SYNESIUS

SYNESIUS

771

presided. A citizen of Oyrene, named J^hn, wasaccused by popular rumour of having employedone of his attendants to murder another citizen,named Aemilius. Synesius writes to John, urginghim to insist upon a judicial enquiry. Soonerthan nothing should be done he would, were heat Oyrene, as a proof of the greatness of hisfriendship, bring John to trial himself. As it is,John should, if necessary, beseech and implorethe judge to have his servant examined by tor-ture. In the opinion of Synesius, as of mostRomans, the examination by torture was thesurest means of discovering the truth. “ Thetorturers are exceedingly clever in detectingimposture. They have certain flesh-hooks whichextract the truth as accurately as scientific syl-logisms. Whatever they bring to light is certainlycorrect.” If after this examination John isacquitted all is well, but if on the other handJohn is conscious of guilt, he ought for his ownsake to deliver himself up to justice withoutwaiting to be accused. If he is guilty it is mostdesirable for him that he should sutler for hiscrime while still alive on earth. It is muchbetter to be tortured by men than by daemons.For the daemons are appointed to cleanse thesouls by punishments as fullers clean dirtycloths by carding them. In some cloths thestains are so deeply fixed that the cloth would bedestroyed before they could be got out. But thesoul is immortal, and therefore if its stains are oftoo long standing and too inveterate to be gotout the soul endures immortal sufferings. Whenthen a crime is committed, we should hastenat once to remove its stain by the infliction ofpunishment. Besides, it is highly probable thatthose who have been wronged have the powerin the future state of increasing or diminishingthe punishments inflicted on the wrongdoer.Will they not be most inclined to pity if theysee we have already owned our guilt and volun-tarily submitted to punishment? Will they nothe still more incensed against us if they see usfeasting on the produce of our crimes ? “ What

will be your feelings when you quit the body,when you have no tongue to deny your guilt,but the mark of your crime is branded on you ?Shall you not turn dizzy, bewildered with fear?You will be dragged away in silence and exposedto public view before the judgment seat. Playthe man then now, let the pleasures be de-spised for which crimes are committed, let imme-diate punishment appease the avengers below.The man who remains long unpunished in hiswickedness ought to be considered most unfor-tunate, as one for whom neither God nor mancares.”

In considering Synesius’s philosophical andtheological views, it should always be remem-bered that he repeatedly protests against givingpublicity to those abstruser doctrines which areabove the comprehension of men who have notbeen thoroughly trained in philosophical studies.“ It is, I think, an ancient and thoroughly Pla-tonic custom to conceal the great truths of philo-sophy under the form of some less importantsubject, so that what has been discovered withdifficulty, may neither be lost to mankind nor bedefiled by being exposed to the profane vulgar.”* Philosophy is one of the most ineffable of allineffable subjects.” He reproves his friendHerculian for talking on such subjects with un-

philosophical persons, and will not even discus*them in letters lest the letters should fall intothe hands of people for whom they were notintended. Proteus is the emblem of the truephilosopher eluding vulgar curiosity by con-cealing what is divine under earthly forms, andonly revealing it to the persistent efforts ofheroic men. This desire for secrecy did notarise from any fear of making public professionof opinions contrary to Christianity, but fromthe fear lest the highest truths should be cor-rupted and degraded by those who were unfit toreceive them, a feeling by no means unknown inthe Christian church at that time. h Lysis,the Pythagorean, is quoted by Synesius withgreat approbation, as saying that “the publicitygiven to philosophy has caused many men tolook with contempt upon the Gods.” Doubtlessenough has been plainly stated to enable us toform a sufficiently accurate idea of Synesius’sphilosophical and religious views, but there aresubjects—such as the nature of the Trinity, theconnexion between the old mythology andphilosophy, the reabsorption of the soul, andindeed of all intelligence and existence, into theDivinity, the nature aud origin of matter, thenature and work of the imagination, the scientificarrangement and nomenclature of the virtues—•on which we have not the last word of Hypatia’steaching.

Another of these mysterious subjects is thesubject of divination, which is discussed in atreatise on dreams, from the preface to whichthe passage quoted above is taken. Amid theincreasing difficulties and disasters of the age,and the rapid growth of superstition, the beliefin divination, under some form or other, hadbecome almost universal. Even Theodosius,before commencing an important war, despatchedan embassy to consult a Christian hermit, justas some centuries before a Spartan king wouldhave sent to consult the oracle of Delphi.

Divination, Synesius says, is possible becausethe whole world forms as it were one living beiug.All the different members of this great body aremutually connected so that the action of one infl li-enees the action of the others, and wise men willsee in each thing indications of other things. Thismay perhaps explain the success obtained by theincantations of magicians ; there may be particu-lar stones and plants, so connected by naturewith particular Gods, that they naturally havethe power of attracting them, and causing themto appear. This, however, only refers to theGods of this world ; the Gods beyond this worldare not affected by incantations. The divinationby dreams is superior to any other form of divi-nation, because it can be practised by all persons,of all classes, of all ages, at all times, and in allplaces. It requires no outlay of money forcostly preparations, such as herbs from Crete,birds from Egypt, bones from Iberia, which areneeded in other cases. It does not expose us tothe penalties of that malicious policy which haslately crowded the prisons. Above all it is morereverential to God, as thankfully accepting what

h So Theodoret (quoted by Bingham, vol. i. p. 35)says: “We speak of the divine mysteries in obscurelanguage because of the uninitiated (the unbaptized),but when they are gone we instruct the initiated (bap-tized) plainly.”

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