The thirty flew thither with their troops, and a battle sufficiently warm ensued; but as the soldiers on one side fought with valour and vigour for their liberty, and on the other with indolence and neglect for the power of others, the success was not doubtful, but followed the better cause. The tyrants were overthrown. Critias was killed on the spot. And as the rest of the army were taking to flight, Thrasybulus cried out, "Wherefore do "you fly from me as from a victor, rather than assist me as the avenger "of your liberty? We are not enemies, but fellow-citizens; nor have we "declared war against the city, but against the thirty tyrants." He continued with bidding them remember that they had the same origin, country, laws, and religion; he exhorted them to compassionate their exiled brethren; to restore their country to them, and resume their liberty to themselves. This discourse had suitable effects. The army upon their return to Athens, expelled the thirty, and substituted ten persons to govern in their room, whose conduct proved no better than theirs.

It is a matter of surprise, that so sudden, so universal, so tenacious, and so uniform a conspiracy against the public good, should always actuate the several bodies of persons established in the administration of this government. This we have seen in the four hundred formerly chosen by Athens; again in the thirty; and now in the ten. And what augments our wonder, is, that this passion for tyranny should possess so immediately republicans, born in the bosom of liberty, accustomed to an equality of condition on which it is founded, and principled from their earliest infancy in an abhorrence of all subjection and dependency. *There must be on the one side in power and authority, some violent impulse to actuate in this manner so many persons, of whom many, no doubt, were not without sentiments of virtue and honour; and to banish so suddenly the principles and manners natural to them and on the other an excessive propensity in the mind of man to subject his equals, to rule over them imperiously, and to carry him on to the last extremes of oppression and cruelty, and to make him forget at once all laws, nature and religion.

:

The thirty being fallen from their power and hopes, sent deputies to Lacedæmon to demand aid. It was not Lysander's fault, who was sent to them with troops, that the tyrants were not re-established. But king Pausanias, moved with compassion for the deplorable condition to which a city, once so flourishing, was reduced, had the generosity to favour the Athenians in secret, and at length obtained a peace for them. It was sealed with the blood of the tyrants, who, having taken arms to reinstate themselves in the government, and being present at a parley for that purpose, were all put to the sword, and left Athens in the full possession of its liberty. All the exiles were recalled. Thrasybulus at that time proposed the celebrated amnesty, by which the citizens engaged upon oath, that all past transactions should be buried in oblivion. The government was reestablished upon its ancient footing, the laws restored to their pristine vigour, and magistrates elected with the usual forms.

I cannot forbear observing in this place the wisdom and moderation of Thrasybulus, so sálutary and essential after so long a continuance of domestic troubles. This is one of the finest events in ancient history, worthy the Athenian lenity and benevolence, and has served as a model to successive ages in good governments.

Never had tyranny been more cruel and bloody than that the Athenians had lately thrown off. Every house was in mourning; every family be

* Vi dominationis convulsis. Tacit.

wailed the loss of some relation. It had been a series of public robbery and rapine, in which licence and impunity had authorized all manner of crimes. The people seemed to have a right to demand the blood of all accomplices in such notorious malversations, and even the interest of the state to authorise such a claim, that by exemplary severities such enormous crimes might be prevented for the future. But Thrasybulus rising above those sentiments from the superiority of his more extensive genius, and the views of a more discerning and profound policy, foresaw, that by giving in to the punishment of the guilty, eternal seeds of discord and enmity would remain, to weaken the republic by domestic divisions, which it was necessary to unite against the common enemy, and occasion the loss to the state of a great number of citizens, who might render it important services from the view itself of making amends for past misbehaviour.

Such a conduct, after great troubles in a state, has always seemed, with the ablest politicians, the most certain and ready means to restore the public peace and tranquility. Cicero, when Rome was divided into two factions upon the occasion of Cæsar's death, who had been killed by the conspirators, calling to mind this celebrated amnesty, proposed, after the example of the Athenians, to bury all that had passed in eternal oblivion. * Cardinal Mazarin observed to Don Lewis de Haro, prime minister of Spain, that this gentle and humane conduct in France had prevented the troubles and revolts of that kingdom from having any fatal consequences, and "that the king had not lost a foot of land by them to that day;" whereas the inflexible severity of the Spaniards "was the occasion that the sub"jects of that monarchy, whenever they threw off the mask, never re"turned to their obedience but by the force of arms; which sufficiently appears," says he, "in the example of the Hollanders, who are in the "peaceable possession of many provinces that not an age ago were the "patrimony of the king of Spain."

Diodorus Siculus takes occasion, from the thirty tyrants of Athens, whose immoderate ambition induced them to treat their country with the most excessive cruelties, to observe how unfortunate it is for † persons in power to want a sense of honour, and to disregard either the present opinion, or the judgment posterity will form of their conduct: for from the contempt of reputation the transition is too common to that of virtue itself. They may perhaps, by the awe of their power, suppress for some time the public voice, and impose a forced silence upon censure; but the more constraint they lay upon it during their lives, the more liberal will it be after their deaths of complaints and reproaches, and the more infamy and imputation will be affixed to their memories. The power of the thirty was of a very short duration; their guilt immortal, which will be remembered with abhorrence throughout all ages, whilst their names will be recorded in history only to render them odious, and to make their crimes detestable. He applies the same reflection to the Lacedæmonians, who, after having made themselves masters of Greece, by a wise and moderate conduct, fell from that glory through the severity, haughtiness, and injustice

*Letter XV. of Card. Maz.

Cetera principibus statim adesse: unum insatiabiliter parandum prosperam sui memoriam ; nam contempta fama, contemni virtutes.--Quo magis socordia m eorum irrideri libet, qui præsenti potentia credunt extingui posse etiam sequentis ævi memoriam—suum cuique decus posteritas rependit. Tacit. Annal. I. iv. e 20 & 35.

with which they treated their allies. There is doubtless no reader, whom their abject and cruel jealousy, in regard to Athens enslaved and humbled, has not prejudiced against them; nor is there any resemblance in such behaviour of the greatness of mind and noble generosity of ancient Sparta; so much power have the lust of dominion and prosperity over even virtuous men. Diodorus concludes his reflection with a maxim very true, though very little known. "The greatness and majesty of princes," says he, (and the same may be said of all persons in high authority) can be "supported only by humanity and justice with regard to their subjects as on the contrary, they are ruined and destroyed by a cruel and oppres"sive government, which never fails to draw upon them the hatred of their "people.

66

LYSANDER ABUSES HIS POWER IN AN EXTRAORDINARY MANNER.-HE 16 RECALLED TO SPARTA.

AS Lysander had the greatest share in the celebrated exploits* which had raised the glory of the Lacedæmonians to so high a pitch, so he had acquired a degree of power and authority, of which there was no example before in Sparta; but he suffered himself to be carried away by a presumption and vanity still greater than his power. He permitted the Grecian cities to dedicate altars to him, as to a god; and to offer sacrifices, and sing hymns and canticles in honour of him. The Samians ordained by a public decree, that the feasts celebrated in honour of Juno, and which bore the name of that goddess, should be called "the feasts of Lysander." He had always a crowd of poets about him (who are often a tribe of venal flatterers,) who emulated each other in singing his great exploits, for which they were magnificently paid. Praise is undoubtedly due to noble deeds, but diminishes their lustre when either forced or excessive.

This sort of vanity and ambition, had he stopt there, would have hurt only himself by exposing him to envy and contempt; but a natural consequence of it was, that through his arrogance and pride, in conjunction with the incessant flatteries of those around him, he carried the spirit of command and authority to an insupportable excess, and observed no longer any measures, either in rewarding or punishing. The absolute government of cities with tyrannic power were the fruits of his friendship, and the ties of hospitality with him; and only the death of those he hated, could put an end to his resentment and displeasure, without its being possible to escape his vengeance. What Sylla caused to be inscribed upon his tomb, might with equal propriety have been engraved upon Lysander's That no man had ever surpassed him in doing good to his friends, or evil to his enemies.

Treachery and perjury cost him nothing whenever they promoted his designs; nor was he less cruel than revengeful, of which what he did at Miletus is a sufficient proof. Apprehending that those who were at the head of the people would escape him, he swore not to do them any hurt. Those unfortunates gave credit to his oath, and no sooner appeared in public than they were put to the sword with his consent by the nobility, who killed them all, though no less than 800. The number of those in the party of the people, whom he caused to be massacreed in other cities,

*Plut. in Lys. p. 443-445.

is incredible; for he did not only destroy to satiate his own resentments, but to serve in all places the enmity, malice, and avarice of his friends, whom he supported in gratifying their passions by the death of their enemies.

There was no kind of injustice and violence which the people did not suffer under the government of Lysander; whilst the Lacedæmonians, who were sufficiently informed of his conduct gave themselves no trouble to prevent its effects. It is too common for those in power to be little affected with the vexations and oppressions laid upon persons of low condition and credit, and to be deaf to their just complaints, though authority is principally confided in them for the defence of the weak and poor, who have no other protectors. But if such remonstrances are made by a great or powerful person, from whom they may have any thing to hope or fear, the same authority that was slow and drowsy becomes immediately warm and officious; a certain proof that it is not the love of justice that actuates it. This appears here in the conduct of the Lacedæmonian magistrates. Pharnabasus, weary of Lysander's repeated injustices, who ravaged and pillaged the provinces under his command, having sent ambassadors to Sparta, to complain of the wrongs he had received from that general, the Ephori recalled him. Lysander was at that time in the Hellespont. The letter of the Ephori threw him into great consternation. As he principally feared the complaints and accusations of Pharnabasus, he made all the haste he could to come to an explanation with him, from the hope of softening him, and making his peace. He went for that purpose to him, and desired that he would write another letter to the Ephori, intimating a satisfaction in his conduct. But Lysander, says Plutarch, in such an application to Pharnabasus, forgot the proverb, "Set a thief to catch a thief." The satrap promised all he desired, and accordingly wrote such a letter in Lysander's presence as he had asked of him, but prepared another to a quite different effect. When he was to seal it, as both letters were of the same size and form, he dexterously put that he had wrote in secret into the place of the other, without being observed, which he sealed and gave him.

*

Lysander departed well satisfied, and being arrived at Sparta, alighted at the palace where the senate was assembled, and delivered Pharnabasus' letter to the Ephori. But he was strangely surprised when he heard the contents, and withdrew in extreme confusion and disorder. Some days after he returned to the senate, and told the Ephori, that he was obliged to go to the temple of Ammon to acquit himself of the sacrifices he had vowed to that god before his battles. That pilgrimage was no more than a pretence to cover the pain it gave him to live as a private person in Sparta, and to submit to the yoke of obeying; he who till then had always governed. Accustomed long to commanding armies, and to the flattering distinction of a kind of sovereignty exercised by him in Asia, he could not endure the mortifying equality with the multitude, nor restrain himself to the simplicity of a private life. Having obtained permission, not without great difficulties, he embarked.

As soon as he was gone, the kings, reflecting that he held all the cities in his dependance, by the means of their governours and magistrates established by him, to whom they were also indebted for their unlimited authority, and that he was thereby effectually lord and master of all Greece, applied themselves vigorously to restore the government of the

*The Greek proverb is, Cretan against Cretan, from the people of Crete, who passed for the greatest cheats and liars in the world.

people, and to depose all his creatures and friends from any share in it. This alteration occasioned great tumults at first. About the same time Lysander, being apprized of the design of Thrasybulus to re-establish the liberty of his country, returned with the utmost diligence to Sparta, and endeavoured to engage the Lacedæmonians to support the party of the nobility at Athens. We have before observed, that Pausanias, from a more noble spirit of equity and generosity, gave peace to Athens and by that means, says Plutarch, clipped the wings of Lysander's ambition.

CHAPTER II.

YOUNG CYRUS, WITH THE AID OF THE GRECIAN TROOPS, ENDEAVOURS TO

DETHRONE HIS BROTHER ARTAXERXES.

HE IS KILLED.-FAMOUS RETREAT OF THE TEN THOUSAND.

ANTIQUITY has few events so memorable as those I am about to relate in this place. We see on one side a young prince, abounding otherwise with excellent qualities, abandoned to his violent ambition, carry the war from far against his brother and sovreign, and go and attack him almost in his own palace, with the view of depriving him at once of his crown and life. We see him I say, fall dead in the battle at the feet of that brother and terminate by so unhappy a fate, an enterprise equally glaring and criminal. On the other hand, the Greeks who follow him,* destitute of all succour after the loss of their chiefs, without allies, provisions, money, horse or archers, reduced to less than 10,000 men, with no resource but in their own persons and valour, supported only by the warm desire of preserving their liberty, and of returning to their native countries; these Greeks with bold and intrepid resolution, make their retreat before a victorious army of 1,000,000 of men, traverse 500 or 600 leagues, notwithstanding vast rivers, and innumerable passes, and arrive at last in their own country through a thousand fierce and barbarous nations, victorious over all obstacles in their way, and over all the dangers which either concealed fraud or open force reduced them to undergo.

This retreat, in the opinion of the best judges and most experienced in the art of war, is the boldest and best conducted exploit to be found in ancient history, and is deemed a perfect model in its kind. Happily for us, it is described to the most minute circumstance by an historian, who was not only eye witness of the facts he relates, but the first mover, the soul of this great enterprise. I shall only abridge it, and abstract its most material circumstances; but I cannot omit advising young persons who make arms their profession, to consult the original, of which there is a good translation extant in French, though far short of the admirable beauties of the text. It is very difficult to meet with a more able master than Xenophon in the art of war, to whom may be well applied here what Homer says of Phoenix the governour of Achilles, "That he was equally ca"pable of forming his pupil for eloquence or arms."

Μυθων τε ρητηρ εμεναι, πρηκτηρα τε έργων.

*Post mortem Cyri, neque armis a tanto exercitu vinci, neque dolo capi potuepunt; revertentesque inter tot indomitas nationes et barbaras genies, per tanta iti neris spatia, virtute se usque terminos patriæ defenderunt. Justin. 1. v. c, 11.

Iliad. x. ver. 445.