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interest also recommends it, this furnishes an addition to ourmotive. Hypatia was the daughter of Theon , an eminentmathematician of Alexandria , some of whose writings arestill extant. By her father she was instructed in the mathe-matics, and from other great men, who at that time aboundedin Alexandria , she learnt the Platonic and Aristotelianphilosophy, and acquired such a complete knowledge ofthese sciences, that she taught them publicly with thegreatest applause. She was young and beautiful, had apersonable figure, was sprightly and agreeable in conver-sation, though at the same time modest; and she possessedthe most rigid virtue which was proof against every temp-tation. She conducted herself with so much propriety to-wards her lovers, that they never could obtain more thanthe pleasure of her company and of hearing her discourse;and with this, which they considered as an houour, theywere contented. Those who were so daring as to desirefurther communion, she dismissed ; and even destroyed theappetite of one of her admirers, who would not sufl'er herto philosophise, by means of some strong preparation, whichothers appear not to have since imitated.

She suffered so cruel a death, that had she been aChristian, and suffered from Pagan error, her name wouldhave been ranked among its most honoured victims in thelist of martyrology ; but being a Pagan , and suffering fromthe persecution of superstitious and anti-Christian bigotedzeal, she is honoured among the foremost of martyrs tocelestial philosophy.

The name of the Christian patriarch, at that period inAlexandria , was Cyril!, whose family had for upwards of ahundred years before his time produced bishops, who hadbeen much more serviceable to their own respective connex-ions than they had promoted the Christian faith. Thepresent prelate was proud, litigious, and revengeful, vin-dictive and intolerant to the last degree ; his ignorance de-basing his own character, and scandalising the religion ofwhich he was so unworthy a professor. lie stupidly con-ceived himself to be sanctioned in every thing which hisfoolish and mistaken ideas might dictate to be for theglory of God , and acted as persecutor, prosecutor, judge,and executioner : he had condemned Nestorius without hear-ing his defence. As the city of Alexandria was then veryflourishing on account of its commerce with the wholeworld, the Emperor had there allowed greater toleration andmore peculiar privileges to all religions, than in any otherplace ; it consequently contained, among others, a great

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