5. The Corcyreans and Corinthians made war with one another, the Athenians took part with the Corcyreans, and the Spartans with the Corinthians; and each state engaged other smaller states in the controversy, so that a most destructive warfare was carried on among all the republics during the time lately mentioned. This war ended B. C. 404. Athens was captured, its fortifications destroyed, and a tyrannical government set over it by the Spartans, who then assumed the chief control in Greece.

6. During the Peloponnesian war lived Socrates, and his distinguished countryman, Pericles. Pericles died in an early period of the war, of the plague, a disease extremely mortal in different countries and ages since. Pericles, on his deathbed, rejoiced that he had caused no man to wear mourning. He meant, that he had caused no death nor affliction. He forgot that he had beer unjust to Cimon, and induced his countrymen to

banish him.

7. Nothing has been said of Alcibiades; he was an Athenian who served in the armies of Greece. He was of the richer class of the citizens, educated by Socrates, in part, but more admired for his genius than his virtues; capable of serving his country, yet neither benefitting it by his counsels nor his example. His history may be found in Plutarch's lives.

8. The Spartans set thirty magistrates over Athens, who tyrannised in that city without mercy. After the taking of Athens by the Spartans, Alcibiades had taken refuge in the Persian dominions; and Lysander, king of Sparta, fearing that he would return to his country and persuade the Athe

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nians to revolt, induced Pharnabazus, the Persian governor of the province where he resided, to murder the unfortunate exile. After this event, Thrasybulus, a virtuous and spirited patriot, at the head of his fellow citizens, expelled the thirty tyrants, and re-established the former government of Athens.

9. The political power of the state was almost extinguished, but genius and learning survived. Xenophon and Plato lived, though Thucydides and Socrates were no more. Philosophy was taught, arts were still cultivated, industry revived, and the harbour and walls of the city were rebuilt, B. C. 394. The city of Thebes in Boeotia, may be seen on the map: at this time Thebes was destined to attain to some eminence. The Spartans attacked Thebes; Epaminondas, a man of great wisdom and ability, undertook the defence of that city, and afterwards, at the head of a considerable army, defeated the Spartans at Leuctra.

10. Epaminondas deemed it to be his duty to punish the foes of all Greece, as he considered the Spartans, to the extent of his power, and he marched his army into the territory of Laconia. In Laconia the Theban general endeavoured to do justice to the unhappy Messinians, who had been subject to the most cruel ravages of their neighbours, but an end was put to all his projects by the battle of Mantinea in Arcadia, where he fell, B. C. 371. (The life of Epaminondas may be found in Plutarch.) After the death of Epaminondas the Thebans had no commander to complete his designs, and they were no longer known in Greece as a people to be feared.

PHILIP OF MACEDON.

1. Philip, a prince of Macedonia, was educated at Thebes, and he afterwards returned to his native country, where he made himself king, though he was not the hereditary sovereign of Macedonia. He was a man who possessed talents for government, and the desire of extending his dominions; and soon made himself master of Illyria and Thrace. On the coasts of Thrace were cities subject to Athens. Philip showed no regard to the rights of Athens, in respect to these cities, and willingly made them the occasion, first, of disputes with the Athenians, and afterwards of a war.

2. The states of Greece united to oppose the invasion of Philip, who marched against their confederated armies, but in vain; he met the allied army at Cheronea, B. C. 338, and defeated them. From this time Athens became dependent upon Macedonia, and when that country was subdued by the Romans, Athens also fell under the dominion of the conquerors. Athens was taken by Mithridates, an Asiatic prince, at war with the Romans, and retaken by Sylla, a Roman general, B. C. 87. Sylla demolished its walls, butchered its inhabitants, and reduced it to a most deplorable condition. You will remember that the Persians, the Spartans, and the Romans, successively laid waste this beautiful metropolis of the civilized world.

3. Some of the Roman emperors regarded Athens with favour, repaired the ravages of war, and embellished it with new edifices. Alaric, the Goth, pillaged Athens, A. D. 396, demolished the

greater part of its ancient structures, and left it a ruin. About A. D. 1455, Athens was taken by the Turks, to whom it has been subject ever since. During eleven hundred years it often changed masters, but what happened there in this long period is little known. At present about three-fourths of its inhabitants are Greeks, and the remainder are Turks. It is now called Athini and Setines.

4. Solon's laws went into effect nearly six centuries before Christ, and the battle of Cheronea took place about three and a half centuries before Christ. For about three hundred and fifty years then, Athens was that mighty state, which, by the power of mind, exercised the greatest ascendancy over civilized nations that any one people ever did. Of the great men of Athens, her legislators, philosophers, and historians, it may be said

"Their spirits govern though their clay is cold."

5. Many of their works are lost, but all their conquerors, except the Goths, left much that was not destroyed. The Roman masters of Athens, loved its genius, its literature, and its arts: the schools of philosophy and rhetoric were long continued; and at last, when Athens was overrun by barbarians, its learned men took refuge in Italy, where they taught the learning and language of Greece for subsistence.

6. When the Goths overran Italy, and destroyed every thing ancient and venerable, they yet respected religious houses and religious men. The manuscripts of Greek authors were preserved in convents, and the Greek language was always enough cultivated, to be kept just alive. Since that time printing has been invented. many Greek books

have been printed, and an acquaintance with Greek literature, now forms part of the education of many people in Europe and America.

7. The duration of the Athenian republic has been divided into three eras: the first, the age of Solon, or of the laws; the second, the age of Themistocles and Aristides, or the age of glory; the third, that of Pericles, or the age of luxury and the arts.

S. The population of Athens consisted of citizens, sojourners or persons who had emigrated from other countries, and slaves. This population is supposed to have continued nearly the same for centuries, because, when it increased, the people went off to colonies abroad. The number of citizens is supposed to have been nearly 20,000, and the sojourners 10,000 males; and the city contained besides as many, or more females of both classes. The class of slaves was more numerous than either of the others. The whole population of the province of Attica, is estimated to have been 450,000 persons, bond and free.

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The slaves were persons taken in war, whose friends were unable to pay the ransom, or price of their liberty; sojourners who could not pay the taxes; poor people, who could not discharge their debts, and whose persons were sold to raise money; and the descendants of all of all these, for the children of slaves always belong to the masters of their parents. Many of the captives taken in war were