Page:History of Greece Vol VIII.djvu/443

STUDY OF " HUMAN AFFAIRS.' 421 very same skepticism in substance, and carried farther in degree, though here invested with a religious coloring, for which Rittei and others so severely denounce Gorgias. But looking at mal> ters as they stood in 440-430 B.C., it ought not to be accounted even surprising, much less blamable. To an acute man of that day, physical science as then studied may well be conceived to have promised no result ; and even to have seemed worse than barren, if, like Sokrates, he had an acute perception how much of human happiness was forfeited by immorality, and by corrigi- ble ignorance ; how much might be gained by devoting the same amount of earnest study to this latter object. Nor ought we to omit remarking, that the objection of Sokrates : " You may judge how unprofitable are these studies, by observing how widely the students differ among themselves," remains in high favor down to the present day, and may constantly be seen employed against theoretical men, or theoretical arguments, in every department. Sokrates desired to confine the studies of his hearers to human matters as distinguished from divine, the latter comprehending astronomy and physics. He looked at all knowledge from the point of view of human practice, which had been assigned by the gods to man as his proper subject for study and learning, and with reference to which, therefore, they managed all the current phenomena upon principles of constant and intelligible sequence, so that every one who chose to learn, might learn, while those who took no such pains suffered for their neglect. Even in these, however, the most careful study was not by itself completely suf- ficient ; for the gods did not condescend to submit all the phe- nomena to constant antecedence and consequence, but reserved to themselves the capital turns and junctures for special sentence. 1 Yet here again, if a man had been diligent in learning all that His treatise De Lcgibus, however, written in his old age, falls below this tone. 1 Xenoph. Mem. i, 1, 7. Kal rot)f //fA/loiraf OIKOVC re KOL rro^eif /ca?.d>f etKTjaeiv, fiavTinfj^ Ityq irpoa6ela-& ai . TeicroviKdv jj.lv yap, r) ^a/Uevn- K*>v, rj yeupyinbv, } uv&puirov apxiicdv, f/ ruv TOIOVTUV Ipyuv t^eTaaniibv, i) fayioTiKbv, fj oiKOvouiKbv, % arpaTyyticbv yevio&at iruvra rti. rotaiiTa ua&ijpaTa nal uvdpuxov yvupy aiperea kvopi&v dvai Td <J< fti-yta-a TUV h> rovroif tyy roilf i9eoif Sv ji/6ev ij)7>ov civ at TO If d 9 dp'v ft* f f ,.