P. 177.—“Diomedes,” diˈo-meˌdes. A legendary hero of the Trojan
war—second in bravery to Achilles. Much space is devoted by Homer in
the _Iliad_ to his exploits. He was a favorite of Minerva, and from her
received the gift of immortality. In his combats with the Trojans he
spared neither gods nor men, if Minerva assisted him. For this reason
Minerva speaks to him:
“War boldly with the Trojans, Diomed;
For even now I breathe into thy frame,—
…
Lo! I remove the darkness from thine eyes,
That thou mayst well discern the gods from men;
And if a god should tempt thee to the fight,
Beware to combat with the immortal race.”
P. 179.—“Clemens of Alexandria.” One of the early Christian fathers, who
lived at the close of the second and beginning of the third centuries.
Educated in the heathen philosophy, he was converted to Christianity,
and became a presbyter in the church. Clemens wrote much, using the
scientific methods of the philosophers in his exposition of the doctrines
of Christianity. His principal themes were exhortations to the heathen to
abandon idolatry, and treatises on Christian and Greek literature.
“Minucius Felix,” Marcus. A native of Africa, but he came to Rome, where
he successfully practiced law until he was converted. He is said to have
been renowned for his eloquence. His most important work for Christianity
was _Octavius_, a dialogue between a Christian and a heathen upon the
merits of their respective religions.
P. 187.—“Reductio ad absurdum.” Reducing to an absurdity.
P. 189.—“Petrifaction,” pĕtˌri-făcˈtion. Turning into stone of an animal
or vegetable substance.
P. 199.—“Zeleucus,” ze-leuˈcus. A law-giver among the Locrians (see
Grecian History), who lived about 660 B. C. His laws were eminently
severe, but were observed by his people for a long time. Zeleucus is said
to have come to his death because a transgressor of one of his own laws.
He had decreed that no one should enter the senate house armed, on a
penalty of death. In a time of great excitement in war Zeleucus broke the
decree. It was remarked to him, and immediately he fell on his sword, in
vindication of the law.
P. 222.—“Daguerreotype,” da-gĕrˈo-tīp. So called from Daguerre, the
discoverer of this method of taking pictures.
P. 230.—“Permit me to write the ballads of a nation, and I care not
who makes her laws.” The idea is said to have originated with Andrew
Fletcher, of Saltoun, who wrote: “I knew a very wise man that believed
that if a man were permitted to make all the ballads, he need not care
who made the laws of a nation.”
P. 241.—“Modus operandi.” Manner of operation.
“Die.” The piece of metal on which is cut a device to impress on coins,
medals, etc.
P. 254. “Socinian.” Lælius Socinus was an Italian theologian (1525-1562).
His study led him to doubt certain doctrines, among them that of the
Trinity. His nephew, Faustus, who by his skeptical spirit had made
himself very obnoxious to the church, decided in 1574 to become a
religious reformer, and from the manuscripts of his uncle he elaborated
what was called the Socinian system. The negations of the system include:
The Trinity, the deity of Christ, the personality of the devil, the
native and total depravity of man, the atonement and eternal punishment.
It affirms that Christ was a divinely appointed man, and that in the
imitation of his virtues we find our salvation. The American Cyclopædia
says of the former use of this term: “The name Socinian, which is so
often given to those who hold Unitarian opinions as a term of reproach,
was for a century the honorable designation of a powerful and numerous
religious body in Poland, Hungary and Transylvania.… The Racovian
catechism, so called from its place of publication (Raków, in Poland),
compiled mainly from the writings of Socinus, is still the text-book
of faith and worship in many Hungarian and Transylvanian churches.”
Unitarianism is now the term applied to the doctrines of Socinianism.
P. 258.—Translation of Latin in foot-note: The constant presence of
Christ in the heart brings pleasant communion, gracious consolation, much
peace.
P. 260.—“Subjectively.” By “moral light revealed subjectively” is meant
the light or truth which is natural, or in the mind of every subject or
thinker, and opposed to the light which comes _objectively_, or through
an object, as, in this case, the light which comes from the Bible.
Subjective and objective are terms of mental philosophy, of common use,
and applied generally to certainty or truth. “Objective certainty,” says
Watts, “is when the thing is true in itself; subjective when we are
certain of the truth of it. The one is in things, the other in our minds.”
P. 266.—“Logos,” loˈgos. The _word_, literally. In ancient thought it
had two significations, one philosophical, where it meant the reason,
or that principle which regulates the affairs of the world; the other
theological, referring, as in the Gospel of St. John, to a distinct
person which both creates and redeems; here it is applied to man’s reason.
P. 273.—“Lacon.” The author of Lacon was Caleb Colton, an English writer,
born in 1780. He was educated at Cambridge and received a vicarage in
1818, but soon became so dissipated as to utterly ruin his prospects. He
was obliged to flee to America on account of debts incurred in gambling,
but afterward went to France, where in 1832 he committed suicide. “Lacon,
or Many Things in Few Words,” is a collection of maxims, and is best
known of his writings.