De Ebrietate

and they were instructed by right reason, their father, to honour the Father of the universe, and not to neglect the customs and laws established by education, their mother, and considered by all men to be founded in justice.

When, therefore, Jacob, the practiser of virtue, and the man who entered into the lists of, and was a candidate for, the prizes of virtue, was inclined to give his ears in exchange for his eyes, and words for actions, and improvements for perfection, as the bounteous God was willing to give eyes to his mind, in order that he might for the future clearly see

and what can be more perfect among all the virtues than the sight of the only living God? Accordingly he who hath seen this good thing is confessed to be good by both his parents, having attained to strength in God and power both before the Lord and before men.

And it appears to me to be very well said in the book of Proverbs, "Men who see what is right before God and before men." [*]( Proverbs iii. 4. ) Since it is by the aid of both these that men attain to the complete possession of good. For when you have been taught to observe the laws of your Father, [*](Proverbs iv. 3. ) and not to disregard the injunctions of your mother, you will be able to say with confidence and pride, "For I also was born a son, subject to my father, and beloved before the face of my "mother." But, I should say to this man, were you not fated to be loved, if you kept the laws established among mortals out of a desire for fellowship, and if you paid due respect to the ordinances of the uncreate God out of a love for, and a desire to exhibit piety?

Therefore Moses, the divine prophet of God, in his description of the building of the temple, shows the perfection of the temple in both points; for it is not without due consideration for us that he covers the ark both within and without with gold, or that he gives two robes to the chief priest, or that he builds two altars, one outside the tabernacle for the victims, and the other inside for the burning incense; but he does this, wishing by these emblems to exhibit the virtues of each species;

for it is fitting that the wise man should be adorned both with the invisible excellences existing within in the soul, and also with those external ones which are outwardly visible, and with prudence which is more valuable than gold. And whenever it departs from human studies, worshipping [*](Genesis xxxii. 28.) [*]( Proverbs iii. 4. ) [*](Proverbs iv. 3. )

and he will appear in the outer conspicuous altar of life to exercise abundant prudence with respect to the skin, and flesh, and blood, and everything relating to the body, in order not to offend the common multitude which gives the second place in honour to the good things of the body in close proximity to the good things of the soul; and at the inner altar he will use bloodless, fleshless, incorporeal things, things proceeding from reasoning alone, which are compared to frankincense and other burnt spices; for as these fill the nostrils, so do those fill the whole region of the soul with fragrance.

We must also not be ignorant that wisdom, being the art of arts, appears to vary according to its different materials, but it shows its true species without alteration to those who have acute sight, and who are not carried away by the burden of the body with which they are surrounded: but who see the impression which is stamped upon it by art itself.

They say that Phidias, the celebrated statuary, made statues of brass, and of ivory, and of gold, and of other different materials, and that in all these works he displayed one and the same art, so that not only good judges, but even those who had no pretensions to the title, recognized the artist from his works.

For, as in the case of twins, nature having often employed the same character, has produced similitudes very slightly indeed differing from one another; in the same manner perfect art, being the imitation and copy of nature, when it has taken different materials, fashions and stamps the same appearance on all, so that the works produced by her are in the highest possible degree kindred, and brother-like, and twins.

And the power which exists in the wise man will show the same result: for when it is occupied with the affairs of the living God it is called piety and holiness: but when it

For all these different powers the wise man of many names and many celebrities does truly contain within himself, namely, piety, holiness, natural philosophy, meteorology, moral philosophy, political knowledge, economy, royal power, legislative wisdom, and innumerable other faculties; and in every one of them he will be seen to wear one and the same appearance.

But now that we have discussed the four different classes of children, we must beware not to overlook this, which may be the most excellent proof of this partition and division of the chapter; for when a child is elated and puffed up by folly, his parents accuse him in this manner, saying, "This is our son," [*](Deuteronomy xxi. 19. ) pointing to the disobedient and stiff-necked youth;

for by the demonstration "this," they show that they have other sons likewise, some of whom obey one of them, and others of whom obey them both, being well-disposed reasonings, of whom Reuben is an example; others again, who are fond of hearing and learning, of whom Simeon is a specimen, for his name, being interpreted, means "hearing;" others, people who fly to and become suppliants of God, this is the company of the Levites; others singing a song of gratitude, not so much with a loud voice as with the mind, of whom Judah is the leader; others, who have been thought worthy of rewards and presents, on account of their voluntary acquisition of [*](Deuteronomy xxi. 19. )

Very naturally, therefore, the sacred law commands the disobedient and contentious man—who brings contributions of evil, that is to say, who joins together and heaps up sin upon sin, great crimes on little ones, fresh guilt upon ancient, intentional upon involuntary misdeeds; and who, like a person inflamed by wine, is always intoxicated and drunk, and raging with ceaseless and unrestrained drunkenness, during the whole of his life—to be stoned; because he has drunk of the unmixed and abundant cup of folly, and because he has destroyed the injunctions of right reason, his father, and the legitimate expositions of his mother’s instruction. And though he had an example of excellence and virtue in his brothers, who were approved of by his parents, he did not imitate their virtue, but, on the contrary, he thought fit to go to an additional length in his transgressions, so as to make a god of the body, and to make a god of Typhus, who is especially honoured among the Egyptians, the emblem of whom was the figure of a golden bull; around which his mad worshippers establish dances, and sing, and prelude, not with such melodies as are redolent of wine and revelry, like the sweet songs sung at feasts and entertainments, but a really melancholy and mournful lamentation, like men intoxicated, who have relaxed and quite destroyed the tone and energy of the soul.

For it is said, that when Joshua heard the people crying out he said to Moses, "There is the sound of war in the camp. And he said, It is not the voice of men beginning to exert themselves in battle, nor is it the voice of men betaking themselves to flight, but it is the voice of men beginning revelry and drunkenness that I hear: and when he came near to the camp he saw the calf and the dances." [*](Exodus xxxii. 17. ) And the enigmatical meaning, which is concealed under these figurative expressions, we will explain to the best of our ability. [*](Exodus xxxii. 17. )

Our own affairs are at one time in a state of tranquillity, and at another they behave as it were with unseasonable impetuosity and loud cries; and their tranquillity is profound peace, and their condition, when in an opposite state, is interminable war;

and the witness to this fact is one who has experienced its truth, and who cannot lie; for having heard the voice of the people crying out, he says to the manager and superintendent of the affairs, "There is a sound of war in the tent;" for as long as the irrational impulses were not stirred up, and had not raised any outcry in us, our minds were established with some firmness; but when they began to fill the place of the soul with all sorts of voices and sounds, calling together and awakening the passions, they created a civil sedition and war in the camp.

Very naturally, for where else should there be strife, and battle, and contention, and all the other deeds of interminable war, except in the life according to the body, which he, speaking allegorically, calls the camp? This life the mind is accustomed to leave, when under the influence of God it approaches the living God, contemplating the incorporeal appearances;

"for Moses," says the scripture, "having taken his own tent, fixed it outside the camp," [*](Exodus xxxiii. 7. ) and that too not near it, but a long way off, and at a great distance from the camp. And by these statements he tells us, figuratively, that the wise man is but a sojourner, and a person who leaves war and goes over to peace, and who passes from the mortal and disturbed camp to the undisturbed and peaceful and divine life of rational and happy souls.