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beauty。 The historian regards it as the rational principle of all
true history； and no more。 To the other it comes as an all…
pervading and mystic enthusiasm； 'like the desire of strong wine；
the craving of ambition； the passionate love of what is beautiful。'
Still； though we miss in the historian those higher and more
spiritual qualities which the philosopher of the Academe alone of
all men possessed； we must not blind ourselves to the merits of
that great rationalist who seems to have anticipated the very
latest words of modern science。 Nor yet is he to be regarded
merely in the narrow light in which he is estimated by most modern
critics； as the explicit champion of rationalism and nothing more。
For he is connected with another idea； the course of which is as
the course of that great river of his native Arcadia which；
springing from some arid and sun…bleached rock； gathers strength
and beauty as it flows till it reaches the asphodel meadows of
Olympia and the light and laughter of Ionian waters。
For in him we can discern the first notes of that great cult of the
seven…hilled city which made Virgil write his epic and Livy his
history； which found in Dante its highest exponent； which dreamed
of an Empire where the Emperor would care for the bodies and the
Pope for the souls of men； and so has passed into the conception of
God's spiritual empire and the universal brotherhood of man and
widened into the huge ocean of universal thought as the Peneus
loses itself in the sea。
Polybius is the last scientific historian of Greece。 The writer
who seems fittingly to complete the progress of thought is a writer
of biographies only。 I will not here touch on Plutarch's
employment of the inductive method as shown in his constant use of
inscription and statue； of public document and building and the
like； because it involves no new method。 It is his attitude
towards miracles of which I desire to treat。
Plutarch is philosophic enough to see that in the sense of a
violation of the laws of nature a miracle is impossible。 It is
absurd； he says； to imagine that the statue of a saint can speak；
and that an inanimate object not possessing the vocal organs should
be able to utter an articulate sound。 Upon the other hand； he
protests against science imagining that； by explaining the natural
causes of things； it has explained away their transcendental
meaning。 'When the tears on the cheek of some holy statue have
been analysed into the moisture which certain temperatures produce
on wood and marble； it yet by no means follows that they were not a
sign of grief and mourning set there by God Himself。' When Lampon
saw in the prodigy of the one…horned ram the omen of the supreme
rule of Pericles； and when Anaxagoras showed that the abnormal
development was the rational resultant of the peculiar formation of
the skull； the dreamer and the man of science were both right； it
was the business of the latter to consider how the prodigy came
about； of the former to show why it was so formed and what it so
portended。 The progression of thought is exemplified in all
particulars。 Herodotus had a glimmering sense of the impossibility
of a violation of nature。 Thucydides ignored the supernatural。
Polybius rationalised it。 Plutarch raises it to its mystical
heights again； though he bases it on law。 In a word； Plutarch felt
that while science brings the supernatural down to the natural； yet
ultimately all that is natural is really supernatural。 To him； as
to many of our own day； religion was that transcendental attitude
of the mind which； contemplating a world resting on inviolable law；
is yet comforted and seeks to worship God not in the violation but
in the fulfilment of nature。
It may seem paradoxical to quote in connection with the priest of
Chaeronea such a pure rationalist as Mr。 Herbert Spencer； yet when
we read as the last message of modern science that 'when the
equation of life has been reduced to its lowest terms the symbols
are symbols still；' mere signs； that is； of that unknown reality
which underlies all matter and all spirit； we may feel how over the
wide strait of centuries thought calls to thought and how Plutarch
has a higher position than is usually claimed for him in the
progress of the Greek intellect。
And； indeed； it seems that not merely the importance of Plutarch
himself but also that of the land of his birth in the evolution of
Greek civilisation has been passed over by modern critics。 To us；
indeed； the bare rock to which the Parthenon serves as a crown； and
which lies between Colonus and Attica's violet hills； will always
be the holiest spot in the land of Greece： and Delphi will come
next； and then the meadows of Eurotas where that noble people lived
who represented in Hellenic thought the reaction of the law of duty
against the law of beauty； the opposition of conduct to culture。
Yet； as one stands on the ＇Greek text which cannot be reproduced＇
of Cithaeron and looks out on the great double plain of Boeotia；
the enormous importance of the division of Hellas comes to one's
mind with great force。 To the north are Orchomenus and the Minyan
treasure…house； seat of those merchant princes of Phoenicia who
brought to Greece the knowledge of letters and the art of working
in gold。 Thebes is at our feet with the gloom of the terrible
legends of Greek tragedy still lingering about it； the birthplace
of Pindar； the nurse of Epaminondas and the Sacred Band。
And from out of the plain where 'Mars loved to dance；' rises the
Muses' haunt； Helicon； by whose silver streams Corinna and Hesiod
sang； while far away under the white aegis of those snow…capped
mountains lies Chaeronea and the Lion plain where with vain
chivalry the Greeks strove to check Macedon first and afterwards
Rome； Chaeronea； where in the Martinmas summer of Greek
civilisation Plutarch rose from the drear waste of a dying religion
as the aftermath rises when the mowers think they have left the
field bare。
Greek philosophy began and ended in scepticism： the first and the
last word of Greek history was Faith。
Splendid thus in its death； like winter sunsets； the Greek religion
passed away into the horror of night。 For the Cimmerian darkness
was at hand； and when the schools of Athens were closed and the
statue of Athena broken； the Greek spirit passed from the gods and
the history of its own land to the subtleties of defining the
doctrine of the Trinity and the mystical attempts to bring Plato
into harmony with Christ and to reconcile Gethsemane and the Sermon
on the Mount with the Athenian prison and the discussion in the
woods of Colonus。 The Greek spirit slept for wellnigh a thousand
years。 When it woke again； like Antaeus it had gathered strength
from the earth where it lay； like Apollo it had lost none of its
divinity through its long servitude。
In the history of Roman thought we nowhere find any of those
characteristics of the Greek Illumination which I have pointed out
are the necessary concomitants of the rise of historical criticism。
The conservative respect for tradition which made the Roman people
delight in the ritual and formulas of law； and is as apparent in
their politics as in their religion； was fatal to any rise of that
spirit of revolt against authority the importance of which； as a
factor in intellectual progress； we have already seen。
The whitened tables of the Pontifices preserved carefully the
records of the eclipses and other atmospherical phenomena； and what
we call the art of verifying dates was known to them at an early
time； but there was no spontaneous rise of physical science to
suggest by its analogies of law and order a new method of research；
nor any natural springing up of the questioning spirit of
philosophy with its unification of all phenomena and all knowledge。
At the very time when the whole tide of Eastern superstition was