ebony, and cypress wood; and all sorts of artificers capable of working them, as carpenters, masons, smiths, stone-cutters, dyers, goldsmiths, artificers in ebony, painters, embroiderers, and turners; men fit to conduct their naval affairs, as merchants, sailors, and experienced pilots; others for land-carriage, as cartwrights, waggoners, carters, ropemakers, pavers, &c. that it was for the advantage of the state to employ these different artificers and workmen, who, as so many separate bodies, formed, when united, a kind of peaceable and domestic army, whose different functions and employments diffused gain, and increase throughout all sexes and ages lastly, that whilst men of robust bodies, and of an age fit to bear arms, whether soldiers or mariners, and those who were in the different garrisons, were supported with the public monies, it was but just that the rest of the people who lived in the city should also be maintained in their way; and that as all were members of the same republic, they all should reap the same advantages, by doing it services, which, though of a different kind, did however all contribute to its security or ornament.

One day, as the debates were growing warm, Pericles offered to defray the expence of all these things, provided it should be declared in the public inscriptions that he only had been at the charge of them. At these words, the people, either admiring his magnanimity, or fired with emulation, and determined not to let him engross that glory, cried with one voice, that he might take out of the public treasury all the sums necessary for his • purpose.

Phidias, the celebrated sculptor, presided over all these works, as director-general. It was he who particularly cast the gold and ivory statue representing Pallas, which was so highly valued by all the judges of antiquity. There arose an incredible ardour and emulation among the several artificers, who all strove to excel each other, and immortalize their names by masterpieces of art.

The odeon, or music theatre, which had a great number of seats and columns within it, and whose roof grew narrower by degrees, and terminated in a point, was built, as history informs us, after the model of king Xerxes' tent, according to the direction of Pericles. It was at that time he proposed, with great warmth, a decree, by which it was ordained, that musical games should be celebrated on the festival called Panathenæa; and having been chosen the judge and distributor of the prizes, he regulated the manner in which musicians should play on the flute and the lyre, as well as sing. From that time the musical games were always exhibited in this theatre.

I have already taken notice, that the more the beauty and splendour of of these works were admired, the greater envy and clamour were raised against Pericles. The orators of the opposite faction were eternally exclaiming against him, and tearing his character to pieces; accusing him of squandering the public monies, and laying out very unseasonably the revenues of the state in edifices, whose magnificence was of no use. At last the rupture between him and Thucydides rose to such a height, that one or other of them must necessarily be banished by the ostracism. He got the better of Thucydides, prevailed to have him banished, crushed by that means the faction which opposed him, and obtained a despotic authority over the city and government of Athens. He now disposed at pleasure

* Non Minervæ Athenis factæ amplitudine utimur, cum ea sit cubitorum xxvi. Ebore hoc et auro constat. Plin. l. xxxvi. c. 5. This statue was 26 cubits in height.

of the public monies, troops and ships. The islands and sea were subject to him; and he reigned singly and alone in that wide domain, which extended not only over the Greeks, but the barbarians also, and which was cemented and strengthened by the obedience and fidelity of the conquered nations, by the friendship of kings, and treaties concluded with various princes.

Historians expatiate greatly on the magnificent edifices and other works with which Pericles adorned Athens, and I have related faithfully their testimony; but I cannot say whether the complaints and murmurs raised against him were very ill grounded. And indeed, was it just in him to expend, in superfluous buildings and vain decorations, the immense * sums intended for carrying on the war? and would it not have been better to have eased the allies of part of the contributions, which in Pericles' administration were raised to a third part more than before? According to Cicero,f such edifices and other works only are worthy of admiration as are of use to the public, as aqueducts, city wall citadels, arsenals, seaports; and to these we must add, the work made by Pericles, to join Athens to the port of Piræus. But Cicero observes, at the same time, that Pericles was blamed for squandering away the public treasure, merely to embellish the city with superfluous ornaments. Plato, who formed a judgment of things not from their outward splendour, but from truth, observes, after his master Socrates, that Pericles, with all his grand edifices and other works, had not improved the mind of one of the citizens in virtue, but rather corrupted the purity and simplicity of their ancient man

ners.

SECTION XI.

PERICLES CHANGES HIS CONDUCT WITH REGARD TO THE PEOPLE.

WHEN Pericles saw himself invested with the whole authority, he began to change his behaviour. He now was not so mild and tractable as before, nor did he submit or abandon himself any longer to the whims and caprice of the people, as so many winds; but drawing in, says Plutarch, the reins of this too loose popular government, in the same manner as we screw up the strings of an instrument when too slack, he changed it into an aristocracy, or rather a kind of monarchy, without departing, however, from the public good. Choosing always what was most expedient, and becoming irreproachable in all things, he gained so mighty an ascendant over the minds of the people, that he turned and directed them at pleasure. Sometimes, by his bare counsel, and by persuasive methods, he would win them over gently to his will, and gain their assent spontaneously: at other times, when he found them obstinate, he would in a manner drag them forward against their will to those things which were for their good; imitating on this occasion a skilful physician, who, in a tedious and stubborn disease, knows what times are proper for him to indulge his patient in innocent medicaments that are pleasing, in order after to administer those of a strong and violent nature, which indeed put him to pain, but are alone capable of restoring his health.

And indeed it is manifest that the utmost skill and abilities were required

*

They amounted to upwards of 10,000,000 French money.

Offic. I. ii. n. 60.

Plut. in Peric. p. 161.

In Gorg. p. 515. In Alcib. c. i. p. 119.

to manage and govern a populace haughty from their power, and exceedingly capricious and on this occasion Pericles succeeded wonderfully. He used to employ, according to the different situation of things, sometimes hope, and at other times fear, as a double helm, either to check the wild transports and starts of the people, or to raise them when dejected and desponding. By this conduct he showed that eloquence, as Plato observes, is only the art of directing the minds of the people at will; and that the chief excellency of this art consists in moving seasonably the various passions, whether gentle or violent; which being to the soul what strings are to a musical instrument, need only be touched by an ingenious and skilful hand to produce their effect.

It must nevertheless be confessed, that the circumstance which gave Pericles this great authority, was not only the force of his eloquence, but, as Thucydides observes, the reputation of his life, and great probity.

* Plutarch points out in Pericles one quality which is very essential to statesmen, a quality well adapted to win the esteem and confidence of the public, and which supposes a great superiority of mind; and that is, for a man to be fully persuaded that he wants the counsels of others, and is not able to manage and direct all things alone; to associate with himself persons of merit in his labour, to employ each of these according to his talents; and to leave them the management of small matters, which only consume time, and deprive him of the liberty of mind, so necessary in the conduct of important affairs. Such a conduct, says Plutarch, is productive of two advantages. First, it extinguishes, or at least breaks the force of envy and jealousy, by dividing, in some measure, a power, which is grating and offensive to us, when we see it united in one single person, as if all merit centered in him alone. Secondly, it advances and facilitates the execution of affairs, and makes their success more certain. Plutarch, the better to explain his thought, employs a very natural and beautiful comparison. The hand, says he, which from its being divided into fingers, so far from being weaker, is the stronger, the more active, and better adapted to motion on that very account. It is the same of a statesman, who has the skill to divide his cares and functions in a proper manner, and who by that means makes his authority more active, more extensive, and decisive: whereas the indiscreet fire of a narrow minded man, who takes umbrage at, and is for engrossing all things, serves to no other purpose but to set his weakness and incapacity in a stronger light, and to disconcert his affairs. But Pericles, says Plutarch, did not act in this manner: like a skilful pilot, who, though he stands almost motionless himself, however puts every thing in motion, and will sometimes seat subaltern officers at the helm; so Pericles was the soul of the government; and, seeming to do nothing of himself, he actuated and governed all things; employing the eloquence of one man, the credit and interest of another, the prudence of a third, the bravery and courage of a fourth, and so on.

To what has been here related, we may add another quality which is no less rare and valuable, I mean, a noble and disinterested soul. Pericles had so great a disinclination to the receiving of gifts, so utter a contempt for riches, and was so far above all rapaciousness and avarice, that though he had raised Athens to the richest and most flourishing state; though bis power had surpassed that of many tyrants and kings; though he had long disposed in an absolute manner of the treasures of Greece, he did not

however add a single drachm to the estate he inherited from his father. This was the source, the true cause of the supreme authority of Pericles in the republic; the just and deserved fruit of his integrity and perfect disinterestedness.

It was not only for a few short moments, nor during the first heats of favour, which are generally short lived, that he preserved his authority. He maintained it 40 years, notwithstanding the opposition of Cimon, of Tolmides, of Thucydides, and many others, who had all declared against him; and of these 40 years, he spent 15 without a rival, from the time of Thucydides' banishment, and disposed all affairs with absolute power. Nevertheless, in the midst of this supreme authority, which he had rendered perpetual and unlimited in his own person, his soul was always superior to the charms and allurements of wealth, though he never neglected improving his estate to the utmost of his power. For Pericles did not act like those rich men, who, notwithstanding their immense revenues, either through negligence or want of economy, or the expences of pride and folly, are always poor in the midst of their riches; unable and unwilling to do the least service to their virtuous friends, or their faithful and zealous domestics; and at last die in every one's debt, whence their name and memory are had in the utmost detestation by their unfortunate creditors. I shall not expatiate on another extreme, to which this negligence and want of economy generally lead, I mean rapine, a love of gifts and exactions; for here, as well as in the management of the public monies, the maxim of Tacitus takes place, * viz. that when a man has squandered away his estate, he then makes it his whole study to retrieve the loss of it by all sorts of methods, not excepting the most criminal.

Pericles knew much better the use a statesman ought to make of riches. He was sensible that he ought to expend them in the service of the public, such as the procuring of able men to assist him in the administration; the relieving good officers, who too often are in unhappy circumstances,; the rewarding and encouraging merit of every kind, and a thousand such things; to which, doubtless, either on account of the exquisite joy they give, or the solid glory that results from them, no one will be so thoughtless as to compare the expences lavished away in entertainments, equipages, or gaming. In this view, Pericles managed his estate with the utmost economy; having himself taught one of his old servants to take care of his domestic concerns; and he always had the account brought him, at stated times, of all things that had been received as well as expended; confining himself and his family to a decent subsistence, from which he banished severely all superfluities of a vain and ostentatious kind, suitable to his estate and condition. This way of life, did indeed no way please his children when they were come to years of maturity, and much less his wife. They thought Pericles did not live at a sufficient expence for persons of their rank; and murmured at that low sordid economy, as they called it, which carried no air of the plenty which generally reigns in houses where riches and authority are united. However, Pericles had little regard to these complaints, and directed his views to things of much greater importance.

I believe it will not be improper to apply on this occasion, a very just remark of Plutarch, in bis parallel of Aristides and Cato. After saying that political virtue, or the art of governing cities and kingdoms, is the greatest and most perfect that man can acquire, he adds, that economy is not one

*Si ambitione ærarium exhauserimus, per scelera supplendum erit. Tacit. Annal. l. ii. c. 33.

of the most inconsiderable branches of this virtue. And indeed, as riches are one of the means which may most contribute to the security or ruin of a state; the art that teaches to dispose of, and make a good use of them, and which is called economy, is certainly a branch of the art of policy; and not one of the most inconsiderable branches of it, since great wisdom is required, in order to the observing a just medium on these occasions, and to the banishing poverty and too great opulence from a country. It is this art which, avoiding industriously all trifling and needless expences, prevents a magistrate from being forced to overburden a people with taxes; and keeps always in reserve, in the public coffers, monies sufficient for the supporting a war that may break out, or for providing against any unforeseen accident. Now, what is said of a kingdom, or of a city, may be applied to particular persons. For a city, which is composed of an assemblage of houses, and which forms a whole of several parts united, is either powerful or weak when taken together, in proportion as all the members of which it consists, are powerful or weak. Pericles certainly acquitted himself well with regard to that part of this science which relates to the government of a family: but I do not know whether the same may be said of his administration of the public revenues.

SECTION XII.

JEALOUSY AND CONTESTS ARISE BETWEEN THE ATHENIANS AND LACE

DÆMONIANS.

SUCH was the conduct of Pericles with respect to his domestic concerns; * and he was no less famous for his administration of public affairs. The Lacedæmonians beginning to grow jealous of the prosperity of the Athenians, and to take umbrage at it, Pericles, to inspire his citizens with greater courage and magnanimity, published a decree, importing, that orders should be sent to all the Greeks, inhabiting either Europe or Asia, and to all the cities great or small, to send immediately their deputies or representatives to Athens, to examine and debate on ways and means to rebuild the temples that had been burnt by the barbarians; to perform the sacrifices, which they had engaged themselves to offer up, for the preservation and safety of Greece, when war was carrying on against them; as also to consider on the necessary expedients for establishing such an order and discipline in their navy, that all ships might sail in safety, and the Greeks live in peace one with another.

Accordingly 20 persons were chosen for this embassy, each of whom was upwards of 50 years old. Five of these were sent to the Ionians and Dorians of Asia, and the inhabitants of the islands as far as Lesbos and Rhodes; five to the countries of the Hellespont and Thrace, as far as Byzantium. Five were ordered to go to Bootia, to Phocis, and Peloponnesus; and from thence, by the country of the Locrians, to proceed to the several cities of the upper continent, as far as Acarnania and Ambracia. The last five were ordered to cross Euboea, and to go to the people of Mount Eta, and those of the gulf of Malea, and to the inhabitants of Phthiotis, of Achaia, and of Thessaly; to induce the several nations to come to the assembly convened in Athens, and to assist at the debates which should be there carried on concerning peace, and the general affairs of Greece. I judge it necessary to enter into this detail, as it shows how

*Plut. in Pericl. p. 162.