They do not propose by word or deed to encourage us to remain by the equitable settlement of these questions.

3. From the same source has proceeded a more diplomatic operation to produce a divided sentiment among our friends at the North. Our friends at the North desire re-union. They think the cause of Christianity would be promoted thereby. This is undoubtedly true. So, whenever our Southern brethren meet or correspond with any of our brethren from the North, they say to them, "We, too, want union; but we cannot consent to make any arrangements for it till you restore the property unjustly seized and kept from us. Withdraw all your forces and give us the entire field of the South; then we will begin to talk about re-union." Some of our brethren seem wonderfully taken with this fine talk, and are more than halfinclined to comply with their request. Their object is perfectly consistent with the spirit of this opposition. They want to force our Church to leave the field. In this they will not succeed. The authority of the great commission forbids it; the spirit and progress of the age are against it; the fixed purpose of our Church is opposed to it. Do all these things find their explanation in a cherished hope of yet gaining "the lost cause?"

4. Consider well another fact. The leading men of the South, in and out of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, whose hearts and hands were in the rebellion, have not given up all hopes of yet securing an independent Southern Confederacy. They cannot tell you how it is to be brought about, but they confidently expect it. It may be by sharp political maneuvering, or as the result of another hard-fought war. This idea crops out occasionally in the eloquence of some fiery orator in a public harrangue, who is more noted for zeal than for wisdom. In private circles of select friends, when no hostile ear is presumed to be nigh, this subject is most confidentially talked over. Occasionally the conversation is overheard by ears that learned to listen at windows and doors before the war and during its terrible progress. Their secrets, therefore, are not secrets. While the evidence of this hope in them may not be tangible, so as to be put in proper form for the courts, yet its ethereal essence is sufficiently diffused abroad to produce almost universal belief among the Southern loyalists.

If there is but even a slight probability that an attempt may be made hereafter to revive and to restore the "lost cause," the spirit and influence of a pure Gospel should be earnestly and rapidly diffused throughout the South, that the hearts of the people may be converted to God, and saved from the sin and the fearful consequences of an attempt at another rebellion.

This article has been written entirely in the interests of truth. The writer has expressed only what he sincerely believes to be true. Yet human knowledge at best is imperfect, and its sources may sometimes render it uncertain. If any statement shall prove to be incorrect, the writer will be most happy to make the requisite acknowledgment when convinced of his mistake or error. As far as possible, it is desirable, to "let by-gones be by-gones;" but in presenting these property cases, well-authenticated facts had to be referred to and re-stated, from their vital connections with or important bearings upon the questions. They have been stated, not for the purpose of reflecting upon our brethren of the Church South, but simply for the purpose of putting the cases fairly before an intelligent public. Wherever the Methodist Episcopal Church, or any of its ministers, have done wrong, we have no desire to screen them; but where they have been maligned or misrepresented, we have aimed simply to set them truthfully before the public. As we are all hastening to that tribunal before which all disguises will be stripped off, and where each will be judged and rewarded according to his works, while we deal charitably and kindly we should also deal honestly and truthfully with each other. The truth is mighty and will prevail.

ART. VI.-SOCRATES.

ABOUT the middle of the sixth century before Christ the Grecian States had reached the height of their prosperity and glory. Athens in particular, under the administration of Pericles, stood forth unrivaled in arts, in literature, and in arms. The generation was yet upon the stage that had witnessed and shared in the victories of Marathon and Salamis, the triumph of the Greeks over the veteran myriads of Persia. For forty

years together-from the years 470 to 430 before Christ-Athens enjoyed high and uninterrupted prosperity. Her ships commanded the seas, and poured in upon her the treasures of distant lands; her artists wrought her marble into innumerable forms of beauty and majesty; every species of literature—history, poetry, and eloquence--was cultivated and carried forward to perfection. This was the age of Aristides, Thucydides, Anaxagoras, Eschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Pericles, and, more than all, Socrates.

Socrates was born at Athens in the year 469 before Christ. Here he spent nearly the whole of his life, and here he died in the year 399 before Christ, at the age of seventy. His parents were in humble life, his father, Sophroniscus, being a sculptor, and his mother, Phenarete, a midwife. He was trained to the business of his father, and wrought in marble with his own hands for many years. Some pieces of his statuary are thought to be still extant. He was favored with such an education as the schools of Athens afforded, and early formed an acquaintance with some of the philosophers. He was particularly attached to Archelaus, a follower of Anaxagoras, and studied physics under his direction; but in this branch of science, as it was then taught, he felt no interest, and soon came to despise and reject it. The contradictory hypotheses which he heard presented, and the utter confusion in which it was involved, brought him to the conviction that the gods intended that the machinery by which they brought about astronomical and physical changes should not be known, and that to pry into their secrets was both impious and vain. He thought that "the proper study of mankind was man," and to this he gave his chief attention.

Socrates was unfortunate in his marriage. For her irritable and abusive temper and tongue his wife, Xanthippe, has become a proverb. It must be admitted, however, in excuse for her, that he was not a model husband. He was never at home, and made little or no provision for his family. On his inviting some wealthy persons to take supper with him, his wife complained that they had nothing suitable to be set before them. To this he replied, "If they are worthy people they will be satisfied; and if not, we need care nothing for them." To a friend who inquired why he did not study to improve the temper

of his wife, he said, "I accept her as a needed discipline to prepare me for the management of men, just as those who break horses begin with the most intractable first, after which others can be controlled more easily." After all, it is evident that Xanthippe loved her husband. This is clear from the interest which she felt for him at the last. His tender regard for her appears in his committing her, at parting, to the special care of his friends. Socrates had several children, who survived him. In his personal appearance our philosopher had nothing to recommend him. He had a large, strong-built frame, with a bald head, prominent eyes, flat nose, thick lips, and a belly as protuberant as that of Falstaff. His dress, too, was coarse and threadbare, and in all places and at all times he went barefoot. No wonder that his odd, uncouth appearance exposed him to the ridicule of the thoughtless multitude. His wealthy friends pitied him, and would have assisted him to any amount, but he spurned their offers as superfluous and unnecessary. Alcibiades offered him land on which to build a house, but he declined it. Charmides would have given him slaves, from whose labor he might have derived revenue, but he would not accept them. Passing the shops where articles were sold he would say to himself, "How many things there are of which I have no need!"

Like some other great philosophers, Socrates was often absent-minded. On one occasion, when abroad as a soldier, he is said to have stood a whole day in one spot, with his eyes fixed, absorbed in thought, as though in an entranced condition. This reminds us of Sir Isaac Newton, who, on rising from bed and getting one leg into his trousers, remained in that position for hours. On another occasion, perhaps more wonderful, Newton lost his dinner by his illusory speculations, thinking that he had taken it when he had not.

Socrates never left Athens except on two or three occasions when he was drafted as a soldier. He first entered the ranks at Potidea, just before the commencement of the Peloponnesian war. The service here was one of great hardship. It was in the winter, and the climate was severe. While others were putting on coats and wrapping their feet in wool, Socrates wore his usual coarse garments, and marched barefoot on the ice. It was at this time that he rescued his wounded friend Alcibiades, and bore him in triumph from the field.

Socrates's next military service was at the battle of Delium, in the eighth year of the Peloponnesian war. Here the Athenians were defeated and obliged to retreat. Again Socrates saved Alcibiades and secured his retreat, and that of one of the generals. In the same year we again find him a soldier in Thrace, but of this adventure no particulars are mentioned. Socrates sometimes served his country in the capacity of a civilian. On one occasion he was a member of the Council of Five Hundred, and it devolved on him to preside over their deliberations when the generals who commanded at Arginusæ were brought before them for trial. These generals had done their duty bravely, and gained a splendid victory; but on their return were accused of neglecting the bodies of the dead who perished on the field. Public prejudice was strong against them, and if the question had come to a vote they would have been condemned; but Socrates, who appreciated their merits and knew their innocence, would not put the question. He resisted all the influence which could be brought to bear upon him, and thus saved their lives.

Subsequent to this, when the oligarchy had been established and the thirty tyrants were in power, they had marked out Leon of Salamis for destruction, and so they deputed Socrates and four others to go to Salamis and bring Leon to Athens that he might be slain; but Socrates would have nothing to do with such wickedness. He left the other four to go without him, and Leon was put to death; but Socrates chose rather to hazard his own life than to betray innocent blood. We mention these instances to show his firmness in circumstances which literally "tried men's souls."

Socrates was not altogether free from the superstitions of the age in which he lived. This could not be expected of him. He worshiped the Grecian gods and goddesses, and believed that they interposed continually in the affairs of men. He believed himself to be under the special direction of an invisible genius, commonly called his demon, who did not counsel him what to do, but rather what to avoid. Through the greater part of his life he followed the suggestions of this guardian spirit, and abstained from whatever he was warned to shun. He consulted the heathen oracles, and had confidence in them. It was a response from the shrine at Delphos which led him to renounce