which we throw away when broken to pieces and worn out by use; but one should accustom himself before hand to be gentle and kind towards them; for this reason, if for no other, that he may thus learn to be kind towards his fellow men. I, at least, would never sell an old labouring ox; and much less would I part with an old slave who had grown up on the same soil with myself, and been accustomed to the same mode of life, and drive him, as it were, from his country, or sell him for a little money, as if worthless both to the seller and the buyers. But Cato, who in this point went to an extreme, even left behind him the horse he had used in Spain, that he might spare to the state the cost of his transportation. Now, whether this was magnanimity, or a standing upon trifles, I leave for each one to judge."

And what horrible examples do we see, in the time of the emperors; either of inhuman masters, who treated their slaves with much more cruelty than their cattle; or of worthless slaves, who knew how to push themselves into the highest places of honour by the diabolical arts of calumniating the innocent, or of excitement to lust! There stood the luckless youth for whole nights, silent and fasting, at the pillow of his revelling master; and his special business was, to wipe away the spittle, to remove immediately the vomit, or to perform some still more disgusting office. Coughing, sneezing, or a gentle whisper among themselves, was a high crime in the poor wretches, and disturbed the mental tranquillity of the debauched reveller. The severest scourging was the reward.263 The smallest offences brought upon them the most inhuman punishments. A superintendent of the public shows, who had committed some trivial offence, was scourged with chains, at the command of Caligula, for several days in succession; and was not entirely despatched, until the mortification occasioned too great a stench for the tyrant.264 The story is well known of the Roman grandee, whose slave broke a chrystal vase in the presence of Augustus, and who forthwith sentenced the slave to be thrown to the fishes. The unfortunate servant clung around the feet of the emperor and begged for his intercession; but the mediation even of the emperor made no impression on the inhuman monster. The former, however, in anger at such an act of cruelty, caused all his costly vessels to be broken in pieces.

263 Seneca Epist. 47.

264 Dio Cassius, Hist. LIX. 27.

Let us now cast a glance upon the relations of the female sex among the heathen. To them also was assigned under heathenism an inferior place. It is Christianity that has first attributed to woman the same degree of human dignity as to man; only that woman exhibits the divine image in a form different from that of man. The heathen-to whom in his ruder state, warlike valour is the highest object; and to whom, in a more refined state, political life takes the place of valour-found woman unadapted to either of these objects. Moreover the rearing of children, so far as she was concerned, pertained rather to the body and to the understanding than to the soul; and therefore woman, with him, could have no other value than that of a faithful slave. On this ground, must we account for the neglected condition of this sex among the ancients. As they expected every thing wicked from women, and trusted them in no respect,265 so they endeavoured to cut them off from all intercourse with the world. The women were confined to a particular part of the house, and that the back part, where they inhabited the upper chambers. The younger females slept in apartments secured by locks and bolts; and were not allowed, except by special permission, to go from one part of the house to another. If they drove abroad in the night, torches were to be carried before the carriage. They were watched by old female servants and eunuchs; who, however, were not unfrequently bribed to indulge them in excesses.266

By this confinement and deprivation of freedom, by this seclusion from all social intercourse, all opportunity for mental improvement and for the attainment of delicacy and refined manners, must have been precluded to the women. No wonder, then, that there were many misogynists among the ancients, who would not marry at all; whose sentiments, in part, have been collected by Stobaeus.267 These generally continued in the practice of paederastia; for which reason also, matrimony was regarded by the ancients as eminently a political institution; as we have already noticed above, particularly among the Spartans.*

265 Stobaei Sermones, LXX. De vituperatione mulierum.

266 Potter's Antiquities, Vol. II. p. 310 sq.

267 Stobaei Sermones, Sermo LXVI. Quod non expedit uxorem ducere.

* See page 448 above.

In a work which is ascribed to the Pythagorean Ocellus Lucanus, and which probably contains fragments and thoughts of his, the following principles concerning matrimony are expressed.268 The law on the one hand, and discretion and piety on the other, must serve for a guide in assuming the obligations of wedlock. And indeed the first rule is, not to beget children for the mere pleasure of procreation, but for the support of the whole community of which the man is a part. In a similar manner those commit a fault, who, in the choice of their wives, regard any thing else but the general good. Harmony and unity of disposition, among married people, must be presupposed; otherwise, there arises contention in individual families; and hence in the state also, since the state consists of families."

Thus political were the motives which the better class desired should be regarded in respect to matrimony. Lycurgus would allow of absolutely no old bachelors. As a punishment for them, he made it a permanet regulation, that, at the command of the Ephori, they should appear, each winter, naked in the market place, and sing songs in derision of old bachelors; that they should not be present at the public contests of the half naked maidens; and, in the third place, that they should at a certain festival, be publicly dragged by the women round an altar and beaten with their fists.269 What respect or what delicate endearment could there be in a marriage, which was enforced in this degrading manner?

How little the connexion of marriage was comprehended in its dignity and importance by the Greeks, is shown particularly by the example of Plato, who, (in the fifth book of his Republic,) could propose a community of wives for his ideal state. How revoltingly injudicious such a proposition must be for the state, as well as for individuals, was strikingly shown by Aristotle.270 He correctly remarks, that "such a state of things would by no means satisfy the wants of individuals; for though all might cry out together, This is my wife;' yet still this could not possibly be said by each individual. Never is a thing worse taken care of, than when it belongs equally to several per

268 Ocelli Lucani de natura rerum, ed. Rudolphi, c. 4, p. 39.

269 Plut. in Vita Lycurgi. Athenaei Deip. I. XIII.

270 Aristoteles, Politica, II. 2-18. ed. Schneider.

sons, where each one leaves it to the care of the others; and just so would then the rearing and education of children fall into the greatest neglect. In such a state, with so great a community of goods, there could be, universally, only a feeble and never a powerful love; because no man could have any thing of his own; and we know that a man always loves most, that which is most peculiarly his own."

The scholars of Socrates ahd Plato, acknowledged the dignity of the female sex in a somewhat higher degree. Socrates himself very correctly says:271 "By many things, O men, as well as by what this maiden does, is it evident, that the female nature is in nothing inferior to that of men; they need only the requisite knowledge and power. If, therefore, one of you has a wife, let him only teach her, with full confidence, whatever he may wish her to understand."

But perhaps the finest ideal of a noble woman and of the design of the marriage relation, which antiquity can furnish, is presented by Plutarch in his work, entitled," Advice to married persons," which he addressed to a couple who were recently married. In that work, he calls their attention, among other things, to the following: "No woman can wish, merely by meretricious and sensual arts to bind her husband to herself. It would turn out with her as with those who seek to catch fish with poisoned bait; they catch them perhaps easily, but the bait renders them unfit for use. Just so must such a woman live for years with a slack and foolish husband. And those too

who would rather rule over simple husbands than listen to wise ones, are like persons who prefer to lead the blind along a road, rather than to follow such as see and know the way. Universally, the woman must seek to attain, in the highest degree, all moral and practical accomplishments.

"In a wise and happy marriage, every measure must proceed from both parties in harmonious union. Still the guidance of the man must be perceptible; as when two voices sound together, the deepest still leads the melody. Nevertheless, the woman may lead the man, not by scolding and rage, but by affectionate gentleness. Thus the sun conquered the north wind. When the latter would compel the traveller to put off his mantle, and stormed and blustered, he wrapped himself in it so much the closer. But when the gentle sun, with his enlivening beams,

271 Xenoph. Convivium, c. 2. p. 161. ed. Schneider.

came forth from the clouds, the traveller laid aside not only his mantle, but also his upper garment.

"Harmony and similarity of taste and feeling, are the soul of wedlock. A mirror bordered with splendid gems can be of no use, if it does not reflect the true image of the countenance. So no wife can benefit you, though possessing all possible perfections, if she is not a counterpart of your own disposition. The wife must know how to weep with her weeping husband, and to laugh when he laughs. Plato said: That city might be pronounced fortunate where no difference between mine and thine should exist; and much more so must it be in matrimony. And further; as the physicians say, that if the left side is struck, the right also feels it, so must the wife and the husband live in the greatest mutual sympathy.

"And as the wife must have all in common with the husband, so, finally, must she also have the same friends; and pre-eminently must it be so with the greatest of all friends, the gods. She ought to worship no other gods, but those of her

consort.

"And now, my dear Pollianus,272 who have already yourself arrived at an age in which you know how to philosophize, adorn your own mind with excellent thoughts, while you occupy yourself only with what is useful; but also, like the bees, collecting honey from every source, impart to your wife of that which you bear in yourself, and thus make her acquainted with the best of every species of instruction: For thou hast become to her,' in the words of the poet, 'father, and mother, and also brother.' And so it is likewise proper, that you should listen to her when she says: Husband, you are now my teacher, and guide, and instructor in things the most noble and divine.' For if you instruct your wife in such things, she will be recovered from the silly amusements of ordinary women. A woman who has learnt Geometry, will be ashamed to dance; and she who is charmed with the words of Plato and Xenophon, will listen to no magic songs. As women can bear no children without the man, so must the man likewise sow the intellectual seed in the soul of the woman, in order to bring to light the intellectual fruit.

"But, O Euridice, let it be your endeavour always to retain in mind the wise and excellent sentiments, and to have