Evening star., 1925-06-29
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

says, 1t will not be anything to us. and
| he continues:
| But IL death is the journey to an
other place, and there, as mon say,
all the dead are, what good, 0, my
friends and Judges, can be greater than
this? If. indeed. when the pilgrim ar
| riVes In the world below, he is de-
| livered from the professors Of justice
in this world and finds the true
| judges that pilgrimage will be
worth making.
What would not a man give If he
| might converse with Orpheus and
Musaeus and Hesiod and Homer? Nay,
If this be true, let me die again and
again. l, too. shall have wonderful
| interest in Il place where I can con-
verse with Palamedes, and Ajax, the
son of lebanon, and other heroes Of
| old, who have suffered death through
| an unjust judgment; and there will
be no small pleasure, as l think, In
comparing my own sufferings with
| theirs.
above all, shall be able to con.
tinue my search into true and false
knowledge; as in this world. so also
| in that; ! shall find out who Is wise,
and who pretends to be wise, and is
not. Besides being happier in that
| world than in this, they will be i'm
Wherefore, o judges, be of good
cheer about death, and know this of
| a. truth--that no evil can happen to
| d good man, either in life or after
death. He and his are not neglected
by the gods, nor has my own ap-
| preaching end happened by mere
chance. But ] see clearly that to die
and be released was better for me,
and, therefore, the oracle gave no
sign. For which reason, also, 1 am
not angry with my accusers or my
condemners; they have done me no
harm. although neither of them
meant to do me any good, and for this
| may gently blame them I"
The hour Of departure has arrived,
| and we go our ways-I to die, and
you TO live. Which is better. God
| only knows
The last moments of this strange,
great character are described by
Plato in his 'Phaedo," as follows:
When he came out and sat down
with us again after his bath, but not
much was said. Soon the jailer who
| was the servant of the Eleven, enter
ed and stood by him, saying: To you,
Socrates, whom ! know to be the
noblest and gentlest and best Of all
| who ever came to this place, I will
not impute the angry feelings of other
| men, who rage and swear at me
when. in obedience to the authorities,
| bid them drink the poison-indeed,
am sure that you will not be angry
with me, for others, as you are aware,
and not /. are the guilty cause And
| so, fare-youwell, and try to bear
| lightly what needs must be; you know
| my errand.'
Then bursting into tears he turned
away and went out. Socrates looked
at him and said: L return your good
| wishes and will do as you bid Then
turning to us. he said: How charming
the man is But we must do
as he says. Critic, let the cup be
| brought"
Socrates asked the jailer If he might
make a libation out of the cup Of hem
| lock, and said: Il must pray to the
| gods TO prosper my journey from this
! 10 that other world-may this, then,
/ which Is my prayer, be granted"
Then holding the cup to his lips,
quite readily and cheerfully he drank
off the poison" says Plato, adding
that no sooner did his bosom friends
| see this. than they broke into weep
| ing. g.-one uttering "a loud cry which
made towards of us ALL
What is this strange outcry?" asked
Socrates. II have heard that a man
should die in peace
''Such was the end" says Plato, "of
our friend, who I may truly call the
| wisest, and justest, and best Of all
men whom 1 have ever known"