S 0 c 
father practical than speculative. He taught, that the Su¬ 
preme Being, though invisible, is clearly seen in his works, 
which at once demonstrate his existence, and his wise and 
benevolent providence. “Reflect,” says he, “that your 
own mind directs your body by its volitions, and you must 
be convinced that the intelligencer of the universe disposes 
all things according to his pleasure.—Can you imagine, that 
your eye is capable of discerning distant objects, and that 
the eye of God cannot, at the same instant, see all things ; 
or that, whilst your mind contemplates the affairs of different 
countries, the understanding of God cannot attend, at once, 
to all the affairs of the universe ? Such is the nature of the 
Divinity, that he sees all things, hears all things, is every 
where present, and constantly superintends all events.” 
Again: “ He who disposes and directs the universe, who is 
the source of all that is fair and good, who, amidst successive 
changes, preserves the course of nature unimpaired, and to 
whose laws all beings are subject, this Supreme Deity, 
though himself invisible, is manifestly seen in his magnificent 
operations. Learn, then, from the things which are produ¬ 
ced, to infer the existence of an invisible power, and to reve¬ 
rence the Divinity.” 
Besides the one Supreme Deity, Socrates admitted the 
existence of beings who possess a middle station between God 
and man, to whose immediate agency he ascribed the ordi¬ 
nary phenomena of nature, and whom he supposed to be 
particularly concerned in the management of human affairs. 
Hence, he spoke of thunder, wind, and other agents in na¬ 
ture, as servants of God. 
Concerning the human soul, the opinion of Socrates, ac¬ 
cording to Xenophon, was, that it is allied to the divine 
being, not by a participation of essence, but by a similarity 
of nature; that man excels all other animals in the faculty 
of reason ; and that the existence of good men will be con¬ 
tinued after death, in a state in which they will receive the 
reward of their virtue. The doctrine which Cicero ascribes 
to Socrates, on this head, is, that the human soul is a divine 
principle, which, when it passes out of the body, returns to 
heaven ; and that this passage is most easy to those who have, 
in this life, made the greatest progress in virtue. 
The system of morality which Socrates made it the busi¬ 
ness of his life to teach, was raised upon the firm basis of 
religion. The first principles of virtuous conduct, which 
are common to all mankind, are, according to this excellent 
moralist, laws of God: and the conclusive argument by 
which he supports this opinion is, that no man departs from 
these principles with impunity. “It is frequently possible,” 
says he, “ for men to screen themselves from the penalty of 
human laws, but no man can be unjust, or ungrateful, with¬ 
out suffering for his crime: hence, I conclude, that these 
laws must have proceeded from a more excellent legislator 
than man.” Socrates taught, that true felicity is not to be 
derived from external possessions, but from wisdom, which 
consists in the knowledge and practice of virtue; that the 
cultivation of virtuous manners is necessarily attended with 
pleasure, as well as profit; that the honest man alone is 
happy ; and that it is absurd to attempt to separate things, 
which are in nature so closely united as virtue and interest. 
But it is impossible, in detached sentences, to give the 
reader any clear idea of the moral doctrines of Socrates. 
We must therefore refer him, on this head, to that valuable 
treasure of ancient wisdom, the “ Memorabilia” of Socrates; 
a work in which he will find his original conversations on 
many interesting topics, related with beautiful simplicity, by 
Xenophon. 
The followers of Socrates were Alcibiades and Critias; the 
poets Eumenes and Euripides, the orators Lysias and Isocrates; 
Aristippus, the founder of the Cyrenaic sect; Phaedo, of the 
Eiiac; Euclid, of the Megaric ; Plato, of the Academic; 
and Antisthenes, of the Cynic, Xenophon, /Eschines, Si¬ 
mon, and Cebes. 
SOCRATES, an ecclesiastical historian, was born and 
educated at Constantinople: and having studied under the 
grammarians Helladius and Ammonius, he commenced his 
career at the bar. But after some time he relinquished the 
Vol. XXIII. No. 1573. 
SOB 325 
profession of a law-pleader, and engaged in writing his eccle¬ 
siastical history, which comprehends, in seven books, the 
interval of about 133 years, from the year 306, when Con¬ 
stantine was declared emperor, to the seventeenth consulship 
of Theodosius, A.D. 439. Socrates, Sozomen, and Theodo- 
ret, may be considered as continuators of Eusebius of Caesa¬ 
rea; and these three writers, who lived in the time of Theo¬ 
dosius the younger, whose reign extended from the year 408 
to 450, published their respective histories, which are valu¬ 
able monuments of antiquity, about the same time, near the 
end of this reign. Socrates seems to have been distinguished 
by his moderation and candour, which we may infer from 
the freedom with which he censures the squabbles and 
contentions that subsisted amongst the Christian clergy, and 
he condemns the persecution that occurred in the reign of 
Julian. He is also judicious in his observations upon men 
and things, and generally accurate in his chronology. The 
best editions of his works are those of Valesius, fol. Paris, 
1668, and of Reading, fol. Cant. 1720. 
SOCRATICAL, or Socra'tic, adj. After the manner 
or doctrine of the philosopher Socrates .—He winked at that 
with a socratical and philosophical patience. Sir J. Har¬ 
rington. 
SOCRA'TIC ALLY, adv. With the socratical mode of 
disputation_Is it such a pleasure to be non-plus’d in mood 
and figure, that you had rather be snapped in the mouse¬ 
trap of a syllogism, than treated socratically and genteely ? 
Goodman. 
SO'CRATISM, s. The philosophy of Socrates. 
SO'CRATIST, s. A disciple of Socrates.—There arose 
a great question between Pythagoras’ disciples and the scho¬ 
lars of Socrates, for that the socratists said it was better 
and more commodious that all things should be in common. 
Martin. 
SOD, s. [ soed , Dutch.] A turf; a clod. 
Here fame shall dress a sweeter sod, 
Than fancy’s feet have ever trod. Collins. 
SOD, adj. Made of turf. 
Her casement sweet woodbines crept wantonly round. 
And deck’d the sod seats at her door. Cunningham. 
SOD. The preterite of seethe. 
Never caldron sod 
With so much fervour, fed with all the store 
That could enrage it. Chapman . 
The participle passive.—Wine and water, in which are 
sod southernwood, melilot, &c. Burton. 
SO'DA, s. A fixed alkali; sometimes found native, but 
most generally obtained by burning maritime plants. 
Soda Water. A medicated drink, prepared by dissolv¬ 
ing salt of soda in certain proportions of water. 
SODALITE, in Mineralogy, a stone which derives its 
name from the large portion of mineral alkali that enters into 
its composition. See Mineralogy. 
SODALITIUM, among the Anglo-Saxons, was the name 
of a voluntary association, the object of which was. the 
personal security of those who joined in it, and which the 
feebleness of government at the time rendered necessary. 
Among other regulations, which are contained in one of 
these still extant, the following deserves notice:—If any as¬ 
sociate shall either eat or drink with a person who has killed 
any member of the sodalitium, unless in the presence of 
the king, the bishop, or the count, and unless he can prove 
that he did not know the person, let him pay a great fine. 
Hickes Diss. Epist. apud Thes, Ling. Septentr. vol. 1. p. 21. 
SODA'LITY, s. [sodalite, old French; sodalitas, Lat.] 
A fellowship; a fraternity.—A new confraternity was insti¬ 
tuted in Spain, of the slaves of the Blessed Virgin, and this 
sodality established with large indulgences. Stilling fleet. 
SODBURY, Chipping. See Chipping Sodbury. 
SODBURY, Little, a parish of England, in Gloucester¬ 
shire ; 2\ miles east-south-east of Chipping Sodbury. 
SODBURY, Old, a parish in the above comity; 2| 
east of Chipping Sodbury. Population 765. 
4 0 
SO'DDEN, 
