Zeal. LET us take care we do not sometimes call that zeal for God and His gospel which is nothing else than our own tempestuous and stormy passion. True zeal is a sweet, heavenly, and gentle flame, which maketh us active for God, but always within the sphere of love. No persecutor like a conscientious one. But on occasion's forelock watchful wait. Zeal without knowledge is like expedition to a man in the dark. For virtue's self may too much zeal be had; Strong reasons make strong actions. Vigour and fervency in the service of God is no miraculous gift, no extraordinary prerogative of some peculiar favourite of heaven, but the natural and inseparable property of a wellconfirmed habit of holiness. Whoever regards the early history of Christianity will perceive how necessary to its triumph was that fierce spirit of zeal which, fearing no danger, accepting no compromise, inspired its champions and sustained its martyrs. To what amazing heights of piety may some be thought to mount, raised on the wings of flaming zeal, and distinguished by uncommon precision and severity about little things, who all the while, perhaps, cannot govern one passion, and appear yet ignorant of, and slaves to, their darling iniquity! Through an ignorance of themselves, they misapply their zeal, and misplace their self-denial, and by that means blemish their characters with a visible inconsistency. Good men often blemish the reputation of their piety by over-exacting some things in their religion, by an indiscreet zeal about things wherein religion is not concerned. True zeal should always begin with true knowledge, and thence proceed to an unwearied passion for what it once knows to be worthy of such passions. We should be not only devout towards God, but zealous towards men; endeavouring by all prudent means to recover them out of those snares of the devil whereby they are taken captive. I should have A scorn of flattery and a zeal for truth. Zeal without mercy is a consuming fire. If you will have your zeal burn kindly, it must not be set on fire by any earthly matter, but from heaven, where is the mercyseat, and which is the seat of mercy. If you will be burning lamps you must pour in the oil of mercy. If this oil fail you will rather be beacons than lamps, to put all round about you in arms. Zeal without mercy is always unprofitable and most commonly dangerous, and therefore we must pour in this oil of mercy, which may moderate our zeal and becalm and temper our spirit, which may otherwise hurry us away to the trouble of others and ruin of ourselves. My religion must not be furious, fiery, implacable, cruel; but peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy, without partiality and without hypocrisy. "I love to see a man zealous in a good matter," says Addison, "and especially when his zeal shows itself for advancing morality, and promoting the happiness of mankind." "Some things," says Tillotson, "will not bear much zeal; and the more earnest we are about them, the less we recommend ourselves to the approbation of sober and considerate men." I must remember that To gild refined gold, to paint the lily, To seek the beauteous eye of heaven to garnish— Greek and Roman Poets and Philosophers. HOMER, the celebrated Greek Epic poet, was the earliest of all the classical writers; his exact date is unknown, being variously placed from 950 to 850 B.C. His 'Iliad' and 'Odyssey' are the earliest and most perfect Epic poems in the world. There is a tradition that he was blind, which may have arisen from his name, which means blind. The first English version of the 'Iliad' was that of Arthur Hall, 1581. The most celebrated versions of his works are Pope's, 1715-25; Cowper's, 1791; Earl of Derby's, 1864. HESIOD, a celebrated poet of Boeotia, flourished 735 B.C. Though destitute of the fire and sublimity of Homer, he was admired for elegance of diction and sweetness of rhythm. Virgil took 'The Works and Days' of Hesiod as a model for his 'Georgics.' The Greeks were so partial to him that children had to commit to memory his poems. He was murdered, and his body thrown into the sea, but was discovered by his dog, and his murderers punished. PYTHAGORAS, a famous Greek philosopher, flourished about 550 B.C. On returning to Greece after his travels he received great honours at the Olympic Games, and was saluted publicly as Sophist a wise man; but he declined the name, and assumed in preference that of Philosopher-Friend of Wisdom. He is said to have taught the doctrine of transmigration of souls, the present system of astronomy, and to have invented the multiplication table. He is also said to have discovered the propositions of Euclid, I. 47 and III. 31. He settled at Cretona, in Southern Italy, and founded a fraternity of 300 members. According to Aristotle the central doctrine of Pythagoras was that Number is the essence of all things. To Pythagoras the universe was a living arithmetic in its development, a realized geometry in its repose. He was the first to call the world cosmos. The ethics of the Pythagoreans consisted more in ascetic practices, and maxims for the restraint of the passions, than in scientific theory. No writings of Pythagoras, if he ever did write anything, have survived. He is said to have invented the lyre from hearing the sounds produced by a blacksmith hammering iron on his anvil. PERICLES was the most distinguished of Athenian statesmen. He entered on public life 469 B.C. Pericles was the Julius Cæsar of Greece. The age of Pericles was the golden age of Greece. Pericles adorned Athens with splendid public buildings-the Parthenon, the Odeum, and the Propylæa. His oratory was singularly forcible. In the sweetness of his voice and in the flow and distinctness of his utterance he resembled Pisistratus, a famous Athenian tyrant' and first editor of Homer. Pericles was a 'Liberal,' a 'Radical,' from principle alone. He died of the great plague, which had already carried off two of his sons and many friends, in the autumn of 429 B.C. SOCRATES, one of the greatest of ancient philosophers, was born at Athens, 469 B.C. He was the son of the Athenian statuary Sophroniscus, and husband of the shrew Zantippe. He was brought up as a statuary, but abandoned his profession to become a teacher of a most unique character, unparalleled in history, and only possible in the then state of society, when all the citizens had a certain amount of education, and lived quite a public life in the Agora (market-place). He never committed his precepts to writing. He was scantily and shabbily clothed, and went barefoot even in the coldest weather. He is said to have been exceedingly ugly. His nature had no trace of bitterness in it. He has been called the Sphinx of philosophy. The central doctrine of his philosophy was, "Virtue is knowledge." Socrates," says Aristotle, " asked questions, but he did not answer them, for he professed not to know." Socrates would interrogate some official or specialist as to his peculiar subject, and profess himself eagerly desirous of information. This would be readily given; but it would lead to questions, and these to others, till it was found that the pretended knowledge was no knowledge at all. Thus men were convinced of their own ignorance. The range of his inquiry did not extend beyond moral subjects. Being hated by all parties, he was at length accused (399) by the orator Lycon, the tragic poet Meletus, and the demagogue Anytus, of corrupting the youth, and of substituting new for the tutelary deities of the State. He was condemned, and on his boldly refusing to acquiesce in a greater punishment than a fine of 60 minæ (one talent or £245 15s.) he was sentenced to death, and thirty days afterwards was obliged to drink a bowl of hemlock, his last moments being spent in conversation with his friends on the immortality of the soul. PLATO, the greatest of the Greek philosophers, was born at Ægina, 429 B.C. When twenty years old he joined himself to Socrates, whose doctrines and personal character exercised a profound influence on him. After his return from his travels he settled in Athens, where he established a school called the Academy, in a delightful garden, near Athens. His followers were called Academics. Aristotle was among his pupils. He died 347 B.C., at the age of eighty-one, his latter years being disturbed with quarrels in his school. At his Academy he had many wealthy pupils from different cities, from whom he received presents, not fees. He was the Shakespeare of the ancient world. His writings are perfect in point of style. They exhibit great power and distinctness in the delineation of character, infinite wealth of thought and splendour of imagery, rising frequently into magnificent eloquence. Throughout there is exhibited the profoundest acquaintance with human life in all its phases. The dialogues are all impersonal; only twice, and then in the most casual manner, has Plato mentioned himself. In the 'Republic' is to be found the original of Cicero's 'De Republica,' of St. Augustine's 'City of God,' and of Sir Thomas Moore's Utopia.' The Neo-Platonists developed certain of his doctrines, and used them in the last intellectual struggle of the heathen world with Christianity. Plato's dialogues have been termed, "Philosophy backed by example." The leading feature of his mind was comprehensiveness. ARISTOTLE, the most illustrious of Greek philosophers-except Plato-was born at Stagira, 384 B.C. His father, Nicomachus, was physician to Amyntas II., King of Macedon, and died before his son reached his thirteenth year. Aristotle was for twenty years the pupil of Plato, and was called by Plato the Intellect of the School. In 342 B.C., he accepted the invitation of Philip, King of Macedon, to become the tutor of his son Alexander, then thirteen years of age. This relationship continued four years. In 335 B.C., Aristotle returned to Athens, and founded the famous Peripatetic school, to which he soon attracted numerous pupils. Here, during twelve years, in the shady walks of the Lyceum, to his select followers in the morning, and to a wider circle in the afternoon, he expounded in regular lectures the principles of philosophy, rhetoric, and politics. On Alexander's death he was accused by his enemies in Athens of impiety, and fearing the fate of Socrates he retired to Chalcis, where in the same year he died, B.C. 322. His 'Metaphysics' received its name in an arbitrary manner, because in the order of arrangement of his works it came after The Physics.' It has been said that Aristotle was the creator and the completer of the science and art of reasoning. To Aristotle is attributed the assertion that nature abhors a vacuum. DEMOSTHENES, the greatest orator of antiquity, was born 385 B.C. He was the son of a rich bläcksmith. He became a pupil |