And
if this is often a cause of disturbance among the meaner sort, how
much more among high-spirited warriors? But that the persons whom he
makes rulers must be the same is evident; for the gold which the God
mingles in the souls of men is not at one time given to one, at
another time to another, but always to the same: as he says, 'God
mingles gold in some, and silver in others, from their very birth; but
brass and iron in those who are meant to be artisans and
husbandmen.' Again, he deprives the guardians even of happiness, and
says that the legislator ought to make the whole state happy. But
the whole cannot be happy unless most, or all, or some of its parts
enjoy happiness. In this respect happiness is not like the even
principle in numbers, which may exist only in the whole, but in
neither of the parts; not so happiness. And if the guardians are not
happy, who are? Surely not the artisans, or the common people. The
Republic of which Socrates discourses has all these difficulties,
and others quite as great.
VI
The same, or nearly the same, objections apply to Plato's later
work, the Laws, and therefore we had better examine briefly the
constitution which is therein described. In the Republic, Socrates has
definitely settled in all a few questions only; such as the
community of women and children, the community of property, and the
constitution of the state.
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