ment from sensation, appetite, and desire which thought, his true Being, had already effected even in bringing itself into existence. In his own nature, therefore, there is a law, the law of freedom, which calls upon him to restrain his lower impulses, his greed and his injustice, when these threaten to be-come inordinate; and this law of freedom is no other than the law of moral obligation, and it has its ground in the true nature of man.
40. These points having been explained, it is not difficult to see how happiness and virtue, the sixth point under consideration, are reconciled and united in the system of Socrates. The true nature of man consists in thought, but the essence of thought is freedom; freedom, or disengagement from the bondage of his lower principles and propensities, such as sensation, appetite, and desire. Thus the law of man's true nature is freedom, freedom from thraldom of his lower propensities. But the happiness of every creature is promoted when it obeys the law of its true nature; its happiness is thwarted when it disobeys that law, therefore man's happiness is promoted when he keeps himself disengaged from the sensational affections of his nature, and does not allow them to overmaster him. But this resistance to the promptings of our passions is itself virtue. Therefore the same law, the law of freedom, which determines a man to happiness, to his true and solid
