Socrates alone, of all the ancient philosophers, had adopted the belief of a future state of rewards and punishments; and the reason why he arrived at this truth, affords an instructive lesson to the metaphysical preachers of the present day--he confined himself to the study of morality. "What, (says an eminent writer,) could be the cause of his belief, but this restraint, of which his belief was the natural consequence? For, having confined himself to morals, he had nothing to mislead him; whereas, the rest of the philosophers, applying themselves with a kind of fanaticism to physics and metaphysics, had drawn a number of absurd but subtile conclusions, which directly opposed the consequences of those moral arguments."[64] Footnote 64: Warburton. And the great Newton, in reference to this subject, finishes his principles of natural philosophy with these reflections:--"This most elegant frame of things could not have arisen, unless by the contrivance and direction of a wise and powerful being: and if the fixed stars are the centres of systems, these systems must be similar; and all these, constructed according to the same plan, are subject to the government of _one_ Being. All these he governs, _not as the soul of the world_, but as the Lord of all; and therefore, on account of his government, he is called the Lord God; for God is a relative term, and refers to subjects. Deity is God's government, not of his own body, as those think who consider him as the soul of the world, but of his servants. The supreme God is a _Being_, eternal, infinite, and absolutely perfect. But a being, however perfect, without government is not God; for we say my God, your God, the God of Israel. We cannot say my Eternal, my Infinite. We may have some notions, indeed, of his attributes, but can have none of his nature. With respect to bodies, we see only shapes and colour, hear only sounds, touch only surfaces. These are attributes of bodies, but of their essence we know nothing. As a blind man can form no notion of colours, we can form none of the manner in which God perceives, and understands, and influences every thing. "Therefore, we know God only by his attributes. What are these? The wise and excellent contrivance, structure, and final aim of all things. In these his perfections we admire him, and we wonder. In his direction or government, we venerate and worship him--we worship him as his servants; for God without dominion, without providence, and final aims, is _Fate_--not the object either of reverence, of hope, of love, or of fear."