beneficial purposes. None of them (except Thales) were, in the strictest sense of the term, men of science; nor were they speculative philosophers, giving celebrity, like Plato or Aristotle, to theories of their own invention; but they did more-they brought their wisdom and experience to bear on the interests of social life, and the moral instruction of their species.

65. Without entering into detail, it may be sufficient to furnish a few specimens of the didactic aphorisms attributed to this class of ancient Greek philosophers.

(1.) To Thales, among many others, the following aphorisms are attributed: "Be equally mindful of friends, present and absent. Study not to beautify thy face, but thy mind. Enrich not thyself by unjust means. Cherish thy parents. If a governor, rule thyself. Use moderation. Believe not every thing. Be not idle, though rich." His favourite motto, attributed by some of the ancients to Apollo, was, Know thyself—a maxim which cannot be too deeply impressed upon the memory.

(2.) To Solon, among others of a political character, the following are ascribed:-" Nothing too much. Fly pleasures, for they bring sorrow. Observe honesty in conversation more strictly than an oath. Lie not, but speak the truth. Meditate on serious things. Procure not, nor part with friends, in haste. By learning to obey, you will know how to command."

(3.) To Chilon,-" Three things are difficult; to keep a secret, to bear an injury patiently, and to

spend leisure time well. Visit your friend in adversity rather than in prosperity. Honour old age. Think before you speak. Gold is tried by the touchstone, and men are tried by gold:" to which some have added the above-mentioned motto of Thales, as first delivered by Chilon, "Know thyself."

(4.) To Pittacus,-" Power discovers the man. Watch for opportunity. Reproach not the unhappy, for the hand of God is upon them. Whatever thou doest, do it well. What thou takest ill in thy neighbour, do not thyself."

(5.) To Bias,-" Great minds alone can support sudden reverses of fortune. Love your friend with caution, for hereafter he may become your enemy. Be slow in undertaking, but resolute in executing. Abhor to speak hastily, for then repentance follows. Preserve thy actions in remembrance."

(6.) To Cleobulus,-" Employ thyself in things excellent. Take care of thy body and soul. Govern thy tongue. Preserve piety. Do nothing by violence. Instruct thy children. If rich, be not exalted; if Avoid excess."

poor, be not cast down.

(7.) To Periander,--" Pleasures are mortal, virtue is immortal. Seek to be worthy of your parents. There is nothing which prudence cannot accomplish. Keep thy word. Betray not secrets. Conceal thy

misfortunes," &c. &c.

Such were the moral maxims delivered in the earliest period of Grecian civilization, which may be well supposed to have materially contributed to its advancement, by the ease with which they were remembered, and their adaptation to the circumstances

of domestic and social life. Nor can we wonder that in the infancy of society, those who could express in a few words, and especially in verse, such useful moral precepts, should have become celebrated for their wisdom.*

CHAPTER II.

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION OF THE ANCIENT

PHILOSOPHERS.

66. DURING the earliest period of Grecian literature, it will appear from the last chapter, that there flourished a few individuals, who were distinguished from the mass of their contemporaries by their reputed wisdom, and who exercised, while they lived, a kind of intellectual despotism over the understandings and opinions of the vulgar. Their maxims were deemed authoritative and oracular; their proverbial sayings were handed down from age to age with little less than religious veneration; and after their death, divine honours were, in some instances, paid to their memory. But none of these ancient sages appear to have gathered disciples around them, or reduced their philosophical specu

Those who would extend the selection, will find them in an abridged form, in Dr. Enfield's History of Philosophy, and more fully stated in Stanley's Lives of the Philosophers. Their original terms have been preserved by Diogenes LaertiusPlutarch-Stobæus-and other ancient writers.

G

lations to a regular system. Satisfied with securing to themselves the reputation of wise men, they do not appear in any instance (if we except Thales of Miletus) to have aimed at the establishment of philosophical sects, bearing their name, and by which their tenets might be propagated. But in process of time, knowledge became more widely diffused among the Greeks, and assumed a more systematic character. Many engaged in the diligent pursuit of such speculative and practical sciences as were then imperfectly known, and attached themselves to different leaders. A species of literary oligarchy arose. It became an object of ambition to every candidate for literary distinction and posthumous fame, to become the founder of a new sect, and extend as widely as possible its distinguishing tenets. Hence arose the numerous schools of philosophy, which, for the most part, originated in Greece, or in some of its dependencies, and afterwards spread over the Roman empire and the greater part of the civilized world.

67. The principal schools of philosophy among the Greeks and Romans have usually been divided into two classes--the Ionic and the Italic; the former of which originated with Thales, and the latter with Pythagoras. From these arose numerous other sects, which were distinguished partly by the tenets they maintained, but chiefly by the individuals whose names they bear. Some of these were comparatively of short duration, but others long continued to flourish, and were propagated by many distinguished philosophers. From the inde

pendent states of Greece, they were transplanted either into the metropolis of the Roman empire, or some of its distant provinces, until at length they were blended into one sect, which, from its amalgamation of different systems, was called the Eclectic, and which continued to flourish till the final subversion of the Roman empire. These ancient schools of philosophy were so various and numerous, and the philosophers belonging to each have been so frequently confounded, that it may not be unacceptable to the juvenile reader of these pages, to be furnished with a distinct classification of them, in the order in which they arose, that he may perceive at one view the sect to which they respectively belonged-the departments of physical or intellectual science in which they excelled--and the chronological order in which they flourished. For this purpose, the following Tables, though by no means complete, may perhaps be sufficiently

accurate.