exercised the Grecian youth in athletic contests; while the poets, as sembled round the Castalian fountain, chanted their rival odes in noble emulation.

East Lócris extends along the Eurípus: it was inhabited by two tribes, the Opun'tii and Epicnemid'ii, deriving their names from O'pus and Mount Chémis. The most remarkable place in the province is the pass of Thermop'ylæ, so memorable for the gallant stand made there by Leon'idas against the Persian myriads.

Western Locris, separated by Phócis from the eastern province, joined the bay of Corinth; its inhabitants were called Ozólae.

The mountainous district of Dòris, though a small territory, was the parent of many powerful states. The province was enclosed between the southern ridge of E'ta and the northern extremity of Mount Parnas'sus.

Etólia extended from Mount E'ta to the Ionian sea, having the Locrian territory on the east, and the river Achelóüs on the west.

Acarnánia, the most western country of Hellas, lay west of the river Achelóüs, from which it extended to the Ambracian gulf. It was very thickly covered with wood; and the inhabitants remained barbarians after other branches of the Hellenic race had become the instructers of the world.

SECTION II.-Geographical Outline of the Peloponnesus.

SOUTHERN GREECE, anciently called the A'pian land, was named the Peloponnésus in honor of Pélops, who is said to have introduced the arts of peace into that peninsula from Asia Minor. It consists of a mountainous range in the centre, whence hills branch out in various directions, several of which extend to the sea. Its modern name, the Moréa, is derived from its resemblance to a mulberry leaf, which that word signifies. It was divided into eight countries, 1, Arcádia; 2, Lacónia; 3, Messénia; 4, E'lis; 5, Ar'golis; 6, Achaia; 7, Sicyónia; and 8, the Corinthian territory.

Arcádia, so renowned in poetical traditions, occupied the central mountainous district of the Peloponnésus, nowhere bordering on the sea It resembles Swizerland in appearance; and this similarity may be extended to the character of the inhabitants, both being remarkable for their love of freedom and their love of money. Arcádia is supposed by many writers to have been the cradle of the Pelasgic race; but though this is doubtful, it certainly was retained by that people long after the Hellenes had occupied every other part of Greece.

Lacónia occupied the southeastern division of the Peloponnésus: it was rugged and mountainous, but was nevertheless so densely inhabited, that it is said to have contained nearly a hundred towns and villages. The chief city, Spar'ta, on the river Eurótas, remained for many ages without walls or gates, its defence being intrusted to the valor of its citizens; but fortifications were erected when it fell under the sway of despotic rulers.

Messénia lay to the west of Lacónia, and was more level and fruitful than that province. Messe'ne (Mauromati), the capital, was a strongly-fortified town; and when the country was subjugated by Spar.

ta, its citizens escaping to Sicily gave the name of their old metropolis to the principal town of the colony they formed, which it still retains with very slight alteration.

Argolis was a foreland on the south side of the Saronic gulf, opposite Attica, and not unlike it in shape, extending southward from Arcádia fifty-four miles into the Egean sea, and terminating in the Scyllæan promontory. The chief chief city was Argos, on the river In'achus, a stream that had disappeared even in ancient times. During the reign of Perseus the seat of government was transferred to Mycénæ, the celebrated city of Agamemnon; but soon after the Trojan war it was besieged by the Argives, and levelled to the ground.

E'lis, in the west of the Peloponnésus, was the holy land of Greece. It was safe from the din of arms; and when bands of warriors traversed the sacred soil, they laid aside their weapons. It was subdivided into three districts: the northern, named E'lis Proper, from the chief city of the province. The central district, Pisátis, was named from the city of Pisa, in the neighborhood of which the Olympic games were celebrated every four years.

The maritime district occupying the northwestern portion of the Peloponnésus was originally called Egí'lus, or Ægialeía, either from some hero, or from its situation on the coast. Its inhabitants were afterward blended with a colony of Ionians from Africa, when it took the name of Iónia; but these being subsequently expelled by the Achæans, it received and retained the denomination of Achaia, by which it is best known in history. It was a narrow strip of country, watered by a multitude of mountain-streams, which descended from the lofty Arcadian ridges; but it was not eminent either for fertility or population. The inhabitants were a peaceful, industrious people, aspiring to neither eminence in war nor literature, but attached to liberty, and governed by wise laws.

The territory of Sicyónia, frequently regarded as a part of Achaia was remarkable only for the city of Sic'yon, the most ancient in Greece having been founded more than two thousand years before the Chris

tian era.

The Peloponnésus was connected with Hel'las by the Corinthian isthmus, having the Saronic gulf on the eastern side, and the Corinthian on the western. Several attempts were made to join these seas by a canal; but the nature of the ground to be cut through presented insuperable difficulties; and hence "to cut the Corinthian isthmus" was a proverbial expression for aiming at impossibilities. On this narrow pass the Isthmian games were celebrated in honor of Neptune, near the national temple of that deity, which stood in the midst of a grove of fir-trees. Here also a stand has frequently been made in defence of the liberties of Greece; the narrowness of the isthmus easily admitting of fortification. At the south of the isthmus stood the wealthy city of Corinth, anciently called Ephy're, more than four miles in extent: it was erected at the foot of a lofty hill, called the Ac'ro-Corin'thus, on which the citadel was built. This was the strongest fortress in Greece, and perhaps no other spot in the world afforded so brilliant a prospect. The Corinthian territory was one of the smallest ir. Greece; but com merce, not dominion, secured the strength of Corinth, and trade render

ed it rich and powerful; like Venice, whose prosperity was never greater than when the republic possessed not a single square mile on the continent.

SECTION III.-The Grecian Islands in the Ægean and Mediterranean Seas.

THE Thracian islands occupy the north of the Ægean sea: the prin cipal were, Thásos, Sam'othrace, and Im'brus.

Opposite to Im'brus, on the Asiatic coast, at the entrance of Helles. pont, was the island of Ten'edos, remarkable for a temple dedicated to Apollo, under the name of Smin'theus.

Southwest of Ten'edos was Lem'nos (Stalimene), dedicated to Hephæs'tus or Vulcan, because the poets asserted that Vulcan, when flung from heaven by Jupiter, had fallen in this island. South of these were Sciathus (Sciatica). Scop'elos (Scopelo), and Scỳros (Skiro), where Achilles was concealed by Thetis.

South of Ten'edos, and opposite the city of Eph'esus, on the Asiatic coast, was Lesbos (Metelin). Further to the south was Chíos (Scio) whose wines were deemed the best in the ancient world. It also contained quaries of beautiful marble.

The largest island in the Egean was Eubœ'a (Egripo), separated from the Baotian coast by a narrow strait called the Eurípus, which is now choked up.

In the Saronic gulf were the islands of Sal'amis and Ægína.

Southeast of Euba'a were the Cyclades, a cluster of islands deriving their name from their nearly forming a circle round the island of Délos. Orty'gia, or Délos, is celebrated in mythology as the birthplace of Apollo and Dian'a.

The other remarkable islands in this group were An'dros; Céos ; Páros, celebrated for its white marble; Mélos; Nax'os, sacred to Bac'chus; and l'os, said to have been the burial-place of Homer.

East of the Cyc'lades, and close along the Asiatic coast, was another cluster of islands called the Spor'ades, from their being irregularly scattered over the sea. The chief of these were, Sámos, sacred to Juno, and the birthplace of the philosopher Pythag'oras; Pat'mos, where St. John wrote the Revelations; Cos, the native country of the celebrated physician Hippocrates; Car'pathus (Scarpanto), which gave name to the Carpathian sea; and Rhodes.

Creté (Candia), the largest of the Grecian islands except Eubœa, lies at the entrance of the Ægean. In ancient times it was celebrated for its hundred cities. Northeast of Creté is Cyprus, the favorite islar.d of Venus, whose Paphian bower is not yet forgotten in song and whose loveliness has been celebrated by poets of every age and nation.

SECTION IV.-The Ionian Islands.

COPCY'RA, formerly called Drepanè (Corfu), is celebrated by Ho mer under the name of Phæacia, for its amazing riches and fertility. It was opposite that part of Epirus named Thesprotia, from which it was separated by a narrow strait called the Corcyrean.

Leucádia (Santa Maura), was originally a peninsula, but the isthmus that joined it to the mainland was cut through to facilitate navigation.

The Echin'ades (Curzolari) were a small cluster of islands near the mouth of the river Achelóus, of which the most celebrated was Du lichium, part of the kingdom of Ulys'ses. Near it was the little island of Ithaca (Theaki), immortalized by Homer.

Cephalónia, anciently called Schéria, was the largest of the western Grecian islands, and the least noted in history.

South of this was Zacyn'thus (Zante), with a capital of the same name, celebrated for its fertile meads, its luxuriant woods, and its abundant fountains of bitumen.

West of the Peloponnésus are the Stroph'ades (Strivoli), more anciently called Plote, because they were supposed to have been floating islands; and south of them is the island of Sphactéria (Sphagia), which guards the entrance of Py'los (Navarino).

South of the Peloponnésus is the island of Cyth'erea (Cerigo), sacred to Venus, and celebrated in ancient times for its fertility and beauty.

SECTION V.-Social and Political Condition of Greece.

It is useless to investigate the social condition of the Greeks in what are called the heroic ages, because we have no credible account of that period. But when the certain history of Greece commences, we find the country divided between two races, the 1onian and the Dorian, distinguished from each other by striking characteristics, which were never wholly obliterated. We know, also, that two other races the Eolian and Achæan, existed; but they seem to have become in a great degree identified with one or other of the two former.

The Ionians were remarkable for their democratic spirit, and consequent hostility to hereditary privileges. They were vivacious, prone to excitement, easily induced to make important changes in their institutions, and proud of their country and themselves. Their love of refined enjoyments made them diligent cultivators of the fine arts, but without being destitut of martial vigor. They were favorably disposed toward commerce, but, like too many other free states, they encumbered it with short-sighted restrictions, and they were cruel masters to their colonial dependancies.

The Dorian race, on the contrary, was remarkable for the severe simplicity of its manners, and its strict adherence to ancient usages. It preferred an aristocratic form of government, and required age as a qualification for magistracy, because the old are usually opposed to innovation. They were ambitious of supremacy, and the chief object of their institutions was to maintain the warlike and almost savage spirit of the nation. Slavery in its worst form prevailed in every Dorian state; and the slaves were almost deprived of hope-for the Dorian legislation was directed chiefly to fix every man in his hereditary condition. Commerce was discouraged on account of its tendency to change the ranks of society, and the fine arts all but prohibited, because they were supposed to lead to effeminacy.

The differences between these two races is the chief characteristic

of Grecian politics; it runs, indeed, through the entire history and was the principal cause of the deep-rooted hatred between Athens and Sparta. Next to this, the most marked feature in the political aspect of Greece is, that it contained as many free states as cities. Ar ica, Meg'aris, and Lacónia, were civic rather than territorial states. but there are few of the other divisions of the country that were uited under a single government. The cities of A'chaia, Arcádia, and Bæótia, were independent of each other, though the Achæan ities were united by a federative league; and Thebes generally exerced a precarious dominion over the other cities of Bœótia. The supremacy of the principal state was called by the Greeks Hegemony; it in uded the right of determining the foreign relations of the inferior state, and binding them to all wars in which the capital engaged, and all to eaties of peace which it concluded; but it did not allow of any interference in the internal administration of each government. This parcelling out of a small country, added to the frequent revolutions, facilitated by the narrow limits of each state, necessarily led to a more rapid development of political science in Greece than in any other country.

Divided as the Greeks were, there were many circumstances that united the whole Hellenic race by a common bond of nationality. Of these the chief was unity of religion, connected with which were the national festivals and games, at which all the Hellenes, and none others, were allowed to take a share. If, as is commonly supposed, the Greeks derived the elements of their religion from Asia or Egypt, they soon made it so peculiarly their own, that it retained no features of its original source. All Asiatic deities are more or less of an elementary character; that is, they symbolize some natural object, such as the sun, the earth, an important river; or some power of nature, such as the creative, the preserving, and the destroying power. In many instances both were combined, and the visible object was associated with the latent power. On the other hand, the gods of Greece were human personages, possessing the forms and the attributes of men, though in a highly exalted degree. The paganism of Asia was consequently a religion of fear; for it was impossible to conceive deities of monstrous forms sympathizing with man: hence, also, the priesthood formed a peculiar caste; for the mystery which veiled the god was necessarily extended to the mode in which he should be worshipped.

Instead of this gloomy system, the Greeks had a religion of love; they regarded their gods as a kind of personal friends, and hence their worship was cheerful and joyous. The priesthood was open to all; the office was commonly filled for a limited time only, and was not deemed inconsistent with other occupations. There is no doubt that the Grecian religion received its peculiar form from the beautiful fictions of the poets, especially Homer and Hesiod; for in all its features it is essentially poetical. We need scarcely dwell on the beneficial effects produced by this system on the fine arts, or its facilitating the progress of knowledge, by separating religion from philosophy.

The oracles of Dodona and Delphi, the temples of Olympia and Délos, were national; they belonged to the whole Hellenic race. The responses of the oracles were more reverenced by the Dorian than the Ionian race, for the latter early emancipated itself from the trammels