A T H 



mended, anfwcred, " It is true, my fon was a brave man ; 

 but I doubt not that Sparta has many citizens as brave as 

 he." 



The battle of Amphipolis removed the principal obftacles 

 to peace. There was not any Spartan general qualified to 

 accon^pliih the defigns of Brafidas ; and the Athenians, de- 

 jected by dt-feat, and humbled by dif^race, vs'anted the 

 bold impofing eloquence of Clcon, to difguife their weak- 

 refs, and varnifli their misfortunes. (Gillies.) With the 

 diHieartened remains of an enfeebled armament, they cje- 

 fpaircd of recovering their Macedonian poffefiions ; and 

 the greater part returned home, well difpofcd for an accom- 

 modation with the enemy. Thefe difpofitions were con- 

 firmed by the pacific temjicr of Nicias, who had fucceeded 

 to the' influence of Cleon, and who fortunately difcovered 

 in the moderation of Pleiftoanax, king of Sparta, a coad- 

 jutor extremely folicitous to promote his views. During 

 winter, feveral friendly conferences were held between the 

 commiflioners of the two republics ; and towards the com- 

 mencement of the enfuing fpriug, a treaty of peace, and 

 foon afterwards a defenfive alliance, for fifty years, was ra- 

 tified by the kings and ephori of Sparta on the one fide, 

 and by the archons and generals of Athens on the other. 

 In confequence of this negotiation, which was intended to 

 comprehend the refpeftive allies of the contrafting powers, 

 all places and prifoners taken in the courfe of the war, were 

 to be mutually reftored ; the revolted cities in Macedon 

 •were fpecificd by name ; but it was regulated that the 

 Athenians fliould not require from them any higher revenue 

 than that apportioned by the juilice of Arillidcs. (See 

 Thucydides.) 



While the Athenians were thus engaged in wars, and 

 often employed in injiiilice, their city produced a perfonage 

 who taught his countrymen and mankind the pureft ethics 

 that ever flowed from a human fource. Socrates was now 

 in the full vigour of his gSniu.i, which he employed in fim- 

 plifying praftic.'\l philofophy to the comprehcnfion of com- 

 mon minds, and to inculcate the ncceflary connexion be- 

 tween piety and virtue and happinefs. (See Xenophon's 

 Memorabilia.) From the perfeftions of the fupreme intel- 

 ligence he deduced his juft government of the univerfe, 

 which implied the immortality of the human foul. But 

 the great object of his refearch was to diicover the general 

 laws by which, even in this life, the fuperintending provi- 

 dence r.ad varioudy difpenfed to men good and evil, happi- 

 nefs andfliifery. Thele laws he regarded as the promul- 

 gated will of the gods, with which, when clearly afcertained, 

 it became our duty invariably to comply ; fince nothing 

 but the mod ftiort-fighted folly could rifle incurring the di- 

 vine difpleafure, in order to avoid pain or poverty, ficknefs 

 or death, far lefs to enjoy perifhing gratifications, which 

 leave a fting behind them. Reafoning on fuch principles, 

 and taking experience only for his guide, he deduced with 

 admirable pcripicuity the intercits and duties of nations 

 and individuals in all the complicated relations of fociely. 

 The aftions of men furniftied the materials, their inftruction 

 formed the objeft, their happinefs was the end of his dif- 

 courfe. Wherever his Icflons might be molt generally ufc- 

 ful, there he was always to be found, frequenting at an 

 early hour the Academy, Lyceum, and other public gym- 

 nafia ; putictnally attending the forum at mid-day, the hour 

 of full aflenibly ; and in the evening, joining, without the 

 affectation of auderity, in the convivial entertainments of 

 his friends, or accompanying them in the delightful walks 

 which adorned the banks of the Ilyfl'us. As a hufl^and, a 

 father, ,a citizen, and a foldier, the fteady praftice of his 

 duty continually illullrattd his doctrines. The converfation 



A T H 



and example of this truly praiStical philofopher (and this is his 

 highelt praife) perfuadcd many of his fellow citizens fincerely 

 to embrace a virtuous courie of life ; and even thofe who 

 allowed the current of their paffions to prevail over the con- 

 viction df their fober hours, were ftill charmed with the 

 wonderful extent, as well as the fingular accuracy, of his 

 various knowledge, with the acutencfs and penetratio:! of 

 his various arguments ; the beauty, vivacity, and perfuafive- 

 ncfs of his ftyle, with which he aflumed the tone of reafon 

 or of ridicule, fui-pafkd whatever had been deemed moll 

 eloquent. Among the Athenian youth whom this fage at- 

 tempted to form to virtue, was the celebrated A'cibiades, 

 but a previoufly corrupted education rendeied his taflc ex- 

 tremely difficult. The tender years of Alcibiades were 

 committed to the illiberal difcipline of mercenary precep- 

 tors ; his youth and inexpcriei.ee were befet by the de- 

 Itruftive adulation of fervile flatterers (Plutarch's Alcibi- 

 ades), until the young Athenian, iiaving begun to relifli 

 the poems of Homer, the admiration of which is congenial 

 to every great mind (Ibid.), learntd from thence to defpife 

 the pedantry of the one, and to deteft; the meannefs of the 

 other. Fcom Homer, Alcibiades early imbibed that ambi- 

 tion for excellence which is the great leflbn of the immortal 

 bard. Having attained the verge of manh.ood, he readily 

 dillinguiOied, among the crowd of rhetoricians and fophills, 

 the fuperior merit of Socrates. The fage, whofe company 

 was courted by his other difciples, himfelf courted the com- 

 pany of Alcibiades ; and when the ungrateful youth fome- 

 times efcaped to his licentious companions, the philofopher 

 purfued him with the eagernefs of a father or maltcr, 

 anxious to recover a fugitive fon or flave. See Alcibia- 

 des. But this favourite lal)oured under a defe£t which 

 could not be compenlated by the highelt birth, the mod 

 fplendid fortune, the nobleft endowments of mind and bo- 

 dy, and even the ineftimable friendihip of Socrates. He 

 wanted an honell heart. This we are warranted to afSnn 

 on the authority of contemporary writers, lA'fias and Xe- 

 nophon, who acknowledge that firlt admiration, and then 

 interell, was the fo\mdalion of his attaeliment to the 

 illullrious fage, by whofe infl.ruction he expedted to be- 

 come not a good but an able man. Some inclination to 

 vn'tue he might, in fuch company, perhaps feel, but more 

 p/obably feign ; and the nicelt difcernment might n^ftake 

 the real character of a man who could adopt at plcafure 

 the molt oppofite manners ; and who, as will appear from 

 the fubfequent events of his various life, could furpafs the 

 fplendid magnificence of Athens, oV the rigid frugality of 

 Sparta ; could conform, as intereft required, to the labo- 

 rious exercifes of the Thebans, or to the voluptuous indo- 

 lence of Ionia ; afi'ume the foft eficminacy of an Eaftern 

 prince, or rival the fturdy vices of the drunken Thracians. 

 (Nepos's Alcibiades.) 



Th.e firlt fpecimen of his political condudt difcovered 

 the extraordinaiy refources of his verfatile mind. He op- 

 poied the peace of Nicias, as the work of a rival whom he 

 wifhtd to difgrace. His ambition longed for war, and 

 the Spartans defervcd his refentment, having in all their 

 tranfaitions witli Athens, ttfl;ified the utmoil refpedt for 

 Nicias, while they were at no pains to conceal their want 

 of regard for himfelf, though his family had been long 

 connetled with their republic by an intercourfe of hofpi- 

 tality, and he had endeavoured to itrengthen that connec- 

 tion by his perfcnal good offices to the Lacedaemonians 

 taken in Sphaifteria. To gratify at ©nee his refentment, 

 his ambition, and his jealoufy, he determined to renew 

 the war with Sparta ; a defign by no means difficult at 

 the prefent juncture. In compliance with the peace of 



Nicias, 



