962 
GREECE 
t)ie Dutch governrnent was not democratical, the efforts 
of William III. and his countrymen, againft the invad¬ 
ing power of Louis XIV. were equally energetic with 
thofe of the Athenians ; and againft troops to which the 
Perfians were as much inferior as their commanders, 
Mardonius and Xerxes, were to Turenne and Conde. 
Soldiers have generally fought beft when attached to 
their fuperiors. The German retainer, we are told by 
Tacitus, exerted himfelf with tlie moft uncommon vi¬ 
gour, when fighting under the eye of his chief. Never 
did the Scotch highlanders, eminent as they have been 
at all times for their prowefs, fight with more energy, 
than under the chiefs of their refpedtive clans. In fadt, 
European foldiers generally fight bravely, whatever be 
their caufe. Never did the Athenians exert themfelves 
more forcibly than the Macedonians when fighting un¬ 
der their king. Never did the eft'orts of any democracy 
exceed thofe of the Spaniards under the prince of Par¬ 
ma, of the Turks under Solyman, of the Ruflians under 
Romanzow, of the Auftrians under prince Eugene, of 
the Pruffians under Frederic the Great, and of the Bri- 
tifti under all commanders. Thus we fee the opinion 
that democracy produces greater military exertions than 
any otlier government, is totally unfounded. In reality, 
tl'.e exertions of the Athenians, fo far from arifingfrom 
their democracy, was owing to a temporary departure 
from its fpirit. By the Athenian conftitution there 
were ten generals. Confiftently with their loved equali¬ 
ty, each of thefe commanded in turn. At the battle of 
Marathon, the command was conferred on Miltiades 
alone ; and here the democracy of inltitution, in the 
time of danger, gave way to the ariftocracy of nature. 
Ariftides and Themiftocles, during the fecond Perfian 
•war, were really princes : efpecially the laft. The 
Athenians acted according to the will of Themiftocles, 
not Themiftocles according to the will of the Athe- 
ni ns. Themiftocles led the people from Athens to the 
fltips ; forced them to remain in the ftraits of Salamis, 
and fight ; drove Xerxes from Greece ; fortified the 
Pyraeus; increaled the population, riches, and power, 
of Athens ; and finally raifed his country to the firll fta- 
tion in Greece. Had the Athenians, inftead of ranging 
themfelves round the ftandard of a leader, following his 
counfel, and obeying his orders, thought and acted for 
themfelves; had they in all thel'e emergencies continued 
democratical ; they would have become a province of 
Perfia. Adting for a time as fubjedts to a vvife prince, 
they were eminently fuccefsful; but on returning to 
their ufual democracy, they ungratefully doomed their 
benefadtor to ruin. Not only wars of rapine and blood- 
fhed, continues this author, but ambition, injuftice, 
and cruelty, are inherent in the very nature of a con¬ 
ftitution purely democratical.” But Dr. Biftet muft al¬ 
low that wars of ambition, conqueft, and injuftice, have 
been begun by governments that were not purely demo¬ 
cratical, nor purely monarchical ; that even mixed go¬ 
vernments have fometimes without provocation, or the 
fhadow of right, invaded the territories of other ftates, 
depofed fovereigns, fyftematically purfued plans of ag¬ 
grandizement, and fometimes difgraced wars that were 
in themfelves juft, by the moft fhocking cruelties ; of 
tlie former we have the ftrongeft evidence in the extent 
of the Britifh empire in India ; of the latter, in the 
maflacre of Glencoe, and the bloody progrefs of the 
Englifh army in Scotland after the battle of Culloden; 
and of both, in the wars of rapine and plunder fo fuc- 
cefsfully carried on by Bonaparte. 
To tlie democratical form of government is attri¬ 
buted the levity, ficklenefs, and injuftice, of the Athe¬ 
nians towards Alcibiades, in trying and condemning 
him unheard. Unfortunately, our own hiftory, not- 
•withftanding the mixture of our government, records 
but too many inftances of ficklenefs, and of the injuf¬ 
tice of condemning perfons to death without a hearing. 
The attainders by of parliament of queen Ann Bo- 
leyne, of Cromwell earlof Eflex, and of various others, 
without fo much as the formality of an appearance at 
the bar, will ever atteft the melancholy truth that bare¬ 
faced injuftice is not alone confined to democratic ftates. 
A perfetl democracy, however, is too often diftin- 
guiflied by a total difregard of juftice in judicial pro¬ 
ceedings. “Every day, (fays Dr. Biftet,) afforded 
fome inftance of unjuft fentence, and unmerited acquit¬ 
tals, in the general affembly of Athens. Thofe real 
patriots, who dared to fpeak plain and bold truths, 
were imprifoned or put to death, v/hile the demagogues, 
who flattered their vices and folly, though really bribed 
by their enemies, were held in the higheft honour. 
Even private caufes, in which the populace at large 
might not be fuppofed to be fo much interefted, were 
decided according to the whim of the people, or the 
popularity of the advocate who undertook the caufe ; 
and thus eventually was brought on the difgrace and 
ruin of the ftate.” 
A fliocking inftance of the blind fury of a democra¬ 
tical government, is recorded in the annals of Car¬ 
thage. It was the intention of Alexander, had he 
lived, to have entirely deftroyed the commerce of a na¬ 
tion fo intimately connedled with the Tyrians ; and the 
magnitude of the defign was worthy of the fon of Phi¬ 
lip. A thoufand galleys, on the return of the Mace, 
donian monarch, would have failed from Alexandria 
throughout the Mediterranean ; nor would the fubju- 
gation of Carthage have been deemed complete, until 
the whole of the adjacent coafts, both of Africa and 
Spain, had acknowledged Alexander as their fovereign. 
A broad and regular road for the convenience of com¬ 
merce, was to have extended along the conquered line 
of coaft, to Ceuta and Tangier; whilft the eftablilh- 
ment of arfenals, havens, and dock-yards, at proper in. 
tervals, would have difplayed the naval fupremacy of 
Macedonia. Thefe defigns of Alexander were in part 
fufpedted by the Carthaginians, who acco’rdingly em¬ 
ployed the addrefs of Hamilcar to avert the impending 
ftorm : but the report of their ambaffador ferved only 
to confirm their apprehenfions. On his arrival in Egypt, 
Hamilcar beheld with aftonifhment the riling metropolis 
of eaftern commerce : the alarm was quickly conveyed 
to Carthage ; and the trembling meftenger, who bore 
this unwelcome intelligence, was facrificed to the pu. 
fillanimous agitation of an ungovernable and ferocious 
democracy. 
The regulations, as well as progrefs, made by the 
Greeks in military and naval tadtics, and in the co-ope- 
ration of their fleets and armies for the purpofes of at- 
tack and defence, are the firft on record which emi¬ 
nently diftinguilh any of the nations of antiquity. 
Mr. Clarke, in his Progrefs of Maritime Difeovery, re¬ 
cently publilhed, has Ihevvn that in a Grecian fleet, the 
principal officers varied but little from the modern lift; 
though naval and military duties were too much blended 
with each other. The commander of the troops appears to 
have preceded the admiral-, of which rank, the Greeks 
had ufually from one to three officers in a fquadron ; 
yet fuch was the prejudice, or jealoufy, of the times, 
that when an admiral had once difeharged the impor¬ 
tant duties of that illuftrious ftation, he was ever after¬ 
wards deemed by the Spartans incapable of occupying 
the fame rank. His title as commander of a fleet wa.s 
dux praftBu/que clajjis. To the admiral fucceeded the 
captain {navarchus), and then followed a port of great 
honour and refponfibility, the pilot {gubernator), to whom 
the charge of the veftel and the dilcipline of its crew 
were affigned. Under the pilot was appointed a fort of 
mate called proreus, from his ftation at the prow ; he 
had the keeping of ftores for the Ihip’s rigging, and 
was allowed to diftribute places to the rowers. Com¬ 
manders of galleys, in addition to the above title of 
navarchus, or captain, were ftyled trkrarchs ; and, when 
two were on-board, each commanded for fix months. 
This 
