Yet the comparisons of life to a tragedy, or of the working of mind to the revolution of the self-moved, or of the aged parent to the image of a God dwelling in the house, or the reflection that 'man is made to be the plaything of God, and that this rightly considered is the best of him,' have great beauty.
2.

The clumsiness of the style is exhibited in frequent mannerisms and repetitions.

The perfection of the Platonic dialogue consists in the accuracy with which the question and answer are fitted into one another, and the regularity with which the steps of the argument succeed one another.

This finish of style is no longer discernible in the Laws.
There is a want of variety in the answers; nothing can be drawn out of the respondents but 'Yes' or 'No,' 'True,' 'To be sure,' etc.; the insipid forms, 'What do you mean ?' 'To what are you referring ?' are constantly returning.

Again and again the speaker is charged, or charges himself, with obscurity; and he repeats again and again that he will explain his views more clearly.