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3. Towards the close of the Republic, Plato seems to be more and

more convinced of the ideal character of his own speculations. At

the end of the 9th Book the pattern which is in heaven takes the

place of the city of philosophers on earth. The vision which has

received form and substance at his hands, is now discovered to be

at a distance. And yet this distant kingdom is also the rule of

man's life. ('Say not lo! here, or lo! there, for the kingdom of

God is within you.') Thus a note is struck which prepares for the

revelation of a future life in the following Book. But the future

life is present still; the ideal of politics is to be realized in

the individual.