young men and maidens with one another,' or the
soothing remonstrance which is addressed to the dying man respecting his
right to do what he will with his own, or the fine description of the
burial of the dead. The subject of religion in Book X is introduced as
a prelude to offences against the Gods, and this portion of the work
appears to be executed in Plato's best manner.

In the last four books, several questions occur for consideration: among
them are (I) the detection and punishment of offences; (II) the nature
of the voluntary and involuntary; (III) the arguments against atheism,
and against the opinion that the Gods have no care of human affairs;
(IV) the remarks upon retail trade; (V) the institution of the Nocturnal
Council.

I. A weak point in the Laws of Plato is the amount of inquisition into
private life which is to be made by the rulers. The magistrate is
always watching and waylaying the citizens. He is constantly to receive
information against improprieties of life. Plato does not seem to be
aware that espionage can only have a negative effect. He has not yet
discovered the boundary line which parts the domain of law from that of
morality or social life. Men will not tell of one another; nor will
he ever be the most honoured citizen, who gives the most frequent
information about offenders to the magistrates.

As in some writers of fiction, so also in philosophers, we may observe
the effect of age. Plato becomes more conservative as he grows older,
and he would govern the world entirely by men like himself, who are
above fifty years of age; for in them he hopes to find a principle of
stability. He does not remark that, in destroying the freedom he is
destroying also the life of the State. In reducing all the citizens to
rule and measure, he would have been depriving the Magnesian colony of
those great men 'whose acquaintance is beyond all price;' and he would
have found that in the worst-governed Hellenic State, there was more of
a carriere ouverte for extraordinary genius and virtue than in his own.

Plato has an evident dislike of the Athenian dicasteries; he prefers a
few judges who take a leading part in the conduct of trials to a great
number who only listen in silence. He allows of two appeals--in each
case however with an increase of the penalty. Modern jurists would
disapprove of the redress of injustice being purchased only at an
increasing risk; though indirectly the burden of legal expenses