PREFACE 



The following pages are the outcome of studies begun many 

 years ago in Greece and Italy. While wandering through the 

 famed and picturesque land of the Hellenes, rejoicing in the 

 countless beauties of the islands of the Ionian and JEgean seas 

 or scaling the heights of Helicon and Parnassus, all so redolent 

 of the storied past, I saw on every side tangible evidence of 

 that marvelous race of men and women whose matchless achieve- 

 ments have been the delight and inspiration of the world for 

 nearly three thousand years. But it was especially while con- 

 templating, from the portico of the Parthenon, the magnificent 

 vista which there meets the charmed vision, that I first fully 

 experienced the spell of the favored land of Hellas, so long the 

 home of beauty and of intellect. The scene before me was 

 indeed enchanting beyond expression; for, every ruin, every 

 marble column, every rock had its history, and evoked the most 

 precious memories of men of godlike thoughts and of 



"A thousand glorious actions that may claim 

 Triumphal laurels and immortal fame." 



It was a tranquil and balmy night in midsummer. The sun, 

 leaving a gorgeous afterglow, had about an hour before dis- 

 appeared behind the azure-veiled mountains of Ithaca, where, 

 in the long ago, lived and loved the hero and the heroine of the 

 incomparable Odyssey. The full moon, just rising above the 

 plain of Marathon, intensified the witchery of that memorable 

 spot consecrated by the valor of patriots battling victoriously 

 against the invading hordes of Asia. Hard by was the Areopa- 

 gus, where St. Paul preached to the "superstitious" Athenians 

 on "The Unknown God." Almost adjoining it was the Agora, 

 where Socrates was wont to hold converse with noble and simple 

 on the sublimest questions which can engage the human mind. 

 Not distant was the site of the celebrated "Painted Porch," 



vii 



