90 PHYSICAL SCIENCE BK. n 



what was the idea of those ancients in speaking as 

 3 they did ? Being men of profound wisdom they 

 were, in my opinion, of the settled conviction that 

 fear was essential to restrain the passions of the 

 ignorant ; we must reverence something higher than 

 ourselves. In a time of such audacious crime it 

 was expedient that there be a belief in something 

 which no criminal could seem powerful enough to 

 resist. And so it was to terrify those wretches, 

 against whose passions innocence is no protection 

 unless backed up by fear, that they placed over us 

 in the heavens the image of an avenger, and him 

 well armed. 



XLIII 



WHY, therefore, on this assumption, is the bolt that 

 Jupiter sends alone, peaceful, while the other is 

 destructive on which he has sought counsel, and 

 which he has sent down with the approval of other 

 gods besides ? The reason is that Jupiter, that is, 

 an absolute monarch, when acting alone ought to 

 be always a power for good ; he should not inflict 

 injury unless when a numerous council has ratified 

 the decision. From this let all those who have 

 inherited great earthly power learn that not even 

 the bolt of heaven is sent without counsel taken. 

 Let them call to them their advisers, let them 

 ponder the opinions of a multitude of counsellors, 

 let them temper the rigour of their decrees ; and 

 when some blow must fall, let them not forget that 

 even Jupiter needs more than his own wisdom to 

 guide him. 



