when they swallowed up the rewards due to essential services; when they exhausted the wealth which was wanted for the support of a nation; when such a value was set upon them, as to occasion every thing else to be viewed with disdain; then, morals, principles, laws, and government, were threatened with a total subversion.

"This the Athenians wofully experienced at the time when they were engaged in admiring statues, pictures, and public shows. But while the general attention was thus absorbed, there were persons among them, who, deeply reflecting on the state of man, society, and human nature, saw that it presented a vast field for inquiry, investigation and study: and who were induced to travel into other countries in quest of knowledge, and to make observations upon the varying opinions, maxims, and habits of mankind.

"What could best secure the happiness of individuals, and of states, was the subject of their meditations. They were not desirous of indulging subtilties and contentions about words, or a passion for supporting different systems and sects, which afterwards produced such numberless errors and extravagancies, when sense was forsaken for intellectual causes, and the love of truth was sacrificed to opinions; when wisdom evaporated in idle reveries and endless sophistry.

These men, for their wisdom and seriousness, were, justly and deservedly, denominated philosophers.

The Grecian philosophy was divided into two branches, the tonic and Italian sects. Thales, the contemporary of Solon, was at the head of the first; and Pythagoras, the chief of the second, who deserves to be ranked the first, laboured most effectually in the cause of morals. It was 540 years before the Christian era, that this great man did so much honour to Greece, and so much good to Italy. Of him we have in history the following description: "He was believed to be a native of Samos, and having heard the reasonings of a philosopher upon the immortality of the soul, immediately applied himself with ardour to the study of what was then called philosophy, which as it applied to him, was a search after truth.

"He travelled into Egypt, Phoenicia, and Chaldea; and probably as far as the Indies. Though a geometrician and an astronomer, he looked upon virtue as the first of the sciences, and was persuaded that he was born to make proselytes.

"After having taught some time in Greece, he went into that part of Italy, called Magna Grecia, because of the colonies by which it was peopled: Crotona, Metaponium, and Tarentum, were

the places in which he chiefly resided. Here, he did not shut himself up in the shade of a closet, but openly harangued in the cause of virtue, to reform the manners of the people. Crotona, a place noted for debauchery, very soon changed its appearance; the women stripped themselves of their ornaments, and the marriage vow became inviolably sacred. Several other towns of Italy, followed the instructions of the philosopher, and were governed by his counsels.

"One of his maxims was, that there were five things which ought to be combatted; the diseases of the body, the ignorance of the mind, the passions of the heart, sedition in cities, and discord in families. His doctrine of the Divinity was excellent. He taught the unity of God, the Author of all things; an infinite Almighty Spirit, incapable of suffering, who is not an object of our senses, or perceivable, but to the understanding. His desire was, that human actions and application should be directed to make us resemble the Deity, by the acquisition of truth; adding, that to know the truth, it is necessary to seek it with a pure heart, and keep the passions in perfect subjection."

May not professing Christians take a lesson from the disciples of Pythagoras, on the advantages of retirement and self-communion. They

repaired morning and evening to the temple, or to some retired spot suited to secret devotion, and their took a retrospect of life. There they communed with their own hearts, and no doubt worshipped, for that is implied, in prostration of soul and reverence of the Divine Majesty.

Thales, the chief of the lonic sect, said, that water was the first principle of all things; and that God, a spiritual substance which he believed to be the soul of matter, had formed every thing out of water. This brings to our recollection, the first work in the Mosaical account of the creation : "And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters," with which description it has a striking analogy. Anaxagoras, about an age after Thales, taught that the formation of the universe, ought to be ascribed to an infinitely powerful and wise Being. This was the greatest step that could be taken by a philosopher, to exalt his knowledge to the belief of a Supreme Being, whose wisdom formed the world.

Socrates, the disciple of Anaxagoras, dedicated all his labours to serve the cause of virtue; he laughed at the vanity of the Sophists, and taught his pupils to think the proper duty of man was to know himself, that he might become better. He devoted his philosophy to the good of the public, from which it should never be separated. U

VOL. IN

It is a just observation of Morell's, “That many occupations are esteemed more honourable, many are found to be more lucrative, but there is not one more useful, than that of the instructor of youth; especially if he that undertakes the important office of education, enters into it with right views, and directs his efforts to right ends. If like Socrates, he aims at the formation of virtuous habits in youth, no less than at their instruction in science and learning. If it is his object to prepare them for future usefulness and for eternal felicity; such a character, though he may tread a humbler path than that which the sons of ambition pursue, is nevertheless a public benefactor; and none is more deserving of munificent patronage. The fruits of his labour are reaped long after his death; they are gathered by many generations, and descend to the latest posterity.

The tranquil serenity with which Socrates received the cup of hemlock, shows the support which is to be derived from conscious innocence and virtue, even in the hour of death. When his disciples and friends gave way to the vehement expressions of sorrow, he reproved them with mildness and affection, for want of resignation to the will of the gods.; and proceeded to discourse with much energy on the condition