own friends; My friends, says he, have no need of a recommendation to do justice.-A comedian of note wondering that Agesilaus said nothing to him, asked, if he knew him? Yes, saith he, I know thee; art not thou the buffoon Callipedes? -One calling the king of Persia the great king, he answered, He is not greater than I, unless he hath more virtue than I. One of his friends catching him playing with his children, he prevented him thus; Say nothing, till thou art a father too. He had great care of the education of youth; often saying, We must teach children what they should do when they are men. The Egyptians despising him because he had but a small train and a mean equipage; Oh, saith he, I will have them to know, royalty consists not in vain pomp, but in virtue.

§. XVIII. AGIS, another king of Lacedæmonia, imprisoned for endeavouring to restore their declining discipline, being asked, whether he repented not of his design? answered, No; for, saith he, good actions never need repentance. His father and mother desiring of him to grant something he thought unjust, he answered, I obeyed you when I was young; I must now obey the laws, and do that which is reasonable.-As he was leading to the place of execution, one of his people wept; to whom he said, Weep not for me; for the authors of this unjust death are more in fault than I.

§. XIX. ALCAMENES, king of the same people, being asked, which was the way to get and preserve honour? answered, To despise wealth. Another wondering why he refused the presents of the Messenians, he answered, I make conscience to keep the laws that forbid it. To a miser accusing him of being so reserved in his discourse, he said, I had rather conform to reason, than thy covetousness; or, I had rather be covetous of my words, than money.

§. XX. ALEXANDRIDAS hearing an exile complain of his banishment, he saith, Complain of the cause of it (to wit his deserts); for there is nothing hurtful but vice. Being asked, why they were so long in making the process of criminals in Lacedæmonia? Because, saith he, when they are once dead they are past repentance. This shows their belief of immortality and eternal blessedness; and that even poor criminals, through repentance, may obtain it.

§. XXI. ANAXILAS would say, That the greatest advantage kings had over other men, was their power of excelling them in good deeds.

§. XXII. ARISTON, hearing one admire this expression, We ought to do good to our friends, and evil to our enemies; answered, By no means, we ought to do good to all; to

keep our friends, and to gain our enemies. A doctrine the most difficult to flesh and blood, of all the precepts of Christ's sermon upon the mount: nay, not allowed to be his doctrine; but both "An eye for an eye;" defended, against his express command, and oftentimes an eye put out, an estate sequestered, and life taken away, under a specious zeal for religion too; as if sin could be christened, and impiety entitled to the doctrine of Christ. Oh, will not such Heathens rise up in judgment against our worldly Christians in the great day of God!

§. XXIII. ARCHIDAMUS, also king of Sparta, being asked, who was master of Lacedæmonia? The laws, saith he, and after them the magistrates.-One praising a musician in his presence, Ah! saith he, but when will you praise a good man?-Another saying, That man is an excellent musician: That is all one, saith he, as if thou wouldst say, There is a good cook: counting both trades of voluptuousness. Another promising him some excellent wine; I care not, saith he, for it will only put my mouth out of taste to my ordinary liquor; which it seems was water.-Two men chose him an arbitrator; to accept it, he made them promise to do what he would have them: Then said he, stir not from this place till you have agreed the matter between yourselves; which was done.-Dennis, king of Sicily, sending his daughters rich apparel, he forbad them to wear it, saying, You will seem to me but the more homely.—This great man certainly was not of the mind to bring up his children at the exchanges, dancing schools and play-houses.

§. XXIV. CLEOMENES, king of the same people, would say, That kings ought to be pleasant; but not to cheapness and contempt. He was so just a man in power, that he drove away Demaratus, his fellow-king, (for they always had two) for offering to corrupt him in a cause before them, Lest, saith he, he should attempt others less able to resist him, and so ruin the state.

§. XXV. DERSYLLIDAS perceiving that Pyrrhus would force a prince upon his countrymen the Lacedæmonians, whom they lately ejected, stoutly opposed him, saying, If thou art God, we fear thee not, because we have done no evil; and if thou art but a man, we are men too.

§. XXVI. HIPPODAMUS, seeing a young man ashamed, that was caught in bad company, he reproved him sharply, saying, For time to come keep such company as thou needest not blush at.

§. XXVII. LEONIDAS, brother to Cleomenes, and a brave man, being offered by Xerxes to be made an emperor of Greece, answered, I had rather die for my own country,

than have an unjust command over other mens'. Adding, Xerxes deceived himself, to think it a virtue to invade the right of other men.

§. XXVIII. LYSANDER, being asked by a person, what was the best frame of government? That, saith he, where every man hath according to his deserts. Though one of the greatest captains that Sparta bred, he had learned by his wisdom to bear personal affronts: Say what thou wilt, saith he, (to one that spoke abusively to him) Empty thyself, I shall bear it. His daughters were contracted in marriage to some persons of quality: but he dying poor, they refused to marry them; upon which the Ephori condemned each of them in a great sum of money, because they preferred money before faith and engagement.

§. XXIX. PAUSANIAS, son of Cleombrotus, and colleague of Lysander, beholding among the Persian spoils they took, the costliness of their furniture, said, It had been much better if they had been worth less, and their masters more. And after the victory of Platea, having a dinner drest according to the Persian manner, and beholding the magnificer.ce and furniture of the treat; What, saith he, do these people mean, that live in such wealth and luxury, to attack our meanness and poverty?

§. XXX. THEO POMPUS saith, The way to preserve a kingdom is, to embrace the counsel of one's friends, and not to suffer the meaner sort to be oppressed. One making the glory of Sparta to consist in commanding well, he answered, No, it is in knowing how to obey well. He was of opinion, That great honours hurt a state; adding, That time would abolish great, and augment moderate, honours among men; meaning that men should have the reputation they deserve, without flattery and excess.

A rhetorician bragging himself of his art, was reproved by a Lacedæmonian, Dost thou call that an art, saith he, which hath not truth for its object? Also a Lacedæmonian being presented with an harp after dinner by a musical person, I do not, saith he, know how to play the fool. Another being asked, What he thought of a poet of the times, answered, Good for nothing but to corrupt youth. Nor was this only the wisdom and virtue of some particular persons, which may be thought to have given light to the dark body of their courts; but their government was wise and just, and the people generally obeyed it; making virtue to be true honour, and that honour dearer to them than life. §. XXXI. LACEDEMONIAN customs, according to Plutarch, were these: They were very temperate in their eating and drinking, their most delicate dish being a pottage

made for the nourishment of antient people. They taught their children to write and read, to obey the magistrates, to endure labour, and to be bold in danger: the teachers of other sciences were not so much as admitted in Lacedæmonia. They had but one garment, and that new but once a year. They rarely used baths or oil, the custom of those parts of the world. Their youth lay in troops upon mats; the boys and girls apart. They accustomed their youth to travel by night without light; to use them not to be afraid. The old governed the young; and those of them who obeyed not the aged, were punished. It was a shame not to bear reproof among the youth; and among the aged, matter of punishment not to give it. They made ordinary cheer, on purpose to keep out luxury; holding, that mean fare kept the spirit free, and the body fit for action. The music they used was simple, without art of changings; their songs composed of virtuous deeds of good men, and their harmony mixed with some religious extasies, that seemed to carry their minds above the fear of death. They permitted not their youth to travel, lest they should corrupt their manners; and for the same reason, they permitted not strangers to dwell amongst them, that conformed not to their way of living. In this they were so strict, that such of their youth that were not educated in their customs, enjoyed not the privileges of natives. They would suffer neither comedies nor tragedies to be acted in their country. They condemned a soldier but for painting his buckler of several colours: and publicly punished a young man, for having learnt but the way to a town given to luxury. They also banished an orator for bragging that he could speak a whole day upon any subject; for they did not like much speaking, much less for a bad cause. They buried their dead without any ceremony or superstition; for they only used a red cloth upon the body, broidered with olive leaves: this burial had all degrees. Mourning they forbad, and epitaphs too. When they prayed to God, they stretched forth their arms; which, with them, was a sign that they must do good works, as well as make good prayers. They asked of God but two things, patience in labour, and happiness in well-doing.'

This account is mostly the same with Xenophon's: adding, 'that they eat moderately, and in common; the youth mixed with the aged, to awe them, and give them good example. That in walking, they would neither speak, nor turn their eyes aside, any more than if they were statues of marble. The men were bred bashful, as well as the women, not speaking at meals, unless they were asked a question.

When they were fifteen years of age, instead of leaving them to their own conduct, as in other places, they had most care of their conversation, that they might preserve them from the mischiefs that age is incident to. And those that would not comply with these rules, were not counted always honest people. And in this their government was excellent; that they thought there was no greater punishment for a bad man, than to be known and used as such, at all times, and in all places: for they were not to come into the company of persons of reputation; they were to give place to all others; to stand when others sat; to be accountable to every honest man that met them, of their conversation; that they must keep their poor kindred; that they used not the same freedoms that honest people might use by which means they kept virtue in credit, and vice in contempt. They used all things necessary for life, without superfluity, or want; despising riches, and sumptuous apparel and living: judging, that the best ornament of the body is health; and of the mind, virtue. And since (saith Xenophon) it is virtue and temperance that render us commendable, and that it is only the Lacedæmonians that reverence it publicly, and have made it the foundation of their state; their government, of right, merits preference to any other in the world. But that, saith he, which is strange, is that all admire it, but none imitate it.' Nor is this account and judgment fantastical.

§. XXXII. LYCURGUS. their famous founder and lawgiver, instilled these principles, and by his power with them made them laws to rule them. Let us hear what he did: Lycurgus, willing to reclaim his citizens from a luxurious to a virtuous life, and shew them how much good conduct and honest industry might meliorate the state of mankind, applied himself to introduce a new model of government, persuading them to believe, that though they were descended of noble and virtuous ancestors, if they were not exercised in a course of virtue, they would, like the dog in the kitchen, rather leap at the meat, than run at the game. In fine, they agreed to obey him. The first thing then that he did, to try his power with them, was, to divide the land into equal portions, so that the whole Laconick country seemed but the lots of brethren. This grieved the rich; but the poor, which were the most, rejoiced. He rendered wealth useless, by community; and forbad the use of gold and silver he made money of iron, too base and heavy to make a thief: he retrenced their laws of building, suffering no more-ornament than could be made with a hatchet and a saw and their furniture was like their houses. This course