curgus at Lacedemon. The latter were directed entirely to war; and no citizen could have any other object to occupy his attention, nor could he choose any other employment; the former received all the arts, and every kind of learning. At Lacedemon a rigorous poverty destroyed the springs of avarice and self-interest; at Athens, the prospect of wealth encouraged industry and genius. In consequence, the Athenians rose to the highest eminence in commerce; their exertions in navigation opened to them an intercourse with other nations, which had a great effect upon the civilization and improvement of their manners. The humanity by which the Athenians were distinguished in the treatment of their slaves, extended even to the brutes. A taste for learning, which contributes so much to soften the manners, had begun to be displayed in Attica.

Pisistratus enriched Athens with a public library. The ancient Greek colonies boasted that theirs was the country of celebrated writers; nothing is so favourable to genius, as peace and quiet. Soon after this, we read of Thales of Miletus in Ionia, who is placed at the head of the seven Grecian sages. Now the fine arts had made their appearance in Greece, the two first orders of architecture, the Dorie and the lonic,

had been invented, and the genius of that time seemed to pave the way for the ages of Pericles and Philip. Sculpture had then arrived at a high degree of perfection. Corinth set an example of maritime commerce, and united wealth and splendour to liberty.

We left the great empire of Cyrus in possession of Darius, son of Hystaspes, whose ambition, confined within too narrow limits in Asia, made him thirst after new conquests. Darius sent against Greece an army by land, and likewise a fleet to execute his project. His fleet was wrecked; and the Thracians dispersed his army in the night. After this Darius poured upon them a second great army, with orders to send all the Athenians to him in chains; but it was defeated at the bloody battle of Marathon. Xerxes, his son, inheriting his father's resentment, raised the most numerous army of which we have any account in history. But the resistance of the Greeks at the straits of Thermopyla, cost Xerxes 20,000

men.

The destruction of his vast navy, near the isle of Salamis; the battle of Platea; and on the same day, the burning of his rich camp in Ionia, frustrated the design of Xerxes to enslave Europe. To lust of domination, and unbounded T

VOL. II.

ambition, the ruin of the greatest empires in the world may be imputed.

In the defeat of Xerxes, terminated the greatest military enterprize of which we have any account in history. Let the vain-glorious and ambitious contemplate the humiliating but instructive scene. Contrast the mighty hosts and overwhelming apparatus, with which this haughty monarch was surrounded when he entered Greece, with the ignominious circumstances of his flight, and the dreadful destruction of his mighty phalanx.

In the calamitous issue of this memorable expedition, a remarkable instance of retributive Providence may be discerned. He who aspired to the controul of winds and waves, returned convinced that he was weak as other men, taught by the most mortifying experience, that he was dependant, i not upon the elements themselves, upon that Supreme Being, whose mandates they obey. Thus have the projects of human pride been frequently converted, by the righteous providence of the Most High, into instruments of his chastisement on the haughty projectors.

The limits we have proposed, will not admit of much delineation of characters distinguished in Grecian history; we shall only select two

which were contemporary at the memorable period of the defeat of Xerxes. We know not that greater instruction can be derived from pagan records, than the lives of Themistocles and Aristides furnish. Their portraits we shall present, as drawn by the masterly hand of Morell: “Of Themistocles it must be admitted, that few of those who have made a figure in the world, have possessed more of those qualities which are usually considered great. He was richly endowed with a powerful genius and penetrating mind. Ilis native talents were highly cultivated by education, in every department of science then known in Athens. He possessed a soaring spirit, a dignified mien, an eloquent tongue, an insinuating address; with whatever else was calculated to dazzle or overawe the multitude. But alas! he wanted honesty! His public life was a continued course of duplicity. His hands were not clean from bribery, nor his heart free from the degrading passions of avarice and envy. Those hateful vices tarnished all his brilliant qualities, and neutralized all his excellencies. They rendered him, even in the zenith of his fame, far more an object of disgust, or pity, than of admiration or envy.

"It is true the applause of the multitude is usually bestowed on the great, rather than on the

good; shining are preferred to useful qualities; the glittering tinsel of outward accomplishments, is estimated more highly than the sterling graces of virtuous character. But Christian principles are intended to correct these radical errors; and, in proportion as they are influential, will separate the pure gold from the dross; they will dissolve the charm of worldly greatness, which throws an illusive splendour round the palaces of vice; and surrounds with clouds and thick darkness, the lowly habitations of virtue. They will teach us both to discern and to approve" things that are excellent."

"The Athenian statesman Aristides, was, in almost every respect, the reverse of his celebrated contemporary Themistocles. He was of comparatively mean extraction; his parents were of low circumstances; his early advantages were few, and exceedingly limited. The talents he discovered in youth were not brilliant, but sterling. The qualities in which he excelled were chiefly moral and intellectual, such as were calculated rather to engage the confidence and esteem of the discerning, than to attract the applause of the multitude. Modest and retiring in his natural disposition, he avoided public notice as far as possible; but when duty urged, he did not shrink from the most difficult and arduous