222 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IIL 



Now, let us confider, whether in Britain, or in any nation in Eu- 

 rope at prefent, philofophy can be invented or cultivated. We 

 have no focieties of men, or feds of philofophers, fuch as they had 

 in Greece : And there is certainly not that paffion for philofophy 

 fuch as was even among the young men of Athens; nor does it ap- 

 pear to be the purfuit of men of any age or profeffion among us. 

 As, therefore, we cannot invent philofophy, we mull learn it from 

 the Greeks, otherwife we cannot enjoy that greateft blefTmg, which, 

 Plato fays, the Gods have bellowed upon mortal men. 



And here v^e may obferve one great advantage which the Greeks 

 had over us with refped to the ftudy of philofophy; and which, of 

 itfelf is fufficient to fhow that they mult have excelled us in that 

 ftudy ; and it is this, that the Greeks had no language to learn in 

 order to qualify themfelves for the ftudy of philofophy, as their own 

 language w^as fufficient for that purpofe, in which all the philofophy 

 of thofe days was written : So that after they had gone through 

 what they called the ivxvKXtot, ^jua^r^f^ccTu,, that is Grammar^ and the 

 o-rammar only of their own language, Mufic and the exercifes of the 

 Palseftra, they had no other branch of learning to apply to but phi- 

 lofophy. Whereas we, before we can be fit to learn the Greek phi- 

 lofophy, are obliged to employ feveral of the moft docible years of 

 our life (eight years at fchool in England, and four years at the uni- 

 verlhyj in the ftudy of the Greek learning and language. 



As to the excellency of the Greek philofophy, above any thing 

 that we call philofophy, I think I have proved it moft clearly in the 

 Queries concerning philofophy, vvhich 1 have publilhed in volume 

 c. of Origin of Language*. And if my readers are not convinced 

 by what I have there laid, 1 have nothing further to add upon the 



fulyea:, 



* Page 419. 



