of this province that three hundred thousand slaves could once be reckoned among its population; that its territory was divided among many distinct tribes, and that these formed several republics, which respectively sent deputies to a common council, in which were discussed the interests of the whole.

2. The principal occupations of the Arcadians must have been hunting, the care of flocks, and the pursuit of those domestic arts which are practised by a people partially civilized. Pan, the deity of shepherds and hunters, was their favorite god. They regarded him as the universal dispenser of benefits, and the inventor of a musical instrument of seven pipes which was in common use among them. They loved and cultivated music; and in the marches of their armies, their repasts, their dances, and their military motions, were all animated by the sound of the flute.

3. The Arcadians had walled cities, religious temples, and statues in honour of gods and heroes. Their political affairs were managed by large numbers of the citizens, and often with great confusion and discord. The city of Mantinea was distinguished for its wealth, its populousness, and its monuments; and its soldiers were among the best and bravest of Arcadia. The Lacedæmonians respected the Mantineans as allies, and dreaded them whenever they were their declared enemies.

4. Tegea, another city of Arcadia, ten miles distant from Mantinea, was famous for the rivalry and the enmity which subsisted between it and Mantinea. Concerning the other towns of Arcadia, little that is interesting is known. We have

not much reason to envy the pastoral felicity of the Arcadians. They were, in general, without literature, they exhibited no extraordinary talent as a people, and their religion was degraded by superstition. Of their superstition, a deplorable instance is related.

5. Some children playing neur the temple of Diana, found a cord, and having thrown it about the neck of the statue, they cried out, laughing, and pulling the cord forcibly, "We strangle the goddess." As soon as they were perceived, the persons who saw them, stoned them to death. It is but right to add that the oracle being consulted by these people afterwards, declared that by this act they had offended the gods, and commanded them to bestow funeral honours on their unfortunate victims. Happy are they who live in an age and country where life is never sacrificed to superstition, and where the young are not made accountable for the errors of their ignorance, but are taught from their earliest age to venerate rational religion, and to obey its commands.

6. The following anecdote will serve, like the circumstance just related, to show that Oracles sometimes spoke truth, and taught wisdom. Near the city of Phosphis in Arcadia, upon the border of Corinthia, was shown a small field and a decayed cottage, which had been the abode of a poor and virtuous man named Aglaus. He never passed the narrow boundary of his farm, and lived all his days under his own roof, cherishing the peace of his own household, and disturbing the happiness of none. This poor man had lived to extreme old age, when Croesus, the vain and foolish king of Lydia, sent to Delphi to enquire of

the oracle, if there existed, on the face of the earth, a happier mortal than he. The Pythia replied, Aglaus of Corinth."

7. It need not be inferred from this that peasants are happier than princes, or beggars than rich men. The rich and powerful of every degree, have great means to improve themselves, and to promote the happiness of others; so far as they do this, their importance and their happiness are exalted above the importance and the happiness of others less favoured; but God has made the happiness of every condition in life to depend upon benevolence, integrity, and wisdom. The Greeks knew this. Their dramatic poet, Eschylus, says, as his verses are rendered in our language,

8.

"Justice bids her ray divine

E'en on the low-roof'd cottage shine,
And beams her glories on the life
That knows not fraud nor ruffian strife.
The gorgeous glare of gold, obtained
By foul polluted hands, disdain'd
She leaves, and with averted eyes
To humbler, holier mansions flies;
And, looking on the time to come,
Assigns each deed its righteous doom."

9. There is a resemblance between this passage and one of a beautiful poet of the Hebrew Scriptures. David, in the fifteenth Psalm, describes a man beloved of God, and especially favoured by him.

10. "Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle ? who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speak

eth the truth in his heart. He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour. In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the Lord. He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not. He that doeth these things shall never be moved."

Illustrations.

Arcadia is famous for the labours of Hercules. The history of Hercules is in a multitude of books which young persons read, and they almost all have seen in prints, the figure of a stout man dressed in a lion's skin and holding a club. The wild beasts which he killed, and the serpents he strangled, form but a part of his history; other circumstances in his life are made very interesting by the Greek poets. Those who know nothing about Hercules can inform themselves concerning him by looking at Lempriere's Classical Dictionary.

2. Justice. Justice in our common use of the word only means what is sometimes called honesty. For a man to pay his debts, to speak the truth, and nothing but the truth of his neighbour, is justice. These are right applications of the word, but not in the full sense in which the Scriptures or other works translated from ancient authors expresses. "The spirits of the Just made perfect," is an expression taken from the Bible. The just men of the ancients, were eminently and universally good in all their conduct. Justice is exalt

ed virtue.

3. Retributive justice means a law of Divine Providence which makes misery, sooner or later, a consequence of wicked actions; and happiness the final reward of good conduct. In the verses taken from Potter's Eschylus, which you have just read, justice is personified, and represented as bestowing her rewards upon men who govern their conduct by the laws of the Divinity. She is

retributive justice, for she looks on the "time to come," or the consequences of actions, and "assigns" to "each deed its righteous doom;" that is, punishes bad actions, and rewards good ones.

ELIS,

Was on the west of Arcadia, and for ages was distinguished for the tranquillity enjoyed by its inhabitants. Elis was the most populous and best peopled district of Greece; agriculture flourished throughout the country, and magistrates were established in different parts, so that the people were not obliged to waste their time and money in cities in order to settle their disputes. Elis, the chief city, held all the country in subjection to her laws and law-givers; but hers was a peaceful supremacy, and for a long time discord was unknown among the tribes and cities which constituted this little state. The Olympic games were celebrated in Elis.