Whom well infpir'd the oracle pronounc'd Wifeft of men; from whofe mouth iffued forth Epicurean, and the Stoic fevere; These here revolve, or, as thou lik'ft, at home, vit, et in domus etiam introduxit. Tuf. Difp. V. 4. But he has given a very different fenfe to the words either by defign or mistake, as Mr. Warburton obferves. lt is properly called the low-rooft house ; for I believe, faid Socrates, that if I could meet with a good purchafer, I might eafily get for my goods and house and all five pounds. Εγο μεν ειμαι (εφη ὁ Σωκράτη;) ει αγαθε ωνητες επιτυχοιμι, ευρειν αν μοι συν τη οικία και τα ολα πανα πανυ ραδίως πείτε μας. Xenophon Oeconomic. five minas or Attic pounds were better than fixteen pounds of our money, a mina, according to Barnard, being three pounds eight fhillings and nine 275 280 Το 285 To whom our Saviour fagely thus reply'd. Think not but that I know thefe things, or think I know them not; not therefore am I fhort Of knowing what I ought: he who receives Light from above, from the fountain of light, No other doctrin needs, though granted true; 290 But these are falfe, or little elfe but dreams, Conjectures, fancies, built on nothing firm. The first and wifeft of them all profefs'd To know this only, that he nothing knew; demic. I. 4. Tufc. Difp. V. 4. and particularly De Orat. III. 16, 17. The quotation would be too long to be inferted. See likewife Mr. Warburton's account of the Socratic school. B. 3. Sect. 3. of the Divine Legation. 283. Thefe rules will render thee &c.] Afk what rules, and no anfwer can be regularly given: afk whofe, and the anfwer is eafy. There is no mention before of rules; but of poets, orators, philofophers there is. We fhould read therefore, Their rules will render thee a king complete. Calton. 285. To whom our Saviour fagely thus reply'd.] This anfwer of our Saviour is as much to be admired for folid reafoning, and the many fublime truths contain'd in The it, as the preceding fpeech of Sa- 293. The first and wifeft of them all] Socrates profess'd to know this only, that he nothing knew. Hic in omnibus fere fermonibus, qui ab iis, qui illum audierunt, perfcripti varie, copiofe funt, ita difputat, ut nihil adfirmet ipfe, refel lat The next to fabling fell and smooth conceits; 295 A third fort doubted all things, though plain fenfe Others in virtue plac'd felicity, But virtue join'd with riches and long life; In corporal pleasure he, and careless ease; By him call'd virtue; and his virtuous man, 66 300 Wife, thing in nature, in which the fancy cannot find or make a "variety of fuch fymbolizing res "femblances; fo that emblems, "fables, fymbols, allegories, tho' they are pretty poetic fancies, are infinitely unfit to exprefs philofophical notions and dif"coveries of the natures of things. 66 The end of philofophy is "to fearch into, and discover "the nature of things; but I "believe you understand not how "the nature of any thing is at all "difcovered by making it the "theme of allegorical and dark "difcourfes." Calton. 296.Athird fort doubted allthings, though plain fenfe ;] Thefe were the Sceptics or Pyrrhonians the difciples of Pyrrho, who afferted nothing, neither honeft nor difhoneft, juft nor unjust, and so of every thing; that there is nothing indeed fuch, but that men do all things by law and cuftom; that in every thing this is not rather than that. This was called the Sceptic philofophy from its continual in spection, Wife, perfect in himself, and all poffeffing, As fearing God nor man, contemning all 304 A Wealth, pleasure, pain or torment, death and life, spection, and never finding; and Pyrrhonian from Pyrrho. See Stanley's life of Pyrrho, who takes this account from Diogenes Laertius. 297. Others in virtue &c.] Thefe were the old Academics, and the Peripatetics the fcholars of Ariftotle. Honefte autem vivere, fruentem rebus iis, quas primas homini natura conciliet, et vetus Academia cenfuit, et Ariftoteles: ejufque amici nunc proxime videntur accedere. Cicero Academic. II. 42. Ergo nata eft fententia veterum Academicorum et Peripateticorum, ut finem bonorum dicerent, fecundum naturam vivere, id eft, virtute adhibita, frui primis à natura datis. de Fin. II. 11. 299. In corporal pleasure be, and carelefs eafe;] Epicurus. Confirmat autem illud vel maxime, quod ipfa natura, ut ait ille, adfcifcat et reprobet, id eft, voluptatem & dolorem: ad hæc, & quæ fequamur et quæ fugiamus, refert omnia. Cicero de Fin. I. 7. 300. The Stoic laft &c.] The reafon why Milton reprefents our Sa Alas, viour taking fuch particular notice of the Stoics above the reft, was probably because they made pretenfions to a more refin'd and exalted virtue than any of the other fects, and were at that time the moft prevailing party among the philofophers, and the moft rever'd and efteem'd for the ftrictness of their morals, and the austerity of their lives. The picture of their virtuous man is perfectly juft, as might eafily be shown from many paffages in Seneca and Antoninus, and the defects and infufficiency of their scheme could not poffibly be fet in a ftronger light than they are by our author in the lines following. Thyer. 303. Equals to God,] In Milton's own edition, and all following, it is Equal to God: but I cannot but think this an error of the prefs, the fenfe is fo much improved by the addition only of a fingle letter. Equals to God, oft fhames not to prefer. 307. For all his tedious talk is but vain boaft, Or Alas what can they teach, and not mislead, And in themfelves feek virtue, and to themselves Rather accufe him under ufual names, 310 Of mortal things. Who therefore seeks in these Or fubtle faifis] Vain boasts relate to the Stoical paradoxes, and fubtle fhifts to their dialectic, which this fect fo much cultivated, as to be as well known by the name Dialectici as Stoici. Warburton. 313. Much of the foul they talk, but all awry,] See what Mr. Warburton has faid upon this fubject in the first volume of the Divine Legation. 314. And in themselves feek vir- 315 320 Wife timents of ancient philofophy upon this point in the following words: propter virtutem enim jure laudamur, et in virtute recte gloriamur: quod non contingeret, fi id donum a Deo, non a nobis haberemus. At vero aut honoribus aucti, aut re familiari, aut fi aliud quippiam nacti fumus fortuiti boni, aut depulimus mali, cùm Diis gratias agimus, tum nihil noftræ laude affumptum arbitramur. Num quis, quòd bonus vir effet, gratias Diis egit unquam? At quòd dives, quòd honoratus, quòd incolumis.- Ad rem |