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Historians expatiate greatly on the magnificent edifices and other works with which Pericles adorned Athens, and I have related faithfully their testimony; but I cannot say whether the complaints and murmurs raised against him were very ill grounded. And indeed, was it just in him to expend, in superfluous buildings and vain decorations, the immense sums P intended for carrying on the war? and would it not have been better to have eased the allies of part of the contributions, which in Pericles's administration were raised to a third part more than before? According to Cicero, such edifices and other works only are worthy of admiration, as are of use to the public, as aqueducts, city walls, citadels, arsenals, seaports; and to these we must add, the work made by Pericles, to join Athens to the port of Priæus. But Cicero observes, at the same time, that Pericles was blamed for squandering away the public treasure, merely to embellish the city with superfluous ornaments. Plato, who formed a judgment of things not from their outward splendor, but from truth, observes, after his master Socrates, that Pericles, with all his grand edifices and other works, had not improved the mind of one of the citizens in virtue, but rather corrupted the purity and simplicity of their ancient manners.

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P They amounted to upwards of 10,000,000 French money.
3 Office. 1. ii. n. 60. * In Georg. p. 515. In Alcib. c. i. p. 119.

SECTION XI.

PERICLES CHANGES HIS CONDUCT WITH REGARD то THE PEOPLE.

WHEN Pericles saw himself invested with the whole authority, he began to change his behaviour. 'He now was not so mild and tractable as before, nor did he submit or abandon himself any longer to the whims and caprice of the people, as so many winds; but drawing in, says Plutarch, the reins of this too loose popular government, in the same manner as we screw up the strings of an instrument when too slack, he changed it into an aristocracy, or rather a kind of monarchy, without departing, however, from the public good. Choosing always what was most expedient, and becoming irreproachable in all things, he gained so mighty an ascendant over the minds of the people, that he turned and directed them at pleasure. Sometimes, by his bare counsel, and by persuasive methods, he would win them over gently to his will, and gain their assent spontaneously; at other times, when he found them obstinate, he would in a manner drag them forward against their will to those things which were for their good; imitating on this occasion a skilful physician, who, in a tedious and stubborn disease, knows what times are proper for him to indulge his patient in innocent medicaments that are pleasing, in order after to administer those of a strong and violent nature, which indeed put him to pain, but are alone capable of restoring his health.

Plut. in Pericl. p. 161.

And indeed, it is manifest that the utmost skill and abilities were required, to manage and govern a populace haughty from their power, and exceedingly capricious; and on this occasion Pericles succeeded wonderfully. He used to employ, according to the different situation of things, sometimes hope, and at other times fear, as a double helm, either to check the wild transports and starts of the people, or to raise them when dejected and desponding. By this conduct he showed that eloquence, as Plato observes, is only the art of directing the minds of the people at will; and that the chief excellency of this art consists in moving seasonably the various passions, whether gentle or violent; which being to the soul what strings are to a musical instrument, need only be touched by an ingenious and skilful hand to produce their effect.

It must nevertheless be confessed, that the circumstance which gave Pericles this great authority, was not only the force of his eloquence, but, as Thucydides observes, the reputation of his life, and great probity.

'Plutarch points out in Pericles, one quality which is very essential to statesmen, a quality well adapted to win the esteem and confidence of the public, and which supposes a great superiority 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 labours, to employ each of these according to his talents; and to leave them the management of small matters, which only consume time, and deprive

Plut. in præc. de rep. ger. p. 812.

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 five fingers, so far from being weaker, is the stronger, the more active, and better adapted to motion on that very account. 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 Pericles, 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.

"To what has been here related, we may add another quality which is no less rare and valuable, I mean, a noble and disinterested 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 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 forty years, notwithstanding the opposition of Cimon, of Tolmides, of Thucydides, and many others, who had all declared against him; and of these forty years, he spent fifteen 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

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