Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 09.djvu/130

LEFT STOICS 96 STOKHOD sions which are certainly false: how are we to discriminate between the false and true? The Stoics answered this by as- serting that a true impression would come home to us by a sort of "striking evidence." The irresistible force of truth would influence our minds in a way that false impressions were utterly un- able to do. Being true, they would force us to believe they were true. In their physics (which were really metaphysics) the stoics enunciated a theory of panthe- ism. Material goods are of no importance to the individual, save in so far as they aid him in the pursuit of virtue. The ideal of virtue is painted in the stoic picture of the "Wise Man." Living ab- solutely in accord with the central prin- ciple of the universe, he possesses all knowledge and all aptitudes. He alone is the true statesman, king, educator, critic and physician. In social life none but he can be a true friend. Absolutely independent of earthly things, he leads a life undisturbed by their ceaseless muta- tions. The founder of stoicism was Zeno (340-260 B. c), who opened his school in the "many colored portico" {Stoa poecile) ; hence the name of the sect. After him came Cleanthes, surnamed the Ass from his stubborn patience. Then Chrysippus of Soli in Cilicia who died about 208 B. C. He wrote, it is said, 705 different works, and to him is due the regular exposition of stoicism as a sys- tem of philosophy. After him we have a new period. When Greece was brought under subjection to Rome, her systems of philosophy became known to her con- querors, and no system had more adher- ents than stoicism. Panaetius and Posi- donius, later rulers of the Porch, were friends of the younger Scipio, Cicero, and Pompey. It is essentially the philosophy of Cicero; its influence is felt in Tacitus, and many references in Horace, Juvenal, and Persius as to the external and in- ternal characteristics of the school show its place in the Roman world. Among its later adherents were Sen- eca the tutor and victim of Nero; the slave Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius, the Roman emperor. Its influence was felt in the composition of the Roman law. Specially stoical, though not stoical alone, was the conception of the Law of Nature, "which Nature teaches all animals." Though stoicism as a system fell to pieces with the ancient world, it essentially re- appeared in the ascetic forms of Chris- tianity and other religions. But the reason is, not that they were descended from stoicism, but that both came from a common source. STOKE-POGES, a village of Bucking- hamshire, England; 2 miles N. of Slough station. Gray's mother settled here in 1742; the beautiful churchyard is the scene of his "Elegy," and in that church- yard he is buried. STOKE-UPON-TRENT, a manufac turing town of Staffordshire, England; capital of the "Potteries," on the Trent and the Trent and Mersey canal; 15 miles S. E. of Crewe. It is a modem place dating only from the last quarter of the 18th century, and has a parish church with Wedgwood's grave, a town hall (1835), a market hall (1883), a free library (1878), the Minton memo- rial building (1858), the Hartshill In- firmary (1868), public baths, and statues of Wedgwood, Minton and Colin Minton Campbell. Its factories of porcelain, earthenware, encaustic tiles, and tessel- lated pavements are among the largest in the world; and the industries also in- clude coal mining, brickmaking, and the manufacture of iron, engines, machin- ery, etc. Mrs. Craik was a native. Pop. (1919) 239,316. STOKES, ANSON PHELPS, an Ameri- can banker and publicist, born in New York City, in 1838. He became a part- ner of the firm of Phelps, Dodge & Co., merchants, and later of Phelps, Stokes & Co., bankers. Both companies were suc- cessful and he acquired a large fortune. He took an active part in political and social matters in New York, and was the first president of the Reform Club. He was also for a time vice-president of the Civil Service Reform Association, and in 1900 was president of the National As- sociation of Anti-Imperialists Clubs. He gave largely to charity and was prom- inent in the movement for tariff reform. He wrote "Cruising in the West Indies" (1902) ; "Cruising in the Caribbean with a Camera" (1903). He died in 1913. STOKES, CHARLES FRANCIS, an American physician and naval officer, born in New York City, in 1863. He v/as educated at Adelphi Academy and Poly- technic Institute, Brooklyn, and at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Co- lumbia University. In 1889 he entered the navy as an assistant surgeon and after being promoted surgeon, medical in- spector, and medical director, he became surgeon-general, U. S. N., and chief of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery with the rank of rear-admiral in 1910. He was retired in 1917. STOKHOD, a small river in eastern Galicia, along whose banks desperate fighting took place during the World