First Week(ending October 8).—1. Barnes’ “Brief History of Greece,” from page 1 to “The Civilization,” page 46.
2. Preparatory Greek Course in English, from chapter i. to chapter v., page 21.
3. “Why we Speak English,” inThe Chautauquan.
4. Sunday Readings for October 5, inThe Chautauquan.
Second Week(ending October 15).—1. Barnes’ “Brief History of Greece,” from page 46 to “Readings in Greek History,” page 93.
2. “Preparatory Greek Course in English,” from chapter v. page 21, to “Lucian,” page 43.
3. Readings in Chemistry, inThe Chautauquan.
4. “How to Make Home Beautiful,” inOur Alma Mater.
5. Sunday Readings for October 12, inThe Chautauquan.
Third Week(ending October 23).—1. Barnes’ “Brief History of Greece,” from page 93 to “Life of Socrates,” page 143.
2. “Preparatory Greek Course in English,” from “Lucian,” page 43, to “First Book,” page 65.
3. “Studies in Kitchen Science and Art,” inThe Chautauquan.
4. “Glimpses of Ancient Greek Life,” inThe Chautauquan.
5. Sunday Readings for October 19, inThe Chautauquan.
Fourth Week(ending October 31).—1. Barnes’ “Brief History of Greece,” from “Life of Socrates,” page 143, to end of volume.
2. “Preparatory Greek Course in English,” from “First Book,” page 65, to “Second Book,” page 87.
3. The “Temperance Teachings of Science,” inThe Chautauquan.
4. “Greek Mythology,” inThe Chautauquan.
5. Sunday Readings for October 26, inThe Chautauquan.
It often happens that local circles are deterred from much of the good work which they might do because they have no systematic plans. Lack of time, or, perhaps, sometimes, a not quite clear understanding of how to arrange weekly programs prevents leaders from laying out the work in attractive and practical ways. To supply this need we introduce intoThe Chautauquanweekly programs of literary exercises for local circle use. These programs are simply suggestive. No one is expected to follow themin toto, or even to follow them at all unless they shall choose to do so. They can be re-arranged, added to, or selected from, to suit the needs of a particular circle. If in any case helpful hints shall be gleaned their object will be attained. The exercises presented will be arranged to correspond to the reading of the week to which the program belongs. When a Memorial day occurs the weekly program will be dropped and a typical program for memorial exercises inserted. Plans for monthly public meetings will also be inserted from time to time.
Roll-call—Responded to by quotations from Greek authors.
1. A talk on the geography of Greece.
2. Fifteen minutes quiz on “Why we Speak English.”
Music.
3. Writtenrésuméof the events of the past month.
4. Essay—The Climate of Greece.
Music.
5. Map exercise—Tracing of the Aryan Migration.
6. Question drawer.
Music.
1. Written answers to questions handed in at previous meeting.
2. Select Reading.
3. Essay—Greek Civilization.
Music.
4. Thirty minutes in Chemistry—performing of the experiments described inThe Chautauquan.
5. Pronouncing match on Greek names.
Roll-call.—Responded to by quotations.
1. Brief outlines of the week’s readings.
2. Essay—The Athens of To-day.
Music.
3. A Talk on the Potato.
4. Essay—The Battlefields of the Persian War.
Music.
5. An Ancient Greek House—explained by diagrams drawn from the explanations given in readings, and illustrated by the pictures and relics which are accessible.
Music.
1. Essay—Modern Greece and the Modern Greeks.
2. General review of “Questions and Answers on the Required Readings.”
[For this review a large society may be divided into two divisions, exactly as for an old fashioned spelling school, and the questions given out to the sides as words are given to spell. “Missing” puts one out, and the person who stands up until the questions are exhausted wins the match. This often proves both a profitable and amusing exercise.]
Music.
3. Essay—The Battle Fields of the Persian War.
Music.
4. Debate.—Resolved that the use of alcohol as a medicine is not justifiable.
BY C. M. NICHOLS.
“Press on, reaching after those things which are before.”
“The Outlook.”—The Class of ’84 printed a handsome and ably conducted quarterly sheet, calledThe Outlook, but the class of ’85 decided, after full consideration, to accept the offer ofThe Chautauquan, of the use of a page or more each month in the official organ of the C. L. S. C. It was believed that through this department ofThe Chautauquanall the members of the Class could be promptly reached; that all the purposes of the Class could be promoted efficiently in the department, and that, through it, the members of the entire fraternity—the alumni as well as the members of ’86, ’87 and ’88, could be advised each month of what the Invincibles were about. Accordingly, with this number we begin a class page for the ’85s.
The Invincibles at Chautauqua in 1884.—The Class of 1885 “come out strong”—as the late Mr. Mark Tapley would say—at Framingham, this year, and there was also a good representation of its members at Chautauqua. A delightfully fraternal feeling was manifested on the several occasions when class meetings were held. President Underwood improved on acquaintance and showed himself to be a lively and pleasant gentleman, as well as an industrious and efficient officer—to such an extent and to such universal acceptance and approval that he was reëlected to his honorable position by the unanimous voice of the members present. Mrs. Philomena Downs, of Burlington, Iowa, being in ill-health and not able to be present this year, sent in her resignation as vice president and insisted on its acceptance, and Mr. C. M. Nichols was elected in her place. Miss Carrie Hart, of Aurora, Indiana, who had proved especially serviceable as treasurer, was reëlected, and Miss N. M. Schenck, of Osage City, Kansas, feeling that her remoteness from the Chautauqua center was a feature of inconvenience, desired a successor appointed, and Miss M. M. Canfield, of the Third Auditor’s office, Washington, D. C., was chosen secretary in her place. These persons compose the executive committee.
The Commencement orator for 1885 will be selected by Chancellor Vincent.
By unanimous vote of the class, Mrs. Frank Beard, of Syracuse, New York, was selected to write the class song for 1885, and Prof. W. F. Sherwin, of the Boston Conservatory of Music, was asked to set it to music.
Chancellor John H. Vincent, D.D., was asked to preach the baccalaureate sermon for 1885, and he has kindly consented to do so.
It has been decided by the class to ask each member to send twenty-five cents to the treasurer, Miss Carrie Hart, Aurora, Ind., as a contribution to the class fund for 1885. It is important that these contributions should be sent early, and that they should constitute, in the aggregate, a good round sum.
The Class of ’85 is indebted to the Class of ’84 for a pleasant excursion by steamer, from Chautauqua to Lakewood.
Badges for the Class of 1885 may be had of the president, Mr. J. B. Underwood, or of the secretary.
Mr. Henry Hart, of Atlanta, Georgia, has been selected to prepare the stationery for the Class of ’85, and those wishing note paper and envelopes can order them of him. The design is a heliotrope, with the word “Invincible” over the figures “’85,” with the motto of the class. The envelopes are to match and the price of a box of the note sheets and envelopes will be only fifty cents. It is thought they will be very neat and tasteful.
“Fall In!”—Those members of the Class of 1884—the “Irrepressibles,”—who “failed to connect” at the Golden Gate, on Commencement day, are cordially invited (“by these presents”) to fall into the ranks of the “Invincibles” and march with them to victory.
This column is devoted to the Class of ’87. Items of interest, facts and incidents will appear each month, and we hope occasionally to have something from “Pansy.”
The first meeting of the Class of ’87 held at Chautauqua this year was called at the request of members present, in the Hall of Philosophy, Rev. Frank Russell presiding. It was decided there that the officers elected last year were chosen for four years, and they were requested to continue in the service of the class. At a subsequent meeting in the Temple one member said that he had good authority for stating that any member of the class who was behind and would make up the reading for the year could do so and hand in the memoranda this year or any time during thefouryears. The numbers of the class could still be increased by looking up former members of other classes who had read one year or more and dropped out. All were urged to become helpers in this respect. It was also advised in the interest of ouralma materthat we should use our efforts to increase the Class of ’88, which is now being formed, and bring the new members into local circles.
The members of the class enjoyed a social hour with Mrs. Alden in the grove at Chautauqua the past summer. Many written questions were presented to her which were promptly and wisely answered. To the question, “Will Mrs. Alden write a book, dedicated to the Pansy Class?” she replied, “Yes, if every one present will write me a four page letter of incident relating to C. L. S. C. work.” All most heartily voted to do this. These letters must be in her hand (Mrs. G. R. Alden, Carbondale, Pa.,) before February 1st, 1885. Of course Mrs. Alden will be happy to receive letters of incident in the work from members of the class that were not present. It goes without the saying that every member is delighted with the promised book, and who of our 18,000 will not peruse with delight the gifted author’s words of wisdom when they shall appear.
Our class has over 18,000 names on the two great books at the office in Plainfield. It is a great privilege as well as an honor to be one of such an army of all ages and conditions and in all lands, who are vieing with each other to improve the passing moments in training body and soul for highest interests for this life and the life to come.
Is it too much to expect that a round ten thousand of the Pansy Class shall graduate, and that one-half of them shall receive their diplomas at Chautauqua? Think of every seat in our vast Amphitheater being filled with the graduating class in August, 1887!
The eleventh Assembly has wrought its work, and it is safe to say no Assembly ever made more converts to the Chautauqua Plan. Among the number, too, were many of the best thinkers and ablest educators in the country. Many left Chautauqua this summer convinced of the possibilities in the work, and resolved to spread its influence. One of these, the Rev. Dr. A. A. Livermore, president of the Unitarian Theological School at Meadville, Pa., a man widely known as a ripe scholar, has published an article analyzing the Chautauqua plan. This article explains most clearly the strong features of the work. After describing the enthusiastic Commencement the writer says of the C. L. S. C.: “College education, as it has been hitherto carried on, has been largely a forced concern; students have been sent to school, rather than gone on their free and spontaneous will. The pupils of Chautauqua are voluntary agents, and engage in their work with a will. It is the difference between task work and love work. Almost all schools and colleges are handicapped by the compulsion necessary to bring their pupils up to the mark. But here all goes like clock work. There is a vim and abandon which argue the best results. Not knowledge, but the love of knowledge, is the best of accomplishments, and that is breathed into the Chautauquan graduates.
“Thereligious elementis made a leading principle in the Chautauqua education, and it is the true one. Intellect for intellect, taste for taste, study for study, lacks the genuine inspiration, but put on the annex of religious faith in God, Christ and immortality, and you have got an effective leverage to raise the whole nature of man. The Chautauqua Idea is not so much to make specialists; as for example, engineers, editors, ministers, doctors, lawyers, but well instructed men and women. Human nature is a diamond in the rough, and it is worth polishing and setting for its own sake. God having bestowed such a magnificent treasure on man, he is guilty who does not put it to its intended purpose, and return it to its author improved and developed to its best extent.
“Another fine idea of the Chautauqua University is toeducate people at their homes. Massing students together in great monastic institutions is dangerous business. Humanity heats and moulds and corrupts when put into crowded institutions, be they prisons or colleges. Some of the worst disorders perpetrated in society take place in schools and universities where young people are herded together in great numbers with the restraints of home and society largely thrown off. This scheme is to carry on the work at the fireside, on the farm, at the shop, by the work bench. Carry education to the people, instead of carrying the people to education. And still further it is the idea not to take people from their usual occupations after they are educated, not to take farmers, mechanics, housewives from their present callings and put them in the learned professions, but to leave them still where they are, and start them on a course of mental and moral improvement which they can conduct all their lifetime at their homes, and while still engaged in their several industries. This is a capital merit of the system, and deserves especial commendation.
“So planned and so engineered, Chautauqua is the university ofthe common people, of the great middle class that constitute the strength and glory of every country, and especially of ours. Its numbers are prodigious, its extent is world wide. It sets a splendid example for all nations. It strikes the keynote for the education eventually of the whole human race. In our land it is destined to do more for the perpetuation of our free institutions than many another time-honored school or college that limits its benefits to some privileged class, sex, color or section. Chautauqua blows a trumpet to every quarter of the compass, and says to all, ‘Come ye and buy wine and milk without money and without price.’”
Is there not ample room for non-partisan comment on partisan struggles? We are in the midst of a political conflict which inevitably takes up a large part of the general attention; surely there must be some suggestions which a non-partisan can profitably make. For example, look at the fact, new in important points, that personal scandal affecting candidates occupies a conspicuous place in the contest. We have been in the habit of reasoning that such an element must be demoralizing. Is it such in the present instance? We think not. We further think that some very good results may follow such a political campaign. The prominence given to questions of personal purity, in public life and in private life, is itself a good sign. It means that the people are keenly alive to moral issues, that these issues cannot be evaded, that the public demand for purity has risen without the special notice of the quick-witted managers of politics. Nor are the discussions having any unfavorable effect on sound morals. The people insist upon the moral element, and by so doing prove that they are sounder, truer, more religiously patriotic than they were supposed to be. We see also the better uses of the press in more favorable lights. When a scandal is not merely mud, but involves plain matters of fact in the life of a candidate, the press is put on its good behavior to tell the story with decorum, and prove it with good evidence. We never have seen a cleaner campaign, though we never saw one with such conspicuous challenging of private character. A wise man said long ago that the American people are always grave in grave circumstances. The present occasion proves the rule. The solemnity of the challenge of character has given an air of sobriety to the campaign which is as satisfactory as it was unexpected.
Another thing which seems to us quite in our way to say is that the political contest has an uncommonly large humanitarian element in the center of the field. We probably have readers who believe that the interests of the American workmen are not specially concerned in the result. It is not that question of fact which we now raise, but the fact of thesolicitudefor the workmen which is conspicuous. We are witnessing, at this point, not so much a discussion about the tariff—for so far there has not been much of that—as a discussion over the permanent welfare of a large and growing section of our population. This discussion is not carried on by them so much as on behalf of them. Granted that a great party sees in their welfare an opportunity; what is it that makes the opportunity? It is surely not any incidents of the last Congress, or any opinions of candidates. These would be insufficient to create the discussion in its serious form. Is it not true that the philanthropy which freed the slave is thinking and feeling for the men in mills, and their wives and little ones? It would be easy to show that the politicians would have passed this matter by if they could. But we have become a manufacturing country. The laborer has become a great fact. He is a citizen, a social element, a man with a soul, and the head of a family. The social instinct in us took alarm some years ago. Outside of parties it has worked out into humanitarian feeling, and is ripening into purpose. The workman is likely for some decadesto fashion for us the spirit of our politics and the ends sought by our statesmanship. No matter how much or little it may influence the results of this struggle for the control of the government, the question of the workman’s well-being has come among us to stay. It touches our life at all points. It challenges our institutions. It says to us: “Solve me or I will dissolve you.” Are we to have a distinctly depressed class doing our work? Is the “white slave” to live, suffer and die under our feet? There are persons who say, “it is inevitable. Older societies have sifted down to the bottom these forlorn and hopeless elements by force of a natural necessity, by a law of human society.” No good and strenuous American believes such a doctrine. The country we live in exists in our thought, to make life fairer, sweeter, more equally gracious for all the members of the national household. Our ideal is challenged by the specter of a degraded mass of laborers. We can not see this ghost of the old world without a shiver of apprehension. It may be that tariff questions do not touch the main question; that is for others to consider. What we note is that the whole of this labor question, with its complicated relations to all other questions, looms large on the horizon.
A third suggestion is that the only practicable mode of dealing successfully with issues which concern morals, philanthropy and sobriety, is to get them a place in the one general contest which is waged for the control of the government. Two parties, one contest—that is the system of the Republic. All others than the two parties are participants in the one battle, and on one side or the other. A man in society has to accept the sun and rain, the social order, the general constitutional order. His third, fourth, fifth parties are related by the usages of the country to the real contest between the two parties. He must and really does choose which of the two he prefers for the victor. He might as well reject the showers of summer and say he will have none of them as to say he will have neither party. He must have one or the other; he will have one or the other; he will contribute to the victory of one or the other. It is possibly hard to choose; but when it is easy to do so, and one really wishes to defeat his own party, it is best to deal it a blow in front with both fists. Providence has arranged a system of mathematics which counts the men in the Cave of Adullam on one side or the other in the engagement of the battle-field. It is a good thing to put 200,000 temperance men in line in a state; but a little column of 5,000 or 20,000 of the same army demonstrating by itself really weakens the cause, because it is so small a part of the army. Workingmen’s parties are no better. They are made up of men whose interests are in the hands of the great parties, one or the other of which must take the administration of affairs. The rule is that this truth of social mathematics grows clear to most men as the campaign proceeds; and in the end the great body of voters vote directly for the side they prefer. The stubborn fact is that only one man can be president at a time, and that the people must choose one of two men for the office. That is the law of American politics which no one of us can change. There is not even any relief from it afforded by dispersing the electoral votes among several men and leaving the House of Representatives to choose. That body is in existence with a distinct political complexion—to give the election to it is to choose one of the two candidates. That is not a chance fact of to-day; it is a rule of our political system. The political preference of the House of Representatives is always known when the presidential vote is cast. We are simply shut up, all of us, to promoting, directly or indirectly, the election of one of two men to the office of President of the United States.
The rescue of the Greely party of Arctic explorers (a few days too late) has given the public two extraordinary sensations. The first exciting incidents were those of the rescue of a party of men who had gone a few miles nearer to the Pole. We were allowed two weeks of satisfaction and rejoicing over the rescue and the scientific gains of the Greely expedition. Then came a sickening revelation of cannibalism among the starved and dying explorers. The sensational press never seemed so hateful as it did when it went prying into the horrors of the last month of that struggle for life. The cap-sheaf was put on indecency by a pictorial paper which gave a picture of one of the dead men, and printed under it that, after he was dead his comrades ate his flesh. The shamelessness of such journalism can not be rebuked; civilized language has no adequate terms. It is, however, no longer possible to deny that cannibalism is one of the remote possibilities of Arctic exploration. The fact may or may not temporarily arrest the efforts to uncover the secrets of the frozen North. We do not perceive a sufficient reason in the fact. We know that horrors hang around all histories of such discovery—this among them. But this is only a more disgusting fact. We know that the circumpolar battles between man and nature cost human life, rich and costly life, vast sufferings and cruel disappointments. It would be a strange thing if the full exposure of a revolting fact which is not new to the initiated few, should raise a murmur among the many now for the first time enlightened—a murmur so strong as to restrain governments from further explorations. We doubt if public opinion can in that way get a leverage under the scientific enthusiasm and overthrow it.
The main question recurs: What is the use of Arctic exploration? In general terms, it may be said that there are few, if any, unsolved problems of science on which Northern discoverymight notshed light, and it may be said with equal truth that there is apparently nothing to be found out at the Pole, but the location of frozen hills and frozen seas among which life is impossible. There are chances that hints towards the solution of many problems may be gained in that world of frost; there is no certainty, not even any high probability that we shall be any wiser when we have beaten the Ice King and successfully traversed his dominions. Our readers know that the original impulse to these dangerous voyages was the hope of finding a northwest passage to India. When hope vanished new thoughts took the place of the old notion of going to India by the North Atlantic. Questions of ocean currents, of northern forms of vegetable and animal life, of the aurora borealis, of the phenomena of the Ice Age of the earth, of divers other eagerly studied questions of the world and man have arisen to stimulate discovery. The scientific man kept on in the lines which the trader had given over in despair. Besides, our blood was up. To be beaten by frost is not to be consented to by courageous humanity. And so the struggle has gone on. Fruitlessly? No, a considerable amount of precious knowledge has been gained. Each ten years adds some stretches of land and sea to our maps. The total result is probably richly worth the life and treasure expended. If in a battle a cause can claim ten thousand lives, who may say that in the pursuit of knowledge a few hundred shall be grudged? Besides, the world needs a moral gymnasium—a field in which courage, endurance, heroism, may be trained. The North is a better gymnasium than the field of war. It has fewer horrors and a more thorough discipline. Examples of manliness, devotion, self-denial abound in these stories of Arctic discovery. The examples tell on society at large much more effectively than military exploits. Every nation is interested in every heroic incident of the frozen seas. The attempt to call a halt in these enterprises will probably fail; and perhaps after all we should wish them to fail. Every life is well spent whose loss tells on general character, and we have no chapters of secular life that are richer in inspiration than those of Polar enterprise. Lives are lost; but our Lord’s rule is good always that lost lives may be better lost than saved. The North may yet yield up precious secrets; it is safe to prophesy that if it has any under its winding sheet of ice man will discover it.
The Required Reading inThe Chautauquanfor the month of October ends on page 20, with the article on “Temperance Teachings of Science.”
Mr. Henry Bergh, who has done a good work for horses in New York, and tried to do a good deal of work not absolutely good for other animals (cats for instance), has one quality of a successful reformer; he can use strong language. He denounces M. Pasteur as “A Jenner in France who now crawls to the earth’s surface and begins the fiend-like and disgusting work of polluting the bodies and flesh of the lower animals.” Mr. Bergh does not believe in inoculation for small-pox. It is a pity he does not confine his benevolence to horses and their sorrows, a subject which he understands.
Constant gains characterize the uses of electricity. Recently a message was sent from Australia to England intwenty-three minutes, over 13,318 miles of wire. French experiments in the use of electricity as a motor are making rapid progress. Telephone messages have been sent 1,200 miles, from Cincinnati to Baltimore, and we are not certain that this is the best record. Bulwer’s “Coming Race” did everything by just touching buttons and setting automata at work. Perhaps that race is really “coming” after all.
What is in a name? The cholera is no worse, nor any more curable, by calling its cause amicrobe(literally minute life, meaning microscopic insect). It does help us, however, to emphasize old truth. The diseased are usually victims, Dr. Koch says, of the microbes. If the digestive organs are impaired, the microbe attacks them with more success. Still, we are thus far not very much wiser for the termsmicrobeandbacillus. Meanwhile, Dr. Koch’s first practical rule, that “dry heat is fatal to the microbe,” is contradicted by the well-known fact that cholera in Asia is very much at home in the dryest heat known on the globe.
The papers report that a colored man having married a white woman in Indiana has been tried for the crime and sentenced to five years in the penitentiary. We can not discover any use in such proceedings. As we have remarked once before, the mixture of races is not brought about by legitimate relations of the sexes, but by illegitimate. Indiana punishes the wrong people. For one mulatto born in marriage there are a thousand born out of wedlock. Besides, it has not been proved that the moral quality of a crime attaches to marriage by persons of different races. It is highly speculative morals, at all events.
The New York financial troubles of May have, as we anticipated, led to no general disaster. In New York the business community is well over the panic, stocks have recovered astonishingly, and general trade is active and good. Credit lines are closer than they were; but this is a good result. A large harvest gives the people assurance of cheap food, and stimulates enterprise. The shock in May has proved a blessing. We need to be reminded often that honesty, diligence and prudence are necessary to business success, individually and collectively.
Do not play with it; in the language of the boys, “it’s loaded.” We refer to the theory that impure private life is something relatively unimportant in public life. Vote as you judge proper; but don’t corrupt public morals by public apologies for lechery in any form; it is dangerous business.
A respectably-sized body of unrespectable Americans have recently emigrated to Canada—made up of defaulting bank officers and other trust-breakers. There is a defect which ought to be remedied in the extradition laws. Canada does not wish to be colonized by this class of thieves, and we prefer to house and feed the rascals in appropriate residences at home. It is, in fact, a scandal to civilization that this class of thieves can escape punishment by crossing the suspension bridge.
It has settled into custom for the President of the United States to take a long vacation in the summer. We owe the custom, a wholesome one, to General Grant. It was criticised severely when he as President began to travel about in the summer. His successors have improved the practice by roving more widely and extending their acquaintance among their fellow-citizens. President Arthur has traveled a good deal in an unostentatious way this summer, and we have not seen a word of criticism. It is good for the President’s health, it extends his knowledge of the country and the people, and it gives his fellow-citizens an opportunity to see and know him.
The cholera in Europe drove Americans home this year in midsummer, and gave us an unusually large contingent of the English tourist, who, shut off from the Alps, has been trying our Rockies and the Yosemite. A new feature of our own summer travel is a considerable stream of pleasuring flowing toward Alaska. Perhaps when the seals are killed off Alaska may pay as a summer resort.
One of the new blossoms of the “Chautauqua Idea” is a summer school maintained by the “South End” churches of Boston. Our correspondent, the Rev. E. E. Hale, is one of the active managers. Its session this year lasted six weeks, and was devoted to popular instruction in kindergarten and housekeeping subjects. The aim is to help the poor to knowledge in practical matters.
The world’s stock of wit is increasing. We Americans are the principal inventors of it, and are especially strong in the hyperbolical variety. A recent specimen worth preserving is the story that a Florida man recently killed an alligator, in whose stomach he found a hen sitting on a dozen eggs. The exaggeration turns upon the capacity of an alligator for swallowing, and the equanimity of the sitting hen. Another example is the statement that Puget Sound oysters often weigh sixty pounds apiece, and are not served on the half shell, since “nothing less than a flatboat will answer the purpose.” A good collection of American hyperboles would make a very marketable book. “Turning a howitzer loose on a June bug” is a fresh specimen which we find in a daily newspaper. A “funny editor” having to report that locomotives have fallen from $15,000 to $8,000, adds: “We would not advise our readers to lay in their winter stock of locomotives just yet; they may go lower.”
The preachers who indulge in vacations are not allowed any peace. TheNew York Examinerhas found a new tender spot to thrust a pin into. A resting pastor, it thinks, has no business to work or study. He is defrauding his church if he does. But then theExaminerrubs the sore spot it has made by the more athletic remark that it is a sin to grind all the year through. Yes, fifty-two days of rest are required of us all. It is pleasant, by the way, to read that “the pastors are returning to their flocks,” a statement which lets out the fact that the flocks did not take a vacation.
A new thing under the sun this year is the meeting of the great British Association for the Advancement of Science on American soil. The Montreal meeting was still further novel in the presence and participation of distinguished United States Americans. “Greater Britain” will doubtless more and more take part in these annual gatherings of British science. The success of the Montreal meeting will provoke the emulation of Australia, New Zealand, and British India and Africa.
Vegetarians object to eating meat because animals must be killed to supply such food. One of our quick-witted exchanges has discovered a counter argument, or rather anad hominemof the you’re another variety. “According to some scientists vegetables feel and perhaps think.” The LondonGraphicsuggests that “the blushing carrot is susceptible of tender emotions, and that the retiring ways of the truffle are due to a well-reasoned aversion to the wickedness which is to be witnessed above ground.” “Perhaps” this is rather speculative.
It has been a dry summer, but it has rained financial scandals. The heaviest part of the clearing-off shower—we hope it is clearing off—fell on New Brunswick, N. J., where first the cashier and next the president of a bank committed suicide in the midst of the ruin they had wrought. That is awful, but it is morally more satisfactory and healing than the flight into Canada. When financial wreckers are hurt to the point of remorse and suicide, the horrors of the crime of genteel stealing will begin to be realized. That sin is dangerous, too. Let us thank God and take courage.
Dr. McCosh has been re-visiting the Old World, and at a breakfast party in Belfast stated an interesting fact. “In my early life,” he said, “I applied for many positions which I did not get; but I never applied for the positions which I have since held.” There is plenty of good wholesome use for the motto: “Let the place seek the man.” It is the rule for the good places, as the case of Dr. McCosh shows. Perhaps it is more generally the rule for other places than men suppose it to be.
John Bright continues to excel in strong quotable phrases and descriptions. The House of Lords being once more in the way of reform, Mr. Bright declares that House to be filled with “the spawn of the blunders, the wars and the corruption of the dark ages of our history. They have entered the temple of honor, not through the temple of merit, but through the sepulchres of their ancestors.” The last clause will probably be as lasting as his “Cave of Adullam.”
A notable saying easily forgets its parentage. It is too much trouble for a busy world to rememberwhosaid this or that first. An expression passes into currency, and after that it is no matter who coined it. It was, we are now told, a Harvard professor who said not of Edward Everett, but of the Rev. Dr. Huntington, that his prayers were the most eloquent ever addressedto a Boston audience. The Dr. Huntington referred to was then a Unitarian of Boston, but is now Protestant Episcopal Bishop of Central New York. TheChristian at Workis our authority for the precise facts. We do not advise any one to try to remember them.
The French have brought about a state of war in China, by a series of aggressive measures which seek the aggrandizement of France at the expense of the territorial rights of the Chinese empire. There is not the least justification for these proceedings; nor can we hope that good will come of it. The French are successful at home and failures abroad. The French cry out that England has done even the same; but that charge, if true, would not excuse France. England has, in all recent instances, had the protection of Englishmen or some other fair pretext. Even the jingoism of Beaconsfield could make some respectable covering for its brutality. The French simply want some land and mines in Tonquin “for the glory of France.”
Science gets a footing everywhere. The loss of the United States steamship “Tallapoosa,” by collision with a schooner, has led to an investigation to ascertain whether the officers and men on duty are afflicted with color blindness. We have a notion that in this case the old-fashioned word carelessness is more scientific than any term used by optical learning.
One of the fine points of superfine theology is that Adam was the first member of the Christian Church, and was taken in immediately after the fall. We see it—the fine point reproduced in a religious paper. It is a pity that theology should be strained in men’s eyes by such uses—especially in view of the pressing wants of the living descendants of Adam.
The making of mortgages is one of the most fascinating of employments. It is like picking up gold in chunks. Paying mortgages is another affair, a most refined species of torture which takes away and returns nothing. But people who do not expect to pay have all the pleasure and none of the pain. The semi-civilized government which owns Panama proposes to mortgage its share of the earnings of the Panama Canal for $15,000,000. Considering that the canal may never be finished, and that it may never earn anything at all, it must be pure fun to make that mortgage. Public debts grow large easily because no particular person expects to pay any one of them. Selling such mortgages is picking up nuggets of gold—getting without effort—hence public borrowing needs conscience as a restraint.
It is a satisfaction to know that the best horses have been taken out of the hands of gamblers. Mr. Vanderbilt recently sold the queen of horses to Mr. Bonner, editor of theNew York Ledger. On this side of the Atlantic, at least, fast horses are improving in reputation by keeping good human company.
The cholera of Asia is in Europe again after a long absence—since 1868. It has been a topic of great interest all summer, but its ravages have been comparatively insignificant. After a short period of general prevalence in Marseilles and Toulon, the unwelcome visitor went on its travels in search of dirty places in France and Italy—finding some good food in the latter country. Dirt is the delight of this scourge. Sanitary science easily handles it, keeps it within moderate limits, and stamps it out after brief duration. A renewal of the epidemic in the savage forms of 1832 and 1848 is not to be feared. The world is cleaner. The cholera has raged fiercely in Italy, especially in Naples, because sanitary reforms have made slow progress there. The people change their habits there with great reluctance, and all travelers know that Naples is the filthiest city in Europe. Wherever good sanitation prevails, cholera is checked with comparative ease. A fine use of royalty is shown by the visit of King Humbert to the afflicted towns and their hospitals.
The New YorkEvening Postirreverently refers to the Emersonian philosophy as a “mixed American drink.” It is more prosaic in suggesting that the Concord School of Philosophy is not a school, and has no philosophy of a clear type, but is a continuation in summer of the winter lecture platform—a summer lyceum. We suspect that the Emersonians will not accept the amended title.
Switzerland has investigated the liquor question and found that more alcohol per head is consumed by the Swiss than by any other people in Europe. That little country spends $30,000,000 for drink, and yet the commission which reports these facts, also declines to advise any restrictive legislation and makes a fervid eulogy of the habit of social drinking. “Public houses,” they say, “foster intellectual activity, and are a remedy against misanthropy, vanity and egotism.” This report is probably the most remarkable document ever produced by a committee. It gives the size of the evil in bold lines and then splashes on the gay colors with reckless prodigality.
Instead of indicating the sounds of the vowels in the Greek and Latin names given in the notes, we follow the plan of Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary, giving rules for pronouncing the vowels and consonants. As the two principal marks (¯ ˘) are in Greek and Latin used differently from what they are in English, indicating thequantityinstead ofquality, it will be found less confusing to adopt this method.
1. Any vowel at the end of an accented syllable, ande,o, andu, at the end of an unaccented syllable, have the long English sound.
2.A, ending an unaccented syllable, has the sound ofainfather, or inlast.
3.I, ending a final syllable, has the long sound. At the end of an initial unaccented syllable it varies betweenilong andishort (likeiinpin). In all other casesi, ending an unaccented syllable, is short.
4.Yis likeiin the same situation.
5.Æandælikeein the same situation.
6. If a syllable end in a consonant the vowel has the short English sound.
7.E, in finales, likeein Andes.
1.C, beforee,i,y,æ,œ, is pronounced likes; beforea,o, andu, and before consonants, likek.
2.G, beforee,i,y,æ, andœ, or anothergfollowed bye, has the sound ofj; beforea,oandu, and consonants other thang, the hard sound.
3.Chis likek, but is silent before a mute at the beginning of a word.
4. Initialxis likez.
5.T,sandc, beforeia,ie,ii,io,iv, andev, preceded immediately by the accent, change intoshandzh; but when thetfollowss,t, orz, or when the accent falls on the first of the vowels following, the consonant preserves its pure sound.
6. Initialph, before a mute, is silent.
7.Shas generally the sound ofsinthis.
8. When two consonants likemn,nm, etc., occur at the beginning of a word, they are to be pronounced with the first consonant mute.
P. 9.—“Voltaire,” vol-têrˈ (1694-1778). French author.
P. 11.—“Mycenæ.” A city of Argos (see map in History of Greece), said to have been the leading city of Greece during the time of the Trojan war. Its remains are most interesting. The walls and the “gate of lions,” supposed to belong to the ancient acropolis, and two immense subterranean chambers, the walls of which contain some of the largest blocks found in the walls of buildings, are among its antiquities.
“Cyclopean.” Pertaining to a class of giants, who had but one eye in the middle of the forehead. They were said to inhabit Sicily, and to be assistants in the workshops of Vulcan, fabled to be under Mt. Etna.
“Schliemann.” A German antiquarian and traveler, who claims to have discovered the genuine home of Ulysses, and also to have unearthed ancient Troy. The latter he locates on the plateau of Hisarlik.
“Arcadia,” ar-caˈdi-a. The central country of the Peloponnesus. It received its name of “the Switzerland of Greece” from the mountains which surround it on all sides, and traverse its surface in every direction.
P. 13.—“Laconisms,” lăcˈo-nĭsms. A laconism; a brief pointed sentence; an expression in the laconic brief style of a Lacedæmonian or Spartan. The word is derived from Laconia, the name of the country.
“Pelopidas.” A Theban noble of great fortune. He was a firm friend of Epaminondas, assisting him in driving the Spartans from Thebes and being present at the battle of Leuctra. Many important civil and military affairs were entrusted to him. In 364 Pelopidas was sent to assist the Thessalonians against Alexander, but at the battle of Cynoscephalæ, (see “History of Greece,” p. 162,) he was slain while pursuing Alexander, whose army he had driven from the battle field.
“Miltiades.” In early life Miltiades had been made tyrant of the Chersonesus. He had engaged in many wars and taken from the Persians some of their possessions. These later conquests brought on him the hostility of Darius of Persia, and Miltiades was obliged to flee to Athens, where, on the approach of the Persians, he was made one of the ten generals who commanded the Athenian army. After the battle he obtained seventy ships, ostensibly to continue hostilities, but in reality he used them to satisfy a private enmity against the island of Paros. He was unsuccessful in this and wounded. On his return he was tried and cast into prison where he died from the effects of his wounds.
P. 16.—“Ichthyologist,” ĭchˌthy-ŏlˈo-gist. One who understands the classification of fishes.
P. 19.—“Longinus.” (213?-273.) The most distinguished adherent of the Platonic philosophy in the third century. His learning was so great that he was called “a living library.” He taught many years at Athens, but at last left to go to Palmyra, as the teacher of Zenobia. When she was afterward defeated by the Romans and captured, Longinus was put to death.
P. 20.—“Chrysostom.” (347-407.) The “golden mouthed,” so called because of his eloquence. In 397 he was made Bishop of Constantinople.
“Isocrates.” (436-338 B. C.) One of the ten Attic orators. His style was artificial and labored, but exercised immense influence upon oratory at Athens.
“Renascence,” re-nāsˈcence. A springing up. A becoming alive again.
P. 35.—“Academe,” aˈca-deˌme. Originally the name of a public pleasure ground situate in the Ceramicus, said to have belonged in the time of the Trojan war to Academus, a local hero. In the fifth century B. C. this land belonged to Cimon, who on his death gave it to the citizens as a public pleasure ground. Here Socrates talked, and Plato taught his philosophy until his school was named the Academic, and the Platonists the Academists. A school started by one of these philosophers was called an Academy.
“Hymettus,” hy-metˈtus. A mountain about three miles south of Athens famous for its honey and its marble.
P. 36.—“Ilissus,” i-lisˈsus. A river of Attica rising on Mount Hymettus, flowing through the eastern part of the city, and disappearing in the marshy plains outside.
“Lyceum.” The principal gymnasium of Athens. It received the nameLyceumfrom its nearness to the temple of ApolloLyceios, or Apollo the wolf slayer. Here Aristotle (to whom reference is made in the preceding line of the verse) taught his philosophy. See p. 64 of “Brief History of Greece.”
“Stoa.” Thestoa, or portico, was a place enclosed by a colonnade or arcade, and used for walking in. There were several in Athens. TheEncyclopædia Britannicasays: “It is probable that some of the porticoes in the Agora were built by Cimon; at all events the most beautiful one among them was reared by Pisianax, his brother-in-law, and the paintings with which Polygnotus, his sister’s lover, adorned it (representing scenes from the military history of Athens, legendary and historical), made it ever famous as the ‘painted portico.’”
“Melesigenes,” melˌe-sigˈe-nes. Meles-born. A name sometimes given to Homer. One of the traditions of his birthplace is that he was born on the banks of the Meles, in Ionia.
“Phœbus.” The bright or pure. An epithet given to Apollo (see “History of Greece,” p. 72) by Homer. When Apollo became connected with the sun this name was given to him as the sun-god.
P. 38.—“Memorabilia,” mĕmˌo-ra-bĭlˈi-a. Things to be remembered.
P. 39.—“Planudes.” A Byzantine monk of the fourteenth century.He was the editor of the Greek Anthology, the author of works on theology and natural history, as well as the collector of the fables mentioned here, and the author of Æsop’s biography.
P. 40.—“Pessimism,” pesˈsi-mism. The doctrine of those who believe everything to be at the worst.
P. 42.—“Parmenio.” A general of Philip and Alexander. He was second in command in Alexander’s Persian campaign, and did much to secure the great victories. His son being accused of being privy to a plot against the king’s life in 330 B. C., confessed himself guilty, and involved his father. Both were put to death.
P. 43.—“Lucan.” (39?-65.) A Roman poet.
P. 44.—“Lyttelton.” Lord George. (1709-1773.) An Englishman of noble family. He held various official positions, and in 1756 was raised to the peerage. The last ten years of his life were spent in literary pursuits. Beside his “Dialogues of the Dead,” he wrote a history of Henry II., and a work on St. Paul.
“Fenelon,” faˌneh-lonˈ. (1651-1715.) A French prelate and author. His most famous works, “Dialogues of the Dead,” “Directions for the Conscience of a King,” and “The Adventures of Telemachus,” were written for the use of the grandsons of Louis XIV., of whom he had been appointed preceptor.
“Landor.” (1775-1864.) An English author. His works were very voluminous, including poems, satires, dramas, etc. The work here referred to was called “Imaginary Conversations,” being a series of dialogues between persons of past and present times. It was said to have greatly increased the author’s literary reputation.
“Erasmus,” e-răzˈmŭs. (1467-1536.) A Dutch classical scholar of wide reputation. At the time that Luther advanced the tenets of the reformers Erasmus would not adopt these extreme views. Luther ridiculed and denounced the scholar, and Erasmus retorted by turning his wit against the monastic habits and scholastic dignity.
P. 45.—“Phidias,” phidˈi-as. (B. C. 490?-432.) The greatest of Grecian sculptors. His chief works were the Athene of the Acropolis, the Zeus at Olympus, and the decorations of the Parthenon, in which he was assisted by his pupils.
“Alcamenes,” al-camˈe-nes. (B. C. 444-400.) A pupil of Phidias. His greatest work was a statue of Venus.
“Myron.” A Bœotian sculptor, born about 480 B. C. His masterpieces were all in bronze. The Quoit-player and the Cow are most famous. Myron excelled in animals and figures in action.
“Euphranor.” A sculptor and painter of Athens who flourished about 360 B. C. His finest statue was a Paris, and his best paintings adorned a porch in the Ceramicus. He also wrote on proportion and colors.
P. 46.—“Polycleitus,” polˈy-cleiˌtus. A Greek sculptor who lived about 430 B. C. His statues of men are said to have surpassed those of Phidias. The Spear-bearer was a statue so perfectly proportioned that it was called the canon or rule.
“Bendis,” benˈdis; “Atthis,” atˈthis; “Men.” Local deities among the Egyptians.
“Anubis.” One of the Egyptian deities, the son of Osiris. He was represented in the form of a man with a dog’s head, or as a dog. His name meant gilded, and his images were of solid gold.
“Lysippus.” The favorite sculptor of Alexander the Great. His statues were all in bronze, and it is said reached the number of 1,500.
“Pentelicus.” A mount in Attica celebrated for its marble.
“Praxiteles.” Born at Athens B. C. 392. He worked in both marble and bronze. About fifty different works by him are mentioned. First in fame stands the Cnidian Venus, “one of the most famous art creations of antiquity.” Apollo as the lizard-killer, his Faun, and a representation of Eros are probably best known.
P. 47.—“Colossus of Rhodes.” A bronze statue of the sun which stood at the entrance of the harbor of Rhodes. It was one hundred and five feet in height, cost three hundred talents, and was twelve years in erecting. The Colossus was designed by Chares.
“Pnyx,” nĭks. The place of public assembly in Athens.
P. 48.—“Philippics.” The orations delivered by Demosthenes against Philip of Macedon.
P. 50.—“Paley,” William. (1743-1805.) An English theologian. The author of several valuable works. In the “Natural Theology” here referred to he attempts to demonstrate the existence and perfect character of God from the evidences of design in nature.
P. 51.—“Helvetius,” hĕl-veeˈshĭ-us. Claude Adrien. (1715-1771.) A French philosopher. The author of a famous work on the materialistic philosophy.
“Mellanippides,” melˌa-nipˈpi-des. A celebrated poet of Melos who lived about B. C. 440.
“Zeuxis.” A painter who lived in the latter part of the fifth century B. C. Part of his life was spent in the practice of his art in Macedonia, thence he went to Magna Græca, where at Croton he painted his masterpiece, a Helen. Zeuxis made a great fortune by his painting.
P. 61.—“Diogenes.” He came from Laërte, in Cilicia, and probably lived in the second century A. D. He is the author of “The Lives of the Philosophers,” a work in ten books. Almost nothing is known of his life.
P. 62.—“Tacitus,” tacˈi-tus. (A. D. 55-117.) A Roman historian. His histories of the condition and customs of the Britains and Germans are trustworthy accounts, written in a clear and concise style. A history of Rome is his most ambitious work. The “Germania” mentioned was a history of the origin, customs, situation and peoples of Germany.
P. 70.—“Darics,” dărˈic. The word is derived from Darius, and applied to an ancient Persian coin weighing about 128 grains, and bearing on one side the figure of an archer.
P. 2.—“Freeman,” Edward. (1823-⸺.) An English historian, the author of several valuable works.
P. 3.—“Amphictyonic,” am-phicˈty-ŏnˌic.
“Nabanasser,” na-bon-nasˈser. A king of Babylon, the date of whose accession was fixed by the Babylonian astronomers as the era from which they reckoned. It began February 26, B. C. 747.
“Medea,” me-deˈa. The daughter of the king of Colchi by the aid of whose charms (she was a powerful sorceress) Jason obtained the fleece.
“Alcmene,” alc-meˈne. The daughter of the king of Mycenæ. Her promised husband being absent, Jupiter assumed his form and under this disguise married her.
“Eurystheus,” eu-rysˈthe-us.
P. 4.—“Meleager,” meˌle-aˈger; “Theseus,” theˈse-us; “Calydon,” calˈy-don. An ancient city of Ætolia (see map of Greece).
“Menelaus,” menˈe-laˌus; “Agamemnon,” agˌa-memˈnon.
“Achilles,” a-chilˈles.
P. 5.—“Odyssey,” ŏdˈys-sey; “Ulysses,” u-lysˈses.
“Ithaca,” ithˈa-ca. A small island in the Ionian Sea off the coast of Epirus. “Penelope,” pe-nelˈo-pe.
“Pelops,” peˈlops. Fabled to have been the son of Jupiter. The king of Pisa in Elis from whom the peninsula of Greece, the Peloponnesus, took its name.
P. 6.—“Cyrene,” cy-reˈne; “Massilia,” mas-silˈi-a.
P. 9.—“Messenia,” mes-seˈni-a. For these wars see page 97 of History. “Cecrops,” ceˈcrops; “Codrus,” coˈdrus.
P. 10.—“Areopagus,” ăr-e-ŏpˈa-gŭs.
P. 11.—“Hippias,” hipˈpi-as; “Hipparchus,” hip-parˈchus.
“Alcmæonidæ,” alcˈmæ-onˌi-dæ; “Megacles,” megˈa-cles.
P. 13.—“Ahura Mazda,” or Ormuzd, a-huˈra mazˈda. The supreme deity of the ancient Persians.
P. 14.—“Mardonius,” mar-doˈni-us; “Athos,” aˈthos.
P. 15.—“Phidippides,” phi-dipˈpi-des.
P. 16.—“Dionysiac,” di-o-nysˈi-ac. See page 75 of History.
“Pan.” The god of flocks and shepherds among the Greeks.
P. 18.—“Demaratus,” demˈa-raˌtus.
P. 20.—“Simonides,” si-monˈi-des.
P. 21.—“Himera,” himˈe-ra. See map in History. “Gelo,” geˈlo; “Pausanius,” pau-saˈni-as; “En route,” On the way.
P. 22.—“Diodorus,” di-o-doˈrus. A historian of the time of Augustus Cæsar.
P. 24.—“Eurymedon,” eu-rymˈe-don. A small river in Pamphylia.
P. 25.—“Ephialtes,” ephˌi-alˈtes. An Athenian statesman, the friend of Pericles.
P. 27.—“Melos,” meˈlos; “Thera,” theˈra; “Corcyra,” cor-cyˈra;“Zacynthus,” za-cynˈthus; “Chios,” chiˈos; “Naupactus,” nau-pacˈtus; “Acarnania,” acˌar-naˈni-a; “Ambracia,” am-braˈci-a; “Anactorium,” an-ac-toˈri-um.
P. 28.—“Archidamus,” arˌchi-daˈmus.
“Colonus,” co-loˈnus. A demus of Attica lying about a mile northwest of Athens.
“Acharnæ,” a-charˈnæ. The chief demus of Attica, nearly seven miles north of Athens. Its people were warlike, and its land fertile.
P. 29.—“Paralus,” parˈa-lus.
P. 31.—“Alcibiades,” al-ci-biˈa-des; “Nicias,” nicˈi-as.
P. 32.—“Gylippus,” gy-lipˈpus; “Deceleia,” decˌe-leiˈa.
P. 34.—“Antalcidas,” an-talˈci-das. A Spartan statesman, through whose diplomacy this treaty was brought about.
P. 35.—“Megalopolis,” meg-a-lopˈo-lis.
P. 36.—“Mantinea,” manˌti-neˈa.
P. 37.—“Chæronea,” chær-o-neˈa.
P. 38.—“Tetradrachm,” tĕtˈra-dram. Four drachmas. An ancient silver coin, worth about 79 cents.
“Illyrians,” il-lyrˈi-ans. The inhabitants of Illyria, a country west of Macedon.
“Temple of Diana.” The Ephesian Diana personified the fructifying power of nature, and was represented as the goddess of many breasts. Of the temple the “American Encyclopædia” says: “Its (Ephesus) chief glory was its magnificent temple of Diana, and the city did not decay until the Goths destroyed the temple. The Ionian colonists found the worship of Diana established and the foundations of the temple laid.”
“Gordium.” The ancient capital of Phrygia, named from Gordius. See page 178 of Greek History.
“Callisthenes,” cal-lisˈthe-nes.
P. 39.—“Granicus,” gra-niˈcus; “Issus,” isˈsus; “Arbela,” ar-beˈla; “Persepolis,” per-sepˈo-lis.
P. 40.—“Gedrosia,” ge-droˈsi-a; “Roxana,” rox-aˈna; “Hydaspes,” hy-dasˈpes. The northernmost of the five great tributaries of the Indus.
P. 41.—“Rawlinson,” George. (1815-⸺.) An English historian and orientalist.
P. 42.—“Rameses,” ra-meˈses. The Egyptian kings of the nineteenth and twentieth dynasties, who ruled for nearly three hundred and fifty years, beginning about 1460 B. C.
“Pharos.” A lofty tower built for a light-house upon a small island off the Mediterranean coast of Egypt. The name of the island was Pharos, and was given to the tower.
“Ptolemy,” tŏlˈe-mĭ. Sator (the savior) was a title given him by the inhabitants of Rhodes, whom he had saved from a siege.
“Philadelphus.” Distinguished for brotherly love. Ptolemy had taken this title to signalize his love for his sister whom he had married, a union which Egyptian law allowed.
“Euergetes,” eu-erˈge-tes. Benefactor. This surname was given him by the Egyptians when from a campaign into Syria he brought back the idols which Cambyses had carried off to Persia.
“Septuagint,” sĕpˈtu-a-gĭnt. “So called because it was said to have been the work of seventy, or rather of seventy-two, interpreters.”
P. 43.—“Archimedes,” är-kĭ-mēˈdēz. (B. C. 287?-212.) A famous mathematician of Syracuse.
“Hero,” or Heron, heˈro. A Greek mathematician of the third century.
“Apelles,” a-pelˈles. The most famous of Grecian painters. A friend of Alexander’s, and the only painter he allowed to take his portrait.
“Hipparchus,” hip-parˈchus. Called the father of astronomy. A Greek who lived at Rhodes and Alexandria.
“Ptolemy.” A celebrated mathematician, astronomer and geographer. Of his history we know nothing, but still have a large number of his treatises on a great variety of subjects.
“Euclid,” yooˈklid. The mathematician who gave his name to the science of geometry. Nothing is known of his history.
“Eratosthenes,” erˌa-tosˈthe-nes. One of the most learned men of his day. He cultivated astronomy, geography, history, philosophy, grammar and logic. But fragments of his writings remain.
“Strabo.” A native of Pontus. Lived during the reign of Augustus. He wrote a historical work now lost, and a famous treatise on geography, in seventeen books. This latter is nearly all extant.
“Manetho,” manˈe-tho. An Egyptian priest who lived in the reign of Ptolemy I. He wrote in Greek a history of Egypt from which we have the dynasties of Egypt’s rulers saved, though the work is lost, and an account of the religion of his country.
“Aristophanes,” arˌis-tophˈa-nes. A native of Byzantium. He lived in the reigns of Ptolemy II. and III., and had control of the library of Alexander.
“Apollonius,” apˈol-loˌni-us. A native of Alexandria, sometimes called “the Rhodian,” as he was honored with franchise by Rhodes, where he taught rhetoric successfully. His greatest poem, still extant, was a description of the Argonautic expedition.
“Sosigenes,” so-sigˈe-nes. A peripatetic philosopher of Alexandria.
“Origen,” orˈi-gen. (185?-254?) One of the most voluminous of early Christian writers.
“Athanasius,” athˌa-naˈsi-us. (296?-373.) A native of Alexandria, made archbishop of the city in 326. He was subject to great persecution from the Arians who held that Christ was a being inferior to God, while Athanasius held to the orthodox belief.
“Antiochus,” an-tiˈo-chus; “Seleucidæ,” se-leuˈci-dæ.
P. 44.—“Eumenes,” euˈme-nes; “Arsacidæ,” ar-saˈci-dæ; “Brennus,” brenˈnus.
P. 45.—“Justinian,” jus-tinˈi-an. Byzantine emperor.
“Antiochus,” an-tiˈo-chus. Of Ascalon. The founder of the Fifth Academy, and the teacher of Cicero while he studied at Athens. He had a school at Alexandria, and one in Syria also.
“Ptolemæum,” ptolˈe-mæˌum. A large gymnasium built by Ptolemy Philadelphus.
“Dipylum.” A gate on the northwestern side of the city wall. So called because consisting of two gates. It is the only one whose site is absolutely certain.
“Speusippus,” speu-sipˈpus. An Athenian philosopher. A nephew of Plato, whom he succeeded as president of the First Academy.
“Xenocrates,” xe-nocˈra-tes. (396-314 B. C.) A philosopher who succeeded Speusippus as president of the Academy.
“Polemon,” polˈe-mon. The Athenian philosopher who succeeded Xenocrates as president of the Academy.
P. 46.—“Autochthon,” au-tokˈthon; “Phratries,” phrāˈtres; “Apollo Patrôus,” pa-trôˈus.
“Ion,” iˈon. Fabled to have been the ancestor of the Ionians, from whom they took their name.
P. 48.—“Lucian,” lūˈshan. See page 65 of History. “Menippus,” me-nipˈpus; “Strepsiades,” strep-siˈa-des.
P. 50.—“Ion.” Of Ephesus. One of Plato’s dialogues is named from him.
P. 51.—“Tyrtæus,” tyr-tæˈus.
P. 52.—“Lesbian,” lesˈbi-an. From Lesbos. A large island off the coast of Asia Minor.
“Alcæus,” al-cæˈus; “Anacreon,” a-naˈcre-on.