ber to have heard, that even Simonides wrote a song upon me, for love's sake only; though my father did not fail to reward him handsomely for every verse.'

"My father was in dread lest my beauty should bring some mischief upon him during the voyage, and bade me keep a veil over my face; but one day when there was a great calm, (we were just then on the Rhodian shore,) I laid aside my veil for the sake of coolness, and commanded the female slave who attended me, to draw the curtain that concealed us from the rowers. They lay asleep on the benches-all but one, a young Athenian, who observed the movement of the curtain, and fixed his eyes upon my face. I resumed my veil, not without some apprehensions of the consequences of this imprudence, which were justified by the event; for, on the second day after, the crew rose upon my father and thrust him into the sea. The young Athenian, after this feat, came somewhat rudely into my recess, and informed me that he was master of the galley, that my father had fallen overboard in the night, but that I need not suffer any apprehension on that account, as he meant to be my protector. Imagine my grief and consternation. I threw myself at his feet, and begged he would not injure my honor, or sell me into slavery, but would rather make me his wife, for that now I should have no other protector. The young man's soul was filled with compassion. He raised me from the ground, and with a tender embrace swore that he would be my friend and husband, and that he would die in my defence. I accordingly became his wife, and suffered no inconvenience but sorrow for the death of my father, which afflicted me dreadfully for a long time.

"I soon began to have confidence in my husband, and even loved him a little. He very soon explained that he had designed, with others of the crew, of whom three or four were free Athenians, and the rest slaves, to sell me for a slave in Egypt, expecting a great price by reason of my beauty; that in consideration of his service as inventor and chief executor of the plot, the ship, with its slaves and cargo, was to be his; but that he presently effected an exchange, and partly by threats, and partly by promises of I know not what

advantages, he had got me for his own property. And as the others knew nothing of me but through his report, he had misled them with a false account of my person, representing that as by no means the prodigy he had at first conceived it.

"This last confession nettled me not a little, and through all my sorrows I perceived an uneasiness of a very different kind. For the first time in my life, my personal advantages had been underrated. This leaven worked so powerfully, I resolved at last to right myself by a public disclosure; and one morning as we were coming by the western mouth of the Nile, where the Greeks are accustomed to enter Egypt, I let my veil drop as if by accident, while standing upon the stern in sight of my husband's companions. I perceived that they were astonished at my beauty, and that very night my husband was killed and thrown overboard. My horror and remorse may be conceived when I discovered the consequences of my weakness; but there was nothing left me but to bear it in silence. I was sold soon after to a rich Egyptian, who took me to his house, and finding my person agreeable, gave me every advantage and comfort that could be desired. The houses of Egypt resemble those of Athens, but are far more elegant and convenient. Indeed, the manners of the Egyptians surpass ours in most particulars, and I must regard them as a people far in advance of us in everything appertaining to luxury. We are their superiors in war, and might be their governors, did we but know it; and for the arts, nothing can be worse than their taste in these; but they know better than any other people the way to enjoy and make life comfortable.

"I soon became familiar with the language and manners of my master, and my proficiency was such he made a point of conversing with me himself, displaying a vast deal of learning, and singular notions in regard to religion; for I soon found that his opinions of the gods were not like those of my father, but much more mystical and refined. Manes (for that was my master's name) had been a priest of Ammon, in the desert, and had there learned the greater mysteries. The Pharao respected his learning and abilities so much as to grant him a pension with an office of

trust about the court; but because he too much favored the Greeks, the council denied him a judgeship, for which he had solicited, as it would have given him too frequent opportunities of showing Lis regard for our nation. Nevertheless my good master was a man of virtue above the Egyptian standard, and was faithful not only to his religion, but to the moral intimations of his own breast.

"After two years' residence with him, when I had perfectly acquired the language, and might, but for my beauty, have passed for an Egyptain, he procured me at vast cost an initiation as priestess. The wife of a priest in Egypt, is priestess herself, by virtue of her family and marriage; but if an Egyptian takes a woman of Greece to be his wife, he must procure her this privilege by enormous bribes, because of a law which forbids any but a man or woman of the pure land to be initiated. But in Egypt money will do everything.

"At this time Pythagoras was in Egypt, and had become a priest through favor of my husband and others of the Greek faction, who meant to break down the old prejudices. Seeing the military spirit of their nation extinct, and the Pharaos dependant on foreigners for the defence of his territory, they wished to mingle the two nations, declaring that as they were of Egyptian origin, the Greeks should be admitted of the military order, and treated as the brothers of the Egyptians. But these projects and opinions came all to nought.

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Pythagoras came often to our house in Heliopolis to converse with my husband. I remember well his tall, spare figure, and delicate complexion. His appearance and expression were unlike anything I have ever seen, for they combined the expression of an enthusiast with the manners of an aristocrat.

"We lived splendidly at Heliopolis. My husband's palace adjoined the great temple, where the worship of Ammon and of the Sun is daily solemnized. From the windows of the balcony and from the roof, we overlooked the great avenue leading to the temple, along which processions moved on each one of the many feast days of the Egyptians. One half the time we spent in banqueting and celebrations, the remainder

in study and the rites of the Sun. My husband instructed me in all the mysteries. I read secretly the books of thrice great Hermes, which treat of polity, medicine, and indeed of all that appertains to this life; I composed poems in the sacred character, and soon had the reputation of the most learned, as well as of the handsomest woman in Egypt. My evening parties, suppers and festivals, were attended by all the nobility and their wives. Young nobles drove in their chariots every morning to my doors. Ambitious mothers sent their daughters to hear my conversations, and great wits were not ashamed to learn my verses, and repeat my good sayings.

"Let me describe to you one of my parties, that you may know how much better the women fare in Egypt, than with you Greeks. Wishing to make a young enthusiast, the daughter of a priest, acquainted with the wonderful Pythagoras, I sent him an invitation by a slave, on a scroll of gilt papyrus. At evening he came in a little bronze chariot, drawn by a spirited horse which he drove with his own hand. Alighting at the door of the court, he gave the reins to a servant, and passing through the court under a canopy of cloth, spangled to represent the heavens, under a shower of perfumes, he advanced to the great staircase, which is opposite the street door. Here my husband met him, clad in a dress of the purest linen of Egypt, and they two came together into the chamber where my friends were assembled.

the

"Need I describe the formal grace, learned courtesy of the reception, when my husband, with a serene gravity, conducted his famous guest to a chair not inferior to Pharao's, and placing himself on his right hand, commanded me to sit upon the left? Then how the women and young nobles, who had risen at his entrance, came forward singly and were introduced, the women by myself, and the men by my husband; and how gracefully and soberly Pythagoras received them, rising and doing courtesy to each with a polite inclination of the head?”

"I beseech you, fair Diotima," said Cymon, interrupting her, "relate to us all the particulars of this reception, and the conversation of Pythagoras with your

"It is the wine, good Meton," observed the young man, blushing. "And now, dear Diotima, I will not again interrupt you."

"The room of reception," said the prophetess, continuing her story, "was of vast size, supported by rows of columns of white marble, stained with emblematic figures. The floor was covered with a thick cloth of wool, worked in figures of sphinxes and water lilies, in blue and gold. The roof had many openings, between the beams of gilt cedar, which rested on the columns; through which came a light subdued by passing through colored slabs of transparent stone. The columns were garlanded with water-lilies, which gave a rich perfume, and from opposite openings in the pictured walls, might be heard at intervals the voice of sweet singers, and the soft music of harps and flutes, echoing and accompanying each other. When the guests were seated, a collation was served by a band of black slaves, clothed each in white tunic, to heighten the darkness of their skin."

"Pray tell me," said Mycon, "whether these were Ethiopians."

"No," said the prophetess, "they were from a country of forests beyond the great desert. The Ethiopians resemble the Egyptians. But these blacks hardly resemble men, so uncouth are they. When the black slaves had taken away the collation, which we ate from little plates of glass, the blacks entertained us with songs and dances after their manner, with which the guests, and especially Pythagoras, were wonderfully delighted, and evinced their pleasure by repeated bursts of merriment.'

Here the jester Meton made a motion with his hand, and said :

"I confess, good Diotima, this descrip

company of young people, though you went on with it until morning. But I am prodigiously stupid at the hearing of all kinds of histories, unless some demon turns them all into jests for me. But this story of yours is far too dull for jesting, and I therefore weary of it. Pray, say nothing more about these garlands and courtesies-let us have a little of the talk

that passed. I fancy Pythagoras made a rare ass of himself."

"Hear the fellow!" exclaimed Cymon. "But if you are to suffer by him, good Diotima, I am content to suffer with you. Nevertheless, I long to hear something of this conversation. Pray, what was the topic of it?"

As Cymon said this, he took up a vase of wine very suddenly, and put it to his face to hide his confusion, for he was terribly in love with a fair niece of Diotima's who was in the house, and whom he hoped to catch a sight of that night. Nothing would serve him but to talk of love, for he watched an opportunity to let Diotima into his secret, and at the same time to discover the generosity of his sentiments. But Diotima had detected and approved his passion for her niece. But on this occasion he became subject to a certain proverb; for, tipping the vase too far, he poured the wine over his bosom and over the pillow of the couch, on which he leaned with his left elbow. Thereat the others laughed again, and he, covered with confusion, would have run from the room, had not Lysis laid hands upon him.

"Come," said he, "young sir, you shall share the couch with me, since your own is taken by Bacchus."

"Ay," said the jester, "his courage, that I gave him, he lost to the Graces, and now, that his couch is taken by Bacchus, he has nothing left but his youth and his innocence."

Cymon, greatly nettled at this speech, which was spoken in a ridiculously sad voice, began to conceive a suspicion of Meton, and would have violently hurled the vase at his head, had he not been staid by a look from Diotima, who, when he had taken his place upon the couch with Lysis, continued her story as follows:

"I shall not hesitate, my friends, to relate a part of the conversation of Pythago

ras with myself, my husband, and the young priestess of Eros; because, not only of Cymon's desire, and yours, good Meton, but because of my first promise to Lysis, that I would relate the history of my life. From the date of this interview I began to live differently, turning all my thoughts upon spiritual matters, that I might attain that prophetic power which it is conceded that I now possess. But before this, even to the thirtieth year of my life, my thoughts had been limited to my pleasures and reputation. Until then I loved glory for the pleasure it brings; now, I loved it no less, but began worthily to pursue it. For I would have you know that the passion of glory, like love, differs in the pure and the impure, not as to the end, but as to the mode of attaining it. For as an honorable lover gains his end by generous and unreserved affection, and the dishonorable by the contrary, thinking only of his own pleasure,"Here Diotima glanced at Cymon, who crimsoned with delight and shame-"so, the true lover of glory secks the universal love of men, by cultivating in himself true and loveable qualities, while the falsely ambitious entices men with a show, and feasts upon stolen praises."

"Let us compare him," said Lysis, "to a cunning fisherman, who with a bit of glittering metal draws the fish to his hook."

"And the other," rejoined Cymon, "is like a good shepherd whom the sheep love for the good food he gives them."

"I will compare him," said the jester, "to a jar of sweetened vinegar, which a rascally slave brings you for wine of Cos, when you are so drunk you know no difference of tastes."

"Good," responded Mycon; "and half mankind are drunk all their lives, and know not the taste of true honor."

"Pythagoras," continued the prophetess, "after many kind words and pleasant compliments, drew us gradually to the topic, as I had forewarned him to do, and presently engaged us all in a delightful manner; hearing the word of each, and giving the stupidest remark an elegant turn to the advantage of the person who made it. We were soon quite intoxicated with the beauty of his discourse. The young nobles forgot themselves and their fair companions, and all crowded about us,

But the others bid him be silent, and Diotima continued :

"Pythagoras would not direct his conversation to the young priestess of Eros, more than to the others, for fear of putting her to shame; but shaped all he said with wonderful ingenuity to her thoughts, while he seemed to be answering the question of another, or relating some anecdote to please the whole. I cannot pretend to any recollection of his words, and must repeat his sentiments in my own. He related to us the fable of Eros, and of his birth out of the darkness, and then said that this fable signified the birth of love in the soul; for that the first darkness meant only the selfish instinct of man, out of which love for the parent who cherishes him, springs like a smiling infant full of light and warmth."

"There is hope in this infant," said the jester: "I perceive it will grow a great baby."

At this, Lysis could not help laughing, but Cymon showed signs of violent anger.

"He spoke of Typho," continued the prophetess, "as one with darkness and selfish isolation. That there is a continual war between this evil principle and the first love, the Eros or Horus; for that Typho, dark and cruel, draws all things down to death and isolation; but that love expands and unites, producing a wonderful music or harmony for souls, which is the language, or song, of the gods.

'Love appears first in matter warring with the evil Principle, or with darkness and the fixed. It perpetuates the affinities of all things, and is the cause of the oneness of the world. The planets revolve about the sun according to its law; for as the love of the child causes it to revolve in a manner about the parent, and the love of the wife causes her to move harmoniously in the sphere of her superior, so move the heavenly lovers, the planets

with their sun. Hence the people of the East call the sun the husband of the planets, because they move about him, bound by his love. If the power of the love of two heavenly bodies is equal in each, then are they sun and planets, each to the other, and move in one circle about their common centre; and this is the most beautiful of all heavenly motions. But it usually happens that an inferior is bound to a superior; and then she moves about him as inferior, receiving from him both light and warmth. But all love is mutual even among the stars, and the lover originates it in her he loves, and she in him in her turn. But he is moved according to her power; if equal, equally; if unequal, unequally.

Then the young priestess, Dione, the daughter of Polias, addressing herself to me, spoke as follows:

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"Pythagoras tells us a new thing, that the most beautiful of all the heavenly motions, is that of an equal about an equal; and I am persuaded the women of Egypt will not agree with him in this; for the oath of marriage makes them superior to their husbands in domestic affairs, nor are they backward in asserting a superiority in all other things. But it seems more beautiful to me, that the husband should be the superior in all important matters, as is the custom among the barbarians and the Greeks.' 'How,' said I, hastily, do you see the better kind of women asserting a superiority, or even an equality? or is it only a few discontented weaver's wives who do this, of the kind that are forward to speak at the sacrifices, and in the market? I have seen one of these lead home her infant in one hand and her husband in the other, as the greater infant of the two."

Then began a great contest among the women, as to which was the better condition, that the wife should rule the husband, or the husband the wife, as our law has it. But Dione, with Pythagoras, Manes and myself, remained silent until there should be room for a reasonable word. After the uproar had a little subsided, Manes spoke.

"I begin to see,' said he, my wise friends, that you will never decide this question in theory, but that each of you must discover what is true in practice.'

VOL. I. NO. II. NEW SERIES.

14

Then, as his custom was, he began to relate a fable in the eastern manner.

Let us hear this fable," said Lysis; "I like an apologue above all things.' Then, when the jester and the young man had signified the same desire, the prophetess spake as follows:

"In Mandara, before Amun had created men, there lived a nation of apes who had speech. The bodies of these apes were inhabited by certain demons, who used them for their own purpose. Barata, a wise spirit, who inhabited the body of a crow, conceived a hatred against the apes because they mocked his chattering, and ridiculed his grave and cunning ways. He determined to destroy them, and set about it in the following manner: Assuming the figure of a very aged ape, he came and stood by a spring where the females came to drink. He stood leaning on his staff, looking into the water, and retaining this position, without change, for a year, acquired the reputation of extreme sanctity; for it is necessary that the fickle should venerate the fixed. At the end of a year, the females began to bring offerings; and the water of the spring was esteemed holy. At the end of a second year, Barata keeping his position, great multitudes flocked to worship him, and throw offerings of fruit into the water, which floated away and were eaten by the crows and other birds friendly to Barata, and who knew his design. At the end of the third year, Barata moved his head as though to speak, and the multitude of females fled away in terror or dropped down in a swoon, so astonished were they to see a motion in him. When they were a little recovered, Barata waved his hand and addressed them as follows: Listen to me, ye females who desire sacred knowledge.' When he had said this, a number came forward and approached near him, and some would have embraced his feet. Then he continued, 'Listen to me, ye who desire the prosperity of the .just.' When Barata had said this, one only came forward of the multitude that covered, as it stood, a plain broader than Shinar. But when, for the third time, he added, Listen to me, you who would reap honor where you have sown idleness,' the whole demoniacal body rushed eagerly to be near him, and in their