The States and Union. [volume] (Ashland, Ohio) 1868-1872, 1869-03-31
A Few Thoughts About Marcus;
AureIiue. ~
BY JAMES PARTON.

Il q
r. Marcus Aurelius, the sixteenth En-
s peror of Rome, was the wisest40fs II
Pagans. When he was born Chri
tianity had existed in the world on
] hundred and twenty-one years; an
3 when he died, A. D. $50, it had a
> ready outlived savage prosecutions
and had its adherents in all the NOR
: civilized parts of Europe, Asia an
: Africa. p .ti..H -.'-e
: This emperor, with christians al
around him, appears never to hav
|. thought it worth while to inquire per
, sonally into their character, conduc
or doctrine. Judging fron his writ
ings, as we'll Us from his conduct il
allowing christians to be tortured
and put to death, / should say that
his ignorance of christianity was com
plete, aad that whatever he knew, ol
guessed of mans duty, origin, and
destiny, he had reached without as.
sistance from it. 1t has occurred to
me that perhaps the readers of the
Ledger may feel some curiosity to
know the thoughts of this great Pa
gan Emperor on some of the subjects
most interesting to man, and / have
consequently gone over his celebrated
Thoughts, and selected few of them
as specimens, rf -.-.. %.
The Emperor, it seems, was in the
habit of jotting down his reflections as
they occurred to him, whether he was
residing peacefully in his palace, or
whether he was living in camp, reduc-
ing to suhjection revolted province
These thoughts have come down to
us i'll manuscript now in the Vatican
library at Rome. They were written
in the Greek language, and were
first printed with Latin translation
i'll 1870. Since that time they have
been translated into many other Ian
guages, and they are justly regarded
as one of the most precious relics of
antiquity.
''If man die shall hc live again
Upon this question, the most interest.
ing Of all others 20 man, the emperor
thought much, but, apparently with
out being able to satisfy himself. He
weighs the reason for and against i'm
mort lity. He imaginos an objector to
the doctrine asking: ... -.. -
'1f souls continue 10 exist forever,
how does the air contain them"
He answers the objection thus:
'But how does the earth contain the
bodies of those who have been buried
from times so remote? For as the
dissolution Of the bodies makes
room for the other dead bodies, so
the souls which are removed into the
air, after subsisting for some time,
are transmitted and diffu !, d as
sumo n fiery nature by being received
into n seminal intelligence # the uni
verse, ard in this way makes room
for other souls which come TO dwell
there"
"This," he continues, ''is the an
swer which 4 man might give on the
hypothesis of souls continuing to
exist. But we must not only think
of the dead bodies which are thus
buried, but also of the number of
winch are daily eaten by us
ard the other animals. For what
number is consumed, and thus in a
buried in the bodies of those
who feed on them! And, ncverthe-
less the Garth receives them"
He concludes, therefore, that there
is room in the universe tor all the
souls viii ch have ever existed, and
ever shall exist; but this does not
suffice to convince him of immortali-
ty. In another place discoursihg up
on death, he asks whether death is a
dispersion, or Il resolution into atoms |
or humiliation. One of the two |
things he think, it must be; cxtinc-
ton or change.
"How can it be-" he asks, chat
the gods, after having arranged all !
things we'll and benevolently for man
kind, have overlooked this alone; that
good men, when they have once died
should never exist again, but should
be completely extinguished? But if
this be so, be assured that, if it ought
to have been otherwise, the gods
would have done it. But because it
IS not so, if in fact it is not so, be
.hou convinced that it ought not to
have been so.
1t is pretty evident from such pas
'ages, first, that Marcus Aurelius did
1ot know whether man is immortal
,r not and, secondly, that he was in
lined to think he was not He was
,qually dark respecting the First /
Great Cause.
There is one light of the sum-" he
says, "though it is distributed over
he wall, mountains and other things
infinite. There is one common sub
stance, though distributed among
bodies which have their sew
,ral qualities. There is one soul,
hough it is distributed among infini-
C natures and individuals. There is
me intelligent soul, though it seems
o be divided"
Again he says, "To those who ask,
where hast thou seen the gods, or
low dost thou comprehend that they
'xist, and so worshipest them2 IL
lnswer that neither have l seen my
'wn soul, and yet Z honor it. Thus
hen with respect to the gods; from
What 1 constantly experience of their
,ower, comprehendrthat they exist
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