As Socrates considered virtue and piety as the two grand pillars of a State, and was fully persuaded that all other qualifications whatever, without the knowledge and practice of these, would, instead of enabling men to do good, serve, on the contrary, to render them more wicked and more capable of doing mischief.  For that reason he never pressed his friends to enter into any public office until he had first instructed them in their duty to God and mankind.  But, above all, he endeavoured to instil into their minds pious sentiments of the Deity, frequently displaying before them high and noble descriptions of the Divine power, wisdom, and goodness.  But seeing several have already written what they had heard him say in divers occasions upon this subject, I will content myself with relating some things which he said to Euthydemus when I myself was present.

“Have you never reflected, Euthydemus, on the great goodness of the Deity in giving to men whatever they want?” “Indeed, I never have,” answered he.  “You see,” replied Socrates, “how very necessary light is for us, and how the gods give it us.”  “You say true,” answered Euthydemus, “and without light we should be like the blind.”  “But because we have need of repose they have given us the night to rest in; the night, which, of all times, is the fittest for repose.”  “You are in the right,” said Euthydemus, “and we ought to render them many praises for it.”  “Moreover,” continued Socrates, “as the sun is a luminous body, and by the brightness of his beams discovers to us all visible things, and shows us the hours of the day; and as, on the contrary, the night is dusky and obscure, they have made the stars to appear, which, during the absence of the day, mark the hours to us, by which means we can do many things we have occasion for.  They have likewise made the moon to shine, which not only shows us the hours of the night, but teaches us to know the time of the month.”  “All this is true,” said Euthydemus.  “Have you not taken notice likewise that having need of nourishment, they supply us with it by the means of the earth?  How excellently the seasons are ordered for the fruits of the earth, of which we have such an abundance, and so great a variety, that we find, not only wherewith to supply our real wants but to satisfy even luxury itself.”  “This goodness of the gods,” cried Euthydemus, “is an evidence of the great love they bear to men.”  “What say you,” continued Socrates, “to their having given us water, which is so necessary for all things?  For it is that which assists the earth to produce the fruits, and that contributes, with the influences from above, to bring them to maturity; it helps to nourish us, and by being mingled with what we eat, makes it more easily got ready, more useful, and more delightful; in short, being of so universal an use, is it not an admirable providence that has made it so common?  What say you to their having given us fire, which defends us from cold, which lights us