SOCRATES. 
823 
moral wisdom. His mind, through the whole of his life, 
was superior to the attractions of wealth and power. His in¬ 
structions were gratuitous, and he refused rich presents, that 
were offered to him by Alcibiades and others, though his 
wife earnestly importuned him to accept them. He wanted 
little for his own personal accommodation, In his clothing 
and food, he consulted only the demands of nature. Al¬ 
though his fare was simple, he was hospitable; and some¬ 
times invited men of superior rank to partake of his meals. 
On one of these occasions, his wife complained of the incom¬ 
petency of their provision for their guests; but to these 
complaints he replied, that if his guests were wise men, they 
would be satisfied with the provisions which his table af¬ 
forded ; if otherwise, they were unworthy of notice. “ Whilst 
others,” says he, “ live to eat, wise men eat to live.” 
In his domestic connection he was unfortunate, yet he 
converted this into an occasion of exercising his virtue. Xan- 
tippe, of whom many tales, that are mere fabrications, are 
related, was without doubt a woman of a high and unma¬ 
nageable spirit. Socrates himself, however, allows that she 
possessed many domesticvirtues; and towards the close of his 
life, and during his imprisonment, she expressed great affec¬ 
tion for her husband; it would have been strange, if it had 
been otherwise. On all occasions, however, he maintained 
his equanimity of temper; always exercising that self-com¬ 
mand, which is founded on reflection. In this respect he was 
the more praise-worthy, as he himself acknowledges* that he 
was, in his natural disposition, prone to vice, but that 
he had subdued his inclinations by the power of reason 
and philosophy. 
It was one of the maxims of Socrates, “ that a wise man 
will worship the gods according to the institutions of the state 
to which he belongs.” He taught, however, a doctrine con¬ 
cerning religion much more pure and rational, than that 
which was delivered to the people by the priests, and he repro¬ 
bated the popular fables concerning the gods. 
Socrates, notwithstanding the superiority of his talents, the 
excellence of his character, and the number of his followers, 
who venerated and esteemed him, had many enemies. They 
were chiefly the interested Sophists, whose influence and 
whose emoluments were diminished in consequence of the 
prevalence of his doctrines and precepts. In order to degrade 
him in the estimation of the Athenian youth, and to restrain 
his popularity, they engaged Aristophanes, the first buffoon 
of the age, to write a comedy, in which Socrates should be 
the principal character. Aristophanes, pleased with so pro¬ 
mising an occasion of displaying his low and malignant wit, 
undertook the task, and produced the comedy of “ The 
Clouds,” still extant in his works. In this piece Socrates is 
introduced hanging in a basket in the air, and thence pouring 
forth absurdity and profaneness. The philosopher, though 
he seldom visited the theatre, except when the tragedies of 
Euripides were performed, attended the representation of this 
play, at a time when the house was crowded with strangers, 
who happened to be at Athens during the celebration of a 
Bacchanalian festival. When the performer, who represented 
Socrates, appeared upon the stage, a general whisper passed 
along the benches on which the strangers sat, to inquire who 
the person was whom the poet meant to satirize. Socrates, 
who had taken his station in one of the most public parts of 
tire theatre, observed this circumstance; and immediately, 
with great coolness, rose up, to gratify the curiosity of the 
audience, and continued standing during the remainder of 
the representation. One of the spectators, astonished at the 
magnanimity which this action discovered, asked him, 
whether he did not feel himself much chagrined, to be thus 
held up to public derision ? “ By no means,” replied So¬ 
crates, “I am only a host at a public festival, where I pro¬ 
vide a large company with entertainment.” 
These efforts of envy were not of long duration. When 
Aristophanes attempted, the year following, to renew the 
piece with alterations and additions, the representation 
was so much discouraged, that he was obliged to dis¬ 
continue it. 
From this time, Socrates continued, for many years, to 
prosecute his laudable design of instructing and reforming 
his fellow-citizens. But as he persevered in opposing every 
kind of political corruption and oppression, both under the 
democracy and oligarchy, the number of his enemies in¬ 
creased, and a conspiracy, which had been long concerted 
against his life, was resumed. The minds of the people being 
sufficiently inflamed, a direct accusation was preferred 
againstSocrates before the supreme court of judicature. This 
accusation was delivered to the senate in these words: 
“ Melitus, son of Melitus, of the tribe of Pythos, accuseth 
Socrates, son of Sophroniscus, of the tribe of Alopece. So¬ 
crates violates the laws, in not acknowledging the gods which 
the state acknowledges, and by introducing new divinities. 
He also violates the laws by corrupting the youth. Be his 
punishment death.” 
This charge was delivered upon oath to the senate, and 
Crito, a friend of Socrates, became surety for his appearance 
on the day of trial. Anitus, soon afterwards, sent a private 
message to Socrates, assuring him, that if he would desist 
from censuring his conduct, he would withdraw his accu¬ 
sation. But Socrates refused to comply with so degrading 
a condition, and, with his usual spirit, replied, “ Whilst I 
live I will never disguise the truth, nor speak otherwise than 
my duty requires.” The interval between the accusation and 
the trial he spent in philosophical conversations with his 
friends, chusing to discourse upon any other subject, rather 
than his own situation. Hermogenes, one of his friends, was 
much struck with this circumstance, and asked him, why he 
did not employ his time in preparing his defence: “ Be¬ 
cause,” replied Socrates, “ I have never in my life done any 
thing unjust.” The eminent orator Lysias composed an apo¬ 
logy, in the name of his master, which he requested him to 
adopt; but Socrates excused himself by saying, that though 
it was eloquently written, it would not suit his character. 
When the day of trial arrived, his accusers appeared in 
the senate, and attempted to support their charge in three 
distinct speeches, which strongly marked their respective cha¬ 
racters. Plato, who was a young man, and a zealous fol¬ 
lower of Socrates, then rose up to address the judges in de¬ 
fence of his master: but whilst he was attempting to apolo¬ 
gise for his youth, he was abruptly commanded by the court 
to sit down. Socrates, however, needed no advocate. As¬ 
cending the chair with all the serenity of conscious inno¬ 
cence, and with all the dignity of superior merit, he deli¬ 
vered, in a firm and manly tone, an unpremeditated defence 
of himself, which silenced his opponents, and ought to 
have convinced his judges. After tracing the progress of 
the conspiracy which had been raised against him to its 
source, the jealousy and resentment of men whose ignorance 
he had exposed, and whose vices he had ridiculed and re¬ 
proved, he distinctly replied to the several charges brought 
against him by Melitus. To prove that he had not been 
guilty of impiety towards the gods of his country, he ap¬ 
pealed' to his frequent practice of attending the public reli¬ 
gious festivals. The crime of introducing new divinities, 
with which he was charged, chiefly, as it seems, on the 
ground of the admonitions which he professed to have re¬ 
ceived from an invisible power, he disclaimed, by pleading 
that it was no new thing for men to consult the gods, and 
receive instructions from them. To refute the charge of 
his having been a corrupter of youth, he urged the example 
which he had uniformly exhibited of justice, moderation, 
and temperance, the moral spirit and tendency of his dis¬ 
courses, and the effect which had actually been produced; 
and disdaining to solicit the mercy of his judges, he called 
upon them for that justice, which their office and their oath 
obliged them to administer. 
The judges, whose prejudices would not suffer them to 
pay due attention to this apology, or to examine with im¬ 
partiality the merits of the cause, immediately declared him 
guilty of the crimes of which he stood accused. Socrates, 
in this stage of the trial, had a right to enter his plea against 
the punishment which the accusers demanded, and instead 
of 
