566 MERGE TO GYRENE.

Philosophy and literature were diligently cultivated at Cyrene ; which gave birth to Aristippus, the founder of the sect distinguished by the name of Cyrenaic, and to many other celebrated men ; among whom we may reckon Callimachus and Eratosthenes, Aristippus the younger, Anniceris, Carneades, &c.

The philosophy of Aristippus appears to have inculcated, that the soul has two particular motions, or sensations, — those of pain and pleasure ; that all pleasures are alike ; and that virtue is only to be esteemed inasmuch as it conduces to our gratification. Carneades denied that any thing could be perceived or understood in the world, and was the first philosopher who introduced an universal suspension of assent : he pretended to discover an uncertainty in the most selfevident notions ; and vigorously opposed the doctrine of the stoics in his attempt to confute Chrysippus. When Carneades was sent as ambassador to Pome, with Diogenes the stoic, and Critolaus the peripatetic, he pronounced a very learned dissertation upon justice, which strongly convinced all his auditors of its value and importance in society : in another speech, however, the philosopher confuted all the arguments which he had established in his first discourse ; and gave no existence at all to the virtue which he had just before strongly recommended. The Roman youth were so captivated with the eloquence and the reasoning powers of Carneades, that they are said, on this occasion, to have forgotten their usual amusements and thought of nothing else but philosophy. The effect produced upon the public mind was at all events so strong, that Cato the censor gave immediate audience to the Athenian ambassadors in the Senate ; and