PROP. their own manners, much less was fitted to reform VI. the world. Their scholars,* as Aristotle excellently describes them, thought themselves greatly improved in philosophy, and that they were become gallant men if they did but hear and understand and learn to dispute about morality, though it had no effect at all nor influence upon their manners; just as if a sick man should expect to be healed by hearing a physician discourse, though he never followed any of his directions. Undoubtedly, saith he, the mind of the one was exactly as much improved by such philosophy, as the health of the other's body by such physic: And no wonder the generality of the common hearers judged of their own improvement in philosophy by such false measures, when the enormous viciousness of the lives of the philosophers themselvest made it plainly appear that their art was not so much intended and fitted for the reformation of men's manners, as to be an exercise of wit and subtilty, and an instrument of vainglory: Excepting, perhaps, Socrates and Plato, and some others of that rank, this account is too plainly true of the greatest part of the philosophers. The argument is too unpleasant to instance in particulars. Whoever pleases, may, in Diogenes Laertius, and other writers, find accounts enough of the lewdness and unnatural vices of most of the philosophers. It is a shame for us, so much as to speak of those things, which were done of them, not only in secret, but even in the most public manner. I shall here only add the judgment of Cicero, a man as able to pass a right judgment in this **Αλλ' οι πολλοὶ ταῦτα μεν & πράττεσιν· ἐπὶ δε τὸν λόγον καταφεύγοντες οἴονται ἀιλοσοφεῖν, καὶ ὅτως ἔσεσθαι σπουδαῖοι· ὅμοιον τε ποιῶντες τοῖς κάμνου σιν, οἱ τῶν ἰατρῶν ἀκέουσι μὲν ἐπιμελῶς; ποιοῦσι δ ̓ οὔθεν τῶν προστασσομένων, ὥσπερ ἐν οὐδ ̓ ἐκεῖνοι εὖ ἕξουσι τὸ σῶμα, οὕτω θεραπευόμενοι· οὐδ ̓ οὗτοι τὴν ψυxv, oüswv piλoooCouvres.- Arislot. Ethic. lib. 2. cap. 3. + Inclusos philosophos] in angulis, facienda præcipere, quæ ne ipsi quidem faciunt qui loquuntur, linguæ et quoniam se a veris actibus removerunt, apparet eos exercendæ causa, vel advocandi gratia, artem ipsam philosophiæ reperisse.-Lactant. lib. 3. VI. matter as ever lived. Do you think,* says he, that PROP. these things (meaning the precepts of morality,) had any influence upon those men, (excepting only a very few of them,) who taught, and wrote, and disputed about them? No; who is there of all the philosophers, whose mind, and life, and manners were conformable to right reason? Whoever made his philosophy to be the law and rule of his life, and not a mere boast and show of his wit and parts? who observed his own instructions, and lived in obedience to his own precepts? On the contrary; many of them were slaves to filthy lusts, many to pride, many to covetousness, &c. few of the 2. Those few extraordinary men of the philoso- And those phers, who did indeed in good measure sincerely philoso obey the laws of natural religion themselves, and phers, who make it their chief business to instruct and exhort did indeed sincerely others to do the same, were yet themselves entirely endeavour ignorant of some doctrines absolutely necessary to the to reform bringing about this great end, of the reformation were yet and recovery of mankind. mankind, themselves entirely doctrines to the In general: Having no knowledge of the whole ignorant scheme, order, and state of things, the method of of some God's governing the world, his design in creating absolutely mankind, the original dignity of human nature, the necessary ground and circumstances of men's present corrupt bringing condition, the manner of the divine interposition ne- about that cessary to their recovery, and the glorious end to great end. which God intended finally to conduct them: Having no knowledge (I say) of all this, their whole attempt to discover the truth of things, and to instruct others therein, was like wandering in the wide sea,t Sed hæc eadem num censes apud eos ipsos valere, nisi admodum paucos, a quibus inventa, disputata, conscripta sunt? Quotus enim quisque philosophorum invenitur, qui sit ita moratus, ita animo ac vita constitutus, ut ratio postulat; qui disciplinam suam non ostentationem scientiæ, sed legem vitæ putet, qui obtemperet ipse sibi, et decretis suis pareat? videre licet multos, libidinum servos, &c.— Cic. Tusculan. Quæst. lib. 2. + Errant ergo velut in mari magno, nec quo ferantur intelligunt ; quia nec viam cernunt nec ducem sequuntur.-Lactant. lib. 6. PROP. without knowing whither they were to go, or which VI. way they were to take, or having any guide to conduct them: And accordingly the wisest of them were never backward to confess their own ignorance and great blindness; that truth was hid from them† as it were in an unfathomable depth; that they were much in the dark, and very dull and stupid, not only as to the profounder things of wisdom, but as to such things also which seemed very capable of being in great part discovered: Nay, that even those things which in themselves were of all others the most manifest, (that is, which, whenever made known, would appear most obvious and evident,) their natural understanding was of itself as unqualified to find out and apprehend as the eyes of bats to behold the light of the sun; that the very first and most necessary thing of all, the nature and attributes of God himself, were, notwithstanding all the general helps of reason, very difficult to them to find out in particular, and still more difficult to explain; it being much more easy to say what God was not than what he was:** And finally, that the method of instructing men effectually, and making them truly wise and good, was a thing very obscure and dark, and diffi * Ex cæteris philosophis, nonne optimus et gravissimus quisque confitetur, multa se ignorare; et multa sibi etiam atque etiam esse discenda?-Cic. Tusc. Quest. 3. + Εν βύθῳ ἀλήθεια. Tui ergo te, Cicero, libri arguunt, quam nihil a philosophia disci possit ad vitam. Hæc tua verba sunt, mihi autem non modo ad sapientiam cæci videmur, sed ad ea ipsa, quæ aliqua ex parte cerni videantur, hebetes et obtusi.-Lactant. lib. 3. § Ωσπερ γὰρ καὶ τὰ τῶν νυκτερίδων ὄμματα προς το φέγγος ἔχει τὸ μεθ' ἡμέραν, ἔτω καὶ τῆς ἡμετέρας ψυχῆς ὁ νοῦς πρὸς τὰ τῇ φύσει φανερώτατα Távrov.-Aristot. Metaphys. lib. 2. c. 1. [[ Τὸν μὲν ἦν ποιητὴν καὶ πατέρα τῇδε τῇ παντὸς εὐρεῖν τε ἔργον, καὶ εὐα ρόντα λέγειν εἰς πάντας ἀδύνατον. Plato in Timæo. Profecto eos ipsos, qui se aliquid certi habere arbitrantur, addubitare coget doctissimorum hominum de maxima re tanta dissensio. -Cic. de Natura Deor. lib. 1. ** Utinam tam facilè vera invenire possem, quam falsa convincere. -Id. ibid. VI. cult to be found out :* In a word, Socrates himself PROP. always openly professed, that he pretended to be wiser than other men only in this one thing, that he was duly sensible of his own ignorance, and believed that it was merely for that very reason that the oracle pronounced him the wisest of men.t were very ner God More particularly; the manner in which God Particumight be acceptably worshipped these men were en- larly they tirely and unavoidably ignorant of. That God ought ignorant in to be worshipped is, in the general, as evident and what manplain from the light of nature as any thing can be; might be but in what particular manner, and with what kind acceptably worshipof service he will be worshipped, cannot be certainly ped. discovered by bare reason. Obedience to the obligations of nature, and imitation of the moral attributes of God, the wisest philosophers easily knew was undoubtedly the most acceptable service to God: But some external adoration seemed also to be necessary, and how this was, to be performed they could not with any certainty discover. Accordingly even the very best of them complied therefore generally with the outward religion of their country, and advised others to do the same; and so, notwithstanding all their wise discourses, they fell lamentably into the practice of the most foolish idolatry. Plato,‡ after having delivered very noble, and almost divine truths concerning the nature and attributes of the Supreme God, weakly *Επε ευξάμενος μετ ̓ ἐμοῦ. Καὶ μοι δύσβατός γέ τις τόπος φαίνεται καὶ ἐπίσκιος· ἔστιν ἔν σκοτεινὸς καὶ δυσδιερεύνητος. Plato de Republ. lib. 4. + See Plato in Apologia Socratis. Lactantius observes that Socrates himself, at the conclusion of one of the bravest discourses that ever was made by any philosopher, superstitiously ordered a sacrifice to be offered for him to Esculapius. But herein Lactantius was certainly mistaken; for Socrates undoubtedly spake this in mockery of Esculapius, looking upon death as his truest deliverance. → Ειπεν, δ δὴ τελευταῖον ἐφθέγξατο· Ω Κρίτων, τῷ Ασκληπιῷ ὀφείλομεν ἀλεκτρυόνα· ἀλλὰ ἀπόδοτε, καὶ μὴ ἀμελήσητε. Plato in Phædone. Illud vero nonne summæ vanitatis, quod ante mortem familiares suos rogavit, ut Esculapio gallum, quem voverat, pro se sacrarent? -Lactant. lib. 3. PROP. advises men to worship likewise inferior gods,* deVI. mons, and spirits, and dared not to condemn the worshipping even of statues also and images, dedicated according to the laws of their country; as if the honour they paid to lifeless idols could procure the favour and good-will of superior intelligences ;† And so he corrupted and spoiled the best philosophy in the world by adding idolatry to that worship which he had wisely and bravely before proved to be due to the creator of all things. After him, Cicero, the greatest and best philosopher that Rome or perhaps any other nation ever produced, allowed men to continue the idolatry of their ancestors ;|| advised them to conform themselves to the superstitious religion of their country,§ in offering such sacrifices to different gods as were by law established; and disapproves and finds fault with the Persian Magi,** for burning the temples of the Grecian gods, and asserting that the whole universe was God's temple: Intt * Πρῶτον μεν, φαμέν, τιμὰς τὰς μετ ̓ ὀλυμπίας τε καὶ τὰς τον πόλιν ἔχον τας θεές, τοῖς χθονίοις ἄν τις θεοῖς ἄρτια καὶ δεύτερα καὶ ἀριστερὰ νέμων, ὀρθότατα τοῦ τῆς ἐυσέβειας σκοποῦ τυγχάνοι. Μετὰ θες δε τέσδε, καὶ τοῖς δαίμοσιν ὄγ' ἔμφρων ὀργιάζοιτ' ἄν.— Επακολεθεῖ δ ̓ αὐτοῖς ἱδρύματα ἴδια πατρώων θεῶν κατὰ νόμον ὀργιαζόμενα. Plato de Legib. lib. 4. † Τὲς μὲν γὰρ τῶν θεῶν ὁρῶντες σαφῶς, τιμῶμεν· τῶν δε εἰκόνας ἀγάλμα τα ἱδρυσάμενοι, ὃς ἡμῖν ἀγάλλεσι, καίπερ ἀψύχους ὄντας, ἐκείνους ηγέμεθα, τὰς ἐμψύχους θεοὺς πολλὴν διὰ ταῦτ ̓ ἔννοιαν και χάριν ἔχειν. Plato de Legib. lib. 11. † Τὰ Πλάτωνι οὐκ ἀπιθάνως μὲν εἰρημένα, οὐ μὴν καὶ διέθεντο τὸν φιλόσο φον ἀξίως κἂν ἀυτῷ ἀναστραφῆναι ἐν τῇ πρὸς τὸν ποιητην τῶν ὅλων ευσεβεια, ἦν ἐχρῆν μὴ νοθεύειν, μηδὲ μιάινειν τῆ εἰδωλολατρεία.—Orig. advers. Cels. lib. 6. A patribus acceptos Deos placet coli.-Cic. de Legib. lib. 2. § Item illud ex institutis pontificum et aruspicum non mutandum est, quibus hostiis immolandum cuique Deo.mId. ibid. ** Nec sequor Magos Persarum, quibus auctoribus Xerxes inflammâsse templa Græciæ dicitur, quod parietibus includerent Deos, quorum hic mundus omnis templum esset et domus. Melius Græci atque nostri, qui, ut augerent pietatem in Deos, easdem illos, quas nos urbes incolere voluerunt. Id ibid. ++ Video te, Cicero, terrena et manufacta venerari. Vana esse intelligis, et tamen eadem facis quæ faciunt ipsi quos ipse stultisssimos confiteris.- -Si libenter errant etiam ii, qui errare se sentiunt quanto magis vulgus indoctum ?-Lactant. lib. 2. |