The Prooeme .

SOme there are who affirm , That the study of Philosophy deriv'd its first Original from among the Barbariàns . For that among the Persians there were the Magi ; among the Babylonians or Assyrians the Chaldaeans ; and the Gymnosophists among the Indians . Among the Gauls were another sort , that went by the name of Druids , or Semnotheans , as Aristotle reports in his Magic , and Sotion in his Thirteenth Book of Succession . Among the Phoenicians flourish'd Ochus ; Zamolxes grew famous among the Thracians , and Atlas among the Lybians . Add to this , That the Egyptians asserted Vulcan to be the Son of Nilus ; from whom , among them , Philosophy first commenc'd ; and over which they who presided as Presidents and Guardians , were both Priests and Prophets . From whence to the Time of Alexander the Macedonian , were to be numbred Forty Eight Thousand , Eight Hundred Sixty three Years : In all which space of Time , there appeared Eclipses of the Sun , no less than Three hundred seventy three ; of the Moon , Eight hundred thirty two , From the Magi , of whom the chiefwas Zoroastres , the Persian , by the computation of Hermodorus the Platonic , in his Book of the Sciences , to the Taking and Destruction of Troy , were five thousand years : though Xanthus the Lydian reck'ns from Zoroastres to the Descent of Xerxes not above six hundred years . To which Zoroastres afterwards succeeded several other Magi , under the various names of Ostanes , Astrapsychi , Gobryae , and Pazatae , till the total subversion of the Persian Monarchy by Alexander . But they are grosly mistak'n , while they attribute to the Barbarians the famous Acts and Inventions of the Grecians , from whom not only Philosophy , but even the Race of Mankind had its first Beginning . For among the Athenians we behold the Ancient Musaeus ; among the Thebans , Linus ; Ofwhich two , the former , reported to be the Son of Eumolpus , is said to have first made out the Pedigree of the Gods ; to have invented the Sphere ; and first to have taught the World that All things were created of one Matter , and should again be dissolv'd into the same . This great Person ended his days at Phalerae , where the following Elegy was ingrav'd upon his Tomb , Here in Phalerian Dust , beneath this stone , Sleeps lov'd Musaeus , once Eumolpus Son.

Also from the Father of Musaeus the Eumolpidae among the Athenians deriv'd their Name . As for Linus , he was the Son of Mercury , and the Muse Urania : He wrote of the Creation of the World ; discovered the course of the Sun and Moon , and from whence all Plants and Animals had their first Being . Which lofty Poem of his began after this manner , Once was the time when Nature's God display'd All things in Order , and together made .

Whence Anaxagoras borrowing , affirms that All things appear'd at first without shape , together and at the same instant ; at what time the high Intelligence coming , embellish'd and adorn'd the several Compositions . This Linus ended his Life in Euboea , being shot with an Arrow by Apollo . After which accident , this Epitaph was inscrib'd upon his Monument : Here Theban Linus rests in Sacred Ground , Vrania's Son , with honour'd Garlands Crown'd .

And thus Philosophy had its Beginning among the Greeks : which is also the more apparent from hence , That in the very name it self there is not the least of barbarous Sound or Etymology . True it is , they who ascribe the Invention of it to the Barbarians , produce the Thracian Orpheus , to make good their Assertion ; whom they averr to have been a Philosopher , and of great Antiquity . But for my part , I cannot understand how we can think him to be a Philosopher who utters such things as he does , concerning the Gods ; while he asperses the Deities as guilty of all humane Passions , and loads 'em with those Vices which are seldom discours'd of , less frequently committed by the worst of Men. And therefore though the Fable reports him to have perish'd by the fury of enrag'd Women , yet the Epigram at Dios in Macedon , speaks him to have been struck with Thunder , in these words , With footy Thunder all besinear'd , Here by the Muses lies interr'd , Together with his Gold'n Lyre , The Thracian Orpheus , he whom Jove High Heav'n commanding , from above Struck dead with his Celestial Fire .

Now they who affirm Philosophy to have deriv'd its Original from the Barbarians , pretend to shew us the form and manner of Instruction that every one made use of , together with their Customs and Institutions ; declaring that the Gymnosophists and Druids uttered their Philosaphy in Riddles and obscure Problems , exhorting Men to worship the Gods , to do nothing that was Evil , and to practise Fortitude . Clitarchus also in his twelfth Book asserts the first to have been great Contemners of Death : That the Chaldaeans wholly employ'd themselves in Astronomy and Predictions : That the Magi were attentive altogether upon the Ceremonies of Divine Worship , Sacrifices and Prayers to the Gods , as list'ning to none but only to themselves : They also discours'd of the Substance and Generation of the Gods ; which they affirm'd to be Fire , Earth , and Water ; condemning all manner of Images and Similitudes ; more especially those that asserted the Gods to be Male and Female . They taught also several things in reference to Justice ; accounting it impious to burn the Dead , but held it a vertue to ly ▪ with a Mother , or a Daughter , as Sotion relates in his Thirteenth Book . More than this , they ▪ practised Divination and Fortune-telling , affirming not only that the Gods appeared to 'em , but that the Air was also full of Specters , through the red●ndancy of mix'd and various Exhalations , forming themselves , and piercing the Opticks of those that were sharp sighted . However they forbid external Worship , and the use of Gold. Their Vestment's were white ; they lay upon the Ground ; their Food was only Herbs , Bread and Cheese . Instead of Wands , they made use of Reeds , with the sharp ends of which they took up their Cheese , and so put it to their mouths . But as for Incantation , or Conjuration , they understood it not , as Aristotle testifies in his Magic , and Dinon in his Fifth Book of History ; where the same Author observes that the name of Zoroastres , being interpreted , signifies a Worshipper of the Stars ; which Hermodorus also confirms . Moreover Aristotle , in his First Book of Philosophy , declares the Magi to have been more Ancient than the Egyptians ; and farther , that they believ'd there were two Principles of all Things , a Good , and an Evil Daemon ; of which they call'd the first by the name of Jupiter , and Oromasdes ; the other Hades and Arimanius ; which Hermippus also witnesses in his First Book of the Magi ; Eudoxus in his Periodus , and Theopompus likewise in his Eighth Book of Philippics . Which last Author farther declares it to have been the Opinion of the Magi , that Men should rise again and be Immortal , and that all Things subsisted by their Intercessions . Which Eudemus the Rhodian also relates . Hecataeus asserts , That they believ'd the Gods to be begotten . Clearchus surnamed Solensis in his Book of Education affirms the Gymnosophists to have sprung from the Magi ; and some there are , who derive the Jews from the same Original .

Moreover , they who write concerning the Magi condemn Herodotus , denying that ever Xerxes darted his Javelins against the Sun , or that he ever offer'd to fetter the Sea , which by the Magi were both held for Deities ; but that their forbidding of Statues and Images might probably be true . However they grant the Philosophy of the Egyptians to be the same , as well in reference to the Gods , as to Justice ; and that they held Matter to be the Beginning of All things ; out of which they distinguish'd the four Elements , and allowed the Production of several Creatures : That they worship'd the Sun and Moon for Gods , the first by the name of Osiris , the other by the name of Isis , whose mysterious worship they conceal'd under the similitudes of Beetles , Dragons , Hawks , and other Creatures , according to Manethus in his Epitome of Natural Things ; and Hecataeus in his First Book of the Egyptian Philosophy : And farther , that they erected Temples and Images , because they understood not the Form of the Deity . That they believ'd the World to have had a Beginning , to be Corruptible and Sphaerical ; that the Stars were of a fiery substance , and that their temperate mixture produc'd all things upon Earth : That the Moon was Eclips'd by the shadow of the Terrestrial Globe : That the Soul was immortal , and frequently ▪ Transmigrated : That Rain was produc'd by the alteration of the Air ; with several other Philosophical Opinions and ▪ Conjectures of the same nature , as may be gather'd from Hecataeus and Aristagoras . They also constituted several Laws in reference to Justice ; the honour of all which they gave to Mercury : Also to several Creatures , that were generally useful to Mankind , they attributed Divine Worship : If we may credit their own Relations , they boast themselves to have been the first inventors of Geometry , Astrology , and Arithmetick . And thus much concerning the first invention of these things .

But as to the Name of Philosophy ▪ Pythagoras was the first that call'd it so ; and assum'd to himself the Title of Philosopher , when he disputed at Sicyon with the Tyrant of the Sicyonians , or rather of the Phliasians , according to Heraclides of Pontus ; for he would not allow any mortal Man to be truly wise but only God. Before that time , Philosophy was call'd Sophia , or Wisdom ; and he who profess'd it was dignify'd with the Title of Sophos or Wise , as one that had reach'd the sublimest vertues of the Soul. Now more modestly he is called Philosophos , an Embracer of Wisdom . Nevertheless Wise Men still retain the name of Sophists ; and not only they , but the Poets also . For so Cratinus in Archelochus calls both Homer and Hesiod , as the highest Encomium he could give those famous Authors .

Now they who particularly obtain'd the more eminent Title of Wise Men were these that follow ; Thales , Solon , Periander , Cleobulus , Chilo , Bias , and Pittacus ; in which number there are some that reckn Anacharsis the Scythian , Myso the Chenean , Pherecydes the Syrian , and Epimenides the Cretan ; and some others needs will also add Pisistratus the Tyrant . And these ●ere they whom Antiquity reverenc'd under the Title of Wise Men.

As for Philosophy , it is said to have had its first Foundations laid by two Persons of equal Fame , Anaximander and Pythagoras ; the one the Scholar of Thales , the other the Disciple of Pherecydes . By which means Philosophy being thus divided , that which was founded by Anaximander was call'd the Ionian Philosophy ; in regard that Thales , who was Anaximander's . Master , was a Mylesian of Ionia . The other the Italian Philosophy , because that Pythagoras who was the Author , spent most of his time , and publish'd his Philosophical Tenents in Italy .

The Ionian Philosophy terminates in Clitomachus , Chrysippus and Theophrastus : the Italian with Epicurus . For to Thales succeeded Anaximander ; to Anaximander , Anaximenes ; Anaxagoras followed Anaximenes ; and Archelaus follow'd Anaxagoras ; after whom came Socrates , who was the first that invented Ethics ; to whom among the rest of the Socratics , in the first place succeeded Plato , who founded the Ancient Academy . To him succeeded Speusippus and Xenocrates ; to them Polemon ; to Polemon Crantor and Crates . Then followed Archelaus , the Author of the Middlemost Academy ; and his Successor was Lacydes , who instituted the New Academy . After Lacydes flourish'd Carneades , succeded by Clitomachus . Thus the Ionian Philosophy terminated with Clitomachus ; but with Chrysippus in this manner : To Socrates succeeded Antisthenes ; to Antisthenes , Diogenes the Cynic ; to him Crates the Theban ; to Crates , Zeno the Cittian ; after Zeno came Cleanthes , and after him in the rear of all Chrysippus . In Theophrastus it thus concluded . To Plato succeeded Aristotle , to Aristotle Theophrastus . And thus ended the Ionic Philosophy .

The Series of the Italian Philosophy was this : Pythagoras succeeded Pherecydes ; to him his Son Telauges , to whom Xenophanes ; to him Parmenides , to whom Zeno of Eleate ; to Zeno , Leucippus ; to Leucippus Democritus . After Democritus followed several , and among the rest Nausiphanes and Naucydes became most Celebrated ; and were next in order succeeded by Epicurus .

Now to distinguish these Philosophers generally into two sorts ; some were Dogmatical , who determin'd of Things , as fully comprehended and understood . Others Ephectic , who doubted of every thing , and pretended to understand nothing . Of the one , the most part have left behind 'em several Monuments of their Ingenuity : others have writ nothing at all . In which number , as some will have it , are Socrates , Stilpo , Philip , Menedemus , Pyrrho , Theodorus , Carneades , and Bryso ; and some there are who will allow neither Pythagoras , nor Aristo the Chyan , to have publish'd any more than some few Epistles .

Others there are famous only for some particular Treatises ; as Melissus , Parmenides , and Anaxagoras . Zeno wrote much ; more than he Zenophanes : Democritus more than they . Aristotle exceeded him ; more than he wrote Epicurus , but most of all Chrysippus .

Others of these Philosophers were distinguish'd by their additional Names ; of which some were given 'em from the place of their Birth : as of Elia , Megara , Eretricum , Cyrenae . Others from the places where they kept their Exercises , as the Academics and Stoicks . Some from Custom and Habit , as the Peripateticks . Others in Derision , as the Cynics . Others from the Effect , as Eudaemonics . Others from their Pride and Vain-glory , such were they that call'd themselves Lovers of Truth , and Eclectici , as pretending only , like Bees , to suck the flowers of Philosophy . Others had their Additions from their Instructors and Teachers , as the Socratics and Epicureans . Some , for that they ▪ wrote of the nature of Things , were call'd Naturalists : Others , because they taught nothing but what concern'd Manners and Breeding , were call'd Ethici : And Dialectici , they who busied themselves only about the Subtleties and Niceties of Words and Arguments .

The Parts of Philosophy are three ; Natural Philosophy , or Physics , Ethics , and Logic . Physics properly treat of the World , and the things therein contain'd . Ethics discourse of the management of our Lives both in Civil and Political Affairs : And Logic furnishes both with Arguments and Reasons . Till the time of Archelaus , Physics flourish'd alone . From Socrates Ethics had their beginning . And Zeno of Elea , was the first that reduc'd Logic into Form. Of Ethic Philosophers there were no less than ten Sects , the Academic , Cyrenaic , Elean , Megaric , Cynic , Eretric , Dialectical , Peripatetic , Stoic , and Epicurean .

Of the Ancient Academy Plato was the chief : of the Middlemost , Arcesilaus : and of the New Academy , Lacides . Of the Cyrenean Sect Aristippus of Cyrene was the Head : of the Elean , Phaedon of Elea : of the Megaric , Euclid of Elea : of the Cynic , Antisthenes of Athens : of the Eretric , Menedemus of Eretria : of the Dialectic , Clitomachus the Chalcedonian : of the Peripatetic , Aristotle the Stagerite : of the Stoic , Zeno the Cittian : and the Epicurean from Epicurus , who was the first Founder . However Hippobotus in his Treatise of the Philosophical Sects , denies there were any more than nine Sects , or Institutions ; and places the Megaric first , the Eretric next : the third place he assigns to the Cyrenaic ; the fourth to the Epicurean ; the fifth to the Annicerean ; the sixth to the Theodorean : in the seventh place he ranks the Zenonian ; in the eighth the Old Academy ; and in the ninth the Peripatetic : Nor does he make any mention of the Cynic , the Elean , or the Dialectic . As for the Pyrrhonian , it is rejected by most , by reason of its Obscurity . Yet some allow it to be partly a Sect , and partly not ; as seeming to be a kind of a Sect. For , say they , we call that a Sect which either follows or pretends to follow some sort of Reason , according to outward appearance . In which sense it may not improperly ▪ be call'd a Sceptic Sect. But if we may call a Sect , a propensity to adhere to Opinions that have some congruency one with another , it cannot be call'd a Sect , in regard it has no Opinions or Determinations belonging to it . And thus much in few words concerning the Beginning , the Increase , the Parts and Sects of Philosophy . Although it is not long since , that another Sect , which is calld the Eclectic , has been started among the learned by Potamo of Alexandria , which pretends to cull the flowers of all the other Sects ; and whatever seems most pleasing to their fancies . For , as he says himself in his Rudiments , there ought to be a twofold Examination of Truth ; one , from whence we should make our judgment , which is the Principal ; and the other by which we should make the same judgment ; which consists in the force and exactness of Ratiocination and Fancy . And upon the strength of these scrutinies he asserts Matter , Quality , Action and Place to be the Beginnings of All things ; that is , of what , and from what ; where and wherein . The End also to which all things are refer'd he affirms to be a life perfect in all Vertue , not without some natural and external Felicities of the Body . But we are now to give an Account of the Men themselves ; and of Thales in the first Place .

THE LIFE of THALES .

THALES therefore ( as Herodotus , Doris , and Democritus concurringly report ) was of a noble Extraction ; having for his Father Examius , for his Mother Cleobulina , both of the Family of the Thelidae , the most illustrious among the Phoenicians ; being descended from Cadmus and Agenor , as Plato testifies ; and he first obtain'd the Title of Wise , at what time Damasius rul'd as Prince in Athens : During whose Government , the rest of the Wise Men were dignified with the same Appellation , as Demetrius Phalareus relates in his Epitome of the Athenian Archontes . He was made free of the City of Miletum , whither he accompany'd Neleus , who was expell'd his native Country Phoenicia . But as several others affirm , he was a Milesian born , yet still of a noble Descent . Where after he had manag'd the Public Affairs for some time , he betook himself to the Contemplation of Nature ; though most agree , that he never left any Monument of his Industry behind him . For that same Treatise of Naval Astrology , reputed to be his , is more probably aver'd to be the work of Phocus the Samian . Yet Callimachus makes him so skilful in the Heavens , as to have found out the Lesser Bear , by which means the Phoenicians became such exquisite Saylors . His Iambics are these : He first descry'd the Northern Team of Stars , That draw the Artic Wain about the Pole , By which Phoenician Pilot fearless dares , To steer through pathless Seas , without controule .

But , as others say , he only wrote two Treatises concerning the Tropic and the Equinoctial , believing it no difficult thing to apprehend the rest . However most allow , that he was the first that div'd into the Mysteries of Astrology , and foretold the Eclipses of the Sun , as Eudemus declares in his History of Astrology ; which was the reason that Zenophanes and Herodotus so much admir'd him ; besides that Heraclitus and Democritus testifie the same thing . Some there are who affirm him to be the first who held the Immortality of the Soul ; of which number is Choerilus the Poet. As others report , he was the first that found out the course of the Sun , from Tropic to Tropic ; and comparing the Orb of the Moon with that of the Sun , discover'd the one to be no more than the seven hundred and twentieth Part of the other . He was also the first that limited the Month to thirty days . He was likewise the first that discours'd of nature , as some affirm . Moreover Aristotle and Hippias testify , that he was the first who taught , that inanimate Things were endu'd with Souls , which he prov'd from the Vertues of the Magnet and Amber . Having learnt the Art of Geometry among the Egyptians , he was the first that invented the Rightangl'd Triangle of a Circle , for which he offer'd an Ox in Sacrifice ; according to the relation of Pamphilus ; though others attribute that invention to Pythagoras , and among the rest Apollodorus the Accomptant . And if it were true what Callimachus vouches in his Iambics , that Euphorbus the Phrygian invented the Scalenum , and Trigonum , with many other things relating to the Speculation of Lines , as certain it is that Thales gave much more light to that sort of Theory by many Additions of his own .

As to what concern'd Affairs of State , apparent it is , that he was a most prudent Counsellor ; for when Croesus sent to make a League with the Milesians , he oppos'd it with all his might ; which afterwards , when Cyrus obtain'd the Victory , prov'd the preservation of the City . Heraclides reports him greatly addicted to a solitary and private Life . Some there are who say he was marry'd , and that he had a Son , whom he call'd Cibissus : But others affirm that he persevered a Batchelor , and made his Sisters Son his Heir by Adoption . Insomuch that being demanded why he took no care to leave Off-spring behind him ? His reply was , because he lov'd his Children too well . At another time his Mother pressing him to marry , he answer'd , It was too soon : Afterwards , when he grew in years , his Mother still urg'd him to Matrimony with greater importunity , he told her , 't was then too late .

Hieronymus the Rhodian in his second Book of Memorandums , relates , how that being desirous to shew how easie it was to grow rich , foreseeing the great plenty of Oyl that would happen the next year , he farm'd all the Plantations of Olives round about , and by that means gain'd a vast summ of money .

He affirm'd that Water was the Beginning of all things , and that the World was a Living Creature full of Spirits and Daemons . He also distinguish'd the Seasons of the Year , which he divided into three hundred sixty five Days . Nor had he any person to instruct him ; only while he continu'd in Egypt , he held a strict familiarity with the Priests of that Country . The same Hieronymus relates , That he measur'd the Pyramids , by observing the shadows at what time they seem'd not to exceed human Proportion . As Minyes relates , he liv'd with Thrasybulus , Tyrant of the Milesians . As for what is recorded concerning the Tripos found out by the Fishermen , and sent to the Wise Men by the Milesians , it still remains an undoubted Truth . For they say , that certain Ionian young Gentlemen having bought of the Milesian Fishermen a single Cast of a Net , so soon as the Net was drawn up , and the Tripos appear'd , a quarrel arose , which could by no means be pacify'd , till the Milesians sending to Delphos , had this Answer return ▪ d by the Goddess : Is 't your Desire , Milesian youth , to know How you the Golden Tripos must bestow ? Return , and say what Phoebus here reveals ; Give it to Him in wisdom that excells .

They give it therefore to Thales ; he to another ; the other to a third , until it came to Solon : Who saying that only God excell'd in Wisdom , advis ▪ d that it should be forthwith sent to the Temple of Delphos . This story Callimachus relates another way , as he had it from Leander the Milesian ; how that a certain Arcadian , whose name was Bathycles bequeath'd a Bottle of Gold to be given to the chiefest of the Wise Men : Which was accordingly given to Thales , and so from one to another , till it came to Thales ▪ again ; who thereupon sent it to Didymean Apollo , with this Inscription , according to the words of Callimachus . Me Thales sends to Sacred Nilean King , Twice to him fell the Grecian Offering .

But the Prose ran thus . Thales the Milesian , Son of Examius , to Delphinian Apollo , twice receiving the Guerdon of the Greeks . And Eleusis in his Book of Achilles farther tells us , That the person entrusted to carry the Present from one Wise Man to the other , being the Son of Bathycles , was call'd by the name of Thyrio , with whom Alexo the Myndian also agrees . However Eudemus the Gnidian , and Evanthes the Milesian , affirm , That it was a certain friend of Croesus , who receiv'd a Golden Cup from the King , with a command to present it to the Wisest of the Greeks ; who gave it to Thales , and so he went from one to another , till he came to Chilo ; to whom , when he sent to enquire of the Oracle , who was wiser than himself , it was answered , Miso ; of whom more in due place . Which person Eudemus mistakes for Cleobulus , and Plato will have to be Periander ; and concerning whom Apollo made this return to Anacharsis , who was sent to consult the Oracle . OEtaean Myso , born in Chenes , I , Beyond thy Fame for wisdom magnifie .

On the other side Daedachus the Platonic , and Clearchus affirm , that the Golden Present was sent by Croesus to Pittacus , and so from one to another , till it came to Pittacus again . Moreover , Andron in his Tripos relates , That the Argives made a Tripos to be presented to the Wisest of the Greeks , as the Guerdon of his Vertue ; and that Aristodemus the Spartan was adjudg'd the wisest Person , who nevertheless submitted to Chilo . Alceus also makes mention of Aristodemus , ascribing to him that famous saying among the Spartans ,

Wealth makes the Man , no Poor Man can be good .

Some there are who relate a Story of a Ship , full fraighted , that was sent to Thrasybulus , Tyrant of the Milesians ; which Vessel afterwards was Shipwrackt in the Coan Sea , where the Tripos was afterwards found by certain Fisher-men , as being part of the Lading . Though Phanodicus averrs the Tripos to have been found in the Attick Sea , and brought to Athens , where after long debate in a full Assembly , it was decreed to be sent to Bias. Others say , That it was the Workmanship of Vulcan himself , by whom it was presented to Pelops on his wedding day : Afterwards it descended to Menelaus , from whom it was violently taken away by Paris , when he made the famous Rape upon Helena , and by him thrown into the Coan Sea , by the advice of a Lacedemonian Sibyl , who foretold him it would prove the occasion of much Mischief and Contention . Some time after this certain of the Lebedians having bought the Cast of a Net , the Tripos was drawn up ; upon which a Quarrel arising between the Purchasers and the Fisher-men , both Parties came to a Hearing at Cos ; which proving ineffectual , they appeal'd to Miletum , the Metropolis of the Country . Thereupon Commissioners were sent by the Milesians to compose the Difference , who nevertheless return'd without being able to do any good . Upon which , the Milesians resenting the contempt of their Ambassadors , resolv'd to revenge the Affront upon the Coans by force of Arms : in which contest , after many had lost their lives on both sides , it was decreed by the Oracle , that the Tripos should be presented to the Person most famous at that time for his Wisdom . Immediately both parties agreed upon Thales , who in a short time after consecrated the Present to Didymaean Apollo . The answer given to the Coans was this , Between th' Ionians and the Meropes , The baneful wast of War shall never cease , Till they the Tripos , all of Massy Gold , Into the Sea by Vulcan thrown of old ; Send from their City to the distant Home Of him that knows things past , and things to come .

The answer to the Milesians has been already recited , and therefore we shall not repeat it again . And this is all that we can find remarkable concerning this same story of the Tripos .

As to other things , Hermippus in his Lives , ascribes to Thales , what is by others reported to have been the saying of Socrates ; That he gave thanks to Fortune chiefly for three things ; first , That he was a Man , and not a Beast ; secondly , That he was a Man , and not a Woman ; and thirdly , That he was a Grecian , not a Barbarian .

It is farther reported , how that going forth of his House one night to contemplate the Stars , he fell into a Ditch , not minding his way : Which an old Woman perceiving , Thou art like , indeed , Thales , quoth she , to discover what is above at such a distance in the Sky , that can'st not see a Ditch just before thy nose . However it were , most certain it is that he was highly industrious in the study of Astronomy , as Timon well knew , who gives him this Encomium in his Silli . Such Thales was , of all the wiser Seav'n Best skill'd in Wisdom , and the Stars of Heaven .

As for his Writings , Lobon of Argos admits of two hundred Verses , and no more ; and he adds farther , that this Anagram was ingraved upon his Statue : This Thales is , of whom Miletum proud , Gave him a Birth above the common Croud ; Astrologer most Ancient He , and then In Wisdom far surpassing other Men.

There are also several celebrated Sentences that are generally said to be his , and pass under his name , without the least controul ; of which , among the rest , these are a small part : Few words are the sign of a Prudent Judgment . Search after Wisdom , and choose what is most worthy ; so shalt thou stop the mouths of Slanderers and Tale-Bearers .

His Apothegms are reported to be these . That God is the most ancient of Beings , for that he never had beginning . That there is nothing more beautiful than the World ; as being made by God. That the widest thing is Place , because it contains all things . That the mind is the swiftest Thing , for it surveys all things in a Moment . The strongest thing Necessity , for it overcomes all things . The wisest thing Time , for it invents and discovers all things . He affirm'd , That Death differ'd nothing from Life . Why then , said one to him , do not you endeavour to dye ? Because , reply'd he , there is no difference between either . Being ask'd , Which was first , the Night or the Day ? Night , said he , preceded Day : One day before being ask'd , Whether the Crimes of bad Men were conceal'd from the Gods ? He reply'd , No , nor their thoughts neither . To an Adulterer who ask'd him , Whether he would swear that he never committed Adultery ; he made answer , Is not Perjury worse than Adultery ? Being ask'd , What was the most difficult thing in the World ? He reply'd , To know a Man's self . To , What was most casie ? he made answer , To admonish another . To , What was most Delectable ? He reply'd , To Enjoy . To , What was God ? He answer'd , That which has neither beginning nor ending . To , What was most rarely to be seen ? He reply'd , To see a Tyrant strick'n in years . Being ask'd , How a Man might most easily brook misfortune ? He answer'd , If he saw his Enemies in a worse condition . To the Question , How to live most justly and honestly ? He answer'd , If we do not act our selves what we reprehend in others . To the Question , Who was Happy ? He reply'd , He that was healthy in Body , wealthy as to his Fortune , and well furnished with Parts and Learning . He advis'd all Men to be equally mindful of their absent , as present friends : Not to study the varnishing and beautifying of the Face , but to embellish the mind with Learning and Vertue : not to seek Riches by unlawful Gains ; nor to defend an accusation against many Witnesses of equal Credit . It was but reason , he said , for Parents to expect the same Duties from their Children , which they had paid to their Parents . The overflowing of Nile he attributed to the Etesian Winds , which always at that time blow hard against the mouth of the River .

Apollodorns affirms in his Chronicles , that Thales was born in the first year of the Thirty fifth Olympiad , and that he dy'd in the Seventieth , or rather in the Ninetieth year of his Age , if we may believe Sosicrates , who says that he deceased in the Eight and fiftieth Olympiad . Certain it is however , that he liv'd in the time of Croesus , to whom he promis'd , that he should pass the River Halys without a Bridge , by altering the course of the River . Demetrius the Magnesian acknowledges in his Homonyma , that there were five more besides of the same name . The first , a Kalantinian Rhetorician : The second , a Sicyonian Painter : The third , a Person of great Antiquity , contemporary with Homer , Hesiod , and Lycurgus : A fourth mentioned by Doris in his Treatise of Painting : The fifth much more modern , and of less note , of whom Dionysius in his Criticks makes mention . But to return to Thales the Wise , we find , as to the manner and cause of his Death , that he dy'd , as he was beholding a Publick Wrastling Match , not able through old age to support the inconveniencies of Heat and Thirst . Which occasion'd the following Epigram to be engrav'd upon his Tomb. Viewing th' Olympic Wrestlers , stout and strong , E●lian Jove withdrew him from the Throng . Kind Heav'n , to bring him nearer , whose dim Eyes Had lost from Earth the prospect of the Skies .

This same Thales also was the Author of that Golden Sentence , Know thy self , which Antisthenes in his Successions ascribes to Phemonoes , and which Chile also assum'd to himself .

And here it will not be amiss to repeat what were the various and different Opinions of the Ancients concerning the seven Wise Men. For Damon the Cyrenean in the first place , discoursing of the Philosophers , arraigns 'em All , especially the Seven . Anaximenes avers that they addicted themselves to the study of Poetry . Dicaearchus denys 'em to be either Wise Men , or Philosophers , but only certain Persons of good Natural Parts , and Lawgivers . Archetimus of Syracuse has set down in writing their manner of meeting and discourse with Cypselus , where , he says , he was present himself . And Euphorus relates , how they all attended upon Croesus except only Thales . Some report that they met all together at Panionium , at Corinth , and Delphos , and are so confident as to recite their Sentences , and to distinguish the sayings of the one , from those of the other . As for Example , The Spartan Chilo , say they , was the Wise Man who uttered the Proverb of , Nothing to Excess ; and that other , The observance of Season , and Opportunity produces all things Great and Glorious .

In the next place , they cannot agree about their Number . For Leandrius instead of Myso and Cleobulus inserts Leophantus the Ephesian , and Epimenides of Creet . Plato in his Protagoras , puts Myso for Periander . Euphorus advances Anacharsis instead of Myso : Others add Pythagoras . Moreover Dicaearchus will acknowledge no more than four Wise Men , Thales , Bias , Pittacus and Solon : Then he names six others , out of which he chuses three , Aristodemus , Pamphilus and Chilo the Lacedaemonian , Cleobulus , Anacharsis , and Periander : And some there are who also bring into the number Acusilaus , and Cabas , or Scabras of Argos . But then Hermippus in his History of the Wise Men , musters up no less than Seventeen : out of which number others make choice of what seven they please . Now the whole Seventeen were Solon , Thales , Pittacus , Bias , Chilo , Cleobulus , Periander , Anacharsis , Acusilaus , Epimenides , Leophantus , Pherecycles , Aristodemon , Pythagoras , Lasus the Son of Charmantida , or Sisymbrinus , or Chabrinus , according to Aristoxenus , Hermioneus , and Anaxagoras . Nor must we omit that Hippobatus observes another order in setting down their Names : For he places Orpheus first , then Linus , then Solon , Periander , Anacharsis , Cleobulus , Myso , Thales , Byas , Pittacus , Epicharmus , and last of all Pythagoras . There are also the following Epistles , which are publish'd abroad under the name of Thales .

Thales to Pherecydes .

I Understand thy Design to be the first among the Ionians , that ever publish'd to the Greeks the Mysteries of Divinity . Though perhaps it may be more proper upon second thoughts to Communicate thy Writings only to thy Friends , than to expose to the vulgar , what to them will be of no use or advantage . Which advice , if it prove acceptable to thee , I should be willing to confer with thee üpon the subjects of thy discourse . To which purpose , upon the least encouragement I will hasten with all imaginable speed to give thee a visit . For neither Solon , nor my self , would be thought to be so indiscreet or unfriendly , that we who can so easily make Voyages into Creet , and Egypt , to converse with the Priests and Astronomers in those parts , should think it much to visit thee . For Solon also will be my Companion upon the least intimation from thee ; well knowing that thou , delighted with the pleasures of thy own abode , little car'st to change it for Ionian Air , nor desir'st much the converse of Strangers ; only as I am apt to believe , thou mak'st it thy business to study close , and write hard . But as for us that trouble not our selves with writing , our leasure will more readily permit us to travel abroad and visit both Greece and Asia .

Farewell . Thales to Solon .

IF thou leavest Athens , I know not where thou canst more conveniently settle thy self than at Miletum , once a Colony of thy own Nation , and where thou may'st be certain to live secure . If it offend thee that we are under a Tyrannical Government ( for I know thou art an Enemy to all Tyrannies ) yet let not that de●●r thee from believing , that no man shall live more to his satisfaction with us and our friends than thy self : Bias has written to thee to make choice of Prinna ; which if thou shalt think more convenient to do , thither also will we hasten to attend thee .