thought, controlling their conception of the universe, and
doing this almost unconsciously; the former, by an analysis of thought,
succeeded in defining and formulating the ideas and laws which
necessitate the cognition of a God. The function of philosophy is simply
to transform alethes doxa into itisteme--right opinion into science,--to
elucidate and logically present the immanent thought which lies in the
universal consciousness of man.

That the possession of the idea of God is essential to the social and
moral elevation of man,--that is, to the civilization of our race, is
most cheerfully conceded. That humanity has an end and destination which
can only be secured by the true knowledge of God, and by a participation
of the nature of God, is equally the doctrine of Plato and of Christ.
Now, if humanity has a special end and destination, it must have some
instinctive tendings, some spermatic ideas, some original forces or
laws, which determine it towards that end. All development supposes some
original elements to be unfolded or developed. Civilization is but the
development of humanity according to its primal idea and law, and under
the best exterior conditions. That the original elements of humanity
were unfolded in some noble degree under the influence of philosophy is
clear from the history of Greece; there the most favorable natural
conditions for that development existed, and Christianity alone was
needed to crown the result with ideal perfection.]

[Footnote 39: Max Muller, "Science of Language," p. 404, 2d series.]

Here the most perfect ideals of beauty and excellence in physical
development, in manners, in plastic art, in literary creations, were
realized. The songs of Homer, the dialogues of Plato, the speeches of
Demosthenes, and the statues of Phidias, if not unrivalled, are at least
unsurpassed by any thing that has been achieved by their successors.
Literature in its most flourishing periods has rekindled its torch at
her altars, and art has looked back to the age of Pericles for her
purest models. Here the ideas of personal liberty, of individual rights,
of freedom in thought and action, had a wonderful expansion. Here the
lasting foundations of the principal arts and sciences were laid, and in
some of them triumphs were achieved which have not been eclipsed. Here
the sun of human reason attained a meridian splendor, and illuminated
every field in the domain of moral truth. And here humanity reached