104 DESPOTIC DECAY. 



their commercial routes. They encouraged manufac- 

 tures and trade, and it was afterwards observed that 

 Alexandria was the most industrious city in the world. 

 " Idle people were there unknown. Some were em- 

 ployed in the blowing of glass, others in weaving of 

 linen, others in the manufacture of the papyrus. 

 Even the blind and the lame had occupations suited 

 to their condition." 



The glorious reigns of the three first Ptolemies 

 extended over nearly a century, and then Egypt began 

 again to decline. Such must always be the case where 

 a despotic government prevails, and where everything 

 depends on the taste and temper of a single man. As 

 long as a good king sits upon the throne all is well. 

 A gallant service, an intellectual production, merit of 

 every kind is recognised at once. Corrupt tax-gatherers 

 and judges are swiftly punished. The enemies of the 

 people are the enemies of the king. His palace is a 

 court of justice always open to his children ; he will 

 not refuse a petition from the meanest hand. But 

 sooner or later in the natural course of events the 

 sceptre is handed to a weak and vicious prince, who 

 empties the treasury of its accumulated wealth ; who 

 plunders the courtiers, allowing them to indemnify 

 themselves on those that are beneath them ; who dies, 

 leaving behind him a legacy of wickedness, which his 

 successors are forced to accept. Oppression has now 

 become a custom, and custom is the tyrant of kings. 

 In Egypt the prosperity of the land depended entirely 

 on the government. Unless the public works were 

 kept in good order half the land was wasted, half the 

 revenue was lost, half the inhabitants perished of 

 starvation. But the dykes could not be repaired, and 

 the screw pumps could not be worked without expense ; 



