Where the Athenian youthFor great and lofty geniuses produce nothing that is mean and little; the innate smartness of their parts will not endure the vigor and activity of their spirits to grow lazy; but they are tossed to and again, as with the waves, by the rolling motions of their own inordinate desire, till at length they arrive to a stable and settled constitution of manners. Therefore, as a person that is unskilful in husbandry would by no means make choice of a piece of ground quite overrun with brakes and weeds, abounding with wild beasts, running streams, and mud; while, to him who hath learnt to understand the nature of the earth, these are certain symptoms of the softness and fertility of the soil; thus great geniuses many times produce many absurd and vile enormities, of which we not enduring the rugged and uneasy vexation, are presently for pruning and lopping off the lawless transgressors. But the more prudent judge, who discerns the abounding goodness and generosity covertly residing in those transcendent geniuses, waits the co-operating age and season for reason and virtue to exert themselves, and gathers the ripe fruit when Nature has matured it. And thus much as to those particulars.
The famed foundations of their freedom laid?
1
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In the second place, therefore, let us consider this,
that human punishments of injuries regard no more than
that the party suffer in his turn, and are satisfied when
the offender has suffered according to his merit; and
farther they never proceed. Which is the reason that
they run after provocations, like dogs that bark in their
fury, and immediately pursue the injury as soon as committed. But probable it is that God, whatever distempered soul it be which he prosecutes with his divine justice,
observes the motions and inclinations of it, whether they
be such as tend to repentance, and allows time for the
reformation of those whose wickedness is neither invincible nor incorrigible. For, since he well knows what a
proportion of virtue souls carry along with them from himself when they come into the world, and how strong and
vigorous their innate and primitive good yet continues,—while wickedness buds forth only preternaturally upon the
corruption of bad diet and evil conversation, and even
then some souls recover again to perfect cure or an indifferent habitude,—therefore he doth not make haste to
inflict his punishments alike upon all. But those that are
incurable he presently lops off and deprives of life, deeming it altogether hurtful to others, but most baneful to
themselves, to be always wallowing in wickedness. But
as for those who may probably be thought to transgress
rather out of ignorance of what is virtuous and good, than
through choice of what is foul and vicious, he grants them
time to turn; but if they remain obdurate, then likewise
he inflicts his punishments upon them; for he has no fear
lest they should escape.
Now let us consider how oft the characters and lives of
men are changed; for which reason, the character is called
τρόπος, as being the changeable part, and also ἦθος, since cus-
[p. 149]
tom (ἔθος) chiefly prevails in it and rules with the greatest
power when it has seized upon it. Therefore I am of
opinion, that the ancients reported Cecrops to have had
two bodies, not, as some believe, because of a good king
he became a merciless and dragon-like tyrant, but rather,
on the contrary, for that being at first both cruel and
formidable, afterwards he became a most mild and gentle
prince. However, if this be uncertain, yet we know both
Gelo and Hiero the Sicilians, and Pisistratus the son of
Hippocrates, who, having obtained the sovereignty by violence and wickedness, made a virtuous use of their power,
and coming unjustly to the throne, became moderate rulers
and beneficial to the public. For, by recommending wholesome laws and the exercise of useful tillage to their subjects, they reduced them from idle scoffers and talkative
romancers to be modest citizens and industrious good husbands. And as for Gelo, after he had been successful in
his war and vanquished the Carthaginians, he refused to
grant them the peace which they sued for, unless they
would consent to have it inserted in their articles that they
would surcease from sacrificing their children to Saturn.
Over Megalopolis Lydiadas was tyrant; but then, even
in the time of his tyranny, changing his manners and
maxims of government and growing into a hatred of injustice, he restored to the citizens their laws, and fighting
for his country against his own and his subjects' enemies,
fell an illustrious victim for his country's welfare. Now if
any one, bearing an antipathy to Miltiades or Cimon, had
slain the one tyrannizing in the Chersonese or the other
committing incest with his own sister, or had expelled
Themistocles out of Athens at what time he lay rioting
and revelling in the market-place and affronting all that
came near him, according to the sentence afterwards pronounced against Alcibiades, had we not lost Marathon, the
Eurymedon, and lovely Artemisium,
[p. 150]
1 From Pindar.
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