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many and great evils which befel him in consequence, and is always fancying himself to be exempt and innocent, he is under the idea that he is honoring his soul; whereas the very reverse is the fact, for he is really injuring her.

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Again, when any one prefers beauty to virtue, what is this but the real and utter dishonor of the soul? For such a preference implies that the body is more honorable than the soul; and this is false, for there is nothing of earthly birth which is more honorable than the heavenly, and he who thinks otherwise of the soul has no idea how greatly he undervalues this wonderful possession. Nor, again, when a person is willing, or not unwilling, to acquire dishonest gains, does he then honor his soul with gifts-far otherwise; he sells her glory and honor for a small piece of gold; but all the gold which is under or upon the earth, is not to be given in exchange for virtue. * For no one, as I may say, ever considers that which is declared to be the greatest penalty of evil-doing, namely: to grow into the likeness of bad men, and growing like them, to fly from the conversation of the good, and be cut off from them, and cleave to and follow after the company of the bad. And he who is joined to them must do and suffer what such men by nature do and say to one another, which suffering is not justice but retribution; for justice and the just are noble, whereas retribution is the suffering which waits upon injustice; and whether a man escape or endure this, he is miserable in the former case, because he is not cured; in the latter, because he perishes in order that the rest of the world may be saved.

DIVINE JUSTICE.

O youth or young man, who fancy that you are neglected by the gods, know that if you become worse you shall go to the worse souls, or if better to the better, and in every succession of life and death you will do and suffer what like may fitly suffer at the hands of like. This is a divine justice,

which neither you nor any other unfortunate will ever glory in escaping, and which the ordaining powers have specially ordained; take good heed of them, for a day will come when they will take heed of you. If thou sayest: "I am small and will creep into the depths of the earth," or, "I am high and will fly up to heaven," you are not so small or so high but that you shall pay the fitting penalty, either in the world below, or in some yet more savage place still, to which thou shalt be conveyed.

This is also the explanation of the fate of those whom you saw, who had done unholy and evil deeds, and from small beginnings had become great; and you fancied that from being miserable they had become happy, and in their actions, as in a mirror, you seemed to see the universal neglect of the gods, not knowing how they make all things work together and contribute to the great whole.

PRAYER—THE DIVINE NATURE—THE JUst Man.

Prayer is the ardent turning of the soul toward God; not to ask for any particular good, but for good itself; the universal supreme good. We often mistake what is pernicious and dangerous for what is useful and desirable. Therefore remain silent before the gods till they remove the clouds from thy eyes, and enable thee to see by their light, not what appears good to thyself, but what is really good.

Whatever is beautiful is so merely by participation of the Supreme Beauty. All other beauty may increase, decay, change, or perish, but this is the same through all time. By raising our thoughts above all inferior beauties, we at length reach the Supreme Beauty, which is simple, pure and immutable, without form, color, or human qualities. It is the splendor of the Divine image, it is Deity himself. Love of this Supreme Beauty renders a man divine.

God provides for all things, the least as well as the greatest. He is the original life and force of all things, in the ethereal

regions, upon the earth, and under the earth. He is the Being, the Unity, the Good; the same in the world of Intelligence that the sun is in the visible world.

God is Truth, and Light is his shadow.

What light and sight are in this visible world, truth and intelligence are in the real unchangeable world.

The end and aim of all things should be to attain to the First Good; of whom the sun is the type, and the material world, with its host of ministering spirits, is but the manifestation and the shadow.

The perfectly just man would be he who should love justice for its own sake, not for the honors or advantages that attend; who would be willing to pass for unjust while he practiced the most exact justice; who would not suffer himself to be moved by disgrace or distress, but would continue steadfast in the love of justice, not because it is pleasant, but because it is right.*

*Plato was born B. C. 429. The new and admirable translation of Professor Jowitt has been followed, except in the last page-the pages and articles not being given, for brevity's sake.

CHAPTER VIII.

ROME.*

THOUGHTS OF MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS.

HIS TEACHERS.

From my grandfather Verus I learned good morals and the government of my temper.

From the reputation and remembrance of my father, modesty and a manly character.

From my mother, piety and beneficence, and abstinence, not only from evil deeds, but even from evil thoughts; and further, simplicity in my way of living, far removed from the habits of the rich.

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From Diognetus, not to busy myself about trifling things, and not to give credit to what was said by miracle-workers and jugglers about incantations and the driving away of demons and such things.

From Apollonius I learned freedom of will and undeviating steadiness of purpose; and to look to nothing else, not even for a moment, except to reason; and to be always the same, in sharp pains, on the occasion of the loss of a child, and in long illness; and to see clearly in a living example that the same man can be both most resolute and yielding, and not peevish in giving his instruction; and to have had before my eyes a man who clearly considered his experience and his skill in expounding philosophical principles as the smallest of his merits. And from him I learned how to receive from friends what are esteemed favors, without being either humbled by them, or letting them pass unnoticed.

* See Appendix F.

RIGHT LIVING.

Labor not unwillingly, nor without regard to the common interest, nor without due consideration, nor with distraction; nor let studied ornament set off thy thoughts, and be not either a man of many words, or busy about too many things. And further, let the Deity which is in thee be the guardian of a living being, manly and of ripe age, who has taken his post. like a man waiting for the signal which summons him from life, and ready to go, having need neither of oath nor any man's testimony. Be cheerful also, and seek not external help nor the tranquility which others give. A man must stand erect, not be kept erect by others.

Never value anything as profitable to thyself which shall compel thee to break thy promise, to lose thy self-respect, to hate any man, to suspect, to curse, to act the hypocrite, to desire anything which needs walls and curtains: for he who has preferred to everything else his own intelligence, and the demon within him and the worship of its excellence, acts no tragic part, does not groan, will not need either solitude or much company, and, what is chief of all, he will live without either pursuing or flying from life; but whether for a longer or a shorter time he shall have the soul inclosed in the body, he cares not at all: for even if he must depart immediately, he will go as readily as if he were going to do anything else which can be done with decency and order; taking care of this only all through life, that his thoughts turn not away from anything which belongs to an intelligent animal and a member of a civil community.

over.

In the mind of one who is chastened and purified thou wilt find no corrupt matter, nor impurity, nor any sore skinned Nor is his life incomplete when fate overtakes him, as one may say of an actor who leaves the stage before ending and finishing the play. Besides, there is in him nothing servile, nor affected, nor too closely bound to other things, nor yet detached from other things, nothing worthy of blame, nothing which seeks a hiding-place.

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