New-York tribune., 1871-03-31


tion IN the connections which they are supposed TO
farm. The whole world Of poetry and fancy which
tho nassion of love has called forth In modern nera-
tn,e would have been banished by Plato. Ills ar
ranQements of marriage aimed oniy NJ the
improvement of the race, with view
70 great development both OF bodily
and mental uaities in successive generations
"Nor is Plato wrong in asserting that family at
tacbments may interfere with higher aims. If there
have been those who to party gave up what was
meant for mankind, there have certainly been those
who to family gave up what was meant for mankind
ar for their county The cares Of children, the
necessity of procuring money for their support, the
batteries of the rich by the poor the exclusiveness
of caste the pride of birth wealth, the tendency
of family life to divert men from the pursuit of the
ideal or the heroic lowering in our own age as
in that of Plato. And if prefer to look at the
gentle influences Of home. the development of the
affections the amenities of society, the devotion OF
one member of family for the good of the Others
which form side Of the picture, we must not
quarrel with him, perhaps ought rather to be
grateful to him. for having presented to us the re-
verse. Without attempting To defend Plato on
grounds Of morality, we may allow that his concep
ton of the relation Of the takes rank among
the great original thoughts of'mankind."
1t may be supposed by many readers that the ig-
noTance Of the ancients concerning physical science
in which Plato shared in common with his cotem-
poraries renders bis specuatons of no value at the
present day. and makes the translation of his works
an elegant luxury, at most, if not an mpertinence
He certainly had no knowledge of the first princi-
pies of human physiology. In this department his
teachings compared with those of the brilliant ex-
perimentists of our own day were but as the lisp
ings of a child. He had distinct conceptions
of the nature and functions of the organs OF sense
or the processes Of sensation and perception. In
this line he might 10 advantage have sat at the feet
of Dr. Carpenter OF Professor Huxley or own dis
tinguished cOuntrymen Draper and Dalton Still
he seems TO have had wonderful presentiment
of some of the great scientific ideas which so sig
nay illustrate the present age. With him, the be-
ginning and foundation Of science was continuity
and development which also the latest words OF
modern philosophy He cherished a strong persua-
sion of the unity of the world. believing that all
the various existences which containedin 1t are
only the transformations of the same soul of the
world acting on the same matter" He would have
accepted the doctrine that all things are formed out
of the original prooplasm by the gradual process OF
creation but would have insisted that they involved
the necessity of prior Omnipotent Intelligence.
But the claims of Plato to the study and admira-
tion Of thoughtful inquirers in this age OF expert
ment and analysis repose on his profound exposition
of the ideas which he beyond tDe doihaih oi
physical research which no process Of anatomy
or chemistry can detect and which are revealed
only in the universal consciousness of humanity.
No dissection Of the BRAIN tracing of the subtle
threads of nervous action no demonstration OF the
exquisite enginery of the heart, or the marvellous
courses of the blood throws the fanest light on the
principle of Justice the sentiment of love- the obli-
cations of duty. the aspirations OF reverence, or III
one word on the mystic Trinity of philosophy, the
True, the Beautiful, and the Good OF this sublime
evangel, Plato was the consecTated apostle. Ills
message still finds an echo in the soul of the ages.
His words Of sweetness and light" of moral beauty
and intellectual grace, lovely in their transparent
candor, acute and yet so gentle, 80 mastery in
logic and yet so tender in emotion, will never lose
their significance and power, until sensation has
taken the place of ideas in the consciousness OF
man.