HIS RELIGION. 



had formerly ridiculed, trouble him with 

 fears of their truth." Republic, lib. I, 

 chap. 5. 



I may give some more of the 

 opinions of the Pagan philosophers 

 on the subject of religion, as illus- 

 trating what human nature, apart 

 from revelation, thought on that im- 

 portant question ; premising that 

 St. Paul said that "the world by 

 wisdom knew not God," although 

 its instincts were cultivated and de- 

 veloped in that direction ; and that 

 it is only in Christianity we can 

 find his nature and our relations to 

 him as fully explained as he has 

 been pleased to do it. " Whom 

 therefore ye ignorantly worship, 

 him declare I unto you," said the 

 Apostle to the philosophers on 

 Mars' Hill, in a city characterized 

 by the utmost of human learning 

 and culture, yet " wholly given to 

 idolatry," as history, no less than 

 Scripture, assures us. 



" Concerning" the gods, some affirm 

 that there is no Deity ; others, that he 

 indeed exists, but is slothful, negligent, 

 and without providential care ; a third 

 class admits both his being and his 

 providence, but only in respect to great 

 and heavenly objects, not earthly ; a 

 fourth recognizes him both in heaven 

 and earth, but only in general, not in- 

 dividual matters ; a fifth, like Ulysses and 

 Socrates, says, ' I cannot be hid from 

 thee in any of my motions.' " Epictetus, 

 Boston, 1865, p. 40. 



'' Do you expect the greatest of arts 

 to be acquired by slight endeavours? 

 And yet the principal doctrine of the 

 philosophers is in itself short. If you 

 have a mind to know it, read Zeno, and 

 you will see. It is not a long story to 

 say, ' Our end is to serve the gods,' and 

 ' The essence of good consists in the 

 proper use of the phenomena of exist- 

 ence.' " Id., p. 62. 



" The philosophers say that we are 

 first to learn that there is a God ; and 

 that his providence directs the whole ; 

 and that it is not merely impossible to 

 conceal from him our actions, but even 

 our thoughts and emotions." Ib., p. 

 136. 



79 



" Amongst all mankind the first natu- 

 ral law is to venerate the gods." Socra- 

 tes, by Zenophon. English translation, 

 p. 1 88. 



" Things grounded on moral certainty 

 from the common assent of mankind, as 

 ' that there is a God ; that parents are to 

 be honoured.' " Quintilian. English 

 translation, I., p 285. 



"What land, what sea can he find 

 where God is not ? Wretched and 

 miserable man ! in what corner of the 

 world canst thou so hide thyself as to 

 think thou hast now escaped him ? " 

 Plutarch 's Morals, by Goodwin, I., p. 

 172. 



" The design of those that deny a 

 God is to ease themselves of his fear." 

 Ib., p. 169. 



" Here then you see the foundation of 

 this question clearly laid ; for since it is 

 the constant and universal opinion of 

 mankind, independent of education, 

 custom, or law, that there are gods, it 

 must necessarily follow that this know- 

 ledge is implanted in our minds, or 

 rather innate in us, . . . . for in 

 this we have the concurrence, not only 

 of almost all philosophers [there have 

 always been atheists, like the Mills], but 

 likewise of the ignorant and illiterate. 

 For what nation, what people are there 

 who have not, without any learning, a 

 natural idea or premonition of a Deity, 



that is, an antecedent 



conception of the fact in the mind, 

 without which nothing can be under- 

 stood, inquired after, or discoursed on." 

 Cicero on the Nature of the Gods, by 

 Younge, p. 17. 



" If any one doubts this, I really do not 

 understand why the same man may not 

 also doubt whether there is a sun or not. 

 For what can possibly be more evident 

 than this ? And if it were not a truth 

 universally impressed on the minds of 

 men, the belief in it would never have 

 been so firm ; nor would it have been, 

 as it is, increased by length of years, nor 

 would it have gathered strength and 

 stability through every age. " Ib., 

 p. 45. " That there are gods, is never 

 contested but by the most impious of 

 men." Ib. { p. 107. 



" Among all the variety of animals, 

 there is not one except man which re- 

 tains any idea of a Divinity. And among 

 men themselves, there is no nation so 



