evil was small, and great the good which he produced, but after the

separation, when the world was let go, at first all proceeded well

enough; but, as time went on, there was more and more forgetting, and

the old discord again held sway and burst forth in full glory; and at

last small was the good, and great was the admixture of evil, and there

was a danger of universal ruin to the world, and to the things contained

in him. Wherefore God, the orderer of all, in his tender care, seeing

that the world was in great straits, and fearing that all might be

dissolved in the storm and disappear in infinite chaos, again seated

himself at the helm; and bringing back the elements which had fallen

into dissolution and disorder to the motion which had prevailed under

his dispensation, he set them in order and restored them, and made the

world imperishable and immortal. And this is the whole tale, of which

the first part will suffice to illustrate the nature of the king. For

when the world turned towards the present cycle of generation, the age

of man again stood still, and a change opposite to the previous one was

the result. The small creatures which had almost disappeared grew in and

stature, and the newly-born children of the earth became grey and

died and sank into the earth again. All things changed, imitating and

following the condition of the universe, and of necessity agreeing with

that in their mode of conception and generation and nurture; for no

animal was any longer allowed to come into being in the earth through

the agency of other creative beings, but as the world was ordained to be

the lord of his own progress, in like manner the parts were ordained

to grow and generate and give nourishment, as far as they could, of

themselves, impelled by a similar movement. And so we have arrived at

Statesman