'immortal drunkenness;' while they doom the unjust to fill sieves and languish in a swamp through all eternity.
"Others, again, strike out a different line, and will tell you how narrow and difficult is the way of virtue, and how broad and pleasant is the path of vice; and they affirm, too, that the gods bestow prosperity on the wicked and adversity on the good. And lastly, there is a doctrine of indulgences preached by mendicant prophets, who profess to have power to absolve the rich man from his sins, in this world and the next, by spells and mystic rites; and they quote the poets to prove that vice and atonement are equally easy.
"What is a young man to do amidst all this conflicting advice? Shall he make Justice 'his strong tower of defence,' as Pindar says; or shall he fence his character with the appearance of virtue, and so by fair means or foul obtain that happiness which is the end of life? The gods—if at least there are gods, and if they care for men's affairs—can easily be wrought upon by prayer and sacrifice; and we need have no fear of Hades so long as we perform the mystic rites. And so, if he combines injustice with the semblance of justice, he will reap all the advantages of both, and will fare well in both worlds.
"The blame of all this evil rests with our poets and teachers, who have always dwelt on the glories and rewards following on a just life, but have never adequately discussed what Justice and Injustice really are. Could we see them as they are, we should choose the one as the greatest good, and shun the other as the
