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Cicero in particular, repaired to 'Athens, to (ludy under the 

 ahlelt matters of oratory. Thither did the fame Cicero 

 fend his fon to hear the lettiires of Cratippus ; hither 

 Horace was fcnt by his father ; every Roman of any rank, 

 or confideration followed the fame courfe; and Greek 

 learning-, according to the telUmony of Plutarch, was 

 accounted fo requifite a branch of education among that 

 judicious people, that a Roman, who did not underftand 

 the Greek language, never arrived at any high decree of 

 eilimation. \\'hen St. Paul vifited Athens, it was the feat 

 of philofophy ; and we cannot enough admire the fnperior 

 eloquence of that apoftle, in his manner of addreffino- fo 

 intelligent an audience. He adapted liis difcourfe to the 

 character of his hearers, by the fubinnity of its exordium; 

 and he very properly mentioned the altar which he found 

 there (fee Altar); and his quotation from Aratus, one 

 of their well-known poets, was particularly pertinent. Nor 

 was Athens only celebrated for the refidence of philofo- 

 phers, and the inftitution of youth ; men of rank and for- 

 tune found pleaiure in a retreat- which contributed fo much 

 to their liberal enjoyment. The pvogrefTive ftate of litera- 

 ture and philoiophy at Athens, is thus defcribed by a popu- 

 lar hiftorian : 



" Athens, after her Perfian triumphs, adopted the philo- 

 fophy of Ionia and the rhetoric of Sicily; and thefe ftudies 

 became the patrimony of a city, whofe inhabitants, about 

 thirty thoufand males, condenfed, within the period of a 

 fingle life, the genius of ages and millions. Our fenfe of 

 the dignity of human nature, is exalted by the fimple re- 

 colleftion, that Ifocrates was the companion of Plato and 

 Xenophon ; that he affifted, perhaps with the hiftorian 

 Thucydides, at the firft reprefentations of the Oedipus of 

 Sophocles and the Iphigenia of Euripides; and that his 

 pupils jEfchines and Demofthenes contended for the crown 

 of patriotifm in the prefence of Ariilotle, the mailer of 

 Theophratlus, who tavight at Athens with tlje founders of 

 the Stoic and Epicurean fcfts. The ingenuous youth of 

 Attica enioyed tlie benefits of their domeftic education, 

 which was communicated without envy to the rival cities. 

 Two thoufand difciples heard the leffons of Theophraftus ; 

 the fchools of rhetoric muft have been Hill .uore populous 

 than thofe of philofophy; and a rapid fncceffion of ftudents 

 diffufed the fame of their teachers, as far as the utmoft 

 limits of the Grecian language and name. Thofe hmits 

 were enlarged by the viflories of Alexander; the arts of 

 Athens furvived her freedom and dominion; and the Greek 

 colonies which the Macedonians planted in Egypt, and fcat- 

 tered over Afia, undertook long and frequent pilgrimages 

 to worfliip the mufes in their favourite temple on the banks 

 of the IhiTus. The Latin conquerors refpeftfully liilened 

 to the inftruflions of their fubjefts and captives; the names 

 of Cicero and Horace were enrolled in the fchools of 

 Athens; and after the perfect fettleraent of the Roman 

 empire, the natives of Italy, of Africa, and of Britain, con- 

 verfed in the groves of the academy with their fellow, 

 ftudents of the EaiL The iludies of philofophy and elo- 

 quence are congenial to a popular ftate, which encourages 

 the freedom of inquiry, and fubmits only to the force of 

 perfuafion. In the republics of Greece and Rome, the art 

 of fpeaking was th; powerful engine of patriotifm or am- 

 bition ; and the fchools of rhetoiic poured forth a colony of 

 ftatefmen and legiilators. When the liberty of public de- 

 bate was fupprtffed, the orator, in the honourable proieffion 

 of an advocate, might plead the caufe of innocence and 

 juftice; he might abufe his talents in the more prcfitable 

 trade of panegyric ; and the fame precepts continued to 

 dictate the fanciful declamations of the fophill, and the 



ems 

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charter beauties of hiftorical compofition. The fyftciti 

 wiuch profclFed to unfold the nature of God, ofnnan, anu 

 of the UMiverfe, entertained the curiofity of the philofophic 

 undent; and according to the temper of his mind, he might 

 doubt with the fceptics, or decide with the ftoics, fubhmcly 

 fpeculate with Plato, or fcvcrcly argue with Ariftotle. The 

 pride of the adverfe feas had fixed an unattainable term of 

 moral happincfs and pcrfedion : but the race was glorious 

 and fahitary; the difciples of Ztno, and even thofe of Epi- 

 curus, were taught both to ad and to fuffcr; and the death 

 of Pctronius was not lefs effectual than that of Scn-ca, 

 to humble a tyrant by the difcovei^ of his impotence. The 

 hght of fcience could not indeed be confined within the walls 

 of Athens. Her incomparable writers addrefs themfelves 

 to the human race; the living mailers emigrated to Italy 

 and Afia; Bcrytns, in later times, was devoted to the ftudy 

 of tiie law; aftronomy and phyfic were cultivated in tiie 

 muficum of Alexandria; but the Attic fchools of rhetoric 

 and philofophy maintained their fuperior reputation from 

 the Pc!f)ponncfian war to the reign of Juftinian. Athens, 

 though fituate in a barren foil, polTcfrcd a pure air, a free 

 navigation, and the monuments of ancient art. That facrcd 

 retirement was feldom difturbcd by the bufincfs of trade or 

 government; and thelaft of the Athenians were diftinguiflied 

 by their lively wit, the purity of their talle and language, 

 their focial manners, and fome traces, at kail in difcourfe, of 

 the magnanimity of their fathers. In the fubnrbs of the 

 city, the academy of the Platoniils, the lycxum of the Peri, 

 patetics, the portico of the Stoics, and the garden of the 

 Epicureans, were planted with trees and decorated with 

 ftatues; and the philofophers, inilead of being immured in 

 a cloyiler, delivered their inftrudtions in fpacious and plea- 

 fant walks, which, at different hours, were conftcrated to 

 the exercifcs of the mind and body. The genius of the 

 founders ftill lived in thofe venerable feats; the ambition of 

 fucceeding to the mafters of human rcafon, excited a gene- 

 rous emulation; and the merit of the candidates was deter- 

 mined, on each vacancy, by the free voices of an enlightened 

 people. The Athenian piofeffors were paid by their difci- 

 ples, according to their mutual wants and abihties ; the price 

 appears to have varied from a minatoa talent; and Ifocrates 

 himfelf, who derides the avarice of the fophifts, required in 

 his fchool of rhetoric, about thirty pounds from each of his 

 hundred pupils. The wages of indullry are juft and honour- 

 able, yet the fame Ifocrates (lied tears at the firft receit 

 of a ilipend; the Stoic might blufli when he was hired to 

 preach the contempt of money ; and I Ihould be forry 

 to difcover, that Ariftotle or Plato fo far degenerated from 

 the example of Socrates, as to exchange knowledge for gold. 

 But fome property of lands and houfes was fettled by the 

 permiifion of the laws, and the legacies of deccafed friends, 

 on the philofophic chairs of Athens. Epicurus bequeathed 

 to his difciples the garden which he had purchafcd for 

 eighty mina: or two hundred and fifty pounds, with a fund 

 fuffijient for their frugal fubfiilcnce and mot-.thly fellivals; 

 and the patrimony of Plato afforded an annual rent, which, 

 in eight centuries, was gradually increafed from three to 

 one thoufand pieces of gold. The fchools of Athens were 

 protected by the wifelt and moll virtuous of the Roman 

 princes. The library which Hadrian founded, was placed 

 in a portico adorned with pictures, ftatues, and a roof of 

 alabaftcr, and fupported by one hundred columns of Phry- 

 gian marble. The public falarics were afligned by the 

 generous fpirit of the Antonincs; and each profeifor, of 

 politics, of rhetoric, of the Platonic, the Peripatetic, the 

 Stoic, and the Epicurean philofophy, received an annual 

 llipead of teu thoufand drachmx, or luore than three hun- 

 dred 



