In their internal economy, the energies of a free government were also, as we shall presently see, powerfully displayed in a career of art, the splendour of which has no parallel in the history of nations. At the same time it was productive also of a complication of disorders. The free states of antiquity differed from those of modern times, in not being representative governments. The popular as sembly was composed of the whole body of the na tion ; which not only produced a disorderly multi tude, but took away all check of responsibility, such as exists now between the electors and the elected. The people were absolutely despotic, and exercised their power often as arbitrarily and as capriciously as the most worthless individual. As most of the ma nual labour was performed hy slaves, such of the free citizens as had no inheritance, that is, the great er part of them, were in a state of extreme When therefore they found, that the public revenue, as well as the property of private individuals, was at their disposal, they soon discovered, and were taught by their flatterers, that these resources might be turned to their private accommodation. This was gradually done more and more, every new courtier endeavouring to outstrip his predecessor. Theatrical' amusements, of the utmost splendour, were afforded at the public expense ; and'a law was at length passed," making it capital to propose any other use of the funds appropriated to them. In the same manner, baths, places of meeting, and other accommodations, of more than royal magnificence, were supplied to the lowest of the people. Trials were decided by a species of jury, the members of which were called Dicasts, and received a small sum (three oboli, equal to fourpence) for the exercise of their office. To he on juries became thus a regular source of sub sistence to the poorer classes ; hence sprung in numerable abuses. The number of jury-men was raised to 500 ; that of courts, which sat daily, to ten. Every disposition was shown, both-to multiply. trials, and to protract their duration. Accusations were willingly received ; and so little was the security, even 'to the best citizens, of a favourable issue, that Socrates could give no better advice, than to repel them by a counter accusation. The greatest men of the state paid the most humble court to these di casts. The comic poet introduces one of them say ing : " The principal men of the commonwealth at tend our, levee in the morning. Presently one of those who have embezzled public money approaches, makes a low bow, and begs my favour. If ever,' says he, you yourself, in any office, or even in the management of a military mess, cheated your com rades, pity me.' He stood trembling before me, as if I had been a god." With the same view of accom modating the people, holidays, the sacrifices at which were distributed among them, were multiplied, till they filled nearly a sixth of the year.
While the revenue of the state was thus employed, rather for private than public wants, the question came to be, how the latter were to be supplied. 'With this view, the people cast their eyes on the rich, whom they were never disposed to regard very favourably. Was a frigate to be equipped ; they pitched upon the man who appeared best able to af ford it, and compelled him to do it at his own ex pense. The same system was adopted with regard to all other branches of public service. The only re medy which remained was of the most irregular na ture. The man, on whom this burden was laid, could call upon any other whom lie thought better able to bear it, either to do the service, or to make a complete exchange of property with himself. Upon the whole, Mr Mitford, who certainly shews no par tiality to the Atbenian government, hesitates not to declare, that the security of property in it was less than in the most arbitrary of the oriental govern ments.
Having thus surveyed the political character of IC Athens, we shall now take a brief view of that which she displayed in arts dnd letters. The first foundations of her fame in this department were laid under the family of Pisistratus. They sheav ed themselves zealous patrons of learning ; and Pi sistratus himself is said to have been the first who collected together the scattered fragments of the Iliad and Odyssey. The grand efforts of Athe nian genius, however, were subsequent to this xra ; it continued to blaze uninterruptedly during the whole period of her political greatness, and even for a short time survived its extinction. The departments in which she chiefly excelled, and to which, indeed, she gave birth, seem to have been those connected with human manners and drama, moral and political philosophy, and history.
To Athens the drama was indebted, at once for its first origin and its highest perfection. Yet her first essays were of the rudest description. At certain seasons of the year, festivals were celebrated in nour of Bacchus ; and, on these occasions, it was cus tomary for the peasants to mount their cars, and sing extemporary verses in honour of that deity. On some, who displayed, in this exercise, peculiar powers of amusing the public, rustic rewards, a cask of wine, or a goat, were bestowed ; hence arose the expressions, trugerdia, trag€.edia, the song of the cask, the song of the goat. These persons wore masks, a custom always retained on the Greek thea tre ; and, as they gradually improved, and dialogue was added, the exhibitions approached more and more to the nature of regular dramas. Athens now be-' coming a city of some magnitude and opulence, a de mand arose in it for similar amusements, and persons were not wanting to gratify this taste. The division into comedy and tragedy had now been established. The first year before the establishment of the ty ranny of Pisistratus, Susarion mounted a scaffold, and performed a sort of comedy, or satirical dialogue. About thirty years after, Thespis, from a waggon, exhibited the first tragedy on record. Before his time there had been nothing but the chorus ; he added a single actor. Tragedy, though posterior in its ori gin to comedy, was soonest carried to perfection. fhespis was succeeded by Cratinas, in whose time the scaffolding, similar probably to that used in our puppet-shows, on which the exhibition was perform ed, having accidentally broke down, the Athenians applied themselves to build a secure and more ele gant theatre. Phrynichus, his successor, perfected tragedy still more, by substituting the iambic verse for the trochaic, which had been employed as suit ed to the accompaniment of dancing, once an es sential part of theatrical entertainments. The spec tacles were now addressed to the fancy more than to the senses. Immediately after him, and about the period of the Persian war, arose Eschylus, who car ried Grecian tragedy to the summit of perfection. His pieces are characterized by a fierce and terrible sublimity, congenial to his own character, and that of his age, which were wholly devoted to mili tary glory. He was succeeded by Sophocles, who, born in a milder and more polished age, exhibited different characters. Inferior in energy and sublimi ty, he still combined a large portion of these quali ties with more skilful contexture of plot, and great er powers of pathos. Immediately following, and for a long time contemporary, was Euripides, who excelled both his predecessors in pathetic powers, in which, among the ancients at least, he stands unri valled ; and who cultivated also a sententious mora lity unknown to his predecessors. In other respects, however, he is inferior to JEschylus and Sophocles.