munications, and pretended conferences with some divinity but it drew the jealousy of many of the citizens upon him.

SECTION III.

SOCRATES DECLARED THE WISEST OF MANKIND BY THE ORACLE

OF DELPHOS.

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

Cherephon, a zealous disciple of Socrates, happening to be at Delphos, demanded of the oracle, whether there was a wiser man than Socrates in the world: the

priestess replied there was none. This answer puz• zled Socrates extremely, who could scarce comprehend the sense of it: for on the one side, he well knew, says he of himself, that there was neither much nor little wisdom in him; and, on the other, he could not suspect the oracle of falsehood, the divinity being incapable of telling a lie. He therefore considered it attentively, and took great pains to penetrate the sense of it. At first he applied himself to a powerful citizen, a statesman, and a great politician, who passed for one of the wisest men of the city, and who was himself as much convinced of his own merit as any body. He found by his conversation that he knew nothing, and insinuated as much to himself in terms sufficiently intelligible; which made him extremely odious to that

Plut. in Apolog. p. 21, 22.

citizen, and all who were present. He did the same by several others of the same profession; and all the fruit of his inquiry was, to draw upon himself a greater number of enemies. From the statesmen he addressed himself to the poets, whom he found still fuller of self esteem, but really more void of knowledge and wisdom. He pursued his inquiries to the artisans, and could not meet with one, who, because he succeeded in his own art, did not believe himself very capable, and fully informed in all that was great besides; which presumption was the almost universal failing of the Athenians. As they had naturally abundance of wit, they pretended to be knowing in every thing, and believed themselves capable of pronouncing upon all things. His inquiries amongst strangers were not

more successful.

Socrates afterwards entering into, and comparing himself with all those he had questioned," discovered, that the difference between him and them was, that they all believed they knew what they did not know, and that, for his part, he sincerely professed his ignoFrom thence he concluded, that only God is truly wise, and that the true meaning of his oracle was to signify, that all human wisdom was no great matter, or, to speak more properly, was nothing at all. And as to the oracle's naming me, it no doubt did so, says he, by way of setting me up for an example, as if it

rance.

"Socrates in omnibus fere sermonibus sic disputat, ut nihil affirmet ipse, refellat alios: nihil se scire dicat, nisi id ipsum, eoque præstare cæteris, quod illi, quæ nesciant, scire se putent; ipse se nihil scire id unum sciat, ob eamque rem se arbitrari ab Apolline omnium sapientissimum esse dictum, quod hæc esset una omnia sapientia, non arbitrari se scire quod nesciat. Cic. acad. quæst. 1. i. n. 15, 16.

intended to declare to all men, The wisest among you is he, who knows, like Socrates, that there is no real wisdom in him.

SECTION IV.

SOCRATES DEVOTES HIMSELF ENTIRELY TO THE INSTRUCTION OF THE YOUTH OF ATHENS.

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

• He seemed, says Lybanius, the common father of the republic, so attentive was he to the happiness and advantage of his whole country. But as it is very difficult to correct the aged, and to make people change principles who revere the errors in which they have grown grey, he devoted his labours principally to the instruction of youth, in order to sow the seeds of virtue in a soil more fit to produce the fruits of it.

"He had no open school like the rest of the philosophers, nor set times for his lessons. He had no benches prepared, nor ever mounted a professor's chair. He was the philosopher of all times and seasons. He taught in all places, and upon all occasions; in walking, conversation, at meals, in the army, and in the midst of the camp, in the public assemblies of the senate or people, in prison itself; and when he drank the poison, he philosophized, says Plutarch, and

• In Apol. Socrat. p. 641.

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

instructed mankind. judicious author takes occasion to establish a great principle in point of government, which Seneca before him had placed in all its light. To be a public man, says he, it is not necessary to be actually in office, to wear the robe of judge or magistrate, and to sit in the highest tribunals for the administration of justice. Many do this, who, though honoured with the fine names of orators, pretors, and senators, if they want the merit of those characters, ought to be regarded as private persons, and often confounded with the lowest and vilest of the populace. But whoever knows how to give wise counsel to those who consult him, to animate the citizens to virtue, and to inspire them with sentiments of probity, equity, generosity, and love of their country; this is, says Plutarch, the true magistrate and ruler, in whatsoever condition or place he be.

And from thence the same

Such was Socrates. The services he did the state, by the instructions he gave their youth, and the disciples he formed, are inexpressibly great; never had master a greater number, or so illustrious. Plato, though alone, were worth a multitude. Upon the

Habet ubi se etiam in privato late explicet magnus animus. Ita delituerit (vir ille) ut ubicunque otium suum absconderit, prodesse velit et singulis et universis, ingenio, voce, consilio. Nec enim in solus reip. prodest, qui candidatos extrahit, et tuetur reos, et de pace belloque censet, sed qui juventutem exhortatur, qui in tanta bonorum præceptorum inopia virtute instruit animos, qui ad pecuniam luxuriamque cursu ruen« tes prensat ac retrahit, et si nihil aliud certe moratur, in privato publi. cum negotium agit. An ille plus præstat, qui inter peregrinos et cives, aut urbanos prætor adeuntibus adsessoris verba pronunciat ; quam qui docet, quid sit justitia, quid pietas, quid patientia, quid fortitudo, quid mortis contemptus, quid deorum intellectus, quam gratuitum bonum sit conscientia? Senec. de tranquil. anim. c. iii.

3

point of death he blessed and thanked God for three things; that he had endued him with a rational soul, that he was born a Greek, and not a barbarian, and that he had placed his birth in the lifetime of Socrates. Xenophon had the same advantage. It is said, that one day Socrates met him in the street, and stopping him with his staff, asked him whether he knew where provisions were sold? It was not difficult to answer this question. But Socrates having demanded in what place men learned virtue, and seeing this second question put him to a stand: "If you desire to know it," continued the philosopher, "follow me, and you shall be informed." Which he did immediately, and was afterwards the first who collected and published his master's discourses.

t

Aristippus, upon a conversation with Ischomachus, in which he had introduced some strokes of Socrates's doctrine, conceived so ardent a passion to become his disciple, that he grew lean and wan in effect of it, till he could go to the fountain head, and imbibe his fill of a philosophy that taught the knowledge and cure of evil.

What is reported of Euclid the Megarian, explains still better how high the passion of Socrates's disciples ran, to receive the benefit of his instructions." There was at that time an open war between Athens and Megara, which was carried on with so much animosity, that the Athenians obliged their generals to take an oath to lay waste the territory of Megara twice a year, and prohibited the Megarians to set foot in

• Diog. in Xenoph. p. 120.

Plut: de curios. p. 516.

Plut. in Pericl. P. 168: