ed up, and the rest of the Persian fleet was sent for, to make every passage impracticable.

104. In this exigence, Aristides, in whose bosom the love of his country always prevailed over every private revenge, was resolved to venture all, in order to apprise Themistocles of his situation and danger. He was then at Egina, where he had some forces under his command, and with very great danger ventured in a small boat through all the fleet of the enemies by night. 105. Upon landing, he made up to the tent of Themistocles, and addressed him in the following manner : "If we are wise, Themistocles, we shall henceforth lay aside those vain and puerile dissensions which have hitherto separated us. One strife, and a noble emulation it is, now remains for us, which of us shall be most serviceable to our country. It is yours to command as a general, it is mine to obey as a subject, and happy shall I be, if my advice can any way contribute to your and my country's glory."

106. He then informed him of the fleet's real situation, nd warmly exhorted him to give battle without delay. Thenistocles felt all the generous gratitude which so disinterested a conduct demanded; and, eager to show a new return of noble friendship, let him into all his projects and aims, particularly this last, of suffering himself to be surrounded. After this, they used their joint authority with the other commanders to persuade them to engage; and accordingly both fleets prepared themselves for battle.

107. The Grecian fleet consisted of three hundred and eighty ships; the Persian fleet was much more numerous. But whatever advantage they had in numbers, and the size of their shipping, they fell infinitely short of the Greeks in their naval skill, and their acquaintance with the seas where they fought; but it was particularly in their commander that the Greeks had the advantage.

108. Euribyades had nominally the conduct of the fleet; but Themistocles in reality conducted all their operations. Nothing escaped his vigilance; and he knew how to improve every incident to the greatest advantage. He, therefore, deferred the onset until a wind, which at that time of the year was periodical, and which he knew would be favourable, set in. As soon as this arose, the signal was given for battle; and the Grecian fleet sailed forward in exact order.

109. Xerxes imputing his former ill success at sea to his own absence, was resolved to be a witness of the present engagement from the top of a promontory; where he caused a throne to be erected for that purpose. This served, in some measure, to animate his forces, who, conscious of their king's observance, re

solved to merit his applause. The Persians, therefore, advanced with such courage and impetuosity, as struck the enemy with terror; but their ardour abated when the engagement became closer.

110. The numerous disadvantages of their circumstances and situation then began to appear. The wind blew directly in their faces; the height and heaviness of their vessels rendered them unwieldy and useless; even the number of their ships in the narrow sea where they fought, only served to embarrass them and increase their confusion.

111. The Ionians, whom Themistocles had implored, by characters engraven along the rocks of their coast, to remember from whence they derived their original, were the first who betook themselves to flight. In the other wing the contest was for some time doubtful; until the Phoenicians and Cyprians being driven on shore, the rest retired in great disorder, and fell foul of each other in their retreat.

112. In this total defection, Artemisia alone seemed to stop the progress of victory; and, at the head of her five ships, performed incredible acts of valour. Xerxes, who was a spectator of her conduct, could not help crying out that his soldiers behaved like women in the conflict, and the women like soldiers.

113. As this queen, from her signal intrepidity, was become very obnoxious to the Athenians, a price had been set on her head: sensible of which, as she was on the point of falling into their hands, by a lucky turn of thought, she pretended to desert from her own party, and to fall foul of one of their ships: the Greeks thus concluding, that she either belonged to them, or was a deserter, permitted her to escape.

114. In the mean time, the confederates pursued the Persian fleet on every side; some were intercepted at the straits of Attica; many were sunk, and more taken. Above two hundred were burnt; all the rest were dispersed; and the allies, dreading the resentment of the Greeks, as well as of the Persian king, made the best of their way to their own country.

115. Such was the success of the battle of Salamis, in which the Persians had received a severer blow than they had ever hitherto experienced from Greece. Themistocles, in a secret conversation with Aristides, was, or pretended to be so elated, as to propose breaking down the bridge by which Xerxes had made his way into Europe. Whether Themistocles was really sincere in the proposal, remains a doubt, but Aristides used all his powers to persuade his coadjutor from such an undertaking. 116. He represented to him the danger of reducing so powerful an enemy to desperation, and asserted that it was his wish to be relieved from such an intruder with all possible despatch.

Themistocles at once acquiesced in his reasons; and in order to hasten the king's departure, contrived to have him secretly informed that the Grecians designed to break down the bridge.

117. The situation of Xerxes was such, that the smallest repulse was sufficient to wean him from his darling expedition. Astonished at the late overthrow, and alarmed at this new information, he only wanted a decent opportunity to retreat, when Mardonius came conveniently to extricate him from his embarrassments. He began by extenuating the late loss, and the many expedients that remained to relieve their situation; he laid all the blame of their defeat upon the cowardice of the auxiliaries, and their insincere attachment to his kingdom.

118. Lest the fame of his ill success, which always represents things worse than they are, should occasion any commotions in his absence, he engaged, if he would leave him three hundred thousand of his choice troops, to subdue all Greece with glory. On the other hand, if the event proved otherwise, he would take all the blame of miscarriage, and suffer in person, if it were to retrieve the honour of his master.

119. This advice was very well received by Xerxes, who, thinking enough had been given to glory, when he had made himself master of Athens, prepared to return to Persia at the head of a part of his army; leaving the other part of it with Mardonius: not so much with the hope of reducing Greece, as through the fear of being pursued.

120. These resolutions were communicated in a council held soon after the fight; and the night following the fleet set sail in great confusion towards the Hellespont, and took up their winter quarters at Cuma. The king himself leaving the generals to take care of the army, hastened with a small retinue to the sea side, which he reached forty-five days after the battle of Salamis. When he arrived at the place, he found the bridge broken down by the violence of the waves in a tempest that had lately hap、 pened there.

121. He was, therefore, obliged to pass the strait in a smail boat; which manner of returning, being compared to the ostentatious method in which he had set out, rendered his disgrace still more poignant and afflicting. The army which he had ordered to follow him, having been unprovided with provisions, suffered great hardships by the way.

182. After having consumed all the corn they could find, ey were obliged to live upon herbs, and even upon the bark, nd leaves of trees. Thus harassed and fatigued, a pestilence began to complete their misery; and after a fatiguing journey of forty-five days, in which they were pursued rather by vul

tures and beasts of prey, than by men, they came to the Hellespont, where they crossed over, and marched from thence to Sardis. Such was the end of Xerxes' expedition into Greece. A measure begun in pride, and terminating in infamy.

123. It is to be observed, however, that we have all this account from the Greek writers only, who no doubt have been partial to their countrymen. I am told, that the Persian historians represent this expedition in a very different light, and say, that the king was recalled in the midst of his successes, to quell an insurrection at home. Be this as it will, the affairs of Persia seemed, after that, to go backward until the time when Alexander led a conquering army of Greeks to invade them in turn.

CHAPTER VII.

From the Retreat of Xerxes to the Peace concluded between the Greeks and the Persians.

A. M.

3524.

1. THE earliest object the Greeks took care of, after the battle of Salamis, was to send the first fruits of the rich spoil they had taken from the Persians to Delphos. Considered in a confederated light, they were ever attentive to the duties of religion; and though the sects and opinions in philosophy, taught mankind to entertain but very mean ideas of the objects of public worship, yet it was religion that formed their bond of union; and, for a while, held them feebly together.

2. When that bond came to be broken, and the council of the Amphictyons became rather a political than a religious assembly, the general union no longer prevailed; and the different states fell a sacrifice to their own contentions.

3. The joy of the Greeks upon this victory was general and loud; every commander had his share of honour, but the glory of Themistocles eclipsed that of all the rest. It was a custom in Greece, that after a battle, the commanding officers should declare who had distinguished themselves most, by writing the names of such as merited the first and second rewards.

4. On this occasion, each officer concerned adjudged the first rank to himself, but all allowed the second to Themistocles, which was, in fact, a tacit superiority. This was farther confirmed by the Lacedæmonians, who carried him in triumph to Sparta; and having adjudged the rewards of valour to their own countryman, Euribyades, adjudged that of wisdom to Themistocles. They crowned him with olive presented him with

a rich chariot, and conducted him with three hundred horse te the confines of their state.

5. But still there was a homage paid him that flattered his pride yet more: when he appeared at the Olympic games, the spectators received him with uncommon acclamations. As soon as he appeared, the whole assembly rose up to do him honour; nobody regarded either the games or the combatants; Themistocles was the only spectacle worth their attention. Struck with such flattering honours, he could not help observing, that he that day reaped the fruits of all his labours.

6. After the Grecians were returned from pursuing the Persian fleet, Themistocles sailed to all the islands that had espoused their interests, in order to levy contributions. The first he applied to was that of Andros, from whose inhabitants he required a considerable sum. I come, said he, to you, accompanied by two very powerful divinities, Persuasion and Necessity. Alas! replied they, we also have divinities on our side, Poverty and Impossibility.

7. In consequence of this reply, he blocked them up for some time; but finding them too well fortified, he was obliged to retire. Some other islands, however, were neither furnished with so much reason or so much power. He exacted large sums from all such as were incapable of opposition; and these contributions he chiefly converted to his own private advantage, thus showing in his own character two very oddly assorted qualities, avarice and ambition.

8. In the mean time, Mardonius, who remained in Greece, with a body of three hundred thousand men, passed the winter in Thessaly; and in the beginning of spring led them down into the province of Boeotia. From thence he sent Alexander, king of Macedonia, with a splendid retinue to Athens, with proposals for an accommodation; and to endeavour to make them separate their interests from the general cause of Greece. He offered to rebuild their city; to give them a considerable sum of money: to suffer them to enjoy their laws and constitution, and to give them the government of all Greece.

9. Aristides was at that time in the highest office, being principal archon at Athens. It was in his presence that the king of Macedon made his proposals; and that the deputies from the other states of Greece endeavoured to avert the force of them. But Aristides wanted no prompter, but the natural dictates of his own heart, to give them an answer. "To men," said he, "bred up to pleasure and ignorance, it is natural to proffer great rewards; and to hope by bribes to buy off virtue. Barbarians, who make säver and gold the chief objects of their esteem, may