He proposed it to the Arcadians and their king. Three hundred offered themselves on the spot, and the scheme was agreed to. But the execution of it was deferred till the next day, because the auspices were not favourable. By that time the king had betrayed it to ANAXIMANDER, the Spartan; and while his answer was returning, some persons, who suspected the import of the packet, seized it in the very hands of the messenger, and laid it before an assembly of the people. The Arcadians, on a short deliberation, resolved to stone their prince, and after executing the sentence with their own hands, treated the body in the most ignominious manner. As they were proceeding to this extremity, they intreated the Messenians to assist them. The looks of the whole crowd were fixed on ARISTOMENES, in eager expectation of his commands. He said nothing, turned his eyes on the ground, and burst into tears.

J

Dost thou think, CLEANDER, if an historian had recorded the action of this man, a poet sung his praises, or the theatre of his glory proved nobler and more extended, that such virtues had ever been confined to the knowledge and admiration of the Messenians, or the envy and detraction of the Spartans? Would not his name have been continually ranked in all nations among the first heroes of antiquity, and his character placed in competition, unfortunate as he was, with the successful deliverers of mankind?

C.

1.

UU 2

LETTER CLXII.

CLEANDER to SMERDIS.

THOU HOU mayest remember, venerable Mage, that in the account which I gave thee of a conversation I had with * SOCRATES on the banks of the river Ilissus, I expressed some regret, that I could not then engage him in a deeper discussion of one principle, which he asserted with an air of the fullest persuasion, that of the immortality of the soul. I need not tell thee, with what impatience I waited for an opportunity to learn his entire sentiments upon a subject of such importance. This satisfaction I obtained yesterday upon a very solemn occasion; and his discourse has filled my mind. with so agreeable a prospect of futurity, that it would be ungenerous to confine within my own breast the light he has diffused over à doctrine, which it is so highly the interest of every good man, as well as so worthy the attributes of the great OROMASDES, should

be true.

AXIOCHUS†, a friend of mine, considerable for his rank in this city, but still more so for his integrity and amiable qualities, being seized with a very dangerous distemper, I went to pay him a visit ;

*See Letter lii.

See the third dialogue of ÆSCHINES, the Socratick philosopher, published by Monsieur LE CLERC, 1711, in 8vo. PHRYNICUS, cited by PHOTIUS, in his Bibliotheca cod. clviii. tells us that these dialogues, and others which are lost, were ascribed by some to SOCRATES himself. However, it is allowed that ESCHINES was a faithful reporter of that philosopher's doctrine; whereas PLATO, on the other hand, indulged his own fancy, and published many things under SOCRATES's name, which, it is certain, he never said. Vide ARISTID. Oration. Platon. p. 367. edit. Canteri.

and

and, to my great suprize, found his mind as disordered as his body, from the apprehension of instant death, which, under the confusion of thought occasioned by the severity of his disease, appeared to him nothing less than the absolute extinction of his being. In this view, even the consciousness of a long course of years spent in the practice of the most diffusive benevolence, could give him no adequate consolation; and the dread of sinking into nothing, to which human nature has a natural and unconquerable reluctance, rendered this last scene of the good man's life very unsuitable to the serenity and beauty of all the former.

CLINIAS, his son, moved with this distress, requested SOCRATES to visit his father, and to shew the advantage of true philosophy in a circumstance, which, of all others, most requires the solid supports of reason. SOCRATES entered soon after I came to AXIOCHUS, and began to dispel his fears of death, as of the final period of our existence, with an uncommon force of argument, and energy of expression. "The powers and perfections of the human soul (said he) "are an invincible demonstration of its divine and immortal nature. "For it could not have raised itself to such an exalted height in executing the greatest affairs, so as to despise the strength even of "brute creatures, though far superior to our own, to pass over seas, "build cities, found commonwealths, contemplate the heavens, view "the revolutions of the stars, the courses of the sun and moon, their risings and settings, their eclipses and immediate restoration to "their former state, the equinoxes and solstices, the significations "of the pleiades concerning winter and summer, the winds and "descents of showers, and the unseasonable storms and whirl"winds; and to foretel for ever, by certain rules, what shall happen "in the natural world: these things, I say, the soul could never do, "unless it were really possessed of a divine spirit, by which it can

46

"extend

"

"extend its knowledge to so amazing a degree, and comprehend "within its view the whole compass of nature. It is impossible "therefore, that such a being, allied to, and resembling the Deity "itself, should cease to exist, by any change made in the body, or even by the total dissolution of it. No, AxIOCHUS, you will not "sink into the abyss of oblivion and non-existence, but be raised to "a state of immortality; nor will any of your rational delights be “taken from you, but you will enjoy them more perfectly. Your pleasures will have no tincture of this mortal body, but always "continue pure and unallayed. When you are disengaged from "this prison, you will be translated to a world, where there is nei"ther labour, nor sorrow, nor the infirmities and decays of age. "You will enjoy there a state of tranquillity and freedom from all "evil; and be enabled to contemplate nature, and study philosophy, not for the sake of the multitude and the publick, but out "of regard to truth alone, and the satisfaction resulting from the pursuit of it."

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AXIOCHUS, struck with the charms of this discourse, cried out, "You have drawn me over, SOCRATES, to your opinion. I am "now disengaged from my former weakness, and am become a new 66 man. I am now no longer fearful of death, but ambitious of it, "and impatient for it." "I congratulate you, (replied SOCRATES,) upon your conviction of this noble principle; a principle of the highest advantage to us through all the circumstances of life, but "most eminently so in the situation you are in. And now, if you "have the curiosity to hear a more particular description of the other "state, I will give it you, as it was represented to me by GOBRYAS "the Mage. He told me, that, at the time of XERXES's expedition "into Europe, his grandfather, who was of the same name with "himself, being sent to Delos, in order to secure that island, learned

"there,

66

66

there, from certain books of brass, brought by OPIS and ECAERGUS from the Hyperboreans, that the soul, after it is freed from "the body, goes into an invisible place beneath the earth, the realm “of PLUTO. The Porch of Life, which leads to the palace of the monarch, is fortified with iron bolts and bars, beyond which lie "the rivers Acheron and Cocytus; and beyond them the Plain of Truth, where sit the judges MINOS and RHADAMANTHUS. "These examine every one who comes, what manner of life he has "led in this mortal state; and it is impossible for him to return a "false answer. Whoever therefore has followed the impulses of his good genius in this life, is placed in the seats of the good and pious. Here the air is always tempered with the gentle beams of "their own sun; the seasons produce all their stores with un"bounded profusion. Here the mountains flow with the most

limpid streams, the meadows smile with all the variety of beau"tiful flowers. Here are schools of philosophers, theatres of "poets, and the most elegant concerts of musick and dancing. In "short, here are all the blissful scenes of immortal happiness, and " undisturbed ease and tranquillity. But, on the other hand, whoever has led a vicious life, is hurried away by the furies through "Tartarus into Erebus and Chaos. There is the seat of the impious, "the pitchers of DANAUS's daughters, which are never filled, the "everlasting thirst of TANTALUS, TITYUS with his bowels ever "consuming, and SISYPHUS rolling up the stone with endless and "unavailing labour. In a word, here the wicked are tortured with "all the forms of punishment to all eternity. This is the account "which I heard from GOBRYAS: you, AXIOCHUS, may pass what * judgment you please upon it. For I only know this from the unerring principles of reason, that the soul is immortal; and that the good habits which it has contracted in this world, will prove the source of the most refined happiness to it in the future. Rest

"therefore