CHAP. III. 



PRECIOUS METALS. Ill 



small and only cup of gold he possessed, which 

 he prized highly on account of the great rarity 

 of that metal. 



This picture of the scarcity of the precious 

 metals in Greece, from the earliest history of 

 that people down to the beginning of the reign 

 of Philip, forms a most striking contrast with 

 the representations given by historians of their 

 abundance in Egypt and in Judea in the con- 

 temporary ages, as well as of that which is re- 

 lated of the riches of Alexander when he had 

 achieved his Asiatic conquests. Though the 

 contrast may be great, it involves no contradic- 

 tion ; and the condition of the several people 

 may be sufficient to account for any apparent 

 discrepancy which the different relations may 

 exhibit. 



Greece in its early stages of society appears 

 to have been inhabited by a race of wild and 

 ignorant savages, living upon such herbs and 

 roots as were spontaneously produced, and taking 

 shelter from inclemency of weather in dens, 

 clefts, or hollow trees. The first improvement 

 in their condition is attributed to Pelasgus, who 

 is calculated to have been a contemporary of 

 Abraham ; and his chief merit appears to have 

 been his inducing the people to gather acorns 

 for food, to build huts, and to clothe themselves 

 with the skins of animals a merit for which he 

 was long venerated, if not worshipped. They 



