think he has no need os a
Guide, but is capable of conducting both himself and others,isentirelyabandonedofGodforhisPride. A r\>iPiaifk-
Man inthisconditionjoinshimselftootherswhoaremintof tainted with thefame Vice ; and % turning all things PiHt*
upside down with extreme boldness, and most horrible presumption, hecomestobelookeduponbythepeople
assome great person : But soon after by the just judgment of God, he is seen to destroy himself, to subvert his own House, and to involve the whole
StateinhisRuine. Heexplainsto'emthePunish mentsthatarereservedfortheWicked. Theyare notlimited (layshe) totheMiseriesofthisLifet nortoHeathitself,fromwhichevenGoodMen are notexempted;forthese arePenaltiestoolight, and
short ; but they are horrible Torments which shall ne verhaveanend. Heencouragesthembythehope ofRewards,andaneverlastingstateofFelicity. He takes 10 great care of 'em that he obviates every thing that might occasion 'em to call in question the Divine Providence, and throw 'em into Impiety. One would think he had copied out of David's
* ThisiswhatGodfaysinIsa. 41. 4. /thiLordthefirst,and with the lastI am hi. f Plato here employs the fame cerm, whichthesacredWritersuse,toexpressonewhoisofahumble Spirir, ranr&vo< ; so that the Pagans, not only knew the name of theVertue, buttheVertueitself. i Platoheread mirably well represents4he Misery and Littleness of some Men, who think themselves great, and appear so in the Eyes of the People: And(hows, thattherearenoMentrulygreatbutsuchas humbly subpiit to the Divine Law.
G 4 Psalms -,
? ?
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
? ? 8t
The Use of Plata
should govern our families and Cities according to its DiSates; takingthiswifeDispensationoftheUnder standing forour firstandchiefLaw. ForifaKingy
if"NobleswhogoverninanOligarchy, oriftheYeo- fie who aresupreme in Republicks, think of nothing but how to satiate their Passions, and drown them selves inSensuality, and run like madmen aftersuch Pleasures as only irritate their insatiable Intempe rance : *Tis impossible they should forbear to trample on the hai&, and there can be nosafety tosucb as
obey ''em.
thechoice HegivesadmirablePreceptsfortheEstablishment of Priests os Priests and Magistrates ? , he would not have iuch
andMa. - chosen,whohavenothingtorecommend 'em but gistrates. their Bjrt]^ their Riches, Credit, or Power, but
would have the choice of 'em regulated only by theirMeritandPiety. *Thosearethebest(says he) who yield the greatest Obedience to the haws, andexcelalltherestoftheirFellow-Citizens inthat refpeQ. Thefirstplacesoughttobegiven to those ofthefirstRank, thesecond to those ofthesecond Degree, and so os the rest in proportion, as every one distinguishes himself, and is disposed to look on himself, not as Master of the haws, but as their Servant, forwhereverthehawisMistress,and t h e M a g i s t r a t e s its S e r v a n t s , t h e r e S t a t e s a r e o b s e n f d toprosper, andaboundwithalltheBlessingsonecan expeSlfromthehandofGod: Whereasinallplaces wheretheMagistrate is Master, and thehaw his Servant and Slave, there nothing is to be expeSed but Ruin and Desolation.
t He would have none made Priests till they are sixtyyearsofAge. Hefays,theyshouldbelawful ly begotten, and without any bodily Imperfettion $ that they should besuch as have been educated in chast Families, and have their handsfreefrom the
stainofBlood, thattheyshouldnotbetaintedwith any of those Pollutions that are offensive to God - and cr; incompatible with the Sanffity of their Cha.
*Tom. 2. f1VBook>Tom,2.
. ' ratter ?
? ? TheLifeof Plato. g,
? aE? er;and that theirParentsshould,besuch ashave Irtfd with thefame Purity of Conversation.
He proves, thatthoseLawswhicharemadesole ly for the Profit of the Legislator, and not for the
rublickGood, arenotproperlyLaws, butthePro duct of Self-Love and Injustice.
He (hews, that of all Governments the Monar- Monarch]
ehical is the most perfect, because it approaches tbtmost nearesttothefirstModel ;butthatthePowerofitferfea"s
ought to be mitigated by the L a w which is to go- ? lnfTM vern as the Supream Reason.
After having shown the Good and Evil of all known. Governments, hemaintains,thatallpoliti cal Schemes which tend to render the Ruler power ful to the detriment of the Subject, and which
make alltheVettue oftheSovereigntoconsistin
confirming and augmenting his Power, leaving Jus
tice, Patience, Goodness, Fidelity, and Humanity
to private Persons, as Vertues only becoming Slaves,
are no bettejr than open Tyranny ; and that the end tj>i md of of true Policy is to make all the Members of the M'true. Fi'
Community live together in Society as so many '^'
Brothers, after the most happy manner that can be,
without either Poverty, or very great Riches, ac
cordingtotheRulesofJusticeandHoliness. To*>>Mph', engagePrincestoemployMen accordingtothedisMmaccord*
ferentTalentstheydiscerninthem, he*relatesthistiuJi. Fable, which he calls a 'Phoenician Lie, because 'tis ttakenoutoftheBooksoftheHebrews. Hear
(fays he) this fable, you who'are the Inhabitants of thisCity-,youare allBrethren, butGodwhocrea tedyou mingled Gold in those who are worthy tocom mand; therefore they are the mofl excellent and ho nourable^ HemingledStiverinthosewhoareca pableof assistingthemin theirFuntlions;andIron and Brass in those who are fitfor nothing but to be
. * %d Book of Laws, foist, i. f Eufebius shows thit Plato deriv'd this Fable from what God fays in the Prophecy of ? v? W* cB. 22. v. 18. SonofMantheHouseoflentilstomebe- tSutl tftofs 5 all ihtf are Brass aid Tin, and tron and Lead.
G 2 Husband-
? ? | i
Husband-men and Artificers : And as we are all Parents, we have ordinarily Children that resemble us ; but it alsosometimes happens, that he who is mix'd with Gold, has Children who are only mix'd with Silver ; and he who ismix'd with Silver, hath Childrenmix'dwithGold,andsoostherest. That therefore which God in aspecial manner recommends to Princes, is to take firiffer notice of their Children than of any thing else, that they may well discover what was mix'd with 'em in their first formation 5 that ifthey perceive Iron or Brass in it, they may n o t s h e w ' e m a n y p i t y >( b u t p l a c e ' e m i n t h e R a n k t o which they were destin'd by Nature, and make ''em Husband-men, orArtificers;andasforsuch"asare found to be temper d with Gold or Silver, that they should destinesome of 'em togovern, and the rest to assist a n d e a s e t h e m b y t h e i r M i n i s t r y ; t h e r e b e i n g a n Oraclewhichpredi&s, thattbeCityshallperishwhen under the Government of Iron cr Brass.
ThisTreatiseisfull ofadmirableMaxims, and such as are worthy to be ingraven on the Hearts of allMankind. 'Tistrue,thereisoneveryconfider-
84
The Life of Plato. "
a iiftBin
\r? LS F? " an(* T u u m from the Government which he forms, in-
able defect in it, in that Plato to take away M e u m tKK? ' ftitutesaCommunity,notonlyofEstates,butal
soofWomenandChildren. . ThisNotionwasnot entirelyChimerical, sinceit. hadalreadybeenputin practice in part among the Lacedemonians, and some other Nations 5 but that does not excuse it from being a most vitious Usage ? , for the Authority of Customcan'trenderthatGoodwhichisinitsown NatureEvil. ThisCommunityofThingsandPer sons can't conduct this Lawgiver to the end he pro poses, but on the contrary sets him at a greater dis tance from it, and makes him lose the advantage of all he has before established ; for instead of uni ting his Citizens this divides 'em, by breaking asun
der all Relations, and all the most sacred Ties of Nature, and trampling on Laws, and Religion, HonourandDecency. BeforetbeChristiansshew'cl
their
? ? The Lifeof Phto; 85
theirIndignationagainstaMaxim sofullofWick edness and Error, the Pagans discerned the falshood o f i t ? , f o r A r i s t o t l e a t t a c k s i t i n t h e I I B o o k o f
hisPoliticks. NayP/atohimselfabandonsitinhis 6thBook of Laws, where he restores all that honour to Marriage of which he had before di vestedit. ,
Besides this Fault, there is another taken notice of,andthatistheEducationofWomen, towhom heassignsthefameEmployments asMen commit tingto'emtheCommandofArmies,andtheGo
vernmentofStates. HefoundedthisNotionona Maxim of Socrates, who held, that Women were capableofthefameVertuesasMen, thotheycan't carrythem tothelastPerfection. Exceptingthese , two things, which yet occasion very solid, and veiy
useful Reflections, there isnothing among the Wri
tings of the Pagans, which better deserves to be read,
andretained,thanPlato'sBookofaRepublics and
those of Laws : They have a Beauty on 'em that
may be called Divine ^ and indeed they appear to
beaCopyofatrulydivineOriginal. Forthis
* Republick of which Plato gives an Idea, kBbe,
true Draught of the Common-wealth of the^fe-
brewsundertheConductofMoses. Weseeinboth
the lame Simplicity of Manners, the fame way of
living, and the fame end propos'd. The -Miseries of both proceed from the fame Causes ? , that ison
lyfrom theDisobedienceofthePeoplehandtheir
forgetfulness of their principal Duties ; and their
Prosperity always springs from their diligent Atten
dance on the fame Duties, and their readinessto 0-
bey. ButhereisonethingthatseemstobeveryMosesthe
remarkable. PlatowillhavehiswiseMantobeofJ*'? _ a wonderful Genius, and Temper ; he must have l0forms-bis had a miraculous and divine Education; he must wijeMan. fromhisYouthhavegivenMarksofhisgreatZeal --- forrhe Publick Good ; he must be fir, both for a ContemplativeandActiveLife;hemustbeanE-
* Plato'sRepublic! ? ,theDraughtofchatoftheHOrewi* G3 nemy
>' ,'
? ? U
The Life of Plata. 1
nemy ofGrandeur,andattainitonlyby Obedience5 this Obedience must be the occasion of his taking the Conduct of a People j he must govern them ac cordingtotheInstitutionsofGod to whom he isonly a Vicegerent ; Religion must be the principle and end of all his Enterprizes ; he must have both Se verityandMeekness;hemustbearm'dwithCou
rage and Temperance, with Justice and Wisdom ? , and must make it his business to render those w h o m hegovernstheFriendsofGod. Andthesearethe
-principal Strokes in Moses his Picture j so that if the Idea of our Philosopher does honour to this Le gislator, and his People whose Grandeur he repre s e n t s -, o n e m a y f a y t h e T r u t h a c c o m p l i s h e d i n o n e and t'other does yet more honour to the Philosopher,
by shewing his great Wisdom, and the extent of hi$ Mind. If Plato had had this Idea with out any knowledg of the History of Moses (which yet I do not believe) nothing can be imagined greater-,hewouldbemorethanaMan. And if he form'd it only on this History, which he had read, or learn'd by Tradition in Egypt ; it wafcavery greatDemonstrationof hisWisdom, that
h^Rscern'd the Beauty of it, and follow'dit as a Pattern.
I'untTon RsveUtion. Wise-manregulatesthoseunderhisConduct. First
As Moses r? gnlated the People of God, so Plato's
'he instructsthem inReligion, aboutwhich heestab l i s h e s n o t h i n g w i t h o u t h a v i n g c o n s u l t e d G o d -, t h a t is nothing but what is conformable to true Traditi ons,andancientOracles. Hefortifiesthemagainst thePoysonoftheTheologyofthePoetswho inter
mix Lies with the Truth, and against the Religion ofcredulousandsuperstitiousPeople. Heteaches 'emtobelievethereisoneonlytrueGod, who be inginfinitelyGood lovesMankind, andiswillingto render'emhappy,andwhoashe isalsoinfinitely
laws? Juftmakesnonehappybutthosewhoresemblehim, Torn. '2. andpunishessuchasdishonourthesacredCharacter hehadimprintedon'era, Hetells'emthatGoda*
yoe.
? ? Ihe Life ofPlato: 87
wearetaughtbyancient"Tradition* havinginhim selfthebeginnings themiddleandtheendosallthings, always goes on his way according to his Nature with
out ever stepping aside : H e is followed by Justice which never fails to punish the Transgressions commit
tedagainflhisLaw. ThosewhowouldbeHappy',_,- conformtothis Divine Justice with + Humility? ,pence0t^.
whereas he that becomesproud because os hisRiches,milky,.
Honours, orBeauty (forBeautyoftenbetraysyoung
people into Extravagancy and Folly) and who hag
presumption enough to think he has no need os a
Guide, but is capable of conducting both himself and others,isentirelyabandonedofGodforhisPride. A r\>iPiaifk-
Man inthisconditionjoinshimselftootherswhoaremintof tainted with thefame Vice ; and % turning all things PiHt*
upside down with extreme boldness, and most horrible presumption, hecomestobelookeduponbythepeople
assome great person : But soon after by the just judgment of God, he is seen to destroy himself, to subvert his own House, and to involve the whole
StateinhisRuine. Heexplainsto'emthePunish mentsthatarereservedfortheWicked. Theyare notlimited (layshe) totheMiseriesofthisLifet nortoHeathitself,fromwhichevenGoodMen are notexempted;forthese arePenaltiestoolight, and
short ; but they are horrible Torments which shall ne verhaveanend. Heencouragesthembythehope ofRewards,andaneverlastingstateofFelicity. He takes 10 great care of 'em that he obviates every thing that might occasion 'em to call in question the Divine Providence, and throw 'em into Impiety. One would think he had copied out of David's
* ThisiswhatGodfaysinIsa. 41. 4. /thiLordthefirst,and with the lastI am hi. f Plato here employs the fame cerm, whichthesacredWritersuse,toexpressonewhoisofahumble Spirir, ranr&vo< ; so that the Pagans, not only knew the name of theVertue, buttheVertueitself. i Platoheread mirably well represents4he Misery and Littleness of some Men, who think themselves great, and appear so in the Eyes of the People: And(hows, thattherearenoMentrulygreatbutsuchas humbly subpiit to the Divine Law.
G 4 Psalms -,
? ?
