THE age of Pericles has ever and deservedly occupied a commanding rank in history. If we regard only the constellation of brilliant names with which it is studded, in the various departments of art, literature, and philosophy, it may safely challenge comparison with the age of Augustus or Elizabeth. But its position acquires a still higher dignity, when it is contemplated, also, as the culminating point of Athenian ascendency, and of Grecian civilization. Nothing, therefore, can be more interesting and useful, either to the scholar or the statesman, than to study the characters of the chief actors in that famous period; and of all, not one attracts or deserves greater attention, than that of the high-souled statesman, who, in spite of calumny and detraction, bequeathed his name to posterity, ennobled with the proud title of Olympius.

The term statesman, is capable of two somewhat different senses. In its more narrow meaning, it is applied to the man, who is well versed in the science and administration of government; in the wider meaning it signifies the public man, or the representative of the nation. In the former case, the character of the statesman must depend entirely upon his political measures, as adapted to the exigencies of the state; in the latter, upon all his public conduct, as an expression of the ideas and spirit of his nation. In the latter sense, it is usually understood, when applied to eminent popular leaders in ancient republics. For in many of them, and at Athens especially, owing partly to the imperfect state of political science, partly to the democratic and changeable character of its government, the duties of public functionaries were never very accurately defined, and the statesman was not merely the leader in political affairs, but the leader of the nation in every public business, requiring sagacity, address, and decision. To

attempt to estimate the character of an Athenian statesman, like Pericles, by taking into view those of his actions only, which fall under the word in its more restricted sense, would, it seems to us, be as absurd as it would be difficult and fruitless. For it would be viewing him in a light in which he never existed; and his character must inevitably appear one-sided and discolored. Thus we are allowed by the sense of the word, and required, in order to gain an adequate idea of his character as a public man, to view him as the statesman was in his time, not simply the politician, but the popular leader.

In this wider sense, especially, the actions of the statesman are by no means arbitrary and independent of his people and age. Great men are often conceived of as a kind of demi-gods, who, with little fellowfeeling for mankind, simply by the potent energy of their own genius, as it were drag the world of society from its straight-forward course, and force it to move in spheres of their own creation. But could the stern Lycurgus have fettered with his iron code the restless Athenians; or the Divine Numa have curbed by his stringent morality the licentious age of the Cæsars? Surely the individual, however powerful his genius-however daring his ambition-can never so triumphantly ride over the necks of humanity. That was a just and honest remark of Napoleon, after his downfall, "it was the Spirit of the Age that dethroned me." And of all great men, the statesman, instead of the oracle, dictating to his nation, is preeminently the man who expresses in his actions their ideas and sentiments. It has been happily said of him, "he scarcely thinks his own thoughts." Nor let it be inferred, from what we have said, that he is a mere puppet, controlled by the wires of popular caprice and passion. If he cannot create the spirit of his age, and shape it to his plans at pleasure, he can exert upon it a powerful influence. If he cannot resist the popnlar current, he may, at least, guide it in the best channels, and to the best possible results. The character of the statesman must therefore be judged both by the degree and manner in which he realizes the leading ideas of his nation and age.

But in order to do this effectually, he must first comprehend clearly these great ideas in his own mind-must feel them intensely in his own heart. He cannot meet the demands of his age without fully entering into and sympathizing with its spirit. He must be emphatically the Man of To-day in all his thoughts and feelings-not clinging too tenaciously to antiquated notions, nor yielding too easily to paradox and innovation. And with this knowledge of and sympathy with the spirit of his nation, he must possess the master-mind to grasp and wield it with advantage and effect. He must feel a kind of inspiration within, goading him on to work out his destiny-to give it expansion and substantial results. He thus becomes, as it were, the heart of the nation-gathering within himself its comparatively inert and inefficient streams of thought and feeling, and then urging them back with fresh force and vitality, to renew and invigorate its system.

On the whole, then, the statesman's character consists in his disposition and ability to comprehend and satisfy the demands of his nation

and age; and the knowledge of this character must be obtained by an examination of his public life and policy. To discover how far this was the character of Pericles, we shall examine his public life and actions, and under the two heads of his domestic and foreign policy.

In his domestic policy, his measures for increasing the political power of the people, as they were the instruments by which he rose to authority, naturally, first claim our attention. From their earliest history, the Athenians had been distinguished from many of their neighbors by their liberal and democratical spirit. From the time of Solon especially, the popular party had rapidly gained ground, and at different times wrung from the aristocracy many important concessions. These successes, so far from damping their ardor, only stimulated them to renewed efforts; and when the Persian contests had revealed to them their strength, and increased their activity, their voice assumed a bolder and more imperious tone. Yet powerful and enterprising as they felt themselves, it was not without some apprehension that, soon after, they saw the leader of the aristocracy-the able Cimon, rising to place and power. They felt an intense desire to throw off all restrictions, and give free scope to their impetuous character; and they anxiously cast about them in search of a man, willing and competent to understand and realize their ideas and spirit. Such an one they found in the person of Pericles. This great man, early conscious of the wide grasp and energy of his genius, had expanded and enriched it under the teachings of the best masters; and, especially, by the study of the sublime doctrines of that bold thinker, Anaxagoras. Gifted with a strong native eloquence, he had improved it by every means in his power; and though none of his speeches are preserved, yet the adroitness and success with which he swayed those tumultuous popular assemblies, assure us it must have been wonderfully cogent and impassioned; and a delighted listener, Thucydides, directly testified to its loftiness and efficacy in enforcing conviction. Adding to his abilities and eloquence, moreover, an ardent sympathy with the popular party, they eagerly sought in him a leader and representative.

We are well aware that it is common to ascribe his espousal of the democratic cause to motives of mere ambition, but we see little reason for thus degrading his character. Even if we suppose his real sentiments to have leaned towards the aristocratic policy, he was too sagacious not to perceive that its narrow and rigorous spirit had been supplanted by more enlarged and liberal views; and too politic to try to fetter his nation with restrictions at war with their manifest sentiments. But the enthusiastic earnestness with which he embraced the popular side, and the hearty attachment he ever exhibited to its interests, discountenance any such supposition. And if the policy which the general spirit of his people demanded, enabled him at the same time to ingratiate himself into popular favor, why should he be stigmatized as an unprincipled demagogue? His popularity was not like that of a Cleon, filched by catering to the passions of the rabble, but earned

by exalting his country and countrymen. The former may be gained by the chance triumph of some blind fool-hardy exploit-the latter, only by the sure success of a sharp-sighted, deliberate policy. The one is the popularity of the demagogue, who gratifies the momentary caprices the other, that of the statesman who embodies in action the leading ideas of his nation.

It would be impossible for us, within our limits, to examine closely all the popular measures of Pericles. Instead of cursorily glancing at them all, we prefer therefore to give particular attention to one or two of the most important. The Court of the Areopagus had long been the bulwark of the oligarchy against popular encroachments. Though stripped of much of its pristine strength, the penetrating eye of Pericles saw that it might, at some critical juncture, be turned into an engine to thwart his plans, and perchance accomplish his own destruction. He determined on its downfall, or what was the same in effect, the transfer of its highest prerogatives to the popular tribunals. A less keen observer of the times would scarcely have hazarded so bold a project. The institution was one sanctioned by remote antiquity, and encircled with many endearing and hallowed associations. It was invested with peculiar dignity and sacredness by its connection with their early myths, and with many mysterious religious rites. And as it was the last remaining strong-hold of the aristocracy, he could not but expect a defense as obstinate as their cause was desperate. And in fact, they summoned all their energies to meet the crisis. They poured forth their wealth ungrudgingly, and the eloquence of Cimon backed its influence by powerful appeals to the people's reverence for ancestors, and love for the glory of the past. Eschylus, also, in one of his grandest tragedies, thundered his terrible denunciations of Divine Wrath against the innovation, as a high-handed sacrilege. But Pericles had not ventured so bold an attempt without coolly counting all the chances, and he played his part in the game with admirable tact and unflinching decision. His own consummate abilities, however, would have availed him little, had not the spirit of the people sustained him. But he had foreseen that their thirst for political power would be stronger than their reverence for established usages. His foresight was not fallacious; in spite of all this formidable opposition, the venerable Areopagus fell, and with it all the hopes of the aristocracy. Cimon was soon driven into banishment; his successor, Thucydides, shortly after shared the same fate; and the voice of Pericles became the law of Athens, for the voice of Pericles was the voice of the democracy!

The manner in which he employed the finances of Athens in his domestic policy, shows him to equal advantage as the true statesman. Early in his career, he gratified the popular tastes by public shows and entertainments, and especially by providing out of the public treasury for the gratuitous admission of the poorer citizens to theatrical exhibitions. For this measure he has been violently assailed, with the charge of corrupting the morals of the citizens, and making them a set of idle pleasure-takers. But surely it was not Pericles that created in