Strona 175 z 1391

Two virtues remain; temperance and justice. More than the

preceding virtues temperance suggests the idea of harmony. Some

light is thrown upon the nature of this virtue by the popular

description of a man as 'master of himself'-which has an absurd

sound, because the master is also the servant. The expression

really means that the better principle in a man masters the

worse. There are in cities whole classes-women, slaves and the

like-who correspond to the worse, and a few only to the better;

and in our State the former class are held under control by the

latter. Now to which of these classes does temperance belong? 'To

both of them.' And our State if any will be the abode of

temperance; and we were right in describing this virtue as a

harmony which is diffused through the whole, making the dwellers

in the city to be of one mind, and attuning the upper and middle

and lower classes like the strings of an instrument, whether you

suppose them to differ in wisdom, strength or wealth.