and against such an unequal contest, no character, no authority, could maintain its ground.

The republic of Athens itself owed its subjection entirely to the abuse of the comic powers; and the excessive love of the Athenians for that species of amusement which increased their inordinate desire of procuring constant diversion and frivolous occupations. The comedy of "Nubes" prepared the minds of the populace for the accusation of Socrates. Demosthenes, in the following century, could not draw the attention of the people from their lighter pursuits to engage them against Philip. What was most seriously feared for the republic, was the too great ascendancy which might be acquired by one of its great men: but that which tended to its overthrow was its total indifference for them all.

After having sacrificed their glory to their amusements, the Athenians saw even their independence ravished from them, and with it those very enjoyments which they had preferred to the defence of their liberties.

CHAP. IV.

Of the Philosophy and Eloquence of the Greeks.

PHILOSOPHY and eloquence were often united among the Athenians; the systems, metaphysics, and politics of Plato, contributed much less to his reputation than the beauty and grandeur of his style. The Greek philosophers were, generally speaking, extremely eloquent upon the subject of abstract ideas.

I must, however, first examine their system of philosophy, apart from their eloquence: and my design is, to investigate the progress of the human understanding: a knowledge of philosophy can alone point this out with any degree of certainty.

Whether in the poetical department, or in the interesting political discussions of a free nation, eloquence had attained that degree of perfection with the Greeks, which has served for a model to the subsequent ages, even down to the present time but their philosophy appears to me much inferior to that of their imitators, the Romans. The modern philosophy has still greater supe

riority over that of the Greeks; and this is no more than might be expected, when we consider the advantages that must be derived from the lapse of two thousand years.

The Greeks improved themselves in a most remarkable manner during the course of three centuries in the last, which was that of Alexander, Menander, Theophrastus, Euclid, and Aristotle, they were evidently distinguished by their progress, in every species of refinement: but one of the principal and final causes of the great events which are known to us, appears to be the civilization of the world. I shall explain this assertion more at large elsewhere at present, what is immediately necessary to be observed is, simply, how far the Greeks were accessary to the diffusion of knowledge, and the means they pursued in order to excite that persevering spirit necessary to its attainment.

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The Greek philosophers instituted sects;-an expedient which proved as useful to them, as it would be prejudicial to us; their searches after truth included every thing that could strike the imagination. The walks, beneath the expanse of a serene sky, where the young pupils would gather round their preceptor, and listen to the sublime sentiments he uttered ;-the harmonious

language which elevated the soul, even before it was fully impressed with the sense of what was spoken; the mystery used at Eleusis in the discovery and communication of certain principles of morality;-all these things combined to give the greatest effect to their lessons of philosophy. The world, in its infancy, was taught truth by the assistance of the marvellous in mythology. Thus was a taste for study produced and preserved by a thousand different ways; and the encomiums bestowed on the disciples of philosophy, greatly augmented their number.

Nothing contributes more to give us an enlarged idea of the reputation of the ancients, than the astonishing effect produced by their works; but this is by no means an accurate rule by which they should be judged. The limited number of enlightened men which Greece held out to the admiration of the rest of the world, the great difficulties attending nautical discoveries, the ignorance in which the chief part of the community remained with regard to the reality of facts collected by the authors, the rarity of their manuscripts, all contributed to inspire the most lively curiosity for works of celebrity. The multiplied testimonies of the general interest excited

the philosophers to overcome the greatest difficulties that were annexed to their studies, before they were abridged by method and generalizations. Modern fame would not have been considered an adequate compensation, for such extraordinary efforts of the mind: nothing less than the brilliant honours conferred on genius by. the ancients, could have encouraged them to persevere in a task so laborious. It is granted, that the ancient philosophers acquired a more shining reputation than the moderns; but it is also true, that the moderns, in metaphysics, in morals, and in most of the sciences, are infinitely superior to the ancients.

The philosophers of antiquity may be said to have refuted some of the errors prevalent at that æra; but they were not themselves entirely exempt from many of them. While we must admit, that the most absurd opinions were generally established, even the writers who appeal to the light of reason, cannot entirely divest themselves of the prejudices by which they are encompassed. Sometimes they substitute one error in the place of another, which they had successfully combated; at other times, in making their attack upon generally received opinions, they are but too apt to retain a degree of super