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A. was vice-president of Venezuela, previous to its union with New Grenada.

ARISTEUS, Son of Apollo and Cyrene, was brought up by the Nymphs. The introduction of the use of bees is ascribed to him (hence he is called Melissaus), and gained for him divine honors. His love of Eurydice, the young bride of Orpheus, caused her death; for, as she fled from him, along the side of a river, she received a mortal bite from a poisonous snake. He was punished by the loss of his bees. The loss, however, was repaired by new swarms, produced, after nine days, in the bodies of some cattle which he had slain. He was the son-in-law of Cadmus, and father of Acteon. He has been confounded with the Proconnesian Aristæus, who appeared on earth from time to time, e. g., as the instructer of Homer, and, afterwards, as a scholar of Pythagoras. This is explained by the fact, that there was a scholar of Pythagoras of this name, who succeeded that philosopher, and whose whole life was afterwards involved in fable.

ARISTARCHUS; a Greek grammarian, who criticised Homer's poems with the greatest severity, and established a new text; for that reason, severe and just critics are often called Aristarchi. He was born in the island of Samothrace, and lived at Alexandria about B. C. 150. Ptolemy Philometor, who highly esteemed him, confided to him the education of his children. After having spent his life in criticising Pindar and other poets, especially Homer, he died at Cyprus, aged 72. -Aristarchus of Samos, born B. Č. 267, was a famous astronomer, who first asserted the revolution of the earth about the sun. His work on the magnitude and distance of the sun and moon is still extant. He is also regarded as the inventor of the sun-dial.

ARISTIDES, for his strict integrity surnamed the Just, was the son of Lysimachus, and descended from one of the most honorable families of Athens. He was one of the ten generals of the Athenians, when they fought with the Persians at Marathon. According to the usual arrangement, the command of the army was held by each of the generals, in rotation, for one day. But Aristides, perceiving the disadvantages of such a change of commanders, prevailed on his colleagues each to give up his day to Miltiades; and to this, in a great measure, must be ascribed the victory of the Greeks. The year ensuing, he was archon, and, in this office, enjoyed so universal a popu

larity, that he thereby excited the jealousy of Themistocles. This ambitious man, not daring, openly, to attack his rival, contrived to spread a report, that A. was aiming at a kind of sovereignty, and, at last, succeeded in procuring his banishment by the ostracism. It is said, that a rustic citizen, who happened to stand near A. in the public assembly which decreed his banishment, turned to him, without knowing who he was, and asked him to write the name of Aristides upon the shell with which he was going to vote. "Has Aristides injured thee?" inquired he. "No," answered the voter; "but I am tired of hearing him called the Just." A. wrote his name, and returned the shell in silence to the voter. He left the city, with prayers for its welfare. Three years after, when Xerxes invaded Greece with a large army, the Athenians hastened to recall a citizen to whom they looked for aid in this emergency. Forgetting every thing but the good of his country, upon receiving intelligence_that the Greek fleet was surrounded, at Salamis, by the Persians, he hastened thither with all speed, to warn Themistocles of the danger which threatened him. Touched by his generosity, Themistocles admitted him at once to his confidence, telling him that the report had been purposely spread by himself, to prevent the separation of the Grecian fleet. He also invited him to assist in the council of war, and, having determined on battle, posted him on the little island of Psyttalia, where those, whose ships were sunk during the engagement, found refuge. In the battle of Platæa, A. commanded the Athenians, and had a great share in the merit of the victory. It is thought that he was again archon the year following, and that, during this time, he procured the passage of the law by which the common people were admitted to all public offices, even that of archon. On one occasion, when Themistocles announced that he had formed a project of great importance to the state, but which he could not make known in a public assembly, the people appointed A. to confer with him on the subject. The project was to set fire to the combined fleet of the Greeks, which was then lying in a neighboring port, and thereby to secure to the Athenians the sovereignty of the sea. A. returned to the people, and told them that nothing could be more advantageous, but, at the same time, nothing more unjust, than the plan of Themistocles. The plan was at once rejected. To defray the expenses of the

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ARISTIDES-ARISTOGITON.

Persian war, he persuaded the Greeks to impose a tax, which should be paid into the hands of an officer appointed by the states collectively, and deposited at Delos. The implicit confidence which was felt in his integrity appeared in their intrusting him with the office of apportioning the contribution, an office which he executed with universal satisfaction. He died at a very advanced age, and, what most strikingly evinces his integrity and disinterestedness, so poor that he was buried at the public expense. He left two daughters, who received dowries from the state, and a son, who was presented with 100 silver mine and a tract of wood-land.-Aristides Ælius, a famous rhetorician, born A. D. 129, in Bithynia, after travelling for some time, settled in Smyrna. When the city was destroyed by an earthquake, A. D. 178, A., by his influence with the emperor Antoninus, had it rebuilt. The inhabitants showed their gratitude for this service by erecting a statue to him. The merit of his orations, of which forty-five, are yet extant, consists only in the splendor of the language, by which the emptiness of the matter is tolerably well concealed. Another Aristides, a Theban painter, contemporary with Apelles, flourished B. C. 240. A famous picture of his is spoken of by Pliny, representing a mother, in a captured town, mortally wounded, with an infant sucking at her breast, who, she is apprehensive, will suck blood instead of milk: it became the property of Alexander the Great. Several other very famous pictures of his are also mentioned, for one of which Attalus, king of Pergamus, is said to have given 100 talents. Expression seems to have been the great excellence of this ancient artist.-Aristides was also the name of a Christian philosopher in the 2d century.

ARISTIPPUS; the founder of a celebrated philosophical school among the Greeks, which was called Cyrenaic, from his native city, Cyrene, in Africa. He flourished 380 B. C. Being sent by his wealthy father to Olympia, probably to take part there in the chariot-races, he heard Socrates spoken of, and was so desirous to receive instruction from him, that he immediately hastened to Athens, and mingled with his disciples. He did not, however, adopt all the principles of this philosopher. Like him, he thought that we should refrain from speaking of things which are beyond human comprehension, and likewise paid but little attention to the physical and mathematical

sciences; but his moral philosophy differed widely from that of Socrates, and was a science of refined voluptuousness. His fundamental principles were, that all human sensations may be reduced to two-pleasure and pain. Pleasure is a gentle, and pain a violent emotion. All living beings seek the former, and avoid the latter. Happiness is nothing but a continued pleasure, composed of separate gratifications; and as it is the object of all human exertions, we should abstain from no kind of pleasure. Still we should always be governed by taste and reason in our enjoyments. As Socrates disapproved of these doctrines, they were the cause of many disputes between him and his disciple; and it was, probably, to avoid his censures, that Aristippus spent a part of his time at Ægina, where he was when his master died. He made many journeys to Sicily, where he met with a very friendly reception from Dionysius the tyrant. The charms of the celebrated Lais allured him to Corinth, and he became very intimate with her. When he was reproached with squandering so much money upon a woman who gratuitously surrendered herself to Diogenes, he answered, "I pay her that she may grant her favors to me, not that she may refuse them to another." He said, another time, "I possess her, not she me." (See Lais.) Diogenes Laertius is not to be credited, when he says that Aristippus opened a school after he returned to Athens, as we know of no disciple instructed by him. His doctrines were taught only by his daughter, Arete, and by his grandson, Aristippus the younger. Other Cyrenians compounded them into a particular doctrine of pleasure, and are hence called Hedonici.* The time of his death is unknown. His writings are lost. Wieland's historico-philosophical romance (Aristippus and some of his Contemporaries) gives us a lively and highly interesting delineation of the life and doctrines of this amiable sensual philosopher.

ARISTOCRACY. (See Government.)

ARISTOGITON; a citizen of Athens, whose name is rendered famous by a conspiracy formed, in conjunction with his friend Harmodius, against the tyrants Hippias and Hipparchus, the sons of Pisistratus. They succeeded in killing Hipparchus (514 B. C.); but, not being seconded by the people, Harmodius was despatched by the guards, and A. secured. Hippias instituted a severe inquisition into the plot, and tortured A. to discover his accomplices; upon which he is reported to

have named all the best friends of the tyrant in succession, and they were immediately put to death. On being asked by Hippias if there were any more, "There now remains," said Aristogiton, with a smile, "only thyself worthy of death." Hippias being expelled three years after, the Athenians paid the greatest honors to the two friends Harmodius and Aristogiton, placing in the forum their statues by Praxiteles, singing hymns to their praise at the Panathenæa, and decreeing that no slave should ever bear their names. (See Plutarch and Thucydides.)

ARISTOMENES; a young, valiant hero, and leader of the Messenians against the Spartans, B. C. 682. The story of his escape from a deep cavern (into which he had been thrown by the Spartans), by creeping through a fox-hole, is extraordinary, but not well authenticated. Notwithstanding his boldness and heroic courage, he could not prevent the subjection of the Messenians.

ARISTOPHANES; the only Grecian comic poet of whom any pieces have been preserved entire; the son of a certain Philippus, and by birth an Athenian. He appeared, as a poet, in the fourth year of the Peloponnesian war, B. C. 427; and, having indulged himself in some sarcasms on Cleon, at that time a powerful demagogue, was accused, by the latter, of having unlawfully assumed the title of an Athenian citizen. He defended himself before the judges merely with the known verses of Homer,

To prove a genuine birth (the prince replies), On female truth assenting faith relies: Thus manifest of right, I build my claim, Sure founded, on a fair maternal fame, Ulysses' son. Pope's Od. i. 275-9. and, when the same accusation was renewed against him, he succeeded in repelling it a second time. He afterwards revenged himself on Cleon, in his comedy of the Knights, in which he himself acted the part of Cleon, because no actor had the courage to do it. This little remains to us of the life of A., who was distinguished, among the ancients, by the appellation of the comedian, as Homer was by that of the poet. Of 54 comedies which he composed, 11 only remain; and in these, without doubt, we possess the flower of the ancient comedy, which, in his last play, the Plutus, borders on the middle; but, in order fully to enjoy them, and not to be offended by the extravagances and immoralities with which they abound, we must be intimately acquainted with ancient customs and opinions. His

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pure and elegant Attic dialect, the skill and care displayed in the plan and execution of his pieces, and their various other excellences, have gained for A. the fame of a master. His wit and humor are inexhaustible, and his boldness unrestrained. The Greeks were enchanted with the grace and refinement of his writings; and Plato said, the Graces would have chosen his soul for their habitation. 66 According to our ideas of decorum," says a late scholar, we should esteem the soul of A. a fitter residence for the licentious and malicious satyr, or, at least, we should call him, with Gothe, the spoiled child of the Graces." He made use of allegory in his attacks on the politicians of the day, as well as in scourging the vices and follies of his age In a political and moral view, he is a strong advocate for ancient discipline manners, doctrines and art; hence his sallies against Socrates, in the Clouds, and against Euripides, in the Frogs and other comedies. The freedom of ancient com. edy allowed an unbounded degree of personal satire, and A. made so free use of it, that nothing, divine or human, which offered a weak side, escaped his sarcasms. He feared the Athenian people so little, that he personated them, under a most miserable figure, in his old Demos. He incessantly reproached them for their fickleness, their levity, their love of flattery, their foolish credulity, and their readiness to entertain extravagant hopes. Instead of being irritated, the Athenians rewarded him with a crown from the sacred olivetree, which was, at that time, considered an extraordinary mark of distinction. This excessive freedom characterized the ered as a support of democracy. After ancient comedy, which was long considthe Peloponnesian war, its licentiousness was much restrained; and, in the year 388 B. C., it was forbidden by law to name any person on the stage. At that time, A. produced, under the name of his eldest son, the Cocalus, a play in which a young man seduces a maiden, and, after having discovered her descent, marries her. With this play the new comedy began. A., who was very old, appears to have died soon after.-The best editions of his comedies are those of L. Küster, Amsterdam, 1710, fol.; Bergler, Amsterdam, 1760, 2 vols., 4to.; Brunck, Strasburg, 1781, 4 vols., 4to. and 8vo.; Invernizio, Leipsic, 1794, 2 vols., with Beck's commentaries.

ARISTOTLE, one of the most celebrated philosophers of Greece, and founder of the Peripatetic sect, was born at Stagira, in Macedonia, in the 1st year of the 99th

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Olympiad (384 B. C.) Nicomachus, his father, claimed descent from Machaon, the son of Esculapius; Phæstis, his mother, was also of noble extraction. The profession of medicine was hereditary in the family of the Asclepiade; and Aristotle's father, who was physician to king Amyntas, had pursued it with reputation and success. He designed his son for the same profession, and probably instructed him in the science of medicine, and the philosophy connected with it. He doubtless owed to his early education his inclination for the study of natural history, of which he is to be regarded as the founder, since he was the first who made accurate observations. After the death of his parents, he went, at the age of 18, to Atarnea, and lived with one Proxenus, a friend of his family, who did much towards his further education and improvement. Here he staid a short time, and then repaired to Athens. A. remained, during this his first abode in Athens, about 20 years; and, not content to continue merely a hearer of Plato, whose school was then in high renown, he opened a school of rhetoric himself, and became the rival of Isocrates. He probably composed, also, some philosophical works, the fame of which reached the ears of Philip of Macedon. It is certain, at least, that this king wrote to him, soon after Alexander's birth, 356 B. C., the celebrated letter,-"King Philip of Macedon to Aristotle, greeting. Know that a son has been born to me. I thank the gods not so much that they have given him to me, as that they have permitted him to be born in the time of Aristotle. I hope that thou wilt form him to be a king worthy to succeed me, and to rule the Macedonians." Several writers affirm that A. quarrelled with Plato a short time before the death of the latter, and, in consequence, set up his school in opposition to the Platonic. It is certain that there was some dispute between the two philosophers, but it never came to an open rupture. A. constantly manifested the highest reverence for his teacher, and every where, in his works, speaks with great respect of him, even when he criticises him. The Athenians having declared war against Philip, soon after Plato's death, A. left Athens for Atarnea, where his friend Hermias was sovereign. Hermias soon after was betrayed into the hands of Artaxerxes, who dishonorably put him to death. A., deeply moved by the fate of his friend, sought to perpetuate his memory by an ode, which is rich in

poetical beauties; and espoused his niece. It appears that A. lived some time after the death of his friend at Mitylene; but, towards the year 343 B. C., he was invited by Philip to his court, to take charge of the education of Alexander, who was then 13 years old. The particulars of his method of instruction are not known to us; but when we see the greatness of mind which Alexander displayed in the first years of his reign,-his command of his passions, till flattery had corrupted him, and his regard for the arts and sciences, we cannot but think that his education was judiciously conducted. It may be objected, that Aristotle neglected to guard his pupil against ambition and the love of conquest; but it must be recollected that he was a Greek, and, of course, a natural enemy to the Persian kings; his hatred had been deepened by the fate of his friend Hermias; in short, the conquest of Persia had, for a long time, been the wish of all Greece. It was, therefore, natural that Aristotle should exert all his talents to form his pupil with the disposition and qualifications necessary for the accomplishment of this object. Both father and son sought to show their gratitude for the services of such a teacher. Philip rebuilt Stagira, and established a school there for Aristotle. The Stagirites, in gratitude for this service, appointed a yearly festival, called Aristotelia. A. continued at Alexander's court a year after his accession to the throne, and is said to have then repaired to Athens. Ammonius the Eclectic says that he followed his pupil in a part of his campaigns; and this seems very probable, because it is hardly possible that so many animals as the philosopher describes could have been sent to Athens, or that he could have given so accurate a description of them without having personally dissected and examined them. We may conjecture that he accompanied Alexander as far as Egypt, and returned to Athens about 331 B. C., provided with the materials for his excellent History of Animals. Here he opened a school of philosophy in the Lyceum, a gymnasium not far from the city. Thither he went twice a day. The forenoon was devoted to his most intimate pupils, when he explained to them the difficult parts of science. In the evening, he admitted all those who were desirous of hearing him, while he discoursed, in a familiar and intelligible way, on subjects more nearly connected with common life. Accordingly, his works also are divided into the esoteric or abstruse, and the exoteric

or familiar. Alexander aided his extensive studies by sending him presents from Asia, and, as a reward for his services, gave him 800 talents. Notwithstanding this, he afterwards conceived an enmity against his tutor. At the death of that prince, 334 B. C., A. was reported to be concerned in his pretended assassination. The Athenians, now hoping to recover the command of Greece, endeavored to prevail on the other states to take arms against the Macedonians, and Aristotle became an object of suspicion, on account of his connexion with Philip, Alexander and Antipater. The demagogues, supported by his numerous enemies, took this opportunity to accuse him. To escape prosecution, on a charge of atheism, he left Athens with the observation (alluding to the condemnation of Socrates), that he would spare them the guilt of a second crime against philosophy. He retired, with most of his scholars, to Chalcis, in Euboea, where he shortly after took poison, 322 B. C., on being summoned, as it is said, to appear before the court of areopagus at Athens, to answer to the accusation against him. His character can hardly be acquitted of ambition and dishonesty. (For his doctrines and sect, see Philosophy, Peripatetic.)-The works of Aristotle, which were not published during his life-time, first became known to the world when the Romans began to devote themselves to philosophy. The original manuscripts of his works, and those of Theophrastus, were brought by Sylla to Rome, with the library of Apellicon. Andronicus of Rhodes arranged them, and furnished them with indices. Many of his important works are now lost. Those yet extant, according to the edition of Sylburg, 5 vols., 4to., Frankfort, 1587, which is esteemed the best, are the following:-Organon; Rhetorica et Poetica; Ethica ad Nicomachum; Ethica Magna; Politica et Economica; Animalium Historia; De Animalium Partibus; Physica Auscultationis, lib. xiii., et alia Opera; De Cœlo; De Generatione et Conceptione; De Meteoris, lib. iv.; De Mundo; De Anima; Parva Naturalia; Varia Opuscula; Aristotelis, Alexandri et Cascii Problemata; Aristotelis et Theophrasti Metaphysica.Besides the edition above-mentioned, those of Casaubon and Duval are esteemed. The latest edition is that of Buhle, not yet completed. (See Philosophy.)

ARITHMETIC (from the Greek puds, number); a branch of mathematics, the object of which is, to combine numbers, according to certain rules, in order to

obtain results which satisfy given conditions. These rules, methodically arranged, form a science, to which the name of arithmetic is given. This science is very ancient, and we find it (of course, in very different degrees of perfection) among all nations. Arithmetic, to the best of our knowledge, first attained a high degree of perfection, and was formed into a wellconnected whole among the Greeks, from whom the Romans learned it. Still, the arithmetic of the ancients was, by no means, so convenient as the modern systems. The superiority of the modern systems is owing, in a great degree, to our system of notation, which deserves to be called one of the sublimest inventions of the human mind. A great number of works on arithmetic have been published. The French, who excel all nations in popular treatises on mathematics, have the best school-books in the department of arithmetic. Those of Lacroix, Clairaut, Bezout, Mauduit, are excellent for persons who wish to pursue mathematical studies to a considerable extent, or to devote themselves to engineering, military or civil; while those of Gremillet, Querret, Longuêtre, Juvigny, are better fitted for young persons, who intend to pursue commerce or practise the mechanical arts. Among the English treatises, that of Walsh is a good one. In German, those of Fischer and Busch deserve to be mentioned. Fischer's is, in many respects, excellent. A very complete treatise on arithmetic is to be found in the Encyclopædia Metropolitana (London), a work which is not yet completed.

ARIUS. (See Arians.)

ARK; the name applied, in our translation of the Bible, to the boat or floating edifice in which Noah resided during the flood or deluge; derived, undoubtedly, from the Latin arca, a chest, or vessel. (See Deluge.)-In the synagogue of the Jews, the chest, in which the tables of the law were preserved, bore the name of the ark of the covenant. This was a small chest or coffer, 3 feet 9 inches in length, 2 feet 3 inches in breadth, and the same in height, in which were contained the various sacred articles mentioned in the quotations. It was made of shittim-wood, and covered with the mercy-seat, called also the propitiatory, as the Septuagint expresses it, 'Idaσrúpiov iníonμa, that is, the lid or cover of propitiation; because, in the typical language of Scripture, those sins which are forgiven are said to be covered. This lid was made of pure gold: at either end was a cherub: these looked towards

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