Page:The religion of Plutarch, a pagan creed of apostolic times; an essay (IA religionofplutar00oakeiala).pdf/84

 oligarchy, he does not conceal the licentiousness which society harboured beneath the sway of the later Optimates, and he turns mostly to Cato as the type which he would fain accept as representative of the true Roman patrician:—

"Nam cui crediderim Superos arcana daturos Dicturosque magis quam sancto vera Catoni?"

The noble lines in which Cato refuses to consult the Libyan oracle—Non exploratum populis Ammona relinquens—are well known, and express a highly ethical view of the divine administration of the world:—

"Hæremus cuncti superis, temploque tacente Nil facimus non sponte Dei: nec vocibus ullis Numen agit: dixitque semel nascentibus auctor Quicquid scire licet: steriles nec legit arenas Ut caneret paucis, mersitque hoc pulvere verum. Estne Dei sedes nisi terra et pontus et aer Et cælum et virtus? Superos quid quærimus ultra? Juppiter est quodcunque vides quocunque moveris."

His biting sarcasms on those who exercise the art of Magic are conceived in the same spirit of lofty reverence for the Divine Nature, and he would fain believe