A T H 



moll powerfully to invigorate the bodily conftitution ; to 

 enlarge, rctiiic, and dirccl the underllanding ; to form, 

 ftreiigthe;i, and liberalize the heart. They ttrongly repro- 

 bate idlcni.fs, and recommend induftr)-, pointing out the 

 objefts, private and natiuiial, for which it wculd be moft 

 uRfullv and honourably exerted. They forcibly inculcate 

 temperance, and cenfure the contrary as a principal ioiirce 

 of mifcondiiCt. Although the Athenian law was transfufed 

 into the Roman on many fubjeds; in fevcral there is a very 

 confiderable difference. In Athens, the inllitutions regard- 

 in"- women, and the relations in which they are concerned, 

 were much more liberal than thofe of Rome, although they 

 fall greatly fhort of thofe in modern times, when men refpccl 

 the natural equality of the fex. Solon conilders marriage 

 as an engagement of mutual love and affection, the ends 

 of which are to give happinefs to the family, and uftful 

 citizens to the (late. He does not confider the wife, as the 

 Rom.ans afterwards did, as only part of the family property, 

 which the hufband, the proprietor, was to ufe as he pleafcd. 

 He regards her as the domtllic companion of her hufband, 

 nearly equal to him in the care of the children : he rigor- 

 oufly punifhes thofe who violate the obhgations of the 

 married ftate : he permits divorce, net according to the 

 caprice of the hu(l>and, but after a difcuflion before a ma- 

 gillrate : he permits women to feparate from their hiifbands 

 on the fame ground as men from their wives. His law for 

 the proteftion of unm.arried women was highly equitable. 

 Whoever I'educed a woman of before unimpeachtd condiid, 

 was, if unmarried, obliged to atone to her by marriage for 

 the injury. On this law hinge the plots of moft of Te- 

 rence's plays. The married dellroyer of virgin innocence 

 was puiiilhed with a falutary rigour. The reciprocal duties 

 of parent and child Solon did not leave to the mere opera- 

 tion of natural affediun, but added pufuive laws. Ttiefe 

 enjoined parents to bellow fuch pains on the education of 

 their cliildrcn as might enable them to perform their various 

 duties as men and citizens. Tlicy oblige children to main- 

 tain their parents in declining years, two cafes excepted; e. g. 

 if the children had been born of a courtezan, or had been 

 educated to no profeffion. In the firll cafe, th;y fuppofed 

 that children owe nothing to parents who had begotten 

 them to difgraee ; in the fecond, who deftined them to 

 ufeleffnefs and dependence. Domellic tribunals were not 

 permitted by Solon's laws. A citizen could only be judged 

 by his peers, and by them only deprived of property, li- 

 berty, or Ufe. The magillrates civil, military, and ecclefi- 

 allical, were by Solon's laws entitled to refpeft and obedi- 

 ence, vvhilll they aded agreeably to the end of their office. 

 (See Anacharfis, Gillies, and Ariilotlc's Politics.) Tliefe 

 are a few of the outlines of the provifion made by Solon's 

 laws for maintaing what judge Blackltone ftyles the rights 

 af perfons. The laws of Solon refpefting property were 

 founded on principles of pure ethics, and regarded moral 

 condud as well as the picfervation of property and politi- 

 cal expediency. They confidered private virtue as well as 

 private right and public tranquillity ; they not only pro- 

 vided that one man ihonld not injure another, but endea- 

 voured to prevent fuch motives from exifting as tend to pro- 

 duce injury. Tlius by the Athenian law, the next heir is 

 incapable of being guardian to a minor, becaufc it m ght 

 be apprehended tliat fueli a guardian miglit be more delir- 

 ous of appropriating the inheritance than of promoting 

 the good of the ward. That regulation therefore conlidcrs 

 moral motives, and withholds temptations. All the indi- 

 tutions of Solon refpeding fucceflions and teftameuts united 

 the two confiderations of regard to property and to Inoral 

 principle. Solon allowed the ciliicu to difpofe of his pro- 

 7 



A T H 



perty at pleafure ; at the fame time by his regulations h* 

 guards againft the arts of legacy hunters ; and thus while 

 he refpeds property, withholds motives to injutlice. In 

 that part of his code which treats of what the civilians 

 termed aa'ions, and judge Blackftone private wrongs, Solon's 

 defcription of injuries, and meafnres of redrefs, are nearly 

 the fame as in the Roman and Englifli law. They all pro- 

 ceed upon a plain and obvious principle in ethics, that 

 every iujuiy done muft be redrcITed. The injuries 

 ■which may be done to an individual, afTed cither his 

 liberty, propcity, charader, or perfon, and are in general 

 nearly the fame in all countries. On thio principle (fays 

 Gibbon, fpeaking of that branch of law), the civilians of 

 ever)' country have eroded a fimilar jurifprudence, the fair 

 coiiclufion of univerfal reafon and juilice. In that part 

 which the civilians ftyle penal law, and Blackftone public 

 ■zvrongs, Solon differs vei-y confiderably from the Roman 

 law, and agrees with the Englifh. This difference is partly 

 in the defcription of crimes, and partly in the mode of 

 cognizance. Public wrongs are either fuch adions or or. if- 

 fions as tend to affed the tranquillity and happinefs of a 

 ftate. The fame adions therefore muft be wrong in veiy 

 different degrees in different ftates and circumftances. The 

 peifedion of a penal code depends on the ccnnedion in the 

 defcription of laws, between crimes and pubhc injuries in 

 the firft place ; and in the fecond, between crimes and pu- 

 nifhment. If ever)' adion which generally hurts the jjub- 

 lic, is by the laws a crime, and if the puniihment be exadly 

 in proportion to the crim,e, and be not inflided without 

 certain proof of the commifTion, that muft be a good penal 

 code. A wife lawgiver apportions punifliment to crime, but 

 does not cofi'^Aur puuijhing jujlice only, he alfo tz^g^ei preventive 

 into his confideration. One of the many great excellencies 

 of our Englifli law is, that it has adopted efficacious means 

 for preventing crimes. To this branch of legiflation Solon 

 alfo had paid confiderable attention. Ti\e prevention of 

 crimes depends chiefly on two things : firft, vigilance in ob- 

 fcrving the condud of thofe who, either from their general 

 charader, or from particular circumftances, may be fup- 

 pofed moft likely to commit them ; fecondl)', on the pre- 

 vious care beftowed on the morals of the people. This lall 

 is undoubtedly the fureft way of preventing crimes from 

 being general. As a great fource of criminal condud is 

 idlenefs, Solon enaded a law w'hich obliged every citizen to 

 exercife fome trade or profeffion. " None," fays the learned 

 and ingenious Drummond, " among the various inftitutions 

 of Solon has been more defervedly celebrated than that 

 which obliged every citizen to exercife fome trade or pro- 

 feffion. In countries where the chm.ate naturally difpofes 

 men to floth and inadivity, every law which incites the 

 mind to exertion, or which roufes the latent energy of its 

 faculties, muft neceffarily be attended with the moft falutary 

 effeds." Tliis law had a tendency not only to prevent the 

 negative evil of iloth, but the politive evil of adive crimi- 

 nality. By the inftitutions of Solon, extravagance, intem- 

 perance, and debauchery underwent a fevere animadverlion. 

 Magillrates were empowered to watch the buddings of nox- 

 ious pradices which might, if not cruflied, ripen into crimes. 

 Solon's defcription of the various kinds and meafures of 

 crimes is very accurate, and the annexed puniihment is ge- 

 nerally proportionate. No adion of pernicious tendency 

 is by the Athenian laws exempted from penal animadver- 

 lion. By the Roman law, fuicide (according to the jufl 

 ar.J ftriking defcription of Blackftone, " the pretended he- 

 roifm, but real cowardice of the Stoic philofophers, who de- 

 ftroyed thtmfelves to avoid thofe ills which they had not 

 the fortitude to endure ") was not only not punifhed, but 



was 



