How true have the last twenty-three centuries proved these words to be! How many deaths and ruined lives have been accomplished by that same spirit of intolerance! It led the way from Gethsemane to Golgotha. It is responsible for the death of the martyrs in all ages. It lighted the fagots that consumed the bodies of Giordano Bruno and Joan of Arc. Yes, and hundreds of others. How just is the praise with which the Saint Mark of Sokrates ends the _Memorabilia_ of his master: Of those who know what sort of a man Sokrates was, such as are lovers of virtue continue to regret him above all other men even to the present date, as having contributed in the highest degree to their advancement in goodness. To me, being such as I have described him, so pious that he did nothing without the sanction of the gods; so just, that he wronged no man even in the most trifling affair, but was of service in most important matters to those who enjoyed his society; so temperate that he never preferred pleasure to virtue; so wise that he never erred in distinguishing the better from the worse, needing no counsel from others but being sufficient in himself to discriminate between them; and so capable of discovering the character of others, of confuting those who were in error and of exhorting them to virtue and honor, he seemed to be such as the best and happiest of men would be. Then to side with Truth is noble, when we share her wretched crust, Ere her cause bring fame and profit and 'tis prosperous to be just, Then it is the brave man chooses, while the coward stands aside, Doubting in his abject spirit, till his Lord is crucified, And the multitude make virtue of the faith they had denied. Count me o'er earth's chosen heroes--they were souls that stood alone While the men they agonized for, hurled the contumelious stone; Stood serene, and down the future saw the golden beam incline, To the side of perfect justice, mastered by their faith divine.-- They must upward still and onward, who would keep abreast of Truth. Sokrates was early canonized as a Christian Saint, and Professor John Stuart Blackie (1808-1895) "Scotland's greatest Greek scholar," has taken the idea of his Latin refrain in the following poem from a rosary by an early Christian father beginning "Sancte Socrates, ora pro nobis:"--"O, Sainted Socrates, pray for us." O SANCTE SOCRATES, ORA PRO NOBIS! Dear God by wrathful routs How is thy church divided, And how may he that doubts In such turmoil be guided! When weeping I behold How Christian people quarrel, Ofttimes from Heathens old I fetch a saintly moral; And while they fret with rage The sore-distraught community, I look for some Greek sage Who preaches peace and unity. And thus I pray: O Sancte Socrates, ora pro nobis! Let faith and love and joy increase, And reason rule and wrangling cease, Good saint, we pray thee!