sisted of races on foot and on horseback, and in chariots, and of leaping, wrestling, and boxing. It was considered a very great honor for a person to gain a prize at the Olympic games.

5. Apollo was the son of Jupiter. He was supposed to be the driver of the sun, which had four horses harnessed to it, and went round the world every day. It was pretty much like a modern stage-coach, except that it carried no passengers.

6. Besides being the coachman of the sun, Apollo was likewise the god of music and poetry, and of medicine, and all the fine arts. He also presided over the famous oracle at Delphos, whither people used to come from all parts of the world to find out the events of futurity.

7. Mars was the god of war, and Mercury the god of thieves, and Bacchus the god of drunkards, and Vulcan the god of blacksmiths. Vulcan seems to have been one of the best and most useful of the heathen deities, for he was an excellent blacksmith, and worked hard at his anvil.

5. What of Apollo? His chariot? 6. What more can you tell of Apollo? 7. What of Mars? Mercury? Bacchus? Vulcan?

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8. Venus was the goddess of beauty. Her statues were made in the form of a beautiful woman. She had a son named Cupid, who was a mischievous little deity, and used to shoot at people with a bow and arrow.

9. Neptune was the chief of the marine deities. It was supposed that he had a huge scallop-shell for a chariot, and that his horses had the tails of fishes. Whenever he rode over the waves, a tribe of seamonsters surrounded his chariot.

10. Pluto was the deity who presided in the infernal regions. He used to sit on a throne of brimstone, looking very stern and awful. In one hand he held a scepter, and in the other two keys. Besides - these gods, the Greeks believed in heroes, who were half gods and half men. Of these, Her'-cu-les was very famous for his wonderful feats of strength.

11. Unless I were to write a large book on this one subject, it would be impossible for me to tell you all about the fanciful gods of ancient Greece, and the strange and foolish things they are said to have done. The only use of such a book would be, to show how necessary it was that the true God should reveal himself to men, since they could contrive no better religion than these absurd though sometimes amusing fables.

12. Ridiculous as their deities were, the Greeks honored them with magnificent temples. Many of the churches and other public buildings in Europe and America are built on the plan of the old Grecian temples. The Grecian sculptors also carved marble statues of their deities, some of which were grand and beautiful.

CHAPTER LV.-EUROPE-CONTINUED.
The Grecian Philosophers.

1. THE Grecian philosophers were men who pretended to be wiser than mankind in general. There were a great many of them, who lived in various ages. I shall speak of some of the most remarkable, in this and the following chapters.

2. The philosopher Tha'-les was born between six and seven hundred years before the Christian era. In his time there were seven philosophers, who were called the Seven Wise Men of Greece; and Thales was considered the wisest of them all.

8. What of Venus? Cupid? 9. What of Neptune? Where did he dwell? How is he represented? 10. Who was Pluto? Where did he dwell? What of him? 12. How did the Greeks honor their false gods? What of temples? What can you say of the Grecian statues?

CHAP. LV.-1. Who were the Greek philosophers? 2. Who was Thales? was he born? What of the seven wise men? How was Thales considered?

Where

3. One night, while this great philosopher was taking a walk, he looked upward to contemplate the stars. Being much interested in this occupation, he strayed out of his path, and tumbled into a ditch. An old woman who lived in his family ran and helped him out, all covered with mud. "For the future, Thales," said she, "I advise you not to have your head among the stars, while your feet are on the earth!" Some people think that the old woman was the wiser philosopher of the two.

4. Another philosopher was named Pit'-ta-cus. He was the first temperance man on record; for, though there were many sorts of delicious wines in his country, he never drank any thing but water.

5. The philosopher Bias lived in the year 617 B. C. Some fishermen once found a golden vase in the belly of a large fish. On the vase were engraved these words,-"To the wisest." It was therefore sent to Bias, who was thought to be at least as wise as anybody.

6. But Bias did not care for gold or riches. When his native city was taken by the enemy, all the other inhabitants endeavored to hide their most valuable property. Bias alone gave himself no trouble. "Riches are but playthings," said he. "My only real treasures are my own thoughts."

7. Ep-i-men'-i-des was a very wonderful philosopher. My readers must not put too much faith in the story which I am going to tell them. It is as follows: One day, when Epimenides was young, his father sent him in search of a sheep that was lost. After finding the sheep, Epimenides entered a cave by the wayside, and sat down, for he was tired, and the sun was very hot. In this cave he fell asleep, and slept a good deal longer than he intended.

8. It was no less than fifty-seven years before he awoke. When he closed his eyes he was a young man, but he was old and gray when he opened them again. He left the cave and went back to the town where he had formerly lived.

9. But his father was long ago dead; his brother, who had been a child when he went away, was an old man now; and the town was full of houses and people that he had never seen before. These were certainly very wonderful changes, considering that they had all happened while Epimenides was taking a nap.

3. Relate an anecdote of him. 4. What of Pittacus? 5. When did Bias live? Tell the story of the vase. 6. What did Bias think of riches? 7. Tell the story of Epimenides.

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CHAPTER LVI.-EUROPE-CONTINUED.

The Grecian Philosophers continued.

1. THE philosopher Py-thag'-o-ras believed that when people died, their souls migrated into the bodies of animals or birds. He affirmed that his own soul had once lived in the body of a peacock.

2. Her-a-cli'-tus of Ephesus was called the dark philosopher, because all his sayings were like riddles. He thought that nothing was wisdom which could be understood by common people.

3. This wise man considered the world as such a wretched place, that he never could look at any body without shedding tears. And at last he retired to a cave among the mountains, where he lived on herbs and roots, and was as miserable as his heart could wish.

4. De-moc'-ri-tus, who lived not long after Heraclitus, was quite a different sort of philosopher. Instead of shedding tears, he laughed so continually that his townsmen thought him mad. And, to say the truth, I think so too.

5. The philosopher An-ax-ag'-o-ras believed that the sky was made of stones, and that the sun was a great mass of red-hot iron. CHAP. LVI.-1. What did Pythagoras believe? 2. What of Heraclitus? 4. What of Democritus? How did he differ from Heraclitus? 5. What did Anaxagoras believe?

This may seem very strange; but in those ancient times the people did not know the shape of the earth.

6. The philosopher Em-ped'-o-cles went and lived near Mount Ætna, in Sicily. He was a man of very grave and majestic appearance, and everybody knew him, because he used to wear a crown of laurel about his head. People generally acknowledged him to be a very wise man; but not content with this, he wanted to be thought a god.

7. One day, after he had prepared a great festival, Empedocles disappeared, and was never seen again. The people took it for granted that he had ascended to heaven. But shortly afterward, there was an eruption of Mount Etna, and an old shoe was thrown out of the crater. On examination, it was found out that this shoe had belonged to Empedocles. It was now easy to guess at the fate of the foolish old man. He had thrown himself into the crater of the blazing volcano, in order that people might think that he was a god and had gone to heaven.

8. Soc'-ra-tes was one of the wisest and best philosophers of Greece. Indeed he was so wise and good, that the profligate Athenians could not suffer him to live. They therefore compelled him to drink poison.

6. Where did Empedocles live? What did he wish to be thought? 7. What means did he take to make the people think him a god? 8. What of Socrates? His death?