to us of atoning for evil, and not of avoiding it. From legislators who
profess to be gentle we ask for instruction, which may, at least, have
the persuasive power of truth, if no other.' What have you to say?
'Well, there is no difficulty in proving the being of the Gods. The sun,
and earth, and stars, moving in their courses, the recurring seasons,
furnish proofs of their existence; and there is the general opinion
of mankind.' I fear that the unbelievers--not that I care for their
opinion--will despise us. You are not aware that their impiety proceeds,
not from sensuality, but from ignorance taking the garb of wisdom. 'What
do you mean?' At Athens there are tales current both in prose and verse
of a kind which are not tolerated in a well-regulated state like yours.
The oldest of them relate the origin of the world, and the birth and
life of the Gods. These narratives have a bad influence on family
relations; but as they are old we will let them pass, and consider
another kind of tales, invented by the wisdom of a younger generation,
who, if any one argues for the existence of the Gods and claims that the
stars have a divine being, insist that these are mere earth and stones,
which can have no care of human things, and that all theology is a
cooking up of words. Now what course ought we to take? Shall we suppose
some impious man to charge us with assuming the existence of the Gods,
and make a defence? Or shall we leave the preamble and go on to the
laws? 'There is no hurry, and we have often said that the shorter and
worse method should not be preferred to the longer and better. The proof
that there are Gods who are good, and the friends of justice, is the
best preamble of all our laws.' Come, let us talk with the impious, who
have been brought up from their infancy in the belief of religion, and
have heard their own fathers and mothers praying for them and talking
with the Gods as if they were absolutely convinced of their existence;
who have seen mankind prostrate in prayer at the rising and setting of
the sun and moon and at every turn of fortune, and have dared to despise
and disbelieve all this. Can we keep our temper with them, when they
compel us to argue on such a theme? We must; or like them we shall go
mad, though with more reason. Let us select one of them and address him
as follows: