X.
THE STOICS.
“Christian erudition subjects the mind to the government of
God, and the passions to the control of the mind, that they may
be converted to the uses of righteousness. The Stoics are wont
to blame even pity.”
Aug de Civ. Dei. lib. ix. c. 5.
If Plato too ethereal and refin'd,
So Zeno and the Porch were too severe,
Rooting out all affections, hope and fear,
Love, pity, hate; the body and the mind
Asunder rend, which God had once combin'd,
And sanctified in Him Who draws us near.
He came in our own flesh, and this our sphere
Of feelings and affections hath assign'd
To have a place in Christian righteousness;
Pity hath turn'd to love, anger to zeal,
On hopes and fears, which human souls possess,
By recompence eternal sets the seal,
The perfect man restoring from the dust
In the last Resurrection of the Just.
