A T II 



ties cited in the " Travels of Anachaifis," voT. ii p 260.), 

 fometimes as an old dotard, who may he deceived' with im- 

 punity ; or as an infant, who requires continual amufement ; 

 and fometimes as difplaying the difcernment and ftntiments 

 of elevated minds ; as paffionately fond of pleafure and of 

 liberty, of indolence and of glory'; or intoxicated with flat- 

 ter>-, and yet receiving merited reproach with applaiife ; as 

 poTeffing penetration to appreliend at a word the plans pro- 

 pofed to them, but too impatient to lillen to the particulars, 

 or to forefee their confequences; as making their magiftrates 

 tremble before them, and at the fame mom.ent pardoning 

 their nioft bitter enemies ; as paffmg with the rapidity ol" 

 lightning from rage to compafliun, from dcfpondence to 

 iiifolence, from injuilice to repentance ; as beyond concep- 

 tion fickle ; and fo frivolous, that in the moft' furious, and 

 evtn the moft defperate fituation of their affairs, a fingle 

 word fpoken at random, a happy fally of pleafantry, the 

 fmallcft objeil, the moft trivial incident, provided it were 

 unexpected, fufficed to difpel their fears, or to divert them 

 from attention to their moft important interefts. As nothing 

 \vas more eafy than to excite and inflame the paffiuns of 

 (jch a people, it was equally eafy to -acquire, and alfo to 

 lofe, their conlidence. A popular leader, whilft in favour 

 with them, might without difficulty perfuade them to adopt 

 good or evil meafures with an equal degree of ardour. 

 When guided by firm and virtuous men, they beftowed 

 public offices of truft or power on thofe, who united wreat 

 abilities with eminent virtue : at other times, they made a 

 choice at which they ought to have bludied ; and they were 

 thus frequently the fport of flattering orators and ambitious 

 tyrants. Such, however, was their inherent deteftation of 

 tyranny, that they were extremely jealous, on many memo- 

 rable occafions, of their privileges, and both zealous and 

 aclive in defence of their liberty, whenever they thought 

 it attacked and violated by men in power. Indeed, an ar- 

 dent love of liberty was their predominant quality, and the 

 main fpringof their government. They left, without hefita- 

 tion, their cities and their houfes, to tight at fea or by land 

 the common enemy, who threatened them with the danger 

 of fervitude. It was a glorious day for Athens, when all 

 her allies yielding to the advantageous offers of the king of 

 Perfia, (he replied by Aridides to the ambaffadors of that 

 monarch; " that it was impoffible for all the gold in the world 

 to tempt the republic of Athens, and to prevail with her 

 to fell her liberty, and that of Greece." By fuch fentiments, 

 nnd a conduft aftuatcd by them, the Athenians not only 

 be^me the bulwark of Greece, but likewife guarded the 

 reft of Europe from a Perfian invafion. The Athenians, 

 however, notwithftanding their attachment to the rights 

 of their countrj-, and the jcaloufy with which they watched 

 over them, were volatile, capricious, and inconftant ; and 

 this dlfpofition betrayed them into errors, incompatible with 

 true patriotifm. Wliilft the Athenians indulged views of 

 conqueft that were extenfive and aftonifliing, they were, in 

 private life, and in their domeftic arrangement; and expendi- 

 ture, frugal, fimple, and unoftentatious ; but when the 

 honour of the ftatc required it, fumptuous and magnificent. 

 Their conquefts, their riches, and their connexions with 

 the inhabitants of Afia Minor, never b;trayed them into 

 luxury, pomp, and profiifion. Xenophon obferves, that a 

 citi'/.en was not diftinguilhed from a iUive by his drcfs : and 

 it is remarked with approbation by Demollheres, that in 

 the beft times of the republic, the houfes of Themiftocles 

 and Ariftides could not be diftinguilhed from thofe of their 

 neighbours. The wealthieft citizen, and the molt renowned 

 general, were not aihamed to go thenifclves to market. In the 

 form and difpofition of the feveral a: tides of drefs,- the rceii 

 Vol. hi. 



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were cxpcfled to ftudy decency, and the women to tjnite elc- 

 gance^.-ith tafte. The latter, whenever they went out, wore a 

 veil over their heads : and they painted their eye-brows with 

 black, and applied to their faces a layer of cerufe or white 

 lead, with deep tints of rouge. Their hair, which they 

 crowned with flowers, was fpriilklcd over with a vellow- 

 colourcd powder. Sliut up in their apartments, they never 

 participated in the .pleafures of the companies alfcmbled by 

 their hulbands. In the day, the law permitted them to go 

 out only on certain occafions, and never in the nighttime, but 

 in a carriage, and with a flambeau to light them ; but not- 

 withftanding tiie rcftrdiiit of this law, the women of the 

 lower claflTcs indulged thcmftlvcs with greater liberty. In 

 public felllvals they were prefent at the Ipedacles as well as 

 the ceremonies of the temple; but they were generally atten- 

 ded by eunuchs, or female Haves. At an early period the Athe- 

 nians were fo jealous, that they would not peri'^it their women 

 to (hew therai'elves at the window : but this reft: aint was gra- 

 dually relaxed, andfevere laws wer^ii:troducedloguard?.gainlt 

 fcduftion and infidelity. (See Adultery.) M. dc I'auw, 

 in liis " Recherches Piiilofophiques fur les Greer!," on t!ie 

 authority of Athenxus and Plutarch, rcprcftnts the Atlie- 

 nian matrons as addifted to drunkcnnefs, a'.^d the mcft dif- 

 folute fcnfuality : he fays tliat they were tuibulent and 

 quanclfome, and that, notwithftanding all the concefiioni 

 of their huftjands, domeftic peace was very feldom [nurd 

 in their habitations. It is certain, that the feafts of Bacchus, 

 and fome other religious inftitutions which the women 

 claimed a' right to celebrate, could not tend to infpirc either 

 gentlcnefs of manners or purity of morals. Courtezans 

 were protefted at Athens by the laws, but the public man- 

 ners were contaminated by this licence. Femalts of this 

 defeription, however, were not allowed to appear in the 

 ftreets with rich trinkets or jewels, nor were men in office 

 permitted to appear with them in public. The Athenians 

 were naturally abftemious ; their chief food coiififted of fait 

 meat and vegetables. The necefTities of the poor were fnp- 

 plled either from the public treafury, or other means. In 

 Athens there were feveral focieties, the members of which 

 entered into a folemn engagement to affiil each other in 

 cafes of judicial profecution ; and there wa"? one focictv, 

 whofe only objedt was to obferve and collect every fpccies 

 of ridiculous abiurdity, and to divert itfelf with pleafai. tries 

 and bon-mots. At Athens, a fmail number of citizens 

 enriched themfelves by commerce, and by filver mines which 

 they poffeifed at I.a.irium. Others deemed themfelves mafters 

 of a decent fortune when tliey poflcffed eftates to the value 

 of fifteen or twenty talents (the talent being equal to about 

 225 1. rterling), and when they were able to give their 

 daughters a maniage portion of IQO rnina:, or about 

 375 I. rterling. 



The tafte of the Athenians for litei-ature and fcience is 

 well known. The inhabitants of Athens, fays Cicero 

 (De Orat. and Orat. pro Flaeco), were the inventors of all 

 learning, the men who invented and perfected eloquence, 

 and from whom humanity, learning, religion, and laws 

 were difperfed through the whole world ; ncverthclefs, he 

 add^, " they only knew what was right, but would not do 

 it." When the Atlienians, fays the ir .enious Mr. Harris 

 (Philofophical Inquiries, part iii. c. 3.), had delivered 

 tlumfelvcs from the tyranny of Pififtratus, and after '.h.is 

 had defeated tlie vaft eifoits of tlie Perfians under Darius 

 and Xerxes, they may be confidered as at the fummit ot 

 their national glory ; and for more than half a centui-y 

 afterwards, they maintained, witlioiit control, the fove- 

 reignty of Greece. A; their tafte was naturally good, arts 

 of' every kind foon arofe among therr, and flourifheJ. 

 G 2 V.\!oinr 



