The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1852-12-30

petely cot ofthsm. He always sho dhs byuta sdsS
tie derepce betweou the superaoisi sud the solid,
and would reduce the most lofty idsss 70 mere vui
gar fractions, susceptible OF the understanding Of
not appreciated aocorsing to his value. He vas
deepised by the Athenians. Who did mot like TO
stun BILE upon him in the streets, and be dstained
from their dianer by his conversations After ad.
vertpg TO . number Of Incidents in the life and
character Of Socrates. his probty, and his uudinsh
ing advocacy OF justice. the lecturer said that It
was Q Singular fact, that from Homer down to the
present day, all the writer's who wished to trans
form women Into angelic beings. wore sher bache.
lors or unfortunate husbands He alluded to Kan
tippe. Socrates wife. who, no Thought, had great
reason to be the woman she was Her husband had
no household qualities to make home comfortable
there was hardly ever any thiog to eat in the
house and be would provide nothiDg-would never
take pay for his services teacher and consequent
ly never bad any thing-wss always talking about
how little man could live on IN Athens but he
never lad any of that little to live on. He would
be losfDg about in the morning, while his poor
wife was meditatipg over empty stew pans Ii tho
good woman ever discovered the object Socrates
married Der for she could not be blamed for acting
towards him in che way she d,d Referring to the
strong attachment to Socrates Of Antithenes, Aris
tpes, Xenopbcn, Euclid aud Alcibiades, and their
almost idolatrous reverence for him, the speaker
portrayed the closing experiences in the career Of
the PHILOSOPHER During the reign of the thirty ty-
rants Of Athens, a law psssed forbiddng public
speskiDg in the streets the object Of which was Co
silence Socrates. he had often held tho rulers up
TO ridicule Nc sooner had he heard Of it, when he
went 10 inquire rs to its proper Neutrality-suspicious.
they should here after with greater regard
truth and justice than heretofore, or not and il
that was its meaning, he should endeavor to act
accordingly. His impudence astounded tho court,
ard they tod him in plain terms that he must here
after held his peace, or he should suffer death
These Miscreants did not, however, hold power long
enough to kill him, but three years afterwards,
when he was sixty years DID, three indictments
found against him After the opening of the court
before which he was arraigued for trial, he was
given permission to speak in his own dstenoe, but
he declined, and was found guilty, aud sentenced to
suffer death by poison. He did not take advantage
Of that clause in the Athenian Law which gave him
the privilege Of purchasing his fe but preferred to
die he said he was an old man. and had not much
more to live for. While in prison he was visited
by his friends and family, who bsds him an afec.
tiopsts farewell; and whom the fatal hour finally
arrived he took the cup Of hemlock uice to his lips
drank it slowly, looking the jailor oslaly In tho
face, reeled, fell down and died His last words
were, that the death OF the body was the cure Of
disease, while the soul-the immortal part-would
live in perpetual light.
The lecturer sat down amid the appreciation Of
the audience, which was numerous and select.