S n S ad of he er nd 0: pa pi not This ed, her OF PROFANE IHSTORY. incest among the Persians, the murder of old and in- But can it reasonably be presumed, that one of the Plutarch, who mentions this custom in the life of Lycurgus, in the manners of the Lacedæmonians, and in several other places, never gives the least sign of disapprobation, though usually so equitable a judge and so exact a moralist; nor do I recollect that any of the ancients ever charged it as a crime upon Lycurgus or the Lacedaemonians. Upon what then do the moderns found the sentence they pass upon it? Certainly upon not giving themselves the trouble of weighing the circumstances, and penetrating the motives of it. 1. [y] The Lacedæmonian youth never filched, but by order of their governor. 2.. They did it only at a particular time, and in virtue of the law.. 3. They never stole any thing but garden-stuff and victuals, by way of supplement to their food, which was purposely given them in very small quantity. And thus all these thefts were considered as instances of dexterity, which were publicly allowed them for the procuring a larger share of provision. 4. The lawgiver had several reasons for permitting this kind of theft. [x] Justitia gentis ingeniis culta, eos furto gravius. Just lib. 2. c. 2. 29 be cloyed, never be too full, or clogged with fat, that they might be alert and nimble, learn to bear hunger, and have better and more regular health.” [*] But the principal motive was, that all these boys being designed for the army without exception, it was necessary to inure them early to a soldier's life, to teach them to live upon a little, to provide a subsistence for themselves without standing in need of ammunition bread, to bear great fatigues, fasting, to maintain themselves long with little provisions in a country where the enemy, accustomed to consume a great deal, must starve in a few days, or be forced to quit their ground through the want of necessary provisions; whereas the Lacedæmonians could find wherewithal to subsist without difficulty. This, the legislator, who was entirely a warrior, and had no other view but to train up soldiers, was willing to provide for at a distance by their education, inuring them to great frugality, and sobriety, for want of which the generality of military expeditions miscarry, and the strongest armies are rendered incapable of maintaining their conquests. Insomuch that at present as luxury and an expensive manner of living has multiplied the necessities of armies, the care which embarrasses the officers most in the provision of victuals; and the first obstacle which hinders their advancing into an enemy's country, is want of subsistence. Thus our greatest generals consider the ease and expedition, with which immense armies transported themselves from one country to another, as the most singular and incredible circumstance in ancient history. These are the advantages Lycurgus intended to procure for a warlike people; and he could not have chosen more effectual, nor more certain means. And [2] Instit Lacon and more solid reasons. It is a certain principle, that from the first division of estates we possess nothing but dependently on the laws, and according to their dispositions; and that by giving up to each particular the enjoyment of that portion which has fallen to his share, the same laws may make such reserves and restrictions, and lay it under such services and burdens as they shall think most proper. Now the whole body of the Spartan state, when they accepted the laws of Lycurgus, did agree by a solemn compact, that upon the nine and thirty thousand lots distributed among the Spartans, the youth should be allowed to take such garden-stuff and victuals as the possessor had not a watchful eye upon, without suffering them to complain of the robbery, or have an action against the robber. Thus we see, that whenever the boy was caught, he was not punished as having committed an injustice, or seized upon another man's property, but for want of dexterity. Such sort of reserves, and the like privileges granted upon the property of others, are very useful in all states. Thus God not only gave the poor a liberty of gathering grapes in the vineyards, of gleaning in the fields, and even of carrying off whole sheaves, but withal allowed every passenger the freedom of entering into another's vineyard, as often as he pleased, and of eating as many grapes as he would whether the master of the vineyard liked it or no. And God gives this reason for it, that the land of Israel was his, and the Israelites held it of him on this condition. Services of this kind are established in other republics, without the least suspicion of any injustice. Soldiers have a right to lodge in private houses, to be subsisted in them on their march, or in their winter quar ries. The lord of a manor has a right, as he pleases, and whenever he pleases, to take the game and deer of his tenants, though the lands on which they are fed do not belong to him; and even to hinder the proprietors from touching any of them, though bred in their grounds. Thus the whole body of the Lacedæmonian state, consisting of every individual in it, had publiclytransferred to the youth a right of going into their gardens and halls, and taking such provisions as they liked best. And these boys were no more criminal for using this liberty, than the citizens of Athens for going into the gardens and orchards of Cimon, and taking thence what they wanted; because every particular man in Sparta was supposed to have unanimously given the boys, who after all were their own children, the same permission that Cimon granted the Athenians, that were only his citizens. As to the Scythians, amongst whom theft was severely punished, the reason of the difference is very evident. For the law, which is the sole judge of the property and use of our substance, had granted no privilege to any one private man over the substance of another; whereas the law of the Lacedæmonians had done just the contrary. It would have been a real theft to have gone into the gardens of Pericles, Themistocles, or Alcibiades, and taken the fruit thence, but there was none in gathering it from the orchards of Cimon and Pelopidas, because they had associated all their fellow-citizens into the enjoyment of that part of their estates. There was no cause to apprehend that this Spartan custom should teach the youth to steal upon other ocsions. For the institutions of Lycurgus, which prohibited the use of gold and silver money, and obliged. all the citizens to live and eat together, had made the robbery of goods and money either useless or impossible. And thus we do not find, that there ever was a discovery made of so much as one robbery at Lacedæmon for so many ages. T THE PROSPEROUS TIMES OF THEBES, AND DELIVERANCE OF SYRACUSE. AS I design to be short, I have joined these two pieces of history together, though very separate in themselves; and for the same reason, relating little besides, I shall content myself with laying open the characters of those, who had the greatest share in them. 1. The prosperous Days of Thebes. No part of history, in my opinion, shews better of what real merit is capable, and of what service great officers are to a state, than what happened at Thebes in a very short space of time. This city was very weak in itself, and but lately in a manner reduced to slavery. Lacedæmon on the other hand had long possessed the superiority, and domineered over all Greece. Two Thebans, by their courage and wisdom, brought down the formidable power of Sparta, and raised their country to the highest point of empire and glory. I shall just touch upon this event, without entering into particulars. These two Thebans were Pelopidas and Epaminondas, both descended from the most illustrious families in the city. The first was born to a great estate, which he augmented very much by inheriting the estate of another very wealthy and flourishing family. Poverty was in a manner hereditary to the other, but he rendered it still more familiar and easy by a serious application to philosophy, and a plain manner of living, to which he always adhered with entire constancy and uniformity. The one shewed the use that was to be made of riches, and the other of poverty. Pelopidas distributed his riches to all such as stood in |