[133] Plato’s Republic, I., iv.
[134] Anger is still nobler when provoked by injustice done to others.
[135] Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, IV., v.
[136] Kant, Doctrine de la Vertu, trad. franç., p. 96.
[137] Molière’s Tartufe.
And shall I speak of Iris, loved and praised by all?
Ah! what heart! ah! what heart! humanity itself!
A wounded butterfly calls forth the truest tears!
Ah, yes; but when to death poor Lally is condemned,
And to the block is dragged, a spectacle to all,
Iris will be the first to go to the dread feast,
And buy herself the joy to see his dear head fall.
Gilbert, le Dix-Huitième Siècle.
[139] Lettre sur la métaphysique, lettre II., chap. ix.
[140] Metaphysics is the science which treats of what is beyond and above nature. We call metaphysical such attributes of God by which he surpasses nature; as, for instance, infinitude, immensity; the moral attributes, on the contrary, are those which have their analogies in the human soul, such as kindness, wisdom, etc.
[141] V. Cousin, Le Vrai, le Beau et le Bien, xvie leçon.