shameless in personality. But justice is the fundamental virtue of
political society, since the order of Society cannot be maintained
without law, and laws are constituted to proclaim what is just." Let us
add to this noble passage, Aristotle remarks in his "Ethics" (lib. x. c.
8), that a higher destination than political virtue is the true end of
man. In this respect, he concurs with Plato; who teaches us in his
"Theaetetus," the main object of human pursuit ought to be "omoiosis to
theo kata to dunaton," etc. etc.; i.e. "A similitude unto God as far as
possible; which similitude consists in an imitation of His justice,
holiness, and wisdom." To conclude: the noblest end of all Policy on
earth, is to educate Human Nature for that august "politeuma" (Phil.
iii. v. 20), that Eternal Commonwealth which awaits perfected Spirits
above, when, through infinite grace, they are finally admitted into a
"CITY which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." (Heb. xi.
10.) (The dim approximations of Platonic philosophy to certain
discoveries in Divine Revelation, have rightly challenged the attention
of theological enquirers. The above quotation from St. Paul suggests a
reference to one of these, which occurs towards the termination of
Plato's ninth book of "The Republic." He is uttering a protest against
our concluding, that because degeneracy appears to be the invariable law
or destiny of all human commonwealths, THEREFORE, no Archetypal Model
exists of any perfect state, or polity: and then, in opposition to this
political scepticism, Plato adds these remarkable words:--"en ourano
isos paradeigma anakeitai to boulomeno oran kai oronti eauton
katoikizein," etc. etc.--"The state we have here established, which
exists only in our reasoning, but it seems to me, HAS NO EXISTENCE ON
EARTH. BUT IN HEAVEN, PROBABLY, I REPLIED, THERE IS A MODEL OF IT FOR
ANY ONE INCLINED TO CONTEMPLATE THE SAME, AND BY SO CONTEMPLATING IT, TO
REGULATE HIMSELF ACCORDINGLY.")