THE INSTITUTIONS, &c. OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. VOL. II. THE INSTITUTIONS, MANNERS, and CUSTOMS O F T H E ANCIENT NATIONS. TRANSLATED From the ORIGINAL FRENCH of Mr. SABBATHIER. By PERCIVAL STOCKDALE. VOL. II. LONDON: Printed for T. Becket, corner of the Adelphl in the Strand« ,' MDCCLXXVI. \ f H E ■ Inftitutions, Cuftoms, and Manners (Jf the ANCIENT NATIONS* THE GERMANS. TH E name of Germans was not the an- cient and primitive name of this people. It was given them by the Gauls, who inha- bited the country hear the left coaft of the Rhine, and who* having felt the effects of their valour, expreffed, by this appellation, the terror with which they had been ftruck by thefe men of war. — For that is the fignifica- tion of the word Germari. The conquerors adopted a name which redounded fo much to their glory ; and by the Romans, who took it from the Gauls, the ufe of it was confirm- ed : and it has been famous for many ages: The Germans credited, and boafted the fa- bled concerning their origin, which had beeri delivered down to them by their anceftors in fongs* Such are, in general, the hiftoricai Vol» II, B menu* 682686 2 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. monuments of a barbarous people. We (hall not detain the reader by examining them. We {hall only obferve, that though the Germans were very numerous, and though there were many divifions of their territories, it was evi- dent that they had all one origin ; and that they were diftinguimed from other nations, not only by their difpofitions and manner of living, but likewife by their external form. Article I. A portrait of the Germans. The Germans had blue eyes, and a fierce aipect. Their hair was long, and of a light colour ; though fomewhat red. Their bodies were large, and vigorous in fhort action ; but foon fatigued. They were enured to cold by the rigour of their climate ; they were accus- tomed to bear hunger by the poverty of their country ; though their foil was more neglect- ed than barren. Their ftrength was foon ex- haufted by thirfl and heat. This national likenefs was conspicuous in every individual ; for the race of the Germans was not mixed by their intermarrying with people of other countries. Formidable in war, and inhabit- ing poor and wafte territories, they had no- thing that could invite ftrangers to traffic with them, or to fettle among them. Anda& their minds were neither agitated by avarice, nor by ambition, they feldom quitted their own country. Tacit, de Morib. Germ. Crev. Hist, jdes Emp. torn, i. 2 Article o£ TkE ancient nations. 3 Article II. The paffion of the Germans for war. They all loved war ; and they loved it for its own fake. They were not defirous of ac- quiring riches by their arms j for of riches they knew not theufe; nor of extending their dominions ; for they made it their glory to fee vaft folitudes around them. They thought that thofe folitudes evidenced their fuperiority over the people whom they had driven from them; and that they ferved as natural bul- warks to guard them from the fudden irrup- tion of hoftile nations. The activity of the foldier's life, and that glory which is the im- mediate confequence of victory, made them fond of war. There was a warlike emulation betwixt the Germans and the 1 Gauls, which was as an- cient as the two nations ; and Csfar obferves, that in early times the Gauls had the advan- tage; for their colonies penetrated into Ger- many, in many parts of which they fettled, after they had won them by the fword. In later times, the Gauls, rendered effeminate by their commerce with the Romans, by riches and lux dry, were worfted by the Germans, in whom a poor, hardy, and laborious life, fupported vigour of body, and kept alive the flameof valour. Hence the Germans became conquerors on the left fide of the Rhine ; but they did not penetrate into the heart of Gaul* for they were checked, and repelled by the Ro- B 2 mans. 4 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. mans. They kept poflerTion, however, of this trad: on the confines ; they peopled all that country which extends from Bale to the mouth of the Rhine: it took the name o/ Germany j and it was divided by Auguftus into two German provinces. Their pamon for war was fo ftrong, that if any of their cantons had for a long time want- ed an opportunity to exert its military genius, the youth of that canton, impatient of a p^ace, which to them was tedious and pain- ful, and eager to fignalize their courage, went to foreign countries in queft of war ; or kept their martial fpirit in vigour by invading the territories of their neighbours. For they did not deem the ac~t of pillaging bafe, provided it was praclifed out of the limits of their own country : on the contrary, they thought it laudable and glorious; an employment wor- thy of their youth, as it kept them from in- dolence and inaction. Ibid. Article III. I'be fropenfity of the Germans to idlenefs when they were not employed in war. This martial people were fond of nothing but war and arms. They were even indiffe- rent to hunting. With regard to agriculture, they deemed it an ignoble profeffion, and only deferving attention as far as it was ne- cefiary to the prefervation of life. They thought it ignominious to gain a fubfiftence by the plough ; but they counted it glorious ta OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 5 to live by the fwprd. Hence, when they were not engaged in war; they funk into a lethargy of foul. They only ate and drank, and flept. The neccffary care of the houle- bold, and all private oeconomy were left to the weaker part of the (pedes, to the women and old men. The robuft and valiant, when the fword was {heathed, thought it their high prerogative to be exempt from all activity of body and of mind. People, furely, of a whim- fical and unaccountable character, fays Taci- tus : They both hated and loved repofe. Ibid. Article IV. The German ceremony of arming a young man for the jirji time. In the profoundeft peace they did not quit their arms. When they tranfacted public, when they tranfadted private affairs, they were always armed. A young man was armed for the firft time with a particular ceremony, and with the fuffrages of all his canton. He was prefented before a general alfembly, by one of the chiefs, or by his father, or by a near relation. The perfon who prefented him, with the affent of the whole aflembly, gave him the buckler and the lance. This cere- mony correfponded with that of taking the toga viri/is among the Romans. It was the young man's firft degree of political manhood and honour. Hitherto he had been depen- B 3 dent 6 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. dent on a private family; he n.ow became a member of the Hate. Ibid. Article V. Of the numerous retinue of young men who icere under the command of the nobles. Tbofe whom old nobility, or the fignal fervices of their anceftors had rendered illuftri- ous, held, from their infancy, the rank of chiefs and princes, in their native cantons. The other young men inlifted themfelves un- der brave and celebrated warriors, and ferved them as honourable guards. It was not in the leaft degree ignominious thus to obey a great man; to become, as it were, one of his houfehold. His retinue was a military troop confilting of different orders, which were filled according to merit. Thus were the youth powerfully excited to emulation : while each of the chiefs too was ambitious to have the moft numerous,, and the bed difciplined troop. This was their glory ; and in this their power confiited. It was their firft am- bition to be furrounded with a company of brave and generous young men ; who refpect- ed and honoured them in peace, and defended them in war. The influence which they drew from thofe illuftrious guards was fo great, that it extended to the neighbouring nations; from which it brought them embaflies and pre- fents; — nay, it rendered them fo formidable to all the ftates around, that obftinate and bloody OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 7 bloody wars were often terminated by their interpofition. It is, indeed, no wonder that the leader of thefe brave young men was formidable. For as victory was his higheft glory, and as he ex- erted a fearlefs valour to obtain it j to emu- late his intrepidity was their favourite ambi- tion.. To furvive an action in which a chief had loll his life, was an indelible infamy to his followers. For they had folemnly engag- ed to defend him, to fave him from dangers, to do him honour by their exploits. The chiefs fought for victory; the youth fought for their chief. Alt this retinue lived at the expence of him whom they ferved ; who pro- vided for them a plain, but a plentiful table. This table was kept at a confiderable expence. But he did not recompenfe their valour mere- ly by maintaining them ; he likewife made them magnificent prefents. That he might be enabled to confer thefe diftinguifhing marks of his efteem, he had recourfe principally to war j to continual expeditions, to invafions ; in fhort, to military robbery, to keep up the ftate of a gene- ral, and his liberality to his troops. He was like- wife affifted by the voluntary contributions of the people of his canton, who made him prefents of corn and cattle ; prefents which were alike favourable to theintereft, and to the honour of him who received them. But the molt glo- rious prefents were thofe which were fotne-? times fent by the neighbouring nations to chiefs of a diftinguifhed merit, and of a cele- brated name. Thefe gifts, which railed the B £ efteem 8 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c eftecm and admiration of their valour, were, war-horfes, large and beautiful fuits of armour, trappings, and gorgets. *A We have taught i* them, (faith Tacitus) in this degenerate ! c age, to receive money inftead of the jn- 1f ftrumcnts of war." Ibid, Article VI. I fi/tt rtn Jifrihlint> trr the derm/in nrmiPt $here was no difcipline in the German armies. The valour of the Germans was all their warlike merit. We mud not expect from them either difcipline or knowledge of the art of .war, or well-contrived armour. What indeed could be the difcipline of thofe armies, whofe generals had not the power of inflict- ing any punifhment ? They were refpected and followed by their foldiers from the influ- ence of their example, not from the authority pf their command. If they finalized their valour ; if they headed their troops in the heat pf battle, obedience was. the natural conse- quence of admiration. But they were not permitted to put offenders to death, nor to confine them; nor to inflict en them any corporal punishment. The prieits alone were authorized to punifh the foldiers. And even when they fentenced military criminals to pu- nimment, they were obliged to pretend that they a<3ed from a higher fuggeftion than their own judgment or the will of the general. This nation, as it was extremely jealous of its liberty, would obey none but the gods. The priefts enforced their penal determinations by the OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 9 the pretext of a divine infpiration, of an im- mediate command from the deity who pre-? fided over war. The method by which they formed the different corps of which' their armies were compofed, ftimulated their natural valour with powerful encouragements j but it was cer- tainly unfavourable to difcipline. They were not commanded by general officers who dis- tributed the foldiers as the fervice required. All thofe families who were related to each other, afTcmbled' in companies, in fquadrons, and battalions ; their wivea and thiir chil- dren accompanied them to battle. The cries of the women and children animated trie mar- tial ardour of thefe warriors; made them def- perately brave. They deemed their families the mod refpectable witneffes of their ex- ploits, their mod honourable panegyrifts. They mewed the wounds which they had received to their wives and to their mothers ; who feared not to count and to fuck thofe wounds. , Thofe women, both of tender and martial fouls, carried with them refreshments for the foldiers. They inflamed their cou- rage by their exhortations. They often re- newed the valour of the intimidated troops, and made them return to the charge by their urgent and affecting entreaties, by flopping them in their flight, and by prefenting to their imagination the horrors of captivity and fer- vitude. All thefe caufes of generous emotion con- tributed to make ardent combatants, but not well le INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. weil-difciplined foldiers. Thofe aflbciations were fo many feparate bodies, which divided the common intereft, and prevented unifor- mity of action. The authority of the leader of every band was perfonal and inherent, not derived as it fhould have been, from the com- mander in chief. Thus a German army was not a well-proportioned and compact bodjr, infpired by one mind : for each of its parts formed a diftinct whole. Ibid, Article VII. The Germans knew not the art of war. We have already obferved, that the Ger- mans poflefled no military fcience. That fcience is grounded on fuch profound reflec- tions, and is connected with fo many arts, that it never was attained by a barbarous people. Ibid. .. Article VIII. Ofthejimple and light arms of the Germans. Their arms were very fimple. Few of them had fwords or long pikes. They generally ufed only javelins, the German name of which, Framea, was adopted by the Latins. Its iron was fhort and fmall. It was ufed two ways. It was lanched to a diftance; and it was likewife a weapon for clofe fight. The cavalry had no other weapon. The infantry ufed the Framea, and likewife arrows, which they (hot with great force, and which flew to a prodi- gious OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. f* gious diftance. With regard to defensive arms, they fcarce knew any but the buckler? They rarely wore the helmet and the breaft«» plate. They commonly fought half-naked, or clad only in a light coat. Their enfigns were the images of beads, which they had confecrated in their woods, and which they took thence to battle. Ibid, Article IX, Of the German horfes and fovalry. Their horfes were neither remarkable for beauty nor fwiftnefs ; but they were hardy and indefatigable; and they were accuftomed ta endure labour by continual labour. They were not trained -, for the horfemanihip of the Ger- mans was very fimple. The German cavalry only rode directly forward ; or wheeled to the right, and by following one another obliquely, ranged themfelves in a circle. They rode on the bare backs of their horfes ; and thought the ufe of faddles fo delicate, fo effeminate, fo fhameful, that they held the foldiers who rode on them in fovercign contempt, and were never afraid to attack them, however fuperior they might be in number. In battle they often alighted, and fought at a diftance from their horfes, which they had accuitomed tq wait for them. They mounted again, when they found it neceffary. This manner of fighting was imprudent. In general, the principal ftrength of the German armies con- lifted in their infantry. Therefore they uied to 12 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, Jk. to mix companies of foot with their troops of Jiorfe ; a practice which is mentioned and praifed by Caifar. Ibid. Articj,i X. Of their fong when they were marching to battle. When the Germans went to battle, they inflamed theircourage with fbngs which con- tained encomiums on their ancient heroes, and propofed them as models for their imita- tion. Their fmging likewile prefaged to them theTuccefs of the battle. For they anti- cipated their victory or defeat, from the de- gree and tone of the found which refulted from their united voices. We may eaiily fuppofe that this was not a very harmonious concert. A rude and harih found, augmented by their bucklers, which they put before their mouths, to caufe a repercuffion — this was the mufic that charmed their ears and announced victory. Ibid, Article XL 'The German manner of fighting. Though the Germans were a brave people, they did not pique themfelves on keeping their ranks, in Handing firm to their ports. To fall back, provided they returned to the charge, was not, in their opinion, fhameful, but an act of art and addrefs. They were not, however, to leave their buckler in the power OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 13 power of the enemy. This was, among the Germans, and in all the ancient nations, the greateft infamy. They whom this dii"honour had befallen, were never after admitted either to the ceremonies of religion or to any afTem- bly j and many who were thus excluded from facred and civil privileges, put an end to their ignominy by a voluntary death. " Such were the Germans a c warriors ; and as warriors I have firft confidered them. For war was their predominant paflion; they lived in a continual ftate of war : — it formed their character. Ibid, Article XII. The gods of the Germans, They built no temples. The religion of the Germans was rude and abfurd. Indeed, from Casfar's account of them, we may aflert, that they properly had no religion. They only acknowledged vifible objects for their gods ,• the fun, the moon, and fire ; to whom they offered no facriflces, and to whom they confecrated no priefts. In this point, however, it appears, that Caefar was not well informed. The circumflance which probably led him into an error, was, that the Germans had no temples. As they thought, like the Perfians, that they disho- noured the Divine Majefty who appropriated to it the narrow bounds of a temple, or who prefumed to give it a human form ; they per- formed their religious ceremonies in the inner- moil; 14 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. moil recefles of their woods. Thus the filenf fhade was their fanctuary : and in that vene- rable retreat, far from the trifling objects of fenfe, their fouls were abforbed in religious awe, in the fpirit of devotion. But befides the divinities mentioned by Csfar, which are vifible objects of nature, the Germans, as we are informed by Tacitus, adored invifible gods, Mercury and Mars, for inftance; and deified heroes, fuch as Mercury. Even Ifis, the Egyptian goddefs, was honoured by the Suevi ; though it is difficult to fay by what means that foreign worfhiphad travelled fo far from its native country. It appeared, however, that the Ifis of the Suevi was a fo- reign deity, by the figure of a fhip which they joined to her image. Mercury was the greateft of their gods 5 and on certain days they facrificed to him hu- man victims. They only offered the blood of animals to Mars and to Hercules. This deity was with them, as among the Greeks and Ro- mans, the god of valour. And when they went to battle, they fung odes to his praife* in which they celebrated him as the braveft of heroes. Ibid, Article XIII. T/je different kinds of divination among the Ger- mans.~Thcir aujpices* The Germans were ftrongly prejudiced in favour of deftiny and auguries. Their man- ner of inquiring into the feries of fate was very fi mple. OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 15 fimple. They cut into feveral pieces the twig of a fruit-tree ; after having diftinguiflied thofe pieces by marks, they threw them pro- mifcuoufly on a white cloth. Then the prieft of the community, if they wanted to know a public event, if a private one, the father of the family, addrefled a prayer to the gods, and looking towards Heaven, took up each piece thrice, one after another ; and from the order in which the marks prefented themfelves, he folved a difficulty, or predicted what was to happen. If his anfwer was not favourable, they made no farther oracular inquiry concern- ing the matter that day. But if it was agree- able to their wifhes, that they might be fully allured of its truth, they had it confirmed by aufpices. It was cuftomary with them, as it was with the Romans, to confult the voice, and the flight of birds. But they had a kind of divination which was peculiar to them, and which they took from their horfes. White horfes, which were maintained at the public expence, grazed in the facred woods. They were exempt from all labour for the fervice of man. When the will of the deity was to be revealed by them, they were put to a facred car; and in their march, the prieft, with the king or chief of the canton, accompanied them, and an- xioufly obferved the motions and neighing of thofe animals, as infallible figns of the decrees of Heaven. The credulity of the people and of the great, had rendered thefe aufpices the moft refpectable and decifive. The l6 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. The priefts were only efteemed the minifters of the gods ; but the facred horfes were re- vered as their confidents, as beings entrufted with their fecrets. We might be aftonimed at a fuperftition fo abfurd, and Co difgraceful to human nature, if we did not find in the hiflory of the moft polimed nations, many fimilar examples. The Germans had another way of divining the event of important wars. They made a prifcner, whom they had taken from the enemy, fight one of their warriors. Each of the combatants was armed after the manner of his country. The fuccefs of the fingle com- bat prefaged the general iflue of the war. Perhaps from this fuperftition, which was in equal credit among the Gauls, arofe the com- bats in which Titus Manlius and Marcus Va- lerius fignalized themfelves ; and acquired, the former, the title of Torquatus, and the latter that of Corvus. Ibidi Article XIV. ■ The pretended prophet efj'es of the Germans. The laft article of German fuperftitioit which we meet with in Tacitus, is the opinion they entertained that women had fome facred, fome divine property which enabled them to communicate to mankind the decrees of the gods. In a pretended prophetefs they always confided j and if, by a lucky chance, events were agreeable to her anfwers, they even honoured her as a deity ; from a firm perfuafion that fbe wa» OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. i 7 was divine ; and not like the Romans, who paid divine honours to their emperors, though they were certain that they were mere men, and that many of them were the moft worth- lefs of men. Tacitus gives us a particular account of one woman who impofed her oracles on the Germans in his time, and during the wars of CrviJis againit. the Romans. Her name was Veleda : (he was a virgin, and fovereign of a large diftrict in the country of the Bructeri. She acted her part extremely well; /he dwelt in a high tower; and was difficult of accefs, that (he might be the more refpecled. They who confuJted her, did not prefent their peti- tions to her themfelves. One of her rela- tions was the mediator : he took the quef- tions of thofe who were curious to know futu- rity, and returned them the anfwers of the prophetefs. Ibid, Article XV. The tradition of the immortality of the foul among the Germans* We muft not omit to inform the reader that the tradition of the immortality of the foul was prefer ved among thefe barbarous people, who believed that at their death they pafTed from this life to a better. Ibid. Vol. II. C Article i8 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, ice. Article XVI. The government of the Germans. — Their kings, — • Their generals. We now proceed to the article of govern- ment, in which their love of liberty and in- dependence is very difcernible. All their magiftrates and officers were elective. They chofe their kings, fays Tacitus, from the nobleft of their countrymen, and their generals from the braveft. This paffage of Tacitus we may perhaps explain and complete by one from Csefar. A people who were compofed of many cantons, had not a common chief in time of peace. Their different cantons were governed by magiftrates, who are probably called kings by Tacitus. In war all the can- tons a&ed in concert, and chofe a king to> command their united forces. We have already obferved that the autho- rity of their generals was very circumfcribed. The power of their kings was equally limited in the civil eftablifhment. Every public affair was decided by the plurality of fuffrages. A council, compofed of the principal citizens, regulated matters of fmaller confequence. The more important affairs were determined in a general aflembly of the people. Ibid, Article OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 19 Article XVII. The affembly of the Germans, in which their great affairs were decided. Their general affemblies were fixed ; and except in fudden and unforefeen emergencies, they were held at the new and full moon ; times that fuperftition had denominated the mod fortunate. It was perhaps in confe- quence of this veneration for the moon, that the Germans as well as the Gauls counted their time by nights, and not by days ; com- prifing in the term night, the revolution of twenty-four hours. Nay, perhaps this cuftom, which was pracWed by other nations, and par- ticularly by the Hebrews, had a more refped:- able fource, and proceeded originally from the order of creation, according to which, as we learn from fcripture, the night preceded the day. The affembly was a long time in forming. Enemies to all conftraint, and per- haps flow by nature, the Germans never met in conlequence of a fummons, exactly at the appointed time. Two or three days were pafled in waiting for the tardy members of the affembly. When thfey thought the number was Sufficient, they all took their places, armed, according to cuftom; and the priefts, who even in the general affembly, had a co- adtive power, ordered filence to be proclaim- ed. Then the king, or chief of the canton, or any one who was diftinguifhed by his birth, his age, his valour, and his eloquence, ad- dreffed the people, not in the tone of an arbi- C 2 trary \ 20 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, kc. trary dictator, but of a modeft counfellor. If his advice was not liked, the affembly rejected it by a murmur of difapprobation ; if it pleafed them, they all (hook their javelins. To ap- plaud with arms, was the mod: honourable teftimony which this warlike people could give to the merit of an orator. At thefe general aflemblies they nominated the chiefs who were deftined to adminifter juftice to each canton, and to its dependent villages. Every one of thofe chiefs had a hundred affeflbrs chofen from the people. They formed the council, and judged in con- junction with the chief. Ibid, Article XVIII. Their judgments and punijlments. At this fupreme tribunal criminal matters were likewife judged. As crimes are diffe- rent in their nature, fo were the German punifh- ment6. They hanged on trees, traitors to their country, and deferters. They who had fled in battle, or were on any account noted for cowardice; and they who were addicted to lewdnek, were drowned in miry pools, under hurdles. The German policy thought it pro- per to expofe the punlfhment of villany to the face of day ; and to bury that of (hameful ac- tions under water. The crimes which only affected individuals, were not treated with fo much rigour. A private criminal, even in the cafe of murder, was only obliged to forfeit a certain number of horfes or of cattle. This forfeit varied ac- cording OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. u cording to the degree of the offence ; part of it fell to the king and the community; and the other part to the injured perfon or to the profecutor. We find this extreme indulgence in the laws of the Franks, of the Burgundians, apd of other Germans who fettled in Gaul j only with this difference, that as money was then in ufe among thofe people, the forfeits for mutilation and for homicide are expreffed by certain fums. I muft now acquaint my reader with the private life of the Germans, their poffeffions, their domeftic cuftoms, and their amufements. All thefe we mail find extremely rude and fimpje ; fuch as we might fuppofe would be eftablifhed by a barbarous people, almoft wholly actuated by their fenfes, and conver- sant with few objects, Ibid, Article XIX. Agriculture negleBed by the Germans, — They had no property in land, — Their annual culture. The Germans inhabited a country fuffi- ciently fruitful; but it was unfavourable to thofe productions which require much heat. Yet Germany, though the foil is good, and though it is now fo populous, was, in ancient times, covered with woods and lakes. The Hercynian foreft, which has been rendered fa- mous by antiquity, was, according to Csefar, a journey of nine days breadth ; for in this manner the Qermans computed distances : C 3 they « INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. they were ignorant of itinerary meafures. The length of that foreft was immenfe ; it extended quite acrofs Germany, from the Rhine to the Viftula ; and its windings were fo ma- ny, that one arrived not at its extremity, after a journey of fixty days. Thus the Germans let a generous foil lie wafte, which, if they had cultivated it, would have enriched them. Some parts of it, in- deed, they were obliged lo till, that they might have the necefTary quantity of corn. This was the only tribute which they required of the earth. They had no gardens, no fruit, no meadows. They were fo far from enjoy- ing the gifts of autumn, that they had not a name for that feafon. Winter, fpring, and fummer, were the divifions of their year. Even the portion of land which they culti- vated, they did not regard enough to make it their property. The Ian i which they had cul- tivated one year, they left to any who chofe to occupy it ; as they were fure of finding more vacant, whenever their low provifions fhould warn them of approaching want. This cuftom was not merely a confequence of their manners, but likewife of a law, to the obfervance of which their magirtrates were ftridly attentive. They founded that law on different reafons; which all proceeded from their love of war, and from a view of the ad-? vantages that refulted from a fimple and hardy life. They faid, if they fufFered their country- men to inherit eftates, a tafte for agriculture would bldnt their pafilon for war ; inequality OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 23 of poflfeffions would fucceed, which would produce oppreffion ; commodious architecture would be introduced ; and luxury and effe- minacy would follow ; avarice would banifh the integrity, and difturb the peace of their countrymen ; avarice, the fource of quarrels, of factions j of the utffloft depravity of heart. In fliort, they alleged that the German fim- plicity of life greatly contributed to the eafy government of the common people, who would always be content with their lot, while their fuperiors were not richer than they. This manner of reafoning, though it is con- demned by the examples of all polimed na- tions, deferves not the contempt with which it is commonly treated. We muft at lead allow, that when it was put in execution, it muft have cheriftied a high fpirit of valour, a hatred of tyranny, and an ardent love of free- dom. Ibid, A r t 1 c t e XX. The Germans fet no value on gold and Jilver* Amber. Their wealth confided in their cattle, which were fmall, meagre, and ugly. They either had no gold nor filver, or they defpifed thofe metals. Tacitus aflures us, that they valued a piece of plate, which perhaps had been pre- fented to them by foreign ambaffadors, no more than the earthen ware which they com- monly ufed. Thofe, however, who lived Beared to the Romans, valued gold and filver, Q a becaufe 24 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, fce. becaufe they facilitated commerce. That they only eflimated thofe metals as far as they ferv- ed that purpofe, is proved by this circum- ftance, that thty preferred filverto gold coin, as more ufefql to a nation who only bought and fold things of fmall value. In the interior parts of Germany, commerce was carried on with all the fimplicity of ancient tunes, by the exchange of merchandife. They who inhabited the coafts of the Bal- tic towards the Viilula, (Tacitus calls them Eftians) gathered a production of the lea, which, in other hands, would have been a fund of wealth. I fpeak of amber, which was highly valued by the Romans. The fea throws it in little heaps on the (ho:e, and the Eftians had only the trouble of gathering it. From its traniparency they termed it ghjfurn, which in their language figniried glafs. They neglected it for a long time, as the refufe of the fea. — The Barbarians, having obferved that it was induftrioufly fought for, were themfelves more diligent in gathering it than before j but they brought it to the Romans in its rough natural ftate, and were furprifed at the price which they received for it. Jn the time of Tacitus the nature of am- ber was unknown. That author fuppofed, that it was a kind of gum, which ifluing from trees, fcjl into the fea, and was condenfed there. Our modern naturalifts have difcover- 1 ed, that it is a bituminous fubftance, which is. formed in the veins of the earth, through which it flows into the fea, where it is hard- ened. OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. *| ened. FofTile amber is found in Pruffia, in Provence, and in Italy. J.bid. Article XXI. tfhejimpk food of the Germans* Their propen* fity to wine. Corn, as we have already remarked, was a part of the fuftenance of the Germans. They lived likewife on milk, cheefe, the rlefli of their cattle, and on that of the game which they killed. Without the knowledge of any epicurean refinements of cookery, untainted with our falfe and poifonous delicacy, they only ate to appeafe hunger. Beer was their common drink. And Tacitus informs us, that they only drank wine, who lived near the Rhine, and confequently could eafily purchafe it. If you gratify their love of wine, fays he, if you give them as much of it as th^y deiire, you may eafily fubdue that nation, by indulg- ing their propenfity to excefs, whom it is very difficult to conquer by arms. The Suevi, who inhabited a large tracT: of Germany, had ex- perienced the fatal effects; of ebriety ; and to prevent them for the future, to preclude the degeneracy of valour and of manners, which was caufed by drunkennefs, they prohibited the importation of wine into their country. Article f 6 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c Article XXII. The divifion cf the day among the Germans. Their entertainments, at which they difcujjed the moji ferious matters. In the German manner of pafling the day, we mud not look for any of the occu- pations which employ modern time. They had neither fcholars, nor artifts, nor lawyers, nor financiers. They flept foundly till it was day. Immediately after they rofe, they bath- ed : commonly in warm water, in the days of Tacitus; an effeminacy which, as it was inconfiftent with the old German hardinefs, they undoubtedly adopted in their commerce with the Romans. For, according to Ca?far's account, in early times, they bathed in their rivers. It is well known that they ufed to plunge their new-born children into the Rhine. After they had bathed, they took a fimple and fubftantial meal of fuch food as we have related. They then went from home ; fome- times on bufinefs ; but commonly to an enter- tainment. There they drank to excefs. — They were not afhamed to drink all the day and night. Their intemperance often produced quarrels, which did not terminate merely in words. Impetuous, and always armed, they often fought. Their feafts, which began with pleafure and joy, often ended with bloodfhed, with murder. They fettled the moft impor- tant affairs during their entertainments j— «-fuch as OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS, 27 as the reconciling of people who had been at variance ; — marriages 5 the election of their princes 5 and matters of peace and war. — No time fcemed to them more proper than the convivial hour, for opening the heart to friend- ship, or for elevating the mind to great and noble ideas. Simple and ingenuous by nature, and unpractifed in modern fraud, when they were warmed and exhilarated by wine, they unlocked the inmoft fprings of the foul. They affembled again the next day, and as they were matters of each other's fentiments, they coolly debated all that had paffed on the pre^ ceding night. By treating their public and private affairs in this manner, they thought every material circumftance was fully brought to light, and properly digefted and determin- ed. For they firft gave their opinions when it was impoffible for them to diffemble; and they took their final meafures at a rational and pjifpaffionate juncture, when they were leaft liable to miftake. Ibid. Article XXIII. Of the German bofpitality. Hofpitality was never pradtifed more by any people than it was by the Germans. They deemed it a crime, and impiety, to refufe their houfe and table to any uranger. Every one was welcome to them, and they treated their guefts as generoufly as their circumftances would permit. When the mafter of a houfe £a<} exhaufted his provifions by his hofpitality, x he 7$ INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOiMS, &c. he took his gueft to the next houfe, where they were both received, though without any previous invitation, with equal generofity. They entertained a known and an unknown perfon with equal kindnefs. When a ftranger left them, if he afked for any thing which he liked in their houfe, it was their cuftom to give it him : and they, in their turn, demanded of him any thing he had which pleafed them. This . reciprocal communication of prefents was agreeable to them j but it was not aflbciated with fenti- ment.— They exacted no gratitude for what they had given : and they did not think them- selves obliged by what they had received. Ibid* ■ Art i c l e XXIV, . Habitations of 'the Germans ; Germany, which is now adorned with a great number of beautiful cities, had not one in the times of which we are treating. Not that the dwelling of the Germans was like that of the vagabond Scythian, who removed his family in a waggon from place to place. They had houfes, the vicinity of which to one another, formed hamlets. For their houfes were not ftrictly contiguous. . Each of them, with its little appendages, made a diftinc~t whole. A perfon built a houfe on the fpot which he liked beft. A wood, a fountain, a little improveable land determined its fitua- tion. There he built his hut without ftones or tiles j it was constructed with rough pieces of OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. *$ ©f wood : in building it, he paid little regard to convenience; as to elegance,' it was not at all in his idea. Some parts of it, however, fays Tacitus, were covered with a kind of earth, which was foluminous and bright, that its colours refembled thofe of the painter.— Could it be a baked earth, like delft? — i — The Germans likewife dug fubterranean retreats, which they covered with a great quantity of dung. Thofe caves ferved them for afylums from the rigour of winter ; and alfo for ma- gazines, in which they fafely lodged their corn, when they were expecting an invafion. Hence we may infer, that the Germans were not ftrongly attached to any particular abode. They were abfolute proprietors of no field : their houfes were rude and temporary; we mould rathet call them huts: their cattle was their only porleffion. They had nothing which confined them to a place. Thus not only individuals and families, but whole can- tons changed their diftricl with &s much eafe as a citizen of Paris removes from one ftreet to another. — Hence it is difficult to fix the boundaries of the different people of Ger- many : they were varying continually. Ibid. Article XXV. The drefs of the Germans. The Germans were as fimple in their drefs, as in their other accommodations. They might be faid to be half naked: they wore only a great coat, which they fattened with a clafp, 36 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. and fomctimcs with a piece of thorn ; and in this garb, they pafled whole days over the fire. In the drefs of the rich there was more art, and fome elegance. Like our modern clothes, it was adapted to the fhape of the body. They likewife wore coftly furs 3 efpecially thole who inhabited the middle and northern parts of the country. To thefe furs they added or- naments, with which the great fifhes fupplied them, that they took in the German and Bal- tic feas. The drefs of the women was commonly of linen - 9 in form it differed little from that of the men. It was decorated with purple bor- ders. They wore no fleeves. Their arms were uncovered ; and their breaft was expofed. A cuftom inconfiftent with the modefty and virtue of their character. Ibid. Article XXVI. The marriages of the Germans. The chajiity of their wives. Marriage was a {acred and chafte union among the Germans : and in this article Ta- citus thinks their manners mod worthy of praife. Polygamy was not allowed among them, unlefs it procured them the honourable and advantageous alliance of fome powerful prince. The htriband gave his wife her for- tunes but the presents which he made her, were far from being incentives to drefs and luxury. They were, a yoke of oxen, a horfe with his bit, and a bridle; a buckler, a lance, and OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 3 x and a fword. She, too, brought her hufband fome piece of armour. Their indifToluble and virtuous engagement was reprefented by thefe prefents, which were as much revered by tbem, as aufpices and the god Hymen, and fa- crificial ceremonies, were by the Romans. The prefents which the hufband gave, were an important JerTon to the wife. They warn- ed her, that, notwith (landing her fex, it wall her duty, to fortify her mind to intrepidity, and to expofe herfelf to dangers ; mat in peace and war, her courage and her fortune were to be the fame with thofe of her hut- band ; that me was to mare his fatigues and perils ; to continue united to him in life and in death. Thefe precious fymbols were, therefore, religiouily preferved by the wife, that her daughters-in-law might receive them from her fons, and tranfmit them to their pofterity, to enforce the fame obligations. Ibid. Article XXVII. Of the punijhment of adultery among the Ger- mans. The conduct of the German women in the married ftate, correfponded with their fevere and generous engagements. As their minds were not corrupted by thofe oVje&s which de* flroy virtue, by public diverfions and diffolute entertainments, their chaftity was as pure as it was fafe.— -The men and the women were both ignorant of the art of communicating their $* INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, Ik their fentiments to each other by clandeftine* letters, by which the ruin of both fexes is fa often concerted and effected. If any German wife, however, was guilty of the fhameful aft of adultery, the crime was immediately fol- lowed by punifhment, and the hufband was both the judge and the avenger. In the pre- fence of the two families, he cut off the hair from the head of the criminal ; and after hav- ing formally banifhed her from his houfe, he whipped her through the hamlet. No re- miflion, no indulgence was granted to this offence. Youth, beauty, and riches united, could not exempt the woman who had for- feited her honour, from this ignominious pu- nishment, nor procure her another hufband. For Tacitus remarks, with a gravity which does honour to a virtuous hiftorian, that — rt In 11 their country, vice is never made a fubjeft " of pleafantry; and to that communication " between the fexes which corrupts manners, •' much harfher and jufter exprefiions are ap- " plied, than gallantry and knowledge of the « world." Ibid. Article XXVIII. Unity of marriage among the Germans. The law of conjugal fidelity was fo rigorous in fome parts of Germany, as to exa<£t unity of marriage. The young women were not permitted to take the title of wife a fccond time. As they had but one body, and one life in this world, they were to have but one hufband. OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 33 hufband. They guarded the rights of mar- riage with fuch a fevere limitation, to preclude ungenerous defires, hopes that might have ex- tended beyond the life of the hufband, in whom, by this rule, all the happinefs of the wife was to center. The voluntary practice of this cuftom is very laudable. But it feems unjuft to make it a univerfal law j efpecially as it did not reftrain both the fexes. To the rigour of this law, the Heruli, as we are informed by Procopius, add- ed a (hocking cruelty. Among them the wife was obliged to ftrangle herfelf on the tomb of her hufband, under pain of living in difgrace and infamy. — Thus barbarous na- tions, whofe fentiments and prejudices are uncontrouled by reafon and cultivated man- ners, when they mean to patronize and en- courage virtue, divert her of her attractive graces, an£ cloud her with aufterity and hor- 10 ur. Ibid, Article XXIX. Of the ejleem and refpetl which the Germans had for their women. There have been in all ages, and there are yet nations who deem women mere (laves; fit, indeed, to regulate houfehold matters ; but unqualified to judge of public affairs: beings whofe minds are only fufceptible of trifling, or at bed:, of domeftic ideas. According to thefe theories of human nature, the fair fex ought never to interfere, in any manner, in Vol. I J, D the 34 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. the policy or civil administration of a ftatcj fpinning, and obedience to their hufbands, mould conftitttte all their knowledge. Many philofophers have not been more favourable to them than thofe jealous nations which hold them in a continual fervitude. Thucydides, the hiftorian, who was as auflere in his morals as in his writings, fays that women are born for retirement and repofe; that their virtue confifted in being unknown, in neither incur- ring blame nor praife ; and that the moft vir- tuous woman was (he, of whom leaft was fpoken, either good or bad ; as if virtue and merit were not common to both fexes j and as if the foft and indolent life of many women was not rather the effect of an improper edu- cation, than the dreary privilege of their nature. But all nations, if they were guided by reafon and foundjudgment, would treat women with great tendernefs and refpect. They are the beautiful part of the human fpecies, and on them principally depends its duration. On thefe principles the ancient Germans highly honoured their women ; and often trufted them, in very delicate junctures, with the tranfaction of their moft important public af- fairs. Mr. de Chambort, who has collected, in two diflertations, every thing material and curious, with which antiquity could furnilh him on this fubject, gives us a circumftantial and accurate account of the great efteem which the Germans had for their women; and he equally imputes it to the probity and valour of that OF tHE ANCIENT NATIONS. 35 that nation, and to the beauty and talents of the German ladies. Ariftotle, when he enumerates the female properties which are wcnhy of praife, begins with thofe of the body, which are beauty j and beauty confifts of a juft proportion of the parts of the body, and of that grace, which it is more eafy to imagine than to defcribe. Cicero, who gives us this definition of beauty, divides it into two forts ; an attractive beauty, which is peculiar to the fair fex j and the beauty of dignity, or of a noble mien ; which is corn- man to both fexes, and which, in perfons of high rank, we ftile majefty. In women beau- ty is always efteemed, and thought fo eifen- tial a property, that they who are deftitute of it, are unhappily and unjuftly doomed to a de- gree of contempt. Ancient authors have not forgotten this univerfal charm, when they have had occafion to fpeak of the German women. Diodorus Siculus, where he mentions the in- habitants of each fide of the Rhine, fays, that their women were very beautiful : and we are told by AthenaEus, that of all the barbarous nations, the Celtae (by this appellation he dif- tinguifhes the Germans) had the moft beau- tiful women. As the Germans, according to Tacitus, were aborigines, had always con- tinued matters of their own country, and ad- mitted no affinity with ilrangers, they inter- married only with Germans. Hence the na- tional refemblance of one German to another was very (hiking. And though perhaps we all, in fome refpedts, differ from one another, D 2 in 36 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. in form and afpecT, the German women had, in general, a peculiar and characterise beau- ty, by which they were eminently diftin- guifhed. Such is the portrait of the German women, which Mr. de Chambort has copied from the ancients. Their hair was commonly flaxen, thick, and flowing. Their eyes were blue, their features rather large, but regular. Their complexion was fine, their fkin extreme- ly white. They had that frefh bloom, and that good plight which denote wholefomc maintenance, and perfect health. Their fea- ture was tall; their fhape was well propor- tioned and eafy ; their carriage and their mien were noble. They had an air of majefty, which was tempered and foftened with a mo- deft demeanour, that renders inferior charms amiable and attractive. The author prefumes not to adjudge the prize of beauty to fair women ; but he ob- ferves, in favour of the German ladies, that almofr. all the ancient poets, when they de- fcribe their goddeffes and heroines, give them flaxen hair, a, fair complexion, and fkin, and a fine ftature. The flaxen and the white unite happily; and make that mixture of co- lours, which, in Cicero's opinion, is eflential to beauty. To the authority of the poets he joins that of the writers of romances, which runs in the fime ftrain. He fhows that their principal heroines, Chariclea not excepted, though {he is an Ethiopian, have all flaxen hair. Beauty OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 37 Beauty is often a fource of quarrels, and of wars ; and if none ever took their rife from the charms of the German ladies, we may doubt that they were fo firiking as they are repre- fented. But they, too, had the honour of ex- citing war. They were often married in con- fequence of a victory gained by their lover over his rival. Among the many icftances that he quotes of fuch facts, I mall only men- tion that of the daughter of Segeftus, prince of the Catti, who was carried off by Arminius, the chief of the Cherufci ; the confequences of this rape are related by Tacitus. To ftrike with furprife, to infpire at once love and refpect, is the prerogative of real beauty. Now, whether the German women were made prifoners of war, (for they gene- rally accompanied their hufbands to war) or whether they were received as hoftages, to corroborate treaties of peace; they raifed an immediate admiration in thofe who beheld them, which proved fatal to many. Rome never faw a more perfed; beauty than Biffula, a young German lady, whofe charms have been celebrated by Aufonius. And as one of the certain and moft violent effects of beauty, is, that it caufes an extreme jealoufy, the for- midable rivals of this country inflamed the breafts of the Roman ladies with this paffion ; who, according to Ovid, Propertius, and Mar- tial, employed all the mod elaborate and re- fined art of the toilette, fearing that ihty Jhould be eclipfed by the German captives. P 3 The 38 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, Ice. Thegraces of theGerman women were digni- fied with modefty. Their drefs and embellifh^ ments were very fimple. Their hair was fometimes turned up, and knotted on the top of their head ; and it was fo long, that even then it fell back to their moulders. Some- times it flowed negligently, without any con- finement. A linen mift without fleeves, and a robe of the fkins of different animals, were their richeft apparel. The diligence of the German women in their domeftic duties, was another caufe of the efteem and refpect which was paid to them by their hufbands. In thefe duties were comprif- ed their matrimonial fidelity, their care of their children, and their houfehold oeconomy. Their parents had taught them, from their tender years, that modefty and induftry, which adorned them in the married ftate. Educated by prudent and fage mothers j fortified by good examples, and feeing none around them but virtuous perfons ; .chaftity was to them fo pre- cious a quality, that they by whom it had been violated, could entertain no hopes either of pardon, or a hufband, how rich and beau- tiful foever they might be, as we have already informed the reader. A woman who had been convicted of adultery, a monftrous and almoft an unknown crime in this country, fuffered far more from the infamy which was annexed to it, than from the corporal punimment. But how could German wives be fufpectcd of this perfidy, who were fo warmly attached to the intcreft of their hufbands, that on account of OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 39 it they often quarrelled with their relations ? wives with whom, in fome cantons, it was an inviolable law never to marry but once ; and who, in others, would not furvive their hus- bands ? MeM.DE 1'ACAD. PES InsC. ET Bell. Let. torn. v. p. 330. etfeq. Article XXX. The Germans were obliged to bring up all their children. Other laws of that nation. The Germans, who were faithful to the laws of nature, thought it horribly criminal to limit the number of a family, either by ab- staining from the acl: which multiplies it, or by putting children to death. Sentiment and manners, fays Tacitus, are more coercive a- mong them, than the fageft laws are in other countries. We may add, that the laws of the Greeks and Romans refpecling this important article, were extremely erroneous; for they allowed fathers to expofe, or to kill their chil- dren, on this falfe principle, that he who gives life, has a right to take it away ; — but it is God alone who gives life; and he alone has a right to difpofe of it as he pleafes, A careful and regular education of children, has never been known but in polifhed coun~ tries, The children of the Germans ran about naked and dirty, like the children of our pooreft peafants. Their bodies, however, gain- ed by the inattention of their parents to their minds; and according to the judicious remark pf Qefar, as they were under no conflraint, P 4 as 4 o INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. as they were not obliged to learn any thing, but were left at full liberty to purfue that acti- vity and propenfity to play, which nature dictates to boys, their freedom from control, and their healthful indulgence of their inno- cent inclinations, gave them that high ftature, and that robuft vigour, which aftonifhed the fouthern nations. The German mothers always gave fuck to their children, who were not delivered to the care of flaves, or of mercenary nurfes. The children of the father of a German family were brought up indifcriminately with thofe of his flaves. They fed his flocks together, and lay on the bare ground promifcuoufly. There was no diftindtion betwixt them j till virtue opening with growth, fhowed the dif- ference of their origin. Their marriages were not premature; hence their offspring were more numerous, more healthy, and more robuft. The nephews, by the fillers, were loved by the uncles as much as his own children. Nay, they were even preferred to them, from the caprice of cuftom. The children, however, inherited the poffefiions of the father ; and, if they were wanting, the neareft relations, paternal or maternal uncles. The making of wills was unknown among them. The more relations and friends a rich man had, the more he was refpecled : and a wealthy perfon in Germany, without children, was not courted by a train of felfifh flatterers, as \n Greece and Rome, pnmitfe^ OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 41 Enmities, like friendfhips, were hereditary, but not implacable. We have already obferv- ed, that reparation was made, even for homi- cide, by a certain number of cattle, and of horfes. This policy was founded on a wife principle. As enmities are moft liable to be carried to a dangerous excefs in a free coun- try, its legiflation provides humanely for the public good, by eftablifhing an eafy method of atonement and reconciliation. Article XXXI. The public diver/ions of the Germans, Every nation has had its public diverfions, to amufe the multitude at certain times. The Germans had but one, which was well adapt- ed to the tafte of a warlike people. Their youth leaped over lances and fwords fixed clofe to each other with their points upwards; and thus difplayed that dexterous and graceful agi- lity which they had acquired by being habi- tuated to exercife. No pecuniary requital was made them for entertaining the public at the hazard of their lives. They were only re- warded with the pleafure and applaufe of the fpe&ators. Ibid. Article XXXII. Their pqffion for dice. They carried their paflion for dice to a de - gree of madnefs. Tacitus is aftonifhed at their Violent propenfity to that play. They treat it, fays 4ft INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. fays he, as a ferious affair: it engrofies their minds when they are in their fober fenfes; and they cannot plead the frenzy of intoxication for the excefs to which it drives them. For when they have loft all their effects, they of- ten rifle their liberty, and their perfons, on a throw. And if fortune determines the ruin of the lofer, he willingly refigns himfelf to fervitude. Though he be younger than the winner, he fuffers himfelf to be feized, ma- nacled, and fold. Such is their confident at- tachment to an immoral object ; fuch is their infatuation, which they honour with the name of fidelity. Their matters were aihamed to poflefs thefe flaves, whofe prefence was a con-, tinual reproach to them. They blufhed for their victory ; and got rid of them as foon as they could. They commonly fold them to fome ftranger, who took them to a far diftant country, ibid. Article XXXIN, The Jlaves of the Germans. Their frccd-men. Vet the condition of all other flaves was much eafier with them than among the polifh- ed nations. They were not ferved in their houfes by their flaves. Their wives and chil- dren were enow for the domeftic offices which their fimple manner of living required. Each flave had his little fettlement ; and his mafter exacted of him, as of a vaflal, a cer- tain tribute, in corn or in cattle, or in cloth- ing. Punifhments were rare, as the flaves coulci OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 43 could not often offend -, for they did not live in their matter's family; and their duties were few, A matter never put a Have to death, but in a tranfport of anger, as he would have kill- ed his enemy. There was, indeed, this dif- ference between the two cafes ; he killed the former with impunity. The condition of freed -men in Germany, as in other democra-. tical countries, was little better than that of Haves. We mutt look for a long and gradual feries of ranks, only in nations which are go- verned by kings. That equality that fubfifts among the common people of a republic, is a proof, as it is a confequence, of their liberty. Article XXXIV. No ufury among the Germans, We need not be furprifed that there was no ufury among a people who had little ufe for gold and filver. Prohibitions againft that fpe- cies of rapine, which in other countries were fo fevere, and fo little refpected, were ufelefs in old Germany T Extreme fimplicity of life; content, and complete fatisfa&ion in having the few wants of nature gratified, guard us more ftrongly againft injustice than the mod rigorous laws. Ibid, Art i cl e 44 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, fee. Article XXXV. *I he funerals of the Germans. 4 The clofe of life was as fimple among them as its whole tenour. They had no magnifi- cent funerals. The Germans burned their dead ; and a funeral-pile of chofen wood was the only diftinelion with which they honour- ed the remains of their illuftrious men. With the deceafed they burned his arms, and fome- times his war-horfe. Their monuments were little eminences of turf. They thought that fuperb and expensive tombs crulhed thofe who lay beneath them. They foon ceafed their tears and plaintive cries ; but their internal grief was durable. To lament the dead, was, in their judgment, the province of women. That of men was, to keep them long in af- fectionate and virtuous remembrance. Ibid, THE GOTHS. The origin of the Goths, like that of all other nations, is loft in the darkneis of anti- quity. They have been confounded by an- cient authors, on account of their migrations and conquefts, with the Scythians, the Sar^ matians, the Getae, and the Daci. The bed modern critics have two different opinions concerning them. Some think that they were natives of Germany, that they were the people whom Tacitus calls Gothones, and that they were inhabitants of Dant^ick, near the OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 45 the mouth of the Viftula. According to the opinion of others, which is generally received* and which appears to be better grounded, they made their firfl emigration to that country. Beautiful arms were the only elegance of this people, born for war. They ufed pikes, javelins, arrows, fwords, and clubs. They fought on foot and on horfeback ; but com- monly on horfeback. Military exercife was likewife their diverfion ; they contended for the prize of ftrength, and addrefs in the ufe of their arms. They were hardy and courageous j yet prudent j conftant and indefatigable in their enterprifes; of an acute and fubtle mind. There was nothing rude nor fierce in their external appearance. Their bodies were large and well-proportioned; their hair was flaxen, their complexion fair, and their afpely begotten, were neither admitted to mili- tary fervice, nor to the department of judges; nor were they accepted as hoftages. A wi- dow inherited the third of her hufband's land, if (lie did not marry again ; if me did, (he was only allowed to poffefs the third of his move- ables. If (he declared herfelf pregnant, a guard was fet over her: and the child tha< was born ten months after the death of the father 48 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, kc. father was pronounced illegitimate. He who debauched a girl was obliged to marry her, if her rank was equal to his : if not, he gave her a fortune. If he could not give her a fortune, he was condemned to die. For a virgin thus dishonoured, unlefs (he had a dowry, could not marry. Purity of manners they deemed the privilege of their nation. They were fo jealous of it, that, according to an author of their times, though they punifhed fornication in their countrymen, they pardoned it in the Romans ; whom they confidered as weak men, incapable of reaching their fublimity of virtue. Hist, du bas Empire, parM. Le Beau, torn. iv. p. 144. etfeq. THE HARMATELIANS. They inhabited the city of Hermatelia, the remoter!: fettlement of the Indian Brachmans, They dipped their weapons in a poifon taken from a particular fpecies of ferpents, which they hunted, and expofed, when dead, to the heat of the noon-day fun. This heat drew from their bodies a kind of fweat ; mixed with which the poifon likewife tranfpired. That venomous matter they had the art of feparating from the other perfpiration. The perfon who was wounded with a weapon dipped in this poifon, was immediately feized with a mortal numbnefs, which was followed by excruciating pains, and an inflamed fwell- ing in the wounded part, and by an univerfal trembling. His fkin grew dry and livid ; and he OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 4 g he threw up all his bile. From the wound iffued a black foamy matter, the effect of i mortification that foon feized the nobler parts, and terminated the patient's life. Hence the flighted wound into which this poifon entered proved as fatal as the largeft. Diod. Sic. p. 6i6, 617; tHE HUNS. The Huns were totally unknown to the weftern world till they firft appeared in Europe after they had paffed the Tariais. With their Origin we are unacquainted : their firft fettle- men t that we know, was to' the eaft of the Palus Maeotis. Hence Procopius confounds them with the Scythians and the Maffagetse ; colonies of which nations dwelt on each fide of the Cafpian Sea. Jornandes very gravely informs us, that the Huns were the offspring of Devils and witches, whom the Goths had driven to the deferts of Scythia. We are told by the Gbinefe, who better knew the hiftory of this people, with whom they were almoft continually at war, that their country lay to the north of China. They were the Afinibi of Ptolemy. From weft to eaft they extended to the fpace of five hundred leagues ; from the river Irtis to the country of the Tartars, who are now called Mantcheous. From north to fouth their territories reached three hun- dred leagues : they were bounded at one ex- tremity by the mountains Altai' j and at the V r oL. II. E other $o INSTITUTIONS* CUSTOMS, &c. other by the great wall of China, and by the mountains of Tibet. Of all the barbarous nations, the Huns had the moft frightful appearance. Their form was a rude mafs; the Romans compared it to a block of unhewn wood. Their bodies were lo'.v and fquat; their necks were fhort, and lower than their moulders ; their backs were crooked, their heads were large and round ; their eyes were fmall and funk in their heads; yet they were lively and penetrating. As foon as their male children were born, their mo- thers fqueezed their nofes flat, that their hel- mets might lit clofe to their faces ; and their fathers flamed their cheeks, to prevent their beard from growing. By this cruel opera- tion their faces were horribly disfigured with fears. Their manner of living was as favage as their figure. They ate their meat raw, and ufed no kind of feafoning. They lived on raw roots, and on the flefh of animals, fome- what foftened, and ftewed between the faddle and the back of their horfes. They never handled the plough ; their prifoners of war cultivated theirground and tended their flocks. They neither dwelt in houfes nor in huts; an inclofure of walls feemed to them a fepulchre : they thought a roof was dangerous — apt to fall, and fmother people. Inured from their infancy to cold, to hunger, and to thirft, they often changed their place of abode ; or, to ipeak more properly, they had hardly even a temporary fettlement. They wandered over moun- OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 5* mountains and through forefts, with their numerous flocks, and their families, who ac«* ctfmpanied them in waggons drawn by oxen. In thefe waggons Were their wives {hut up, where they were employed in fpinning, in making clothes for their hufbands, and in rearing their children. They were clad in linen, or in the fkins of martens, which they fuffered to rot from their bodies, without ever putting them off. They wore a helmet, fhort boots of goat-fkin, and fhoes of fo clumfy a make, that they greatly retarded them in walking. As their feet had thefe impediments, the reader will conclude that they had no infantry. Indeed they fel- dom alighted from their horfes, which were little and ugly, but fwift and indefatigable* They pafled the day and the night on horfe- back, fometimes riding like men and fome- times like women. They neither alighted to eat, nor drink, nor fleep. They fleptfoundly, reclined on the necks of their horfes. The council of the nation was held on horfeback. All the troops of their empire were com- manded by twenty -four officers, each of whom were at the head of ten thoufand cavalry. Thofe large bodies were divided into thou- fands, hundreds, and tens. But in battle they kept in no order. They flew upon the ene- my with dreadful cries. If they met with too obftinate a refiftance, they made a quick retreat ; and returned to the charge with the fwiftnefs of eagles, and with the fury of lions i breaking into the ranks of the enemy, and E 2 fpreading $2 INSTITUTION'S, CUSTOMS; Ice; spreading terror and daughter around theni.. Their arrows were pointed with bone, which was as hard and as fatal as rteel. They {hot them with equal dexterity and force, when they were in a full gallop, and even while they fled. In clofe fight, they had a cimeter in one hand, and in the other a net, with which they endeavoured to entangle the enemy. One of their families had the glorious privi- lege of giving the firft ftroke in battles. Not a foldier nor officer in their army durft begin the attack till one of that family had fet the example. Their wives feared no danger : after a defeat they were often found amongft the wounded and the (lain. As foon as their childFen could ufe their CTtr.s freely, they gave them a bow propor- tioned to their ftrength. Thus equipped, they rode a-hunting on fheep; they fhot birds, and waged war with other little animals. As they advanced in years, they were accuftomed to the fatigues and dangers of the chace. At length, when they had acquired fufficient ftrength, they went to battle, to fatiate their natural ferocity with blood and carnage. The only way by which they could fignalize them- felves, or by which they could live in credit, was to acquit themfelves manfully in war. They defpifed old age on account of its infirmities. None were efteemed by them but the hardy and the brave. Thefe barbarians, though their minds were uncultivated, were remarkable for their gocd fenfe and penetration. They wereTamOus for their 'OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 53 dieir fincerity. They knew not the art of 'writing: but in treating with them, their word was a fufficient fecurity. But their fin- cerity was flamed with the horrid vices of barbarifm. They were cruel ; rapacious after gold, though they had no ufe for it; and licen- tious in their -commerce with women. Tkev took as many wives as they could maintain, •without any regard to proximity of blood. The fon married the widows of his father. They were drunkards even before they knew the ufe of wine : Thc-y intoxicated themfelves with a certain drink made only by them, in which four mare's milk was a -principal in- gredient. The Romans imagined that they had no religion, becaufe they were not idolaters. But according to the Chinefe authors, they wor- shipped heaven, earth, fpirits, and their an- cestors. The antiquity of this nation is as remote as that of the Chinefe empire. They were known above two thoufand years before Chrift. When eight hundred of thofe two thoufand years had expired, they were go- verned by kings, of the particulars of whofe fucceffion we are ignorant, till about the year 210 before the Chriftian ^poch. From that ^period hiftory begins to give us the feries of their Tanjous. Tanjou, which, in the language of the Huns, fignifles Son of Heaven, was the common title of their monarchs. The Huns, divided into many hordes y or clans, each of which had their chief, but which were all ]£ 3 united 54 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. united under the government of one fovereign, were continually making inroads into the ter- ritories of their neighbours. China, a fertile and rich country, was more than any other expofed to their incurfions. To prevent their depredations, the Chinefe monarchs ordered that famous wall to be built, which defends the northern frontiers of their territories, and extends four hundred leagues from weft to eaft. We find, in the ancient hiftory of the Huns, thofe qualities by which the moil: powerful empires have been eftabliftied and enlarged, viz. great virtues and great vices. Their virtues were, like their general man- ners, of a rough and favage caft ; their crimes were modelled by reflection and policy. Mete, the firft of their kings whofe name is tranfmitted to us, having grown famous by his bold and wicked enterprifes, extended his conquefts from the Corea and the fea of Japan, to the Cafpian. He fubjecled to his domi- nion the great Bucharia, and Weftern Tar- tary. He conquered twenty-lix kingdoms. He humbled the pride of the Chinefe, by his perfidy and violence j he obliged their empe- ror to make a treaty of peace with him, and to praife his juftice and humanity. His fuc- ceffors reigned with glory for almoft three hundred years. But their glory refulted from their fuccefsful robberies. At length difcord divided the Huns; thofe of the fouth aflifted by the Oriental Tartars, forced the northern Huns to quit their ancient territories j who, towards OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 55 towards the commencent of the fecond cen- tury, fettled near the fources of the Ja'i'k, in the country of the Bafkirs, which many hiftorians have called Great Hungary, from a miftaken opinion that it was firfr. inhabited by the Huns. There they united with other colonies of their countrymen, who had been forced, by former revolutions, to emigrate, and whofe abode was near Siberia. Hist. du Bas Empijie, par M. Le Beau, torn. iv. P- 377- **/'& THE HY LOG ONES. They were favage Ethiopians. Their name may be interpreted Hunters. They were not a numerous people. Their lifecor- refponded with their appellation. For in every refpec! they feetned natives of woods. As their country abounded with wild beafts, had few ftreams, and was very dry, they were obliged to pais the night on trees, for fear of thofe beads. But in the morning, they went armed to thofe places where they knew there was water. There fome lay in ambum, in thickets; others ftood centinels on trees. As the day grew hot, a great number of buffaloes, leopards, and other animals, came to the fame place. Inflamed with heat and thirft, they drank to excefs, till they were almoft furTo- cated. When they were thus languid, and fwelled with water, the Hylogones rufhed upon them, and attacking them with ftaves burned at one end, with Hones, and with E 4 darts, 56 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. darts, they eafily flew them. Having diftri- buted their booty among their different com- panies, they fat down and ate it. They were feldom conquered by the ftrpngeft and fierceft of thofe wild beafls. When they could not meet with this prey ? they fteeped the fkins of the animals which they had fornierly killed ; they put them on a great fire, and roafted the hair in hot afhes. Thefe fkins they dividecj among them. To fuch food they had re- courfe in times of urgent necefllty. They trained their children to take a-nice aim; and they diftributed the flefh of the animals which they had killed, only among thofe who had con- tributed to their flaughter. Thus they were all very dexterous in an art which was fir ft fuggefted to them by hunger. Diop. SicuL.p. 112. THE HYLOPHAGI. They, too, were wild Ethiopians. They \vent accompanied with their wives and chil- dren to feek their food. They climbed to the tops of trees to eat the tender {hoots ; a nou- .rimment, which, by cuftom, agreed with their ftomachs. By habit likewife, they had ac- quired fuch agility, that they were at the tops of trees in a moment. They hopped from one tree to another, like birds j and had the art of fupporting themfelvcs on the weakeft branches. If their feet gave way, they dexteroufly flopped their fall with their hands. But even if they fell, they were fo light OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 57 light that they were not hurt. They wore no clothes ; and as their women were com- mon, they brought up their children in com- mon. They were often at war among themfelves for their places of abode. Their weapons were clubs ; and with them they put their prifoners to death. Many of them died of hunger ; for they were fubject to lofe their fight, the moil necelTary of their fenfes. Ibid. p. in. THE HYRCANIANS. In the country of the Hyrcanians there were habitations which they called Happy; and fo, in fact, they were; for the earth fpontaneoufly produced exquifite fruits in great abundance, which were not known in any other part of the world. We are likewife told, that each vine conftantly yielded a full meafure of wine; that each fig-tree bore ten bufhels of figs; and that their fhaken and fallen corn ferved for feed, and produced, every autumn, an equal and mod: plentiful crop. In this country there grew a tree which re- fembled the oak. Its leaves yielded a honey which was much ufed by the inhabitants. The fame country produced a winged infect, named Anthredon; it was fmaller than our bee, but extremely beautiful. On the moun- tains it extracted the juice of all the flowers; they lodged in the clefts of rocks, or of trees ftruck 58 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, #c. {truck with thunder, where they made their wax and their honey, which was of an exqui- fite flavour. Ibid. p. 60 a. THE IBERIANS. The Iberians, a people of Spain, had a very Angular cuftom. They who had arrived at the flower of their age, and efpecially thofe who were deflitute of the gifts of Fortune, but fraught with flrength and valour, took their arms, and affembled on fteep mountains. There they formed numerous troops of rob- bers, which infefted all Iberia. Their expe- ditions were not attended with much danger to themfelves. For as they were lightly armed, and had great agility, it was very diffi- cult to furprife them; and it was impoffible to befiege them in their natural fortreiTes. Their places of retreat and fafety were abrupt and rocky heights, to which it was impoffible to bring regular forces againft them. Hence the Romans, after they had often attacked them, at length checked their boldnefs ; but they could never totally fupprefs their rob- beries. In the country of the Iberians there were many filver-mines; and they who wrought them grew very rich. In ancient times the Pyrenean mountains were covered with a thick foreft, to which the neighbouring fhepherds having fet fire, it was entirely confumed. As the flame lafted many days, the furface of the earth was burned ; hence the appellation of OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 59 of Pyrenees was given to thofe mountains. Streams of refined filver, detached from all the grofler matter which had been incorpo- rated with it, ran along the ground. The natives of the country, who knew not the ufe of it, fold it to the Phenicians for wares of little value. Thofe commercial people, importing it afterwards into Afia, Greece, and other countries, made great profit bv it. Their . avarice having collected an immenfe quantity of this iilver, they put a part of it into the compofition of their anchors, that their mips might carry a greater quantity of the precious metal. The Phenicians grew fb rich and powerful by this gainful commerce, which they alone profecuted for a long time, that they fent many colonies into Sicily, and the neighbouring iflands, into Africa, Sardi- nia, and Iberia. But the Iberians, who were at length acquainted with the value of their metal, dug deep mines, which yielded them very fine iilver, and in fuch great quantities that it brought them a confiderable revenue. I mail now inform the reader how their mines were wrought. There were in Iberia many mines of gold, of filver, and of copper. In the laft, the fourth part of the mafs was commonly pure copper. The filver-mines yielded to thofe who were leaft experienced in the art of working them, the value of an Eubo'ic talent in three days. For the mafles in the mines were fraught with a very compact and brilliant filver; — the fertility of nature and the art of man feemed to to INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. to vie with each other. In old times the na- tives of the country were extremely enriched by this labour, to which they were itrongly incited by the great abundance of the valuable metal. But after the Romans had conquered Spain, a great number of Italians fettled in its provinces, and exhaufted their wealth. They bought many (laves, and put them un- der the tyranny of the directors of the mines. By order of thofe directors, they dug, in diffe- rent fubterranean places, flraight and ' wind- ing cavities, and foon found veins of gold and filver. Their mines were of a prodigious depth; and at the bottom, they ran to the length of many ttadia. Thus were treafures drawn from the bowels of the earth. They who wrought the mines of Iberia, were never difappoin ted in their hopes; and if the beginning of their work gave them a promiiing appearance, at every ftep they ad- vanced, they had greater fuccefs. In fome places the veins twitted round each other. Subterranean rivers frequently broke in upon the miners. They diverted their violence by digging ferpentine ditches. The perfeverance of avarice is invincible. Their mod furprif- ing machine was the Egyptian wheel, or icrew, invented by Archimedes while he was in Egypt, by which they drained thofe rivers. By this wheel they raifed the water to the mouth of the mine; and then worked in the place which had been overflowed, without ob- itruclion. We are told by Diodorus Siculus, that the machine was contrived with fuck amazing OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 63 amazing art, that it could eafily raife a whola river from a deep valley to an elevated plain. The labour of the flaves who were confined to thofe mines, produced, as we have already obferved, great revenues to their matters : but the life and death of themfelves were equally miferable. They had no relaxation from toil; and their relentlefs overfeers, by fevere ftripes and blows, forced them to efforts that fur- pafTed their ftrength : in which adls of exer- tion, they often expired. Thofe whofe con- futations were more robutt, and whofe minds were more patient, lingered in torment for a longer time ; — wifhing for death, which their .great and insurmountable evils had made them prefer to life. Among the many curious particulars related concerning thofe mines, the following one feems not the leaft remarkable. In the times of which we are treating, it was obferved that they had been all opened of old. They had been worked by the Carthaginians, when they were matters of Spain. That famous re- public was enabled by its Spaniih ore, to pay thofe mercenary, but brave troops that ferved in its great expeditions. THE 1CTHYOPHAGI. This name fignifaes eaters ofjijh. The Iclhy- ophagi inhabited the coafts extending from Carmania and Gedrofia to the mouth of the Gulph, where the fouthern ocean runs a great way into the land, and has on one fide of it, Arabia 62 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. Arabia Felix, and on the other, the country of the Troglodytes. Some of thefe barbarians went always na- ked. Their wives, their children, and their flocks were common; and as their ideas were bounded by the pleafures and pains refulting from a ftate of nature, we muft not, among them, look for that delicacy of fentiment, or that external elegance, in the leafl degree, which diftinguilh civilifed and refined life. Their habitations were near the fea, along ccafts, diverfified, not by the mod agreeable obje&s ; by deep and barren valleys, by abrupt and high rocks, and by impetuous and wind- ing torrents. The inhabitants availed themfelves of their fituation. By flopping up their vallies where they opened into the lea, with great itones, they confined the fifli that fwam into thofe creeks. For the influx of the fea, which was very ftrong there, and which was at its height about fix in the morning and in the evening, brought with it an incredible number of fifh of every kind. The tide returned through the crevices betwixt the (tones, and the fifti remained on the fand. The inhabitants then flocked to the more, with their wives and children ; and in feparate companies repaired to different quarters, exprefling their joy for their capture, by hideous cries. The women and children took the fmalleft fifh, and thofe that were neareft to them, and threw them on the more eminent part of the fhore. The men who were in the maturity of their age 2 and OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 6* arnd ftrength, took the great fifli. fo ; iea that warned their coaivs, not c '- re- duced lobfters, lampreys, and fea ;t likewife fea-calves, and many forts c .e names and forms of which are unknowr to ns r fays Diodorus Siculus. As they had no arms fabricated by art, they pierced the fi(h with horns of goats, or cut them with (harp flints. For neceffity fug- gefts many inventions to man, and teaches him to make the objects around him inftru- mental ro the completion of the effects at which he aims. When they had collected a fufficient quantity of thefe provifions, they carried them off, and broiled them on flat flones expofed to the fun, the heat of which? in their climate was very great. When they were broiled enough on one fide, they turned' up the other. They next took them by the tail, and fhook them. As they were tho- roughly broiled, they fell from the bone in pieces. The bones they threw together in one place, and made a heap of them, of which I fhall afterwards give an account. They ga- thered up the meat which they had fhaken off, laid it upon fmooth flones, and beat it for fome time. They mixed with it, for feafbn- ing, the feed of the hawthorn, and made the whole into a pafte of one colour. They form- ed this pafte into the ftiape of a brick, arid dried it in the fun. When it was moderately dried, they ate it altogether, limited only in quantity by their appetite ; for they had com- monly more of that proviiion than they want- ed* 64 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. ed. They were as amply fupplied with food by the fea, as other nations were by the earth. Yet fometimes their coaft was overflowed, for many days, with the fea. As they were then in want of provifions, they gathered the imaller fhell-fim, fome of which weighed more than four pounds. Their fhells, which were very hard, they broke with ilones, and ate the meat raw. Its tafte was very like that of our oyfters. If their (hore was long over- flowed, and if the wind, continuing in one point, drove the fea fo violently on their coaft, that they could not gather even the fhell- fifh, they then had recourfe to the heap of bones, which I have already mentioned. They picked out thofe that were freiheft and moft juicy, broke them at the joints, and ate them without farther preparation. Thofe that were drier, they beat between two ftones. In fhort, their manner of living refembled that of wild beafts. This is all that we have learned con-< cerning the food of the I&hyophagi. The manner in which they fought their drink was ftill more remarkable. They went a-fifhing for four fucceffive days j which time, as they had then abundance of provifion, was devoted to feafting and to mirth. They ate all in one company j they fung fongs which were alike deftitute of poetry and mufic j and they cohabited promiicuoufly with their wo- men. On the fifth day they went all to drink at the foot of the mountains. There they found ftreams, to which the Monades, or (hep- herds, ufed to come to water their flocks. Thither OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 65 Thither they went in the wild manner of herds, all raifing their voices at the fame time, which were inarticulate, and merely a favage, difagreeable noife. The women carried with them the children who were at the bread ; and the men, thofe who were weaned. But the boys and girls from the age of five years and upwards, accompanied their parents on foot ; and went laughing and leaping to their foun- tains, as to the objects of their greater!: luxu- ry and joy. As foon as they arrived at the watering-places of the (hepherds, they drank to fuch excefs, that thev were not able to walk. During the remainder of that day they ate nothing; they were fickj they breathed with difficulty ; they laid themfelves down on the ground; and werejuft in the fituation of people drunk with wine. The next day they again ate their fifh, with their former rapaci- ous appetite. Such was their conftant and brutal manner of living. The I&hyophagi who lived on this fide of the Strait, were rarely fick j but they lived a far ihorter time than we. They who inhabited the trad adjacent to them, and nearer to the Strait, were a more extraordinary people. They were never thirfty; and they feemed deftitute of ideas. As their country was bar- ren; and as they were unconnected with the reft of mankind, fifhing was their fole employment ; and it amply fupplied them with food. They ate their fifh foon a/ter it was drawn out of the water, and almoft raw ; hence they were never thirfty ; they did not Vol. II. « F even 66 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. even know that man was fubject to thirft. Nature had provided for them the neceflaries pi life ; they had no conception of higher en- joyments ; and they were content, if not happy. What is furprifing, and almofl: in- credible, is, that they feemed to be moved with no paffion. This account, which I have extra&ed from Diodorus Siculus, exactly agrees with the ac- count of fome ^Ethiopian merchants, who, in paffing the Red-fea, had been obliged to an- chor in fome of the creeks of the Idthyophagi. Ptolemy, the third of the name, intending to hunt elephants in their country, fent Simmias, one of his favourites, to examine it. Sim- mias made the neceflary preparations for his voyage, and carefully examined the coafts, as we are informed by Agatharcides of Gnidus. He told Ptolemy, among other particulars, that thofe infenfible men never drank, as we have already obferved. They were not at all alarmed at the fight of Grangers who landed on their coafts. They faid nothing to them, but viewed them calm- ly, without any exprefllon of furprife. They fled not from a naked fword that was bran- dimed before them ; they were not irritated by threats with which they were tried, nor even by blows which were given them. They expreffed no companion for the fufferings of their friends; their wives and children were flain in their prefence -, and yet they mowed no emotion. They underwent even the cru- clleft torments, wifhout appearing to feel much, OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 67 much pain. They furveyed the wounds which they had received with great compofure; they only inclined the head at every ftroke of the executioner. We are told that they had no language ; and that they demanded fuch things as they wanted by figns of the hand. Another cir- cumftance is related of them, which is ilill more incredible, viz. that the fea-calves and they lived very peacefully and fociably toge- gether j and that thofe animals affifted them in taking fim with a human fagacity and ikilL It is likewife related, that the two fpecies, fo different in their external form, had each of them a great tendernefs for their offsprings and for their wives or females. To this man* ner of living, to which they had been habi- tuated from remote ages, they yet adhered, in the time of Diodorus Siculus; either from! the force of cuftom ; or from the neceffity which was confequent of their fituation. Their habitations were not like thofe of the other Icthyophagi ,• they conftrucled therri id many different ways, as they were directed by the place where they build them. Some dwelt in caverns, efpecially in thofe which opened to the north, and were confequently refreshed by the (hade, and by the northern winds. For thofe that faced the fouth were uninhabitable from their extreme heat. They who had not caves fronting the north, btiftfe themlelves huts of whalebone, which the fea threw in great quantities on their coafts. To thefe huts, the roofs ofrwhich were arched F z and 68 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c and which were covered with mofs, they re- tired during the heat of the day. Thus they were architects from neceflity ; and their ar- chitecture was only fuch as neceffity required. The I&hyophagi had a third kind of ha- bitation. A fort of fir grew on their coafts, the root of which was watered by the fea. Its leaves formed a clofe (hade, and its fruit was like our chefnuts. The branches of thofe trees they twifted together, which afforded them an extenfive {hade; and they dwelt un- der this kind of tent. Thus were they am- phibious beings ; partly fuftained by the land, and partly by the water. They were refresh- ed by the coming in of the tide ; and they chofe fituations which caught the cooling breezes. Some of them had yet another contrivance to fcreen them from the heat. They collect- ed a prodigious quantity of fea-mofs, of which they made a heap as high as a mountain. The rays of the fun hardened it to fuch a degree, that, with the fand which was mixed with it, it formed a body as compact as a rock. With- in this artificial mountain they dug chambers of the height of a man ; but they made them very long, and broad, and to communicate with each other. In them they repofed in the lethargy of their nature, till the tide brought them fifh, and invited them to their prey. They feafted with their ufual mirth on the ihore ; and then returned to thefe apartments. With regard to their dead, they threw them on the ihore * low water, that they might OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 69 might be fwept away by the tide. Thus as they were fupported by the fifties, they con- tributed, in their turn, to the nourimment of thofe animals; a cuftom which they had practifed from time immemorial. There was another fort of I&hyophagi, whofe habitations were fo ftrangely fituated, that they have afforded much fpeculation to thofe who were inquifitive into the fecrets of nature. They dwelt in precipices which were never acceflible to any but themfelves. They were furrounded partly by abrupt rocks, and unpaffable marfhes; and partly by a firth, over which a verTel had never failed, and which had never been forded. Thefe barbarians were ignorant of all navigation. Diod. Sicul. p. 106. et feq* THE INDIANS. All the Indians were free, fays Arrian ; as none of the Lacedaemonians, fo none of the Indians were Haves. All the difference be-* tween the Spartans and the Indians in this re- fpett, was, that the former had foreign flaves, and the latter had none. They erected no monuments to the dead; they thought the reputation of great men did more honour to their memory, and was more durable than the moft magnificent tomb. We may divide them into feven clafTes. The firft, and the moft honourable, though the leaft numerous, was, the Brachmans, who were the depofitaries of their religion. F 3 The 7 o INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, 1c. The fecond, and the moft numerous, com- prehended the labourers. They were much refpe&ed. Agriculture was their only occu- pation j and from it they were never tab n, to ferve in war. No violence was ever offer- ed by the Indians, to the peasants, or to their lands. The third was that of the fhepberds, who tended flocks and herds. They never vifited towns nor villages. They led a wandering life on the mountains, and were fond of hunt- ing. The fourth was that of the merchants, and artifans ; with whom were comprifed the ma- riners. Thefe all paid tribute to the prince, except the armourers, who, inflead of contri- buting any thing to the ftate, were paid by the public. The fifth clafs was that of the foldiers.— War was the only object that demanded their attention. They were fupplied with all the necefiaries of life ; and even in time of peace they had a fufficient maintenance. Their life was always unencumbered with civil and pri- vate care. The fixth was that of the infpeftors, or cenfors, who minutely examined the conduct of their fellow-citizens, that they might make a juft report of it to the fovereign. They ex- amined their cities, towns, and villages. Di- ligence, integrity, and a zeal for the public good, characterifed thofe guardians of public manners. Not one of them, fays the hifto- rian, was ever accufed of falfehood. Happy was OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 71 was the Indian nation, if this be true ! We may certainly infer from it, however, that truth and juftice were highly revered, and that perfidy and oppreffion were extremely de- tected by the Indians. In the feventh clafs were comprehended the counfellors of ftate ; thofe who (hared with the prince, the admin iftration of government. In this clafs likewife were included, the ma- giftrates, the governors of provinces, the gene- rals of the army, and the comptrollers of the public revenues. Thefe feparate clafies were never intermix- ed by marriage. ' A mechanic, for in (lance, was not permitted to marry the daughter of a labourer. We need not remark that this regulation muft have greatly contributed to the improvement of all the different arts and profeffions. Each man, in his department, would add his own reflections and induftry to thofe of his anceftors, which had been trans- mitted to him by a long and uninterrupted tradition. We mail here obferve, that in every fage government, in every truly civilized ftate, agriculture and pafturage, two certain fources of plenty and wealth, have always been great- ly encouraged by the legiflature ; and that to neglecl: them^ is to overlook one of the prin- cipal maxims of found policy. We muft likewife admire the inftitution of public cen- fors, whofc prefence and authority in the dif- ferent parts of the kingdom, muft have been greatly conducive to the public welfare : as F 4 they 72 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. they gave neceflary inftructions to the gover- nors and the judges, from time to timej and reprefled that rapine and oppreffion, which are often committed by men conftituted in high authority, and at a great diftance from the court. By them too the prince was tho- roughly informed of the ftate of his kingdom ; with which, if any fovereign is not induftri- ous to be acquainted, he is, in fact, reduced to a meaner condition than that of his pooreft fubject: for his authority is ufurped and abuf* ed by traitors. 'The hunting of the elephants among the Indians . There were more elephants in India than in any other part of the world. The elephant is the largeft and the ftrongeft of all terref- trial animals. Some of them are from thir- teen to fifteen feet high. The female goes a twelvemonth with her young. The elephant fometimes lives a hundred, or a hundred and twenty years, if we believe the ancients. His nofe, which is termed his trunk, or probofcis, is long and hollow, like a great trumpet. It ferves him inftead of a hand ; and does him many fervices with incredible flrength and agility. The qualities of docility and induftry in this animal, notwithstanding the enor- mous weight of his body, approach to hu- man intelligence. He is fufceptible of fuch attachment, of fuch arTe&ion, of fuch grati- tude, that he often pines away when he has loft his mafter j and even kills himfelf, i£>he has OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 73 has before killed him* when he was tranfport- ed with anger. Arrian, an author of good credit, tells us that he faw an elephant dance with two cymbals tied to his legs ; that he ftruck the cymbals, one after the other, in mufical time, with his trunk ; — and that other elephants danced around him j all in the fame exact meafure and unifon. He like wife particularly defcribes the man* ner in which they were taken. The Indians inclofed a great fpace of ground with a ditch about twenty feet wide, and fifteen deep. Over the ditch they made a bridge, which they covered with turf, that thofe animals, which were very fagacious, might pafs it without diffidence. With the earth which was thrown from the ditch, they formed a kind of rampart ; in the outfide of which, at different diftances, they contrived little cham- bers, in which they watched the elephants through a hole. Into this inclofed ground they put two or three tame females. Other elephants, as foon as they faw them, went over the bridge and joined them. The Indi- ans immediately broke down the bridge, and ran to the neighbouring villages to call aflift- ance. When they had brought down their ftrength for fome days, by hunger and thirft, they entered the inclofure, mounted on tame elephants, and attacked them. As they were extremely weakened, they made but a fhort refiftance. After they had brought them to the ground, they made a great wound in their necks, in which they fattened a rope, that the 7 4 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. the fenfe of pain might check their unruly motions. They then ventured to mount them. Having thus fubdued them, they led them home with the others, and fed them with grafs and green corn. They tamed them by degrees, with blows and fcanty foods till at length they became obedient to the voice of their mailers, and perfectly underftood their language. It is well known that in ancient times ele- phants were ufed in war. But they often made more havock in their own army, than in that of the enemy. Their teeth, or rather their tufks, fupply us with ivory. Singular laws of the Indians. After the battle which was fought betwixt Eumenes and Antigonus, towards the three hundred and fifteenth year before Chrift, there was found among the dead an officer, who had brought with him two wives, one of whom he had newly married. A law of the country (which, we are told, is yet in force) permitted not a wife to furvive her hufband : and if me tefufed to be burned with him on his funeral pile, (he was dishonoured for ever; obliged td live a widow all the reft of her life, and con- demned to a fort of excommunication ; for fhe was prohibited from being prefent at fa- crifices and every other religious ceremony. Now this law fpoke only of one wife. But in this cafe there were two, each of whom claimed the preference. The firit-married •wife urged her feniority. The younger one infixed, OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 75 infifted, that her rival was excluded by the law; becaufe (he was pregnant. Such, in- deed, was the exception of the law; and according to its exception the matter was de- termined. The former retired, overwhelmed with forrow, weeping bitterly, and tearing her clothes and hair, as if a dreadful calamity had befallen her. The other, on the con- trary, triumphed on the fentence. Attended by a numerous company of her relations and friends, and embellifhed with her richeft orna- ments, (he advanced toward the place of the horrid ceremony, with firmnefs and compo- fure. Then, having diftributed her jewels and her other valuable effects among her friends, and having taken leave of them, (he was placed by her brother on the funeral pile, where fhe expired in the flames, amidft the praifes and acclamations of almoft all the fpectators; fome of whom, however, exprefTed their deteftation of this inhuman cuftom. It was, indeed, a real homicide, contrary to the facred laws of nature, which prohibit us from making an attempt on our own life, from difpofing of it wantonly; which enjoins us to remember that as we are only intrufted with it, we are only to refign it to the author of our exiftence. Such a precious facrifice, far from being a proper teftimony of refpect and affection for a deceafed hufband, reprefented him as a cruel and unrelenting daemon. There was in India, in the time of Alex- ander the Great, a very populous country, the inhabitants of which were governed by a king named 76 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &rc. named Sopithcs ; and they were extremely happy. They were remarkable for their ho- nour and moral decorum. Corporal beauty, too, was an eflential quality among them. As they were particularly charmed with this object, they made a rigorous diftinction among their children. Thofe infants whofe make and features promifed fine proportion and beauty, they brought up ; and thofe who had any bodily defect, they put to death. They paid as much attention to the external form in their marriages. Fortune was altogether out of the queftion. They were only folici- tous to match a handfome man to a beautiful woman. Hence the inhabitants of this coun- try were the bed made, the mod graceful people in the world. Sopithes, their king, who was fix feet high ; the firft of his countrymen in perfonal fym- metry and dignity of mien, as in rank ; went to meet Alexander. He offered the con- queror his capital and his throne. Alexander, fatisfied with the offer, confirmed to him the pofleffion of both. Sopithes entertained him and his army magnificently during their fhort flay. Among the great prefents which he made him, were a hundred and fifty dogs, of a prodigious fize and ftrength, which, it was faid, engendered with tigreffes. Alexander, to try the nature of thofe animals, of which he had heard many furprifing accounts, ordered two of them, but not of the ftrongeft, to be turned loofe into a walled park, with a very Urge and fierce lion. The lion proving fupe«? rior OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 77 rior to them, two more were fet upon him. A huntfman was then ordered to cut off a leg of one of the dogs. Alexander counter- manded the order; and fent fome of his guards to prevent the firoke of the huntfman. But Sopithes begged that the experiment might be made ; adding, that he would give the king three dogs for the one that was to lofe his leg. The former order was then executed; the dog's leg was cut off by flowly repeated ftrokes. Yet that cruelty did not extort from him the lead moan; and he kept his teeth faft in the lion, till he loft all his blood, and expired on his prey. The religion of the Indians, The Indians acknowledged a Supreme Be- ing, the creator of the univerfe, an infinite, omnipotent, neceflary, and immaterial intelli- gence; effentially perfect; and from whom all other beings are emanations; as the rays of light are emanations from the fun. This Firft Caufe was named in their language, Schar roues Zibari\ i. e. The Creator of all things. In their belief, there was a great number of fpiritual and eternal beings, fubordinate and fubject to the firft Being, and holding of him their exiftence; the neceflary creatures of an Eternal Caufe, eternally acting. Thefe Genii were called Moni-Schevaroun. The Indian theology divided them into two clafles. The firft clafs confifted of pure fpi- rits, infeparably united to their Creative Caufe, of 7 S INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. of unerring rectitude, and incapable of vice or frailty. As they were conftantly fixed to a contemplation of the Supreme Eeing, all their faculties were engrofled by that infinite idea ; they were inactive, they were annihilated with refpect to every other object. Their ftate of mind almoft correfponded with the fupreme beatitude of the enthufiaftic quietifts. The fecond clafs comprehended beings not altogether pure; free, becaufe they were im- perfect; and confequently fubject: to error and to fin. Thefe beings were degraded, on account of the abufe which they had made of their liberty; they were precipitated from fphere to fphere as their depravity increafed ; till it became fo great, that it needed a violent remedy. They were then exiled to a material world; which was created for their abode, and lodged in frail and perifhable bodies. This material world they were to inhabit till they mould regain their original purity. Our fouls, according to their theology, were fpirits of this order; which, having fallen from their primitive perfection, were deftined to inform our bodies, that in them they might be purified from their degeneracy, by the fuf- ferings which are infeparable from human nature; fufferings which were not meant as the punifhment, but as the remedy of their crimes. If thole fouls, in their corporal pur- gatory, inftead of improving and growing re- fined, contracted more corruption, they trans- migrated into the bodies of animals, of a higher or lower fpecies, as they were lefs or 3 more OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 79 more depraved. Some Indian feds were of opinion, that fouls once fallen, never recovered their former ftate^ but moft of them were lefs rigorous, and believed, that, by the prac- tice of virtue and great aufterities, they might recover their old perfection, and return to the Schorgan, or paradife, which was the abode of fpirits of the fecond order. For this fecond order was not intimately united to the Scbarr roues Zibariy or Creative Principle. After the fall of the fpirits of the fecond clafs, and the creation of the material world, other fpirits were called into exiftence, of a contrary nature. They were effentially impure, and mifchievous. Yet they were, minifters of the Deity ; instruments of his juftice, tochaftife his guilty creatures. Thefe Genii, known by the name of Deb'ufas, were the caufes of all the evils that diftreffed the univerfe. The fouls, or intelligences of the. fecond order, which after their tranfmigration into many bodies, whether of men or animals, had funk to an extreme depravity, were de- livered to thefe malevolent Genii, and by them tormented in the Naranea ; a place of darknefs ; the infernal region of the Indians. The Supreme Being did not himfelf create nor govern, by his own immediate power, the material world which we inhabit. He de- puted the production and the care of it to fome of the Genii of the firft order. Thofe Genii were five in number ; and each of them was guided by an infpiration which never forfook him. The Indians had perfonified this infpi- ration ; So INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, he ration ; and hence came their cuftom of aflbciat- ing a woman to each of the Genii who ruled the univerfe. Our antiquaries, taking mod of the figurative expreffions of the Brachmans literally, make many abfurd conjectures and afiertions on this fubjecl:, into which they would not have been led, if they had accurate- ly inquired into the etymology of the names of thefe fictitious goddefles. Thefe five Genii, the rulers of the material world, were, — Schada-Schivaoun, and his wife Houmani, who governed the firmament and the ftars ; Roudra, and his wife Parvadi, or Paratchatti, whofe department was the re- gion of fire; Ma-Efoura, and his wife Ma- Enovadi, who were the governors of the re- gion of the air; Vifnou, or Vichnou, and his wife Lackimi, who prefided over the element of water; and Brachma, and his wife Efcha- rafvadi, to whom the element of earth was intrufted. Thus we fee, in the phyfics of the Indians, aether was added to the four elements of the Greek philofophers. The formation and progrefs of this lower world were effedts of the power of only three of thefe five deities. Brahma created the mat- ter of which it was compofed; Vifchnou gave it its form ; and Roudra was the caufe of all its revolutions. Without infilling on the Ereat refemblance which thefe three principles ore to the three Egyptian divinities, Ifis, Ofiris, and Typhon, we mall only obferve, that fome of the Indian feds united their three principles into one figure, which was an OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. Bl was an idol with three heads, each of which was adorned with a crown. Yet Brahma had not, among the Indians, any flame or temple, or particular worfhip ; Vifchnou and Roudra were the only two of thefe five Genii who had altars and priefts. Though the former was worshipped more generally, and with more folemnity and devotion than the latter. Their idea of the form and fituation of the vifible univerfe, was extremely whimfical. They imagined that the earth was a flat body, in the middle of which there was a prodigioufly high mountain: and that round that moun- tain, the fun, the moon, the ftars, and the pla- nets revolved : — for in this order they arranged the celeftial bodies. Thefe bodies were only vifible to the inhabitants of our hemifphere, when they were betwixt them and the moun- tain; for the mountain, they thought, was the opaque fubftance by which thefe lumina- ries were eclipfed. Above the planetary fir- mament, the Indians imagined fix firmaments more, diftant from each other the fpace of a hundred thoufand days journey, *. e. of fix hun- dred thoufand Indian leagues. Each ofthofe fkies, or heavens, was deftined for the abode of beings of the fecond order, purified, or pure. They there enjoyed happinefs propor- tioned to the degree of perfection which they had preferved or regained. In the lower regions of the earth, there were likewife many Naraneas, or places of darknefs^ in which the guilty fouls were tormented, Vol. II, G according 82 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. according to the degrees of their depravity. Thefe different parts of the univerfe were furrounded with an immenfe fphere, which they called " The Egg of Brahma," — and which, they faid, was born by a goddefs, named Adarafati, or Truth, Dicd. Sicul. p. 611. — Roll. Hist. Anc. torn. iii. p. 738. etfeq. — torn. iv. p. 83, 84. — Mem.de l'Acap. des Insc. et Bell. Lett. torn, xviii. p. 38. etfeq. THE ISSEDONS. Their country was adjacent to that of the Scythians. We are informed by ancient authors, that thelffedons practifed the follow-: ing cuftoms. When a man had loft his fa- ther, a prefent was made him of cattle by all his relations. They facrificed the cattle to the gods j then cut them and the dead body of the father into fmall pieces ; and of all this flefh intermixed confifted their banquet in the houfe of the fon. The human fkull they fet in gold, and made an idol of it, to which every year they offered great facrifices. Thus the fon celebrated the funeral of his father, as in Greece he celebrated his birth-day. It is likewife related of the IfTedons, that they were a juft and equitable people, and that their women were as robuft as their men. Herod. 1. iv. c. 26. THE OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 83 THE LACEDEMONIANS. Lacedcemon was one of the moft famous republics of antiquity. Plutarch hath pre- ferved to us the inftitutions of Lycurgus, its legiflator. They have been univerfally ad- mired by ancient and modern times. I mail give the reader a particular account of them, after I have made him fomewhat acquainted with their author. Hiftorians differ much in their relations concerning Lycurgus. His extraction, his tra- vels, and his death, are various in various writers. The time in which he lived is ftill more uncertain. Some fay, that he was co- temporary withlphitus, and that, in conjunc- tion with him, he eftablimed the fufpenfion of arms during the celebration of the Olym- pic games. Ariftotle is of the fame opinion, which he grounds on an old Olympic Difcus, or quoit, on which the name of Lycurgus was engraved; and other chronologies, who, with Eratofthenes and Apollodorus, count their epochs by the fucceffion of the Spartan kings, date the birth of Lycurgus many years before the firft Olympiad. However that was, the king his father, in attempting to feparate fome people who had quarrelled and come to blows, was mortally wounded with a knife, and left his kingdom to his elder fon^ Polydectes, who died foon after. On this event all the Spartans ex- pected that he would be fucceeded by Lycur- G 2 gus. g 4 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. gus. Accordingly he took the reins of go- vernment, with the title of king; but as foon as it was known that his fifter-in-law was pregnant to his deceafed brother, he pro- nounced her child, if it mould prove a fon,the indifputable heir to the crown : and from that time he adminiftered the affairs of ftate in quality of Prodicos, a title which the Spartans gave to the tutors of their kings. In the mean time the widow propofed to him by a private meflage, that if he would marry her when he was king, her child mould be put to death. Lycurgus detefted fo unna- tural a woman ; yet he durft not exprefs his hatred of her, nor abfolutely reject her pro- pofal. On the contrary, hefeemed to approve and accept it j but he defired her to do nothing that might endanger her health, to take no poifon that might procure a mifcar- riage ; for he allured her, that the child mould be deftroyed immediately after her delivery. By this honeft deception fhe came to her full time j and when he was informed that fhe was in labour, he fent perfons in whom he could confide, to guard her, and to prevent any violence that might be offered to the in- fant. He gave orders, that if fhe was deliver- ed of a daughter, it mould be committed to the care of the women ; if of a fon, that it mould be immediately brought to him, wher- ever he was, and in whatever bufinefs he fhould be engaged. By good fortune (he was delivered while he was fupping with the prin- cipal magistrates of the city. His fervants entered OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 85 entered the hall, and prefented the child to him. He took it in his arms, and thus ad- dreffed himfelf to the company. — "Nobles of ■* Sparta, behold your new-born king." He then feated the child in the king's place ; and gave him the name of Charilaus; on account of the joy which the company exprefled at this event; and of the encomiums which they bellowed on the juftice and magnanimity of his uncle. Thus Lycurgus reigned only eight months ; but his fellow-citizens had fo much efteem and veneration for him, that thofe who obeyed him on account of his virtue, were more numerous than thofe who paid him the fame refpect becaufe he was the king's tutor, and had great power. Yet there were not wanting envious people, who were enemies to his dignity and to his high reputation. The relations and friends of the mother of the young king joined with her in refenting the humane art with which he had eluded her cruelty and ambition . and took every opportunity to defame him. Leo- nidas, among many reproaches which he one day threw out againft him, told him, that he knew from good authority, that he would foon be king. By this farcafm he meant to bring upon him the jealoufy of his fellow-citizens, and to prepare their minds to accufe him of parricide, in cafe the king mould die. In thefe difagreeable circumftances, Lycur- gus took a prudent refolution. He gave way to the civil ftorm, and retired from the ma- lice of his enemies He left Lacedaemon, G 3 and 86 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. and failed to Crete, where, with the afliftance of Thales, a famous orator and lawyer, he ftudied the laws of Minos, made a collection of thofe which he liked beft, was introduced to the perfons who were moft eminent for their learning and rank. ; and at that time deter- mined to reform the manners of his fellow- citizens, who led an effeminate and diflblute life. Thus truly fenfible and great minds can beft accommodate themfelves to prefent cir- cumftances; can beft adapt their conduct to their fttuation. Inftead of embroiling their country in difcord and faction, they yield, for a time, to the ftorm with which they are threatened; they are not obftinate in proving their innocence, in evincing the rectitude of their fentiments and actions: efpecially when they know, that the prejudice, the fortune, and the influence of their enemies have fo fafcinated the minds of thofe to whom they are accountable, that their acquittal would be extremely difficult, if not impoffible. Such was the conduct of Lycurgus-, — he extracted good from evil ; he made his mis- fortunes redound to his happinefs. He tra- velled likewife from his thirft after know- ledge; and that he might imbibe it at ids fountain-head. Such too was the fpirit of the other illuftrious men of antiquity, who were famous for the grta' events and memorable revolutions which diftinguiftied their lives. Pythagoras, Democritus, and Plato, tranf- ported themfelves, if I may ufe the exprefiion, to OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 87 to the extremities of the univerfe, to deferve, and to eftablifh that immortal glory which they have acquired. Many other celebrated men travelled with the fame view. Lycurgus, animated with this profpecT, paired over from Crete to Alia, that he might be a fpectator of the effeminacy and luxury of the Ionians; and that by comparing their manners with the fimple and auftere life of the Cretans, as a phyfician compares a weak and fickly, with a robuft and healthy confti- tution, he might gain a thorough knowledge of the different effects which contrary cuftoms and morals produce in policy and govern- ment. It was probably in Alia that he firft faw the poems of Homer, which were in the pof- feffion of the defendants of Cleophilus. Finding that the moral and political inftruc- tions of that poet were as folid and ufeful as his fictions were agreeable and entertaining, he arrangedand copied his works, and after- wards publifhed them in Greece. 'Tis true, the poems of Homer were already talked of in that country ; and fome detached parts of them were in the polfeffion of a few ; but that they were all read throughout Greece in their proper order, was owing to the care of Lycurgus. The Egyptians reported that Lycurgus likewife travelled 10 their country, and that having admired one of their inftitutions, by which their army is feparated from all the other bodies of the ftate, he adopted it at G 4 Sparta, 88 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. Sparta, where heeftablifhed a pure and a noble commonwealth. Some Greek hiftorians agree with the Egyptians in this particular. But for his travelling into Africa, Spain, and India, and for his frequently converting with the Gymnofophifts, we have only the authority of Ariftocrates, the Spartan, thefonofHip- parchus. In the mean time, the Lacedaemonians, to whom his abfence was of great difadvantage, repeatedly intreated him, by their deputies, to return: for they found that their kings had merely the title and honours of royalty, with- out any eminent quality to diftinguim them from the people. But Lycurgus was born to command and to be a true king: for nature had endowed him with a perfuafive and forcible eloquence, which won all difpo- iitions. The kings themfelves did not object to his return : on the contrary, they hoped that his prefence would check the infolence of the people, and render them more flexible and obedient. The minds of all the citizens being thus well-difpofed to receive him, he returned to Sparta, where he immediately de- termined to change the whole form of govern- ment; for he thought that a few good laws would have little effect; and that it was ne- ceffary to purify the whole body of the (late, which was in a weak and wafting condition, from its noxious humours, that it might fpeedily and thoroughly regain its political health and vigour. But before he attempted the execution of his plan, he went to Delphi, to OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 89 to confult Apollo ; and after he had offered his facrifice, he received that famous oracle, in which the prieftefs pronounced him, "A '.' friend of the gods, and a god rather than a " man." As to the permifSon which he de- fired of eftabliming good laws in his country, me augured him that the gods had heard his prayers, and that he mould form the moft ex- cellent republic that had ever exifted. En- couraged by this favourable anfwer, he com- municated his defign to the principal citizens, and requefted their affiftance. His friends, to whom he firft difclofed his fecret, and after- wards all the leading men of the flate, pro- mifed to forward, with their utmoft power, the excellent plan of this perfuafive orator and fage legiflator. When the time for beginning the great work was arrived, he gave orders that thirty of the principal citizens by whom it was ap- proved, mould arTemble in the Forum in arms, at the dawn of the next day ; that they might check the oppofition of thofe who were enemies to his enterprife. Of thofe thirty, Hippias names twenty, who were the moft eminent : but Arithmiades was the moft zealous and powerful friend of Lycurgus, and contributed moft to the eftablimment of his laws. On the gathering of the crowd, the king Charilaiis, afraid that a confpiracy was break- ing out againft his perfon, fled to the temple of Juno, which was called Chalciaeos ; but after he was informed of the real caufe of the multitude, which was confirmed to him by 6 the 9 o INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, fee. the oaths of many of his fubjecls, he quitted the temple, and joined the party of Lycurgus. For he was of fo gentle a difpofition, that the king Archelaus, who reigned in conjunction with him, faid one day to thofe who were praifing the goodnefs of that young prince, — u How can he be otherwife ? he is good even " to the bad." — Plut. in Lycurg. Article I. The ejiablijhment ofthefenate. Of all the new eftablimments of Lycurgus, the greateft and mod memorable was that of the fenate; which, tempering, as Plato well remarks, the abfolute power of the kings, by having an authority equal to theirs, moderated and preferved the government, which had been always before in a fluctuating ftate ; in- clining fometimes to tyranny, and fometimes to a licentious democracy. The fenate was, in the middle of the political machine, a kind of ballad or counterpoife, which kept it in equilibrium, which gave it (lability and per- manence. For the twenty-eight fenators fup- portcd the kings when the people grew fedi- tious and tumultuous; and they ltrenuoufly afTerted the privileges of the people when the kings were afpiring to tyranny. "We are in- formed by Ariftotle, that the number of the fenators was fixed to twenty-eight \ for that of the thirty, whom Lycurgus had at firft chofen, two deferted him, fearing the confe- quences of his attempt. Yet we are told by Spherus, OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 91 Spherus, that there were never more than twenty-eight, and that to them Lycurgus im- parted his whole plan. Perhaps our legiflator paid fome veneration to twenty-eight, be- caufe it is a complete number, compofed of feven multiplied by four, and the firft perfect number after fix; for it is equal to all its parts. But Plutarch is fatisfied that he chofe exactly this number, that the council might confift of thirty perfons, two of whom were the two kings. He had the dignity of the fenate fo much at heart, that, to give it more authority, he procured from Delphi an oracle particularly relating to the iniiitution of that afiembly. Thefe were the words of the oracle, which was termed Rhetra, or a decree : — ** When '* thou haft built a temple to Jupiter Syllanius, " and to Minerva Syllania, and when thou " haft clafled the people by families and by " tribes, and eftablifhed a fenate of thirty fe- tc nators, the two kings being included; thou " (halt hold the council from time to time "between the Babicius and the Cnafium ; " thou (halt keep to thyfelf the power of " prolonging or diflblving the aflembly ; and " thou (halt inveft the people with the pri- " vilege of ratifying or annulling what (hall " be by them propofed." The Lacedsemonians held their afTemblies between the bridge and the river, in a place which was neither adorned with ftatues no? with pictures. Lycurgus was of opinion that thefe embellifhments were fo far from being fuitable g2 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. fuitable to the dignity of public councils, that they were of great prejudice to them, by fill- ing with ufelefs or vain thoughts the minds of the company, who, inftead of being attentive to the affairs of the ftate, amufed themfelves with taking a view of ftatues or pictures, or an elegant ceiling, as idle people are entertained with furveying the decorations of a theatre. In the council, none but the two kings and the fenators had a right to propofe, and to debate on matters of ftate. And to reject or approve their determinations was the privi- lege of the people. But in procefs of time, the people having found the art of changing and corrupting the fenfe of the decrees of the fe- nate, by additions or retrenchments, which were at firft imperceptible, the kings Poly- dorus and Theopompus added to the oracle the following article : — " If the people alter •" or corrupt the decrees, let the fenators and " their chiefs retire." — /. e. Let them difmifs the aflembly, and let them annul what it has altered or falfified. And they perfuaded all the city, that the article was added by the order of the god himfelf, as we find in a paf- fage in the poet Tyrtseus. — " The ambaffa- " dors having heard the voice of Apollo, * { brought to their countrymen thefe divine " words : — Let the facred kings who govern the *' amiable city of Sparta, prefide at the coun- " cil, with the fenators; and let the people re- •' port their oracles in all their purity; let f* them never prefume to corrupt them." Plut. in Lycurg. Article OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 93 Article II. Of the Epbori. Thus Lycurgus modelled the government of his country. But the Lacedaemonian ftatef- men who came after him, found it neceffary to reftrain the power of the thirty who com- pofed the fenate, and who had grown arbitrary and tyrannical. Therefore, fays Plato, to check their domineering fpirit, they inftituted the E- phori, about a hundred and thirty years after the death of Lycurgus. The firft Ephorus was Elatus, who lived in the reign of the king Theopompus. That king was one day up- braided by his wife on account of this new in- flitution. — She told him, " That he would " leave the fovereignty much lefs refpectable " than he found it."—" I will leave it u more refpectable (anfwered he), for I will ** leave it more durable/' In fact, by re- trenching the regal power, he exempted it from envy, and confequently from danger : by hisfage policy, his fuccefTors were never reduced to the difagreeable circumftances into which the refentment of the MeiTenians and Argives brought their kings -, who would not be fatis- fied with that limited and equitable power, which greatly contributes to render fovereigns amiable in the eyes of their fubjects. We muft admire the wifdom of Lycurgus when we recollect the feditions and tumults which diftracted the commonwealths of Argi and Mef- fena; the neighbours and the relations of Spar- ta. 94 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. ta. For though immunities and privileges were as equitably diftributed; and though lands were divided in a jufter proportion in thofe flates than at Lacedsemon; they were very fubject to civil commotions. By the pride of the kings, and by the refractory fpirit of the people, they fell from the prosperous ftate in which they once flourished, and mowed by their examples, that the Spartans were the particular favourites of Heaven, which had granted them a citizen who gave them a form of government, admirably calculated to produce public tranquillity and happinefs. But its good effects were not confpicuous till a confiderable time after its inftitution. lbid % Article III. Of the divifion of the lands. Another eftablimment of Lycurgus, and one of the boldeft that he made, was the divifion of the lands. For before his inftitu- tions, the inequality of landed property at Sparta was dangerous and alarming. Mod: of the ancients were fo poor, that they had not a iingle inch of ground; all the wealth was engrofted by a few individuals. Therefore, to extirpate infolence, envy, fraud, luxury, and two of the greateft and mod notorious pefts of every community, poverty and ava- rice, he prevailed with all the citizens who pofTeffed land, to give up their property to the ftate, that a new and a jtift divifion might be made, that all the members of the republic might OF THE ANQIENT NATIONS. 95 might enjoy a happy equality ; that there might be no inferiority, bat that to which vice mould degrade them ; and that pre-emi- nence might only be the reward of virtue. This part of his plan was foon put in exe- cution. He divided the lands of Laconia into thirty thoufand parts, which he diftributed among the peafants ; the territory of Sparta he divided into nine thoufand parts, which he gave to as many citizens. Some writers fay that he divided the lands of Sparta only into fix thoufand parts ; and that they were after- wards divided into nine thoufand, by king Po- lydorus. Others affert, that Polydorus, by dividing them into nine thoufand parts, doubled numerically the divifion of Lycurgus. Each lot of land yielded an annual produce of eigh- ty bumels of barley to every man, and of twelve to every woman ; with an adequate pro- portion of grapes, and other fruits ; which quantities he thought fufficient for the fuf- tenance of a healthy and active people. We are told, that fome years after he had given laws to Sparta, on his return from a long voyage, as he paffed through the fields of La- conia, and in the time of harveft obferved the equal fize of the mocks of corn, he faid with a fmile to thofe who accompanied him, " Would not you think that the lands *' of Laconia have been bequeathed by a father " to many fons, who have jufi divided their " inheritance ?" Ibid. 8 Article 96 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, Sec. Article IV. Of tie Iron money. Its confequences . After he had thus divided immoveable pro- perty, his next objedt was a fimilar diftribu- tion of their other pofleflions ; for one of the leading principles of his plan, was, univerfal equality. — But fearing that this intended re- gulation would meet with more opposition than the former, he made it operate oblique- ly, yet in fuch a manner as to fap the foun- dations of avarice. Firft, he called in all the gold and filver coin, for which he fubftituted iron money, fo heavy, and of fo little value, that as much of it as amounted to ten minae could not be conveyed without a cart and two oxen, nor contained inlefs fpace than that of a whole chamber. This new money was no foon- er current in Lacedsemon, than it banimed in- justice, and every other crime. Who would have ftolen, or taken as a bribe, a heavy and unwieldy fubftance, which could not be con- cealed ; the pofleflion of which was not en- vied, and which was altogether ufelefs in any form but that which it received from the mint ? For the iron of which money was to be made, could only be ufeful under the denomination of coin j— it was dipped in vinegar when it was red-hot ; hence it loft its ductility, be- came extremely brittle ; and was unfit for the forge and the hammer. He likewife banimed from Sparta all fri- volous and fuperfluous arts ; and if he had not OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 97 not banifhed them, they muft certainly have gone to decay ; the abolition of the old mo- ney muft have deftroyed them. The artifts could no longer difpofe of their works; the iron- money was no recompence for their la- bour; it was too heavy to circulate to any considerable efTecl:, even in Sparta; and in every other part of Greece it was a fubject of contempt and laughter. Thus the Lacedae- monians could not purchafe any foreign wares; no merchant-fhip entered their ports; they were not vifited by any rapacious vagabond; neither by fophifts, nor by fortune-tellers, nor by quacks, nor by fellers of flaves, nor by goldfmiths, nor by jewellers; — for money is the object which attra&s all thefe people. Thus luxury, deprived of every thing that fupported it, languifhed and died away. The rich found themfelves in a fituation not more eligible than that of the poor: — for their riches could not procure them any elegancies or pleafures; they were locked up, and ufe- lefs. . All neceffary furniture, fuch as beds, tables, and chairs, was extremely well made at Sparta. The form of the Laconian goblet, termed the Cothon, was particularly famous. This gob- let was of great ufe, efpecially to the army, as Critias obferves : for it was made of earth ; and its colour concealed the difagreeable com- plexion of fuch water as foldiers are often obliged to drink. Towards the brim it had a hollow circle, which received all the grounds. The Lacedaemonian workmen, in confequence Vol. II. H of gS INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. of the wife legiflation of Lycurgus, being no longer encouraged to profecute the luxurious arts, gave all their attention to thofe which were neceflary and ufeful. Ibid. Article V. Of their public meals. Lycurgus, determined to eradicate luxury and the love of wealth, made another excel- lent inflitution to regulate their meals. By this inftitution all the citizens were to eat to- gether the fame food which the legiflator prefcribed them. Butlers, and profefled cooks, iumptuous beds, and magnificent tables were prohibited. From the meals of the Spartans were excluded all the inventions of luxury, which provoke the appetite to excefs, which occafion a languor of body and mind, which bring on difeaies and death. — The laws of Ly- curgus had lingular, and excellent effects : they rendered the pofleflion of money unenvied and fecure; they encouraged the focietyof the table, and yet made it incompatible with ex- travagance and luxury. His citizens could not enjoy, they could not even difplay mag- nificence : for the poor and the rich ate in the fame place. Thus^, at Sparta it might be faid, that Plutus was blind, with the ftrongeft pro- priety and truth ; he was there {hut up, and confined to a fpot, like a ftatue without life and motion. None were permitted to eat at home before they fat down to table in the public halls; for they who ate and drank little 3 there > OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 99 there, were clofely obferved, and reproached for their intemperance, or for their delicacy of appetite, which made them defpife thofe pub- lic meals. The rich were exafperated at the levelling laws of Lycurgus. They affembled in a great number, gave him the moil abufive language, threw {tones at him, and obliged him to fly for his life. He efcaped the fury of the en- raged multitude, and took (helter in a temple. But Alcander, a paffionate and impetuous young man, though in other refpe&s of a good difpofition, purfued him thither, ran up to him, gave him a violent blow on the face with a flick, and (truck out one of his eyes. Lycurgus was neither dejedted nor enraged at this dreadful accident. He raifed his head, turned his face to the people, and mowed them the wound, which had robbed him of an eye. They no fooner faw what had befallen him than they were confounded and afhamed ; they immediately delivered up Alcander to him, accompanied him home, and exprefTed their extreme forrow for his misfortune. He thank- ed, and difmifTed them, and retained the young man ; whom he was fo far from treating with rigour, that he did not even reproach him with his violence. He only obliged him to quit his relations, and live with him. Alcander, who, as I have already obferved, was of a ge- nerous nature, obeyed Lycurgus without a murmur; and after he had lived with him for fome time, he thoroughly knew, and ad- mired his character; — his affability, his can- H 2 dour, ico INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. dour, his extreme temperance, the indefati- gable application of his mind, and all his great qualities. In every company he contradicted malicious fame; and infixed, that Lycurgus, inftead of being haughty and rude, was one of the humbleft and mod humane of men. And the virtues which he admired, he endea- voured to emulate. Such was the punifhment which Alcander received for offering violence to one of the mod refpeclable of mortals : the impetuofity of his youth was corrected; and from a paflionate and turbulent, he became a calm and moderate man. In memory of this accident Lycurgus con- fecrated a temple to Minerva, to whom he gave the title of Optiletisi becaufe the eye was called optilos by the Dorians. Some au- thors, however, among whom is Diofcorides, who wrote a treatife on the Spartan govern- ment, alien, that Lycurgus was wounded; but that he did not lofe an eye; and that he built a temple to Minerva, from gratitude for his recovery. The Lacedaemonians, however, on account of the firoke which Alcander £ave Lycurgus, never after went with flicks to their afTemblies. The public meals were called by the Cre- tans, Andria y and by the Lacedaemonians, Pbiditia-, either becaufe they were productive of union and friendfliip among the citizens ; —Phiditia being ufed for Philitia ; or becaufe they habituated them to a fimple and frugal manner of living, which is termed in Greek, Pbeido. Some critics are of opinion, that the firft OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 101 firft letter of the word is furreptitious; and that it was not Pbiditia, but Editia, the de- rivative of a verb, which fignifies to eat. About fifteen perfons fat at one table; each of whom contributed a buihel of flour a month, eight meafures of wine, five pounds of cheefe, two pounds and a half of figs, and a fmall fum of their money to buy fleih meat, When a perfon returned from hunting, or fa- crificed at home, he fent a piece of his victim, or of his venifon, to the table to which he be- longed ; for a Spartan was only permitted to fup at home when he had returned late from the chace, or when it was late before he had fi- nished his facrifice : at all other times he was obliged to fup at the public table; a cuilom which was never violated till Agis, on his re- turn from the army, after he had gained a vic- tory over the Athenians, chofe to fup at home with his wife, and fent to the public hall for his portions, which were refufed him by the Polemarchi. The next day, Agis having from refentment omitted the facrifice which was always offered on the fortunate termination of a war, he was feverely fined by the Polemar- chi. Their children ate at thefe tables which were their fchools of temperance and virtue. There too they heard grave difcourfes on the art of government; there they were under the eye of fevere mailers ; but whofe feverity was often relaxed by innocent mirth and poignant wit ; and from them they learned to be cheer- ful and witty, without wounding the repu- H 3 tatioi 102 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, ftp. tation and peace of their neighbour. Nor was raillery excluded from their convprfat»onj but their raillery was without malevolence ; its intention and its tendency were virtuous : to bear a jeft gracefully, was a fortitude to which they thought a Lacedssmonian mould afpire. But he who was indulging his jocularity on any one, defifted from it in a moment, when he faw that it gave pain. The oldeft man of the company, pointing to the door, faid to each perfon on his coming into the hall ; " Nothing that is faid here, tranfpires that way." Every one who ate at their public tables was elected in the following manner. Each mem- ber of the fociety that fat at the table, to which a fellow-citizen wimed to be admitted, made a little ball of foft bread. The flav« who waited at table, paffed through the com- pany, with ajar upon his head; he who liked the candidate, threw his ball, in its round form, into the jar: and he who rejected him, made it flat before he threw it in. The ball thus flattened was equivalent to the pierced bean, which was the fign of condemnation; and if there was but one ball in this form, the candidate was not received : for they ad- mitted none but thofe who were agreeable to all the company. Him who was refufed we may call, Decadized, for the veffel into which the balls were thrown, was termed Cados. Their principal difli was their black broth. The old men liked it fo well, that they made their OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 103 their meal of it; all of them feated at one fide of the table; while the youth ate the meat. A king of Pontus, that he might eat their black broth in perfection, bought a La- cedaemonian cook; the firft mouthful was Co difagreeable to him, that he could take no more. On his exprefTing his diflike of it with fome indignation, the cook replied — " This broth, " Sir, wants a neceiTary and excellent fea- *' foning. Before you eat it, you mould c< bathe in the Eurotas." After they had eaten and drank very mo- derately, they went home without light, agreeably to Lycurgus's law, by which the Spartans were to be accuftomed to walk in the dark firmly and without appreheniion.-^- Such were the regulations of their table. Article VI. The Lacedemonians had no written law. Lycurgus, in one of his ordinances, which were called Rhetrte> prohibited his citizens from committing his laws to writing. He well knew that the impreflion of good infti- tutions on the mind, and the vigorous and habitual practice of them, are the fureft means to make a people virtuous and happy. For the moral and general principles which are in- filled into youth by a careful education, fink deep into the foul, and in time are exerted by eafy, by fpontaneous ads of the will, which produce a much more effectual and nobler conduct than the auftere law of neceflity. H 4 Young iC4 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. Young men thus trained, become legiflators and laws to themfelves. — So Plutarch reafons. Ibid. Article VII. Some particular ordinances of Lycurgus. With regard to inferior contracts, tthich relate only to matters of intereft, and which muft always vary according to the diverfity of cafes ; he thought it moft prudent not to limit them to exprefs forms ; but to leave it in the power of a well educated and enlightened people, to lengthen or make them fhort as occafion fhould require. For the principal object of his laws was to form good men and good citizens : therefore the firft of his or- dinances, as we have already remarked, pro- hibited all written law. His fecond ordinance was againft magnifi- cence. — M In making the floors and doors of " houfes, let no other tool (fays he) be ufed, where the oldeft men of each tribe aflembled, and exa- mined it. If they found it well-made and ftrong, they ordered that it mould be brought up, and afligned to it one of the nine thoufand portions for its inheritance. If, on the con- trary, it was ill-made, delicate, and weak, it was thrown, by their command, into a place termed the Apothetce^ which was a bog near the Mount Taygetus. For they thought it detrimental both to the infant and to the republic that it fhould live ; fince its form and conftitution were fo unhappy, that it could never enjoy health and vigour. In confequence of thefe principles, the Spartan midwives did not warn infants in water, as was the cuflom in other countries; but they warned them in wine, to try if they were of a healthy and robufl conftitution. For we are told, that fickly and epileptic children, who are thus warned, being unable to refill: the ftrength of the wine, die, from their weaknefs* and that thofe who are healthy are invigorated by the lotion. The \ OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS, m The nurfes, too, in their office, ufed all pof- fible care and art, for the welfare of the chiU dren. Jnftead of binding them with fwaddling clothes, they left the whole body free, to give them an eafy and a noble air. They likewife accuftomed them to eat the coarfeft food with a good appetite, and to defpife delicacies ; to be left alone and in the dark without fear ; inftantaneoufly to check ill-humour, fqualling, and tears, which are marks of a peevifh and mean fpirit. This excellent education ren- dered thefe women fo famous, that foreigners engaged nurfes from Sparta ; and we are well informed that Amycla, the nurfe of Alcibiades, was a Lacedaemonian. We are told indeed by Plato, that Pericles rendered the care of Alcibiades's nurfe ineffectual, by giving him for his preceptor a Have, named Zopyrus, who pofleffed only fervile qualities : whereas, by the laws of Lycurgus, the important object of education was never to be confided to a hireling nor to a flave, who was made a property by money. He did not even fuffer parents to edu- cate their children ; but when they were feven years old, he divided them into clafles; in which they were taught obedience to the fame laws, facility in the fame general difci- pline, and dexterity and addrefs in the fame diyerfions. From each clafs he chofe a boy who had the moil vigorous and agreeable perfon, who was higheft in reputation, who had given the moft fignal proofs of underftanding, prudence, and courage. Him he appointed the chief of his ii2 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. his clafs, and to him his companions paid the utmoft attention and refpedt. They im- plicitly obeyed his orders ; and fubmitted to the punimments which he infli&ed on them without a murmur. Thus might their whole education be termed an apprenticeship to obe- dience. Befides, the old men were prefent at their games, and often raifed difputes and quarrels among them, that they might have opportunities thoroughly to difcover their na- tural difpofitions, and to put their ftrength and intrepidity to the full proof. As to their literature, it was only fuch as was abfol utely necefTary. The great accompl i fh - ments of a Spartan were, to obey, to fupport hardfhips, and to conquer. That they might completely acquire thefe habitudes, as they ad- vanced in year?, the feverity of their difcipline and manner of living was augmented : their hair was cut off; they were accuftomed to go without (hoes and ftockings, and they gene- rally performed their games naked. When they arrived at their twelfth year, their tunick was taken from them, and a plain coarfe cloak was allowed them annually ; hence they were always dirty and greafy ; for they were never permitted to bathe and perfume them- felves, but on ftated days, which were few through the year. Each clafs had an apart- ment in which they all flept on beds of large and hard reeds, that grew on the banks of the river Eurotas. Thofe reeds they gathered themfelves j as they were not allowed knives, they were obliged to break them. In winter they OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 113 they were permitted to mix the down of thirties with the reeds $ as it was foft, and afforded fome warmth. At this age they began to have lovers ; /. e. perfons who were attached to thofe boys that were confpicuous for the beauty of external form, and for the endowments of the mind. Thefe lovers attended their favourites whither- foever they went. But that thofe connexions might be warranted by modefty and decorum, they were under the ftrict inspection of the old men, who never failed to be prefent at the exercifes of the boys ; not coolly and from a neceffary compliance with the laws j but from an ardent and paternal affection for thofe difciples of the ftate. Thus wherever the boys were, they were always in the fight of moni- tors, and were reprehended if they committed a fault. Befides, they had a general governor, who was one of the fageft and moft relpect- able members of the republic ; and who no- minated as a chief to each clafs him who was the moll: prudent and the braveft of the Etpevzs — Irenes* So they called the youth who had been difmiffed two years from the claffes of the boys. Their oldeft boys they called MsAA£ we are told, having ftolen a young fox, hid it under his robe, and without the leaft: expreffion of pain, let it tear his belly with its claws and teeth till he dropped down dead. And this anecdote will not appear incredible, if we recoiled: what the Spartan boys endured in the time of Plutarch ; who informs us, that he had feen many of them fcourged to death at the temple of Orthian Diana, with- out uttering the leaft complaint. While the Irene was at table, he would order one of the boys to fing ; to another he would propofe a queftion which could not be anfwered without good fenfe and acutenefe of mind. For example: li Who is our moft *' virtuous and moft refpedtable citizen?" — <{ What is your opinion of fuch an action?" By fuch queftions they learned from their childhood the characters of the citizens, and were taught the important knowledge of hu- man nature. If the boy whom the Irene afked " Who was the worthieft man of the " republic?" — or, — " Who was the worft?" helitated in giving an anfwer, his flownefs was deemed a mark of an indolent and undiftin- I 2 guifhing n6 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, fee. guiming mind, incapable of obferving, and being enamoured of thofe chara&ers which excite youth to a virtuous and honourable emu- lation. His anfwer was to be immediate, and (lengthened with a reafon or a ftriking proof, exprefled in few words. The Irene bit the thumb of the boy whofe anfwer was not per- tinent; and that punimment was commonly inflided in the prefence of the old men and of the magiftrates, that they might be fatis- tkd of its propriety. Nothing was faid to the mafter while the boys were prefent ; but when they were difmifled, the Irene himfelf was puniflied, if he had exercifed his autho- rity with too much rigour or lenity. The lovers participated the good or the bad cha- racter of the boys whom they loved. One of . thefe boys, when he was fighting another, having betrayed his fenfe of pain and cow- ardice by a cry, the magiftrates fined his lover for having neglected to fortify the mind of his favourite. The boys were carefully taught the ener- gic, the laconic mode of converfation j — to convey ftrong andextenfive fenfe in fewwords; to give poignancy and grace to their fliort periods. The laws of Lycurgus directed that the coin of Sparta mould be immenfely large, and of trivial value in proportion to its fize ; but that its language mould be fuccinct in its form, yet comprehenfive and copious in its fenfe. Their children were accuftomed, by a long filence, to prepare an animated and de- cifive reply : hence they were fo famous for quicknefs OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 117 quicknefs and force of repartee. Their an- fwers were like that of their king Agis to an Athenian, who ridiculed the Lacedaemonian fwords, and faid, *' Thev werefo fhort that jug- " glers might eafily fwallow them." — ct Short " as they are," replied Agis, '* they feldom fail " to reach the hearts of our enemies." *' I have always found (fays Plutarch) that " the Laconian language is extremely concife, ** nervous, and ftriking." Such was the ftyle of Lycurgus, if We. may judge of it by fome of his anfwers, which have been deli- vered down to pofterity. A foreigner was one day advifing him to introduce the popular government into Sparta, as it was mod favour- able to the natural equality of mankind " Go you, then," replied our legiflator, cl and " eltablim it firfl in your own country — fet " me the example." Wehave anotheranfwer of his on facrifices. On his being afked why he had directed the Spartans to offer victims fo poor, and of fo little value; he aniwered, — *' that we may always have it in our power to " honour the gods." We have likewife ano- ther on combats — " I have prohibited my citi- u zens from no combats but thofe in which " the hand is flretched forth" Other anfwers of his are likewife preferved, that were taken from letters which he wrote to the Spartans. <£ You aik me (faid he in one of thofe letters) " how you are to avoid invafion's from your " enemies ? — By keeping always poor, and by " never violating your equality of poiTefTion?." The Spartans having afked him, whether he I 3 woull n8 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, fee. would advife them to fortify their city? he replied, — " Do not imagine that a city is with- «' out walls, which, in times of exigence, in- M ftead of bricks, has valiant men around it." We have not, indeed, any certain proof that thefe anfwers were given by Lycurgus ; how- ever that be, it is well known that the Lace- daemonians were great enemies to prolixity of difcourfe, as we find by many anecdotes of their converfation. Their king Leonidas thus reproved a great talker, who faid many good things abfurdly introduced. — * My friend, " your fentiments and expreffions are in them- " fclves excellent; but as you apply them, " they are impertinent." The king Chari- laus, the nephew of Lycurgus, was afked, why his uncle had inftituted lb few laws? — " Becaufe (faid he) thofe who fpeak little, ♦' need few laws." And Archidamidas re- plied to fome perfons who were blaming the fophift Hecatasus, becaufe he had not fpoken a word during the whole tim^ of i'upper in their company. — * : He who kiiows *' how to fpeak, knows alfo when he fbo ild ** keep filence." And that their anfwers. as I have obferved above, were often extremely forcible and poignant, I (hall give the follow- ing proof. A talkative and troublefome fel- low was one day teizing Pemaratus with a thoufand impertinent queftions, and among the reft he afked him, who was the moil re- ipectable man in Lacedirmon r — (< He," re- plied Demaratus, •* who refembles you the •« lcaft." Agis OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 119 Agis hearing fome people beftow high praifes on the Eleans, becaufe they judged equitably at the Olympic games, anfwered, — " Is it fo furprifing that the Eleans mould be " juft one day in every five years?" A ftranger gave the following proof of his affedtion for the Spartans : — '* In our city I " am called by every one Philolacon." i. e. a lover of Lacedcemon. — Theopompu?, the Spar- tan king, who heard him, replied, — " My " friend, it would be much more to your ho- " nour that they called you Philopolites :" i. e. A lover of your fellow -citizens. An Athenian orator termed the Lacedae- monians an ignorant people. — " You are right," replied Pliironax, the fon of Faufanias : " for " of all the Greeks, we are the only ilate •' who have not learned any ill of you/' Archidamidas was aiked, how many Spar- tans there might be?-~" Enow," anfwered he, " to exterminate the bad." Even in their jocularity we may obferve, that they faid nothing trifling, nothing that did not deferve to be revolved and remem- bered. He, for example, who was defired to go and hear a man who could perfectly imi- tate the nightingale, anfwered,—" I have u often heard the nightingale itfelf." Another read the following epitaph: — <{ In this tomb are depofited the remains of thofe brave men, who, after having fuppreffed tyranny in their country, fell victims to the god Mars, and died before the walls of Se- linonte."— " They well deferved to die," faid I 4 he, a. 120 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. he " who fupprefTed the tyranny* which they *' ought to have eradicated." They were fo accuftomed to exprefs them- felves in this manner, in apophthegms, or lhort and ftrong fentences, that it has been juftly remarked, that to laconize, was not fo much a diligence to excell in bodily exercifes as in wifdom. Article IX. Laws for their men. Their education extended to their mature years. For none of their citizens were per- mitted to live as they chofe. Sparta was a fort of camp, in which all had their portions and public duties affigned them. No Lace- daemonian lived to gratify private views : his whole exiftence was devoted to the fervice of the commonwealth. When they had no particular bufinefs en- joined them, when they had nothing to do, they vifited the boys, to give them ufeful in- ftruclions; or they went themfelves to be in- truded by their feniors. For one of the beft and happieft inftitutionsofLycurgus, was that which devoted all the time of the citizens to truly ufeful and noble objects; which prohi- bited them from applying themfelves to the mechanical arts, from growing rich by much labour and pain ; though indeed his laws ren- dered wealth* contemptible by rendering it ufelefs. Their Helots cultivated their lands, fur which they paid them a certain revenue. 3 We OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 121 We are told by ancient authors, that a Lace- daemonian who happened to be at Athens when the courts of juftice were open, was informed, that a citizen had been heavily fined for idlenefs, and that he had gone home extremely grieved, and accompanied by his friends, who fympathized with him in his mis- fortune. The Lacedaemonian defired to fee the unhappy perfon who had been condemned for having lived nobly and like a freeman. We fee by this anecdote, that to exercife any manual labour, to work for gain, was ac- counted mean and fervile by the Lacedaemo- nians. Law-fuits were banifhed from Lacedasmon with money. How indeed could they fubfift in a republic where there was neither poverty nor wealth; where equality precluded want, where plenty was diftributed in ex act propor- tion among people of chaflifed paffions? All the time they were not engaged in war was devoted to feftivals, games, banquets, hunting, and affemblies for exercifes or for converfa- tion. For all thofe who were above thirty years old went not to market; their domeftic affairs were managed by their lovers, or by their relations. It was likewife counted ig- nominious for the old men to give much ap- plication to thefe inferior objects, inflead of paffing the greater part of the day in the places of exercife, and in the halls, where they aflembled for converfation and inftructive amufement — not to form commercial and lu- crative projects, but to give to honourable actions 122 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, $5. actions their jufl tribute of praife, and to brand immoral and pufillanimous deeds with their merited cenfure. As this conversation was happily tempered with an eafy and lively vein of wit and humour, it amufed while it in- flructed and reformed. For Lycurgus him- felf was not a man of that conftitutional aufte- rity which is never relaxed: on the contrary, he placed in each of the halls a little image of laughter, as we are informed by Solibius : and thus he always brightened their minds with the idea of joy ; our moft agreeable com- panion at our meals and at our labours. He was particularly careful to give the minds of his citizens fo fociai a turn, that they mould never choofe, that they mould not endure to be alone ; but that they mould live like bees, always together, always around their chiefs; that they mould be raifed above felfinh views, and engroffed by a zeal for the wel- fare and glory of their country. That this part of Lycurgus's plan was fulfilled, is evi- dent from fome of their anfwers. Pedaretus, having miffed the honour of be- ing chofen one of the three hundred who compofed their council, went home not only Satisfied, but gay. He faid, — " He was glad u that Sparta had found three hundred citi- " zens more virtuous than he." Pifidratidas was fent on an embafiy, with many other Lacedaemonians, to fome Satrapae of the king of Perfia. Thofe Perfian lords afked the ambaffadors, — t( }i they were deputed by " their republic, 6Y if they came of their own " accord?" OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 123 " accord ?" — 138 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. " tors, and of ratifying the laws, made the " government, in thofe refpe&s, democratical. " The inftitution of the Ephori corre&ed the " errors and fupplied the defedts of his firft e cenfured. " I mall only throw out a few fhort reflec- " tions, which undoubtedly have occurred to " many, as foon as they were made acquainted «« with thofe inftitutions. i°. On the law by which they were directed to rear fome children, and to expofe others. Cl Is not every man (hocked who hears of " their inhuman policy towards their new- M born children, who is told of the barbarous •' fentence of death which was pronounced 44 on thofe unhappy infants, that brought inr '* to the world a conftitution too weak and " delicate to bear the fevere difcipline to '« which this republic deftined all its fubjects? " Is it impoflible that children who are " fickly and puny in the cradle, mould in time grow healthy and ftrong? Have we " not <( OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 14^ *' not many inftances to the contrary? But " fuppofing this mould not be true, can a. " man only ferve his country by bodily " ftrength ? And are wifdom, prudence, " counfel, generofity, valour, greatnefs of foul, " in a word, all the qualities and good effects *' which are derived from the mind, worthy cl of no eftimation ? Omm'no, Mud honcftum " quod ex animo excelfo magnificoque queer imus t tc animiefficitur, non corporis viribus. — " Thofe ** honourable, thofe glorious actions which " we expect from perfons of ah elevated and " great character, are atchieved, not by the *' vigour of the body, but by that of the <£ mind." — Was Lycurgus lefs ufeful to Spar- " ta by the laws which he eftablifhed than " her greater!: generals were by their victo-< l< ries ? The perfon and mien of Agefilaus " were fo contemptible, that when the Egyp- " tians firft faw him, they could not refrain " from laughing. And yet that Agefilaus tl made the monarch of Perfia tremble in the " innermort: receffes of his palace. diforders which reigned at Sparta, as Arif- " totle judicioufly obferves. When we com- " pare fome of the inftitutions of the wifefl " of heathen legiflators with the purity and *' fanctity of the laws of the gofpel, we are " fully convinced, if we are free from preju- " dice, of the excellence and dignity of •■ Chriftianity. " Of this we have ftill a more ftriking " conviction, by comparing the beft of Ly- curgus's laws with thofe of the gofpel. That the wealthy Lacedaemonians confented " to a divifion of lands, and to. an abolition of '! portable coin, which brought them to a *.' level with the poor, was unquestionably a '* fingular and furprifing compliance. But " the Spartan legiflator enforced his laws with " the a OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 153 (( the terror of arms. The law-giver of the " Chriftians ratified^ with a celeftial maxim 41 _ — " BlefTed are the poor in fpirit," • € * And thoufands, through a feries of ages, 'I have fold their lands, renounced their pof- ** feffions, quitted their All, to follow their '^ poor and perfecuted matter." Roll, Hist. Anc. torn. ii. p. 32. etfeq. Article XIV. Of the Lacedemonian troops. The Spartan armies were compofed of four forts of troops ; of citizens, allies, mercena- ries, and flaves. A mark was fometimes im- prefled on a hand of the free foldiers ; it was imprinted on the forehead of the flaves. In- terpreters are of opinion that the following ex- preffions in the Revelation alluded to this cuf- tom ; that all were obliged to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads ; — and that St. Paul fays, in allufion to the fame cuf- tom, — I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jefus. The citizens of Lacedsemon were of two forts ; thofe who dwelt in the city, and were therefore called, Spartiatce, and thofe who abode in the country. In the time of Lycur- gus, the Spartiatae amounted to nine thoufand; and the inhabitants of the country to thirty thoufand. It appears that their number was fomewhat diminished in the time of Xerxes ; for Demaratus, when he gives that prince an account of the Lacedaemonian troops, fays that 154 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. that there were only eight thoufand Spartia- ta?. The Spartiatas were the flower of the na- tion, and we may judge how highly they were valued, by the diftrefs of the republic for the three or four hundred, who were befieg- ed, and made prifoners in the little Ifland of Sphadteria. The Lacedaemonians were, in general, very careful of the lives of their coun- trymen : but a few of them lerved in their wars ; but thofe few conftituted the ftrength of their armies. A Laceda;monian general was afked, •' How many Spartans he had in " his army ?" — " As many as are needful, re- u plied he, to repel the enemy." They ferved the ftate at their own expence ; they did not receive pay from the republic till it was in its decline. The allies were by far the more numerous part of the troops of this republic ; and they were paid by the ftates that fent them. Thofe foreign troops were called mercena- ries that were paid by the republic. The Spartans were never without Helots in their armies ; and we find that in the bat- tle of Plataea,each citizen had feven. I do not fuppofe that this was the fixed number ; and I cannot conceive to what ufe they were def- tined. To arm a great number of flaves, who naturally hated their mafters for the barbarous treatment which they received from them, and whofe revenge was therefore much to be- dreaded, whenever they had an opportunity of inflicting it, feems to have been a very imprudent cuftom. Yet Herodotus tells us, that OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 155 that they ferved in the Lacedaemonian armies as light-armed troops. The infantry was compofed of two kinds of foldiers. One was the heavy-armed infantry; they carried large bucklers, fpears, half-pikes, and fabres; in them confifted the chief flrength of the army. The other was the light-arm- ed infantry j they carried bows and flings. They were commonly placed in the front of the army, or in the firft line of the wings, to annoy the enemy with arrows, javelins, and ftones. After their firft difcharges, they re- treated, formed the fecond line, and continu- ed to fight in that fituation. Thucydides, in defcribing the battle of Mantinea, thus divides the Lacedaemonian troops. There were ftven regiments, each of four troops, without reckoning the Squi- ritae, who were fix hundred ; of thefe confiited the cavalry. "The troop, according to the Greek interpreter, was compofed of a hun- dred and twenty- eight men ; and was divided into four fmall troops, of thirty-two men each. Thus the whole regiment amounted to five hundred and twelve men ; and the three regiments, in all, to three thoufand five hun- dred and eighty-four men. Each of the fmall troops, when ranged in order of battle, had four men in front, and was eight deep. Such was the common depth of their files ; but it was changed by their officers, as exigencies required. The Lacedaemonians made little ufe of ca- valry, till after their war with the Meflenians, in i 5 6 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. in which war they felt the want of them* They took molt of their cavalry from a town in the neighbourhood of Lacedaemon, named Sc ros; hence jhofe troops were called Sciritte, or Squirita. They were always at the head of the left wing, to which place they claim- ed a right. Ibid. torn. iii. p. 53. etfeq,* Article XV. The character of the Lacedamonians. Mr. Boffuet has drawn the character of the Lacedaemonians by comparing it with that of the Athenians. Mr. Rollin, in his Ancient Hiflory, has copied this part of Mr. BofTuet's mafterly work; I mail likewife take the liber- ty to tranfcribe it, as it will make the reader thoroughly acquainted with the genius of the two republics. " Athens and Lacedaemon vJere undoubt- " edly the greatelt of all the Grecian repub- t( lies. It was not in the power of human " nature to excell the Athenians in wit, and " the Lacedaemonians in ftrength. Pleafure " was the universal object at Athens ; at La- " cedasmon a hard and laborious life. Each " of the ftates loved glory and liberty; — but " at Athens liberty often degenerated into li- " centioufnefs : at Lacedaemon, conftrained by " fevere laws, the more (he was reprefled at " home, the more {he was active and victo- 41 rious abroad. Athens, too, was fond of " conqueft; but on a principle different from " that which animated Lacedaemon. Intereft li was mixed with her love of glory. Her '« citizens OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 157 or empha- vhen their feftivals were celebrated. The j Lace- i 7 6 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. Lacedaemonians, at thofe times, were fo far polite as to feat them in a fhade, while they took thofe places themfelves which were of- fered them by chance. Xenophon beftows great encomiums on Lichas, who diftinguifhed himfelf by his attention to the ftrangers who came to Lacedaemon on thofe public occa- ftons, and by entertaining them with the warmeft hofpitality. And probably to this concourfe of ftrangers we are to attribute the rife of the feaft Copis, which is particularly defcribed by Athenaeus. In this feaft the ftrangers and Lacedaemonians ate together, without any diftin&ion* The Xenalafia was likewife infringed in favour of individuals, and of whole nations, to whom the Lacedaemonians were attached for particular reafons. Arion, a famous mu- fician, was {hipwrecked near the coaft of Laconia, and got to land on the Cape Tenarus; the Spartans received him with great huma- nity; and he confecrated in the temple of Apollo, which was iituated on the fame pro- montory, a ftatue of brafs, as a monument of his danger and efcape. Themiftocles, after the battle of Salamis, having neither received from his countrymen the Athenians, nor from the other ftates of Greece, the honours which he thought he deferved, repaired to Lacedse- mon. There they prefented* him with the olive-crown ; they gave hjm their moft mag- nificent chariot ; and when he took his leave of their republic, thirty of their principal citi- zens-efcorted him to their frontiers ; a refpe£t 8 and OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 177 and homage which the Lacedaemonians had never before paid to any ftranger. Alcibiades,, and fome others, who were obliged to leave their country for reafons of ftate, found a ho- fpitable afylum at Lacedeemon. Betwixt that Athenian general and a citizen of Sparta, a very ftrong friendfhip was formed; which was afterwards of great advantage to Endeas, the fon of the Lacedaemonian. The Athenian Pericles, and Archidamus king of Sparta, were likewife connected by the ties of hofpitality, which were fo facred among the ancients, that when Archidamus laid wafte the Athenian territories, he fpared the lands of Pericles. Agefilaus, another king of Sparta, between whom and Xenophon there fubfifted a warm friendship, repeatedly advifed the latter to fend his children to Sparta for their education. Whenever the Dorians came to Lacedaemon, diftinguimed honours were paid them there: they gave them the precedence before their moil illuftrious citi- zens; becaufe their anceftors had aflifted the Diofcuri in redeeming Helen. When the Phliafians, who were allies of the Spartan re- public, and had been equally faithful to its intereft in its profperous and unfortunate times^' viiited Lacedasmon, among the other honours which were paid them there, they received an ox, as a prefent of hofpitality. Even the Jews had a free communication with the Lacedas- jnonians; becaufe the two nations boafted their confanguinity, and each of them claimed Abraham for their progenitor. All the fo- Vol. II. N reigners, 178 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. reigners we have now mentioned were kindly received at Lacedasmon. But many Grangers were treated in a very different manner by the Lacedaemonians. Archilochus of Paros was obliged to quit their city almoft as foon as he had entered it, for having afTerted in one of his poems, that it was better to fly in battle, than to die fvvord in hand. They likewife expelled Meandrius, the tyrant of Samos, from Sparta ; becaufe he had prefented vefTels of gold and filver to their citizens. — Cephifophon, for having boafted that he had difcourfed a whole day on a fub- jcct that had been propofed to him ; and Mi- thecus, for his excellence in the art of cookery, which he had oftentatioufly difplayed at Lace- daemon, to the prejudice of the Spartan tem- perance and frugality. This vigilant atten- tion to the manners of ftrangers, this fevere fuppreflion of their luxury and licentioufnefs, did not prevent them from committing extra- vagancies, even in the midfl: of Lacedasmon. We may inftance the contemptuous frolic of the companions of Clazomenes, who filled with dirt and ordure, the chairs of the Ephori, the facred feats of juftice and equity. Thofe magiftrates did not refent the infnlt with the indignation it feemed to doferve : they only made a public crier proclaim the following ordinance of laconic brevity and force: — " Be " it known to all, that the Clazomenians (hall " not be accountable for foolifh conduct." Particular magiftrates were appointed at Lacedffmon, to fuperintend the conduct of Grangers ; OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 179 Grangers j they were chofen by the kings; and had the title of Proxeni, from the nature of their office, which was fimilar to that of our Introducers, Introdutleurs. The bufi- nefs of the Proxeni was to receive ftrangers, to provide them with lodgings and other ac- commodations, to introduce and feat them at public places; and to keep a watchful eye over their conduct, left it mould corrupt, or in any other way injure the republic. The inftitution of Proxeni was common to the Grecian dates, who were continually fending deputies to one another, for the tranfa&ion of public affairs: Alcibiades the Athenian, for example, and Polydamus the ThefTalian, were Proxeni over the Lacedaemonians, the one in Athens and the other in ThefTaly. And by the fame policy, the Athenians and Theffa- Jians had their Lacedaemonian Proxeni in the city of Sparta. Lacedasmon was inacceflible to ftrangers till after (he had conquered Athens. The diilblutenefs of manners with which that con- quer!: was attended, relaxed the Xenalafia, as well as her other effential maxims of govern- ment. The Spartans then became attached to the conveniences, to the elegancies, and pleafures of life ; a*id to procure them, they were obliged to invite many foreigners to their republic j as they themfelves were totally un- acquainted with commerce and with the arts. In the. decline of the commonwealth, they opened the city of Las to every foreigner, and made it the emporium of maritime com- N our eftablifhed number ; that every the other Tilones. Herod, lib. v. c. 16. THE PERSIANS. Mr. Rollin, in his Ancient Hiftory, has collected from old authors all that is curious and interefting in the manners and cuftoms of the Perfians. He divides his fubjeel: into four or five articles, which contain as impor- tant information relative to that people as an- tiquity affords. We (hall almofr. literally copy Mr. Rollin's account of them ; it will be ne- cefTary to make but very few additions to the narrative of that accurate and elegant author. Article OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 243 Article I. Of their government, V/hen we have made the reader acquainted with the form of government ameng the Per- fians, and with their manner of educating the children of their kings, we fhall treat of five particulars; — their public council, in which the affairs of flate were diicuiTed — the admi- nistration ofjufcice — the care of the provinces —the invention of pods and couriers, and — the excellent order of their finances. 1°. Of monarchy — Of the refpeel due to kings. — Of the Perfian education. Monarchy is more ancient, and eftablifhed in more countries, than any other form of go- vernment, it is likewife heft adapted to pre- ferve peace and union in a ftate; it is leaft expofed to viciffitudes and revolutions. Hence the wifeft authors of antiquity, Plato, Arif- totle, Plutarch, and before them, Herodotus, have preferred it to every other policy. Mo- narchy was the government which ruled all the Eaft, where democracy was totally un- known. There the people paid the greater! honours to the reigning prince; for in him they re- spected the character of the Deity, whom he reprefented on earth. They thought a king was placed on the throne by the Supreme Be- ll 2 ing, 244 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. ing, and deputed by him to difpenfe the pro- vidence and goodnefs of Heaven to mankind. Thefe were the fentiments, and this was the language, even of heathens. — " Frincipem dat " Deus, qui erga omne hominum genus vice F THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 285 ed the king and his grandees. For their lu- xury was fo great, that in the army they were accompanied with all the elegance and mag- nificence of their court ; the king was attend- ed in the camp by his wives and concubines, and by all his eunuchs. His tent was deco- rated with gold and filver plate, with a great quantity of other precious moveables ; in fhort, with all the apparatus of a Splendid and voluptuous life. An army thus compofed, and embarraflcd with an exceflive multitude of foldiers, was likewife incumbered with a prodigious num- ber of men who were not trained to arms. In this confufion, it could not move in con- cert : orders were not given in time *, and In an action, the motions of the army were tu- multuous : nor was it poffible to prevent the tumult. Add to this, that they were under a neceffity of engaging foon, and of marching rapidly from one country to another ; for this immenfe body foon found itielf in want; as befide its quick confumption of the neceua- ries of life, it was eager for the gratifications of luxury and pleafure. And indeed it is dif- ficult to imagine how it could procure fub- fiftence. Yet with this ill-conne&ed multitude, and with this magnificence, which weredetrimental to military fuccefs, the Perfians aftoni(hed and intimidated thofe nations which were as little acquainted with the art of war as themfelves. And they who underftood it, were either weakened by their own divifions, or over- 3 powered 286 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. powered by the numbers of the enemy. Hence Egypt, proud as me was of her antiquity, of her fage institutions, and of the conquefts of her Sefoftris, was fubjugated by Ferfia. The Perfians found it not very difficult to conquer Afia minor, and even the Greek colonies, which the Afiatic foftnefs had corrupted. But when they came to Greece, they found fuch enemies as they had never oppofed before : — armies admirably difciplined, brave and expe^ rienced generals, foldiers accuftomed to live on a fcanty fubfiftence, inured to every hard- fhip, and formed to labour and agility from their earlieft youth, by wreftling, and the other exercifes of their country. — Armies not nu- merous indeed, but refembling thofe compact and vigorous bodies, that feem all nerve and foul — fo attentive too, and obedient to com- mand, fo flexible to the orders of their gene- rals, that one fpirit feemed to animate them all ; in fuch proportion and exactnefs did they move j — in fo beautiful an order. Ibid. p. 540. et feq* Article III* Of the arts andfciences. As mankind fettled firft in Afia after the de- luge, we may reafonably conclude, that that country was the nurfe of the arts and fciences, the remembrance of which had been preferved by tradition, and which owed their reftora- tion to human wants. P I need OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. itj I need not inform the reader, that the con- tents of this third article refer not merely to the Perfians, but to the Afiatics in general. 1°, Of architecture. The conftru&ion of the tower of Babel, and not long after the building of the famous ci- ties Babylon and Nineveh, which were deem- ed prodigies ; — the magnificence of the vaft palaces of the eaftern kings and nobles, con- fining of many halls and apartments, and adorned with every embelliihment of elegance and grandeur i — The regularity and fymmetry of the pillars and arches, multiplied and ele- vated one upon another ; — the noble gates of the cities ; the breadth of the ramparts; — the height and ftrength of the towers ; the com- modious keys on the banks of the great rivers ; the large and bold bridges over thofe rivers ; — -thefe, and many other works, mow the great progrefs which architecture had made even in times of remote antiquity. Yetlknow not, fays Mr.Rollin, whether the art had then reached that perfection to which it afterwards arrived in Greece and Italy j whether the vaft edifices of Afia and Egypt, which were fa highly celebrated by the an- cients, were as remarkable for their regula- rity, as for their extent and grandeur. I here allude (continues the author) to the five orders of architecture, to the Tufcan, the Doric, the Ionic, the Corinthian, and the Com polite — - For j88 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. For I never meet with the Aliatic or Egyptian order : and hence I fufpect that the pillars, pilafters, and other ornaments of their build* ings, were not formed with the indifpenfable graces of proportion and fymmetry. Ibid. p. 543, 544. Of ?nujic* It is not furprifing that in Afia, a country extremely addicted to luxury, mufic, one of the moil enchanting companions of effemi- nate and joyous hours, was cultivated with great attention. The very names of the prin- cipal modes of the ancient mulic (modes which modern mufic has adopted — viz. — the Dorian, the Phrygian, the Lydian, the Ionian, and the iEolian, fufficiently prove to what country mu- fic owes its birth, or at leaft, where it firft made a considerable progrefs. We learn from holy fcripture, that in the time of Laban, mufic and mufical instruments were in great repute in the country in which he dwelt, viz. in Mefopotamia; for among his other re- proaches to his fon-in-law Jacob, he com- plains, that by his precipitate flight, he had put it out of his power to conduct him and his family home — with mirths and with Jongs ; •with tabret and with harp. Of the booty fet apart by Cyrus for his uncle Cyaxares, two excellent female muficians are mentioned, who had accompanied a lady of Sufa, and were made prifoners with her. What OF f HE'ANdlENT NATIONS. £f£ ■What improvements mufic received from the ancients, is a queftion which hath much exereifed the inquiries of the learned,, A queition which can never be determined, un- lefs feveral pieces of ancient mufic, Written iii the ancient manner, were exhibited to the eye, and tried by the ear. But unfortunately it is not with the mufic as it is with the fculp- ture of the ancients, of which illuftrious mo- numents yet remain j-^-but none of their mu- lical productions are preferved by, which w0 might judge whether the ancient or moderri mufic deferved the preference. 'Tis generally allowed that the ancient? were acquainted with the triple fymphony j that is, the concert of voices, that of inftru- nients, and that of voices and inftruments to- gether. It is likewife agreed, that they excell- ed in the rythmus. What is meant by jyth- mus is the affemblage of various times in mu- iic, in certain order, and in certain propor- tions. To understand this definition we mu{| obferve, that the mufic of which we are fpeak- ing, was always fung to the words of certairi veries j in which all the fyllables were long of fhort ; that the fhort fyllable was pronounced as quick again as the long ; that confequent- }y the former made one time, and the latter two; and therefore the found which anfwer- ed to this, continued twice as long as the found which correfponded with the other; or in, other words, it confifted of two times^ the ether but of one y^ that the verfes which were fung, confifted of a certain number of Vol, IL U feet, 29« INSTITUTIONS CUSTOMS, &c. fret, formed by the different combination of thefe long and fhort fyllables; and that the rythmus of the fong regularly followed the march of the feet. As thefe feet, whatever was their nature or extent, were always di- vided into two equal or unequal parts, the former of which was called apcnj, elevation^ or raifing,, and the latter 6&vere both excellent phy- fieians and brave officers, and did as much fervice to the army in their phyfical, as in their military capacity. Nor did Achilles, in after times, nor Alexander, think the know- ledge of phyfic ufelefs to a general, or beneath his dignity -, the former had learned it of Chi- ron the Centaur, and had taught it to his U 2 friend 292 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. friend Patroclus, who, in Homer, pradtifes the art, and heals the wound of Eurypilus. That wound he healed by the application of a certain root, which immediately afluaged the pain, and flopped the bleeding. Botany, or that part of phyfic which treats of herbs and plants, was very much known, and al- moit the only branch of the art that was ufed in early times. Virgil, fpeaking of a cele- brated phylician, who was inftrucled in his art by Apollo himfelf, feems to confine that profeflion to the knowledge of fimples : Scire potejiates herbarum^ ufumque medendi Maluit Nature herfelf pointed out to mankind thofe innocent and falutary medicines ; (he feemcd to invite us to make ufe of them. Gardens, fields, and woods fupplied the curer of dif- eafes in great abundance and variety. Mine- rals, treacles, and other compoiitions were not yet ufed ; thefe were afterwards invented by a clofer and more elaborate ftudy of Na- ture. Pliny fays, that phyfic, which ./Efculapius had brought into great reputation about the time of the Trojan war, wasfoon after neglect- ed and loir, and lav buried in darknefs till the time of the Pcloponnefian war, when it was revived by Hippocrates, and reftored to its ancient honour. This may be true with re- fpect to Greece, but in Perfia we find that it was always cultivated, and held in great repu- tation. Cyrus the great, as Xenophon re- marks, OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 293 marks, always took with him to the army a cer- tain number of excellent phyficians, whom he liberally rewarded, and whom he greatly re- fpe&ed : and he further obferves, that this was a cuftom eftablimed of old among the Perfian generals, and that Cyrus the younger acted in the fame manner. It mud yet be acknowledged, that it was Hippocrates who made the greateft improve- ments in this fcience ; and though time, fince his age, hath produced many phyiical difco- veries, the ableft; judges are ftill of opinion, that he was the firft mafter in the art; and that his writings mould be principally fludied by thofe who are ambitious to excel in the medical profefiion. Ibid. p. 546. etfeq, 4°. Of ajlronomy* Though the Greeks were ambitious to be thought the inventors of all the arts and fciences, they could never difpute with the Babylonians the honour of having laid the foundations of aftronomy. The advantage- ous fituation of Babylon, which was built upon an extenfive plain, where the light was not bounded by one mountain j the ferenity of the atmofphere in that country, which was extremely favourable to the contemplation of the ftars; perhaps likewife the extraordinary height of the tower of Babel, which feemed to have been intended for an obfervatory i — all thefe circumftances invited this people U 3 care** 294 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. carefully to ohferve the various courfes of the heavenly bodies. The Abbe Renaudot, in a diflertation on the fphere, remarks, that the plain which in fcripture is called Sbinaar, and on which Babylon was built, is the plain which the Arabians call Sinjar, where, by the order of the Calif Almamon, the feventh of the Habaflldes, under whom the fciences be- gan to flouridi among the Arabians, agrono- mical obfervations were made, which for feveral ages directed the ftudies of all the aftronomers in Europe ; and that more obfer- vations of the fame kind were made in the fame place three hundred years after, in the reign of the Sultan Gelaleddin Melickfchah, the third of the Seljakides. From thefe facls it appears, that the plain of Babylon was the propereft fituation in the world for the eye of the aftronomer. The Babylonians could not carry their ob- fervations far, as they were not affifted with telefcopes, which are of modern invention, and by the help of which, aftronomy has of late years been greatly improved. Whatever the obfervations of the Babylonians were, they have not come down to us. Epigenes, a very reputable author, as we are told by Pliny, fpeaks of obfervations made during the fpace of feven hundred and twenty years; and im- printed on fquares of brick; they muft there- fore have commenced in a very remote anti- quity. Thofe which are mentioned by Cal- Jifthenes, one of Alexander's philpfophers, and of which $he faid Callifthenes gave an ac- x count OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 295 count to Ariftotle, comprehended one thou- fand nine hundred and three years : confe- quently the firft of them muft have been made near the time of the deluge, and of the building of Babylon by Nimrod. We mould certainly pay the juft tribute of gratitude and praife to the memories of thofe who invented and have improved this ufeful fcience, which is not only of great fervice to agriculture and navigation, by the knowledge it gives us of the courfe of the ftars, and of the uniform and aftonifhing proportion of days, months, feafons, and years; but it like- wife greatly promotes the firft of human ob- jects, religion ; with which, as Plato obferves, it is clofely and neceflarily connected; for it directly tends to infpire us with a great veneration of the Deity who governs the uni^ verfe with infinite wifdom, and who is pre- fent and attentive to all our actions. But at the fame time we muft lament the misfor- tune of thofe philofbphers whom aftronomy brought near to the Deity, and yet they found him not ; becaufe they did not properly ferve and adore him; becaufe they did not form their actions by the rules of that divine model. Ibid. p. 548. etfecf, 5°. Of judicial a/tro/ogy, As to the Babylonian and other eaftern philofophers, they were fo far from being \&& to the knowjedge of the Supreme Being y 4 by *§6 Institutions, customs, &>. by the ftudy of aftronomy (which one wouIq* think would have been its natural confe- quence), that it funk them into all the abfur- dity and impiety of judicial aftrology. So that falfe and prefumptuous fcience is termed, which pretends to judge of futurity by the knowledge of the ftars; to foretell events by the iituation of the planets, and by their different afpects j — a fcience, which was juflly deemed extravagance and delirium by the moil fenfible writers of the pagan world. — delirationcnt incredibilem ! exclaims Cicero, where he re- futes the folly of thofe aftrologers (often called Chaldeans, from the country to which their fcience owed its birth ), who, in confer quence of the obfervations made, as they affirmed, by their predeceflbrs, on all paft events ; only for the fpace of four hundred and feventy thoufand years ; pretended to know affliredly, by the afpect and combina- tion of the (iars and planets at the inltant of a child's birth, what would be the conftitu- tion of his body j his genius, manners, actions, character;-— in a word, all the events of his life,, and its duration. Cicero expofes many abfurdities of this ridiculous art; and afks why, of the great number of children that are born in the fame moment, and therefore exactly under the afpect of ths fame ftars, there are not two whofe lives and fortunes are fimilar* He further afks, whether all the men who at the battle of Cannse died the fame kind of death, were born under the fame conftellations? it OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS, m It is hardly credible that fo abfurd an art, founded entirely on fraud and impofture* mould have acquired fo much credit through- out the World, and in all ages. To the na- tural curiofify of man, fays Pliny, to his de- fire of knowing what is to befal him, this art owes all its prevalence ; though part of its influence may perhaps be attributed to the fuperftitious credulity of mankind, who are extremely delighted with the magnificent promifes of which thefe fortune-tellers are never parfimonious. Modern writers, and among others two of our greatefl philofophers, Gaflendi and Ro* hault, have inveighed with great ftrength of argument againft this pretended fcience, and have demonstrated that it is equally unfup* ported by principles and experience. i°. Of principles. — The heaven, according to the aftrologers, is divided into twelve equal parts. This divifion correfponds not with the poles of the world, but with thofe of the zodiac. The twelve parts of heaven have each its attribute, as richeS) knowledge, pa- rentage, &c. The moft important and de- cisive part is that which is neareft the hori- zon.; becaufe it is afcending and appearing above the horizon when a perfon comes into the world* The planets are divided into fa- vourable, malignant, and mixed ; the afpects of the planets, which are only their diftances from one another, are likewife fortunate or adverfe. I (hall pafs over many other hypo- thefes, all equally arbitrary; and I fhall afka fenfible * 9 8 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, fee. fenfible man, if he can admit them on the bare word of an impoftor, without any proof, nay without even a fhadow of probability? The natal moment is the critical one, that on which all their predictions depend. But why not the moment of conception? Why do not the ftars at all influence the deftiny of the child, during the nine months of its mother's pregnancy ? Can the aftrologer, when we confider with what incredible rapi- dity the heavens move, ever be fure that he hath feized the exact and decifive moment, that he has not miftaken a point of time too foon or too late, for the true one? And would not that miftake render all his other predic- tions falfe ? — Many fuch queftions might be urged. 2°. They can yet lefs boaft that their fcience is fupported by experience. Their experience could only refult from their hav* ing obferved that certain events always fell out when the planets were in a certain fituai- tion. Now all aftronomers agree, that many thoufands of years mud elapfe before the ftars can be twice in the fame relative fituation ; it is indifputably true, that the afpe<5t of heaven to-morrow will be different from any afpec~k it has had fince the creation of the world. The reader may confult the two philofophers I have mentioned, efpecially Gaflendi, who treats the fubject more minutely than the other j and he will be thoroughly convinced that judicial aftrology has no folid foundation, 6tf* OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 299 God, who alone penetrates futurity, ber caufe he difpofes its events with an uncon- troulable power, often in his oracles expofes the ignorance of the celebrated Babylonian aftrologers, whom he treats as fabricators of lies ; and he defies all the falfe gods to fore- tell events, promifing that if they did, they mould participate his worfhip, He enume- rates to the city of Babylon all the miferies with which me mall be overwhelmed above two hundred years after his prediction; he tells her, that none of her prognofticators who had flattered her with the affurances of a perpetual grandeur, which they pretended to have read in the ftars, mould be able to avert the judgment, or even to forefee the time of its accomplimment. indeed, how mould they? iince at the very time of its execution, when Belmazzar, the laft king of Babylon, faw a hand come out of the wall, and write on it unknown characters, the Magi, Chal- deans, Augurs, in a word, all the pretended fages of the country, could not even read the writing ? Here then we fee aftrology and magic convicted of ignorance and blind- nefs, in the very place where they were moft in repute, and when it was certainly their in- tereft to difplay their fcience, and all their ppwpr. Ibid. p. 550. etfeq. Article 300 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, fee. Article IV. Of religion. The mod ancient and prevailing idolatry was that which adored the Sun and Moon. This idolatry was founded on a miftaken gra- titude, which, inftead of afcending up to the Deity, flopped fhort at the veil which at once concealed and difcovered him. With the lead reflection it might have diftinguimed the fovereign who commanded, from the minifter who obeyed. In all ages mankind have been convinced of the neceflity of an intercourfe between God and man; and adoration fuppofes, that the Deity is both attentive to human defires, and able to fulfill them. But the diftance of the fun and moon is an obflacle to this inter- courfe. Weak man endeavoured in fome de- gree to remove this impediment, by putting his hand to his mouth, and then railing it to- wards thofe falfe deities. He implied by that act, that he wiflied to be united to them. Job congratulates himfelf on having abftained from this cuftom, which was practifed over all theEaft. — Chap. xxxi. ver. 26, 27. — M Jf " I beheld the fun when it mined, or the " moon walking in brightnefs; and my heart " hath been fecretly enticed, or my mouth " hath kifTed my hand." The PerGans adored the fun, and particu- larly the rifing fun, with the profoundeft ve- neration. To him they confecrated a mag- nificent OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 301 nificent chariot, with the fineft horfes they could purchafe. They fometimes facrificed oxen to him. The name of this god among the Persians was Mithra. . By a natural confequence of their adoration of the fun, they Jikewife paid a particular ve- neration to fire; always invoked it firft at their facrifices, carried it with great refpect before the king, in all his marches, intruded the keeping of their facred fire, which, as they pretended, came down from heaven, to none but the Magi; and would have looked upon it as the greater!, of misfortunes, if they had let it go out. Hiftory informs us, that the em- peror Heraclius, in his war with the Perfians, demolimed feveral of their temples, and among the reft, the chapel, in which the facred fire had been prefervcd till his time, which occafioned great affliction and mourn- ing through the whole country. The Per- fians like wife honoured the Water, the Earth, and the Winds, as fo many deities. The cruel ceremony of burning their chil- dren was undoubtedly a confequence of the adoration which they paid to fire : for that element was worfhipped both by the Perfians and Babylonians. The fcripture accufes the people of Mefopotamia, from whom the Sa- maritans were a colony, of this barbarous cuftom. We know that it prevailed in many provinces of Afia. Befides thefe, the Perfians had two deities, whofe difyenfations were of oppofite kinds. The name of the one was Oromafdes, and that 302 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c, that of the other Arimanius. The former they deemed the author of all the bleflings, the latter the caufe of all the evils of life. They neither erected ftatues, nor temples, nor altars to their godsj they offered their facrifices in the open air, and generally oh mountains or hills. Cyrus, when he made his pompous proceffion, facrificed to the god9 iri the field. It is fuppofed that Cyrus, the Perfian king, burned all the temples of Greece, by the ad- vice and requeit of the Magi, who deemed it injurious to the Supreme Being to inclofe him with walls, him to whom all things are open, and whofc manfion or temple is the 1 univerfe. Cicero thinks, that the cuftom of the Greeks and Romans in erecting temples to the gods in their cities, was more fage, and more productive of piety. For it implied, that the gods dwelt among men i and there- fore it imprefled on the minds of the people more religious veneration. St. Auftin hath preferved a pafTage of Varro, in which that author differs from the opinion of Cicero.— After having obferved that the Romans had worfhipped their gods without ftatues for above a hundred and feventy years, he adds, that if they had ftill preferved that ancient cuftom, their religion would have been freer from corruption. — " §>uod Ji adhuc manjiffet, *' cajiius Dii obfervarentur ■." And he ftrengthens his opinion by citing the example of the Jcwifh nation. The OF THE AtiCIENT NATIONS. 303 The laws of Periia fufFered no man to confine the motive of his facrifice to private intereft. This prohibition was admirably calculated to attach individuals to the public good. It taught a citizen to facrifice, not merely with a view to his own profperityS, but to that of the king aod of the flatej in which obje&s himfelf and all the other mem- bers of the community were included. The Magi, in Perfia, were the guardians of all religious ceremonies ; and to them the people applied for inftru&ion in thofc ceremonies ; and to know to what gods, on what days, and in what manner they mould offer facrifiees. As the Magi were all of one tribe; and as none but the fon of a prieft could claim the honour of the priefthood, they kept all their learning, in religion and policy, to themfelves and their families; nor was it lawful for them to inuruct any ftranger in thofe matters without the king's permif- fion, which was granted in favour of The- miftocles, from the prince's great regard for that diftinguifhed perfon, as it is remarked by Plutarch. This ftudy and knowledge of religion, which made Plato define magic, or the learn- ing of the Magi, the art of worshipping the gods in a becoming manner, gave the Magi great authority both with the prince and people, who could offer no facrifice without their prefence and miniftration. Before a Perfian king afcended the throne, he was in- difpenfably obliged to receive inftru£tions from 304 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c, from the Magi ; to learn from them both the fcience of government, and of the worfhip of the gods. Nor did he, when he fwayed the fceptre, determine any important affair with- out previoufly taking their opinion and ad - vice;~-and we are told by Pliny, that even in his time they were looked upon in all the eaftern countries as the matters and directors of princes, and of thofe who ftyled themfelves H The Kings of Kings." They were the fages, the literati, the phi- lofophers of Perfia; as the Gymnofophifts were in India, and the Diuids in Gaul. Their great reputation drew to Perfia from the remoteft countries, thofe who were de- firous of being inftrucled in philofophy and religion : and we know that Pythagoras owed to his converfation with them thofe principles by which he acquired fo much refpect and veneration in Greece; excepting the metemp- iychofis, which he learned of the Egyptians, and by which he corrupted the ancient doc- trine of the Magi concerning the immortality of the foul. It is generally agreed, that Zoroafler was the founder of this feci;; but authors are of different opinions concerning the time in which he lived. What Pliny fays on this fubjeft, may reconcile their opinions, as Dr. Prideaux judicioufly obferves. We read in that author, that there were two perfons, named Zoroafter, between whofe lives there was the diftance of about fix hundred years The former was the founder oi the Magi r about t)tf THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 305 &bout the year of the world 2900; and the latter, who lived betwixt the reign of Cyrus and that of Darius Hyftafpes, was the reftorer of the feet. Idolatry, throughout the eaftern country, was divided into two principal feels j that of the Sabeans, who adored images ; and that of the Magians, who worfhipped fire. The for- mer of thefe feels had its rife among the Chaldeans. Aftronomy was their principal fcience; and they minutely ftudied the {even planets, which they believed were inhabited by as many divinities, who were to thofe orbs what the foul of man is to his body. Hence they reprefented Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Apol- lo, Mercury, Venus, and Diana, or the Moon, by feven ftatues, in which they imagined thofe deities were as really prefent as in the planets themfelves. This worfhip was fpread from Chaldea throughout the Eafc; thence it pafled into Egypt, and afterwards it was adopted by the Greeks; by whom it was pro- pagated through all the weftern nations. To the feci: of the Sabeans that of the Magi was diametrically oppofite, which alfo took its rife in the Eaft. The Magi abhorred images, and worshipped God only in the form of fire j they deemed that element, on account of its purity, brightnefs, activity, fubtlety, fe- cundity, and incorruptibility, the mod per- fect fymbol of the Deity. They owed their origin to Perfiaj they were multiplied only in that country and in India j and there they Vol. II. X continue 3 o6 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. continue to this day. Their chief doctrine was, that there were two principles -, the one the caufe of all good, the other of all evil. The former was reprefented by light, and the other by darknefs, as their proper fymbols. The good being they named Yafdan, or Or- muzd ; the evil one Abraman. The former is by the Greeks called Oromazdes, the latter Arimanius. Therefore when Xerxes prayed that his enemies might always be impelled by divine influence to banifh their befk and braveft citizens, as they had exiled Themi- ftocles, he addreffed his petition to Arima- nius, the evil god of the Perfians, and not to Oromazdes, the author of good. Concerning thefe two gods they were of different opinions : fome thought that they were both eternal -, others that the good deity was eternal, the other created. But they all agreed in this, that there would be a conti- nual oppofition between thefe two gods to the end of the world j that then the good deity fhould conquer the evil one, and they mould each have his own world; — that the good deity fliould, in his world, be the god of all good men ; and the evil one, in kis, the god of all the wicked. The fecond Zoroafter, who lived in the time of Darius, undertook to reform, in fome articles, the fyftem of the Magi ; which for many ages had been the predominant religion of the Medes and Perfians ; but after the death of the chiefs of that feci, who ufurped 6 the OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 307 the crown, and after the mafTacre of their ad*- herents, it fell into great contempt. It is thought that he firft taught in Ecbatana. The principal change which he made in the religion of the Magi, was, that inftead of the fundamental dogma maintained before, that there were two fupreme principles, the one the author of all good, whom they called Light; the other the author of all evil, whom they named Darknefs; and that by thofe op- pofite beings the univerfe Was made — Inftead of this doctrine he inculcated the belief of an Intelligent Principle fuperior to the other -two; viz. a Supreme God, the author both of light and darknefs ; who, by the mixture of thefe two principles, made all things accord- ing to his pleafure.- But to avoid making God the author of evil, his doctrine was, that there was one Supreme Being, felf-exiftent, eternal, and in- dependent; that under him there were two angels ; one, the Angel of Light, who is the author of all good; the other, the Angel of Darknefs, who is the author of all evil ; that thefe two angels, by the mixture of light and darknefs, made all things that exiit ; that they are perpetually at war with each other; that when the Angel of Light is fuperior, good prevails over t\il ; and when the Angel of Darknefs is victorious, evil is predominant; that this conflict £hall continue to the end of the world ; and that then there mall be a general refurrection, and a day of judg- .ment, on which all fhall receive a juft retri- X % bution 308 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. bution for their works. That after this, the Angel of Darknefs and his difciples fhall be banifhed to their appointed place, where they fhall fuffer the punifhrrient due to their crimes, in eternal obfcurity ; and the Angel of Light and his difciples (hall likewife go to their place, where they fhall be rewarded for their good actions in eternal light; — that the two prin- ciples and their adherents, and light and dark- nefs fhall be then feparated for ever. Difci- ples of this feci: yet remain in Perfia and India ; and they adhere to all thefe articles of their ancient faith, without any variation. I need not remark, that almoft all thefe ar- ticles, though altered in many circumftances, agree in general with the doclxine of the ho- ly fcriptures ; which, it is evident, were not unknown to the two Zoroafters, who probably both converfed with the people of God ; the former in Syria, where the Ifraelites had been long fettled j the latter at Babylon, to which place the fame people had been carried captive, and where Zoroafter might confer with Da- niel himfelf, who was in very great credit and power at the Perfian court. Another reformation made by Zoroafter in the ancient religion of the Magi, was, the building of temples, in which the facred fire that he pretended he had brought down from heaven himfelf, was carefully preferved. The priefts watched it day and night, to prevent its extinction. Ibid, p. 554. etfeq. Of OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS, 309 Of thePerfian manner of facrificing according to Herodotus, When the Perfians facrificed to the gods, they raifed no altar, they lighted no fire, they made no libation ; they had no mafic nor gar- lands ; nor did they ufe t flour ; the victim was led by the fuppliant to an unpolluted place; who with a turban on his head, and a wreath of myrtle, invoked the god to whom he was going to facrifice. When he had cut the vic- tim into pieces, and boiled it, he ftrewed up- on it the cleaneft and tenderer!: herb he could find; trefoil was the herb commonly ufed on thefe occafions. Then one of the Magi who was prefent, fung an ode entitldti Theogony, which the Perfians deemed of great power to propitiate the gods. Afterwards, he who had facrificed, took home a piece of the victim, of which he difpofed as he thought proper. Herodot. 1. i. c. 132. Their marriages, and their manner of burying the dead. There is nothing more horrible, nothing that gives us a ftronger idea of the profound darknefs into which idolatry had funk man- kind, than the public prostitution of women at Babylon, which was not only authorized by law, but even commanded by the religion of the country, on an annual fefiival, cele- brated in honour of Venus, under the name of X 3 Mylitta^ 310 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, & C . Mylitta, whofe temple, by this infamous ce- remony, became a place of debauchery. This cuftom flill fubfifted when the Ifraelites were carried captive to that impious city ) the inha- bitants of which are feverely reprehended for it by the prophet Jeremiah. Nor had the Perfians better apprehenfions of the dignity and fanttity of marriage. I do not allude to the multitude of wives and con- cubines with whom their kings filled their feraglios, and of whom they were as jealous as ifthey had had but one wife, keeping them all fliut up in feparate apartments, under a Ariel; guard of eunuchs, and not fuffering them even to have communication with one ano- ther. Jt ftrikes one with horror to read their contempt ofthe common laws of nature. In- ceft with a fifter was permitted by their laws, or at leafl: by the Magi, thofe pretended fages of Perfia. Neither did a father refpect his daughter, nor a mother her fon. We read in Plutarch, that Paryfatis, the mother of Ar- taxerxes Mnemon, who was induftrious to gratify her fon, perceiving that he had con- ceived a violent paffion for AtofTa, one of his own daughters, was fo far from oppofing it, that me advifed him to marry her. She ridi- culed the laws and opinions of the Greeks, and with a mameful excefs of flattery, faid to her fon Y Has not God given you to the 44 Perfians to determine for them what is in- u genuous and what is bafe, what is virtu- " ous and what is vicious ?" This OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 311 This horrid cuftom continued till the time of Alexander, who, when he became matter of Perfia by the defeat and death of Darius, made a law to fupprefs it. Thefe enormities may convince us, that we were delivered by the gofpel from the mod deplorable flate of Barbarifm ; and that human wifdom is but a weak barrier againft the moft deteftable crimes. I fhall finim this article with a concife ac- count of their manner of burying their dead. The Eaflern nations, and particularly the Per- fians, did not erect funeral piles, nor did they burn their bodies. Thus we find that Cyrus, when he was at the point of death, charged his family to inter his body, to reftore it to the ground. — Thefe are his very expreffions; by which he implies, that he thought his origin was from the earth, and that to her hzjhould return ; and the burning of the body of Amafis king of Egypt, was the laft of the many in- dignities with which it was treated by Cam- byfes ; for it was equally repugnant to the practice of the Egyptians and the Perfians. The former incrufted their dead bodies with wax, to preferve them the longer from cor- ruption. Roll. Hist. Anc. torn, i, p. 560. Several particulars concerning the manners of the Per/tans. From Herodotus, Like other nations, they celebrated their birth-days with profufe entertainments. On thofe days the rich Perfians treated their X 4 friends ji2 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. friends with whole oxen, camels, horfes, and afles, roafted. But a birth-day was not fatal to large beafts among the poor ; it was cele- brated by them with fmall animals. On other days they ate little animal food; they had, indeed, a variety of dimes, which were not yery luxurious. Hence the Perfians faid of the Greeks, that they rofe from table with an appetite j becaufe after their meat they had nothing ferved that was worth eating: — and that if a variety of good things was fet before them, they would not quit the table fo foon, but would eat more. But if the Perfians ate little animal food, they drank much wine. They never threw up, nor made water, but in private; — and thefe cuftoms they retained in the days of Herodotus. They commonly deliberated on the moft important affairs after drinking. But the mailer of the houfe in which the council had been held, recapitulated to them before they drank again, the opinions of the preceding day : and if in the morning, they approved the refolution they had taken, they put it in execution; if they difapproved it, it was not followed. They likewife ufed to examine and determine, when they had drank, the con- sultations which they had held in the morn- ing- When they met in the flreet, their differ- ence of rank was known by their falutations. If they were equals, they kiffed the mouth of «ach other : if one was rather inferior to the other> OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 313 other, they faluted on the cheek ; — but if they were of very unequal rank, the inferior pro- ftrated himfelf before his fuperior. Theypatv ticularly refpected their neareft neighbours ; and others, in proportion to their vicinity to their own habitations ; thofe who lived re- mote from them they held in no efteem. They deemed themfelves the moft virtuous and braveft nation in the world j they thought that there was virtue and courage in other countries only as they lay near Perfia jt — and they counted thofe who inhabited territories at a great diftance from theirs, the moft cow- ardly and profligate of mortals. The Perfians adopted the cuftoms of Gran- gers more than any other nation. They wore a veft made in the fafhion of the Medes, and thought it much more elegant than their own; and they ufed Egyptian arms. They were ex- tremely defirous to enjoy any pleafure they heard mentioned. Next to courage and vh> tue, a numerous progeny did them the great- eft honour : he who was the father of many children, received annual recompences and prefentsfrom the king. From five years of age to twenty they taught their fons only three things j-^ — to fhoot, to ride, and to fpeal$ truth. A father never faw his fon till he was five years old : till that time, he was under the care of women. This cuftom was obferv- ed among them, that if the child died before he was five years old, the grief of the father migh,t not be fevere. The 3 i4 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, %, The Perfian laws ordered a mafter to efti- mate the merit of a fervant againft his faults ; and not to punifh him while the former pre- ponderated. They infifted that a legitimate fa- ther or mother had never been killed by their fon; and that whenever a thorough inquiry was made into a parricide, it was proved that it had been committed by a baftard or a fuppo- fititious fon. The Perfians were not furtered to mention thofe a&ions which were prohi- bited by their laws. If a Perfian had the leprofy, or a fimilar difeafe, he was excluded from his town, and was not fufTered to have any intercourfe with his countrymen ; for fuch maladies, they thought, were inflicted on thofe perfons who had offended the fun. But they obliged a fo- reigner thus infected, to leave their country j and for the fame reafon they killed all their white pigeons. They never polluted their rivers with any excrement, nor with any o- ther offenfive matter ; for they held them in particular veneration. HERODOT.b.i. c. 133, Article V, The caufcs cf the decline of the empire of the Perfians, and of the change in their manners. When we compare the Perfians before Cy- rus and in the reign of that prince, with the Perfians under his fucceffors, we can hardly believe that they were the fame people j and we OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 315 we are convinced, by their fate, of a momentous truth, viz. that a decline, of manners in a ilate is followed by a decline of empire. I (hall confider the four principal caufes that produced a change in the Perfian empire. ■ ■ Magnificence and luxury carried to great ex- cefs — the extreme fubjection of the people, which at length became a moft deplorable /late of flavery — the bad education of their princes, which was the fource of all the difi» orders in their government — and their want of faith in the execution of their oaths and treaties. i°. Of their luxury and magnificence. The Perfian troops in the reign of Cyrus, from the temperate and hardy life to which they were inured from their infancy, were in- vincible. Their drink was water ; their food was bread and pulfe ; they flept upon the ground ; they habituated themfelves to the, ievereft labours ; they defpifed thegreateft dan- gers. The nature of their country, which was rough, woody, and mountainous, con- tributed to make them robuft -, therefore Cy- rus would never fuffer them to migrate to a more genial foil. The education of the an- cient Perfians, which was not left to the ca- price of parents, but was fubject to the au- thority and direction of the magiftrates, and regulated upon principles productive of the public 3 i6 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. public good, — prepared them for obferving at 2.11 times, and in all places, an exact and fe- vere difcipline. Add to this the influence of the prince's example, whofe ambition it was to furpafs all his iubjects in regularity j who was the moft abftemlous perfon in his manner of living, the plained in his drefs, the moft inured to hardships and fatigues, the braveft and moft intrepid in war. — What might not be expected from foldiers thus exercifed and formed? And by them Cyrus conquered a great part of the world. After all his victories he exhorted his army and people not to degenerate from their an- cient virtue, not to lofe the glory they had acquired, but carefully to preferve that fim- plicity, temperance, and love of labour, by which it had been obtained. But perhaps (as Mr. Rollin obferves) Cyrus himfelf, at that very time, fowed the feeds of that luxury that foon overfpread and corrupted the whole na- tion. In that auguft ceremony, in which he firft mewed himfelf in public to his new-con- quered fubjects, that he might raife their ut- moft refpect and admiration of royalty, he difplayed to them a moft brilliant and dazzling magnificence. Among other articles of fplen- dour, he changed his own drefs and that of his officers ; he gave them all garments made after the fafhion of the Medes, and fhining with gold and purple, inftead of their Perfian clothes, which were extremely fimple. This OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 31^ This prince had not reflected on the conta* gious example of a court, on the pafiion of mankind for brilliant and finking externals ; on their eagernefs to diftinguim themfelves from their neighbours by a contemptible pre- eminence which is acquired merely by wealth and vanity. He had not confidered that this example, and this propenfity infallibly cor- rupt the purity of ancient manners, and in- troduce, by degrees, a general and predomi- nant tafle for extravagance and luxury. And this extravagance and luxury were in Perfia carried to an excefs that feemed the ef* feci of madnefs. The prince took with him all his wives to war j and with what a train and pomp they were attended, the reader will ealily imagine. The officers imitated their fovereign in proportion to their rank and abili- ty. They pretended that the fight of the ob- jects that were deareft to them, would ftimu- late them to fight with the greater refolution ; but the real caufe of all this retinue and pomp was, their love of pleafure, by which they were vanquished and enflaved before they en- gaged the enemy. When they took the field, the fplendour of their tents and chariots, and the luxury of their tables, exceeded the magnificence and fenfu- ality of their domeftic life. The moft exqui- fite meats, the rareft and moft expenfive game were provided for the prince wherever he was encamped. His vefiels of filver and gold were innumerable} inftruments of luxury, not of victory, 3 i8 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. victory, fays a hiftorian ; they might attract and enrich, they could not repel and defeat an enemy. I cannot fee the reafons that induced Cyrus to change his conduct in the laft years of his life. We muft indeed allow, that the ft ation of kings demands a fuitable grandeur and mag- nificence, efpecially on extraordinary occa- sions. But the real and confpicuous merit of thofe princes who are truly great, is always an advantageous fubftitute for what they feem to lofe by retrenching from their pomp and fplendour. Cyrus himfelf had found by experience, that a king will gain greater and more lading refpect by a fage conduct, than by expence and profufion ♦, and that his fub- jects are more firmly attached to him by con- fidence and afTedtion, than by a vain admi- ration of Superfluous magnificence. However that was, Cyrus's laft example be- came very contagious. A tafte for extrava- gance and pomp fpread from the court into the towns and provinces, in a little time in- fected the whole nation, and was one of the principal caufes of the ruin of that empire which he himfelf had founded. What I have here laid of the fatal effects of luxury is not peculiar to the Perfian em- pire. The moft judicious hiftorians, the moft enlightened philofophers, the profoundeft po- liticians, all lay it down as a certain and in- difputable maxim, that luxury never fails to weaken and deftroy the moft flourishing ftates : OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 3 tg ftates : and the experience of all ages and na- tions but too clearly demonftrates the truth of their obfervation. What then is this fubtle poifon which is concealed under the allurements of luxury and pleafure, which at once enervates the vigour of body and mind ? It is eafy to trace its operation and effects. Are men accuftomed to a foft and voluptuous life fit to undergo the hard- fhips and fatigues of war ? to fuffer the rigour of the feafons ; to endure hunger and thirft ; to pafs whole nights without ileep j to lead a life of continual action and exercife; to face danger ; to defpife death ? Luxury and voluptuoufhefs naturally and necerTarily render men fubject to a multitude of factitious wants, make their happinefs depend upon a thoufand trifling conveniences and fuperflui- ties, without which they are miferablej at- tach them to life by many defpicable paffions which annihilate the generous motives to glo- ry, zeal for the fovereign, love of country, contempt of danger and of death : — for death would in a moment deprive them of all thofe objects that conftitute their felicity. Ibid. p. 563. etfeq. 2°. Of the JIavery of the Per/tans. We are told by Plato, that the fervitude to which the Perfians degenerated, was one caufe of the declenfion of their empire. Undoubt- edly 3ib INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, kc. edly ftates owe not their fecurity and military deputation to the number, but to the courage and vigour of their troops : and it is finely re- marked by an ancient poet, that '* A man •■• lofes with his liberty, half of his virtue." He is no longer interefted in the profperity of the ftate from which he deems himfelf an alien ; and having loft the principal motives of his attachment to it, he becomes indiffe- rent to the fuccefs of public affairs, to the glory or welfare of his country, in which his cir- cumftances allow him to claim no mare, and by which his private condition cannot be im- proved. The reign of Cyrus was the reign of liberty. That prince never acted in an arbi- trary manner ; nor did he think that a defpo- tic power was worthy of a king, or that there was any glory in commanding flavcs. His tent was always open ; he received every one who defired to fpeak with him. He was vi- fible, acceflible, and affable to all ; heard com- plaints, obferved and rewarded merit -, invited to his table not only his minifters and gene- rals, but even fubalterns, and fometimes whole companies. His frugality and fimplicity of life enabled him to give many entertainments. The aim of his hofpitality was to animate his officers and foldiers, to infpire them with intrepidity, to attach them to his perfon ra- ther than to his dignity, and to make them warmly efpoufe his glory, and ftill more the intereft and profperity of the ftate. This is the true art of governing and commanding j its OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 321 its mode is gentle ; but its influence is certain, itrong, and decifive. With what pleafure do we read Xenophon's account of the fine turns of wit, of the acute- nefs and pertinence of repartee j of the deli- cate raillery, of the amiable cheerfulnefs and gaiety that enlivened thofe entertain ments,from which all pomp and luxury were banifhed, and whofe principal poignancy was an eafy, agreeable, and genteel freedom, which, far from weakening the refpect for the prince, llrengthened it with its bed conftituents, the affection and homage of the heart. A fovereign, by this conduct:, doubles, triples the force of his army at a fmall expence. Thirty thoufand men thus treated, are prefer- able to millions of fuch Haves as the Perfians afterwards became. The truth of what I af- icrt was evident in a deciiive action. Xeno- phon, in his account of the battle of Thym- brasa, in which Cyrus's horfe fell under him, obferves of what coniequence it is to a gene- ral to be loved by his troops. The danger of the king was that of every foldier; and the army, in that action, performed incredible exploits. The conduct of Cyrus was not imitated by his fucceflbrs. Their only care was to fup- port the pomp of majefty; and we muft allow that their eniigns and ornaments did not a little contribute to that end. A richly em- broidered and flowing purple robe, a tower- ing turban, encfrcled with a magnificent dia- . Vol. IF. Y dem 5 322 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. dem; a golden fceptre, a fuperb throne, a numerous and brilliant court, a great number of guards and officers, all thefe appen- dages made royalty fplendid and ftriking. But did they give perfonal, inherent merit to the king? How contemptible is the monarch in a political as well as in a moral light, who owes all his influence to his ftation and its emblems ? Some eaftern kings, to make their perfons more refpected, kept themfelves generally fhut up in their palaces, and were feldom vi- able to their fubjects Dejoces, the firft king of the Medes, at his acceflion to the throne, introduced this policy, which afterwards be- came common in all the oriental countries. But it is an error to fuppofe, that a prince cannot defcend from royal ftate without inju- ring his dignity. Artaxerxes was not mifled by this errour. Plutarch informs us, that he and his queen Statira were vilible and accef- fible to their fubjects; and they were the more refpected for their condefcenfion and affability. No fubject, among the Perfians, was per- mitted to appear before the king, without p r Oitrating himfdf before him; and in the law that enjoined this abject homage, which by Seneca is juflly ftyled A Perjian fervitude, Perficam Jer-vitutem, foreigners were likewise comprehended. We find that in later times many Greeks refufed to comply with it ; deeming the ceremony which it prefcribed unworthy Ot THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 323 bnworthy of men who had been born and bred in the bofom of liberty. Some, lefs de- licate, fubmitted to it, though with much re- luctance ; and we are told that one of them, to elude the ignominy of the fervile proftra- tion, when he approached the monarch, dropped his ring, that it might be thought he (looped to take it from the ground, and not to adore Perfian majefty. But it would have been a heinous crime in a native of the country to hefitate a moment to pay a ho- mage which his king exacted with extreme rigour. What we read in fcripture of two kings, one of whom commanded all his fubjects, on pain of death, to proftrate themfelves before his image ; and the other, on the fame pe- nalty, iufpended all acts of religion, except thofe that mould be paid to himfelf; — what we likcwife read of the ready and blind obe- dience of the Babylonians, who ran all toge- ther on the firft fignal to bend the knee be- fore the idol, and to invoke the king exclu- lively of every other power.— All this (hews the excellive pride of the eaflern kings, and the abject fervitude of their people. The diftance between the king and his fub- jects was fo great, that the latter, of what rank and title foever, whether fatrapa?, gover- nors, near relations, or even brothers of the king, were deemed only flaves; while the prince was always revered as their mafter, their fovereign, their lord. In a word, the char after and jituation of the Afiatics, and Y 2 par- 324 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, ice. particularly of the Perfians, w&sfervitude and Jlavery, and hence Cicero afferts, that the defpotic power which fome enemies to free- dom were endeavouring to eftablilh at Rome, was a yoke which would be infupportable not only to a Roman, but even to a Perfian. It was therefore this haughtinefs of the princes, and this abject fubmiffion of the people, which, according to Plato, were the principal caufes of the ruin of the Perfian empire, by breaking all the ties which unite kings and fubjects. Arrogance extinguimes in the former, humanity and affection ; and a fervile difpofition in the latter, courage, loy- alty, and gratitude. The kings of Periia commanded with menaces, and their fubjects obeyed with reluctance : this is the idea which Xerxes gives us of his government, in Herodotus; and yet that prince, in the fame author, is furprifed, that the Greeks, who were free, went cheerfully to battle. But they who are acquainted with the different effects which different political inftitutions draw from the human mind, will conclude, that no generous effort could be expected from men oppreffed with flavery, which (to uie the metaphorical language of Longinus) fhrivels and withers the foul. Ibid. p. 566. et feq. 3°- Of the bad education of their princes. It is Plato, too, who remarks that the bad education of their princes, was one caufe ol 7 the OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 325 the decline of the Perfian empire; and in examining this article we fhall find, that his obfervation is folid and judicious, and that the conduct of Cyrus was inexcufable. No man ought to have been more fenfible than Cyrus, that a good education is of the greateft importance to a young prince. He had experienced, in himfelf, all its advantages. In the fine fpeech which he made to his offi- cers after the taking of Babylon, what he chiefly recommended to them as the fureft means to preferve their glory, was, to educate their children according to the 'Perfian plan of education, and to preferve, themfelves, the fimplicity and rectitude of Perfian manners. Would one believe, that a prince who thus thought and fpoke, could have totally ne- glected the education of his own children ? 1 et of that neglect Cyrus was guilty. For- getting that he was a father, and intent only on conquer!, he left the firft object of paternal care to women ; i, e. to princefies, who had been educated in a country that was engrofTed by luxury, voluptuoufnefs, and fplendour; for his queen was of Media. And to fuch perfons the education of the young princes Cambyfes and Smerdis, was entrufted. Nothing was re- fufed them ; all their defires were anticipated. The leading rule in the treatment of them was, never to difpute with them, never to contradict them, never to check them with reproof or expostulation. In their prefence, people fpoke not, but to praife all their words Y 3 and 3*6 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. and actions. Before them all was reverence and proftration : and it was thought eflential to their greatnefs, to place them and mankind at an infinite diftance, as if they had been of different fpecies. Of all thefe particulars we are informed by Plato; for Xenophon, pro- bably to fpare his hero, fays nothing of the manner in which thofe princes were brought up; though he gives us an ample account of the education of their father. It is moft of all furprifing, that Cyrus did not take his fons with him to his lad cam- paigns, to remove them from an effeminate and diflolute court, and to teach them the art of war, which they then mull have been old enough to Jearn. Perhaps he had intended to take them with him; but vyas over-ruled by the women. However that was, the education of thofe princes produced its natural effects. Cam- by fes came from that fchool with the immo- ralities which are attributed to him by hiflory : — a capricious, vain, haughty prince; addicted to the mod mameful excefles of drunkennels and debauchery ; fo fuperititious and inhuman, as from his confidence in a dream, to murder his brother ; — in fhort, a favage, a madman, who, by his ill-conduct, brought the empire to the brink of deilruc- tjon. His farher, fays Plato, left him, at his death, many extenfive provinces, immenfe riches, and innumerable forces by fea and land i OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 3*7 land ; but he had not infured them to him by fortifying his mind with philofophy ; he had not taught him the right ufe of power. The fame author makes fimilar reflections on Darius and Xerxes. The former, as he was not the fon of a king, had not received the feminine education of a Perfian prince. He afcended the throne with a love of appli- cation, produced and confirmed by induftry, with a mind chaftifed by moderation, with a courage which was almoft equal to that of Cyrus ; and by which he added to the em- pire almoft as many provinces as the other had conquered. But he was not a more pro- vident father than Cyrus ; he was not warned by his fault in neglecting the education of his children. Hence his fon Xerxes was almoft a fecond Cambyfes. From all this mifconduct, Plato, after hav- ing fhewn us the many rocks on which wealth and grandeur almoft inevitably fplit, concludes, that one principal caufe of the de- clenfion and ruin of the empire of the Per- sians was the bad education of their princes ; becaufe their conduct was adopted by all their fuccerTors, under whom the empire degene- rated, and languifhed more and more; for their luxury at length knew no bounds. Ibid. p. 570. et feq. Y 4 4°. Qf 3 a8 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. 4-°' We are informed by Xenophon, that one of the caufes both of the great corruption of l&arjners among the, Perfians,. and of the de- flruclion of their empire,: wjas. their want of public faith- " Formerly," lays he, " the M king and his governors th ••.■light it. their V indifpenfeble duty to keep their word, and *' religioufly to fulfil .all treaties which thev " had ratified with the iblemmty of an w oath j even with thofe who had rendered " themfelves unworthy of that generous. " treatment by their infincerity. And by " that fage conduct, by that true policy, th^y ■f gained the full confidence both of their " own fubjects, and of all their neighbours l( and allies," This is a great encomium on the Perfians, and it is undoubtedly due to the reign of Cy- rus the Great. Though Xenaphon applies it likewife to the younger Cyrus,, who, he fays, made it one of his ruling principles, never to violate his faith, however it was given, nor upon any pretence. Thefe princes had a true idea of royalty ; they judly thought, that if truth and probity were baniihed from the reft of the world, they mould find an afylum, in the court of a king, who, as he is the center, the combining power by which a fociety co- heres, mould alio be the patron and avenger of integrity, which, in all focictics, is efTential to their welfare, to their fubfiftence. Thefe -OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS'. • 329 Thefe fentiments, fo noble, fo worthy of a man born to ibvereignty, did not laft long. They were foon fucceeded by afalfe prudence, by an artificial policy.—-" The leading men ** at court (fays Xenophon), who in bet- c< ter times were thofe who were moft diftin- " gui(hed for their good fenfe and honour, are " now thofe pretended zealous fervants of the "' king, who facrifice every thing to his hu- *' mour and miftaken iritereft; who think " falfehood : , deceit, and perjury, the morteft u and furell means to efTecl: his plans and en- ** terprifes; who deem a fcrupulous attach- u ment to his engagements af mark of weak- " nefs and timidity; — who think him, in " fhort, unqualified for government, if he does *' not, in certain exigencies, prefer difhoneft * reafons of ftate to the exact obfervation of "treaties, however folemnly and facredly they u were concluded." . r "The Afiatic nations," continues Xeno- phon, " foon imitated their prince, who " became their example and matter in per- il fidy. They foon abandoned themfelves u to injuftice, violence, and impiety; and u from this profligacy arofe their contempt «• of their kings. It was the natural degene- " racy to which licentious men are at length " debated; or it was the juft punifhment in- " flicled by Heaven on daring criminals, who ff fpurned the facred and awful objects of '' religion." Ibid. p. '572. etfeq. OF J30 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, Sec. ■ OF THE PEUCINM. - It is not clear from Tacitus, whether the Peucini were Germans or Sarmatians. The Peucini, however, who, by fome authors are called the Baftarnae, fpoke the language of the Germans; their drefs and houfes likewife re- sembled theirs-, like them they were not va- grants, but led a fettled life. In procefs of time their chiefs intermarried with the Sarma- tians, and adopted part of their drefs, which was not fo becoming as their own. Tacit, pe morib. Germ. c. 46. THE PHENICIANS. The Phenicians were very famous as a trading people. They engroffed the com- merce of the Weft, to which the Mediterra-. nean fea was their avenue, to the great preju- dice of the Egyptians. We need not wonder therefore, that the Greek and Roman authors, without mentioning the trade of Egypt, have celebrated that of the Phenicians — that ac- cording to Herodotus, they conveyed to diffe- rent countries the merchandize of Egypt and AfTyria ; and that the invention of navigation and commerce is generally afcribed to them ; though in fact that glory is due to the Egyp- tians. However, in ancient commerce the Phenicians were undoubtedly moil eminent ; and their example is the ftrongeft proof that by OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 33 r by commercial fuccefs a nation may acquire great wealth, power, and glory. The Phenicians inhabited but a narrow tract along the Tea coaft ; and the foil of Tyre was barren : but if it had been extremely fertile, it could not have fupported the great number of inhabitants who were invited to it by the profperity of its commerce. Two advantages made amends to them for this want. They had excellent ports on the coafts of their little territories; that of their capital was particularly commodious : and they had fo happy a genius for commerce, that they were deemed the inventors of mari- time trade, efpecially of that which is car- ried on by long voyages. The Phenicians availed themfelves fo ef- fectually of thefe advantages, that they foon made themfelves mafters of commerce, and of the fea. As Libanus and other neighbouring mountains furnimed them with excellent wood for the construction of their veffels; they foon had large fleets of merchant mips, which ventured on new voyages to extend and eftablim their commerce. They did not confine their navigation to the coafts and ports of the Mediterranean fea; they entered the Atlantic by the Straits of Cadiz, or Gibraltar, and failed, on that ocean, to different quarters. As they foon multiplied to an incredible number, by the many ftrangers whom a defire and profpect of gain drew to their city, they fent at different tines part of their inha- bitants $3* INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. bitants abroad j and among the reft the famous colony of Carthage, which retained the com- mercial fpirit of the Phenicians, and by that charafreriftic grew as famous as Tyre itfelf, which it far exceeded in the extent of its dominion, and in the glory of its military ex- peditions. The city of Tyre by her navigation and commerce had acquired fo much power and glory, that we mould pronounce the enco- miums beftowed upon her by profane authors hyperbolical, did not the prophets fpeak of. her even in higher terms than they. — M Tyre; (fays Ezekiel, to give us fome idea of her { power) is a ftately (hip. — They have made? • all thy mip-boards of fir-trees of Senir : 1 they have taken cedar from Lebanon to e make mafts for thee : of the oaks of Bafhan " have they made thine oars. — Fine linen: c with broidered work from Egypt was that* c which thou fpreadeft forth to be thy fails. c Blue and purple from the Ifles of Eli(ba c was that which covered thee. The inha- j bitants of Sidon and Arvad were thy ma- 1 riners : they of Perfia, and of Lydia, and \ of Libya, were in thine army, thy men of ' war: the wife men, O Tyre, that were in ' thee, were thy pilots," &c. The prophet, by this figurative language, intends to difplay to us the power of this city; but he fhews us its ftrength in more finking terms, by his enumeration of -the. dates that fhared its com- merce. The produce and manufactures of the OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 333 the whole world feemed to have been collected at Tyre j of whom other ftates were rather the tributaries than the allies. The Phenicians were the only nation who for a long time carried on a trade with Great Britain. They imported tin from the ifland9 which were called by the ancients Caffiterides. They were fo jealous of this monopoly, that a Phenician pilot, as we are told by Strabo, obierving that he was followed by a Roman veifel, the matter of which wanted to difco- ver the way to the Caffiterides, changed his courfe, drew after him the too curious Roman, and ran defignedly a-ground on a flat with which he was well acquainted; where the Roman perifhed. The provident, though ad- venturous Phenician, had prepared for his fafety ; and on his return home, he was in- demnified by the ftate for the lofs which he had fuftained by his voluntary fhipwreck.-— Roll. Hist. Anc. torn. v. p. 513, 514.— Crev. Hist, des Emp. torn. ii. p. 142. THE RHIZOPHAGI. The Rhizophagi inhabited that part of Ethiopia which lies above Egypt, and which is near the river Afa. Thefe barbarians dug up the roots of reeds, and warned them tho- roughly. When they were quite clean, they beat them between flones, till they reduced them to a glutinous and mining mafs. This mafs they made into cakes about as broad as the 334 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, fcc. the palm of the hand, which they baked iti the fun. This was their only food, and they always had it in abundance. They lived in peace among themfelves ; but they waged war with lions. For thofe beafts, leaving the dry and burning defarts in great numbers, came fometimes into the country of the Rhizophagi, to feek for fhade. or to hunt the weaker animals. It often happened that the Rhizophagi, when they had left their marfhy ground, were furprifed and devoured by the lions j for as they knew not the ufe of arms, they could not refjft them. This na- tion muft have been totally deftroyed by thofe dreadful afiailants, if nature had not been it» auxiliary. The dog-days, in their country, began with high winds. At that time the air was infected with innumerable flying infects, which were far ftronger than any flies that we know. The men of the country efcaped them, by retiring into their marfhy grounds; but the lions fled back to their deferts, fright- ened with the noife of the infects j or becaule they could not find more prey. DlOD. SlCt/L. p. Ill- THE SCYTHIANS. A general idea of the Scythian nation. The Scythians at nrft pofieffed but a fmall diftrict ; but in time they extended their ter- ritories: their valour made them mafters of a vaft country, and gained them the reputation of OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 335 of a very warlike people. The earlieft ac- counts of them inform us, that they dwelt on the banks of the river Araxes, and were de- fpifed for their fmall number. Till one of their kings, who loved and underftood war, added to his little dominions, all the moun- tains around Caucafus, and all the plain that reaches from the ocean to the Palus Moeotis, and to the Tanais. The Scythian fables tell us, that in their country lived a daughter of the Earth, whofe head and the half of her body were human; from the waift downwards, me was of the form of a ferpent. Jupiter fell in love with this monfter; and (he bore him a fon called Scythes. He acquired fame by his exploits, and left his name to the Scythian nation. Among his pofterity there were two brothers of diitinguiflied valour; the name of. the one was Palus ; that of the other Napes, They divided the kingdom betwixt them ; and each of the brothers called his fubjects af- ter his own name — Palufians, and Napefians. Afterwards, fome kings of their race, who were great warriors, extended their conquefts beyond the Tanais as far as Thrace, and fouthward, even to Egypt and the Nile. After they had thus conquered great provinces to the right and left, the Scythian empire was continually augmenting in ftrength and power ; till at length it comprehended all the countries that lie between the Eaftern Ocean, the Cas- pian Sea, and the Palus Moeotis. Thus 336 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, & c . Thus the Scythians multiplied extremely j and from them fprung the Saci, the MaiTa- getae, and many other nations. Scythia had illuftrious kings, who fent forth many colo- nies from the countries which they had con- quered. The two greateft were, the colony fent from AfTyria to the country that lies be- tw xt Paphlagonia and Pontus: and that of the Medians, whom they fettled on the banks of the Tana'is. In the time of Diodo- rus they were called the Sauromata?. This people having grown numerous, ravaged the greater part of Scythia with fire and fword, and defiroyed and drove out of the country moft of its inhabitants. In this defolation, the royal family, and the fovereignty itfelf were extinguished ; and the throne of Scythia was afterwards filled by valiant women. For the Scythian women went to war as well as the men, and were equal to them in courage. Hence there were not only famous women among the Scythians, but likewife among the neighbouring nations. Cyrus, king of Perfia, who was the moft powerful monarch cf his time, having invaded Scythia, was conquered and taken prifoner by the queen of that coun- try, and by her command was put to death on a trofs. The Amazons, who were {o re- nowned for their valour, were natives of Scythia. The hiflorians, in the accounts which they grvc us of the manners and character of the Scythi. n; 5 contradict or.c another. Some re- p re fent OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 337 prefent them as the moft juft and humane people in the world; by the defcription of others they were barbarians, fierce, and moft horridly cruel. Thefe different pictures we mud undoubtedly apply to different nations, which were fpread over the vaft tracts of the North; and of which, though they were often comprehended under one general name, we fhculd form diftinct ideas. The gods of the Scythians. The Scythians facrificed to the following deities — with particular veneration, to Vefta, Jupiter, and the Earth, who, in their mytho- logy, was the wife of Jupiter. Their other gods were, Apollo, Venus, Urania, Mars, and Hercules ; for to them divine honours were paid by ail the Scythians. The Scythians who had the epithet royal, facrificed like wife to Neptune. In their language Vefta was called Tahiti; — Jupiter, Papaeus ; Earth, Apia; Apollo, iEto- fyrus ; Venus Urania, Artimpofa ; and Nep- tune, Thamimafades. Herod, lib. iv. c. 59. Their manner of facrificing. All the Scythians offered their facrirlces iri the following manner. The victim was pre- fented with its fore-feet tied together. He who offered it, ftood behind, took off his tur- ban, and ftruck the beaft, and as it fell, he invoked the god to whom it was facrificed. Vol. II. Z After #- 338 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. After fhefe ceremonies, he put a cofd about its neck, which 'he tightened with a ftick ; and thus he ftrangled the victim, without a facrificial fire, without prayers, and without libations. When he had ftrangled and fkin- ned it, he prepared to drefs it. Eut as there ^vas little wood in Scythia, the Scythians dreffed their meat in the following manner. After they had fkyed the vi&im, they cut the flefh from the bones, and put it into their caldrons, which exactly refembled Lefbian cups, except that they were much larger. The bones were then fet on fire under the caldrons, to boil the victim. But if fhey had no caldrons, they put into the belly of the victim all its flefh, with water, and burned its bones. Thus, as the belly of the animal eafily contained the flefh, when it was cut from the bones, the body of an ox, or of any other animal fupplied the facrifices with fuel, and a vefTel to boil it. When the flefh was boiled, he who immolated, made his offering of the flefh and of the inteftines, by throwing them before him. They offered various ani- mals, but chiefly horfes? they facrificed to all their deities in the manner I have related, excepting Mars, to whom, in conformity with ancient cuftom, they thus conitructed a temple in every province. Of faggots of the mofl combuflible wood, they made a fquare, the fides of which were three ftadia? but it was not fo high. Above they made a platform, three fides of which were OF Tfifc ANCIENt NATIONS. 339 Were abrupt and inacceflible j the fourth fide was made floping, that it might be afcended. A hundred and fifty waggon-loads of faggots were brought every year to repair the temple, which was often injured by the inclemencies of the weather. On this platform was fixed perpendicularly an old fword, which was their only reprefentation of Mars. Sacrifices of various animals, but efpecially of horfes^ were annually offered to this old fword; and it was honoured with more victims than all their other deities. They likewife facrificed to Mars the hundredth part of all their pri- fonersofwar; but with ceremonies different from thofe with which they facrificed the animals ; for after they had made a libation of wine on the head of the human victim, they cut his throat over a veffel which they carried up to the platform, and poured all the blood which it contained on the facred fword. Such was the ceremony on the top of the temple. The following were the ceremonies which they performed below. They cut off the right hand, and the right moulder of all the prifoners whom they had immolated, and threw them up into the air : the hand remain- ed where it fell ; the moulder they difpofed of differently. When they had performed all their ceremonies they retired. Thefe were their modes of facrificing. They had fuch an abhorrence of fwine, that none in their country were fuffered to feed thofe animals. — • Ibid. c. 60. etfeq. Z 2 . The 340 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. The horrid cruelty of the Scythians in time of war. ■ They obferved the following cuftoms in their wars. The Scythians drank the blood of the firft enemy they took, and prefented to their king the heads of all thofe whom they had flain in a battle j for if they brought the heads to him, all the booty was their own ; but they who omitted that ceremony, or could not difcharge it, were not intitled to the leaft fhare in the fpoils of war. To fcalp thofe heads, they cut through the fkin circularly, almoft in a line with the tip of the ear; the circle being made, they (hook the head ; hold- ing it by the hair of the crown, and then pulled off the fkin. They tanned the fcalp, and ufed it as a towel ; they tied it to their horfe's bridle; it was their mod honourable trophy ; for the valour of a Scythian was efti- mated according to the number they had of thefe towels. Many Scythians fewed together the fkins of men inftead of thofe of beafts, and wore them for clothes. Others flayed with their nails, the right arms of the enemies they had flain, and covered their quivers with them : for the human fkin is thick, and more white and mining than that of any animal. O- thers made houlin^ for their horfes of the fkins of their em mies. Thefe were iome of their ancient and eftablifhed cuiloms. Scalp- ing* OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 341 ing, however, they did not pradtife indifcri- minately. They only flayed the heads of thole enemies againfr. whom they were moft exa- fperated. The poorer people cleaned the fkull, and covered it with leather. The rich not only covered it with leather without, but likewife gilt it within ; and both ufed it for a cup. They ufed the fkull of a friend in the fame manner, if they had quarrelled with him, and had vanquished him in the prefence of the king. When they were vifited by refpedt- able Grangers, they mewed them thofe fkulls. They related to them the unfriendly treat- ment which they had received from the per- fons whofe fkulls they mowed and the particulars of the combat and victory, which they deemed the greater!: glory of their life. Every governour of a province made an an- nual feafr, at which he prefented a cup of wine to each man who had killed his enemy. This mark of refpecl: he did not mew to thofe who had not diftinguifhed themfelves by fome exploit. They fate apart unnoticed j and were therefore deemed ignominious. But they who had ilain many enemies drank at once out of two cups. Ibid. c. 64. et J q. The Scythian diviners. In this nation there were many foothfayers, who performed their divinations with rods of willow. They brought to a certain place ma- ny faggots of thefe rods, which they laid on Z 3 the 341 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, *c. the ground and untied. While they fepa- rated, and bundled them up again, they pre- dicted. When the king of Scythia was Tick, he fent for three of the moll: famous diviners, who commonly afferted, that one of his fubje&s, whom they named, had fworn by the royal throne, and had perjured himfelf ; for the moil folemn oath in Scythia was to fwear by the royal throne, The perfon whom they ac- cufed of perjury was immediately brought be- fore the king ; and they again infifted that he had perjured himfelf, and that his perjury was the caufe of the king's malady. If he denied that he was perjured, and folemnly protefted his innocence, the king fent for twice as ma- ny diviners ; and if, after the ufual ceremo- nies, they likewife pronounced him guilty, he was condemned to lofe his head, and his effects were divided among the three firft diviners. But if he was judged innocent in the fecond appeal, many more diviners were fent for: and if he was acquitted by the majority, the three who firft accufed him were condemned to die ; and they fuffered in the following manner. A cart to which oxen were put, was filled with faggots and brum- wood; on thofefaggots thefe diviners were laid, with their feet chain- ed, their hands tied behind their back, and gaggs in their mouth. Fire was then put to the faggots, and the oxen were made to go at a quick pace. Other criminals were burned with OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 343 with the diviners; and fome efcaped half burned, when the beam of the cart had given way by the fire. The foothfayers were burn- ed for their lying divinations in tbefe and many other cafes ;. and they were called falfe diviners. The refentment of the king extend- ed to the children of thofe whom he had capi- tally condemned. He put all the males to death, but pardoned the females. Ibid. c. 67. et feq„ Alliances of the Scythians. . The Scythians made their compacts and alliances in this manner : they poured wine into a great earthen vefTel, and mixed it with their blood, which they drew with a knife, or with their fword. Into this mixture they dipped their fwords, their arrows, their battle- axes, and their darts. When this ceremony. was over, they exhorted one anotherto a faith- ful obfervation of their engagement, in long harangues. The wine was then drank by the parties, and by the reft who were prefent; — from which ceremony none were exempted by wealth or nobility. Ibid. c. 70. Their ceremonies in burying their kings. Their kings were interred at a place called Gerrha, where the Boryfthenes began to be navigable. When one of their kings died, they dug a large iquare ditch. After this prepa- rative, they wrapped the deceafed in waxed Z 4 cloth; — 344 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. cloth ; afterwards they embowclled him j embalmed him with Cyprefs-wood pulverized, with incenfe, the feed of parfley, and anife ; — fowed him up, laid him in a cart, and took him from province to province. The inhabi- tants of each province where he was received, were obliged to perform the following cere- monies, as well as the fubjecls of the faid king. They cut off a part of their ear ; they fhaved their heads ; they cut pieces out of their arms ; they made wounds on their fore" head and nofe ; and pierced their left hand through with an arrow. When thefe cere- monies were performed in one province, the body of the king, attended by all his fubjects, was removed to another. When they had thus efcorted the deceafed king over all his dominions, they left him with the inhabitants of Gerrha, by whom he was interred. They laid him on a bed which was prepared for him in his tomb ; around the bed they ereded javelins ; deals were laid on the javelins; and the deals were covered with a large cloth. In the remaining fpace of the tomb they laid one of the king's concubines, whom they firft flrangled ; — a cup-bearer, an equerry, a mailer of the houfehold, and one of thofe whofe office it was to make a re- port of public affairs to the king. There they likewife laid horfes, and pieces of every kind of furniture, among which there were fome veflels of gold, for they had no fil- ver. After they had thus filled the tomb, they OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 345 they covered it with earth, which they raifed to a great elevation above the furface of the ground. A year after the fepulture they chofe fifty pages of the late king's bedchamber, who were all of the fame country -, for the king took all his pages from a certain part of his domi- nions ; and they ferved him without any ap- pointment. They ftrangled thofe fifty pages, and as many horfes, which they gutted, clean- ed well within, and fovved up. They then fixed in wooden niches many femicircular arches of the fame fubftance; on thefe arches they fufpended the horfes, which were fpitted with poles from the head through the pofteri- ors. On one arch the moulders of each horfe were fupported ; on another his hinder parts ; ■ — his legs hung in the air. They bridled thefe horfes, and tied the bridles to ftakes fixed in the ground. On each of the horfes they fet one of the pages whom they had ftrangled ; and that the body of the page might keep erect, they impaled him from the extremity of the back-bone to the head. The ftake with which the page was impaled, was driven into the pole which fpitted the horfe. When they had ranged this cavalry around the tomb, they retired : and thefe were the fu- neral honours which the Scythians paid to their kings. Ibid, c. 7 1 . etfeq. The 34 6 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. T6e ceremonies in the interment of the kcythians. With regard to the bodies of the other Scy^ thians, they were onveyed in a cart to the houfes of their friends, who received them with great affection, and made an entertain- ment for all thofe who accompanied them, as well relations as others. Thefe pioceffions, for a perfon of private (ration, lafted forty days, at the expiration of which the deccafed was interred. After the Scythians had interred their dead, they purified themfelves. Firfi they purified their heads, and then their bo- dies, in the fallowing manner. They placed on the ground three blocks of wood) leaning againft one another, Round thofe blocks they laid woollen hats; and they threw into a hole which was within the circle of hats, (tones taken out of fire, and ex- tremely hot. In their country there grew a kind of hemp, which very much reiembled lint, except that it was larger. This hemp^ when it grew fpontaneoufly, or after it was fown, far exceeded the hemp of other coun- tries. They (trewed the feed of this hemp on. the hot (tones, and they put them under the hats, horn which a moft agreeable fragrance iffued, far exceeding the fined perfumes of the Greeks. This odour was fo exquifite that it threw the Scythians into an ecftafy. It ferved them inftead of a bath -, for they never 2 wetted OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 347 wetted their bodies •, their women were only permitted to ufe liquid purifications, one of which we fhall here 1 relate — They pulverized betwixt two ftones, cyprefs, cedar, and ano- ther fragrant wood; of this powder, wkh the addition of a certain liquid, they made an ointment, with which they rubbed their face, and their whole body- This ointment difFuf- ed an agreeable fmell; they wafhed it off on the morning after they had applied it; r-it heightened the bloom and luftre of their charms. Ibid. c. 73. etfeq. The averfion of the Scythians to foreign cuftoms. The Scythians not only never adopted fo- reign cuftoms, but in every diftrict of Scythia, they were tenacious of the cuftoms of their own diftricl:. That they particularly detefted the cuftoms and manners of the Greeks, we may be convinced by the fate of Anacharfis and of Scyles. Anacharfis, who had travelled much, and in his travels had acquired great knowledge, was returning to Scythia by the Hellefpont. He put into the harbour of Cyzicus, and vi- lited the town. There he found the Cyzice- nians celebrating, with great folemnity, the feaft of the mother of the gods. Struck with the pomp of the ceremonies, he made a. vow to the goddefs, that he would facrihce to her after the Grecian manner, on the evening af- ter his arrival in his own country. According- 348 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, Sec. lv, on his return to Scythia, he retired into the country of Hylea, where he privately ac- complished his vow, and performed all the ceremonies in honour of the goddefs, hold- ing in his hand the timbrel before foreign images. But while he was intent on thefe ceremonies, he was difcovered by a Scythian, who went immediately to inform the king of his impiety. The king (whofe name was Saulius) repaired without delay to the place where Anacharfis was worshipping, and mot him with an arrow. A long time after, Scyles, the fon of Ari- pathes king of Scythia, met a like fate. As he had been habituated to Grecian cuftoms from his infancy, he was ftrongly attached to them, and defpifed thofe of his own country. Having led an army towards the city of the Boryfthenians, as often as he entered that city, he left his troops without : he ordered all the gates to be fhut, and exchanged the Scythian for the Greek drefs. In that drefs he walked alone in the forum, neither attend- ed by his guards nor by the people ; but he placed guards at the gates of the city, that he might not be feen by the Scythians in his fo- reign habit: and among the other cuftoms of the Greeks, he joined in their religious cere- monies. After he had continued above a month in this town, he left it and refumed the drefs of the Scythians. This change he often repeated, and he had even built himfelf a pa- lace, and taken a wife in the city of the Borif- thenians. But OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 349 But as he was deftined to an untimely end, fays Herodotus, the caufe of his fate operat- ed in an event apparently accidental. A ce- leftial phenomenon warned him of his im- pending danger, as he was going to celebrate the feaft of Bacchus. In the city of the Bo- rifthenians he had built a palace as we have juft relatecrY and round the palace there were fphinxes and griffins of white marble. On this palace lightning fell, and confumed it; yet Scyles periifted in his worfhip, and went through all the ceremonies of the feaft of Bac- chus. I mud obferve to the reader, that the Scythians reproached the Greeks with their adoration of Bacchus ; they thought it abfurd and difgraceful to worfhip a deity who de- prived men of reafon, and rendered them ftupid or mad. While Scyles was celebrating the feaft, a Boryfthenian informed the Scy- thians of the facl:, in the following words: " You ridicule and defpife us, O Scythi- <{ ans, becaufe we celebrate the feaft of Bac- <{ chus, of a god who deprives us of our rea- " fon and of our fenfes. But his power con- Happy the Scythians, houfelefs train ! Who roll their vagrant dwellings o'er the plain ! Happy the Getge, fierce and brave, Whom no fixed laws of property enflave ! Succeeding yearly to the toil, Who plow, with equal talk, the public foil 5 Vol. II. A a While 354 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS,- &c. While open (lands the golden grain, The free born fruitage of the unbounded plain. Not there the guiltlcfs ftcp-dame knows The baleful draughts for orphans to compofe ; No wife high-portioned rulf-s her fpoufe, Nor trufts her efllnced lover's faiihlefs vows. The lovers there for dowry claim The father's virtue, and the fpotlefs fame, Which dares not break the nuptial tie ; Polluted crime! whole portion is to die! Hor. lib. iii. ode 24. Francis. When we examine, without prejudice, the manners and character of the Scythians, can we refufe them our efteem and admiration ? Did not their way of living very much re- femble that of the Patriarchs, who had no fixed habitations, who were unacquainted with agriculture, who fed their flocks and herds, and dwelt in tents ? Was their fituation de- plorable becaufe they knew not, or deipifed the ufe of gold and filver ? Is it not to be wiihed that thofe metals had never been dug out of the bowels of the earth, to multiply crimes ? What good could they have pro- cured for the Scythians, who were content with fupplying the natural wants of man ? It is no wonder that they, who were defended from the inclemencies of weather by the ikins of wild beafts, were indifferent to the arts that were in high efteem in other nations to architecture, fculpture, and painting; to the elegance and fplendour of drefs and furni- ture. After all, can we alfert, that thofe pretended OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 355 pretended advantages promote the happinefs of life? Were the people of antiquity who enjoyed thofe arts, more vigorous and healthy than the Scythians ? Did they live longer than they? were they more free? were they lefs fubjecl: to anxiety and diiappointment ? ' Let us honeftly own they were not : let us filence the declamatory pretenfions of philofcphy. The Scythians, though they had no fchools of wifdom, were a more truly wife people than the Egyptians, or any other cultivated nation. They gave the name of goods or poileiTions only to fuch objects as deferved thofe appella* tions, if we would fpeak a fenfible and man- ly language to health, to courage, to in* duftry, to liberty, to integrity, to a delega- tion of all falfehood and fraud;— -in {hort, to all thofe qualities which conciliate our love and efteem. Had they likewife known the true God, and the Mediator (and without the knowledge of them all their excellent proper- ties were ufeiefs) they would have been a per- fect people. When we compare the manners of the Scy- .thians with thofe of modern Europe, we are apt to fufpecl that the fine picture exaggerates the original, and that both Horace and Juftin afcribe virtues to them of which they were not pofieffed. Yet all the teftimonies of antiquity agree with the encomiums of thefe authors : and Homer, whofe lingle furfrage is of great weight, pronounces them— (i The moil jufl ** of men." A a 2 But 356 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, kc. But an unexpected fate befel Scythia. Lu- xury, which we mould fuppofe could only live in a mild and agreeable climate, penetrated in- to this cold and inhofpitable region; and forcing the barriers which the nature of the climate, the genius of the inhabitants, and long cuftom had oppofed to her, me corrupt- ed the manners of the Scythians, and funk them to a level with the other nations, whom her allurements had fubdued. The remark- able degeneracy of this people is related by Strabo, who flourimed in the time of Augus- tus and Tiberius. After having warmly praif- ed the fimplicity, the frugality, the innocence, and the integrity of the ancient Scythians, he owns, that in confequence of the intercourfe which that people had with other nations in later times, thofe virtues had been fucceeded by the contrary vices. One would have hoped, fays that author, that a commerce with civi- lized and polimed nations would have worn off their favage air, and enlightened and em- bellished their minds; but we find that its effedts were deftru&ive ; that it ruined their innocence and independence, and transform- ed them, as it were, into a different fpecies. Athenseus undoubtedly has this depravation of the Scythians in his eye, when he fays, that foon after they grew attentive to intereft and wealth, they wereemafculated by luxury and pleafure. Strabo, where he makes the obfervations which 1 havejuft quoted, acknowledges that the OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. ft; the Scythians owed the corruption of their manners to their intercourfe with the Greeks and Romans. Our example, fays he, has corrupted almoft all the nations of the world ; it has introduced among them luxury, volup- tuoufnefs, perfidy, and rapacity.^ — To invent modes and amuiements; — to refine on vice; to give the law to a confiderable part of the world in the objects, of moral corruption j— is the molt baneful talent of a nation, and its moft ignominious diftinclion. Justin 1. ii. c. 2. Horat. 1. iii. ode 24. Koll. Hjst. Anc. torn. ii. p. 126. etfeq. THE SIGYNES, This people, according to Herodotus, lived beyond the Danube. The drefs of the Sigynes was like that of the Medes, Their hair over all their bodies was five inches long. Their ftature was low, and their nofes were fiat. They did not parry men , but the poor, in their country, often drew the rich in carts. Herod. 1. v. c. 9, THE STRUT HQPHAGI. The Struthophagi were a people of ^Ethi- opia : their name fignifies enters of ojiriches. In their country there was a fwgular kind of bird. It was as large as a flag : its neck was very long : its fides were prominent, ancj had wings. }ts head was long, and the conftruc- A a 3 tion 358 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, & tion of it was weak in proportion to the reft of its body. But it had great ftrength in its thighs and feet : its claws were cloven like the hoofs of horned cattle. Its flight was low, by reafon of its great weight $ but it ran with incredible fwiftnefs. It defended itfelf again ft its perfuers by throwing great flones behind it with its feet, as from a fling. When there was little wind its wings were foon fatigued j and therefore it was eafily taken. As there was a prodigious number of thefe birds in this country, and as many ways of catching them had been invented, the hunting of them proved very ufeful to the barbarians. They ate their flefh ; and their fkins ferved them for garments and bed- clothes. They were often at war with thofe ./Ethiopians who were diftinguifhed by the name of Simi; and their chief weapon was the horn of the oryx [a kind of wild-goat] : — it was large, (harp, and very fit to be ufed in battle. As the oryx was very common in their country, they were fupplied with as many horns of that animal as they wanted. Diet). Sicul. p. 113. THE SUEONES, The Sueones, according to the account of Tacitus, were furrounded by the ocean. They were the anceftors of the people who are now called Swedes. They , OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 359 They were powerful both by land and fea. Their {hips were more conveniently con- ftructed than thofe of the Romans ; for they had two prows, and therefore they could put into any harbour without turning. They went only with oars; and the rowers had not fixed flations, and of equal diftances. They often rowed in different parts of the veffel, as was the cuftom of the Romans on fome rivers. The Sueones, like other nations, were eager after wealth ; and by that paffion they loft their liberty. From a free ftate they be- came the flaves of a defpotic fovereign. All the Sueones were not permitted, like the reft of the Germans, to wear arms. The king had a minifter, who rigoroufly fuperintended their conduct. That minifter was always his favourite flave. This policy was dictated by the following confederations. Their country was guarded from fudden invasions by the circumfluent ocean. It was difficult to keep foldiers in fubjection who were in a ftate of fecurity. The monarch would have been im- prudent, if he had chofen a perfon of rank for his firft minifter : he would have been in danger if he had chofen him from among the citizens — even from among thofe who were only freed-men. Tacit, de morib. Germ. 44, A a 4 THE $6o INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOM'S, &c. THE SUEVI The Suevi inhabited a con fider able part of Germany. They were not a fingle nation, like the Catti and the Tencteri, but a people coropofed of ieveral nations, and comprised in the general name of Suevi j though each nation had likewilc its own particular name. The cuftom of twifting their hair, and making it into a knot, diftinguimed the Suevi from the reft of the Germans, and the free- men among the Suevi from the flaves. Some of the youth, too, among their neighbours, adopted this cuftom, either to fhew their de- fcent from the*Suevi ; or becaufe they thought it honourable to imitate them. But the Suevi, even in their old age, drew up over the hinder part of their head, and knotted their ftrong and rough hair. The hair of their people of fu- perior rank was more carefully adjufted. This was their only embellifhment; an embeiiim- ment to which they were attentive, not from a frivolous and effeminate tafle, but to make their ftature feem greater, and to appear more terrible to their enemies. The Semnones claimed a fuperiority to the reft of the Suevi in antiquity and noblenefs of blood j and they founded their claim on their religion. They had a foreft which had been confecrated by their anceftors, and which they held in the greateft veneration, whither, on certain days, all their nations aflembled by de- i putation, OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 361 putatiqn, to celebrate the (hocking ceremonies of their barbarous worfhip, which began with the facrifice of a human victim : they immo- lated a man. In this foreft a particular grove was moft revered ; which we may term the fancluary of the fylvan temple. Into this- grove people were never admitted but with their hands tied behind their backs ; which confinement characterifed the humiliation of their minds before the Deity. If the fup- pliant fell, he was not to rife, even upon his knees j he was to roll himfelf out of the grove. Thefe fuperftitious rites were cele- brated, to imprefs the Suevi with a belief that their facred grove was the place of their origin; the abode of the Supreme Being; — » and that all their profperity depended on their punctual and fervent worfhip there. As this foreft was (ituated in the country of the SemnoneSj.it gave them great confequence and diftinction ; and their good fortune war- ranted their pretentions. They poffeffed a hundred cantons ; and to their power, as well as to the extent of their territories, they owed their eminence and authority over the reft of the Suevi. Tacit, de morib.Germ. c. 38, 19, THE 362 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. THE SYBARITES. A compendious account of the republic of the Sybarites. This people diftinguiflied themfelves from the other nations of antiquity by the mod ignoble charadteridics, thofe of luxury and effeminacy. Ancient authors always mention them in terms of the mod humiliating con- tempt. The keened: reproach on the man-, ners of an individual or of a date, was to com- pare them with thofe of the Sybarites, whole dirTolutenefs became proverbial. A table ex- quifitely luxurious and elegant, was, " The " table of a Sybarite." — An affected and effe- minate walk or voice, was " the walk or the cc voice of a Sybarite." Hidory has hardly deigned to tranfmit the names of any of the inhabitants of the ancient Sybaris. A few partiulars relating to. them have. been preferved by Paufanias. From him we learn, that they had a treafury at Delphi near to that of the Epidamnians ; that on one fide of their coin was the head of Mars, with a helmet and a crown j and that on its reverfe was the figure of an ox. Not a fingle Sybarite afpircd to glory by thofe means which are mod likely to infure it, by literature or by arms. The minds of the defpicable community were to- tally relaxed by a condant habit of volup- tuoufnefs. As hidorians have taken fo little notice of this people, it will be iropoflible for a modern writer OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 363 writer to give a fatisfactory account of their policy. However, I {hall ftrongly exemplify their manners, by informing the reader, that they were fo enflaved by the lowed of the fenfual pleafures, that whoever in Sybaris in- vented a new and exquifite dim, had the ex- clufive privilege of vending it for a year. Thus the citizens of that epicurean common- wealth were encouraged by the public to ex- eel in the mod unmanly and dishonourable art. Of the Italians, the Sybarites had the greateft. efteem for the Tyrrhenians ; of the Greeks, for the Ionians. The difpofition and manners of thofe two republics refembled their own. They travelled little, but always in a carriage ; and to fpare their delicate con- ftitutions, they went only as far in three days as a perfon of another country would have gone in one. One of the Sybarites vilited the republic of Sparta : he was invited to one of the repafts which the old editors of Xenophon term Pbilitia, but which are generally called Pheiditia. He found that plain benches of the fame form were placed for people of every order who were to eat at the frugal table. The effeminate gueft was mocked with the hardnefs of the feats, with the frugality of the meal, and with the gravity of the conver- fation. — vss', from the name of the philofopher Stilpon. They bought apes at exorbitant prices. As their merchants went often to Mauritania in queffc of thofe animals, the king of that country^ who was very fond of children, and who kept his fons and daughters in his palace, under his own eye till they were three years old, at which age they entered on a regular educa- tion, fent for the merchants, and afked them if the women in their country were barren ? Among their flaves they had a great num- ber of eunuchs. A commerce was eitablifhed between them and the Milefians. They im- ported the wool N2>f Miletus, Qf which the B b 2 6neft 372 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, kc. flneft cloth was made that was worn by the ancients. Athenseus tells us, that in going to their country-houfes, they were (haded from the heat of the fun. Eut he does not inform us whether their (hade was an avenue planted with trees, or a covered carriage. Their cellars were near the fea-coaft. Their wines were made as the wines of the Rhine, and thofe of fome other climates are made. The cafks are never empty; the vin- tage of the prejent is poured on the remainder of the vintages of the preceding years; and the wine is drawn through long copper pipes. The Sybarites conveyed their wine through thefe pipes, from their large cafks into fmaller veffels, with which their mips were fur- nished, that lay at the mouth of their rivers. Part of the wine the mips exported; with part of it they failed along the coaft; where the Sybarites unloaded them, and lodged it in their cellars. Thofe of the Sybarites who gave the mod: fumptuouspublicentertainments, were reward- ed with rolden crowns, which were decreed them by the ftate. Their names were pro- claimed with eulogium by the heralds, in their religious affemblies, and in thofe of their public games. Thofe women who were to make part of the company at a public entertainment, were invited a year before its celebration, that they might have time to appear at the feftival in all the luftre of beauty and of drefs. The OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 373 The fifhermen and eel-merchants were ex- empt from all public impofitions; as well as thofe who flmed and prepared a fpecies of oyfters, of which the ancients made their purple dye. They had fubterranean halls for coolnefs: — they had frying-pans like thofe of modern ufe. They defpifed travellers; and gloried in go- ing no farther abroad than the length of their rivers. They certainly paid a very prompt obedi- ence to an oracle which exhorted them to a licentious life, in a country which was not remarkably fertile, where the fituation of the capital was not healthful, and where its port, which was not commodious, was rendered ufelefs by the indolence of its inhabitants. Modern times will hardly believe that fo effeminate a people were jealous of the glory of Olympia; that Sybaris prefumed to emu- late the celebrated games of that city? Yet me instituted games, which were celebrated at the fame time with thofe of Greece. Their citizens vainly imagined, that by propofing great prizes to the combatants, the world would refort to their games, and no longer to thofe which had been for ages the object of heroic ambition. We have feen in what a fiate the Crotoniatx left the ancient Sybaris. In that ftate it re- mained fifty-eight years. When Callimachus was archon of Athens, its old inhabitants* and their fons, who were difperfed in diffe- B b 3 rent 374 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. rent places, affembled, joined themfdves ta fome Theffeiians, and with their affjftanco attempted to rebuild their city. But after they had profecuted their attempt for five years, it was fupprefTed by the jealous Croto- niatae, who again drove them from their ter- ritories. Thus was this city, the abode of ienfuality, at length deftroyed for ever : its luxury had been for many centuries the con-: tempt of the univerfe. fbid. p. 168. etj&j* THE SYRACUSANS. The Syracufans were the inhabitants of Sy- racufe, a famous city of Sicily. . Reflexions on the government of this people. Syracufe, from its hiftory, may be com- pared to a theatre on which various, intereft- ing, and aftonifhing fcenes are reprefented$ or to a fea, fometimes calm and fmooth, but fubject to the mod violent agitations. No other republic exhibits to us revolutions fo fudden, fo frequent, and fo abrupt. Some* times it was oppreiTed by cruel tyrants ; fome- times it was governed by (age kings. Some- times it was the fport of a licentious popu- lace ; fometimes it was guarded by reafon, and by falutary laws. It pafled alternately from the mod: abject fervitude to perfect li- berty; from convul five and frantic motions, to a regular and wife conduct. The reader will OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 375 will eafily call to mind Dionyfius, the father and fon, Agathocles, and Hieronymus, whofe cruelty rendered them the objects of public hatred and execration: he^will likewife eafily remember Gelo, Dion, Tiuloleon, and the two Hieros, who were univerfally loved and refpected by the people. To what muft we attribute fuch extremes* fuch oppofite alternations? Without doubt they were partly produced by that levity and inconftancy which characterized the Syracu* fans j but their principal caufe was the poli- tical constitution of Syracufe, which was a mixture of ariftocracy and democracy, or of fenatorial and popular power, As it had nocounterpoife to bring thefe.two bodies to a juft equilibrium, when public authority in- clined on one fide; the ftate was confe- quently either opprefled by tyranny, or torn by licentioufnefs. Either excefs was fucceed- ed by uhiverfal anarchy, which facilitated to the moft ambitious citizens the acquifition of fovereign power. Some, to alleviate the yoke of dominion, to gain the good will of the citizens, exercifed that power with lenity, with equity, with wifdom, and conciliating manners. — Others, deftitute of virtue and humanity, rendered their ufurpation odious and horrible by the mod violent acts of op- preflion and cruelty. By this rigorous con- duct they pretended they were obliged to check the enterprizes of their fubjects, who, i$ muft be owned, yet retained a ftrong fenfe B b 4 of 376 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. of their extorted liberty, which, on every oc- calion that feemed favourable, they were eager to regain. There were yet other caufesthat rendered the Syrncufans untraceable, and produced fre- quent revolutions in their commonwealth. They had not forgotten that they had gained fjgnal victories over the formidable power of Africk, and that the terror of their arms had reached even to the walls of Carthage. They y/erc confcious that they had been for many ages formidable to Afric ;-?-not in one in- {lance, as they were afterwards to Rome. Syracufe, from her large and well-appointed fleet, had conceived fo high an opinion of her maritime power, that when the Perfians in- vaded Greece, me claimed an equality with Athens, in the empire of the fca. Roll, Hist. Anc. tom. iii.p. 326, 327. The character of the Syracufans, The wealth, too, of the Syracufans, which they had acquired by their commerce, made them haughty and imperious ; it likev/ifq made them averfe from application and labour, and enervated them with luxury and effemi- nacy. They blindly acceded to the perfla- tions of their orators, who had gained an abfolute afcendant over them. Unlefs they were flattered or pampered, they were refrac- tory and rebellious. Yft OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 377 Yet they were naturally a mild, benevo- lent, and equitable people. But they were indolent and paffive. They were feduced by the artful harangues of their orators : — by them thev were impelled to the moft violent and barbarous meafures, of which they re- pented almoft as foon as they were exe- cuted. When they were under no controul, their liberty foon exceeded all bounds. It became levity, paffion, violence, frenzy. On the con- trary, they no fooner loft their freedom, than their caprice and impetuofity dwindled into meannefs, timidity, and the moft abject fer- vitude. But as this degeneracy was effected by a violence on their nature; for it was directly oppofite to the conftitution and cha- racter of the Greek nation, born and bred in liberty, the fenfe of which was not extin- guished, but only fupprefled in the minds of the Syracufans; — they roufed from time to time from a fervile and inactive ftate, broke their chains, and (if I may ufe the expreflion) daftied them againft their tyrants. He who reads the hiftory of the Syracufans with the leaft attention, will find, that they were incapable of bearing either liberty or fervitude. Therefore the policy of their mafters confifted in keeping them in a happy medium between thofe extremes ; in appa- rently giving the people the choice of public meafures ; and in referving only to themfelves the province of enforcing their utility, and of carrying 378 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. carrying them into execution. And the Sy- racufans had kin^s and magistrates, as hiftory informs us, under whole government they were very calm and tradable, perfe&ly obe- dient to the fovereign, and to the laws. Hence we may conclude, that the civil con- vulsions and revolutions which happened in Syracufe, were not fo much occasioned by the inconstancy of the people as by the mifcon- du£t of their governors; who mud have wanted the art of perfuading the minds, and conciliating the hearts of their fubjects — >-a rnoft: important fcience to kings, and to all perfons in authority. Ibid. p. 327, 328. The laws of Diodes. Diodes, an illustrious Syracufan, advifed his fellow-citizens to draw the names of their future magistrates by lot; and likewife to choofe men capable of making judicious laws, which each of them was to compofe apart, and from the fund of his own abilities. This advice was taken; and they appointed to the tafk fome of the wifeft of the citizens. Dio- des fo far excelled the red in. legiflative ta- lents, that the laws of the Syracufans were called the laws of Diodes, though many of them were written by the other fages, and! adopted into the code. He was admired ancj revered by his citizens during his life^ which he terminated by a moft extraordinary death. He had guarded the (tate againft imposi- tion by the mofl rigorous fentences ; and his la,ws OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 379 laws were, in general, fevere. By one of them, for inltance, the perfon was to be pu- nched with death who went into the aiTembly of the people with a fword, or any weapon, though he pleaded ignorance of the law, or any other pretext. A report was one day fpread that the enemy were near the town ; ^- — Diodes put on his fword, and rufhed out of his houfe. The rumour having raifed a tumult in the forum (the place where their public affemblies were held) he turned in thither from an adjacent ftreet without think- ing of his fword. One of the citizens obferv- ing him, reproached him with a violation of his own law. " I will convince you of the ** contrary, replied Diocles, I will convince " you that my practice reveres and con6rms V it." — As foon as he had fpoken thefe words, he plunged his fword into his heart. After his death the Syracufans decreed to him heroic honours. They likewife built a temple to him at the public expence, which Dionylius pulled down, and built a fort in its place. Diocles was as highly efteemed by all the other Sicilians as by the Syracufans ; and his laws were adopted, and ftridtly obeyed by ma- ny cities, till they were fubjccted and go- verned by the Romans. And though Cepha- lus, under the government of Timoleon, and Polydore, in the reign of Hiero, wrote law?, the Syracufans would not honour them with the title of legiflators ; but only called them interpreters of their legiflator; for in. fact, 1 thofe 380 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. thofe laws, though apparently new, were only a verfion or commentary on the laws of Diocles, which by the ufual changes in lan- guage, had grown difficult to be underftooJ. The author of thofe laws muft have had a great deteftation of vice; for he enacted the fevereft: punifhments againft all injuftice. The excellence of his heart likewife appears by the generous and well proportioned rewards which he affigns to the various acts of virtue. That he was a perfon of great penetration and judg- ment is proved by his enumeration and analy- fis of public actions, and by the fpecies and degree of merit or demerit that he applies to each, His ftyle is concife j and in many places the reader cannot comprehend him without acutenefs of intellect. He makes us think and enlarge on hints. Thele are the remarks of Diodorus Sicujus, Diod. Sicul. p. 348. THE INHABITANTS OF THE ISLAND OF TAPROBANE, which in modern geography is the island of Ceylon, The people of this ifland were extremely different from the red of the world, in their manner of living, and in the formation of their bodies. They were all of an equal ftature, and were above lix feet high. Their bones were as flexible and elaftic as their mufcles. Their bodies had not the appearance of itrength -, yet their nerves were far flronger thai) OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. $t than ours. For if they held any thing in their hands as faft'as they could, it was impoflible to wrench it from them. They had only hair on the head, on the eye-brows, on the eye-lids, and a beard. Over all the reft of their body their fkin was extremely fmooth, and not the lead down was to be found. They had very good faces •, and their bodies were admirably proportioned. Their ears were much larger than ours, and they had a languet in the middle of them. Their tongues were very remarkable, partly by Nature and partly by an operation which they made in them. They were cloven per- pendicularly, and were double to the root. By this feparation of the tongue, they could not only diftinctly pronounce any fyllables or words of any language, but likewife imitate the notes and cry of every bird, and of every other animal ; in ihort, they could exa&ly imitate all founds. But what was moft fur- prifing, one perfon could converfe with two at once, with his two tongues, on fubjects total- ly different, without confufion or the lead em- barraffment. This iQand enjoyed a temperate and moft happy climate. By its tropical fituation it was not fubjedt to the extremes of heat and cold. It was bleffed with a mild and perpetual autumn, like Homer's iiland of Pha?acia. Its inhabitants had equal days and nights all the year; it had no fhadows at noon; becaufe the iun was then almoft perpendicular there. The 382 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. The whole nation was divided into many tribes; each tribe confifted of four hundred perfons, who lived together in the moft inti- mate fociety and friendfhip. They lived in beautiful meadows, where Nature fupplied them with all the necefTaries of life. For their fine climate, and their fer- tile foil, yielded them more fruits of the earth than they wanted, without cultivation. A kind of reed grew in the ifland which bore a pulfe like our vetches. This pulfe, by being fleeped in warm water, grew as large as a pigeon's egg ; they then dried it, and had the peculiar art of reducing it to meal in their hands. When it was baked it was excellent bread. They had baths from warm fprings, in which they bathed for pleafure and for health j and they were extremely falutary. Thefe warm waters never cooled, unlefs they were mixed with cold water, or with wine. They were verfed in all fciences, and ex- pert in all forts of exercife : but their favour- ite ftudy wasaftrology. In writing they ufed only feven characters; but each of thole cha- racters had four different portions, which made them equivalent to twenty-eight letter?, and from which they took as many names. They wrote their lines, not as we do, from right to left, but from top to bottom. They were as remarkable for their longe- vity as for other peculiarities of conftitution : they lived in general, without any ficknefs, a hundred and fifty years. By too fevere a law, OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 383 law, all thofe who were lame, either by na- ture or by accident, were put to death. When they had lived the number of years that we have juft mentioned, they terminated their exiftence by a voluntary and lingular death. Two different herbs grew in their ifland, each of which produced the fame effect. This was their furprifing and fatal property —If a perfon lay down to repofe upon them, he fell into a profound fleep, from which he awoke no more. Marriage was not in life among them. Their women were in common j and all their children were treated with a common affec- tion by all the parents. When they were at the breaft, their nurfes were often changed, that the mothers might contract no partiality for their own children. By this univerfal and equal converfe of the (exes^ and by this public attention to their progeny, all prejudice and jealoufy were baniihed from this happy ifland ; and its inhabitants paffed their lives in perfect unanimity. Their iflands produced a fpecies of frnall animals, of a gentle and tractable nature, and of an extraordinary form and property. Their body was round, aryd refembled that of a tor- toiie; on their back they had a crofs in the form of an X. At each extremity of the X they had an eye, and a mouth. Thus the ani- mal had four eyes and four mouths, which communicated with one throat that conveyed its nourilhment to one ftomach. Its blood had. the 384 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. the aftoniming virtue of inftantaneoufly join- ing and fattening any parts of a living body that were feparated by a wound, while that wound was recent. In this ifland there was likewife a peculiar fpecies of very large birds, by which the in- habitants difcovered the difpofitions of their children. In the fight of all the people they fet the children on the backs of thefe birds, which immediately flew aloft with them into the air. They who kept their feat, without betraying any figns of fear, were brought up ; but they killed thofe who were terrified with the rapid and high flight; for they concluded that they were fickly, and could not live long; or that their minds would not be ftrong enough to bear the adverfe events of life. The oldeft perfon of each clafs acted as king over the reft, who paid him a refpedtful obedience. When he was a hundred and fifty years old, he refigned life in compliance with the law ; and the next in age fucceeded to his dignity. Though the earth yielded them without la- bour, a great abundance and variety of pro- ductions, they were not guilty of any intem- perance. They lived in great frugality, and were content with the neceffaries of life. They ate animal food, indeed, roafted and boiled ; but they were unacquainted with the refinements of modern cookery. They caught all forts of birds and rimes. Their trees fup- plied them with fruits of every kind, exclufive pf OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 38$ of their olive-trees -and vines, which yielded them excellent oil and wine. In their ifland there were ferpents of an enormous fize, but innoxious ; and they were exquifite food. Their garments were of the rind of a cer- tain reed, which was covered with a very foft and mining down. They improved its luftre with a purple dye, which they made from fhell-fifh of different kinds. Their manner of living was fixed by rules. They ate not the fame things indifcrirninate- ly ; but on certain days fome were to eat fowl, fome fim, and fome olives, and others fruit. The ufeful employments were likewife divid- ed among them : to fome fifhing was affigned, to fome the mechanical arts; and others were to render other fervices to their community, or to their tribe. They entered, in their turns, on the offices of the ftate, from which their old men only were exempted. They worfhipped the Air, the Sun, and all the other celeftiaJ bodies ; to which, on their feftivals, they addreffed hymns and Amplica- tions. But the principal objecl: of their ado- ration was the Sun, to which they had confe- crated their ifland and themfelves. They buried their dead on the fea-fhore at low water, that the returning tide might raife their tomb. Diod. Sicul. p. 97. etfe^ Vol. II. Cc THE 386 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS^ &c. ftfll 3flT THE TENCTERIf The Tencleri were a German people. Ta- citus praifes their cavalry, which, he fays, in courage and difcipline, excelled that of all the other Germans. Horfemanfhip was their amufement in their childhood ; their object of emulation in their youth j and they prac- tifed it even in their old age. A father's no- bler! legacy was his horfes ; and he left them, not to his eldeft fon, but to him who was the braveft and the beft foldier. Tacit, de Morib. Germ. c. 32. THE THRACIANS. The Thracians, fays Herodotus, are the molt populous nation in the world, except the Indians; and if they had been governed by a monarch, or if they had not been fub- jecl: to civil difTenfions, they would have been invincible; they would have been the lords of the univerfe. But the Thracians were a tumultuous people; and their refractory fpirit was the cauie of many obftinate and fatal quarrels. Hence they were always weak, al- ways a prey to any powerful invader. The inhabitants of the different diftricts of Thrace had different names. But they all had the fame laws andcuftoms, except the Getas, the Traufi, and the inhabitants of the diftridt ad- jacent to the Creftonians. The of the Ancient nations. 387 The inftitutions of the Traufi, and of the other Thracians were the fame, excepting their ceremonies at a birth and at a funeral. As foon as one of their children was born, all its relations aflembled round it, and wept and bewailed it, on account of the many evils in- feparable from human life, many of which it would neceflarily fuffer. But when one of their countrymen died, they interred him with joy and exultation; becaufe he was delivered from a precarious and miferable exiftence, and enjoyed uninterrupted felicity. They who lived north of the Creitorians had many wives. When a hufband of this diftricl died, there was a warm conteft among his widows, to determine which of them had been molt tenderly loved by the deceafed. It was often difficult for their friends to decide the queftion. She, however, who was pro- nounced to have been the greateft favourite, after having received the mod lavifh encomi- ums from either fex for her conjugal merit and glory, was knocked on the head by her neareiT. male relation, on the tomb of her huf- band ', and in that tomb fhe was interred. The other widows went home difconfolate, and thought they had fuffered the molt dread- ful ignominy. It was cuftomary with the other Thracians to fell their children to foreigners. Their education of their daughters was not rigid j they permitted them to afTociate with men in- defcriminately. But they kept their wives C c 2 under 3 83 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. under clofe reftraint, and bought them of their parents with great fums. They thought it honourable to have many fears on the fore- head, and (hameful to have none. Indolence was their chara&eriftic of freedom : — agricul- ture they deemed an employment only fit for flaves. To live by war and rapine was, in their eflimation, the greatefl: glory. Of the ancient deities they only worshipped Mars, Bacchus, and Diana j but the god of their kings was Mercury. By him they fwore, and from him they boailed that they were de- fcended. Perfons of fuperior rank paid the follow- ing honour to their dead. They expofed their bodies to pubJic view for three days. After they had facrificed many kinds of victims, they made a fumptuous entertainment. They burned or interred the body, and raifed over it a tomb of earth. Games and combats a- round the tomb were the laft of the funereal honours. Herodot. 1. v. c. 3. etfeq. THE THURIANS. Thurium, an Italian city, not far diftant from the ancient Sybaris, was founded by Lampon and Xenocrites. The following ac- count of it is given us by Diodorus Siculus. The Sybarites, driven from their territories, fent ambaffadors to Greece, to requeft the A- thenians and Lacedaemonians that they would aflift them to regain their country, and firengthen OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 3S9 flrengthen their reviving (late with a Greek colony. The Spartans rejected their petition ; but it was granted by the Athenians, who lent them ten mips well manned, aud command- ed by Lampon and Xenocrites. They like- wife by their emifTaries acquainted the Pelo- ponneiians, that they would protect that co- lony, and thofe who chofe to embark in its fortune. Many were prevailed with to joie them by thefe* offers, and by the anfwer or Apollo, whofe oracle they confulted. They were commanded from the Tripod to build a city in a place where there was not much water, but where there was abundance of bread. They failed along the coaft of Italy j and having arrived at the ruins of Sybaris, they fought for the place which the oracle had de- fcribed. Not far from Sybaris, they found a fourge of water, the name of w T hich was Tburia : it flowed from a pipe of brafs, which was called by the inhabitants of the neigh- bourhood Tonna. Concluding that this was the ground appointed for them by the oracle, they firil railed a wall round the fpace which they intended to occupy. Then, within the wall, they drew the plan of their city, which, in length, was to have four capital divisions. The firll was to take the name of Hercules, the fecond that of Venus, the third that of Olympia, and the fourth the name of Bac- chus. It was to have three principal divi- lions in breadth ; the firft of which was to be C c 3 , called 39 o INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, -&c. called thq Hero ; the fecond Thuria ; and the third Thurinus. They then executed their plan ; the houfes and ftreets were beautiful ; and the city altogether made a very fine ap- pearance. But unanimity did not long fub- lift among the citizens. A diffenfion foon arofe from a very important caufe. The inhabitants of the old Sybaris feized all the confiderable ports of the ftate ; and left only the inferior offices to their aflbciates. They even infifted that their wives mould fa- criflce to the gods before thofe of the latter. In dividing the lands they likewife took to themfelves thofe that were neareft the city ; tnd gave the remoter parts to the ftrangers. The young adventurers who were much more numerous, and far braver than the old inha- bitants, were fo exafperated at this treatment, that they took up arms againft them, cut them off, and remained matters of a large fpace in- clofed with walls. As they poffeiTed an extenfive country, they invited from Greece a great number of fami- lies, with whom they divided the city and its territories. The new commonwealth foon ^ecame opulent j it entered into alliance with the Crotoniatre, and by its prudent conduct acquired great reputation. The government of the Thurians was democratical ; they divid- ed their citizens into ten tribes, to which they gave the names of their refpeclive nations. Three of their tribes, for inftance, were call- ed Arcadian, Achaian, and Elean ; becaufe they OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 391 they were compofed of emigrants from thofe three Peloponnefian provinces; — there was likewife the Basotian, the Amphi&yonic, and the Dorian — three other tribes, invited from provinces which bore thofe names. The four remaining tribes were, for the fame reafon, called lades, Athenai'c, Eubo'ic, and Nefi- otis. They chofe for their legiflator, Charondas, who was the greateft moral philofopher of his time. His code confided partly of his own, and partly of the fageil laws of the many ci- vilized countries of the world. I fhall here cite fome of the laws of Charondas, which, I flatter myfelf, the reader will find equally entertaining and instructive. Diod. Sjcul. p. 295. Laws of Charondas. By one of Charondas's laws, they who gave their children a ftep- mother, were excluded from the afiemblies of the ftate. The legifla- tor thought that he who could be fo great an enemy to his family, would not prove a fleady friend to his country. — " If, faid he, a man's •' firft marriage has been happy, he ought to u revere its memory *, and to marry again is " to profane it : if it has been unhappy, " he is mad if he ventures on a fecond." He likewife enacted, that all thofe who were convicted of calumny, mould be led through the ftreets with a crown of tamarind C c 4 oh 392 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. on their heads, to notify to the public, that they had arrived at the laft degree of male- volence. — Many, againfbwhom this mortify- ing fentence had been denounced, prevented its execution by fuicide. The feverity of the legiflator towards this crime, made it very rare, and greatly promoted the tranquillity and happinefs of the flate. Charondas made another law which did ho- nour to a fage and virtuous legiflator. He prohibited a fecial intercourfe with bad men. A precaution which had been omitted by other founders of ftates ! He was fatisfied that in- genuous minds were often corrupted by a fa- miliarity with men of licentious manners ;— - that vice is contagious as well as malady. For (as he obferved) our propenfity to evil is very ftrong ; and many, who are born with a warm affection for virtue, by the gradual, but powerful influence of bad example, fink to a total depravity. Our legiflator, therefore, fo- licitous to prevent this moral degeneracy, pro- hibited all connexion with men of profligate lives. He guarded this law with particular regulations; and eftabliitied fevere punish- ments for. thofe by whom any of them mould be violated. He made another law which was not lefs important, and which had not been enacted by any preceding legiflator. By this law, the ions of the citizens were to learn to read and write under mailers paid by the public. For he forefaw, that without this provifion, the children OF THE ANCIENT N-ATIONS. 393 children of thofe parents who could not af- ford to pay for their education, would be de- prived of this advantage. He well knew that this mould be the firft, as it was the moil im- portant knowledge. For the moil ufeful and interesting objects of life are promoted and attained by writing. By it fcrutinies are made for the nomination to public offices j it is ef- fential to epiftolary correfpondence, to the dif- pofal of our effects at death, to the institution of laws; to all the fbongeft and mod mo- mentous ties of jfociety. All the advantages, all the pleafures which refult from this art, are not to be comprehended in the bounds of an eulogium. By it alone the actions of the illuftrious dead are imprinted on the minds of the living ; friends divided by an immenfe tract of fpace, are brought together, and con- verfe : — treaties terminate destructive wars be- tween kings and nations, and eitabhfh the bleiTings of durable peace :~— the ma ims of the fages, the anfwers of the gods, the noble theories of philofophy, are diffu&d through all countries, and tranfmitted to the iateft po- sterity. In a word, Nature gives us life ; but writing teaches us the ufe of life. Thefe were the advantages which Charondas was defirous to infure to his citizens ; and for them he thought it the du'y of the republic to pro- vide, both by its attention and its finances. This law was as fuperiour to thofe of other legislators, which provided phyficians for the Slate at the public expence, as the cure of the foul 394 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, £c. foul by moral inftrudtion, is more important than that of the body by medicine. The two firft of the laws which I have cited, were celebrated by many poets ; — we have the following allufion to his laws againft keeping bad company Him who aflbciates with immoral men, I own, Charondas, that I need not tiy By private, and repofed obfervation. Free intercourfe with the licentious liver, Even when by Nature we are born for virtue, Perverts the manners, and corrupts the foul. I (hall here add more verfes in which the poet makes the legiflator provide, and remon- strate, againft fecond marriages, or the intro- duction of ftep-mothers into families The ram, unnatural father who expofes His children to a ftep-dame's tyranny, Shall hold no office in our commonwealth, Nor in his country's caufe his name iliuftrate. He'd make of Thurium what he makes his houfe, A theatre of ftrife and tragedy. Did Heaven vouchfafe thee one aufpicious mar- riage ? Was it not blifs enough ? But was that one Replete with mifery ? Then what madnefs mov'd thee, By venturing on a fecond, to entail Calamity on thy remaining life ?— - — — Charondas inftituted another law, refpect- ing the education of children. When it is firft read, the reafons on which it was found- ed, do not appear. But when it is confidered, 6 it OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 395 ft mews the great wifdom of the legiflator, and deferves the higheft praife. It enacts that the neareft paternal relations (hall be the guardians of the effects of orphans; and that the orphans themfelves (hall be educated by the neareft relations on the mother's fide. The foundation of this diftinction is not im- mediately feen. But when we carefully exa- mine, why the legiflator intrufts the fortune and the perfon of the orphan feparately, with the relations in either line, we difcover his reafons, and they fhew that he was thorough- ly acquainted with the human heart. For as the maternal relations could have no hopes of inheriting the fortune of the orphan, they could not be prompted by intereft to deprive him of life: and as he was not in the cuftody of his paternal relations, it was out of their power to commit that felfifh and unnatural crime. Again, as thefe paternal relations were the orphan's heirs, if he died a minor, by malady or by any other accident, they would be the more careful guardians of a for- tune which in time they might pofTefs. Charondas enacted another law againft thofe who quitted their poft in battle, or who refufed to take arms in the fervice of their country. Other legiflators punifhed cowards with death. But they were con- demned by Charondas, to be expofed for three days to public fhame in the Forum, in a female drefs. This punifhment is more hu- mane and more political : for it gradually impells 396 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. impells men to courage by the fear of infamy, which is more horrible than death. It like- wife preferves the lives of citizens, who, after it is inflicted, may be of fervice to their country even in war ; by the ardour with which they may be infpired to efface paffc ig- nominy by future aclibns of valour. Charondas was of opinion that rigour was the fupport of laws. Therefore he infilled much on the Strict obfervation of his infti- tutions ; even of thofe which might feem improper. Though he authorifed the State to amend his laws, under redactions which we mail hereafter mention, the permimon, however, was introduced with this principle, that it is as falutary to be determined by the letter of the law, as it is dangerous to fub- ject the exprefs terms of the law to the opi- nion or artifice of individuals. Accordingly, in trials, he checked and reproached the par- ties whenever they fubftituted arbitrary in- terpretations and delufive eloquence for the plain fenfe of the laws ; and thus endea- voured to violate their authority and majelty. Thus the patriots of Thurium, when they obferved the judges hefitating to pronounce an obvious and indisputable Sentence, would Sometimes recommend to them, ferioufly to confider whether it was their duty to revere the perfon of the criminal or the law. Charondas fecured the permanence of his laws by one which was mail rigid and un- exampled, lie had been witnefs, in many com- OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 397 commonwealths, to feditions and tumults which had been occafioned by thofe who pre- tended to reform the laws. For while they were planning this reformation, juftice was fufpend- ed, and anarchy prevailed. Therefore he enact- ed, that whofoever mould venture to amend any of his laws, (hould nrft, with his own hands, put a rope about his neck, and then repair with it to the afTembly of the people; and that it mould not be taken off till after triey had pafTed their judgment on his amendment. — If they accepted it, he fhould immediately be freed from the rope; but if it was rejected, he mould be hanged with it on the fpot. This law reprefTed the preemption of politi- cal enterprifers ; they dreaded the determi- nation of the people. Hence from the time of Charondas only three of his laws were changed, at the fuit of three perfons, who petitioned the afTembly on very remarkable occafions. By one of Charondas's laws, he who de- prived a man of an eye, was likewife to lofe an eye. One of the Thurians had an eye (truck out, who had before loft the other; confequently he was totally blind. This man reprefented to the afTembly, that accord- ing to the letter of the law, the punifhment of his enemy would not be adequate to the injury himfelf had received from him; — that he who makes a citizen blind, is not fuffi- ciently punimed by the lofs of an eye;— -and that therefore in equity, he who had robbed him of 39* INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. of his only eye, mould lofe both his own. In a word, the unhappy blind man, after hav-< ing deplored his calamity to the aflcmbly, ventured like wife, with a halter about his neck, to propofe an amendment of the law. His fellow-citizens not only granted him his life, but agreed to his propofal, and improved the law. A fecond law permitted a wife to quit her hufband, and to marry another. A man ad- vanced in years, having been deferted by his wife, who was young, advifed the Thurians to improve their law by an additional claufe, enacting, — that a woman mould not be per- mitted to take a fecond hufband younger than he whom fhe had forfaken ; and that a man mould not be permitted to chufe a fecond younger than ihe whom he had quitted. This man's enterprife likewife met with fuc- cefsj his additional claufe was adopted, and he recovered his young wife, who, in confequence of his emendation of the law, was incapaci- tated from marrying a man of years fuitable to her own. A third Jaw was corrected, which was likewife among thofe of Solon. By this law the neareft relation had a right to demand an heirefs, before the judges, in marriage. And by the fame law, a female orphan might de- mand, in marriage, her neareft relation. But that relation might exempt himfelf from mar- rying her by giving her a portion of five hun- dred drachmas. A female orphan of Thulium, who OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 399 who was of a very good family, but could hardly fubfift, and to whom no man paid his addrefTes on account of her poverty, repre- fented her csfe to the affembly of the people. She informed them of her indigence and her defolate fituation. Her diftrefsful tale was as moving as her tears. She was fo adventu- rous as to go farther. She propofed that the law mould be altered j that the difpenfing claufeof the five hundred drachmas mould be repealed, and that the heir mould be obliged to marry his neareft relation. The affembly were moved with companion for this orphan ; they approved of her ammendment ; and obliged her relation, who was very rich, to marry her. Ibid. p. 295. etfeq. THE TROGLODYTES. The Troglodytes were a people of Ethio- pia. In agility and fwiftnefs they excelled all other nations. They lived on ferpents, li- zards, and other reptiles. Their language was totally different from all others; it was like the hiffing of a bat. Herod, lib. iv. c. 183, THE TYRRHENIANS. The Tyrrhenians, in very ancient times, were renowned for their valour ; they poffefT- ed an extenfive country, and founded many cities. As they had a large fleet which made their 4 oo INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, kc< their maritime power very confiderable, they gave their name to that fea by which the fouthern parts of Italy are bounded. They invented a trumpet which was of great ufe in land-engagements, and which, from them, was called the Tyrrhenian trumpet. To augment the dignity of their generals, they gave them lictors, a chariot of ivory, and a purple robe. They were the firft who built porticoes before their houfes; an invention in which grandeur and convenience united. It pre- vented the noife of the paffengers, and of the (laves and domeftics of the matters. The Romans, who took many of their cuftoms, adopted their porticoes, which they improved to a great degree of magnificence. The Tufcans were famous for their appli- cation to polite literature and philofophy. But their principal ftudy was to know the various prefages from thunder; a fcience in which they excelled all other nations. Hence they have been univerfally refpe&ed (fays Diodorus Siculus) from their early eftablifh- ment to the prefent time; and many ftates have applied to them in critical junctures, for their interpretation of that celeftial oracle. As Tufcany was a very fertile country, and thoroughly cultivated, it not only fupplied its inhabitants with the neceflaries, but with the fuperfluities of life. The Tufcans made two meals a-day, which were delicate and luxu- rious. OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS. 401 rious. Their couches were covered with rich flowered fluffs. They had many veffels of lilver, and a great number of domeftics. Their flaves were either confpicuous for their beauty, or for their fplendid drefs. Their youth, and even their flaves, had each a com- modious and elegant apartment. In the time of Diodorus Siculus they had loft all that courage by which their anceftors were diftinguifhed, and paffed their life in in- dolence and debauchery. The mildnefs of their climate, and the fertility of their foil, greatly contributed to their inactivity and in- temperance. The territories of Tufcany confifted of rich and extenfive plains, and fruitful hills. This country had frecjuent rains, in fummer as well as in winter. Diod. Sicul. p. 218, 210* THE VENEDI. The manners of this people refemble thoie of the Sarmatians ; witnefs their robberies in the forefls, and on the mountains that feparated the Fenni from the Peucini. Yet the Venedi were deemed a German nation, becaufe they had fixed habitations, becaufe they ufed fhields, travelled and fought on foot, and were famous for their fwiftnefs. In all thefe particulars they differed from the Sarma- tians, who were always on horfeback, or in their waggons. Tacit, de morib.Germ. c.46. Vol. II. D d T II E 402 INSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, &c. THE ZABECI. The Zabeci were a Lybian nation : they fought in chariots ; and their women were the charioteers. Herod. 1. iv. c. 193. THE ZYGANTES. The Zygantes were likewife a people of Lybia. They painted all their bodies, and ate monkeys, of which there were great num- bers in the mountainous parts of Libya. Ibid, c. 194. FINIS. v* a3 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. ~h MAY 011989 fi 02 1994 J9II4 L 005 118 028 9