herilis in servos. It is an odious term, and carries with it the idea of slavery in the person who is subject to it, and conveys a notion entirely opposite to the genius of the Greeks, who never afterwards, though their ambition had been augmented from their great victories over the Persians, ever thought of establishing that despotic power, δεσποσύνην. The Athenians and Lacedæmonians, who alternately shared the honour of command, in all their conquests, affected either to introduce a democracy into the cities subdued, or an aristocracy, and to animate them against the slavery of the Persians by that pleasing image of liberty. This needs no proof here, it is so expressly laid down in all history.

5. What Demaratus immediately adds of the Lacedæmonians, to prove his general thesis by that particular example, clearly shews, that the drum here spoke of, was not active, such as they would exercise over others, but a passive doorú, such as Xerxes required of them, to which the Spartans would never submit, though abandoned by all the Greeks, and left to perish inevitably alone. This is the end of his reasoning, which we should have constantly in view.

I do not see therefore how we can receive a version, at once directly opposite to the express text of the original, the propriety of the words, the true character of the people, the evidence of facts, and the connection of the speaker's argument.

Thus then I would have it translated,

"Greece indeed has ever been bred up in poverty; "but has had virtue withal, improved by wisdom, and supported by the vigour of the laws. And "from the use she has made of this virtue it is, that "Greece has alike preserved herself from the incon“veniences of poverty. and the voke of subiection.”

OF PROFANE HISTORY

IL THINGS BLAMABLE IN THE LAWS OF LY-
CURGUS.

Without entering here into an exact detail of all
that may be blamed in the laws of Lycurgus, I shall
content myself with some slight reflections, which the
reader without doubt, justly shocked and offended at
the bare relation of them, will have made before me.

1. Upon the Choice of the Children to be brought up
or exposed.

And to begin with the choice of the children to be
brought up or exposed, who can avoid being shocked
at the unjust and barbarous custom of pronouncing a
sentence of death upon infants, who had the misfor-
tune to be born of too tender and delicate a constitu-
tion to support the fatigue and exercise, to which the
republic destined all her subjects? Is it then impos-
sible, and have we no instances of it, that children, at
first weak and tender, may grow strong by age, and
become even very robust? But were it otherwise, can
our country be served only by the strength of our bo-
dies? And are wisdom, prudence, council, generosi-
ty, courage, and greatness of soul, and all the quali-
ties which depend on the mind, of no value? [r] Om-
nino illud honestum, quod ex animo excelso magnifi-
coque quærimus, animi efficitur non corporis viribus.
[s] Did Lycurgus himself do less service or honour to
Sparta by the institution of his laws, than the greatest
officers by their victories? Agesilaus was of small sta-
ture, and had something so very disadvantageous in
his mien, that the Egyptians at first sight of him
could not forbear laughing; and yet he made the
great king of Persia tremble upon his throne.) "

But what is of greater force than all I have urged, has any other a right, over the lives of men, except he from whom they received them, that is, God himself? And does not a legislator visibly usurp upon his

25

over their slaves, and even over their children.

2. The sole Care of the Body.

The great fault of Lycurgus's laws, as Plato and Aristotle have observed, is, that they tended only to form a state of soldiers. This legislator seemed wholly taken up in the care of strengthening the body, without any concern about cultivating the mind. To what end should he banish all arts and sciences from his republic, [t] which principally tend to soften the manners, refine the understanding, improve the heart, and inspire a polite, generous, and honest behaviour, necessary in a word, to the support of society and to render the commerce of life agreeable? Hence the Lacedæmonians had something rigid, austere, and often cruel in their character; which partly arose from their education, and created an aversion for them in all the allies.

3. Their barbarous Cruelty to Children.

It was an excellent custom at Sparta to inure the boys early to bear heat and cold, hunger and thirst, [u] and by severe and painful exercises to bring their bodies within due subjection to reason, so as to make them subservient to its orders, which could not be done, unless they were in a condition to support all kind of fatigues. But was it requisite to carry this trial so far as the inhuman treatment we have mentioned? And was it not brutal and barbarous in the parents to stand unmoved at seeing the blood run

[] Omnes artes, quibus ætas puerilis ad humanitatem informari Solet. Pro Arch. n. 4. [u] Exercendum corpus, & ita

afficiendum est, ut obedire consilio rationique possit in exequendis negotiis & labore tolerando. Lib. 1. de Offic. n. 79.

27

OF PROFANE HISTORY.

down from their children's wounds, and the harmless
creatures often expiring under the blows of the rod ?":

4. The unnatural Resolution of Mothers.

The courage of the Spartan mothers is admired, who instead of tenderness and tears upon the news of their sons being killed in battle, expressed a kind of joy. I should have been better pleased that natural affection had shewn itself upon such occasions, and that the love of their country had not entirely stifled the sentiments of the mother and the woman. One of our generals, who was told in the heat of battle, that his son was just slain, spoke far more wisely, "Let us now think, says he, of conquering our ene "mies, to-morrow I will lament my son."

5. Excessive Leisure.

I cannot see how we can excuse Lycurgus for obliging the Lacedæmonians to pass their whole lives in idleness, except what they spent in war. He left all arts and trades to slaves and foreigners, who dwelt among them, and put nothing but the shield and spear into the hands of the citizens. Without mentioning the danger of suffering the number of slaves required for the tilling of lands, to increase to such a degree, as to exceed that of their masters, which often occasioned seditions; into how many disorders must so much leisure throw persons always idle, without any daily employment, or regular business? It is an inconvenience at present too frequent amongst the gentry, and a natural consequence of their bad education. Except in time of war most of our gentlemen pass their lives in a manner entirely useless. They look upon agriculture, arts and trade, as things beneath them, and would think themselves dishonoured by them. They often know nothing but how to handle their arins. They acquire but a superficial knowledge of the sciences, only just what they needs must;

6. Shame and Modesty absolutely neglected.

But the most blamable circumstance in Lycurgus, is the little regard he had for shame and modesty, which shews us into what darkness and disorders the heathen were plunged. A Christian master will not fail to set the holiness and purity of the gospel laws in opposition to that unbounded licentiousness; and by this contrast display the dignity and excellence of Christianity.

This also may be done in as useful a manner by comparing the most valuable part of Lycurgus's laws with those of the gospel. It is indeed worthy admiration, that a whole people should consent to a division of lands, which put the poor upon an equal footing with the rich, and by the alteration of the money reduced themselves to a kind of poverty. But the legislator of Sparta, when he established these laws, had an armed force at his command. The legislator of the Christians said but one word. Blessed are the poor in spirit; and thousands of faithful in all afterages renounce their possessions, sell their lands, and leave all to follow Jesus Christ in poverty.

UPON THE THEFT ALLOWED THE LACEDÆMONIANS.

I have thought proper to treat this article separately, and with some extent; because, in my opinion, the judgment generally given of it, does not seem sufficiently founded in the nature of things. This custom of the Lacedæmonians is severely condemned, as apt to incline youth to have little regard upon other occasions to the property of others, and as contrary to the law of nature and the decalogue. In the catalogue of crimes said to be tolerated in different natione