d he unworthily and meanly enslave
himself to the attractions of one form in love, nor one subject of
discipline or science, but would turn towards the wide ocean of
intellectual beauty, and from the sight of the lovely and majestic
forms which it contains, would abundantly bring forth his conceptions
in philosophy; until, strengthened and confirmed, he should at length
steadily contemplate one science which is the science of this
universal beauty.

[Illustration: FROM ANCIENT SCULPTURING.]

"Attempt, I entreat you, to mark what I say with as keen an
observation as you can. He who has been disciplined to this point in
love, by contemplating beautiful objects gradually, and in their
order, now arriving at the end of all that concerns love, on a sudden
beholds a beauty wonderful in its nature. This is it, O Socrates, for
the sake of which all the former labors were endured. It is eternal,
unproduced, indestructible; neither subject to increase nor decay;
not, like other things, partly beautiful and partly deformed; not at
one time beautiful and at another time not; not beautiful in relation
to one thing and deformed in relation to another; not here beautiful
and there deformed; not beautiful in the estimation of one person and
deformed in that of another; nor can this supreme beauty be figured to
the imagination like a beautiful face, or beautiful hands, or any
portion of the body, nor like any discourse, nor any science. Nor does
it subsist in any other that lives or is, either in earth, or in
heaven, or in any other place; but it is eternally uniform and
consistent, and monoeidic with itself. All other things are beautiful
through a participation of it, with this condition, that although they
are subject to production and decay, it never becomes more or less, or
endures any change. When any one, ascending from a correct system of
love, begins to contemplate this supreme beauty, he already touches
the consummation of his labor. For such as discipline themselves upon
this system, or are conducted by another beginning to ascend through
these transitory objects which are beautiful, towards that which is
beauty itself, proceeding as on steps from the love of one form to
that of two, and from that of two, to that of all forms which are
beautiful; and from beautiful forms to beautiful habits and
institutions, and from institutions to beautiful doctrines; until,
from the meditation of many doctrines, they arrive at that w