time did; and thus perished the man who had led on the victorious troops of Greece in the battle of Platæa.

The fate of Pausanias soon after involved that of Themistocles, who had some time before been banished, and lived in great esteem at Argos. The occasion of his banishment was this: he had built near his house a temple in honour of Diana, with this inscription, "To Diana, the goddess of good counsel;" thereby insinuating the benefit his own counsels had been of to his country, and the little gratitude his fellow-citizens had shown in rewarding them. He was now accused, not only of having been privy to the designs of Pausanias, without revealing them to the state, which part of the charge, indeed, seems to have been well founded, but likewise of having approved and favoured those designs, a crime, it would appear, of which he was altogether guiltless. The Spartans, however, who had always been his enemies, now declared themselves his accusers before the assembly of the people of Athens; and all those of his countrymen, who had formerly either dreaded his power, or envied his popularity, joined in the general charge against him. In a word, the people were wrought up to such a degree of rage, that they clamoured for his death with great vehemence; and persons were actually sent to seize and bring him before the general council of Greece. Fortunately, however, he had notice of their design, and saved himself by a precipitate flight. He first took refuge in the island of Corcyra; from thence he repaired to the court of Admetus, king of the Molossians; but that prince not being able to afford him any long or certain protection, he at last went over to Sardis, where, throwing himself prostrate before the Persian monarch, he boldly declared his name, his country, and his misfortunes. "I have done," cried he, "my ungrateful country services more than once, and I am now come to offer those services to you. My life is in your hands: you may now exert your clemency, or display your vengeance. By the former you will preserve a faithful suppliant; by the latter you will destroy the greatest enemy of Greece." The king made him no answer at this audi

ence, though he was struck with admiration at his eloquence and intrepidity; but he soon gave a loose to his joy for the event. He told his courtiers, that he considered the arrival of Themistocles as a very happy incident, and wished that his enemies would always pursue the same destructive policy of banishing from among them the good and wise. His joys were continued in a dream, In the night he was seen to start from his sleep, and three times to cry out, "I have got Themistocles the Athenian." He even gave him three cities for his support, and had him maintained in the utmost affluence and splendour. It is said, that such was his interest at the Persian court, and so great was the estimation in which he was held by all ranks of people, that one day at table he was heard to cry out to his wife and children, who sat near him, "Children, we should certainly have been ruined, if we had not formerly been undone."

But nothing could erase from the breast of Themistocles the love he entertained for his country. Indeed the spirit of patriotism appears to have prevailed among the Greeks in a higher degree than ever it did among any other people. This was no doubt owing to the many violent struggles they had been obliged to make in defence of their country. And perhaps it will be found, that the value we set upon any thing, is always in proportion to the pains we have taken in acquiring or preserving it. When Xerxes, therefore, proposed fitting out an expedition against Athens, and entrusting the command of it to Themistocles, that patriot, rather than carry arms against the place of his nativity, put an end to his own life by poison.

In the meantime, Aristides, instead of incurring the jealousy of his countrymen by his ambitious and interested views, continued every day to acquire a larger share of their esteem and veneration by his integrity and love of justice. So great, indeed, was his character in this respect, that when it was deliberated among the states of Greece who was the most proper person to be entrusted with the care of the public treasure for carrying on the war, all eyes were fixed upon him as the

most upright man to be found in the country; and his discharge of this most important office, to which he was immediately appointed, only served to confirm the high opinion the world already entertained of him. His merit, besides, in this particular was so much the greater, as he himself was extremely poor; but it appeared from the following incident that he was voluntarily poor, and might have been richer, if he had chosen it. Callias, an intimate friend and relation of his, being summoned before the judges' for some offence, one of the chief objections urged against him was, that while he rolled in affluence and luxury, he suffered his friend and relation, Aristides, to remain in poverty and want. But Callias appealing to Aristides himself, it appeared that he had generously offered to share his fortune with him, which the other had absolutely refused to accept, asserting that he only might be said to want, who permitted his appetites to transgress the bounds of his income; and that he who could dispense with a few things, thus rendered himself more like the gods, that want for nothing.

In this manner, he lived, just in his public, and independent in his private capacity, and universally esteemed and beloved by all that knew him. History does not acquaint us with the time or place of his death; but it bears the most glorious testimony to his character, in telling us that he who had the absolute disposal of the public treasures, died poor. It is even asserted, that he did not leave money enough behind him to defray the expense of his funeral, but that the government was obliged to bear the charge of it, and to maintain his family. His daughters were portioned, and his son subsisted at the expense of the public; and some of his grand-children were supported by a pension equal to that bestowed upon those who had been victorious at the Olympic games.

The first man that began to make a figure at Athens after the death of Themistocles and Aristides, was Cimon, the son of Miltiades. In his earlier years he had led a very dissolute life; but Aristides perceiving in him, amidst all his dissipation, the seeds of many

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great and good qualities, advised him to change his conduct, and to raise his mind, from the pursuit of low and ignoble pleasures, to the ambition of directing the affairs of the state. He did so, and in a little time, became equal to his father in courage, to Themistocles in sagacity, and even not much inferior to his instructor himself in integrity. The first specimen he gave of his military talents was in scouring the Asiatic seas, and delivering all the Greek cities on the coast of Asia Minor from their dependance upon the Persian crown, and making them join in the general confederacy of Greece against that very power to which they had formerly acknowledged allegiance. Some of these, however, that were strongly garrisoned by Persian troops, made a desperate defence. The city of Eion deserves to be particularly mentioned. Boges, the governor, resolved either to preserve it, or to perish in the attempt. He accordingly defended the place with incredible fury, till finding his station no longer tenable, he killed his wife and children, and laying them on a funeral pile, which he had erected for the purpose, he immediately set it on fire, and rushing into the midst of the flames, in that manner expired.

While Cimon was employed in these operations, he received intelligence that the whole Persian fleet was anchored at the mouth of the river Eurymidon. He accordingly sailed thither, and pursuing the enemy up the stream, where they endeavoured to take shelter, he destroyed all their ships; and his men jumping on shore in pursuit of the Persian mariners, who had abandoned their vessels, they soon put them to flight; thus obtaining a complete victory both by sea and land on the same occasion. This severe blow at last compelled the Persians to agree to a peace, the terms of which were as mortifying to them, as they were honourable to the Grecians. It was stipulated that the Greek cities in Asia should be left in quiet possession of their liberty, and that neither the sea nor the land forces of Persia should approach so near the Grecian coasts, as to give the least occasion for any kind of jealousy.

The treasures taken in this expedition Cimon laid

out in beautifying his native city; and the Athenians gave examples in the art of architecture, that continue to be admired to this very day. About the same time lived the poet Simonides, some of whose works still remain; and these only leave us room to regret that the rest are long since irretrievably lost.

CHAPTER VIII.

FROM THE PEACE WITH PERSIA TO THE PEACE OF NICIAS.

THOUGH Cimon was for some time, after the death of Aristides, the most considerable man at Athens, he did not remain long without a rival. He was soon opposed by Pericles, who was much younger than he, and was a man of a very different character. Pericles was descended from the greatest and most illustrious families of Athens; his father Xanthippus defeated the Persians at Mycale and his mother Agarista was niece to Calisthenes, who expelled the tyrants, and established a popular government in Athens. In the earlier part of his life he applied himself with success to all the different branches of philosophy; but the chief bent of his mind was directed to the study of eloquence, in which he is said to have outshone all his contemporaries. Even his great opponent, Thucydides, was often heard to say, that though he had frequently overthrown him, the power of his eloquence was such, that the audience could never perceive him fallen. He resembled the tyrant Pisistratus, not only in the sweetness of his voice, but the features of his face, and his whole air and manner. To these natural and acquired endowments he added those of fortune; he was very rich and intimately connected with all the most powerful families of the state.

The established reputation of Cimon, however, was for some time a bar to the rise of Pericles; but as the former was generally abroad, commanding the fleets or armies of the country; and the latter was always at home, haranguing and making interest with the people, he soon found means to overcome this obstacle. The