-marriage of dispositions adapted to
supply the defects of each other. As in the Republic, Plato has observed
that there are opposite natures in the world, the strong and the gentle,
the courageous and the temperate, which, borrowing an expression derived
from the image of weaving, he calls the warp and the woof of human
society. To interlace these is the crowning achievement of political
science. In the Protagoras, Socrates was maintaining that there was only
one virtue, and not many: now Plato is inclined to think that there
are not only parallel, but opposite virtues, and seems to see a similar
opposition pervading all art and nature. But he is satisfied with laying
down the principle, and does not inform us by what further steps the
union of opposites is to be effected.

In the loose framework of a single dialogue Plato has thus combined two
distinct subjects--politics and method. Yet they are not so far apart
as they appear: in his own mind there was a secret link of connexion
between them. For the philosopher or dialectician is also the only true
king or statesman. In the execution of his plan Plato has invented or
distinguished several important forms of thought, and made incidentally
many valuable remarks. Questions of interest both in ancient and modern
politics also arise in the course of the dialogue, which may with
advantage be further considered by us:--

a. The imaginary ruler, whether God or man, is above the law, and is a
law to himself and to others. Among the Greeks as among the Jews, law
was a sacred name, the gift of God, the bond of states. But in the
Statesman of Plato, as in the New Testament, the word has also become
the symbol of an imperfect good, which is almost an evil. The law
sacrifices the individual to the universal, and is the tyranny of the
many over the few (compare Republic). It has fixed rules which are the
props of order, and will not swerve or bend in extreme cases. It is
the beginning of political society, but there is something higher--an
intelligent ruler, whether God or man, who is able to adapt himself to
the endless varieties of circumstances. Plato is fond of picturing the
advantages which would result from the union of the tyrant who has power
with the legislator who has wisdom: he regards this as the best and
speediest way of reforming mankind. But institutions cannot thus be
artificially created, nor can the external authority of a ruler impose
laws for which a nation is