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duced this dogma, for, otherwise, would even the assertion be absurd-that all things from the beginning have been in a state of mixture," etc.*

Elsewhere the Stagyrite is much more explicit, but also more disparaging. Having first examined Hesiod's views of the efficient cause of the universe, he proceeds: "For Anaxagoras also employs mind as a machine for the production of the orderly system of the world; and when he finds himself in perplexity as to the cause of its being necessarily so, he then drags it in by force to his assistance, but in the other instances, he assigns as a cause of the things that are being produced, everything else in preference to mind."+

But no critic of ancient or modern times has criticised the Homœomeny of Anaxagoras more sharply or more philosophically than the Roman poet, Lucretius. His refutation of the philosopher's doctrine as to the elements of all things being alike, is one of the finest passages in the first book of his great poem. With admirable humor the poet shows the absurdity of maintaining that the bones, muscles, entrails, blood, etc., of animals are all composed of exactly the same elements the only difference between the bones and the entrails being that a certain element preponderates in one, while a certain other element preponderates in the other, or vice versa.+

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It is a sad reflection that, great an educator as Anaxagoras was, much as he had done for his country-nay, for all mankind-by his discoveries and inventions, he lived to

* Aristotle's Metaphys. c. viii.

† Aristot. Metaph., B. i, c. iv.
Nunc et Anaxagoræ scrutemur Homœomerien
Quam Græci memorant, nec nostrâ dicere linguâ
Concedit nobis patrii sermonis egestas.

Sed tamen ipsam rem facile est exponere verbis
Principium rerum, quam dicit Homœomerian.

Ossa videlicet è pauxillis atque minutis
Ossibus, sic et de pauxillis atque minutis
Visceribus viscus gigni; sanguenque oreari,
Sanguinis inter se multis coeuntibus guttis, etc.

VOL. XXVII.—NO. LIV.

De Rerum. Naturâ, 1. i, 830, et seq.

2

realize but too bitterly the fact that he had carried his contempt of riches too far; for in his old age he found himself so completely neglected that he concluded there was nothing left for him but to cover his head with his mantle and die of starvation. Even when this resolution became known Pericles and Archelaus were the only pupils or friends of his who seemed to take any notice of it. The great orator, however, proved true to him to the last, except that the cares of state sometimes absorbed his thoughts to such an extent that he could remember nothing else. The account of Plutarch is very touching. "This very Anaxagoras," he says "lay neglected and unprovided for, insomuch that the poor old man had covered up his head and was going to starve himself. But an account of it being brought to Pericles, he was extremely moved at it, ran immediately to him, expostulated, entreated; bewailing not so much the fate of his friend as his own, his administration should lose so valuable a counselor. Anaxagoras, uncovering his face, replied, "Ah, Pericles! those that have need of a lamp take care to supply it with oil!”*

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The reader has already been informed of the great difficulty Pericles had in saving the philosopher's life when he was accused of atheism, chiefly for proclaiming that the sun and moon were not gods, as they had hitherto been regarded by the Greeks, but the former a globe of fire and the latter a body having mountains and valleys, and other physical characteristics similar to those of the earth. It is said that the great scandal he caused by this alleged impiety was aggravated by his saying, also, that both luminaries were perishable, and would have an end though they might endure for myriads of ages; so that Ossian or Macpherson was not the first who exclaimed to the great orb,

"But thou art perhaps like me for a season; thy years will have an end. Thou that sleep in thy clouds, careless of the voice of the morning. Exult, then, O sun, in the strength of thy youth."

Even Pericles failed to procure his acquittal. He was condemned in his old age to perpetual banishment, and fined five

*Plut. in Pericles.

talents.* After the judges had passed the sentence Pericles exclaimed, "Do you find he has committed any crime?" On their admitting that their only charge against him was his want of faith in not accepting the divinity of Apollo (the sun), one of the most powerful of the gods, Pericles said: "Then if you condemn him you condemn me, for I am his disciple. Rather believe me than his calumniators, and restore him his liberty."+ Some biographers maintain that when Pericles addressed the judges thus, in his behalf, he was under sentence of death waiting from day to day for the hemlock draft. Whether this was really the case or not, the appeal of Pericles in behalf of his teacher and friend was made at the risk of his own life; at least at the risk of losing his power as head of the state, and even his liberty. Fortunately he succeeded, however, but we are told that so great was the chagrin of the philosopher at finding such persecution the reward of his labors through life, he left Athens of his own accord, while so emaciated and feeble that he was scarcely able to walk.

It is creditable to human nature, with all its faults, that nothing has contributed more to the glory of Archelaus than that he insisted on accompanying his old and beloved master into exile; and never could be induced to part with him until, with pious care, he superintended his burial. Then he returned to Athens, to occupy the chair which Anaxagoras had occupied for thirty years, all surviving members of the Ionian school having unanimously declared that he was the most competent and most worthy to succeed the departed sage.

Lampsacus, in Mysia, was then remarkable for its superior enlightment. The inhabitants were a Milesian colony who had profited, in no slight degree, by the teaching of their illustrious compatriot, Thales. Accordingly, the Lampsacians received the aged philosopher with every mark of esteem, veneration and sympathy. Although he was sixty-nine years when he sought an asylum in Lampsacus, he continued to

* Sotion in Successionibus Philosophorum, apud Diog. Laert, 1. ii. Hermippus in Vitis. Gatyrus in Vitis, apud Diog. Laert, lib. ii.

teach for three years afterwards. Elian, the philosopher, relates that the inhabitants dedicated two altars in honor of Anaxagoras. One to Truth, the other to Intelligence. It is said that some of his friends, seeing that his end was evidently approaching, asked him whether he wished his remains brought to Clazomenæ, his native city, after his death, and that his reply was: "It is not necessary; all places are equally near Hades."* We are also informed that when he was known to be at the point of death, the Lampsacians sent him a deputation consisting of the principal citizens, offering to consecrate to his memory all the honors he might wish. The philosopher gratefully declined the proffered honors, declaring that his only wish was that the anniversary of his death would be a vacation day for all children attending school. This favor was readily granted; and Diogenes Laertes informs us that in his time, centuries afterwards, the day was still devoted to that purpose throughout Greece and Asia Minor. There is much more philosophy in this wish of the dying sage than is apparent at first view. For his object was not merely to gratify youth by giving them a holiday, but to instil into the minds of young and old the precept that death, which, in one form or another, is inevitable to all, should be rather a source of pleasure than one of affliction to the living, especially when it is merely the result of old age, or the natural termination of a well spent life.

We had no expectation in commencing these pages that we could do justice to the life and character of Anaxagoras within the limits of a review article. Still we think we have shown from the best authorities that the modern world has produced few, if any, sages or scientists, to whom mankind are more indebted than to Anaxagoras. At least we may be permitted to hope that our article will serve to diminish, if only in a few instances, the prevalent self-glorification of the present age. The task is, we know, a difficult one; but it is not the

* Præclare Anaxagoras, qui quum, Lampsaci moreretur, quacrentibus amicis velletne Clazomenas in patriam, si quid ei accidisset afferi, “Nihil necesse est, inquit, undique enim ad inferos tatundem iræ est." Cicero, Tuscul. Quæst, 1. ii.

less true on this account, that instead of our philosophers and thinkers of the present day being giants in intellect and knowledge, whereas those of thousands of years ago were mere pigmies-as those who praise most what is most worthless would have the world believe,-except in rare instances, the reverse of the picture is much nearer the truth.

ART. II.-1. Essay Towards a Philosophical Language and Real Character. By JOHN WILKINS. London.

2. Eléments primitifs des langues decouverts par la comparison des racines de l'hébreu avec celles du grec, du latin et du français. BERGIER. Paris.

3. On the Theory of Language. By W. BEATIE. Aberdeen. 4. Essai synthétique sur l'origine et la formation des langues. CAPINEAU.

Paris.

In the science of language, it is an accepted doctrine that the extensions of significance and consequent changes of form which a word may undergo, are by no means the result of arbitrary adaptation, but the organic growth of the word itself; that, figuratively speaking, a word is animated by a vital force, in virtue of which it branches upward and outward into various differentiations of form and meaning. But this organic development of words is not only conditioned by the varying aspects of nature, but also by those mental laws which regulate the association of ideas and the connection of thought with Words have their root in the sense, but branch out in

sense.

the atmosphere of the mind.

Language is primarily a collection of names. Even verbs belong fundamentally to the same part of speech as nouns― they are names. To run, to be, to sleep, do not differ from other nouns save in the fact that they name objects of a pecu

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