learned answer. It appears from Origen, that Celsus promised another work, "On the Life to be led by those who meant to follow the Rules of Philosophy." A piece "against Magic," is ascribed to him, both by Origen and Lucian. The latter was a particular friend of Celsus, and dedicates to him his account of the impostor Alexander, in his dialogue entitled "Pseudomantis.' ALCINOUS, a Platonic philosopher, who wrote an introduction to the Philosophy of Plato, which has been translated into English by Stanley. PEREGRINUS, surnamed PROTEUS, a Cynic philosopher, was a native of Parium in Pontus. If we are to credit the account which Lucian has given of him, his conduct in early life was extremely profligate. Being obliged to fly from his country, he went to Palestine, where he made profession of Christianity, and gained some credit with the Christians by his firmness in submitting to imprisonment under Trajan's persecution, sooner than renounce his avowed principles. During his confinement, he was visited by the deputies from the churches of Asia, who administered to him assistance suited to his wants and sufferings, and in the character of a persecuted believer, he contrived to amass a considerable sum of money. At length he was set at liberty, by the governor of Syria, who was a lover of philosophy, and admired the contempt of death which Peregrinus displayed. Upon his return to Parium, he acquired reputation in the character of a disinterested philosopher. By the charity of the Christians, whom he continued to deceive, he was furnished with all necessary supplies, till, having been detected in the commission of some crime, he was dismissed their society, and fell into indigence. He now endeavoured to recover the possession of his estates from the city, but failing in the attempt, he went into Egypt. Here, in the character of a mendicant Cynic, he practised the most extravagant exploits of fanaticism, in order to show his contempt for the opinions of the world. From Egypt he went into Italy, where he behaved extremely ill, so that he was driven away by the government. Passing over into Greece he attracted the admiration of the crowd at Athens, by the severity of his cynical manners, and the lectures which he delivered. Finding their enthusiasm in his favour becoming less ardent, he determined to procure an immortal name by burning himself at the Olympic games, in imitation of Hercules. His design he announced throughout the whole of Greece, and at the appointed time, went to Olympia, where, in the presence of a vast concourse of spectators, he raised a funeral pile, and devoted himself to a voluntary death. Such is the account given of Peregrinus by Lucian, but Aulus Gellius speaks of him as a philosopher of reputation at Athens, who was admired for his constancy, and whose moral lectures were much frequented. According to Eusebius he committed himself to the flames, A. D. 168. POTAMON or POTAMO, a philosopher of Alexandria. He kept a middle course between the scepticism of the Pyrrhonians and the presumption of the Dogmatists; but attached himself to none of the schools of philosophy of his time. He was the first projector of the Eleatic sect; for though that mode of philosophizing had been pretty common before, he was the first that attempted to institute a new sect on this principle. Diogenes Laertius relates, that not long before he wrote his "Lives of the Philosophers," an Eleatic sect had been introduced by Potamo of Alexandria, who selected tenets from every former sect. The time when Potamo flourished, is uncertain, but it is probable, from the account of Laertius, that he began his undertaking about the close of the second century. POETRY. OPPIAN, a poet and grammarian of Amazarba in Cilicia, in this century. He composed a poem on hunting and another on fishing, entitled "Halieutics," for which Antonius Caracalla gave him as many golden crowns as there were verses in his poems; they were hence called Oppian's Golden Verses. He died in the thirtieth year of his age. His funeral rites were executed with great magnificence at the public expence. His citizens erected a statue in honour of him, with this inscription: Oppian, I was beloved by every Muse, Could death have staid his hand till time had brought I should have soar'd with an uncommon flight, The best edition of his Halieutics is that of Rittenshusius, 1597, 8vo. There is an English translation by Jones, and others, printed at Oxford in 1722, Svo. OSSIAN, a celebrated Celtic poet, of whom little else is known than what is contained in those of his poems which were collected, translated, and published by Mr. Macpherson. He was the son of Fingal, who is said to have commanded the Caledonians during the invasion of Severus. It appears from his poems, that in one of his early expeditions to Ireland, Ossian had fallen in love with and married Evirallin, daughter to Branno, petty king of Lego. This Evirallin brought him his son Oscar, whose exploits he celebrated in many of his poems, and whose death he laments in the first book of Temora. Evirallin died some time before Oscar, who seems to have been her only child; and Ossian did not marry afterwards; so that his prosperity ended in the death of Oscar; who seems to have died as he was about to be married to Malvina, the daughter of Toscar. This celebrated maid remained with her intended father-in-law while she lived, and paid him every attention which his age demanded. It is not certain at what age Ossian died; but from his having been long blind in years, and from the many contrasts between his present and past situations, in poems composed, as it would appear, at a considerable distance of time from each other, it is most likely that he lived to an extreme old age. The current tradition is, that he died in the house of a Culdee, called the Son of Alpin, with whom he is said to have held several conferences about the doctrines of Christianity. The principal residence of Ossian was in the vale of Cono, now Glenco, in Argyleshire. His poems relate many of his expeditions to Ireland, Scandinavia, Clyde, and Tweed or Tuetha. His exploits on these occasions, after making a large allowance for poetical exaggeration, show him to have been no less a warrior than a poet. It must not be concealed that the authenticity of these particulars has been disputed by men of the highest literary eminence; and much controversy has arisen on the subject. The following is given, by the editors of the Perthensis, as the dying sentiments of a man eminently qualified to judge of the question in dispute, Extract of a letter from Dr. Hugh Blair to Mr. William Morison, bookseller, Perth, dated Summerfield, 7th Oct. 1800. "That Mr. McPherson may not have given an exact and scrupulous translation of all these poems, that he may have joined scattered pieces into one, and have omitted some pieces that were in the original, is what I never called in question. But that they are really and truly in the substance of them genuine, original, and ancient Gaelic songs, well known to many natives of the Highlands, is what, from innumerable circumstances which I had access to trace, I am fully convinced and as certain of, as I can be of any thing under the sun." LITERATURE. JULIUS POLLUX, an ancient Greek writer, who was born at Naucrates in Egypt, and flourished under Commodus. He was educated under the Sophists, and made great progress in grammatical and critical learning. He taught rhetoric at Athens, and became so famous, that he was made preceptor to Commodus. He drew up for his use an Enomasticon, or Greek Vocabulary, divided into ten books. It is extant, and contains a vast variety of synonymous words and phrases, ranged under the general classes of things. It was intended to facilitate the knowledge of the Greek language to the young prince; and it is still very useful to all who wish to be perfect in it. The first edition was printed at Venice by Aldus in 1502, and a Latin version was afterwards made and published with it; but there was no correct and handsome edition till that of Amsterdam, 1706, in folio, by Lederlinus and Hemsterhusius. Lederlinus went through the first seven books, correcting the text and version, and subjoining his own with the notes of Salmasius, Is. Vossius, Valesius, and of Kuhnius, whose scholar he had been, and whom he succeeded in the professorship of the oriental languages in the university of Strasburg. Hemsterhusius continued the same method in the three last books. Pollux wrote many other things, none of which remain. He died aged 58. FLAVIUS PHILOSTRATUS, an ancient Greek author, who flourished between A. D. 190 and 224. He wrote "The Life of Apollonius Tyanæus," and some other tracts are extant. Eusebius calls him an Athenian, because he taught at Athens; but Eunapius and Suidas always speak of him as a Lemnian; and he himself hints as much in his life of Apollonius. He frequented the schools of the Sophists, particularly Damiamus of Ephesus, Proclus Naucratitas, and Hippodromus of Larissa. He was one of those learned men whom the philosophic empress Julia Augusta, wife of Severus, had continually about her. By her command he wrote the life of Apollonius, as he himself informs us. Suidas and Hesychius say that he was a teacher of rhetoric, first at Athens, and then at Rome, from the reign of Severus to that of Philip, who obtained the empire in 244. Philostratus's life of Apollonius has erroneously been attributed to Lucian, because it has been printed with some of that author's pieces. Philostratus endeavours, as Cyril observes, to represent Apollonius as a wonderful and extraordinary person. The sophistical and affected style of Philostratus, the sources whence his materials have been drawn, and the absurdities and contradictions with which he abounds, plainly show his history to be nothing but a collection of fables. His works, however, have engaged the attention of critics of the first class. A translation into English was published by Blount. A very exact and beautiful one was published at Leipsic, 1709, in folio, by Olearius, professor of Greek and Latin. At the end of Apollonius's Life, there are ninety-five letters which go under his name. They are not, however, believed to be his; the style being very affected, and they bear all the marks of a forgery. Some of them, though it is not easy to determine which, were written by his nephew, as were also the last eighteen in the book of images. This is the reason why the title runs not Philostrati, but Philostratorum quæ super sunt omnia. TITUS CASTRITIUS. He taught rhetoric at Rome with greater reputation than any of his contemporaries. Aulus Gellius, who was his scholar, greatly praises him. In his AULUS GELLIUS, called also by some writers Agellius, a learned Roman grammarian and critic, flourished at Rome, his native city, under the Emperors Adrian and Antoninus Pius, and died at the beginning of the reign of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. He studied grammar under Sulpicius Apollinaris, and rhetoric under Titus Castritius and Antonius Julianus. youth he visited Athens, and enjoyed the society of many learned men, particularly Calvisius Taurus, Peregrinus Proteus, and Herodes Atticus. To gratify a laudable curiosity, and to collect literary and philosophical information, he travelled through a great part of Greece. On his return to Rome he devoted himself to the study and practice of the law, and was appointed a judge. He was conversant with the ancient writers on the Roman law, and ranked among his friends many respectable lawyers of his own time. The frequent citations which are made from his work by writers on Roman law render it probable, that he possessed a considerable share of professional reputation. The "Noctes Attica" of Aulus Gellius may be justly allowed a respectable place among the treasures of antiquity. The author, as he himself informs us in his preface, gave the name of " Attic Nights" to his work, from the circumstance that a great part of it was written while he resided in Athens, and furnished an amusing occupation for many long winter evenings. His object was, to provide his children as well as himself with that kind of entertainment with which they might properly relax and indulge themselves in the intervals of more important business. From the manner in which the collection was made, its contents are necessarily miscellaneous, and of unequal value. "Whatever book," says he, " came into my hand, whether it was Greek or Latin, or whatever I heard, that was either worthy of being recorded, or agreeable to my fancy, I wrote down without distinction and without order." These minutes become the basis of this work, in which the author takes up his collections in the same accidental arrangement in which they were made, and comments upon them. The work consists of a vast variety of critical observations upon authors of historical and biographical anecdotes, with reflections of brief discussions on various topics, grammatical, antiquarian, moral, philosophical, physical, &c. among which, if many things be trivial, or uninteresting, there is also much amusing information, and many ingenious observations; it is particularly valuable, as a large collection of fragments of ancient authors, not |