322 
SOCRATES. 
vince of Santa Fe, near the banks of Sarabita or the Suarez. 
Population 3500; 123 miles north-north-east of Santa Fe, 
and 76 north of Tunja. 
SOCOSTA, a small island in the Atlantic, near the west¬ 
ern coast of Africa. Lat. 29.45. S. 
SOCOTA, a considerable towD of Abyssinia, capital of 
the province of Lasta. 
SOCOTARA, an island of the Indian Ocean, about forty 
leagues to the eastward of Cape Guardafui. It is 27 leagues 
long, and 7 broad, generally high and mountainous, with 
a bold shore, which affords, however, excellent harbours. 
The population is said to be pretty considerable, and it is 
governed by a king, who generally pays tribute to Arabia. 
The chief commodity for which the island is resorted to, 
consists of aloes, which are here considered to be of superior 
quality to those produced in any other part of the world, 
insomuch that the duty laid upon them is considerably 
higher. Dragon’s blood may also be met with in small 
quantity. Bullocks, goafs, fish, and dates, are to be pro¬ 
cured at reasonable prices; and the inhabitants are in ge¬ 
neral civil to strangers. The most eligible place to touch at 
for refreshment is the Bay of Tamarida, the residence of the 
king, on the north-eastern side of the island. The anchor¬ 
age is in 10 tq 12 fathoms, the body of the town bearing 
south about a mile off shore. The town makes a handsome 
appearance, the houses being built of stone and lime, with 
several mosques. There is another anchoring place on the 
south-western side of the island, called Delisa, but it is sel¬ 
dom visited. The king’s residence is in long. 53. 33. E. lat. 
12. 39. N. 
SOCRATES, an ancient moral philosopher, eminently 
distinguished by his principles and conduct, and prover¬ 
bially recognized as one of the wisest and best men, whose 
name and character history has recorded. He was born at 
Alopece, a village near Athens, in the fourth year of the 
77th Olympiad, B. C. 469. His parentage was obscure; and 
at an early age he is said to have executed statues of the ha¬ 
bited Graces. Reduced to the necessity of supporting him¬ 
self by manual labour, in the exercise of his profession as a 
statuary, he could only command occasional intervals, which 
he devoted to the study of philosophy. He soon, however, 
obtained the patronage of Crito, a wealthy Athenian, who 
engaged him in the office of instructing his children; and in 
this situation he availed himself of the opportunities, which 
were thus afforded him, of attending the public lectures of 
the most eminent philosophers. He also derived consider¬ 
able assistance in his education from Aspasia, a woman 
highly celebrated for her intellectual as well as personal ac¬ 
complishments, to whose house'persons of the most distin¬ 
guished character resorted. Socrates by the improvement of 
these advantages, attracted some attention at Athens. His 
military valour was no less conspicuous than his other qua¬ 
lities ; nor did he decline any service, however hazardous or 
difficult, which private friendship or the public interest de¬ 
manded. On one occasion he preserved the life and arms of 
Alcibiades, when he fell wounded in an engagement, in 
which they were jointly concerned. On another occasion, 
he hazarded his own life, in order to rescue Xenophon, who 
was wounded on the field of battle. 
Socrates, declining military expeditions, settled at Athens; 
and he was upwards of 60 years, before he undertook to 
serve his country in any civil office. Accordingly he was 
chosen to represent his own district in the senate of 500; 
and though he was first treated contemptuously by his col¬ 
leagues, on account of his inexperience, he soon convinced 
them that in wisdom and integrity he was much their su¬ 
perior. No consideration could ever induce him to give a 
vote, or sanction a measure, that appeared to him to be con¬ 
trary to justice and the laws; and in opposition to the thirty 
tyrants, he exposed even his life to danger. These proofs of 
public virtue, both in a military and civil capacity, says 
one of his biographers, are sufficient to entitle the name of 
Socrates to a distinguished place in the catalogue of good 
citizens. But his highest honour and praise are those which 
belong to him as a philosopher and moral preceptor. Ob¬ 
serving with regret how the Athenian youth were misled, 
and even corrupted in their principles and taste, by the 
mode of teaching that prevailed among speculative philoso¬ 
phers and sophists, he determined to institute a new and 
more useful method of instruction. He justly conceived the 
true end of philosophy to be, not to make an ostentatious 
display of superior learning and ability in subtle disputations 
or ingenious conjectures, but to free mankind from the do¬ 
minion of pernicious prejudices; to correct their vices; to 
inspire them with the love of virtue, and thus conduct them 
in the path of wisdom to true felicity. He, therefore, as¬ 
sumed the character of a moral philosopher; and, looking 
upon the whole city of Athens as his school, and all who 
were disposed to lend him their attention as his pupils, he 
seized every occasion of communicating moral wisdom to his 
fellow-citizens. He passed his time chiefly in public. It 
was his custom, in the morning, to visit the places made 
use of for walking and public exercises; at noon, to appear 
among the crowds in the markets or courts; and,to spend 
the rest of the day in those parts of the city which were most 
frequented. Sometimes he collected an audience about him 
in the Lyceum (a pleasant meadow on the border of the river 
Ilyssus), where he delivered a discourse from the chair, 
whilst his auditors were seated on benches around him. At 
other times he conversed, in a less formal way, with any of 
his fellow-citizens in places of common resort, or with his 
friends at meals, or in their hours of amusement; thus mak¬ 
ing every place to which he came a school of virtue. Not 
only did young men of rank and fortune attend upon his 
lectures, but he sought for disciples even among mechanics 
and labourers. 
The method of instruction, which Socrates chiefly made 
use of, was, to propose a series of questions to the person 
with whom he conversed, in order to lead him to some un¬ 
foreseen conclusion. He first gained the consent of his 
respondent to some obvious truths, and then obliged him to 
admit others, from their relation, or resemblance, to those to 
which they had already assented. He commonly conducted 
these conferences with such address, as to conceal his design, 
till the respondent had advanced too far to recede. He 
never assumed the air of a morose and rigid preceptor, but 
communicated useful instruction with all the ease and plea¬ 
santry of polite conversation. 
The modesty of Socrates was no less distinguished than 
his wisdom. He professed “ to know only this, that he 
knew nothing;’’ meaning by this declaration, which he 
often repeated, that he had no other intention than to con¬ 
vince his hearers of the narrow limits of the human under¬ 
standing. Far from encouraging universal scepticism, he 
always spoke confidently and decidedly on moral subjects ; 
but at the same time he wished to expose to contempt the 
arrogance of those pretenders to science, who would not 
acknowledge themselves to be ignorant of any thing. He 
preferred moral to speculative wisdom; and therefore con¬ 
demned those whose whole attention and time were occupied 
about abstruse researches into nature, and who took no 
pains to render themselves useful to mankind. His favourite 
maxim was, “ whatever is above us, doth not concern us." 
He estimated the value of knowledge by its utility, and 
recommended the study of geometry, astronomy, and other- 
sciences, only so far as they admit of a practical application 
to the purposes of human life. His great object, in all his 
conferences and discourses, was to lead men into an ac¬ 
quaintance with themselves; to convince them of their fol¬ 
lies and vices; to inspire them with the love of virtue; and 
to furnish them with useful moral instructions. Cicero might, 
therefore, very justly say of Socrates, that he was the first 
who called down philosophy from heaven to earth, and in¬ 
troduced her into the public walks and domestic retirements 
of men, that she might instruct them concerning life and 
manners. 
Tire moral lessons which Socrates taught, he himself dili¬ 
gently practised; whence he excelled other philosophers in 
personal merit, no less than in his method of instruction. 
His conduct was uniformly such as became a teacher of 
moral 
