periority of mind; and that is, for a man to be fully persuaded that he wants the counsels of others, and is not able to manage and direct all things alone; to associate with himself persons of merit in his labour, to employ each of these according to his talents; and to leave them the management of small matters, which only consume time, and deprive him of the liberty of mind, so necessary in the conduct of important affairs. Such a conduct, says Plutarch, is productive of two advantages. First, it extinguishes, or at least breaks the force. of envy and jealousy, by dividing, in some measure, a power, which is grating and offensive to us, when we see it united in one single person, as if all merit centred in him alone. Secondly, it advances and facilitates the execution of affairs, and makes their success more certain. Plutarch, the better to explain his thought, employs a very natural and beautiful comparison. The hand, says he, which from its being divided into fingers, so far from being weaker, is the stronger, the more active, and better adapted to motion on that very ac count. It is the same of a statesman, who has the skill to divide his cares and functions in a proper manner, and who by that means makes his authority more active, more extensive, and decisive: whereas the indiscreet fire of a narrow minded man, who takes umbrage at, and is for engrossing all things, serves to no other purpose but to set his weakness and incapacity in a stronger light, and to disconcert his affairs. But Pe ricles, says Plutarch, did not act in this manner: Like a skilful pilot, who, though he stands almost motionless himself, however puts every thing in motion, and will sometimes seat/ subaltern officers at the helm; so Pericles was the soul of the government; and, seeming to do nothing of himself, he actuated and governed all things; employing the eloquence of one man, the credit and interest of another, the prudence of a third, the bravery and courage of a fourth, and so on. ८.२ * To what has been here related, we may add another lity which is no less rare and valuable, I mean, a noble and dis quainterested soul. Pericles had so great a disinclination to the receiving of gifts, so utter a contempt for riches, and was so far above all rapaciousness and avarice, that though he had raised Athens to the richest and most flourishing state; though his power had surpassed that of many tyrants and kings; though he had long disposed in an absolute manner of the treasures of Greece, he did not however add a single drachm * Plut. in vit. Pericl. p. 161, 162. L to the estate he inherited from his father. This was the source, the true cause of the supreme authority of Pericles in the republic; the just and deserved fruit of his integrity and perfect disinterestedness. It was not only for a few short moments, nor during the first heats of favour, which are generally short-lived, that he preserved his authority. He maintained it 40 years, notwithstanding the opposition of Cimon, of Tolmides, of Thucydides, and many others, who had all declared against him; and of these 40 years, he spent 15 without a rival, from the time of Thucydides's banishment, and disposed all affairs with absolute power. Nevertheless, in the midst of this supreme authority, which he had rendered perpetual and unlimited in his own person, his soul was always superior to the charms and allurements of wealth, though he never neglected improving his estate to the utmost of his power. For Pericles did not act like those rich men, who, notwithstanding their immense revenues, either through negligence or want of economy, or the expences of pride and folly, are always poor in the midst of their riches; unable and unwilling to do the least service to their virtuous friends, or their faithful and zealous domestics; and at last die in every one's debt, whence their name and memory are had in the utmost detestation by their unfortunate creditors. I shall not expatiate on another extreme, to which this negli gence and want of economy generally lead, I mean rapine, a love of gifts and exactions; for here, as well as in the management of the public monies, the maxim of Tacitus takes place*, viz. that when a man has squandered away his estate, he then makes it his whole study to retrieve the loss of it by all sorts of methods, not excepting the most criminal. Pericles knew much better the use a statesman ought to make of riches. He was sensible that he ought to expend them in the service of the public, such as the procuring of able men to assist him in the administration; the relieving good officers, who too often are in unhappy circumstances; the rewarding and encouraging merit of every kind, and a thousand such things; to which, doubtless, either on account of the exquisite joy they give, or the solid glory that results from them, no one will be so thoughtless as to compare the expences lavished away in entertainments, equipages, or gaming. In this view, Pericles managed his estate with the utmost economy; * Si ambitione ærarium exhauserimus, per scelera supplendum erit. Tacit. Annal. 1. ii. c. 38. having himself taught one of his old servants to take care of his domestic concerns; and he always had the account brought him, at stated times, of all things that had been received as well as expended; confining himself and his family to a decent subsistence, from which he banished severely all superfluities of a vain and ostentatious kind, suitable to his estate and condition. This way of life, indeed, did no way please his children when they were come to years of maturity, and much less his wife. They thought Pericles did not live at a sufficient expence for persons of their rank; and murmured at that low sordid economy, as they called it, which carried no air of the plenty which generally reigns in houses where riches and authority are united. However, Pericles had little regard to these complaints, and directed his views to things of much greater importance. I believe it will not be improper to apply on this occasion, a very just remark of Plutarch, in his parallel of Aristides and Cato. After saying that political virtue, or the art of governing cities and kingdoms, is the greatest and most perfect that man can acquire, he adds, that economy is not one of the most inconsiderable branches of this virtue. And indeed, as riches are one of the means which may most contribute to the security or ruin of a state; the art that teaches to dispose of, and make a good use of them, and which is called economy, is certainly a branch of the art of policy; and not one of the most inconsiderable branches of it, since great wisdom is required, in order to the observing a just medium on these occasions, and to the banishing poverty and too great opulence from a country. It is this art which, avoiding industriously all trifling and needless expences, prevents a magistrate from being forced to overburden a people with taxes; and keeps always in reserve, in the public coffers, monies sufficient for the supporting a war that may break out, or for providing against any unforeseen accident. Now, what is said of a kingdom, or of a city, may be applied to particular persons. For a city, which is composed of an assemblage of houses, and which forms a whole of several parts united, is either powerful or weak when taken together, in proportion as all the members of which it consists, are powerful or weak. Pericles certainly acquitted himself well with regard to that part of this science which relates to the government of a family: but I do not know whether the same may be said of his administration of the public revenues. VOL. III. M SECTION XII. JEALOUSY AND CONTESTS ARISE BETWEEN THE SUCH was the conduct of Pericles with respect to his domes tic concerns*; and he was no less famous for his administration of public affairs. The Lacedæmonians beginning to grow jealous of the prosperity of the Athenians, and to take umbrage at it. Pericles, to inspire his citizens with greater courage and magnanimity, published a decree, importing, thatorders should be sent to all the Greeks, inhabiting either Europe - or Asia, and to all the cities great or small, to send immediately their deputies or representatives to Athens, to examine and debate on ways and means to rebuild the temples that had been burnt by the barbarians; to perform the sacrifices, which they had engaged themselves to offer up, for the preservation and safety of Greece, when war was carrying on against them; as also to consider on the necessary expedients for establishing such an order and discipline in their navy, that all ships might sail in safety, and the Greeks live in peace one with another. Accordingly 20 persons were chosen for this embassy, each of whom was upwards of 50 years old. Five of these were sent to the Ionians and Dorians of Asia, and the inhabitants of the islands as far as Lesbos and Rhodes; five to the countries of the Hellespont and Thrace, as far as Byzantium. Five were ordered to go to Beotia, to Phocis, and Peloponnesus; and from thence, by the country of the Locrians, to proceed to the several cities of the upper continent, as far as Acarnania and Ambracia. The last five were ordered to cross Eubœa, and to go to the people of Mount Eta, and those of the gulf of Malea, and to the inhabitants of Phthiotis, of Achaia, and of Thessaly; to induce the several nations to come to the assem bly convened in Athens, and to assist at the debates which should be there carried on concerning peace, and the general affairs of Greece. I judge it necessary to enter into this detail, as it shows how far the power of the Greeks extended, and the authority which the Athenians enjoyed among them. But all these solicitations were in vain; the cities not sending their deputies, which, according to historians, was owing to the opposition made by the Lacedæmonians, a circumstance we are not to wonder at. They were sensible, that Pericles's design was to have Athens acknowledged as mistress and so Plut. in Pericl. p. 162. vereign of all the other Grecian cities; and Lacedæmon was far from allowing it that honour. A secret leaven of dissen tion had, for some years, begun to disturb the tranquillity of Greece; and we shall find by the sequel, that disgusts augmented continually. Pericles had acquired great fame for the wisdom with which he formed and conducted his enterprises. The troops reposed the highest confidence in him, and whenever they followed him, assured themselves of success. His chief maxim of war was, never to venture a battle unless he were almost certain of victory, and not to lavish the blood of the citizens. He used to say frequently, that were it in his power they should. be immortal; that when trees were felled, they shoot to life again in a little time, but when once men die, they are lost for ever. A victory that was only the effect of a happy temerity, appeared to him as little worthy of praise, though it often was much admired. His expedition into the Thracian Chersonesus did him great honour, and was of great advantage to all the Greeks of that Country; for he not only strengthened the Grecian cities of that peninsula, by the colonies of Athenians which he carried thither, but also shut up the isthmus with a strong wall, with forts at proper distances from sea to sea, securing by that means the whole country from the perpetual incursions of the Thracians, who were very near neighbours to it. He also sailed with 100 ships round Peloponnesus, spreading the terror of the Athenian arms wherever he came, the success of which was not once interrupted on this occasion. He advanced as far as the kingdom of Pontus with a large, well-manned, and magnificent fleet, and granted the Grecian cities all they thought fit to ask of him. At the same time he displayed to the barbarian nations in that neighbourhood, to their kings and princes, the greatness of the power of the Athenians, and proved to them, by the security with which he sailed to all parts, that they possessed the empire of the seas without a rival. * But so constant and shining a fortune began to dazzle the eyes of the Athenians. Intoxicated with the idea of their power and grandeur, they now revolved nothing but the boldest and most lofty projects. They were for ever talking of new attempts upon Egypt; of attacking the maritime provinces of the great king; of carrying their arms into Sicily, a fatal * Plut. in Pericl. p. 164. |