SOCRATES. 



statuary of little reputation, and his mother, Phaen- 

 arete, a midwife. As his parents were in humble 

 ''rriiinstances, it is not improbable that his father 

 put him in the shortest way to gain a living by 

 teaching him his own art, although there may be 

 no truth in the story that the three Graces, at the 

 entrance of the Acropolis of Athens, pointed out 

 even in the age of Pausanias, were his work. Our 

 accounts of his youth are very imperfect : but it 

 may be confidently asserted that, notwithstanding 

 the poverty of his father, he received a good educa- 

 tion, according to the notions of his age and nation, 

 and therefore learned music and gymnastics as they 

 were then taught, and that his divine genius early 

 impelled him to use all the means which his age and 

 country afforded for acquiring information on the 

 most important subjects of human knowledge. At 

 that time the Sophists were perverting the heads 

 and corrupting the hearts of the Grecian youth, and 

 Socrates placed himself under the instruction of the 

 most celebrated of these blind guides ; but he soon 

 abandoned the halls of these self-styled wise men, 

 and resolved to obtain by his own reflection what 

 others were unable to give him, and to penetrate 

 by patient thought to true knowledge. He was 

 deeply impressed by the inscription on the temple 

 of Apollo, at Delphi : rW< aiaurot, Know thyself. 

 Agreeably to this command, he began to study him- 

 self, to reflect upon the phenomena of his own mind, 

 and to meditate on the destiny of mankind, and de- 

 termined to devote his life to instructing his fellow 

 citizens in their highest good, and making them 

 wise, honest and pious. Like other great men, 

 kindled by these divine thoughts, he believed him- 

 self commissioned by the Deity, and, to the close of 

 life, cherished the idea that he was an ambassador 

 of God. He was about thirty years old when he 

 formed the resolution to devote himself entirely to 

 the pursuit of divine and human knowledge, and 

 withstand the perverters of science and morality. 

 He now began to manifest a character entirely op- 

 posite to that of the Sophists. While they were 

 distinguished by display and wealth, Socrates ap- 

 peared in a poor cloak, which he wore at all seasons 

 of the year, and was better dressed only at enter- 

 taiments or public festivals. He even disdained 

 the use of shoes. He was, indeed, destitute of 

 pecuniary means for procuring the conveniences of 

 life ; but it would have been easy for him to obtain 

 them from his friends and disciples, if he had not 

 aimed at the completest independence ; and it is 

 certain that he refused all the offers of his rich 

 friends, so that his most virulent enemies never 

 ventured to impeach his disinterestedness. Socrates 

 was first an instructor of the people. He believed 

 himself the ambassador of God to the citizens of 

 Athens, as he himself declares in Plato's Apology. 

 Hence he was occupied from the dawn of day in 

 seeking persons whom he might instruct in all that 

 is important to mankind in general, and to the 

 private circumstances of each. H'e went to the 

 public assemblies, and the most crowded streets ; 

 or entered the work-shops of mechanics and artists, 

 and conversed with them on religious duties, on 

 their social and political relations, on all subjects 

 relating to morals, and even on agriculture, war, 

 and the arts. He endeavoured to remove prevailing 

 prejudices and errors, and to substitute right prin- 

 ciples; to awaken the better genius in the minds 

 of his hearers': to encourage and console them ; to 

 enlighten and improve men, and to make them 

 really happy. It is manifest that such a course 



must have been attended with great difficulties. 

 But the serenity of Socrates was undisturbed; lie 

 was always perfectly cheerful in appearance and in 

 conversation. In the market place and at home, 

 among the people, and in the society of those whom 

 love of truth and virtue connected more closely 

 with him, he was always the same. It cannot be 

 doubted that a happy physical and mental tempera- 

 ment contributed to produce this equanimity. Hut 

 it was, likewise, a fruit of self-discipline. He 

 treated his body as a servant, and inured it to every 

 privation, so that moderation was to him an easy 

 virtue; and he retained in old age his youthful 

 vigour, physical and mental. He was kind as a 

 husband and a father, though his wife, Xanthippe, 

 was a noted shrew. He viewed her as an excel- 

 lent instrument of discipline; and we can only 

 regret that we know nothing more of the manner 

 in which he educated his three sons than what 

 Xenophon, in his Memorabilia, has preserved ot 

 his conversation with Lamprocles, the eldest. He 

 not only instructed his fellow citizens in their 

 duties, but likewise set before them a perfect 

 example. He was a zealous worshipper of the 

 Supreme Being; and, from his care not to offend 

 his weaker brethren, observed, with punctilious 

 exactness, all the religious usages which antiquity 

 and custom had consecrated. As a citizen, he dis- 

 charged, with exemplary faithfulness, all his public 

 duties. Three times he served in the army of his 

 country; the first time when he was thirty-nine 

 years of age, at the siege of Potidaea. Here he 

 excelled his fellow soldiers in the ease with which 

 he endured the hardships of a winter campaign, 

 distinguished himself by his valour, saved the life 

 of his friend Alcibiades, and resigned to that youth 

 the prize of honour which was awarded to his own 

 bravery. Seven years after this, he bore arms a 

 second time, at Delium, and was the last to fly. 

 420 B. C., he marched, under Cleon, against Am- 

 phipolis. Thus, in aiming to perform all the duties 

 of a good citizen, he did not refuse to engage in 

 the humblest service of his country. His conduct 

 was admirable, when, at the age of sixty-five years, 

 he became a member of the council of five hundred. 

 He rose also to the dignity of president, who, on 

 the day of his holding office (no man was president 

 but once, and that only for a single day), managed 

 the popular assemblies, and kept the key of the 

 citadel and of the treasury. Ten naval officers had 

 been accused of misconduct, because, after the 

 battle of Arginusae, they had omitted the sacred 

 duty of burying the slain, in consequence of a 

 violent storm. Their enemies, finding the people 

 disposed to acquit them, procured, by intrigue, the 

 prorogation of several assemblies. A new assembly 

 was held on the day when Socrates was president; 

 and the citizens, instigated by bad men, violently 

 demanded that sentence of death should be pro- 

 nounced on all of the accused at once, contrary to 

 law. But the menaces of violence were unable to 

 bend the inflexible justice of Socrates; and he was 

 able to declare, on his own trial, that ten innocent 

 men had been saved by his influence. Socrates 

 exerted himself particularly in leading inquisitive 

 young men to the pursuit of truth and the forma- 

 tion of habits of thought. He was constantly 

 attended by a circle of disciples, who caught from 

 him the spirit of free inquiry, and were inspired 

 with his zeal for the highest good, for religion, 

 truth, and virtue. The succeeding schools of 

 philosophy in Greece are, therefore, justly tiaced 



