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VERITAS
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UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
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THE
EPISTLES
PHAL
O F
PHALARIS.
888.
Par for
P 2 3
+F8
A
N
C
Worlidge inv. et fecit 1748.
C.Grignion feulp
Vis ftudiorum mufarumque amatorem? Phalarim intuere,
qui Stefichorum poetam inimiciffimum captum a fe
mufarum reverentiâ fervaverit. ARET.
THE
EPISTLES
O F
PHA
PHALARI Sempre matte
Tranflated from the GREEK.
1
To which are added,
Some Select EPISTLES of the moft eminent
Greek Writers.
By THOMAS FRANCKLIN, M. A.
Fellow of Trinity-College, CAMBRIDGE.
LONDON:
Printed for R. FRANCKLIN, in Ruffel-ftreet, Covent-
Garden. MDCCXLIX.
:
11-18-40 U.A
1
English
10-21-40
41481
To the Right Honourable
JOHN
Earl of OR RERY
My LORD,
Y
OUR Lordship's per-
miffion to prefix your
name to this Tranfla-
tion was an honour too great
for a work fo inconfiderable,
and which indeed I had not
adventured to follicit but
that PHALARIS feem'd
to have a claim to your pro-
tection; and I flatter'd my-
felf, however unbecoming his
drefs,
A 3
2
DEDICATION.
drefs, the eſteem, in which he
was held by the late Lord
Orrery, would recommend him
to your Lordſhip, and could
not fail of fecuring him a fa-
vourable reception.
THIS will find your Lord-
ſhip, removed from the noiſe
and buſtle of a venal idle
world, in a peaceful retirement,
where your hours are employ-
ed in a manner very different
from others of your rank and
ftation, in the ſtudy of polite
literature, and the enjoyment
of that domeftic happineſs,
which is the beſt reward of
honour and virtue.
FROM your Lordship's
compleat knowledge of the
Original,
DEDICATION.
Original, I have reaſon to fear
the fevereft judgment on the
Tranflation; but, as your
Lordſhip is fufficiently ac-
quainted with the difficulty of
transfufing the ftrength and
fpirit of one language into a
nother, I hope you will the
more readily pardon the faults,
and excufe the inaccuracies of
2-
the following performance,
which is humbly fubmitted to
your Lordship, by
My Lord,
Your Lordship's
most devoted
moft obedient
humble Servant
T. FRANCKLIN.
}
A
L I IST
OF THE
SUBSCRIBERS NAMES.
IS Grace the Duke of Argyle and
Greenwich.
Richard Aftell, of Everton in the
County of Bucks, Efq;
Thomas Anfell, of the Middle-Temple, Efq;
Mr. Robert Anfell,
Mr. Robert Adams.
Mr. William Adams.
The Reverend Mr. Allen,
The Right Honourable the Earl of Bath.
The Right Honourable the Lord Bruce.
The Honourable Hamilton Boyle.
John Bagnall,of Middle-Temple, Efq; 2 Books.
The Reverend Mr. Robert Butts, Rector of
Bluntfham.
James Bland, Efq;
The Reverend Mr. Bellamy, Minifter of
Peterſham and Kew, in Surry.
Mr. John Brindley.
The
Subſcribers NAMES.
F
The Reverend Mr. Robert Banfon, Fellow of
Trinity-Hall, Cambridge.
Sir John Barnard, Knight.
Mr. Sackville Bale, of Chriſt-Church-
College, Oxon.
The Reverend Mr. Burnett.
The Reverend Mr. John Butley.
The Reverend Mr. Henry Burroughs, Chap-
lain to the Lord Bishop of Ely.
Mr. Sprainger Barry.
Mr. John Bradbury.
Mr. Mofes Bradley.
Robert Bennett, Efq; of the Middle-Temple.
The Reverend Jeremiah Barnard, D. D.
The Reverend Thomas Bearcroft, D. D.
Mr. Booth.
Mr. Boulter.
Mr. Blagdon.
The Honourable the Lord Carnarvon,
John Gilbert Cooper, Efq;
Gilbert Caldecot, Efq;
Gideon Caſtlefranc, Efq;
The Reverend Mr. Carlyon.
George Clarke, Efq;
Edward Cheſter, Elq;
Mr. Peter Cheſter, Fellow of Catherine-Hall,
Cambridge.
Mr. Robert Chefter.
The Reverend Mr. Chetwynd.
Henry Chitty, Efq;
Doctor Glynn Clobery.
Philip Cafe, Efq;
Mifs
Subſcribers NAMES.
Mifs Coulter.
The Reverend Mr. Thomas Cornthwaite,
Fellow of Trinity-College, Cambridge.
Mr. Cracherode, of Chrift-Church-College,
Oxon.
The Reverend Purefois Collis, M. A.
Mr. Cleeve.
Mr. Cogan.
Mr. Charles Cooper.
Mr. Cramond.
John Curfon, Efq;
Francis Cuft, Efq; Barrister at Law.
Mr. Richard Dawſon.
The Reverend Mr. Peter Debarry.
Mr. Dennis Delane.
The Reverend Mr. Lewis Devilme, of
Chrift-Church-College, Oxon.
Mr. Dickenfon.
The Reverend Mr. Dortel, Chaplain to his
Grace the Duke of Bedford.
Mr. Drake.
Henry Duncombe, Efq;
Thomas Ellyott, Efq;
The Reverend Mr. Ellyott.
Henry Egerton, Efq;
Sir William Fag, Bart.
William Farrar, Efq;
Mr. Farmer.
Mr. Fenn.
Mr.
Subfcribers NAMES.
Robert French, Efq;
The Reverend Mr. Francis Fraigneau, Greek
Profeffor in the University of Cambridge.
The Reverend Thomas Gardiner, D. D.
Rector of St. Olave's, Southwark.
John Glynn, Efq;
Mr. Charles Grignion.
John Grimſtone, Efq; of the Middle Temple.
The Right Honourable the Lord Harley.
The Rev. Mr. Thomas Harrifon, Hebrew
Profeſſor in the Univerfity of Cambridge.
William Harling, M. A. Fellow of Trinity-
College, Cambridge.
Mr. Francis Hayman.
Mr. William Havard.
The Reverend Stephen Hales, D. D. Minifter
of Teddington.
Harpur, Efq;
Mr. William Herbert.
Mr. Henderſon.
The Reverend Francis Hooper, D. D. Senior
Fellow of Trinity-College, Cambridge.
Sir Theodore Janfen, Bart.
John Jacob, Efq;
Mr. John Jefferies.
The Reverend James Johnfon, D. D. Chap
lain 10 His Majefty.
Mr. Jones.
The Honourable Frederic Keppel.
Mr. Kindlefide.
The
Subſcribers NAMes.
The Reverend Mr. Samuel Knight, Fellow of
Trinity-College, Cambridge.
The Reverend Mr. Kurpe.
Sir Digby Lediard, Bart.
John Leveſey, Efq;
The Reverend Mr. Lloyd, Under-Maſter of
Weſtminſter School.
Bell Lloyd, Efq;
2 Books.
Thomas Lloyd, Efq; of Chrift-Church
College, Oxon.
Richard Lloyd, Efq;
Lyon, Efq;
Mifs Maria Lintott.
The Reverend Mr. John Mandeville, of
Trinity-College, Cambridge.
Mr. Spenfer Madan, of Trinity-College,
Cambridge.
Bender Martyn, Efq;
The Reverend Mr. Robert Mather, Fellow
of Brazen-noſe College, Oxon.
Samuel Mead, M. D.
The Reverend Conyers Middleton, D. D.
Principal Library-Keeper of the Univer-
fity of Cambridge.
Duncan Miller, Efq;
Mr. Thomas Monkman.
The Reverend Mr. Roger Mortlack, Fellow
of Trinity-College, Cambrige.
Mr. John Nairn.
Mr. George Nail.
The
Subfcribers NAMES.
The Reverend Thomas Newton, D. D.
Rector of Bow.
The Reverend John Nicols, D. D. Head
Master of Weſtminſter-School, 2 Books.
The Right Honourable the Earl of Orrery,
10 Books.
Paul Panton, Efq;
Colonel Pattifon.
Mr. Charles Palmer, of Clare-Hall, Cam-
bridge.
Mr. John Peele.
The Reverend Mr. Peter Pinnell, Rector of
Bermondsey,
Southwark.
Sir John Philips, Bart.
Mr. Philips.
Ambrofe Philips, Efq;
Mr. Pindar.
George Pitt, Efq;
Mr. Pott,
The Reverend Mr. Powell.
Mr. Giles Powell.
Jofeph Pratt, Efq;
The Reverend Mr. Purt, Fellow of King's-
College, Cambridge.
The Right Honourable the Earl of Radnor.
John Reed, Efq; Fellow of King's-Col. Camb.
Mr. Reepe.
Richard Ripley, Efq;
Mr. George Rigge.
1
Mr.
Subfcribers NAMEs.
Mr. John Ruft, Fellow of Trinity-College,
Cambridge.
The Honourable Lord George Sackville.
Doctor Ifaac Schomberg.
Mr. Thomas Selwyn.
Mr. Fane William Sharpe, of Chrift-
Church-College, Oxon.
Mr. Shickell.
Mr. Samuel Scot.
John Skinner, Efq;
The Reverend Mr. Edward Smallwell, of
Chrift-Church-College, Oxon, 2 Books.
The Reverend Robert, Smith, D. D. Maſter
of Trinity-College, Cambridge.
Mr. Stanton.
John Stone, Efq; Barrister at Law, 4 Books.
Mr. Thomas Sturges.
The Reverend Mr. John Sturges.
John Stratton, Efq;
Mr. Sutton.
Owen Mac Swinney, Efq;
The Reverend Mr. Thomas, Rector of St.
Peter's Cornhill.
The Reverend Mr. Charles Thomas.
John Thornhill, Efq;
Peter Tibal, Efq; 2 Books.
The Reverend Mr. George Tilſon.
The Reverend Mr. Thomas Tooly, Rector
of Kilmarth in Northamptonfhire.
Mr.
Subſcribers NAMES.
Mr. John Torriano, of Trinity-College,
Cambridge.
The Reverend Charles Tunftal, D. D.
The Honourable Edward Walpole.
The Reverend Thomas Vernon, D. D. Senior
Fellow of Trinity-College, Cambridge.
The Reverend Mr. Walton,
The Reverend Walter Walker Ward, D. D.
Rector of Chedingſtone in Kent.
Alexander Walker, Efq;
Mr. James Walton.
Mrs. Warren.
William Webb, Efq;
William Wheatly, Efq; of the Middle-
Temple.
Mr. Weftall.
Jofeph Wight, Efq;
Thomas Williams, Efq;
The Reverend William Wilfon, D. D.
Rector of St. Stephen Walbrook.
The Reverend Mr. Wilfon.
Jofeph Wilcox, Efq;
Mr. Jofeph Williams.
William Wynne, Efq;
The Reverend Mr. Philip Yonge, Public
Orator of the Univerſity of Cambridge.
The Reverend Mr. Yonge, for Trinity-Col-
lege Library.
THE
(i)
THE
PREFACE.
T
HERE is no kind of wri-
ting, which can boaſt of
more admirers than the
epiftolary. The letters of the Greeks
and Romans, which have been pre-
ferved, are look'd upon by the learned
world as the moft precious remains
of antiquity. This may eaſily be ac-
counted for, when we confider that
the real characters of great men are
perhaps better known by fuch pri-
vate anecdotes as are uſually inter-
fperfed in theſe friendly correfpon-
dencies, than in the pompous ac-
counts of their public tranfactions,
which we learn from the hiſtorian.
B
We
11
The PREPA C E.
We take a pleaſure in ſeeing the
prince, the lawgiver, the orator, or
the poet, in the humbler ſphere of
domeftic life, and writing without
art or referve as a father, a brother,
or a friend. We are proud of be-
ing, as it were, admitted to a fe-
cret intimacy with fuch men; a
kind of pride, which may not im-
probably be attended with a mali-
cious fatisfaction in diſcovering their
weakneſſes and imperfections, and
finding them fometimes on a level
with ourſelves.
Some indeed, and particularly of
late years,have appear'd, which were
certainly wrote with a defign of
being made public.
public. Thofe of Bal-
zac, Voiture, Pope, and feveral o-
thers, are apparently wrote more to
the reader than the friend; which
muft doubtless deprive us of great
part of that pleafure we fhould o-
therwiſe take in them.
The
The PREFACE.
111
The following Epistles, afcribed
to Phalaris, were received as his
for above a thousand years, and
look'd upon by the antients as the
moft perfect things of their kind.
Suidas, Stobæus, Photius, Aretine,
and many other eminent writers,
give them the higheſt character,
and even thoſe few, who deny or
doubt the genuineness of them,
have not refufed them the com-
mendations, which they deſerve.
But before I enter into the me-
rits of the Epiftles, it may not be
improper to make the reader ac-
quainted (as far as the dark hiſtory
of thofe times will give us leave)
with the celebrated tyrant, whoſe
name they bear.
Phalaris was born at Aftypalea,
a city of Crete; where, though
deprived of his parents when young,
he had the good fortune to meet
with friends, who beſtow'd on him
a liberal education; by the affift-
B 2
ance
1
iv
The PREFA C É.
ance of which, together with the
advantage of uncommon parts and
application, he acquired great know-
ledge in the art of government.
But, being from his infancy bold
and afpiring, he engaged in an un-
fucceſsful attempt to feize the fu-
preme power, and was baniſh'd
out of Crete; from whence he re-
tired, leaving his wife and fon be-
hind him, to Agrigentum in Sicily;
where the people, whom he had
artfully perfuaded into an opinion
of his wiſdom and courage, being
at that time engaged in building
their temple, appointed him chief
furveyor of the works. He laid
hold of the opportunity, and hav-
ing gain'd the whole body of la-
bourers to his party, with no other
arms but their tools, he fo conduct-
ed his hazardous enterprize as to
terrify and fubdue the inhabitants,
and make himſelf mafter of the
city, in the fifty-ſecond Olympiad,
and
The PREFACE.
V
and reign'd there, according to
Eufebius, twenty-eight, or, accord-
ing to others, fixteen years. A
power fo acquired could not be
maintain❜d without fome bloodſhed,
and before he had fix'd himſelf in
the government, many confpiracies
muſt of courſe have been form'd
againſt him; all which he was fo
fortunate as to diſcover and fup-
prefs. Neceffity obliged him to
take ample revenge on fuch as were
concern'd in them; and to this
unavoidable cruelty, which in his
Epiftles he fo frequently endeavours
to palliate and excufe, we muſt a-
ſcribe the many odious names, with
which he is branded in hiſtory.
It has frequently been objected,
that hiftorians reprefent him as the
moft cruel and deteftable tyrant,
and allow him none of thoſe amia-
ble qualities, which thefe Epiftles
fo liberally beftow on him.
this is methinks a difficulty very
в 3
eafily
But
vi
The PREFACE.
eafily got over; for befides that a
perfectly bad man, without one
virtue to recommend him, is per-
haps as rarely to be met with, as
the perfect wife, or good, it is
fcarce probable that Phalaris would
fo long have held the power he
had ufurp'd without fome diftin-
guiſhable good qualities to extenu-
ate his faults, and conciliate the
affections of his people.
I fhall pass over the ftory of
Perilaus, as it is generally known,
and becauſe the principal circum-
tances of it are mention'd both in
the Phalaris of Lucian, and in ſe-
veral of thefe Epiftles.
Phalaris, by his courage and
conduct, fubdued feveral nations,
and according to Suidas made
himſelf mafter of all Sicily. That
he was a great friend and patron
of learning and learned men fuf-
ficiently appears from his behavi-
our to Stefichorus,
a celebrated
4
poet
The PREFACE.
vii
poet of Himera in Sicily, and
a man of the firft rank for wif-
dom and authority amongſt his
fellow-citizens. The Himereans,
contrary to his advice, chofe Pha-
laris for their guardian and pro-
tector; but quickly repenting of
their miſconduct, Stefichorus was
extremely active in promoting the
defign of a revolt.
revolt. Being inter-
cepted in his paffage to Corinth, he
was brought before Phalaris, where
he behaved with a firmneſs and
intrepidity, which ſtruck the tyrant
with fuch an efteem and admira-
tion of him as probably laid the
foundation of that
of that memorable
friendſhip between them ſo often
mention'd in the Epiftles.
In regard to the manner of Pha-
laris's death we have no account,
which can be relied on, as authors
are much divided about it; though
the moſt generally received opinion
is, that having maintain'd the ty-
ranny
B 4
་
Vill
The PREFACE.
ranny ſome
years, not without per-
petual factions, and the utmoſt dif-
quietude, the people at laſt roſe up,
and deſtroy'd him.
As Greece was in thoſe ages an
utter ftranger to tyranny and ar-
bitrary power, (for according to
Pliny he was the firft tyrant that
ever reign'd) it is no wonder that
the Agrigentines, even tho' Phalaris
had been a much milder maſter,
fhould endeavour to ſhake off the
yoke; or that they fhould, as
Plutarch informs us, immediate-
ly after his death fend forth ftrict
orders forbidding any man to wear
a blue garment; which it feems
was the colour worn by Phalaris's
guards; that fo not the leaft trace
or footſtep might remain of a form
of government, which they held in
the greateſt deteftation.
It will naturally be expected that
I fhould here fay fomething of the
celebrated difpute between the late
lord
The PREFACE.
ix
lord Orrery and doctor Bentley
concerning theſe Epiftles. It will,
I think, be fufficient to inform the
unlearned reader (which all befides
are already acquainted with) that in
the year 1695, the late lord Or-
rery, by the defire of doctor Al-
drich, then dean of Christ-Church,
put out a new and correct edition
of the Epiftles with a Latin tranfla-
tion. A reflection on doctor Bent-
ley in the preface occafion'd a ſmall
quarrel between them, which pro-
duced a book, publifh'd about two
years and a half after by the doc-
tor, call'd, A differtation on the E-
piftles of Phalaris. The differtation
was anfwer'd by mr. Boyle, and re-
plied to by doctor Bentley. The
controverfy was on both fides car-
ried on with great learning and
fpirit, and convinced the world that
no ſubject was fo inconfiderable,
but, if in the hands of able men,
might
K
The PREFACE.
might produce fomething worthy
of their attention.
I never heard my lord Orrery's
abilities as a ſcholar call'd in que-
ftion, and doctor Bentley was al-
ways look'd on as a man of wit
and parts, and yet I have been af
fured that, whilft the difpute was
in its height, the partizans of each
fide behaved with a partiality, u-
fual in fuch cafes. The friends of
Phalaris and mr. Boyle would not
allow their adverſary any wit, whilſt
the doctor's advocates on the o-
ther hand made it their bufi-
neſs to repreſent mr. Boyle as void
of learning; and attributed all the
merit of his book to the aſſiſtance
of fome men of diftinguifh'd merit
in the college and univerſity, of
which he was member, and fo far
did this malicious affertion prevail,
that doctor Swift alludes to it as a
fact in his battle of the books, where
he
The PREFACE.
xi
he fays, that Boyle had a fuit of
armour given him by all the gods.
Many indeed, who gave into this
fooliſh opinion, did at the fame
time allow, in juftice to the late
lord Orrery, that if the weapons
were put into his hand he had at
leaſt the ſkill to manage them to
the beſt advantage.
To recompenfe any uneafinefs,
which might ariſe from reports of
this kind, mr. Boyle had the fecret
fatisfaction of feeing his enemies,
whilft they endeavour'd to leffen
his reputation, pay him the higheſt
compliment, by attributing his
work to the Literati of Chriſt-
Church; who, if they had really
been concern'd in it any farther
than in cafual hints of converfation
on the fubject, would I believe long
before this time have clear'd their
titles to a ſhare in the reputation
acquired by it; which as they
have never yet done, I fee no rea-
fon
xii
The PREFACE.
1
fon why mr. Boyle fhould not be
look'd upon as the fole author of
that piece; or why, as the labour
and the merit of it was his own,
his claim to the deferved applauſe
it has met with fhould ever for the
future be call'd in queſtion.
It was indeed this celebrated con-
troverfy, which firft induced me
to read, and afterwards to tranflate
thefe Epiftles, that fuch as had not
feen it might by this means be ac-
quainted with the ſubject, and bet-
ter enabled to judge of its merit.
To the diſpute itſelf therefore I re-
fer the reader, and flatter myſelf
that however unentertaining the E-
piftles may prove, he will at leaſt
think himſelf obliged to me for
leading him to a book that will
make him fufficient amends.
I know there are ſtill many, who
have never read the controverſy;
and yet more, who are utter ftran-
gers to the fubject of it, who ne-
vertheleſs
The PREFACE.
xiii
vertheleſs pronounce them genuine
or fpurious, according to their dif-
ferent prejudices in regard to the
two illuftrious difputants. I muſt
beg fuch to confult the letters; tho'
I think the difpute, however deter-
mined, does not in the leaft affect
a tranflator of them. If the rea-
der finds the matter and bufinefs
of them more anfwerable to the
character given them by fir Wil-
liam Temple *, than that beftow'd
on
* The honourable fir William Temple's character of
the Epistles of Phalaris :
"It may perhaps be farther affirm'd, in favour of
"the antients, that the oldeſt books we have are ſtill
" in their kind the beft. The two moft antient that
"I know of in profe, among thoſe we call profane
"authors, are Efop's Fables and Phalaris's Epiftles:
"both living near the fame time, which was that of
Cyrus and Pythagoras. As the firft hath been
"agreed by all ages fince for the greateſt maſter in
his kind; and all others of that fort have been but
❝imitators of his original; fo I think the Epiftles
❝ of Phalaris to have more race, more fpirit, more
"force of wit and genius than any others I have ever
"feen, either antient or modern. I know feveral
"learned men (or that uſually paſs for fuch, under
"the name of critics) have not eſteem'd them ge-
"nuine, and that Politian and fome others have at-
❝tributed
Xiv The PREFACE.
on them by doctor Bentley †, he
will not I believe be extremely fo-
licitous about their author. It has
been affirm'd, that Virgil did not
write the Eneid, nor Tacitus the
Annals, which are aſcribed to him;
and
"tributed them to Lucian; but I think he must have
"little ſkill in painting that cannot find out this to be
"an original; fuch diverfity of paffions upon fuch va
"riety of actions and paffages of life and govern-
"ment, fuch freedom of thought, fuch boldneſs of
"expreffion, fuch bounty to his friends, fuch ſcorn
"of his enemies, fuch honour of learned men, ſuch
" eſteem of good, fuch knowledge of life, fuch con-
"tempt of death, with fuch fiercenefs of nature and
"cruelty of revenge, could never be reprefented but
"by him that poffefs'd them. And I efteem Lucian
"to have been no more capable of writing than of
acting what Phalaris did. In all one writ you find
"the fcholar or the fophift: in all the other the ty-
rant or the commander." Eſſay upon antient and
modern learning.
••
ris.
+ Dr. Bentley's character of the Epiftles of Phala-
"That fome of the oldest books are the best in their
"kinds, is no new obfervation; but the choice of
"Phalaris and Eſop, as they are now extant, for
"the two great inimitable originals, is a piece of cri-
"ticifm of a peculiar complexion, and muſt proceed
"from a fingularity of palate and judgment. The
"cenfures, that are made from ftile and language a-
"lone, are commonly nice and uncertain, and de-
"pend upon flender notices. So that if I had no
❝ other
The PREFACE.
XV
and there is ſcarce an author in all
antiquity, whofe works have not
been difputed by fome fagacious
critic, and declared ſpurious.
" other argument but the ftile to detect the ſpuri-
"oufnefs of Phalaris's Epiftles, I myfelf fhould be
"fatisfied with that alone, but I durft not hope to
"convince every. body elfe. To pafs by the argu-
"ments from words and language, to me the very
"matter and buſineſs of the letters fufficiently diſco-
"ver them to be an impofture. What force of wit
"and ſpirit in the ftile, what lively painting of hu-
"mourfome fancy they difcern there, I will not exa-
"mine nor difpute. But methinks little ſenſe and
«judgment is fhewn in the groundwork and ſubject
"of them. Take them in the whole bulk; if a
great perfon would give me leave, I ſhould ſay,
66 they are a fardle of common places, without any
66
life or fpirit from action or circumftance. Do but
"caſt your eye upon Cicero's letters, or any ſtateſ-
"man's, as Phalaris was; what lively characters of
"men there! what defcriptions of place! what no-
"tifications of time! what particularity of circum-
ftances! what multiplicity of defigns and events!
when you return to theſe again, you feel by the
"emptinefs and deadnefs of them, that you converfe
"with fome dreaming pedant with his elbow on the
"deſk; not with an active ambitious tyrant, with
his hand on his fword, commanding a million of
"fubjects. All that takes or effects you is a ftiffneſs,
and ftatelinefs, and operofenefs of ftile: but as that
"is improper and unbecoming in all epiftles, fo e-
"ſpecially it is quite aliene from the character of
"Phalaris, a man of buſineſs and diſpatch." Doctor
Bentley's Differtation upon Phalaris.
I
xvi
The PREFACE.
I have not enter'd into any of
the points of the controverſy, as it
would be a difagreeable as well as
an unneceffary taſk, but ſhall only
obferve, that tho' feveral very fpe-
cious arguments are brought by
doctor Bentley, the ſtrongeſt of
them do only affect particular E-
piftles; which, as
which, as mr. Boyle ob-
ferves, "do not hurt the whole
body;
for in a collection of
pieces that have no dependence
on each other, as epiftles, epi-
grams, fables, the firft num-
"ber may be encreaſed by the war-
"tonneſs and vanity of imitators
"in after-times, and yet the book
"be authentic in the main, and
"an original ftill."
<<
cr
Some have attributed theſe Epi-
fles to Lucian, and particularly
Angelus Politianus, Lilius Giral-
dus, and Bourdelotius, but for
what reafons I cannot conceive;
unleſs, as mr. Boyle obferved, on
account
The PREFACE.
xvii
account of the two following de-
clamations; which, as they contain
an artful defence of the fuppofed
author of the Epiftles, and are the
performance of a writer univerfally
admired, I have prefix'd to this
tranflation.
The firft is an oration of the
ambaffadors of Phalaris to the
prieſts of Delphos, to whom he is
fuppofed to have dedicated the fa-
mous Brazen Bull, after having ta-
ken out Perilaus alive, that fo no-
ble a prefent defign'd for the Gods
fhould not be contaminated by his
death; neither of which remarka-
ble circumſtances are mention'd in
the Epiftles; where the hiftory and
behaviour of Phalaris are reprefent-
ed in a manner very different from
that, which we meet with in Lucian,
who defcribes him as confeffing his
guilt, pleads for pardon with moſt
fubmiffion, and acts in a mean and
timorous manner, very inconfiftent
with
C
2
XVIH
The PREFACE.
with his received character, and
without that infolence, pride, and
fiercenefs, which fo ftrongly mark
the tyrant in the Epiftles.
The fecond, which is much fhort-
er, is a fpeech of one of the prieſts,
who endeavours to perfuade his bre-
thren to accept of the preſent, and
feems meant by Lucian as a kind of
fatirical invective againſt the avarice
and ſelfiſhneſs of thofe, who prefid-
ed over the bufinefs of the oracle.
Whatever was the defign of them
both I cannot determine; but it is
certain they are ſo diſtant from the
Epiftles in ftile, fentiment, and every
other circumſtance, that we cannot
eaſily believe them to be the work
of the fame author.
As thefe Epiftles have of late
years, and particularly during the
time of the celebrated controverſy,
made fo much noife in the world,
it is very extraordinary that we ſhould
never yet have had any tolerable
good
The PREFACE.
xix
good tranſlation of them into our
own tongue.
Mr. Budgel has given us a few
particular letters in his life of lord
Orrery; where he has taken the li-
berty of flinging out or inferting ſeve-
ral words or ſentences as he thought
proper; an indulgence, which a
tranflator of the whole fhould not,
I think, be allow'd.
it
There is a tranflation of them (if
may be call'd fuch) by mr. Whately
of Magdalen College, Oxford; who,
contrary to the cuſtom of tranflators,
feems to have had a very con-
temptible opinion of his author ;
and as he thought but meanly of
the original he has taken care not
to flatter him in his picture; for if
his defign, which was indeed a
very odd one, was to prejudice his
readers againſt the book, it has
fufficiently anſwer'd the purpoſe.
Befides this very poor reprefen-
tation of Phalaris, I met with ano-
ther
C 2
XX
The PREFACE.
ther printed in 1634, where the
author confeffes in his preface that
he had no fkill in Greek, but had
done it from the moſt approved
tranflations in three feveral lan-
guages.
↓
I cannot but in juſtice acknow-
ledge myſelf much indebted to the
accurate and eloquent Latin ver-
fion of the Epistles by the late
lord Orrery; which was of great
ſervice to me in explaining fome
very obfcure paffages. The whole
is fo juftly and at the fame time
fo cloſely render'd, that if I had
faithfully tranflated them from
mr. Boyle, I am fatisfy'd, had I
been as utter a ftranger to the
Greek tongue as the gentleman I
juſt now mention'd, unleſs I had
chofe like him to confefs my ig-
norance, very few would have been
able to diſcover it.
In regard to the merit of the
following work, I fhall only fay,
that
The PREFACE.
xxi
that it was at firſt done with plea-
fure for private amuſement, and
fince reviſed with care for publick
perufal. I have endeavour'd, as
much as poffible, to retain that
fpirit and fimplicity fo remarkable
in the original, and have neither
added to nor omitted any fenti-
ment of my author; but where
the ſenſe was obfcure, as I found
it in many places, have given that,
which feem'd moſt agreeable to
the ſubject, and of a piece with
what goes before it.
I have added a few Epiftles, ex-
tracted from the collection publifh'd
by Cujacius. Thofe of Euripides,con-
trary to the opinion of the learned
profeffor Barnes, who afferts them
to be genuine, have been look'd
upon by fome as fpurious, and
particularly by dr. Bentley, who
has attack'd them in a fhort piece
added to his Differtation on Pha-
laris. What I have given the rea-
der
3
xxii
The PREFACE.
der from Æſchines and Demofthenes
have, I believe, never yet been con-
troverted, but have had the good
fortune to be efteem'd highly wor-
thy a place among the works of
thofe illuftrious orators.
The Epiftles of Hippocrates are
wrote with the greateſt elegance
and perfpicuity. There runs through
them a vein of morality and a lau-
dable contempt of riches, which
highly recommend the character of
that great phyſician, and do ho-
nour to his noble profeffion. The
laft, which is perhaps the beſt of
this ſmall collection, is a fevere fa-
tire on the vices and follies of men,
and fill'd with the moft judicious
reflections on human life, and man-
ners.
It will eafily be perceived, that
thefe Letters were not written in the
order, in which they now ftand;
an error in the compilers,
at firſt intended to rectify,
which I
but af-
terwards
The PREFACE. xxiii
terwards changed my defign, on
recollecting, that as in this cafe the
number at the head of each muſt
be alter'd, the learned reader could
not on any occafion fo readily turn
to the original.
If this ſhort ſpecimen of the epi-
ftolary writings of the antients
meets with a favourable reception,
I fhall probably be induced to fe-
lect and tranflate fome more for
the entertainment of the English
reader.
THE
ΤΗΕ
ORATION
Of the AMBASSADORS of
PHALARIS,
To the
Prieſts of DELPHOS.
Tranflated from LUCIA N.
Pent
HALARIS, our fovereign, hath
fent us to you, O Delphians, to pre-
fent this Bull to Apollo, and at the
fame time to acquaint you with fome ne-
ceffary truths, both in regard to himſelf and
the gift he offers. This is the bufineſs, which
brought us hither; and this the meffage,
which we here deliver to you, in obedience to
his commands. That all Greece, faith
Phalaris, fhould know me to be what I am,.
and not fuch a one as the lying report of the
envious hath reprefented me to the ignorant
world, is an honour I would gladly pur-
chafe at the expence of every thing I am
poffefs'd of; and above all, that I might thus
appear to the facred counsellors of Apollo;
B
thofe
LUCIA N's
thofe, who are as it were the friends and
companions of the deity; for I am con-
vinced, if I can clear myſelf in your opinion
from the imputation of cruelty fo falfely laid
to my charge, I fhall ftand acquitted before
all mankind. To the truth of what I
affert I call God to witnefs, whom no
falfhood can impofe on, or man deceive.
Mortals may be deluded; but from God, and
above all from our God, no fecret can lye hid.
SPRUNG from one of the nobleft families in
Agrigentum, liberally educated, and verfed
in all the politer arts of Greece, I foon be-
came popular in the city, and in the admi-
ftration of publick affairs behaved with the
utmoſt equity and moderation towards my
partners in the government; nor in the
carly part of my life was I ever accuſed of
cruelty, or oppreffion; of a reproachful, or
obftinate difpofition. But when I perceived
that thoſe, who differ'd from me in their ſen-
timents of publick affairs, were plotting a-
gainst and endeavouring by all the means in
their power to deſtroy me, and in confequence
of this a diffention arofe amongſt the citizens,
I found that the only method of providing
for
PHALARIS.
3
for the fecurity both of myſelf and the com-
monwealth, was to put a stop to the confpi-
racy by force, and reduce the whole body
to fubmiffion. A defign, which many of
'the moſt eminent citizens, who had the good
of the republick at heart, approved, when
they were convinced of the neceffity of ſuch
a refolution. With theſe to affift me, I could
not fail of fuccefs. They raiſed no more
diſturbance, and I poffefs'd myſelf of the ſu-
preme power. All complaints were imme-
diately filenced; but no banishments, flaugh-
ters, or profcriptions were ever excercifed even
on the confpirators, though fuch neceffary
exertions of authority are generally made
uſe of in the firſt eſtabliſhment of a tyranny.
But I had reaſon to hope that by acts of
mercy and generofity, and an equal diſtri-
bution of rewards, I fhould with more than
ordinary facility bring them to obedience;
and therefore, mutual pledges being given on
each fide, I laid by all animofities with my
enemies, and even made ufe of moft of them
as my friends and counsellors.
By the negligence of the magiftrates, the
eity was almoſt ruin'd; the publick treaſury
B 2
openly
4
LUCIA N's
openly plunder'd. I adorn'd it with magnifi-
cent buildings, fecured it with walls, repair'd
the aqueducts, and encreaſed thoſe revenues,
which ſtill remain'd to the ftate. The young
men I took under my infpection, fupply'd
the neceffities of the old, and attach'd the
people to my interefts by publick fhews,
feafts, and largeffes. The corruption of
our youth, the deflowering of virgins, the
carrying away other men's wives, the
fending foldiers into private houſes, the in-
folence of imperious mafters, and the like, I
ever look'd upon with the utmoſt abhor-
rence. At length I refolved with myſelf to lay
down the tyranny, and employ'd my thoughts
wholly on the propereft method of procuring
eaſe and retirement during the rest of my life;
for to hold the fupreme power, and take the
whole burthen of affairs on myſelf, was, I
found by experience, a cruel taſk, which
could only ſubject me to envy, labour, and
anxiety. I even endeavour'd to eſtabliſh a
commonwealth, and to free the city, for the
future, from that arbitrary power, which I
had myſelf poffefs'd. Whilft I was delibe-
rating on this, thofe very men, whom I had
before pardon'd, enter'd into a new confpiracy
againſt
1
PHALARIS.
5
againſt me; confulted privately about the ex-
ecution of it; raiſed arms and money; begg'd
the affiftance of the neighbouring ſtates;
and even fent embaffies into Greece to the
Athenians and Lacedæmonians, proclaiming
openly at the fame time thofe tortures,
which they had reſerved for me, in caſe I
fell into their hands, and that they would
compel me to be my own executioner; but
I efcaped their rage, and defeated their de-
figns; thanks to the gracious Gods, and
above all to Apollo, who forewarn'd me by
dreams, and inform'd me fecretly of all that
pafs'd. Had you yourfelves, O Delphians,
been in the fame fituation, and under the
fame dreadful apprehenfions, I doubt not but
you would have acted in the fame manner.
Tranſport yourſelves in thought, I befeech
you, with me to Agrigentum; view their pre-
parations, hear their menaces, and tell me
what I ought to have done. Should I again
pardon, and tamely bear every thing they
would inflict on me, yield myſelf up to flavery,
and fee all I held dear in the world perifhing
before my face? or, on the other hand,
eſteeming this the part of a fool, and that
it better became a manly mind to reſent the
injury,
B 3
ó
LUCIA N's
injury, fhould I not fecure my future fafety
by revenging myſelf on my enemies? This
doubtless is the advice, you would have given
me;
and how did I behave? I fummon'd the
criminals before me, produced the articles
laid to their charge, and on the fulleft exa-
mination, when they were not able to deny
their guilt, I puniſh'd them deſervedly; not
ſo much on account of their confpiracy a-
gainſt my life, as becauſe they had, by that
means, put it out of my power ever to cxe-
cute the defign I had propofed.
FROM that time I have been always obliged
to furround myself with guards, and to puniſh
with the utmoſt rigour every attempt againſt
me; and therefore am I ftiled cruel by
fuch as do not confider the neceflity of
this behaviour; fuch as exclaim againſt
the puniſhment of the offenders with-
out reflecting on their crimes; which
is juſt as equitable, as if a perfon, who
ſhould ſee a facrilegious wretch thrown
from the Rock by your orders, fhould
accuſe you of cruelty for thus puniſhing a
Gracian, in a place fo near the Temple;
never at the fame time remembring
his
PHALARIS.
7
his guilt, or calling to mind that he had
perhaps enter'd the Temple by night, ſtoll'n
your offerings, or even laid impious hands on
the ftatue of your God. Were a man, I ſay,
thus ridiculouſly to afperfe you, you would
yourſelves fmile at the accufation, and all men
applaud your juftice. In reality, the populace,
who never weigh the merit of him, who go-
verns, hate the name of a tyrant ; and, juft or
unjuſt, they are at all events refolved to deſtroy
him, even tho' he were an Eacus, a Minos,
or a Rhadamanth. The evil actions of the
bad are ever before their eyes, nor are the good
(as the appellation of tyrant is common to
them both) leſs ſubject to their hatred and
ill treatment. I have heard of
I have heard of many wife
and virtuous men, who tho' they bare the
name of tyrants, even in the worſt fenfe,
in which it is moft generally received,
have behaved with the greateſt mildneſs and
humanity; fome of whoſe moral and fenten-
tious maxims are now repofited in your
Temple.
LAWGIVERS have ever look'd on puniſh-
ments as abfolutely neceffary in a ftate; be-
ing perfuaded that, without the fear of them,
affair s
B 4
8
LUCIA N's
affairs could not poffibly be carried on; and
I am fatisfied, to tyrants they are ſtill more
ufeful, as we rule by force alone, and are
perpetually obnoxious to fuch as hate and
Confpire againſt us; fo that terrors of a lighter
kind are of no effect. It is the fable of the
Hydra; the more we puniſh, the more occa-
fions of puniſhment preſent themſelves; one
head is no fooner cut off but another fprings
up to fupply its place; and we are forced,
like Iolaus to burn, if we expect to conquer.
He, whofe hard fate it is to be engaged in
fuch an undertaking, muſt be equal to it, or
by ſparing others deſtroy himſelf. After all,
what man can you fuppofe of fo cruel and
inhuman a difpofition as to hear the groans
and ſee the ſtripes of another, unleſs he had
the greateſt cauſe to inflict them on him?
How often have I wept, when others were
beaten? How often have I lamented my
own ill fortune, who bare thus myſelf the
heavier affliction? for furely, to a man by
nature good, and only cruel thro' neceffity,
it is much harder to inflict than to fuffer
puniſhment; and I declare, were it my
choice either unjustly to torment others, or
to dye myſelf, I would (which you, I truſt,
believe
PHALARIS.
9
believe alfo) prefer the latter; and fhould
any one even fay, wouldst thou, O Phalaris,
rather dye thyfelf unjustly than put another
to death, I ſhould anſwer, I would. Again
therefore I aſk you, O Delphians, whether it
is better to dye unjuſtly, or unjustly to preferve
a traitor? None, I believe, is fo mad as not
rather to live than, by faving his enemy, to
fall himſelf a facrifice to him; and yet
how many have I pardon'd, even of thofe,
who fought my life; amongft whom were
Acanthus, Timocrates, and his brother
Leogoras, the laft of whom I fpared, from
a tender regard to that friendship, in which
we had formerly lived!
BUT if you would know the true character
of Phalaris, afk it of thofe foreigners, who
came to Agrigentum; aſk them, whether I
have not behaved as I ought to all, who ever
touch'd here on their travels; whether I
have not always appointed proper perſons to
attend on the coafts, and enquire of ſtran-
gers who they were and whence they came,
that I might treat them all according to their
reſpective merit. Many great and eminent
men have even come on purpoſe to fee and
converfe
}
TO
LUCIA N's
converfe with me; who on their return have
done juftice to my character, which had been
fo bafely miſrepreſented to them; and can
you believe a man, whofe behaviour to ftran-
gers was fo humane and generous, could ever
injure his fellow-citizens, unless provoked
to it by their moft flagrant and repeated in-
fults?
THIS is the fum of what I have to urge in
my own defence; which is but truth and
juſtice, and will therefore, I perfuade myſelf,
rather merit your approbation than incur
your diſpleaſure. In regard to the preſent,
(which it is now time I fhould fay fome-
thing of) it may be proper to inform you
whence it came, and by what means I
was poffefs'd of it: And firft, I never my-
felf employ'd any artiſt to make it by my
directions, as I could never be foolish e-
nough to wish for any thing of this kind.
But one Perilaus, the moſt ingenious arti-
ficer as well as the worft of men, and a ftran-
ger to the difpofition of Phalaris, thought
he could not confer a more acceptable favour
on me than by the invention of fome new
method of puniſhment; being thoroughly
fatisfied
PHALARIS:
11
fatisfied of my defire of revenge on my
enemies by all the means I could devife.
Full of this opinion he framed and brought
me this Bull; a piece of art, moſt beautiful to
behold, and form'd fo exactly in the reſem-
blance of a real one, that nothing but found
and motion were wanting to make it thought
fo. The moment I faw it, I cry'd out,
behold a gift, truly worthy of Apollo. I will
inſtantly ſend it to him; and how much, faid
Perilaus, would your amazement increaſe,
did you fee the wonderful art, by which it is
contrived, and for what ufe; and immediately
opening the back, if, fays he, you would
puniſh any one in an extraordinary manner,
caft him into this Bull; and when he is fhut
up cloſe within it, order fome pipes to be
faſten'd to the noftrils, and a fire to be
kindled beneath; the wretch within will
then roar out thro' inceffant pain, fending
forth a mournful dirge of lamentable bellow-
ings thro' the pipes; and, during his tortures,
you will be entertain'd by the mufick of them.
Shock'd at the invention of ſuch a machine,
I could not but deteft the contriver of it;
and refolved to puniſh him as he deſerved.
Perilaus, faid I, to verify the truth of what
you
12
LUCIA N's
mony
fo
you have afferted, enter firft yourſelf, and fa
tisfy us whether there be in reality that har-
in the inftrument, which you have ſo
much boaſted of; receive the juſt reward
of thy ingenuity, and let the maſter of the
mufick give us the firft fong. He obey'd;
and being ſhut up, the fire was kindled, and
thus was his induftry repay'd. But left by
dying there he fhould pollute fo noble a
work, I order'd him to be taken out yet
alive, thrown down from the Rock, and his
body left unburied. The Bull, after expia-
tion, I fent hither, as an offering to your God;
commanding the whole hiſtory to be wrought
upon it; viz. my own name, that of the
artiſt, his advice, my juftice, and the
prc-
per puniſhment inflicted on him; with an
account of the horrid cries of the cruel in-
ventor, and the experiment he made of his
own mufick.
You will act therefore, O Delphians,
as becomes the prieſts of Apollo, if you
will dedicate the Bull to him in your
Temple, and facrifice for me; that all
men may know how I act towards the
wicked, and in what manner I avenge
myſelf of their cruelty. By this have I
fufficiently
1
PHALARIS.
13
fufficiently fhewn my natural temper: Peri-
laus was put to death, and the Bull offer'd to
Apollo; not referved to torture others; nor did
it ever bellow forth the cries of any but the
deteftable inventor of it, on whom alone I
tried it, and put an end at once to fuch bar-
barous and inhuman Mufick. This is all,
which I can now prefent to you. Hereafter,
when by the affiftance of that God, to whom
this is dedicated, I fhall have no more ene-
mies to puniſh, I will bring other and much
larger gifts.
THIS, O Delphians, we were authoriſed
to deliver to you, from our maſter Phalaris
which we have done with the ftrictest
regard to truth and juftice.
We are
worthy to be believed, as you can yourſelves
bear witneſs of our veracity; and we have,
on our parts, no reaſon to delude or impoſe
on you; but if notwithſtanding we muſt
petition you in behalf of a man, falſely ac-
cuſed, and driven againſt his will to acts of
feeming cruelty, we Græcians, men of
Arigentum, and defcended from the Dorians,
do in the moſt folemn manner here fuppli-
cate and befeech
you, that you would kindly
embrace
14
LUCIA N's
embrace one, who earneſtly ſeeks your
favour, and hath ftudy'd both in publick
and in private to deferve it. Receive there-
fore this Bull; dedicate it; pray for the
proſperity of Phalaris and Agrigentum; and
do not permit us to return unſucceſsful in our
embaffy, left you at the fame time affront
our fovereign, and deprive your God of the
nobleft offering.
}
THE
PHALARIS.
IS
1
THE
ORATION
Of one of the
Prieſts of DELPHOS,
In favour of
PHALARIS.
A
Tranflated from LUCIAN.
S I never, in a publick capacity, received
any obligations from the people of
Agrigentum, or, in a private one, from Phalaris
himſelf; it cannot be fuppofed that my intereft
biafs'd me in their behalf, or the hopes of
his future friendship prejudiced me in his
favour. But having heard the ambaffadors,
who, in the name of the ir fovereign, afk
that of you, which I cannot but think entirely
juſt and reaſonable, from a fincere regard
therefore to piety and the publick good,
and above all to what became the prieſts of
Delphos,
16
LUCIA N's
Delphos, I rofe up with a defign to exhort
you, in the ſtrongeſt manner I am able, by
no means to contemn the picty of the prince,
or to alienate a gift defign'd as an offering to
Apollo; and eſpecially as it will be an ever-
lafting teftimony of these three things, the
wickedness of the inventor, the incompa-
rable excellency of his art, and the juftice
of his puniſhment. Your doubts concerning
the manner, in which you ſhould proceed,
and the propoſal, made by the magiſtrates, to
deliberate whether the offering fhould be re-
ceived or ſent back, I look upon as impious;
or rather in truth as the heigth of impiety;
little leſs in effect than facrilege itſelf, the
moſt heinous of all crimes; for to deny thofe,
who are willing to offer up gifts, the power
of doing it, is the fame thing as to rob the
Temple of fuch as are already offer'd.
LET me therefore, who, as I am myſelf a
Delphian, have an equal fhare with you in
the publick honour, if preſerved; and equal
lofs and infamy, if it be forfeited; befeech
you not thus to drive the good and pious from
our doors, and lay open our city to the ca-
lumnies of ill men, who will not fail to re-
port, that whatever gifts are brought muſt
be
PHALAR IS.
17
$
be fubjected to our judgment and inſpection;
and who will offer prefents, when they are
affured that nothing will be accepted by
Apollo, unless it be firft examined into and
approved of by the Delphians?
;
BUT, in regard to the gift before us, our
God hath, I think, himself fufficiently teftified
his approbation of it; for had he detefted
the tyrant, and abhorr'd his prefent, how
eafy had it been for him to have funk it in
the Ionian Sea! But he, on the other hand
(as they do themſelves bear witneſs) granted
them a ferene fky, and conducted them fafe
to Cyrrha; whence it evidently appears, that
the piety of Phalaris was acceptable to him
in obedience to whom, you ſhould now re-
ceive and add this to the other ornaments of
his Temple; and furely it were moſt abſurd
that he, who had ſent ſo noble a gift, ſhould
be driven away with contempt, and have no
other reward of his piety than to be judged
unworthy to offer any thing to Apollo. But
my adverſary hath, it feems, talk'd to you in
a tragical and melancholy ftrain of certain
cruel rapines, and inhuman flaughters,
the tyrant hath been guilty of, which he
affirms with as much confidence as if he
C
had
18
LUCIA N's
}
1
had been an eye-witnefs of them, and were
this inftant arrived from Agrigentum, tho' we
all know he was never yet beyond our own
harbour; but even thoſe, who pretend to have
fuffer'd, would not be fufficient evidence, as
it would ftill be doubtful whether they told
truth; and we are not to condemn any man
for crimes, of which we cannot prove him guil-
ty. But fuppofing that theſe things were
done in Sicily, it is by no means neceffary
for the Delphians to be fo folicitous about
them; unleſs we intend, for the future, to
act in the character not of priests, but of
judges; and whilft our duty confifts only in
worſhip and facrifice to our God, and offering
up to him thofe gifts, which are fent to us,
rather chufe to fit deliberating among ourſelves
whether thoſe, who live beyond the Ionian
Sea, are well or ill govern'd. Let the affairs
of others, I beseech you, go on as they will,
it is, in my opinion, our buſineſs to mind our
own; to know our former and our prefent
condition, and in what manner to act moſt
agreeable to our intereſt. We need not a
Homer to tell us that we live amongſt rocks
and precipices; and as much plenty as there
is in the world, we ſhould be perhaps left of
all
PHALARIS.
· 19
*
people the moſt deftitute, were it not that
our Temple, our God, and thoſe pious men,
who facrifice to him, fupply our neceffities.
Theſe are our fields; this is our revenue; to
this we are indebted for all our provifion and
all our abundance; as the poet fays, every
thing comes to us without ploughing, and
without culture, by the labour of God, who
is our huſbandman; who not only bleſſes us
as much as any other nation, but even beſtows
on us every thing, which Phrygia, Lydia,
Affyria, or Phenicia, the people of Italy, or
the inhabitants of the northern climates en-
joy. We abound in riches and in happineſs,
and are revered by all, next to our God
this has been our glorious lot even to this day,
and may it ever remain fo. No one, I be-
lieve, can call to mind a time when any man
was by us prohibited the offering up facri-
fices or gifts; to which it is doubtless, owing
that the wealth of our Temple hath ſo won-
;
* See Homer's Odys. B. 9. in his deſcription of the fortunate
iſlands. There is also the following fimilar paffage in the 34th
chapter of the book of Joshua. v. 13.
I have given you a land for which ye did not labour, and
rities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the Vine-
yards and Olive-Trees, which ye planted not, do ge eat.
C 2
derfully
20
LUCIA N's
Neither at prefent
derfully encreaſed.
therefore ſhould any innovation be made, or
any law enacted, contrary to the cuſtom of
our anceſtors; nor are the gifts offer'd to be
fo nicely examined, or enquiry made whence
and from whom they come, but immedi-
ately received and confecrated; that fo we
may pay our duty to our God, and his pious
worshippers. In the prefent circumſtances
therefore, O Delphians, you will, I think,
act most prudently, by giving a ferious atten-
tion to the great importance of this buſineſs.
No leſs than our God himſelf, his Temple,
and his facrifices, our antient rites and cuftoms,
the glory of the oracle, our future praife or
infamy, and laftly the intereft of the whole
city and of every individual in it, are now
under confideration; which you cannot but
own, on reflection, to be of the utmoſt confe-
quence. Our debate is not upon the tyrant
Phalaris only, or this Bull; but upon all thoſe
kings and great men, who reverence this
facred Temple; all the gold, filver, and
other precious things, which fhall at any time
hereafter be dedicated. If we are to deter-
mine according to the will of Apollo, why,
fhould we not act in the fame manner we
have
PHALARIS.
21
have always done; without fetting afide our
antient conſtitutions, through a fondneſs for
novelty; and a defire of introducing a ridicu-
lous practice of fubjecting thoſe, who offer
up gifts, to our fcrutiny and infpection; a
practice utterly unknown to this city
fince the foundation of it, fince the Py-
thian first gave oracles, the Tripos fpoke,
or the prieſts were infpired? You perceive
how our Temple is enrich'd; that every
one gives fomething, and many even beyond
what they can afford; whereas if you ſet up
yourſelves as cenfurers and enquirers into the
merit of every gift, I much fear our pofteri-
ty will not have many offerings to boaſt of;
as no one would make himſelf appear guilty,
or put himſelf to a confiderable expence,
with the hazard of being condemn'd, and
brought into the greatest danger; for who in-
deed could bear even life itſelf under the
ignominy of being publickly adjudged un-
worthy to offer up a prefent to Apollo ?
THE
C 3
THE
EPISTLES
OF
PHALARIS.
PHALARIS to ALCIBOU S.
Po
I.
OLYCLETUS*, the Meffenian,
whom thou falfely didft accuſe of trea-
fon to the citizens, has lately recover'd met
from a moſt dangerous illneſs; a piece of
news, which I am fatisfied will give thee no
fmall vexation. Thee, I am certain, not
Efculapius himſelf, that great maſter of his
art, with all the Gods to affift him, could ever
Diſeaſes of the body, art may remove;
but for thoſe of the mind, death is the only
remedy. Him therefore, for thy flagrant and
repeated crimes and cruelties, not fuch as
thou obligeft me unwillingly to execute on
thee, but wilfully and maliciously committe,
thou mayft expect.
cure.
* See Epis. 70.
C 4
7
}
24
The EPISTLES of
To the MEGARIAN S.
II.
Iſhall not reproach you with ingratitude for
your behaviour, in the controverfy concerning
the limits of fome neighbouring cities, when,
after all my good offices to you, you gave
falfe evidence against me; I only condemn
my own indolence and infenfibility; whom
repeated injuries from the fame people have
yet made no wifer; for whilft
you refuſe me
the leaſt grateful acknowledgment for favours
received, I am ſtill beftowing more, as if you
had never forgot them.
To TYR SEN US,
III.
If, as you declared to the Ægeftines, (when
you attributed all my misfortunes to the juſt
judgment of providence, which inflicted them)
thofe, whom even neceffity compels to the
commiffion of any illegal act, cannot expect
pardon; what hopes of efcaping with im-
punity canft thou flatter thyfelf with; not
one of whofe crimes is owing to neceffity,
but all to the depravity of thy will?
To
1
PHALARIS.
25
To LYCIN US.
IV.
WHAT a fool wert thou to demand of the
Leontines, as if I had been there prefent, and
ready to anſwer thee, who and what I was,
and whence I came. Know then that I am
Phalaris, fon of Leodamas, a native of Afty-
palaa; driven out of my own country, and
now tyrant of Agrigentum; a man, who
after a long experience of the ills of life, te-
maineth yet
firm and unfhaken. I will tell
thefe alfo what Lycinus is; a pathick amongſt
boys; with the young men lafcivious, with
women an adulterer; a contemner of the
Laws; diffolute in his pleafures; a fluggard in
peace, and in war a coward; one, whom I
will be revenged on in an exemplary manner,
both for thy fpeeches to the people and other
crimes, which I can accufe thee of; then at
kaft, (if thou doft not fall into my hands be-
fore) when the Leontines, who will foor be
glad on any conditions to free themſelves
from this war, fhall deliver thee.
up to me.
To the LE ON TINE S.
V.
IF you are defirous that Ifhould put an end
to the war against you, without dread or
fufpicion,
26
The EPISTLES of
fufpicion, immediately deliver up Lycinus
to me, that I may wreak all my venge-
ance on him alone, and your city eſcape
the effects of my anger. Be affured, I
ſhall not ſtretch his puniſhment beyond what
you yourſelves would be glad to fee inflicted
on him.
To Z EUX IP P U S.
VI.
I pardon thy fon, on account of his youth;
thyfelf on that of thy age; though your
crimes are fuch as do by no means deferve
this lenity; but if you again offend by the
like infolence, neither his youth nor thy age
ſhall protect you; but, on the contrary, thoſe
things, which now plead in your favour, will
then aggravate your crime, and inhance your
puniſhment.
To Ev E.NUS.
VII.
THY fon, whom I took priſoner, and at
firft did intend to put to death for his behavi-
our to my admirals, having changed my re-
folution, I have fpared; for I would ra-
ther afflict thee with the continuance of
his life, than puniſh him by the loſs of it.
Farewel.
To
PHALARIS.
27
To SA ME A S.
VIII.
BECAUSE I am no ftranger to thy bene-
volent difpofition, and fingular humanity,
and know that thy mifery and torment ever
rifes in proportion to the happineſs and good
fuccefs of others; briefly, I have wrote this
to inform thee, that I have lately fucceeded;
firſt, by a ſentence paſs'd in favour of me;
next, that I have been victorious both by ſea
and land; and laftly, with my cavalry routed
the enemy; that when thou shalt hear this,
as becomes a man of thy honour and probity,
thou mayſt have perpetual cauſe of diſquie-
tude; that fo, from thy own natural temper,
thou mayft reap the worthy rewards of fo
bad a heart.
To CLEOSTRATU S.
IX.
Ir moveth my laughter as well as admi-
ration, to hear that thou haft taken upon thee
the office of reproof. Thofe, who cenfure o-
thers, doubtlefs fhould themfelves be without
blemiſh. Whilft thou, who art guilty, not
only of thofe crimes, which thou dost object
to others, but of every human vice; yet doft
with
28
The EPISTLES of
with as much confidence reprove them, as
if thy own life were wholly irreproachable.
To LACRITUS.
X.
YOUR extreme forrow for the lofs of your
fon is very pardonable; at which I my-
felf am deeply touch'd, even, as if the misfor-
tune was my own; tho' I generally behave
in things of this nature with greater firmnefs
of mind than most men; being fatis fied that
exceffive grief can avail nothing; but, in re-
gard to him, there are many things, which
may afford you conſolation.
confolation. First, becauſe
he fell nobly, fighting for his country;
that his fall was graced by victory; and
laftly, that having pafs'd through life un-
blemiſh'd, death did as it were fet a feal upon
his character. The beft men, while they
live, may fall off from virtue; and fortune,
more than prudence, prefides over human
actions; he therefore, who dies with an un-
fpotted reputation, has the nobleft poſts in
the lifts of glory. You must reflect on him
therefore as a fon, who has bleft you with
the nobleft return for his birth and education,
by a ſteady perſeverance in the practice of
virtue,
PHALARIS.
29
virtue, and repay his gratitude by bearing his
death with moderation and temper.
To MEGA CLES.
XI.
I have fent you the horſes with their pro-
per furniture and preparation for battle, and
have alfo given orders to Teucer to fupply you
with money: If you want any thing elſe,
fail not to write; there is nothing you can
afk, which I ſhall not readily beſtow.
* To A GLAUS.
XII.
THE Riches, which providence has be-
ftow'd on me, I have laid by againſt a change
of fortune; not in the bofom of the earth,
as you adviſed me, but amongst thoſe friends,
who were fo kind as to accept them. You
have not yet ſhewn your regard to me in fuch
a manner as might induce me to depend on
you, in cafe I fhould ever be deprived of
empire; tho' you have hitherto deny'd, I
hope you will not now refufe my offers; but
by receiving this preſent, give me a pledge of
* This letter was fent with a prefent.
your
30
The EPISTLES of
your future friendſhip; for I fhall never here-
after put confidence in any of the things of
this world, if I fſhall be forced to ſuſpect you
and others, my best friends, like the fand, be-
traying and finking under me; you, whoſe
happiness and good fuccefs I would gladly,
(if I ſhould hereafter experience any change
of fortune) look upon as my own.
To HERO DICUS.
XIII.
Most men, I believe, would think it pru-
dent to conceal an intention of revenge from
thofe, who had injured them; that fo they
might have an opportunity of executing it,
when leaft fufpected. For my own part, I
think, to attack any man on a fudden and un-
prepared, an argument of a low and mean
fpirit. Injured therefore as I have been by
thee, I give thee this publick warning; that
thou mayſt eſcape, if poffible, the impend-
ing danger; and this I do, that the dread of
puniſhment, and the puniſhment itſelf, may
equally torment thee.
To EUME L U S.
XIV.
SINCE it neither really is, nor can ever
appear to be, unjuſt, to revenge ourſelves on
thofe,
PHALARI S.
31
thofe, who have injured us; as you have been
guilty of the one, expect the other.
To TEUCER.
XV.
RESTORE the money to the Tauromenians,
which I received for the ranfom of the pri-
foners; a favour they owe, not fo much to
me as to the interceffion of Stefichorus, who
lives but to oblige them; tho' the benefits he
beſtows are thrown away on the undeferving.
TO A RIP HET AS.
XVI.
Your actions deſerve a larger and a nobler
reward than what I here beſtow on them.
As to my own, enquire not into them; the
you can do is to paſs them over in filence.
beſt
To AMP HINO MU S.
XVII.
WHEN I confer a benefit on a good man,
I confider myself as the perfon obliged;
fince then you have kindly accepted
what I fent you, I beg you would look
upon
me, not as one, who has beſtow'd any favour
on you, but who is himſelf, on that account
only, the more indebted to you.
To
32
The EPISTLES of
1
To his wife ER Y T H I A.
XVIII.
I am much indebted to thee, Erythia, as
well on my own account as on that of our
common care, my fon; for myſelf, that fince
my baniſhment thou didst rather chuſe to re-
main a widow than to marry again, though
folicited to it by frequent importunities; and
for my fon, that thou haft been to him not
only a mother, but a nurſe, and a father;
and haft not ſuffer'd any other husband, or
any other fon, to eftrange thy affections from
Phalaris and Paurolas; but, inſtead of ano
ther husband, cheriſheft the kind remem-
brance of thy former one; and, inſtead of ano-
ther child, haft fix'd thy affections on the ſon,
which he had left thee. Continue therefore
thy tenderneſs towards him, till riper years
have ſupplied him with knowlege fufficient
to enable him to act without farther affiftance
from either of us. Think not I prefs this to
thee with fo much warmth, as if I diſtruſted
the care of a mother for her fon, eſpecially
fuch a one as you; but I fpeak as a tender
father, anxious for the good of an only child.
You know too well what parents feel not to
pardon me for writing to you in this man-
ner. Farewel.
To
PHALARIS.
33
To his fon PA UROLAS.
XIX.
ABOVE all things, O my fon, it is thy duty
to love and reverence thy parents. Nothing
can be more juſt and reaſonable than that a
ſon ſhould piouſly remember thoſe, to whom
he owes his birth, his education, and fo many
other inestimable benefits; but, of the two,
rather neglect me than thy mother. A father
does by no means take that pains in the educa-
tion of children, which the mother does; who
not only bears the infant in her womb, brings
it into the world and nouriſhes it, but under-
goes, befides thefe, a thouſand troubles on ac-
count of it; whilft the father, without any
great pains or folicitude, receives him from
her hands, well educated and inftructed; and,
when he is arrived at years of maturity, enjoys
him in common with her. But, of all her fex,
thy mother's care and tenderneſs has been
moſt remarkable; who, during my baniſh-
inent, hath ſo kindly perform'd a double of
fice; both her own and mine. Let the
gratitude therefore, due from thee to both, be
paid to her alone, who bare all the burthen
ſo ſhall your obedience to your mother cancel
your obligation to me. All I defire is that
D
you
;
34
The EPISTLES of
you
would behave well to her; I fhall think
that a fufficient recompence; and nothing
can appear fo amiable in thee as, by a proper
return of thy mother's goodneſs, to give thy
father an earneſt of a reſolution to deferve
his future favour.
To the fame.
XX.
WHATEVER a father owes to his fon, O
Paurolas, I have beftow'd on thee. The debt,
which is due to me in return, and which
thou canst ſo eaſily diſcharge, if thou doft
not pay, thou art inexcufable. I hear, (for
which I have often already reproved theé)
that thou dost neglect thy ftudies. Follow
them, I beseech thee, for the future. If thou
denieft me this requeft I will never aſk any
thing more; but know, if in this thou grati-
fieft me, not he, who afks the favour, but you,
who grant, will reap the advantage of it.
† To the MESSEN I ANS.
XXI.
I am inform'd you accufe Polycletus, your
phyſician, as one, who has betray'd the
Agrigentines; becauſe, inſtead of killing his
+ See Ep. 1. 70. and 71.
patient,
PHALARIS.
35
patient, which he had fo fair an opportunity
of doing, he has recover'd me from a moſt
dangerous illneſs; and call that injuſtice in
him, which is fo directly its oppofite; and
this you are not afhamed openly to avow
For my own part, I think his knowlege in-
ferior to nothing but his integrity; becauſe
when I truſted myſelf in his hands, he did
not take away my life as a Tyrant, but pre-
ferved me as one committed to his care.
Now your accufation againſt him has never
hurt him; whereas, on the other hand, my
gratitude will fet him on a level with the
richest man in Sicily; and I believe, when
you know what he owes to my liberality,
you will all of you chooſe, at any time, ra-
ther to betray the Agrigentines, than deſtroy
Phalaris.
* To A N DRO CLE S.
XXII.
I have myſelf wrote in the ſtrongeſt terms
to Stefichorus, to prevent his being un-
eafy on account of the accufation brought
against him by Eubulus and his party; and
I defire this favour of you, that would
affure him, from me, I never gave ear to
* See Epift. 147·
D 2
you
any
36
The EPISTLES of
any fuch fuggeftions; for I fhould fooner be-
lieve that they had at firft no ill defigns againſt
me, (a crime, which they have themfelves
confefs'd) than that they were drawn into
the confpiracy by his verſes, rather than by
their own malice and inveteracy.
To PYTHAGORAS.
XXIII.
man-
BETWEEN the Tyranny of Phalaris,
and the philofophy of Pythagoras, there
ſeems to be a difference, not eafy to be got
over; in ſpite of which, I own I can fee
nothing, that ſhould hinder us, from a
thorough acquaintance with the
ners and fentiments of each other. Con-
verfation and intimacy may reconcile the
greateſt contrarieties. I have the higheſt opi-
nion of your worth, from the report I have
had of it; but do not you judge too haftily
of me, from the fame motive; for common
fame hath treated me moft injuriously. I
canot come fafely to you, on account of
that Tyranny, of which I ftand accuſed; as
I ſhall be liable to danger, if I venture with-
out arms and foldiers; and to fufpicion, if
I bring them with me. But you may, with-
out
PHALARIS.
37
out running any hazard, come and live peace-
ably with me. On a clofer infpection of my
character, if you expect to fee nothing but a
Tyrant, you will be furpriſed to meet with
the private friend; but if, on the contrary,
you expect the private friend only, you will
diſcover with it fomething of the Tyrant.
Such a government as this is not to be fup-
ported without fome feverity; but if it be
poffible to preſerve a Tyranny by clemency,
on this account, as well as many on others, I
fhould be glad to meet and converfe with
you; for I fhall foon be perfuaded by you
to take fofter meaſures, if at the fame time.
that I am inclined to yield to your ad-
vice, truth and experience ſhould ſide with
and confirm the opinion of Pythagoras.
To THOR AX.
XXIV.
I am in fome doubt whether I ought rather
to accuſe myſelf of fome obfcurity in what
I writ to you, or you of a purpoſed reſolution
not to underſtand me. However, I am fure
that, out of the whole account, there are yet.
remaining with you20,000; therefore, if you
D 3
ftill
38
The EPISTLES of
ftill want farther information in this affair,
you may expect foon from me fuch as will
inftruct you in a manner, which you will
not perhaps defire to be taught in.
To LEONTIA DE S.
XXV.
I have often told you, and do here repeat
it, that I defire no return, on account of your
wife, (if you think yourſelf in the leaſt in-
debted to me for promoting your marriage)
but that you would love and efteem her, for
whoſe fake you think yourſelf obliged to me,
as one, who was the firſt happy cauſe of thus
uniting our families.
To A RIP HRADE S.
XXVI.
THE raſhneſs and arrogance of youth, of
both which your fon is highly guilty, have
been fatal to many. Qualities in him, which,
tho' I have fuffer'd much from, have hither-
to remain'd unpuniſh'd; not out of regard to
him, but yourſelf, of whofe integrity and
merit I have been affured by numbers. I was
therefore loth, for the fon's vices, to afflict
the
PHALARIS.
39
of
the age
of an innocent parent. He is an only
child; bad therefore as he is, I doubt not but
you love him, as his lofs would deprive you
a fucceffor. The father's indulgence, on that
account, will extenuate the fon's folly; but,
if he perfifts in his errors, know that, both
for my fake and yours, I fhall chaſtiſe him
with with the rigor he deferves. That he
may not, when the puniſhment of his ill
conduct overtakes him, have the leaft room
to pretend that it came unexpectedly.
The fame, which I write to you, I have by
letter made known to him. Farewel:
To ANTIMA CHU S.
XXVII.
If you are able to pay me and do not, you
are guilty of the higheſt immorality; but if
the fault, in this cafe, is merely owing to your
inability, tho' the injury in regard to myſelf
is the fame, yet if done thro' neceffity, by
the laws of humanity I am bound to forgive
it. But remember this is meant only as an ac-
quittance from prefent payment of the debt,
and not an entire diſcharge of it.
D 4
To
40
The EPISTLES of
To ARISTOMENE S.
XXVIII.
I thank thee for thy kind fympathy and
tender affection; but let not, I beseech thee,
the wounds, which I received in battle, give
thee the leaft uneafineſs. So far am I from
finking under accidents of this kind, (tho' my
life was in fome danger,) that I declare to
thee, as terrible as death appears to the greater
part of mankind, I could with before my
deftined time (if that time be far off,) to
periſh in battle; for what can be more noble
than to breathe out ones foul in the brave
ftruggle for fare and victory?
To XENO PITHES.
XXIX.
I am not at all folicitous about the idle
cenfure and calumnies of the ignorant and
unjuft; and my indifference, in this matter,
arifes from a conviction that others commit
fuch ill actions, thro' the depravity of their
manners, as I am compell'd to by fate and
neceffity; to which the Gods themſelves are
fubject. The difference therefore between
us is merely this; that whereas I, who am a
Tyrant, and on that account at liberty to act
as
PHALARIS.
41
as I pleaſe, openly confefs my guilt; you,
on the other hand, as private men, and in
dread of the laws, deny that, which you
fhould, but dare not, own.
To the CATANE ANS.
XXX.
OUT of the number of your citizens,
which have been brought prifoners to me,
a few, who had not the leaſt hope of pardon,
I have ſpared; not becauſe I have forgot my
enmity to you, but as they were men, whoſe
deaths could not have given you any unea-
finefs. It was by no means done to oblige
you; for I ſhould, of all men, be ſurely the
moft forgetful, did I not refolve thoroughly
to fatiate my revenge on you; that, when you
have ſuffer'd as you deferve, the weight of
the puniſhment may call to your remem-
brance the greatnefs of thofe crimes, which
occafion'd it.
*To the daughters of STE SICHORUS.
XXXI.
THE Tauromenians, (in whofe favour you
wrote to me, in obedience to the commands
* See Ep. 15.
of
42
The EPISTLES of
of
your father, when he exchanged this life
for another) were by no means deferving of
my clemency, as without the leaſt provocati-
on on my part they waged againſt me a moſt
unjuſt war. But Stefichorus merits not only
(which you now aſk of me in his name) that
I ſhould order the ranſom for their priſoners
to be immediately restored them; but even
much more than can ever be in my power to
grant. For, though-fome may number him
among the dead, (which yet I think none
but the weakest of mankind could ever do)
in my opinion, fuch a man can never die.
Nor is my hatred of the Tauromenians fo
great, as to debar Stefichorus of any thing;
which Phalaris can beftow. None, I think,
ſhould refuſe him any thing; nor, above all
men, I myſelf; for out of the numbers,
whom I have feen and known, I never yet
met with one of a more noble mind. I have
therefore order'd the money to be reſtored;
and call the Gods to witneſs, I do not think
the favour done to him but to myſelf.
To
PHALARI S.-
43
To CRITO PHEMU S.
XXXII.
You have acted like a true and noble friend,
and all thoſe with you, who have borne wit-
neſs to my more than ordinary courage, and
attributed to my conduct and valour the con-
queft of the Leontines. I am fatisfied I have
revenged myſelf as I ought; but let the glo-
rious victory be afcribed to Fortune. For
doubtlefs, my dear friend, there is nothing
in this world of greater or leſs conſequence,
which does not depend on her influence and
decifion.
* To CTES I P P US.
XXXIII.
NEITHER formerly, when I releaſed the
Tauromenians, whom I had taken priſoners,
did I do it to oblige them, but in compliance
with the laws of Greece; nor lately, when
I reſtored to them the money I had received,
did I mean the favour to them (which you
reproach me with) but to Stefichorus, who
made it his requeft to me by his daughters.
Let the Tauromenians therefore return
thanks to their dead friend, who gain'd this
favour for them, and who owes it to
See Ep. 15. and 31:
himfelf
44
The EPISTLES of
himſelf alone, and to his noble qualities; by
which he has done a double act of kindnefs;
to the Tauromenians, in recovering their
money, and to me, in giving me an opportu-
nity of fhewing a generofity in my nature,
which fome before were not inclined to think
me capable of.
;
To POLLU X.
XXXIV.
You feem, by your letter, to be ſurpriſed at
the fudden alteration of my manner of life ;
and that I, who uſed to appear in publick
more than perhaps in a Tyrant was altogether
prudent, am not now to be ſeen even by my
nearest friends. But the truth is, I at prefent
avoid as much as poffible all fociety; becaufe
neither in my friends, nor in others, have I
found fidelity. After no fmall pains there-
fore to attain to a knowlege of mankind, I
am of opinion that the uninhabited Lybian
deſerts, or the wild dens of Numidia, are infi-
nitely preferable to a habitation amongſt my
fellow creatures; and I account it fafer to
fleep amongſt lions, or crawl with the rep-
tiles of the earth, than to live with the men
of
}
PHALARIS:
45
*
of this age; ſo much fatal experience have I
had, by daily and repeated misfortunes, of
their baſeneſs and degeneracy.
To POLYG NOT US.
XXXV.
For the future, Polygnotus, I ſhall neither
write to you, nor make you any prefents.
Do not you therefore any longer praiſe me
to the populace; for you only commend me
in words, whilft at the fame time. your refu-
fal to accept of what I fend you, fhews your
real hatred and contempt of me. Not con-
fidering that, by all men of ſenſe, words are
only look'd upon as the ſhadows of things.
To CLEO MENIDA S.
XXXVI.
I have fent you thofe prefents, which I
thought moft proper for a director of the
publick exerciſes; two hundred cafkets of
oil, and four hundred meaſures of wheat.
To your fon alfo, what is moſt agreeable to
youth; fome wine, fome boys, whom he
may employ as amanuenfes, and the poems
of Stefichorus. Tho' I doubt not but there
are
46
The EPISTLES of
are thofe among the Syracufians, who will
not fail to ſuſpect that even theſe things were
the gifts of a Tyrant, beftow'd, the better to
carry on his pernicious innovations in the
ftate.
To GORG I AS.
XXXVII.
1
I think every thing in your letter deferving
of the higheſt commendation, except what
you fay concerning future events; a caution,
which I am now more than ever inclined to
think wholly unneceffary; I am not afraid
of death in any form; and in this I applaud
my own wiſdom; for as fate is by no means
in our power, I hold him the weakest of
mankind, who endeavours to pry into
things of this nature, or is under any con-
cern about the good or evil to come; if he
either imagines he can poffibly foreknow what
will happen; or that, if he did foreknow, he
could avoid it. But if any man believes he
can foreſee and not be able, by any means,
to prevent what he forefees; why ſhould he
endeavour to fearch into that, which will
infallibly happen? As to a belief that, by
this
PHALARIS
47
this foreknowlege, he may avert the impend-
ing fate, by fo difpofing and ordering things
as to turn them to his own advantage, I own
I am at a loſs to conceive how this can ever
be; for this is the work, not of man, but
of God. On reflecting that Eacus, Minos,
Rhadamanthus, and the rest of the Demi-
Gods, were not immortal, but died like other
men juſt as fate ordain'd it; if after this a
man ſhould meanly dread, or be afflicted
with the thoughts of death, would you call
fuch a one brave? Endeavour therefore to
look forwards on the things, which may
happen, with the greateſt indifference; as
you perceive, I am myſelf intirely free from
any care, or folicitude on that account.
TO DEMO TELES.
XXXVIII.
YOUR advice to me was well meant;
therefore I freely pardon it. As you never
was yourſelf a Tyrant, I do not wonder you
would perfuade me to lay down the Tyranny.
But which of the Gods will be my fafeguard,
in an affair of ſo important a nature? You
think yourſelf a ſufficient judge; not confi-
dering
48
The EPISTLES of
·
dering that it is much more dangerous to
quit an Empire than to acquire it. It would
be more prudent in a private man not to aim
at a fceptre, than to lay it down after poffeffion.
It is with a Tyranny as with life itſelf. If a
man were to foreſee the miſeries and calami-
ties he must undergo, he would never defire
to fee the light; neither would any man,
who could forefee the miferies of a Tyrant,
ever wish to be one. Doubtlefs, Demoteles,
not to be, were better than to be; and to be
a private man better than to be a Tyrant. If
therefore you had given me this advice before
I was fo deeply engaged, and foretold the
evils, which would enfue, you would eafily
have drawn me from the ambition of a king-
dom. But fince I am already in poffeffion of
it, and have experienced all its toils and dan-
gers, I declare, no mortal, nor even the Gods
themſelves, ſhall ever perfuade me to refign
it; for I am fatisfied, if ever I
part with
my
authority, thoſe, whom I have ruled over,
will not fail, as ſoon as it is in their power,
to revenge themfelves, by rendering my life
of all men's moſt miſerable.
To
PHALAR IS.
49
To POLY STRATU S.
XXXIX.
I have already fent to the rest of my
friends, defiring them to haften immediately
to Agrigentum; and I beg I may ſee you
there, before the Olympic games. I would
gladly get together all thofe, who wiſh me
well, to affift me in carrying on the buſineſs
of the ſtate with my ufual diligence; and
to confult them about fome affairs of
great moment. We fhall not confer on
any ſubject, which may appear difficult,
harſh, or any ways impertinent to you, (as
all fuch points will fall under my particular
care) but ſhall endeavour to conform in every
thing as much as poffible to your opinions;
that if the government ſhould ſtill remain in
the fame ſtate it is in at prefent, I may have
the pleaſure of often entertaining you; *if, on
the other hand, it fhould come to an end,
and it ſhall ſo pleaſe providence that this muſt
be the laſt time I fhall call on you, you
may retain a grateful remembrance of my
love and eſteem for you.
Come there-
* It
appears by this letter, that Phalaris had ſome deſign
of laying down the Tyranny.
E
fore,
50
The EPISTLES of
!
fore, I defire, as foon as poffible, and bring
with you that kindneſs and regard, which
you always fhew'd for Phalaris; whofe
1eal character you are yourfelves, of all men,
beft acquainted with.
To PAURO LAS.
XL.
THE Crown, which you ſent me, weighing
300 Aurei, I have received with the greateſt
pleaſure; both as a teftimony of the readi-
nefs and affection of him, from whom it
came, and as the choiceft gift of fortune; be-
ing the very crown I wore on that day, on
which I facrificed for my victory over the
Leontines, and which I afterwards made a
prefent of to your mother Erithya; know-
ing none more worthy of fo precious a gift.
But you, O my fon, may prove to us a far
nobler and more beauteous crown, by an
endeavour to make your behaviour anſwer-
able to the wiſhes of your parents.
To HIPPOLYTI O N.
XLI.
THE leave you defired to come to me I
freely grant; and will give you my word,
tho' not my oath, that you may do it with
fafety.
PHALARIS.
51
fafety. But if you will not believe me, you
in truth do me an injury much greater than
that, of which you are accufed; becauſe, tho'
you know I never yet broke my word with
any man, you would bind me by an oath, as
if I had already been proved guilty of it; and
where is the difference, in regard to virtue,
between the violation of our word and our
oath; fince it is the will, which equally ra-
tifies and confirms them both?
To POLY TIMON.
XLII.
IF your diſtruſt of me is founded on the
knowlege of
your own character, it is rather
a compliment to my wifdom, than a reflec-
tion on my diſhoneſty; but if to a fancy'd
one of mine, it is an ignorant miſtake; for fo
far am I from ever fwerving from my word,
that judging too rafhly of other men's na-
tures by my own, and trufting to them, as
having a religious regard to their promiſes, I
have been often deceived. Come therefore, I
beg, without any fufpicion of deceit in me,
who will never wrong you; and bear witneſs
to all mankind, that the faith of Phalaris is
inviolable.
E a
To
52
The EPISTLES of
To TEUCE R.
XLIII.
THE town is furrender'd to Ariftomenes,
and Hippolytion acquitted. We expect you
according to promiſe. For myſelf, I am well;
if a man may call himfelf fo, who, having an
infinite variety of affairs upon his hands, and
fortunate in moft of them, has nevertheleſs
equal reaſon to be uneafy about his good and
bad fuccefs in them.
To NICI A S.
XLIV.
YOUR fon is beloved by every body on the
very account, for which you hate him; becauſe
his manners do not refemble yours; from
whence
you may infer that all thofe, who
love the fon, muft neceffarily deteft the father.
To A DIMANTUS.
XLV.
I hear your brother and you are perpetu-
ally difputing which is the most infamous of
the two. Now I am of opinion, nay I am
confident, that tho' he is worſe than the reft
of
PHALARIS.
53
of mankind, yet neither he, nor any man in
the world, can be fo bad as yourſelf.
To the ÆGESTEAN S.
XLVI.
RECEIVE among you no more of thoſe,
who have deſerted from me; for know, that
both in his rewards and puniſhments, Phala-
ris will be exceeded by none; which you
may eafily be convinced of, if
you will call
to mind the fate of the Milefians and the Le-
ontines; the former of whom I made free-
men, the latter flaves; becaufe the Leontines
funk my gally, and the Milefians would have
preſerved it.
To ANTISTHENES and THEOTIMU S.
XLVII.
ANTISTHENES has accepted of the pre-
ſents I fent him; which Theotimus refuſed.
The one I am therefore obliged to; the other
I fhall not reproach; for as the former by
receiving them could not impoverish me, fo
neither can the latter by refufing da me any
injury,
E 3
To
54
The EPISTLES of
To MENE CLES.
XLVIII.
SINCE you are enter'd into the paths
of virtue, do not repent of it, if you
would gladly be thought a ftranger to your
father's vices; left you lofe the former
good opinion, which the Camarians enter-
tain'd of you, and feem as if you only put
on the good man for a time without any real
title to that character.
To EPIST RATUS.
XLIX.
You feem, by your manner of writing, to
think me one of the happieſt of mankind ;
but let this ſhort detail of my circumftances
undeceive you. If to be deprived of my parents
in my infancy; foon afterwards by an un-
forcfeen accident banifh'd my country; to
be ſtripp'd of all I had; brought up amongſt
Barbarians ; driven with the utmoſt ſeverity
from place to place; to have my life perpetually
endanger'd by the fnares of enemies, and
treachery of friends; and laftly, having after
all gain'd a Tyranny, to have my whole life
embitter'd by the enjoyment of it; if this is
to be happy, Phalaris is indeed the most bleft
of Men.
PHALARIS.
SS
TO ONET o R.
L.
I intreat it as the higheſt favour, both of
you and all my friends, that
you would, by
no means, enquire into my conduct, or bufy
yourſelves about my affairs, unleſs I ſhall
my-
felf require it of you; for fuch is their un-
happy fituation, that as the concealing of
them cannot greatly concern my friends, fo
the knowlege of them might give my enemies
the utmoſt fatisfaction.
To ETEONICUS.
LI.
In regard to other men, I can readily
take your advice, to forget and forgive all the
injuries, which I receive; for, as it is wifely
obferved, it is not for mortals to entertain
immortal hatred; but the cruelty of Pytho,
whilſt I live, I will never forget; neither,
when I am dead, fhall the grave, which
puts an end to the refentment of others,
*
We meet with this thought quoted from an antient Poet
in the 2d book of Ariſtotle's Rhetorick. C. 22. and alſo in the
Philoctetes of Euripides.
E 4
bury
56
The EPISTLES of
bury the remembrance of it; for furely he
hath of all men moft unpardonably wrong'd
me, who bafely by poifon rob'd me of my
dear Erythia, becaufe fhe refuſed to marry
him, and kindly endeavour'd to follow me
in my baniſhment.
To the MEGARIAN S.
LII.
Ir was by no means the hope of any
favour from you in return, that induced me
to let go the Gallies I had taken, and which
it is fufficiently evident you fent out againſt
me; for if you had been capable of any gra-
titude for benefits received, you would not fo
foon have forgot that I had already no leſs
than three times deliver'd you from the jaws
of famine,
To the LEON TINE S.
LIII,
I have fpared the life of your fpy, Leoni-
das; not out of any regard to you, but that
I might have in him, what I have long been
in ſearch of, a man, who is able to give
me an exact account of all your military pre-
parations
}
PHALARIS.
57
parations againſt me. He has already, with-
out being put to the torture, given me a
moſt faithful one of all your affairs; and in-
form'd me, that you are deftitute of every
thing but fear, and hunger; in both which
he hath affured me you moft plentifully
abound.
To the HI MERIAN S.
LIV.
For the fake of Stefichorus, there is not
any thing, which I would not readily conſent
to. I declare, I would even take up arms,
hazard my life, and ſtrive with deſtiny itſelf
to preſerve, for you and for all mankind,
this divine poet; whofe charming verſes have
render'd him ſo deſervedly illuftrious; whom
the virgin fifters have ſo diſtinguiſh'd above
the reft of the lyric bards; and by whoſe
mouth their own fongs and hymns have been
deliver'd to us. Be perfuaded, I beg you,
that Stefichorus, wherever he is buried, is ſtill
an Himerian. Tho' the whole world will
claim him on account of his virtues, he will
not be the leſs yours. By no means, let him
be number'd amongst the dead; who yet
lives in thoſe divine poems, which we all en-
joy.
58
The EPISTLES of
joy. Remember that it is to you he owes
his birth, his education, and his learning;
that he continued with you, finging his
noble hymns, even to an extreme old age;
and all, which the Cataneans have to boaſt
of, is, that when the powers of nature were
at length exhauſted, he expired amongſt
them. Let a * Temple therefore be built
to him at Himera, as an everlafting monu-
ment of his merit, and let his tomb, as they
fo ardently defire it, be at Catana. Do what-
ever you think beft in this affair; and de-
pend upon it that, as to myſelf, I fhall not be
wanting in ſupplying you with money, arms,
or men ; but I would have you confider, that,
as Sicilians, to befiege that city would,
on many accounts, be imprudent; for, in the
firſt place, ſhould you fucceed, it would not be
juſt or honourable; and in the next, if you
ſhould fail it might be extremely prejudicial.
* We have no account of any Temple dedicated to Stefi-
chorus at Himera; but Cicero, in his fecond Oration againſt
Verres, makes mention of a Statue erected there in honour of
him; and the people of Catana, where he died, built him a
magnificent Monument near that gate of the city, which was
call'd, in memory of him, Porta Stefichorea.
Do
PHALARIS.
59
Do not therefore reſent the lofs of Stefichorus,
or let his death be the cauſe of any quarrels and
divifions amongst you. His body is indeed
no more, but the immortal part, his name,
ſhall remain to all ages. Let his verſes and
his works, of all kinds, be publickly infcribed
in your Temples, and in every private houſe;
for when theſe are loft, then, and only then,
will Stefichorus perifh. Tranfmit them with
the utmost care to your pofterity; and reſt
affured that the city, which produced ſuch a
man, will not be lefs revered hereafter than
himſelf.
the poet
To THRASENOR.
LV.
THE caftle, which after a long and fruit-
lefs fiege you was obliged to quit, has fur-
render'd to the foldiers, under the command.
of Teucer; and this fo fuddenly, that I be-
lieve it was taken even in lefs time than this
letter can poffibly reach you.
To
60
The EPISTLES of
* To A BAR I S.
LVI,
I am inform'd that you have taken a
journey hither, from the northern and more
remote parts of the world, to have the oppor-
tunity of converfing with illuftrious men,
and have already eſtabliſh'd a friendſhip with
Pythagoras, the philofopher, the poet Stefi-
chorus, and many other of the moſt famous
Græcians; and have learn'd many things of
them, which has incited you to a ftill greater
ſearch after knowledge, and a more enlarged
acquaintance with fuch men. If the innu-
merable calumnies, which are daily fpread
about concerning me,
have yet reach'd you,
and you are inclined to believe what they
would infinuate, it may perhaps be in vain to
endeavour to alter your opinion of me; but
if would know the real truth of things,
and the fentiments of good men; come and
live with me (as many, moft eminent for their
parts and underſtanding, have already done)
ſhall be convinced by experience
and
you
you
Abaris was an eminent Philofopher; a native of Scythia,
and ſcholar to Pythagoras.
that
PHALARIS:
6r
that I behave better and with much more
moderation and humanity, (if I may be al-
lowed to fay fo much in my own behalf)
than is generally reported; and that Phalaris
is not inferior to any, even of thoſe, whoſe
conduct and wifdom have render'd them
the mark of univerfal admiration.
Abaris to Phalaris the TYRANT.
LVII.
THY actions ſpeak a foul full of cruelty
and injuftice. Doubtless thou oweft thy birth
to the wild Boar and Lionefs, and not to any
of the human fpecies. Urged on by pernici-
ous counfels, and thy own evil difpofition,
thou doft every thing by open force and vio-
lence. Think not therefore that Abaris,
who is a man of honour and virtue, will ever
come to Agrigentum; a man, who bears a
mind not to be tainted by envy, ignorance,
and cruelty. But if you are really defirous
of his company, be obedient to the laws of
*
There is ſomething not unlike this in Mr. Addiſon's Cato ;
where he ſays,
Bid him difband bis Legions,
Reftore the commonwealth to liberty, &c.
Bid him do this, and Cato is bis friend.
Greece
62
The EPISTLES of
Greece, and then invite him. With a pure
hand and heart, cherish and affift the citizen
and the ftranger. Do this, or Abaris can
only bid thee farewell.
TO POLYSTRATUS and DAISCUS.
LVIII.
DELAY not, I beg, your warlike prepa-
rations against me; for neither do I grudge
you thoſe rewards, which the Leontines be-
flow'd on you for your harangues againſt
mc, nor would I by any means diffuade you
from promoting your intereft and reputation
hereafter by the fame methods.
To NA USICLE S.
LIX.
I have fent the preſents, according to pro-
mife, to the new married daughter of Phi-
lodemus; which Hermocrates (or whoever
it was) forbid her to accept. Tho' I am
a Tyrant, and no ways related to her,
yet if I have acted as a parent, I think
I am at least entitled to an equal, if not a
larger fhare of praife and gratitude. To
thoſe, who cenfure my gencrofity, and call
it
PHALARIS.
63
it a largeſs, given only to gain her over to my
party, I answer, I frankly confefs that defign;
and flatter myſelf, that thofe, on whom fa-
vours are confer'd, will not probably be fo
ungrateful as, in return, to injure their bene-
factor.
To ARISTOL OCH U S.
LX.
LAY afide, I befeech you, that malice and
inveteracy, which, in ſpite of your affeverati-
ons to the contrary, you have ever had againſt
me; and let your future atone for your paſt
behaviour. Reflect daily how fooliſh as well
as mean it was, when I conferr'd fo many
favours on you, not only never to repay them
(for which reaſon I fhall hereafter be more
cautious of creating enemies by my generofi-
ty) but even to be fo indifferent to your own
fafety as to wrong and incenfe
your benefac-
tor. As you are now fatisfied how much I
reſent it, you will, I hope, be perfuaded to
act henceforward with more difcretion.
Ta
64
The EPISTLES of
To EPICHARM US.
LXI.
THE advice, which you and Demoteles
give me, to lay down the Tyranny, I am far
from attributing to any ill will againſt me ;
as I am fatisfied it rather proceeds from your
ignorance in affairs of this nature. The af
fuming it is indeed in our own choice; but it
is not fo eafily quitted, when we have already
trampled on the laws of our country. When
the dart is once thrown it cannot be recall'd.
If you can obliterate what is paft, and call
back the time, when I had not yet began to
reign, do it, I befeech you; but if that be
impoffible, fo doubtlefs is it that your advice
fhould now be of any fervice to me.
To TI MOSTHENE S.
LXII.
LET part of the army ſtay before the fort,
and deſtroy it; and the reft employ them-
felves in digging deep trenches to turn aſide,
if poffible, the irruptions of the Sea; that by
this means thoſe grounds, which being over-
flow'd have fo long remain'd uncultivated,
when drain'd may prove fruitful. At the
fame
PHALARIS:
65
fame time, let the reward for each work be
laid in the middle before them, and given
to thoſe, who fhall have finifh'd their bufi-
nefs firſt.
TO ARISTOL OCH US.
LXIII
If, becauſe I freely pardon'd Stefichorus,
whom I had taken prifoner, you think
that you alfo may ſafely write Tragedies a-
gainſt me, believing I muft of courſe treat all
poets with the fame lenity, you are greatly
miſtaken; for I do by no means admire all
poets, but good ones only; nor forgive all
enemies, but the moſt brave and honourable;
whilft you, who are both a vile poet, and a
contemptible enemy, would moft impudent-
ly fet yourſelf on a level with Stefichorus in
parts and courage. But you ſhall quickly
difcern the difference; not becauſe you have
aſperſed me in your verfes (for I were the
loweſt of mankind, if ſuch traſh could any
ways affect me) but for daring to think your-
felf worthy of the fame honour and regard
as the divine Stefichorus.
F
To
66
EPISTLES of
To AMPHIDAMAS and THRASIBULUS.
LXIV.
You affirm that you have paid the money,
which I lent you, to Teucer; who, on the
other hand, denies the receipt of it. Now
I have no reaſon to diſtruſt either of you.
But he defires you would produce fome wit-
neſs to prove it, and you allege in anſwer
that to a friend and one, whom you might
depend on, you thought a witneſs unnecef-
fary. Therefore, tho' I have never received
the debt, I fhall look upon it as paid, that
I may not ſeem to fufpect his honeſty or
yours; for I had rather the truth ſhould lye
conceal'd for ever, than that either of you
fhould be convicted of a fraud. The lofs
of money is nothing to that of our friends;
who, when the fact is difcover'd, muft of
courfe become moft unjuft and perfidious
enemies.
TO PELOPIDAS.
LXV.
I would not myſelf chufe to write to Ste-
fichorus about the affair, which you men-
tion'd to me; neither ſhould I do it, would
he ever conſent to write any thing in praiſe
of
PHALARIS:
67
of the living. * I have already fufficient obli-
gation to him for his poem on Nicocles's wife:
If you have any favour to aſk of me, which
does not depend on any other man's power,
but lies intirely in my own, I beg you would
let me know it.
TO TELE CLIDES.
LXVI.
You have, it ſeems, thought proper to
affert, before fome of my particular friends,
(who you rightly guefs'd would foon
inform me of it) that after the death
of Perilaus, who made the Bull, no per-
fon ſhould have ever undergone that tor-
ture; for that this was the way to lofe me
the reputation, which I had gain'd, on that
account. But know, I never valued myſelf on
the puniſhment inflicted on Perilaus, nor did
I condemn him to it to purchaſe any fame or
honour to myſelf. I am not under the leaft
uneafineſs about the calumnies vented againſt
me for puniſhing others in the like manner.
I cannot fee how the beſtowing the juſt re-
* See Ep. 78, 79, and 144.
F 2
wards
68
The EPISTLES of
wards due to villany can conftitute, a
good or bad character. I forefaw that
others by his means would perish in the
Bull, and therefore I punish'd him. For as
to the workmanſhip of it, inſtead of death,
he on the contrary merited the higheſt
reward. Both his own miferable end, and
the torments of all thofe unhappy wret-
ches, who underwent the fame fate, are in
fome meaſure to be attributed to him. The
cenfures of ill judging people ſhall give me
no manner of concern, as long as I am able to
prove that thofe, who dyed thus, deferved it.
Beginning therefore at the artiſt himſelf, who
fuffer'd firft, whom, for the fake of man-
kind and human nature itſelf, I was obliged
to deſtroy, proceed candidly to examine
the merits of all the reſt; and if, on the
one hand, you cannot but approve the death
of Perilaus; fo, on the other, ought you
not to blame me for chaſtifing, as I did, both
thofe, who injured others, and the traitors,
whom I took off, for a confpiracy againſt
my own life; and furely I were a fit object
of ridicule, if whilft I did juftice on thoſe,
who had wrong'd others, even tho' they were
of fervice to me, in the mean time I ſhould
1
let
PHALARIS.
69
let them eſcape, who had plotted to deſtroy
me; and, merely to avoid the unjuſt accufati-
tion of fuch as would call me a cruel and in-
human Tyrant, had flept as it were infenfible
of my own apparent danger. Your opinion
of me, I am fufficiently acquainted with; you
need not be at any pains to publiſh it. Ceaſe
therefore, I defire, giving either yourſelf or
me any farther trouble,
To PAUROLA'S.
LXVII.
SOME neceffary bufinefs calling me to Hime-
ra, I found the daughters of Stefichorus at their
lyres, finging verſes; fome made by their
father, others by themſelves; which though
not equal to his, were far fuperior to any
befides. Thrice happy doubtless did I eſteem
him, who taught them; and thrice happy
thoſe women, who could thus arrive at a pitch
of learning fo far beyond the common lot of
their fex. Exert yourfelf therefore, my Pau-
rolas. I would gladly know what it is
you
propoſe by fuch violent exerciſes of your
body; in arms, in hunting, and fuch like
laborious employments; at the fame time
F 3
leaving
70
The EPISTLES of
leaving your mind, which alone
you ſhould
ſtudy to improve, wholly uncultivated by
the knowlege of oratory, or any of the arts
Unless as a qualifi-
and ſciences of Greece. Unleſs as
cation for thoſe, who affift at the facred rites,
I know no reaſon for the exerciſe of the body
but for the fake of health and ſtrength. He,
who has the ambition of becoming con-
fpicuous in a common-wealth, muſt be care-
ful in the culture of his mind; unleſs indeed,
which fome have reported, your deſign is to
gain the Tyranny, as by the laws defcending
to you; and becauſe you think ftrength of
body may be of fervice to you in the acqui-
fition of it; and on that account are fo fond
of exerciſe. Concerning which, take the ad-
vice of one, who hath long fince repented
of a Tyranny, affumed not voluntarily but
through neceffity; the advice of one, who
hath try'd both ftates, and knows it better to
be govern'd than to govern; for the fubject,
freed from all other cares, is afraid of the Ty-
rant only. The Tyrant dreads both the fo-
reign confpirator and the domeftic Traitor;
for amongſt a thouſand terrors and misfor-
tunes,his own guards are firſt and moſt of all
to be fear'd, Reflect feriously therefore on the
***
kind
PHALARIS.
71
kind counſel of a father, let no man exceed
you in merit; and leave empire, with all its
perpetual dangers and difquietudes, to your
enemies, and their pofterity. If after all, you
have the weakneſs ftill to think a life like
mine hath any thing in it pleaſing or
defirable, and is not rather full of cala-
mity and diſtreſs; be affured, it is an error;
attribute it to your ignorance; and pray
to God that you may never experience the
fortune of a Tyrant.
To the fame:
LXVIII.
I swear by the Gods I am far from think-
ing your demands for money extravagant ;
but I am really at prefent unable to ſupport
your generofity. Your expences I commend,
and you ſhould fooner want friends to beſtow
your bounties on, than liberality in a father
to fupply them. But where there is fuch be-
neficence there fhould alfo be a power cqual
to the greatneſs of mind from whence it
fprings. To fouls capable of fuch virtue, for-
tune will furely afford the means to exerciſe it.
Do not therefore reproach me as if I would
refule
F 4
72
The EPISTLES of
refuſe a little to him, for whoſe ſake only all
I have was acquired. So far am I from blam-
ing your difpofition that it gives me the
higheſt fatisfaction. I beg you would chufe
out objects worthy of it; and not only be
liberal at prefent, but as long as the fame
fortune continues, purſue your defign. The
means, my generous Paurolas, I fhall moft
willingly fupply you with; and look on an
expence, fo noble and fo promifing, as the
greateſt obligation you can lay upon me.
To ERYTH I A.
LXIX.
YOUR fears for the life of Paurolas under
a Tyranny, which deter you from venturing
him to Agrigentum, I can readily pardon, as
natural to a woman and a mother, anxious
for a beloved child. But, if
you intend to
detain him always with you, as if he was not
as much my fon as yours, you infringe the
mutual rights of parents. In the ſtrictneſs
of law, a boy belongs rather to the father
than mother; though, in equity, both have
an equal title to him. If, whenever you fend
your fon to his father, you look on it as an
}
injury
PHALAR IS.
73
L
injury done you, to rob you of fo great a
comfort; what reafon for complaint muſt he
have, who has not yet once enjoy'd him?
A&t therefore more impartially, and fend him
to me; not for any length of time, but to
return very
foon;
and that in a manner as
ſhall become the fon of Phalaris and Erythioz
that if I cannot live with you, you at leaft
may live together in eafe and affluence. Can
any man think of fquandering away his
money on others, whilft his wife and child
are neglected? For my part, with the
trueft affection of a husband and a father,
I fhall divide the largest part of my fubftance
between you, as foon as poffible; as well
on other accounts as that of approaching old
age, and the cruel fickneſs, from which I
am fo lately recover d, and which has taught
me that every man ought to look on the pre-
fent day as the laft appointed him to live.
In regard to your fon's coming from Crete to
Agrigentum, and his return home without
danger, be affured, the tenderneſs of a father
will be as good a fafeguard as all a mother's
fears.
10
74
The EPISTLES of
To POLYCLETUS.
LXX.
I am at a loss, I declare, O Polycletus,
which to admire moft; the excellency of
your art, or the integrity of your manners;
for your ſkill conquer'd a diſeaſe, which muſt
have put an end to the life of a Tyrant;
and your honour was fuperior to the rewards
offer'd you to deſtroy me:
From two of the
greateſt dangers I was ever in, your juftice
ſtept in to fave me; a moft perilous diſeaſe,
and the bribes of my enemies. It was in
your power, if the difeafe had got the
better of me, and you had not ufed your
art to prevent it, to have kill'd a Tyrant;
and if it had not, yet as I fhould moſt pro-
bably have taken fomething from you by
way of remedy, though I perish'd by the
diftemper, you might nevertheleſs have had
the honour, and the reward due to ſo laudable
an action. But you thought it bafe, for an
infamous bribe, to facrifice your reputation;
and perhaps the very occafion, which brought
you to me, took away every thought of that
kind. I however, who was fo much in
your
power that
you might have done with me
whatever
PHALAR IS.
75
whatever you would, am not able to return
you thanks equal to your virtue. But of
this I am affured, that your knowlege is wor-
thy of that God, who is the author of your
art. Together therefore, with the praiſe of
your ſkill and honefty, I have fent you, as
tokens of my acknowledgement, four phials
of pure gold, two filver cups wrought
abroad, ten pair of glafs cups, twenty boys,
and fifty thouſand Attic crowns. I have alfo
order'd my ſteward Teucer to pay you a
fallary equal to that of my captains of ſhips,
guards, and other centurions. A poor re-
ward for ſo noble a benefit! But let this add,
in fome meaſure, to its value; that he, who
can never be able to repay the favour, does
at the fame time confeſs his inability of do-
ing it.
To the fame.
LXXI.
ON your account I have releaſed Callaf-
trus, whofe defigns againſt me were ſo open
and avow'd, that he has not only confefs'd
the confpiracy, but pointed out to me all
thofe, who were concern'd in it; and in-
form'd me where, how, and in what manner
they
76
The EPISTLES of
they were to have attack'd me. It would
be the highest ingratitude in me to deny
life to any at the interceffion of him, to
whom I am indebted for my own. Befides,
I thought it the moſt proper gift to beſtow
on a phyſician, who is himſelf for ever em-
ploy'd in giving health and fafety to all, who
afk it of him. But let Callafchrus look on
it as a piece of good fortune, unexpected and
undeſerved, that he, through your intereſt,
ſhould fave his own life, who would have
taken away that of another; which he would
foon have executed, had he not been luckily
prevented.
TO PERISTHENES,
LXXII.
THE wives of Eubulus and Ariphantus,
who were engaged in the confpiracy againſt
me, whom you took prifoners, and whom
I at first intended to cut off, I have pardon'd.
You will perhaps wonder what could be the
occafion of ſo fudden a change; and when
you
hear that it was owing to their extraordi-
nary merit, your wonder may increaſe. On
their examination, they not only confefs'd
that they were privy to the confpiracies
of
$
PHALARIS:
77
of their husbands, but that they had them-
felves agreed to join in killing the Tyrant ;
and when I demanded of them what injuries
of any kind I had ever done them to de-
ſerve it, they replied, no private but a pub-
lick one; for the higheſt injury did they
eſteem it to reduce free cities to flavery.
When I afk'd them what puniſhment was
due to crimes like theirs; they reply'd,
death. Judging them worthy of life, who
could look on death with fo much intrepi-
dity, O Perifthenes, I could not but forgive
fuch greatneſs of foul. Call their relations
together therefore, and reftore to them every
thing you took from theſe women, when
you made them priſoners; that they may,
by no means, have the leaft injury to com-
plain of.
To EVAN DE R.
LXXIII.
BOTH you and the Himerians, and even
the greateſt part of all Sicily, muſt acknow-
lege that Phalaris furvived the confpiracy
of Himera, becauſe he was more virtuous
than his enemies, who were concern'd in it.
Jupiter is not fo unjust a judge as to deli-
ver
78
The EPISTLES of
ver any man into the hands of thofe, who,
how good fo ever they might be in other
refpects, would dare to violate his Temple by
an act of impiety. That a Tyrant fhould be
thus preſerved, the world may yet be un-
willing to believe. I am concern'd to
hear that Stefichorus is uneafy at the report
of Eubulus and his accomplices, who have
laid their confpiracy to the charge of his
poems. Let him, by no means, trouble him-
felf, or think I could poffible give any credit
to it. For if they had really, as they affert,
apply'd themſelves to the ſtudy of his works,
they would not now have been puniſh'd for
their crimes; but rewarded for their virtues.
TO ORSIL OCH US.
LXXIV.
If it was look'd on as a reproach to me,
that the philofopher Pythagoras, whom I
had often invited, refufed to come, (as you
poffitively afferted, with the higheſt enco-
miums on his prudence in avoiding me ;)
that he is now here, and has lived with me in
the strictest amity for theſe five months,
fhould, on the other hand, be mention'd to
my
PHALARIS.
79
my honour; for it is indifputable, that he
would not have ſtay'd an hour with me, if
my manners and diſpoſition had not, in ſome
meaſure, reſembled and been agreeable to his
own.
To LEONTIDES.
LXXV.
By your moſt abufive harangues you
fpirited up the Camarians to wage war a-
gainst me. * But know, your oratory will
little avail, when I fhall revenge myſelf,
not by empty words, with which you attack'd
me, but by ſuch actions, as will be ſufficient to
deter others from confpiring againſt me.
When the Camarians know this, they will
furely much rather chufe to experience the
humanity and benevolence than the rage of
Phalaris.
To DEMARAT U S.
LXXVI.
CEASE to wonder at the deaths of Al-
cinus and Dorymenes, as if inflicted with a
*See Epift. 101. to Eubulus. Where it is obfervable
that this whole Epiftle, except the first fentence, is repeated.
tyrannical
80
The EPISTLES of
tyrannical cruelty and injuftice. Certainly
it ſhould rather move your admiration, that
they have already twice or thrice received
pardon, and not met, long fince, with that
puniſhment, which they deſerved.
To HEGE SIP PUS.
LXXVII.
I doubt not but you, and the reſt of the
relations of Clifthenes, who are moſt con-
cern'd at his banishment, (when to repent of
what is paft is all that is now left,) are at
length convinced of his folly, in attempting
that, for which he fuffer'd. When he was
firft feduced by the fond ambition of manag-
ing the commonwealth, I look'd on him with
an eye of pity, and even fent letters to foretel
him of the inevitable confequences of it.
But he, puff'd up with the luft of fame, gave
no ear to me; thought me a trifler, and an
utter ſtranger to the arts of government;
or perhaps as a Tyrant of courfe an
enemy to all, who confulted the public
good. In this manner perfifting, his own
arrogance deſtroy'd him; and he learn'd,
to his ruin, that Phalaris, though a Ty-
rant knew how to govern a city; which he
ſhew'd himſelf miferably unfit to manage.
In
PHALAR IS.
81
In reality, the common herd are eaſily drawn
away to any thing wrong; the end of their
ſchemes rarely correfponding with their be-
ginnings. For my own part, (and I think
every man in his fenfes muſt be of the fame
opinion) I had much rather be condemn'd
than applauded by them. Their hatred is
extinguiſh'd in much lefs time than it was
kindled in; nor, in fact, at its greateſt height
is it much to be fear'd; while, on the other
hand, their favour is for the moſt part fol-
low'd by baniſhment, death, the lofs of all we
have, or fomething no leſs calamitous. By
the great Jove I fwear, I fpeak that to thee,
which I think and know. The multitude
is ever confufed, mad, impotent, eafy to
be bent on either fide, perfidious, falſe, a
mere empty found, angry and pleaſed in an
inſtant; and that flave to a commonwealth,
who courts the populace, is only feek-
ing glory to his deſtruction.
have there been, who have labour'd under
this diſeaſe; hurried on by a fooliſh and un-
bridled paffion, or rather madneſs, to love it
with a ſtronger affection than ever the fondeſt
parents fhew'd to their children; with more
eagerness than the tendereft huſbands exprefs
G
Many yet
to
82
The EPISTLES of
to their wives; the covetous do not fo dote on
their coffers; the warriors, nor thoſe, who breed
up horfes for the Olympic games, do not with
fo much ardour purſue their feveral inclina-
tions as theſe men feek that ridiculous honour,
that wretched applaufe, which always ends
in their deftruction. The friends of fuch have
caufe to grieve, and their enemies may moft
confidently rejoyce. Do you, who are the re-
lations of the unfortunate Clifthenes, take pity
on and comfort him, as one, who has tafted
of the afflictions of human life; and as he
has hitherto been in a fatal error, turn away
his thoughts from any thing of this kind, for
the future.
TO STESI CHORUS.
LXXVIII.
NICCCLES of Syracufe, whom you are
moſt probably acquainted with, (for as he
is of a noble family, he can hardly be un-
known to Stefichorus) having lately loft his
wife, is inconfolable; and indeed not with-
out reaſon, ſhe being both his wife and neice
by the fifter's fide. This Nicocles having,
I fuppofe, heard of the friendship between
us, fent his brother Cleonicus to me, defiring
me
PHALARIS.
83
me to apply to you for a poem in her praiſe;
and by all I hear from the Syracufians,
both in regard to her fingular modefty, and
more than ordinary merit, fhe is no unworthy
fubject. I know you had refolved never to
write any thing in praiſe of thoſe of your
own age; left you might give the world room
to ſay your poetry was venal. This good,
this pious and friendly woman, is now no
longer of this age, but fnatch'd away from
us. Let not therefore that refolution, by any
means, hinder you from granting my requeſt.
Stefichorus fhould refuſe nothing to Phalaris;
not that
you are at all indebted to me, but
that I would gladly ftrengthen myſelf in the
opinion of your regard for me. Give me
therefore this teftimony of your eſteem,
which I aſk in my own name to beſtow it
on a friend. What remains (if you confent,)
is only to inform you, that her name is Cle-
arista; by birth a Syracufian; the daughter
of Echecratides; wife and niece of Nicocles: ;
married ſeventeen years; aged thirty; the
mother of two children; and that lafly ſhe
died of a conſumption. Theſe are the heads
you must go upon; may the Goddeffes,
whom you worſhip, infpire you, and adorn
G 2
that
84
The EPISTLES of
other works,
that facred head, as in all your
fo in that, which you fhall write for my
fake in praiſe of Clearifta.
To the fame.
LXXIX.
For your verſes on Clearifta, I return you
many and moft hearty thanks. You have
done all in your power to oblige me.
Every part of the work is happily diſpoſed;
the whole poem excellent, and applaud-
ed, not by me alone (who admire every
thing that comes from Stefichorus) but by
many of the beſt judges in Agrigentum, who
read it with me. Nor will it be celebrated
by the preſent times only, but by all poſte-
rity. My fincereft acknowlegements there-
fore, I again repeat it, are due to you, that at
my requeſt you have enrich'd this and future
ages with fo invaluable a poem: But of me
and my actions (for ſomething of that kind
you ſeem to intimate in your letter) I beseech
you, by Jove the hofpitable, and the facred
altars dedicated to friendſhip, that you would
not make the leaft mention. The unhappy
ſtation I am in has made my name hateful
to the people. Whether your private opinion
of
PHALARIS
85
of me therefore be more or lefs favourable
than that of the publick, let it be never
openly declared in the verfes but wrote in the
heart of Stefichorus.
TO CLEANETAS and THEANO.
LXXX.
For your warmth in efpoufing my cauſe,
and the generous defign of fpeaking favour-
ably of Phalaris, you have both my fincere
thanks. Tho' it would give me the greateſt
fatisfaction, my hard fortune will not permir
it. In regard to my birth and family, you
will find my name ſpotlefs and unblemiſh'd,
But it has been fullied by actions, to which
neceffity drove me, contrary to my natural
inclinations. Nor am I odious on any other
account, but that I would not fubmit to the
laws, making myſelf a law to my ſub-
jects. The favour therefore, which you de-
fign'd, by making honourable mention of
Phalaris, will be more effectually conferr'd
by ſaying nothing of him.
G 3
To
86
EPISTLES of
To the EN NEAN S.
LXXXI.
I would by no means have you imagine
that any uneafineſs, on account of the money,
which I remitted to you, was the occafion
of this letter; but that you might enjoy the
full benefit of it, by calling Periander to
juftice. Though, if it fhould appear that
this accufation of theft againſt him was with-
out foundation, I must own I ſhould then be
inclined to fufpect that the city was not in
reality deftitute of money; but that this was
merely a pretext, made uſe of to defraud the
creditors. It has indeed an appearance even
of madneſs, one moment to plead poverty.
and beg money, and the next, as if they
abounded in riches, to give up the public
ftock a prey to robbers. You fhould certainly
have convinced your creditors that you were
rich, by paying them; or the theives, that you
were poor, by giving them nothing. But if,
inſtead of this, you permit what belongs to
the public to fall into the hands of any, who
will pleaſe to come for it, and at the fame
time pretend that you are too poor to fatisfy
your creditors, you behave unjustly without
the leaft excufe for or inducement to it; it
would
PHALARI S.
87
would be much more honourable in you to
repay what
you borrow'd, which otherwife
would fall into the hands of plunderers,
than thus to deceive me, under the pretence
of trying my generofity, and permitting Pe-
riander to enjoy the money, I lent you,
unmolefted. It is however yet in your pow-
er either to procure fatisfaction for me and
fafety to yourſelves, or to throw away both
my money and your own.
To TIMA n de r.
LXXXII.
THAT the Camarians, who for a long
time refuſed to enter into a war on fo tri-
vial an occafion, have at length levied an
army againſt me, may perhaps give you no
fmall fatisfaction. But when all your idle
hopes of the event fhall be fruſtrated;
then, not what you have done, but the puniſh-
ment inevitably following it, will make you
repent. What relief or comfort will then
remain for you? If indeed your having
perfuaded the Camarians to this could have
given me any uneafinefs, it might alſo have
afforded you a pleafure; but in every thing
you have hitherto done, you have only pre-
judiced
G 4
88
The EPISTLES of
judiced yourſelf. My torments fhall never
put an end to the life of fuch a wretch as
thyfelf. Under a weight of guilt like thine,
to live is the propereſt puniſhment; and to
have thy days extended, if poffible, beyond
the term, which nature has allotted thee.
To the MILESIAN S.
LXXXIII.
By the perfuafions of your ambaffadors,
I have been prevail'd upon to lend you fome
money; which yet, on account of the per-
petual expence of wars, I can ill fpare.
But friendſhip, as it is faid, admits of no ex-
cuſes. Let me not however reproach you
hereafter for imitating the generality of man-
kind; who, when they borrow, uſe all the
arts of flattery; but when call'd on to re-
turn it, change their fawning to abuſe, with-
out the least regard to juftice or gratitude.
Doubtless he, who receives a benefit, fhould
remember him, who beftow'd it; and till
the obligation is cancell'd, by the diſcharge
of what he owes, behave with equal courteſy
to all thoſe, to whom he is indebted. Be
they good or bad men, the favour is ſtill the
fame; and we fhould return to every one
their own. For my own part, O Milefians,
I
PHALARIS.
89
I truſt I am ever firm to my principles, and
the fame; but thofe, who borrow only to
ſerve a prefent turn, are too apt to change
their difpofitions with their circumſtances,
as the Camaleon its colour, according to
the diverfity of its fituation.
When they
borrow, they extol their friend as their bene-
factor and their God; when he is to be
paid, calumniate him as a Tyrant and a vil-
lain. I am fatisfied it is much more eligible
to be defrauded by a private man than by a
whole community; for he, who is deprived
of his right by the former, makes but one
enemy, and that an infignificant one; where-
as he, who is wrong'd by the latter, meets
with an equal lofs, and befides creates a
thouſand. But, as I have not the leaft fufpi-
cion of any thing of this kind from
you, I
moſt willingly ſend you the money; becauſe
I know you are careful in all your affairs,
and the ſtricteſt obſervers of juftice in your
agreements. Nor need I inform you, that
it will be with much more difficulty believed
that one ſhould injure many, than that many
ſhould injure one; for it is infinitely more
probable that a multitude fhould hold in
contempt a ſingle man, than that a ſingle
man
90
The EPISTLES of
man ſhould have ftrength and courage e-
nough to deſpiſe a multitude.
To the MESSENIANS.
LXXXIV.
WHEN I fent the Delphic tripods, the
golden crowns, and other valuable gifts to
your Temples, to implore health of the Gods,
I was in fome doubt whether you would
piouſly confecrate them, or defraud me, and
ſhare them among yourfelves; which laſt I
find you have done. You invented falfities
againſt me, and facrilegiouſly deprived the
Gods of the preſents devoted to them, under
a pretence that they were unholy. * Eut
where is the difference between robbing them
of that, which is already confecrated; or
that, which was defign'd to be fo? Both
are equally their right, and the giver has
no farther title to them. My reverence to
the Gods therefore and your impiety are fuf-
ficiently atteſted. Neither he, who gave,
nor thoſe, who took away, can lye hid from
them. It is enough for me that though they
did not receive the gifts, you alone will be
*See Lucian's Phalaris, p. 16.
the
PHALARI S.
91
the object of their vengeance; for you con-
feſs'd that what I fent, were not polluted; nor
could they indeed be fo, unless the fame things
ſhould have the double quality of being good,
when diſtributed among you, and bad, when
offer'd to the Gods. You have even accufed
and condemn'd yourſelves; for the magiſtrates
lay it to the charge of the people, that they
were thus treated as the gifts of an enemy,
and they in their turn retort it on the ma-
giftrates; and what is ftill more impious,
you call the Gods themselves traitors, fhould
they receive theſe prefents; as if they were
fubject to the vices of mankind; when at the
fame time you have never call'd to account
thoſe honeft citizens of your republic, who
would no less than three times have gladly
furrender'd up Melana, in the fame manner
as I got Agrigentum into my hands, if I
would have given them the price they afk'd
for it. But you dare not punish them for
what you are yourſelves guilty of. You are
all to be corrupted. My intended gifts,
and thofe, which I have already offer'd to
the Gods, I fhall concern myfelf no farther
about. Thoſe Gods, whom you have in-
jured, will revenge my cauſe and their own,
by
92
The EPISTLES of
by inflicting on you that puniſhment, which
you deferve.
To TIMON ACTE S.
LXXXV.
I have defeated the Leontines. But that
you may be the better able to bear this mif
fortune, and left the telling you all ſhould
perhaps make you lay violent hands on
yourſelf, I have not wrote you a diſtinct
account of the whole; nor fhall I inform
you that I have alfo totally routed the Tau-
romenites, and the Zancleans, who came to
their affiftance; neither will mention the
hundred talents, which the prifoners paid
me for their ranfom. I would not deſtroy
one already almoft dead with the report of
my incredible victories, or boaſt I had thus
kill'd a man, when in your prefent condition
you no longer deferve the name of one.
To HIER 0.
LXXXVI.
THO' I have matter enough of complaint
againſt thee, eſpecially for thy harangues to
the Leontines in the late popular fedition, I
fhall only tell thee that the Indian Elephant
never ſtoops to reſent the injuries of the Gnat.
To
PHALARIS:
93
To ARISTANETU S.
LXXXVII.
THE approach of old age does not give
me any concern; fince it is Phalaris him.
ſelf and not his power, which decays. But
your anxiety on my account makes me un-
happy. In fpite of all the fears of Arifta-
netus, death muft infallibly come. * It is
better therefore, according to the precept of
the poet, to fuffer the evil that is decreed,
without the dread of it.
To the HI MERE AN S.
LXXXVIII.
You have fufficiently diſcover'd. to me,
O Himereans, that you think it of very little
confequence to you whether Phalaris be
your friend or enemy. Providence however
has hitherto ſmiled upon me; and I look on
its paft protection as an earneſt of future
favours, and doubt not but every thing will
*The original is in two Iambic verfes, quoted by Phalaris
from fome antient poet, whofe works are not now extant.
happen
94
The EPISTLES of
*
happen to my wish. Conon, as I before
inform'd you, I order'd to immediate death;
becauſe I knew him to be a villain, and one,
who had neither * parents nor relations in the
city. Dropidas I fent back to you with ſuch
honours as I could beſtow on him; becauſe
he neither behaved ill to you, nor injured me.
Concerning Stefichorus we fhall take time to
confider.
To NEOLAIDAS.
LXXXIX.
BE affured you have nothing to fear from
my refentment; for I find the good things
you
have done much outweigh the evil. To
the former therefore add this; never to force
me to entertain a worſe opinion of you than
I have at prefent.
To MNESICLES.
XC.
I heartily congratulate you on the birth
of your daughter; though it feems you
See Ep. 108.
* Among other reafons for ordering Conon to immediate
death, Phalaris mentions his having no friends or relations;
fo that the punishment could affect none but the guilty
perſon; which, if it was thus mcant, is a mark of the hu-
manity of the Tyrant.
wifh'd
PHALARIS.
95
wish'd rather for a fon. I own, in my opi-
nion, you are much happier as it is; for na-
ture has fo order'd it that daughters are gene-
rally the moſt dutiful to their parents. In
regard to my prefents, I fhall then think
they are really acceptable to you, when you
not only gladly receive what I fend, but will
let me know what you moft want; which
I cannot poffibly otherwife be acquainted
with; and eſpecially at this time, when you
must neceffarily have occafion for a larger
fupply, on account of the birth of your
daughter.
To ALCANDER.
XCI.
LET not my filence encourage you, or
any man living, to hope his words or ac-
tions could intimidate me. For as I
know the art of war, as I never yet ridi-
culouſly attempted any thing beyond my
ſtrength, or did any thing unjust, and as I
am no ftranger to the inconftancy of for-
tune, and all her doubtful and fluctuating
motions, I account myfelf therefore fitter
to teach others than to be myſelf inform'd of
theſe
96
The EPISTLES of
theſe things, and yield to none, in a juft
confidence of my own abilities. I truft in
God I fhall never fhew myſelf inferior to
the man, who injures me, and have a firm
hope in him, that he will deliver up all
thoſe, who confpire againſt me, into my
power.
To STE SICHORU S.
XCII.
I hear you have been at Aluntium, Alæfa,
and from city to city to collect money and
foldiers againſt me; and will you then, O
Stefichorus, continue, at your years, this ri-
diculous madneſs, in fupport of a common.
wealth? Have you no veneration for thoſe
Goddeffes, you pretend to adore; whom
you
thus proſtitute and betray, by making uſe
of them to ftir up the populace againſt a
power much too ftrong for them? Have,
you no more regard to your children than
thus to provoke an enemy able to cruſh
them like a reed? I hear alfo that you are
about a deſcription, in verfe, of the return
of
PHALAR IS.
97
of the Gracians; *wherein you have cen-
fured the raſhneſs of fome of their Heroes ;
little confidering, at the fame time, how
you ſhall yourſelf return from Alafa to
Himera. But know, the Rock of Caphareus,
the Symplegades, Charybdis, and all the dread-
ful preparation of Nauplius await thee; nor
fhalt thou eſcape my hands, though a God,
which with you poets is no uncommon
thing, ſhould tranfport thee from my fight.
ተተ To the HI MERE AN S.
XCIII.
To Stefichorus we have given liberty, and
free pardon, tho' not at your interceffion;
in fpite of which he might have fuffer'd a
thouſand deaths; but we yielded him up to
thofe Goddeffes, to whom he is devoted, and
to all the Gods and Heroes, who prefide
* Phalaris alludes here to a poem, written by Stefichorus
call'd I'λix Пepois, or the deftruction of Troy, cited by
Paufanias.
+ Sed me per hoftes Mercurius celer.
Denso paventem fuftulit áére.
ROM.
Says Horace, after he had ran away at the battle of Philippi.
Phalaris moſt probably alludes to Homer's Heroes, who are
frequently convey'd away in a Cloud by fome God, who fleps
in to their affiftance. See Iliad B. 3. and Odys. B. 7.
++ See Ep. 108,
H
over
98
The EPISTLES of
over Himera. They have never injured
Phalaris. What ſchemes he plan'd a-
gainſt me you beſt know; but confcience
would not permit me to join a man, like
him ſo juſtly renown'd for wiſdom, and
facred to the Mufes, in the fame puniſh-
ment with fo infamous a wretch as Conon.
On the contrary, I could wish to preferve
fuch men from the power of death. But I
enjoin you henceforth never urge him on
to actions like thoſe he fo lately engaged in;
for, as I am inform'd by fome people of
Alafa, it was not his own inclinations, but
your rafh advice, which drove him to it.
Force him not therefore any more to things
of this kind; but chufe out men fitter for
your purpoſe. Leave Stefichorus to his
tudies and retirement, and by no means
raiſe up enemies againſt me, who refemble
him, whom I fhall perhaps be tempted to
treat with lefs moderation. But, if you
are in want of men to manage your affairs,
pick out fuch, I beseech you, as, if they
chance to fall into my hands, I may cut off
without any fcruple or remorfe; whofe
deaths will give neither you nor myſelf the
leaft uneafineſs.
To
PHALARIS.
99
To STESI CHORUS.
XCIV.
THOUGH We are not lord of Himera,
◇ Stefichorus, yet are we of Agrigentum:
Great therefore is my obligation to thee, who,
by endeavouring to take away from me a
leſs empire, haft given me a greater; for
know, whilſt I am mafter of Agrigentum,
I can with cafe revenge myſelf of all the
enemies, which I have at Himera.
To AUTONO AS.
XCV.
On the receipt of your letters, I fent you
the money immediately; it having been ever
my opinion that to make a benefit truly va-
luable, it ſhould be conferr'd not only fea-
ſonably but expeditiouſly. I have therefore
given you the three talents you defired, to
pay the fine for your fon, to recall him from
baniſhment, and prevent his ever falling a-
gain into the like calamity. How great a
one it is, I myſelf know by experience. I
have alſo ſent three talents to recover his
goods, which were confifcated. But let me
adviſe Clifthenes never to engage again in the
affairs
H 2
100
The EPISTLES of
affairs of the commonwealth; nor entangle
himſelf in a buſineſs, which, if it fucceeds,
the whole body reaps the fruit of, and, if it
fails, all the misfortunes refulting from it.
are fure to fall on the leaders. If his own
diftreffes are not a fufficient leffon, let him
learn one from the example of his kinfman
Phalaris. Unfkill'd in the management
of a multitude, I was driven out of my
native country; to which, though a Tyrant,
I can never return; and furely the pleaſures
of a Tyranny can never compenſate for the
pains of exile. I ſwear by the Gods, 1 do
not ſay this from any uneafineſs at the ex-
pence you have put me to, but from an un-
feign'd forrow for your misfortunes. I am
not afraid that I ſhould be obliged to repeat
the favour, but that you ſhould be again re-
duced to the neceffity of aſking it; for, `in
regard to my friends, the more unfortunate
they are, the greater willingneſs and liber-
ality would I endeavour to fhew in their re-
lief.
To NICOP HEM U S.
XCVI.
THE wretches, whom in your harangue
to the Leontines you reprefented as expiring
under
PHALARIS.
101
1
as
under fuch cruel torments, I put to death
juſtly for a confpiracy against me. But you,
not in the leaſt terrified by their example,
have yourſelf been guilty of the fame, and
endeavour'd to fpirit up the Leontines
to a war, which fuch arguments
thoſe you made ufe of will hardly in-
cline them to profecute. It is fcarce pof-
fible the man, who is dreaded for his cruelty,
ſhould alſo be deſpiſed for his cowardice ;
but if they ſhould follow your advice and
take up arms againſt me, I fhall not envy
you the due* reward of
reward of your ſervices, nor
endeavour by any means to diffuade
the purſuit of it.
To LYSIN US.
XCVII.
you from
WILL there never then, O Lyfinus, be
an end to thy raſhneſs? O thou moſt fooliſh
of men; at thirty years of age, to have no
more regard to thyſelf than thus to provoke
an enemy ſo much thy fuperior; ſtill con-
tinuing to write tragedies againſt me, as if
fuch things could give me the leaſt uneafineſs!
But take heed thyfelf of an end more cruel
than any tragedy thou couldst ever invent.
* The Bull.
H 3
Ta
102
EPISTLES of
To EPICH ARM US.
XCVIII.
}
YOUR approbation outweighs with me the
good opinion of all Sicily, even though,
when you ſpeak of me as I am, not a man
in it will perhaps credit your affertion. The
vulgar, born merely to fill up the creation,
I have always look'd upon as unworthy of
the leaft regard; whether I am utterly un-
known to, or admired by fuch, will be of no
confequence. There are many who think with
you (though I would rather count by virtue
than by numbers) who eſteem me an honeft
and a virtuous man. But did you even ſtand
alone in your judgment, that teftimony
in
my favour would be fufficient, nor fhould
I defire a nobler encomium.
To CEBRO N.
XCIX.
WHEN you are fo well acquainted with
my difpofition, when you know and wonder
at my cruelty in inflicting ſuch exquifite
tortures, how comes it to país that none of
you have yet been deterr'd from entring
into confpiracies against me? You weep
over the miſeries of thofe, who fuffer, and
yet
PHALARIS:
103
yet will not let them teach you not to in-
jure Phalaris. It would be much more
agreeable to me not to be reduced to a ne-
ceffity of inflicting fuch puniſhments, and
furely more to your intereft not ſo raſhly to
deſpiſe them. Should I act with mildneſs in
the chaſtiſement of offenders, what would
you not attempt, when even now, without
the leaft hope of favour or mitigation of the
puniſhment, you run upon it with the ut-
moſt precipitation? I promiſe therefore to
ceaſe from my cruelty, when you ſhall firſt
ceaſe to injure me.
To EUCT EMO N.
C₁
THERE is nothing in your accufation of
me before the Syracufians, which is not
ſtrictly true; and I readily confefs it. But
fhould I, for the future, abſtain from puniſh-
ing fuch as doubtleſs deſerved what I inflict-
ed on them, and you on your part leave
off thoſe counfels fo prejudicial to you, it
would be much better for us both; as no
one would then have any reafon to blame
my conduct or lament your fufferings.
H 4
To
104
The EPISTLES of
To CLEO BULUS.
CI.
You cannot, with all your harangues,
perfuade the Camarians to enter into a war
againſt me, which they know muſt be car-
ried on, not by plaufible fpeeches, but by great
and glorious acts. Therefore, if
you think
to fucceed with them, you muſt firſt con-
vince them that the event will be anfwerable
to your promiſes; but, if this will not gain
their affent, change your opinion; ad-
viſe them to the contrary; and you may pro-
bably, by this means, gain your point. As
the cafe now ſtands, one of theſe two things
is indifputable; they either diſapprove of the
counfel as prejudicial, or deſpiſe the coun-
fellor, as infignificant. I am inclined to
think both; but know, I fhall revenge my-
felf on you, not by empty words, with which
you attack'd me, but by fuch actions as will
be fufficient to deter others from conſpiring
against me. When the Camarians know
this, they will furely much rather chuſe to
experience the humanity and benevolence
than the rage of Phalaris.
To
PHALARIS.
105
To CLEO DICUS.
CII.
You have laid deſigns againſt me of the
blackeſt nature, O Cleodicus, and which it
is far beyond your power to execute. How
do you flatter yourſelf you can ever hurt
Phalaris, by thus flaviſhly obeying the niece
of a low Thracian Tanner, the wife of
Autander; a wretch, who kill'd her husband,
and owes all ſhe has to that infamous mur-
ther? But I will not let my anger tranfport
me fo far as to make me employ myſelf in
enumerating thy villanies. If I thought thee
worth puniſhing, I would inſtantly revenge
myſelf, for all thy injurious treatment of
mé, on thee and thy whole race.
To the Children of STESICHORUS.
CIII.
WHAT fitter confolation can you have in
your prefent affliction, than to reflect on the
virtue of that father, whom you lament? The
funeral of Stefichorus ſhould be follow'd with
hymns and not with tears. Do not there-
fore weep or beat your breafts, or ſhew any
marks of ſorrow; not but that fuch are and
muſt
106
The EPISTLES of
muft neceffarily be made ufe of; ſuch ex-
preffions of grief are proper over thoſe only,
whoſe lives, as uſeleſs and unprofitable to the
world, rather than their deaths, are to be re-
gretted; fuch indeed we may lament, but not
Stefichorus; who ſpent his days in the fociety
of the muſes, and whoſe name will be re-
vered by future ages. His divine poems are
deſervedly eſteem'd, not only by our own
nation but by all the world; and to me the
everlaſting power of God, diffufed through
the whole univerfe, is nothing but harmony;
that harmony, which he fo nobly imitated.
Shew yourſelves therefore the worthy children
of fuch a father. It will be no eafy taſk to
follow, even at a diftance, fo bright an ex-
ample. By no means grieve at his glorious
lot, which will fecure to him a happineſs
not confined to one age, but extended to all
eternity. Do not rob him of that fame and
thoſe divine honours, which the Himereans
pay to him as a God, by weeping over him
as a man. He (I can from my own know-
lege of him affert) was never terrified at the
approach of death; but, when the time
appointed came, bore it with the fame intre-
pidity as thofe illuftrious Heroes, whofe
glorious
PHALARIS.
107
glorious deaths he has celebrated in his
poems; thoſe
poems, which you are to look
upon as the moſt invaluable treaſure, and
the beſt rules for your conduct in life. You
muft yourſelves call to mind how nobly he
behaved, when he first fell into my hands,
without the leaſt dread of ſuffering, but with
as much courage, when a priſoner, as when
an enemy in the field. Wiſdom then tri-
umph'd over tyranny. I could not hurt, I
could only endeavour to do him ſervice. Af-
ter all the labour I had been at to get him into
my power, when I had compaſs'd it, I became
as it were myſelf the captive, and thought
myſelf the perfon obliged, when he would
condeſcend to accept any favour from me;
nor do I hold him any ways bound to me
for the continuance of my friendſhip for
twelve years, (for fo long did he live after-
wards in amity with me,) but fhall ever
think myſelf indebted to him; as for many
things, fo more particularly for that con-
tempt of death, with which he only of all
mankind could have infpired me.
To
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To the CAT AN EAN s.
CIV.
You may perhaps think you have already
fufficiently fuffer'd for all the injuries you
have done me; becauſe, for the thirty men
you ſo cruelly burn'd, you have loft five hun-
dred citizens, and for the ſeven talents you
rob'd me of have repaid me by a much
greater fum. But let this inform you, what
you have hitherto fuffer'd is but the begin-
ning of my reſentment. My hatred of you,
whilſt providence holds together this frame
of things, I will never remit; I am re-
folved to wage eternal war with you; not fo
much for my own fake as that of the Gods,
in whoſe power only it is to fave or to de-
ftroy. * If the fire of Etna, into which you
threw thoſe innocent fuppliants, whoſe cauſe
I revenge, be, like the other elements of
nature, a part of the divine principle of all
things, not Phalaris alone, but that fun, who
beholdeth all, muft henceforth be your enemy.
According to that fyflem, which prevail'd in the age of
Phalaris, of the Anima Mundi, held by Pythagoras and his
followers. The Tyrant could not pay a higher compliment to
the Philofopher, whoſe friendſhip he was at this time ſo ambi-
tious of, than by thus adopting,his principles.
To
PHALARIS:
109
To NICE NÆTUS.
CV.
My frequent letters to your father, defiring
him to put a stop, if poffible, to your rash
attempts againſt me, have perhaps only given
you farther encouragement in the purſuit of
them; as if my requeſts on that head were
the effect of fear. But furely I fhould have
thought it much beneath me to have wrote
on that account. The truth is, having
heard that your aged father was a man of a
mild and tender difpofition, and had no other
children but yourſelf, I could not help pitying
him; and at the fame time, in fome meaſure,
pardoning you; attributing your indifcretion
to the heat of youth; whilft you, without the
leaft regard to a father, trembling for his only
child, or to your own fafety, perfift in your
follies; either becauſe you have never ſuffer'd
for them, or becauſe you think you may leave
them off, whenever you pleaſe; which fel-
dom happens, even to much wifer men than
yourſelf. Whilft therefore it is yet in your
power to chuſe that, which is beft, do no
follow the example of Timander, but rather
hearken to an enemy, who confults your
welfare, than a friend, who would perfuade
you to your 4322
To
110
The EPISTLES of
To POLLU X.
CVI.
BE affured, Pollux, my injuries are much
greater than my reſentments; nor are, as you
affert, the evils I bear myſelf, and the puniſh-
ments I inflict on others, equally cruel; for no
leſs than thrice have I pardon'd thofe, who
confpired againſt me; whereas on their fide,
of all thofe, who have thus treated me, not
one, even after being detected in his villany,
will bluſh to repeat it.
To The E GINIANS.
CVII.
I ſee no reaſon why, as I have power to
do it, I fhould not, with the strictest juſtice,
revenge myſelf on you; which I will ine-
vitably do, unleſs you inftantly fend back the
men, whom you illegally, (and merely in
compliance with that infamous wretch Pafio)
have detain'd theſe three months in prifon.
To the HI MEREAN S.
CVIII.
KNOW, Stefichorus, Conon, and Dropidas
are not with the Corinthians, to whom you
fent
PHALAR IS.
III
fent them, but with me; being taken in their
paffage from Pachynus to Peloponnefus. Dro-
pidas we fhall perhaps fend back to you.
Conon was order'd to immediate Death. Ste-
fichorus is yet alive till we have refolved in
what manner he fhall fuffer.
To STESI CHORUS,
CIX.
I hear you are in the greateſt fear, when
you reflect on my power and your own
guilt, in carrying on defigns againſt me in
favour of the commonwealth. But I am a-
mazed you ſhould not have expreſs'd the fame
fear, when with fuch ardour you firſt affifted
the Himereans and promiſed, if they would
take your advice, to extirpate the tyrannical
government, as you call'd it. But if you had
then that contempt of death, which every
wife man ought to have, why are you now
in fuch anxiety? Have you not ſtrength
of mind enough to bear up againſt thoſe
things, which you then forefaw would be
the inevitable confequences of fuch an under-
taking. If you were always uneafy at the
apprehenfion of future puniſhment, why
would you fo rafhly exclaim against me?
Why
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1
Why would you ftir up fo powerful an enemy,
by repreſenting me as an haughty villain, and
producing fentences out of your poems before
the people to aſperſe me? Engaged as you
were in the peaceable ſtudies of muſick and
poetry, why would you thus throw yourſelf
into a way of life fo directly inconfiftent with
them; and when you might have enjoyed
leiſure and retirement, thus involve yourſelf
in affairs fo ill fuited to your talents? But
fince you have reſolved, inſtead of a poet,
to be the leader of a popular faction, look
for the fate, not of poets or muſicians,
but fuch a one as thofe leaders, who enter
into defigns far beyond their abilities, and
fall into the hands of their enemies, muſt ex-
pect to meet with.
To CLISTHENES.
CX.
THERE are a kind of men, who, if their
advice be rejected, never fail to take occafion,
from the event they had foretold, to affume
great merit to themſelves; whoſe example I
would by no means follow; nor do I mean by
this letter to double your calamity by re-
proach, tho' the misfortune you fell into
might
PHALAR IS.
113
might have been prevented, by giving ear to
what I propoſed. But thofe, who act thus,
have always appear'd to me to do it merely
with a deſign to magnify their own wiſdom,
and infult the unhappy men, who would
not follow their counſel. For my own part,
as I forefaw and warn'd you of what would
happen, now it is come to pafs, I take
to myſelf a ſhare both of your error and
your misfortune; I admoniſh'd you indeed;
but in regard to your ill fucceſs, whether
owing to accident or misconduct, I am equal-
ly concern'd for it. I fhall not lay the blame
on fortune; but ufe my utmoſt endeavours
to remove the evil as foon as poffible; of
which, when you fee your mother, you will
be more fully inform❜d. After all, your ob-
ſtinacy in refufing my protection in your
baniſhment is highly to be condemn'd. But
if the fear of reproach hinder'd you, I own
the expreffing fuch a fenfe of your error
gives me fome fatisfaction. If any other
reaſons deterr'd you, I am greatly wrong'd
by your fufpicions. If your apprehen-
tions of my resentment was the true cauſe,
and you are aſhamed of your error, I flatter
myfelf
I
114
The EPISTLES of
myſelf you will never be guilty of the like a-
gain.
To NICI P P U S.
CXI.
By accepting my prefents, you have con-
ferr'd an obligation on me; and I thank you
for it. But becauſe you ſeem'd apprehenſive
of the reſentment of the Syracufians on this
account, I muſt inform you that if you had
not accepted of them, I would have accufed
you of it to your enemies, and affured them
that you had. So that the confequence
would have been the fame; or rather there
weuld have been more danger in refufing
than receiving them; for if you had done
the former, I would have affirm'd I gave
them to you, and you would have been
thought as guilty as if you had received them.
If the latter, I fhould have abſolutely deny'd
my ſending them to you; which would
have vouch'd your innocence, and freed
from all fufpicion.
To HIERONYMUS.
CXII.
you
You afk me by what means I can ever
hope to vanquish the Leontines, who invade
and
PHALARIS.
115
and ravage my kingdom. I fhall not allege
the juſtice of my cauſe, or that I act only in
my own defence; ſuch reaſons would ſeem
to you of little moment; but this I dare
affirm, that, whatever you may pretend, you
cannot but know I am provided with plenty
of arms, brave foldiers, money, fhips and
horfes; all which though they are utterly
deftitute of; they have yet enter'd into a war
with one, who has not only all thefe, but
good fortune always to fecond him in every
undertaking.
To LA MACH US.
CXIII.
In your harrangues to the Camarians,
whenever you can get the ear of the po-
pulace, you are perpetually recalling to their
minds the death of the ſeven and thirty, who
were, as you exprefs it, fo inhumanly tor-
mented in my Bull. May that number never
be increaſed. I fwear, by the great Jove,
I wish it never may. But I know fome,
who will not permit me to ftop here. I fear
you will oblige me to make them thirty nine,
by adding yourſelf and the raſh Epiterfes;
little confidering that your idle calumnies can
I 2
never
116
The EPISTLES of
1
never prejudice me; while on the other hand
my revenge may coſt you your lives.
To NICAR CH US.
CXIV.
You have not perfuaded the Camarians to
make war againſt me; but you have obliged
me to take up arms againſt them. They
indeed acted as wife men fhould; for, en-
deavouring after a right underſtanding
of the affair, and weighing the event before
they would enter into the undertaking,
they rejected your advice a long time;
and yet you are not aſhamed, ſtill by your
harangues, to prejudice both them and your-
felf infinitely more than me, againſt whom
all your malice was defign'd.
To NICE U S.
CXV.
NEITHER the Bull, nor any other inftru-
ment of torment, can ſtrike any terror into
thee; if it could, you would not, by en-
endeavouring to ftir up a war againſt me, as
you fo lately did, have laid yourſelf open to
my refentment.
To
PHALARIS.
117
To CLEOME DON.
CXVI.
It has been your conftant employment of
late, to brand me with infamy, and to la-
ment the miferable fate of Cleombrotus. It
ſhall now be mine, to get thee into my hands
as foon as poffible; a wretch as fuperior to
him in guilt, as beneath him in every other
reſpect.
me.
To the MILESIAN S.
CXVII.
I have not ſent back your ambaffador with
the letters unopen'd, through any contempt
of the honours you were pleaſed to beſtow on
But fuch is my condition, that I am
not a fit fubject for your praiſes. You may
perhaps believe there are others, who think
as favourably of me as you, but I know
that I appear wicked to all eyes but
yours; nor is it poffible for me to remove
the prejudices againſt me. It is even dan-
gerous for you to commend me; left the
groundless opinions of men fhould be from
thence inclined to think ill of you alſo, as
fatisfy'd you would never praiſe the worſt of
I 3
men,
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men, unleſs you alſo reſembled him. I was
therefore loth to accept of an honour, which,
at the fame time that it could be of no fer-
vice to my reputation, might be extremely
prejudicial to yours.
To the CA MARIAN S.
CXVIII.
As I have already fent to Gella and to the
Leontines, I thought proper alfo to apply to
you to affiſt me as foon as poffible; not
with arms, horſes, or men, (for of theſe, as
you inform me, there are none left in the
city) but with money. The Leontines fent
me five talents immediately, and the people
of Gella have promiſed to fupply me with
ten. I flatter myſelf you will not ſuffer
yourſelves to be outdone either by the Leon-
tines in expedition, or the Gellians in libera-
lity.
To the ASTY PALE A N S.
CXIX.
THOUGH in the courſe of my life, from
various and unlook'd for misfortunes, I have
felt the greateſt degree of miſery, and tafted
alfo
PHALARIS.
119
alfo the most exquifite happiness, I think I
never experienced fo much of either as in
theſe two circumſtances. Firſt, the day of
my unjuſt banishment, which did moft
deeply afflict me; as might indeed be natu-
rally expected, being a calamity moft infup-
portable even to thofe, who have deferved it;
and on the other hand that exceffive joy,
which I received from hearing that you had
made fuch honourable mention of me, and
wrote to me as a friend concerning the fitu-
ation of your affairs. You have aſk'd a
favour of me; a plain indication of your
eſteeming me a man, who has your intereſt
at heart; not that you fo much want the
thing required, as to give me this publick
teſtimony of
your good opinion, and to fig-
nify that you think my baniſhment unjuſt,
and condemn the authors of it. Never do
men aſk any thing of thofe, whom they do
not love; or receive it from thofe, who do
not love them. It would little become me
at this time to reproach you for not applying
to me before, as I ought rather to thank
you for aſking that, which if you accept I
fhall look upon as beſtow'd on me; for I
efteem your requeſt a favour done to myſelf;
I 4
nor
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nor could I receive any prefent from you
with half the fatisfaction I give it. What
indeed can be more honourable or more de-
firable to a man than to appear beneficent to
his fellow citizens; a compliment, which I
find by your letters you have been pleaſed
to honour me with? That the preſents
arrived ſo much later than you expected was
not owing to any negligence of your ambaf-
fadors, but to the inclemency of the feaſon.
I forwarded them as much as lay in my
power; but in fuch weather, it was even ex-
tremely hazardous to fet fail; and that the
things came ſafe, after being ſo long toſt a-
bout at the mercy of the fea, was the indul-
gence of fortune, who deferves your acknow-
legement for it. You need not doubt but
your ambaffadors will bring them all home ;
and Eubulus, whom I charged with this let-
ter, will alſo give you an exact account of
every thing. When he has inform'd
you of
the number and quality of them, you will
diftribute them as you think proper: The
money I think would be beſt employ'd in re-
pairing and adorning the city; not that I
would pretend to adviſe, but leave it entirely
to your own determination; for no man
can
PHALARIS:
121
; nor
can claim any merit from the reſolution of
others. If (which I would not dare to
fufpect) the preſents defign'd for this ufe
fhould be mifapply'd to any unneceffary
bufinefs, you muſt be fatisfied that the
juſt cenfure of thofe, who fhould thus abuſe
them, would be far greater than the praiſes
beſtow'd on him, who fent them;
would it be a greater matter of aſtoniſh-
ment, that a baniſh'd man ſhould, at his
own expence, repair the ruins of his country,
than that the inhabitants of it fhould neglect
it when falling to decay, and not embrace the
opportunity and glory of restoring it by means
of his bounty. But if you think the money
was fent not only for yourſelves, but for the
fervice of this city, for pofterity, and for the
Gods, your prudent difpofal of it will meet
with greater commendation than his liberali-
ty; and I had much rather hear your virtue
celebrated than my generofity. The for-
mer will indeed deferve more praiſe, as it
is the effect of a great and good mind; the
latter only proceeding from an affluence of
fortune.
To
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To A x 1 OCH US
CXX.
NOBILITY is doubtlefs among thofe
things, which claim our refpect. But I hold
that virtue alone is true nobility; all be-
fides is but the work of fortune; and it often
happens that from the meanest ſtock there
rifes up a great and good man, far nobler than
all the monarchs in the world; and on the
other hand, from a good family will ſpring
up a wretch infinitely beneath it. Boaft there-
fore, I beseech you, no longer before the Sy-
racufians, of the nobility of
your anceſtors,
funk and loſt in their obfcure pofterity; but
prove, if you can, the true greatnefs and
nobility of your own foul.
To the HI MEREAN s.
CXXI.
I commanded you to deliver up inftantly
Stefichorus, Conon, and Hermocrates; inſtead
of whom you fent me Sameas and Nicar chus.
Were I fuch a man as you repute me,
by detaining thefe, I fhould have
have con-
ftrain'd you to fend me thoſe, whom I want-
ed.
You take the utmost care to pre-
ferve
PHALARIS.
123
ferve the life of that infamous wretch Conon;
and none for Sameas and Nicarchus, men
eminent for their merit and virtue. I could
not perfuade myſelf to injure the innocent,
who never offended me, or did any differvice
to their country; nor would I violate the
common law of Greece, though you have fo
frequently done it in the profecution of your
deſigns againſt me; the particulars of which,
as I write to thofe, who cannot but be as
well acquainted with them as myſelf, I need
not enumerate. Neither did I ever, nor
ever will imitate you; not even I, whom you
brand with the name of murtherer, and pol-
luted as I am with fo many and fuch enor-
mous crimes. On the contrary, I fent back
your ambaffadors, when I might either have
forced you to exchange them for thofe, whom
I wanted, or revenged myſelf on fuch as I
had in my power; but the actions of cruel-
ty, which mere neceffity have drove me to,
have made my condition fo unfortunate,
that had I put them to death, you could
not have had a worfe opinion of me than
before; nor could my preferving them
perfuade you to entertain a better. Every
thing I do is wrefted to my diſadvantage;
and
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and I am convinced that my good or ill acti-
ons can at preſent be of little effect to gain
me either the love or hatred of men; a hard
fate, which you, O Himereans, have prin-
cipally brought upon me.
Other injuries I
can eaſily pardon, forgive the authors of
them, and bury them in oblivion; but who,
when hinder'd in the execution of justice,
would not puniſh the man, who ſtop'd him?
Or who more deferved to fuffer themſelves,
than thoſe, who cauſed the ſufferings of o-
thers. Yet you fee, O Himereans, enraged
as I am, a powerful Tyrant, with thoſe ene-
mies already in my hands, not indeed the
men I moſt defire, but fuch, whofe deaths
would not have been lefs grievous to
you, have I pardon'd, treated, and fent
home. If therefore you have any gratitude,
deliver up immediately thofe, whom I
want; wifely confidering at the ſame time
that you may, by theſe means, avoid the
effects of my resentment, and turn aſide the
evil, which threatens the whole common-
wealth, on two or three private men. But
if you keep Conon, be affured, I will utterly
deſtroy your whole city; and endeavour to
convince you that I have indeed no more
humanity
PHALARI S. 125
humanity than
you are yourſelves pleafed to
allow me.
To the ATHENIANS.
CXXII.
YOUR artiſt Perilaus, O Athenians, came
to me and brought with him feveral pieces of
excellent workmanship; and we therefore
received him with pleaſure and gratify'd him
with fuitable rewards, both on account of
his merit, and in regard to his country. But
fome time fince, having wrought a brazen
Bull of a prodigious fize, he produced it at
Agrigentum. The lively repreſentation of an
animal, ſo uſeful by his labours in the ſervice
of mankind, we gladly accepted of; efteem-
ing it a curiofity worthy of a kind reception
and a work of the greatest merit; for as yet
he had not fhew'd us the pernicious defign
of it. But on opening one fide we dif-
cover'd a moſt horrid method of torment,
full of cruelty and the moſt bitter of all deaths.
Having firſt therefore highly commended his
ingenuity, I puniſh'd him for his inhuma-
nity; being of opinion that the cruel artiſt
was himſelf the propereft perfon to make the
firſt trial of his own Engine. Shutting him
up
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up therefore according to the directions he
had given, a fire was kindled underneath ;
the wretch, who fuffer'd, was not to be feen
or heard, but the cries and groans, when they
came out of the mouth of the Machine,
founded like the bellowings of a Bull. I
must own, O Athenians, when I was in-
form'd you ſo highly reſented the death of
your artiſt, I was much ſurpriſed; nor can
I yet be brought to believe it. If you
are angry that I did not puniſh him by ſome
greater torment; I anfwer, that a more ex-
quifite one could not be found. If you are
offended that he fuffer'd at all, I know not
how you, who boaſt ſo much of your huma-
nity, can avoid the imputation of the greateſt
cruelty. Either this was the work of one
man, or of your whole city; and which of
them it was, your good or ill opinion of me
muft determine. If the man deſerved death,
and there is no Athenian, who reſembles him
in his nature, why do you blame me? If you
affert he perifh'd unjustly, you acknowlege
yourſelves as guilty as Perilaus. But till my
own confcience accufes me of having acted
wrong, I ſhall never think I did; for though
no one expects ftri&t juſtice from a Tyrant, to
whom
PHALAR IS.
127
whom whatever is neceffary to his fafety
may be accounted lawful, I on the contrary
look upon myſelf as deſtroying the ſtrength
and fecurity of my power, whenever I ſtretch
a puniſhment beyond what is juſt and equi-
table. I am perfuaded it cannot poffibly ap-
pear an unjuſt ſentence, either to you or to the
reft of Greece, that the inventor ſhould periſh
by that, which he defign'd for the death of
others; a thing as plain from the unanimous
affent of all men, as from my own convicti-
on; which obliges me to think it juft, tho'
he framed this horrid torture for thofe, who
had confpired againſt me; in regard to which,
ſetting afide my own intereft, and judging
according to the laws of nature, I only
confider'd what was right in itſelf;
I ſaw that if I behaved with more mo-
deration than men expected, I fhould only
lay myſelf open to more confpiracies, and
that by puniſhment I might deter others
from farther attempts; at the fame time ne-
ver proceeding to extremities, but when com-
pell'd to it. Having confider'd all theſe
things, and little anxious concerning the opi-
nion of poſterity, I eſteem'd it highly blame-
able to permit fuch a man to pafs unpuniſh'd,
who
128
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who had invented fo cruel a torment for his
fellow creatures; for which reafon in that
very inftrument he had prepared to burn
thoſe in, who had never injured him, I fhut
him up. Some among you may perhaps think
this rafhly and ridiculouſly faid by me; for
if every one ſhould dye that kind of death,
which he had defign'd for others, you may
think I ought to be given up to the furies
themſelves ; and believe even theſe ſcarce
fufficient to torture my foul, and ſo conclude
I have eſtabliſh'd a law againſt myſelf. But
if, laying afide all enmity, you will confider
the thing itſelf, you will find that neither
have I done wrong; ner, if it has pleaſed the
Gods to puniſh me, that I therefore have de-·
ferved it; for though as a Tyrant I had
the power to be cruel, yet did I always hold
it wrong to make uſe of it. I must confefs,
I have done much ill; but things paſt cannot
be recall'd. Would to God, neceffity had
not compell'd me to it! Then ſhould
none have exceeded Phalaris in humanity.
What man, O Athenians, does not think
the perfon, who confpires againſt him,
worthy of any kind of death? Perilaus was
my enemy, and therefore I puniſh'd him.
In
PHALARIS.
129
In many other things, I am confſcious I
have acted unjustly; and my only confola-
tion is, I did it unwillingly ; a circumſtance,
which thoſe, whom I puniſh'd, could not
plead for their excufe; and in this affair, O
moft wife and antient Athenians, I follow'd
your own example. What Perilaus did was
with an intent to pleaſe a Tyrant; and I
behaved to him like that Tyrant he thought
me, and not as I am by nature. But know,
that neither ſhould I, were I a private man,
be a Perilaus; nor he, though a king, become
a Phalaris. In regard to him, it will be an
eternal reproach to you not only to reſent his
death, but not to chaſtiſe in the fame man-
ner all, who fhall reſemble him; not only
becauſe, by the invention of ſuch a torment,
he did an injury to all mankind, but left
alſo an indelible ſtain on the character and
manners of his country. You must there-
fore approve of what I have done; be-
caufe he deferved it. If yet there be any,
to whom this death is not agreeable, let them
know, neither were we fo to Perilaus.
K
Te
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The EPISTLES of
To LYSICLES.
CXXIII.
I no longer wonder that you do not in the
leaſt reſemble either your father or your fon;
for neither are you, I find, in reality the
fon of Lyficrates, or the father of Neoptole-
mus; which, they fay, both your mother
and wife have openly confefs'd before many
Sicilians. Among thofe things, which merit
the higheſt commendations, is doubtlefs
the fpeaking truth to all; and more eſpe-
cially to fuch as are too well acquainted with
the matter to be impoſed on by a falſhood.
To POLLU X.
CXXIV.
You cannot but acknowlege, O Pollux,
that my enemies, who wage war againſt me
for the fake of thoſe, whom I took off, af-
ter judgment juftly given againſt them, are
defervedly call'd revengeful; an infamy,
with which you branded me in your accu-
fation to the Syracufians; never condeſcend-
ing at the fame time (which ought by no
means to have been omitted) to mention the
crimes, for which they fuffer'd; and that their
cafe
PHALARIS.
131
cafe admitted of no other remedy. You
fhould certainly, when you ſpoke of their
deaths, have alfo remember'd the cauſe of
it; in order the more effectually to ſtir up
the paffions of thoſe, to whom your haran-
gues were addrefs'd. But if you are in
truth aſhamed to mention the reaſons of
their puniſhment, I cannot comprehend
how you can, with any pretence to juſtice,
enter into a war on their account.
To LACRITUS.
CXXV.
As you are, on your part, to blame, by
venturing on ſuch raſh exploits to give thoſe,
who fear for you, fo much uneafineſs; ſo
was I, on mine, for putting you on fo fe-
vere a trial of your virtue.
From your
own courage indeed, which fo far furmount-
ed my fears, you draw an omen of future
fuccefs, tho' I am not in the mean time the
leſs diſtruſtful of it; my anxiety in your ab-
fence is even greater, and till you return I
have nothing but your promiſes to rely upon.
What I faid to you therefore at parting, fail
not to remember, to make it your care, not
fo much to preſerve the place for me, as La-
critus
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critus himself; whom I fwear by the Gods
I hold much dearer than all the places, cities,
or empires in the world, or even than my
own life.
To the fame.
CXXVI.
REMEMBER, O Lacritus, your own pro-
mifes, and the miferable ftate of Phalaris in
your abfence. How deftitute I am left of
friends, I need not inform you. The fear I
exprefs on this occafion is not owing to any
apprehenfions of the power of the people,
far beneath my own, nor to any diſtruſt of
my allies; for in every thing I am fuperior
to the enemy. But your exceffive warmth
of temper gives me great uneafineſs, as I
know you are eager to fhew your courage,
and even grieved that you cannot be every
where and in every action at one time. Re-
nember I have repofed a precious truft in
you, which you are under a promiſe to
reftore; not that I would require you
to do any thing unworthy of yourſelf,
(which I am fure you would never confent
to) but that you would be careful of your
life, and preſerve it, to be of ſervice to me
hereafter.
&
PHALARIS.
133
hereafter. Though you ſhould abate a little
of your preſent heat and activity, you will
yet have done enough to prove yourſelf a
confummate warrior.
To EPISTRATUS.
CXXVII.
Do not oblige me at laft to puniſh a man,
whom I have thrice pardon'd; nor think
the foul of Phalaris is a ſtranger to mercy;
tho', till we have an opportunity of exerting
it, we fhew the wrath of a Tyrant.
To ARIPH ÆTAS.
CXXVIII.
NEVER reckon up the number of thoſe,
who have periſh'd in the Bull; for many
more have deferved than ever fuffer'd in it.
I am forry one ſo young as yourſelf ſhould
be thus involved in affairs much fitter for
men in years. Mifery must be the
inevitable lot of all thofe, who are my
enemies. Inſtead of ſeeking your own ruin,
I would therefore adviſe you to defiſt; not
that I am in the leaft dread of any thing you
can do to me, (for Phalaris ſhall never fall
by a coward's hand) but left you come into
K 3
the
134
The EPISTLES of
the number of thofe, who fuffer'd in the
Bull, and by your death add to the charge
of cruelty fo unjustly laid
do not take my advice,
If you
upon me. If
expect immediate
death, as a juſt reward for your contempt
of it.
TO TIMO LA U S.
CXXIX.
NEVER to err does belong to God
only. By recovery from error, to become
wifer is the privilege of man. From re-.
peated crimes, to take no warning for the
future, is a folly none can be guilty of, but
the moſt abandon'd. It is therefore beyond
compariſon infamous for one, who has been
an example of rafhnefs and ill conduct to
all mankind, not to let paft misfortunes
fo influence his conduct as to prevent thoſe
to come.
To PHÆDIM U S.
CXXX.
In fpite of the heavieſt accufations brought
againſt you three feveral times I am per-
fuaded of your innocence. I was glad to
believe you what I wiſh'd you to be, and
what
PHALARI S.
135
what you ought to be; and always look'd
on the affertions of your accufers as falſe;
and that, becauſe I was perhaps afraid, by
too diligent a fearch, to find them true.
But remember that thofe, whofe characters
are often call'd in queftion, if they come off
with impunity, are much indebted to for-
tune for their acquittal. Make not that for-
tune therefore thy enemy, nor thyſelf mine
but reflect how ungrateful it is (though even
that ingratitude ſhall not make me lefs your
friend) to return my favours with injuries,
and not to behave better to me, who have
ſhewn ſo much readineſs to oblige you.
To PHILO DE MU So
CXXXI.
;
You are much to blame, O Philodemus,
if you imagine that I have made vows and
offer'd facrifices for your return, on account
of the five talents, which I freely gave you ;
not from any views of intereft, but from a
motive of true friendſhip; which by the
Gods, I efteem far beyond all riches. If
you would not have your daughter's por-
tion feem to come from any but yourself,
you may yet keep and privately add to what
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fent
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The EPISTLES of
fent you, five more yourſelf. Let one
half be received as from the eſtate of
Philodemus, the other from the liberality of
Phalaris. That Theano has expreſs'd her
gratitude to me in fuch a manner, gives me
the greateſt fatisfaction; and I am pleaſed
to ſee that the favours fhe, received before
marriage are fo thankfully acknowleged af-
ter it.
To AGES I LA US.
CXXXII.
TELESIPPE is deeply afflicted at your
ſtay among the Syracufians. She has always
behaved like a faithful and loving wife, and
has apply'd to me as one, who had ſome
power over you; and informs me (for ſhe
cannot fupport your abſence any longer) that
ſhe will complain to her father. You are per-
haps acquainted with her reſolution, which
you may depend on it fhe will execute;
as it is not to be ſuppoſed ſhe will patiently
fuffer a huſband, bound to her by law, to
leave her thus like a ſtranger. She has per-
fuaded herſelf that I can force
you to come
home; and I tell her fhe can do it much
better herſelf; for I cannot think you reve-
rence
PHALARIS:
137
rence Phalaris fo much as you love Telefippe.
Return however, I beseech you, to thoſe,
who fo much regret your lofs; whether you
do it to oblige me, or that wife, who is in-
deed moſt deſerving of your affection.
To POLY MNESTO R.
CXXXIII.
LACRITUS has given me an account of
your bravery; and among other things of the
great fuccour
fuccour you
afforded him by that part
of your foot, which bore targets; and that,
by the conduct and courage of the foldiers
and their leader, the caſtle is taken. He
tells me alſo that he offer'd his command of
the horſe to you; I fwear by the Gods, had
you accepted of every thing I offer'd you, I
ſhould ſtill have thought myſelf indebted to
you; as you refuſed them, I cannot help
confeffing myſelf, tho' a powerful Tyrant,
outdone in generofity by a private man. But
if you do not yet receive the third part of the
fpoil, offer'd you by Lacritus, to be diftri-
buted among the ſoldiers, know, you will
oblige me to be more cautious, not how I
confer (for that you fhall never hinder me
from)
138
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from) but how I receive any favours from you
for the future.
To the fame.
CXXXIV.
!
I perceive my threats had the effect on you,
which I defign'd, and that I need not repeat
my requeſt; fince you have diftributed the
ſpoil as I defired, and rewarded all thoſe,
who behaved fo bravely in the battle. To
pleaſe me the more and confirm my opinion
of you, I find that without any folicita-
tion on my part, you have fo ani-
mated the foldiers that they will ruſh on the
enemy with more vigour and alacrity than
ever, if they ſhould be call'd to it; and in-
deed where is the man able to undergo the
toils and fatigues of war, who will not readily
embrace them, when fure of fuch rewards?
You received what I ſent you entirely for the
ſervice of others; and have fo wifely di-
ftributed it, and fpirited up the men in my
cauſe with ſo much fuccefs, that I ſhall not,
I believe, have any occafion to employ them
hereafter.
To
PHALARIS.
139
To TEUCE R.
CXXXV.
I heard of the marriage of Philodemus's
daughter, before your letters came to inform
me of it. Fame generally prevents even
thofe, who are moft diligent in their difco-
veries. Be the news brought from ever fo
great a diſtance, that Goddeſs is always the
quickeſt meffenger; a Goddefs, whom I
have but too much reafon to reproach for
her unjuſt repreſentation of me to the world,
and to whofe calumnies I owe, as well as
many other things, the charge of cruelty, fo
undefervedly fix'd upon me. She makes the
loudeſt clamours againſt me
on every fide
ſo that even thofe, who have never ſeen or
known me, do yet curſe me as born for the
deftruction of mankind. Theſe are misfor-
tunes peculiar to Phalaris alone. Permit Leon
and Theano to continue in the houſe, where
they first met; nor let Hymen be driven a-
way from thoſe feats, where he ſo gladly re-
fides. I am fatisfy'd this is a favour, which
they will readily accept of; for in that place,
where firſt the zone of the virgin was unloofed,
the bride will ever moft delight. As to Phi-
lodemus, doubtless he merits not the pity but
the
140
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the envy of the Syracufans; and even of
thofe, who envy him, none were ever fo
happy in their greateſt profperity as he is in
that, which the world terms his misfortune.
Let who will deteft Phalaris, while they
cannot hurt, their hatred will never afflict me;
and in the mean time let them wiſh (which
fome of them have even confefs'd they did)
that they may themfelves ever meet with fo
good a friend.
To TIMANDER.
CXXXVI.
YOUR management of affairs in Camaria,
and the grievous complaints about thofe,
whom I have already put to death, have ob-
liged me, much againſt my will, to fend Cle-
ombrotus alfo, and his accomplices to the Bull.
I was indeed apprehenfive that if I pardon'd
him, you might ceaſe reviling and raiſing
commotions against me in the city. Let the
people decree what they pleaſe in regard to
me in their publick counfels, fo that the
Camarians do but hearken to your advice,
and mean artifices, which ſo far from hurt-
ing Phalaris could not even prejudice the
loweſt of his flaves. Tho' a war could
be
PHALARIS.
141
be proved moſt advantageous to them, I am
fatisfy'd they would not be perfuaded to it by
you. At preſent a war muſt be as fatal to
them as their coun fellor; to whom indeed
they are indebted for all the calamities, which
will be the confequence of it. When you
endeavour'd to kindle this war, you ought
certainly to have affign'd fome reafons,
that the city might know why fo expert a
general adviſed them to it. This you ne-
glected; amongst all the pretended caufes,
not one was produced to the purpoſe. But if
any man ſhould take your cafe deliberately
into confideration, he would no doubt pro-
nounce you worthy of the moſt cruel death,
for thus felling your houſes, farms, and pater-
nal eſtate, in order to raiſe money to levy an
army againſt me, and ſtir up the Camarians to
theſe innovations; by which you have not
only thrown away all poffibility of ſaving
your own life, but at the fame time drawn
in a whole city against their wills to join
with you
you in your ridiculous attempt.
To
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To the ENN AN S.
CXXXVII.
Of all the money you borrow'd of me I
defired you to pay only eight talents, with
which I relieved you at a time, when I was
myſelf in the greateft neceffity; even this de-
mand you have not comply'd with; having
given me, after much folicitation, only one
half of it, and left the other yet unpaid;
which does not fo much concern me as
your forgetfulneſs of the benefit. Your
defrauding me of the money, (if I ſuffer
it) can coft me but four talents; a
conviction of your ingratitude is worſe than
the loſs of ten. You promiſed to pay the
laft fum as well as the others, and pretended
gratefully to acknowlege my kindneſs in aſ-
ſiſting you; but I have little hopes left of your
generofity, when you refuſed to pay me, thơ”
you
could afford it. After all in spite of your
ingratitude, if I can fatisfy myſelf by your
ambaffadors that you are in extreme po-
verty, and that every one is forced out of his
private fortune to contribute ſomething to the
publick treaſury, I will forgive you the debt,
and am even ready to disburſe what you have
already
PHALARIS.
143
already paid me, if it can be of any real fer-
vice to you, and is not likely to fall into the
hands of thoſe embezzlers of the publick mo-
ney, who
prey upon the commonwealth;
and who have thus impoverish'd you. As
to the erecting any ſtatues to me, which you
intimated by your ambaffadors, lay afide all
thoughts of it; for as I forgive you the debt,
fo would I gladly forgive you this unneffary
expence on my account.
To L Y SANDER,
CXXXVIII.
THE fuccours, which you fent, we have
made no uſe of; for before the forces of
Euclides could arrive, we were in fight of the
enemy; ſo that all the mercenaries came too
late to be of any fervice, except that of gain-
ing to us, by their ſtay, more honour and
glory; for, though we fought at fo
great a
diſadvantage of numbers, we gain'd a com-
plete victory; and as we were in greater
danger, we acquired a nobler reward.
To ARIMACH US:
CXXXIX.
I am little concern'd at the calumnies or
falfe opinions of my cotemporaries, as I
perceive
144 The EPISTLES of
perceive it is the fame thing, in regard to
them, whether I act right or wrong; and am
ſatisfied, that to pretend to be better than we
really are, is of all things the moſt unwar-
rantable; for which reafon I am fo far from
concealing my faults, that I freely and open-
ly profeſs myſelf to be by neceffity what
others are by nature. Weakneſs and im-
perfection are common to me with all men ;
and the only difference between us is, that
I as a Tyrant, who have power to act as I
pleaſe, openly confefs that guilt, which pri-
vate men, through fear of puniſhment, are
forced to conceal.
To POLY STRATU S.
CXL.
I will never tell either you or any man
the names of thoſe, who have received fa-
vours from me, and it would be mean in me
to do it, merely to perfuade you to accept of
thofe gifts, which you have hitherto refuſed.
For my own part, I ever eſteem'd thoſe high-
ly blameable, who either themſelves boaſt
of the benefits they have beſtow'd, or love
to hear them talk'd of by others. Many,
I need not inform you, have ſeized on my
property
PHALARIS.
145
property by violence, and detain'd it; till
by neceffity and force of arms they were
obliged to reſtore it. Some have even kept
for a time things I had confecrated to
the Gods; which as they could not have
been retain'd without the utmoſt danger, they
have given back again. But why ſhould
you, I befeech you in the name of Jove,
refuſe my prefents? All the reafons you pre-
tended to allege for it are, you fee, eaſily
anfwer'd. The money itſelf, by the tefti-
mony of my very enemies, is pure and holy
and the only difference between you and
them is, that what they poffefs by rapine
and injuſtice, is yours by the fairest title, as
it is the free gift of a faithful friend.
TO AGE MORT U S.
CXLI.
Ar length, Agemortus, I perceive the fol-
ly of my paft conduct; for this illuftrious
monarchy, which I made my way to through
ſo many toils and dangers, befides a thouſand
other misfortunes, hath been attended alſo
with this moſt cruel confequence, that no
honeft man will receive any thing at my
hands; fo that, if I will difpenfe my favours,
L
it
146
The EPISTLES of
it mnft be to none but the moft unworthy
of mankind. You good men have, I know
not how, ſo inveterate an ill-will againſt me,
that there is nothing, which you ſo much
dread, as my liberality. How otherwiſe
could it poffibly happen that among all my
old ſchool-fellows, companions and acquain-
tance, not one will come nigh me, or even
venture to promife it, except Callifthenes ;
who yet I am fure will never keep his word?
They have always fome evafions to avoid the
open profeffion of their hatred ; and pretend,
fome that their parents, others that ill health,
others that political reaſons prevent them.
In regard to you, I never yet invited
you,
as I knew it would be in vain; nor would
I now aſk you, eſpecially as I hear you have
been ill, and am inform'd alfo that fince I
faw you, you have had two children by your
wife Praules. I fwear by Jupiter, I hearti-
ly congratulate you on the occafion, and
gladly fubmit to your ftay on fuch on ac-
count; but what reafon could you have for
being fo much afraid of the prefents I fent
the other day? Nothing that could raiſe
the envy of any; nothing fplendid or mag-
nificent, accompany'd with fongs and mufick,
that
PHALARIS.
147
that might have attracted the eyes of the
city upon you; but only a little gold, and
that convey'd at the moft private hour of
the night. Why then need you have ſtart-
ed at the fight of it, as fomething moſt
wicked and abominable, but becauſe doubt-
lefs you look'd on it as coming from a
wretch infamous, and polluted by the blood
of his fellow creatures? O Agemortus,
furely it was both unjustly and unkindly
done to have no more pity on one ſo unfor-
tunate as Phalaris; who, when the Gods had
blefs'd me with that, for which alone I de-
fired a kingdom, the power of obliging my
friends, found after all no friends to oblige.
That, which was my only comfort in my af
flictions, you, whom I loved, have rob'd me
of; who will not permit me from my fu
perfluties to fupply your neceffities; and re-
duce me to the hard fate of being forced to
beſtow thoſe things, which you refuſe, on a
worthleſs tribe of fools and flatterers, whom
I abhor.
L. 2
T
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The EPISTLES of
Σ
To TEUCE R.
CXLII.
I was prevented from feeing Cleanetas,
whom I wanted to talk with about the
marriage of her daughter, by fome particu-
lar bufinefs; for which I intended alfo to
fend for you; but afterwards thought it bet-
ter to leave you at Syracufe to carry on this
affair in my ſtead; fo that you fee I was in
earneſt, when I wrote to you concerning it.
Go to her therefore yourſelf, and promiſe her
in my name five talents for a portion to her
daughter, as foon as the marries; and re.
member to give it in fuch a manner as that
it
may appear not to be a prefent, but a debt,
which I owed her husband. If the fhould
afk how I came to have fo much of Philo-
demus's money, fay you know no more than
that it is fo, and refer her to us as the pro-
pereft teftimonies of it. Do every thing in
your power to perfuade her to accept of
Leo for her fon in-law. He hath been here
to folicit my intereſt in his behalf; which I
promiſed, and have accordingly fent him to
you. If Cleanetas has already fix'd on any
other man as a fitter match, make not the
leaft heſitation, but give him the portion;
for
PE
149
PHALARIS.
for I did not mean to confine it to any par-
ticular man, nor would I have it thought
that, becauſe I give the portion, I inſiſt on
her marrying none but him. Whoever it be,
let it be preſented, not flowly or unwilling-
ly, as if you came to pay a debt; but with
that chearfulneſs and alacrity, with which
you would receive one. I fwear by the
Gods, tho' I fhould be forry to be deceived
in my hopes in regard to Leo, yet would I
by no means lay myſelf open to any fufpicion
of feizing the opportunity of his ill fuccefs,
to retract an offer fo freely made to them.
Were I obliged to keep the money myſelf,
I ſhould look on it as the greateſt misfortune,
and ſhall think myſelf the richer when the
young lady fhall have choſe one, on whom
I may beſtow it. Thofe, who do not know
me, will ſcarce think I fpeak my fentiments.
Would to God there were nothing worfe
than my behaviour in this affair, in all the
life of Phalaris, for calumny to lay hold on!
I would have you, on the day of marriage,
fend four virgins of the fame age with herſelf,
together with the apparel you had from me,
and fixty pieces of gold. If the marriage is
delay'd,
L 3
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delay'd, haften it as much as poffible; and
fail not to do every thing with the utmoſt
willingneſs, that part of the praiſe of Phalaris
may redound to yourſelf. Theſe things care-
fully do. Whilſt you are with them, be a father
to the daughter; and to the mother a huf
band; and, in confideration of their poverty,
whenever the marriage is folemnized, provide
them at your expence an elegant entertain-
ment; that on that happy day no man may
call Philodemus unfortunate; for, by our libe-
rality, we will conquer the malignity of his
fortune.
To CLEE NETA S.
CXLIII.
THAT your husband and my invaluable
friend Philodemus is abroad, tho' it may add
a luftre to your reputation, yet is it the greateſt
misfortune to your daughter, now twenty
years of age, to be left behind unmarried.
In regard to yourſelf, the longer he is abfent,
the more frequent opportunity will you have
of fhewing your diſtinguiſh'd virtue and
fidelity. But it is no honour to a virgin of
her years, when ſhe might naturally expect a
'change of condition, to remain fingle. Be-
yond
-
PHALARIS.
151
yond a certain term, it is rather look'd on as
a difgrace. It is now time for her to follow
your ſteps, and appear in the character of a
wife. You will fay the company of a daugh-
ter, the mutual pledge of your affections, is
the great and only relief of your forrow, in
the abſence of your husband; but ſurely you
fhould reflect, at the fame time, how unjuſt
it is to deprive her of that, which you your-
felf fo lament the lofs of. Her fituation is
even more unhappy than yours, as you are
in hourly expectation of his return; and ſhe
is the more to be pitied, as the wants neither
parents nor fortune. For as to the latter,
Philodemus, which perhaps you did not know
before, left five talents with me for her por-
tion. Nor is this all fhe has to depend on;
for whatever Phalaris has, Philodemus may
call his own. I cannot therefore fee any
reaſon why you ſhould delay the marriage,
nor can there be any to wait for his return.
Whatever there is a neceffity of deferring
till he comes, I would by no means do be-
fore; but where nature herfelf does, as it
were, demand it, let us be as expeditious as
poffible; fince time will not ſtand ſtill for
opportunity. Philodemus may be hinder'd,
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by
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}
by unavoidable affairs, from attending the
nuptials. You, I think, can have no pretext
whatever for putting them off. At her time.
of life, a tender husband is more to be defired
than the beſt of fathers. Why will
you, O
Cleanetas, entertain fo deep an affliction for
the misfortunes of your abſent Philodemus.
Be adviſed by me, I befeech you; hope bet-
ter for your husband, and confult the happi-
neſs of his child. As you have done every
thing elſe fince his departure with the greateſt
difcretion, fo by promoting above all things
this your common good, you will act the
part of a good mother in marrying your
daughter well. Teucer will give you the por-
tion, whenever you pleafe, and fupply you
alfo with any thing elſe that may be wanting
on the occafion; you have nothing to do but
to order what you would have done. You
may wish for the return of Philodemus be-
fore the marriage, but ſhould by no means
defer it till he comes. That he is fafe, and
will foon be with you, you may reſt aſſured,
as well on many other accounts as becauſe fo
much piety and goodneſs as yours will never
go unrewarded,
To
PHALARIS.
153
To NICO CLES.
CXLVI.
I wrote to Stefichorus about the elegy, as
you defired, and plan'd out to him the
method of it according to your propoſals.
He has promiſed every thing in his power to
alleviate your misfortune; but yours I fear
is a calamity too heavy for words to remove.
For in the lofs of one you lament two of the
deareſt ties in nature, a niece, and a wife,
fecond to none in her accompliſhments both
of body and mind; for whom you have given
yourſelf up to the utmoſt grief and deſpair,
even to fuch a height as to endanger your
own life. You ſhould not thus extend your
forrows beyond what nature is able to fup-
port; befides, it is beneath your virtue and
the dignity of your character, thus to deftroy
yourſelf with grief for what your tears can
never recal. Turn afide, I beg, from this
immoderate indulgence of it; and confider
the miſerable condition of human life. We
are all born to innumerable evils, which
when we have patiently endured, we ſhall
reft from our journey. Life, burthen'd
as it is with misfortunes, is yet to be borne;
as death is what we fo much dread and abhor.
We
154
The EPISTLES of
We lament thofe, who go before us, whilft
we ourſelves muſt quickly follow them ; and
in reality we ſhed tears, not for them, but
from the reflection on our own mortality.
This, Nicocles, is the lot of all mankind, and
to this end we are fent into the world ; nor
has any man reafon to complain of a fate
more cruel than another. It is the univerfal
law, by no trick or artifice to be evaded.
Behold Phalaris, a Tyrant, whom men call
the great and the powerful; and yet, were I
far more great and powerful, I could not
ward off the dart of death. When the fatal
hour comes, I alſo muſt periſh. Would to
God my kingdom could beſtow on me the
power, not to prolong my own life (which
doubtless many think already too long, per-
haps not without reafon) but to extend the
lives of thoſe good men, whoſe virtues merit
the greateſt length of days. Since death is
the Tyrant over us, and not we over death,
you ought patiently to fubmit; not only be-
cauſe tears are unavailable, but for the fake
alſo of the ſpirit of that loved object of them,
if it is given to her to know how much you
are afflicted. Moft probable it is that fhe,
who in her life adminiſter'd fo much com-
fort
PHALARIS:
155
fort and fatisfaction to you; who rejoyced in
all, which you rejoyced in; ſhould alſo after
death partake of your forrows, and grieve,
not only that you were deprived of ſuch
a wife, but that ſhe was rob'd of fuch a
huſband. Since therefore you are by no
means the firſt, nor the only man, fubject to
this calamity, bear it with moderation; if
not on my account, who am equally liable
to it with yourſelf, at leaſt in confideration
of the common law of nature. Death muſt
come to all; and tho' fome more dread it
than others, yet for the moft part thofe, who
the leaft give way to grief at the ſhortneſs
and miſeries of life, the longeſt enjoy it.
TO STESI CHORUS.
CXLV.
I fent fome oyl to your nephew. The
young man ſeems to deſerve the higheſt com-
mendation; and, in the government of the
Gymnafium, is nothing inferior to Agefilaus.
I would not let any thing be wanting on my
fide to encourage and affift him. The
money, which I ſent and you refuſed before,
you do not now accept of, I will accuſe
you to the Himereans; and tho' you got
if
off
before,
156
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before, yet depend on it this accufation fhall
be much heavier than any of the former. I
have ſent Promenedes to inform you of my
intentions. Love and cultivate, I befeech
you, the muſes; and thofe ftudies, which
gain you fuch univerſal reſpect and admirati-
on; and quit thofe, which, if you arrive at ever
fo great a perfection in them, will but leave
you upon a level with the loweſt and moſt
infamous of mankind.
To the fame.
CXLVI.
MAKE no mention of me, Stefichorus, ei-
ther in your verfes or otherwife. All I de-
fire is that the actions of Phalaris may be
buried in filence and oblivion. Of other
men ſpeak whatever thy mind dictates, and
thy muſe inſpires; but be adviſed by me and
meddle no farther with publick affairs. Set
me as an example before your eyes; who,
tho' in the falfe opinion of the world I am
look'd on as the happieſt of men, do yet
labour under a thoufand calamities, which
have all ſprung from this fatal fource. You
think my misfortunes were, what I merited,
the rewards of my ambition, and that your
engaging
PHALARIS.
157
engaging in the ſervice of your country, an
employment of quite another kind, can never
deſerve or meet with the fame fatal confe-
quence. Turn from me to yourſelf, and
confider attentively your own condition. No
man perhaps ever enter'd into a buſineſs of
this nature, fway'd by purer intentions,
or induced by better reafons; and yet
reflect within yourfelf on what you have
already fuffer'd, and what you muſt have
expected, had you not met with fuch an
enemy as myſelf. Befides, it becomes a pru-
dent man, tho' he be carry'd along the ſtream
of fortune by ever fo profperous a gale, not
to give himſelf entirely up to her difpofal.
You are not, like Phalaris, a Tyrant, the
common enemy of all
of all; but one, who has
freely engaged in the fervice of the com-
monwealth, amongſt thoſe, whom you think
your friends, and for whofe fake you have
treated me as your enemy; whilft I, tho' pof-
fefs'd of all that power, which a tyranny can
beſtow, have no enmities with, no ill defigns
againſt, either
you or them. Confider there-
fore ſeriouſly what misfortunes your conduct
has brought upon you;
how thoſe very
friends have abuſed and injured you; and be
affured
158
The EPISTLES of
affured if ever you look for a man, who
has been loaded with favours and praiſes,
and never, as you have, met with the leaft
injury or ingratitude from his fellow citizens,
you will find it muſt be one, who has ſtudy'd
only the management of his own affairs,
without interfering in thoſe of the publick,
and whofe fole end and defign in every
thing is to live quietly, and promote his own
private eaſe and ſatisfaction.
To the Same
CXLVII.
Do not be grieved at the accufations of
Eubulus and Ariphantus; or let it give you
any uneafineſs that they would attribute the
confpiracy against me to your verſes. In
what danger I was at Himera I need not in-
form you; but as it was not attended with
any fatal confequence, their calumnies ſhould
rather be matter of joy to you than forrow;
as well becauſe it was a reflection greatly to
the honour of your poetry, to ſuppoſe it
capable of fuch an influence, as on account
of my fafety; which, if you really eſteem me,
muſt give you the greateſt fatisfaction. It
has only ferved to convince the world that
your
PHALARI S.
159
your verſes are as far fuperior to the lyre, as
Phalaris is to thofe, who would have de-
ftroy'd him. I acted, in the whole affair, as
became a king, perfifted in my friendſhip
to the Himerians, nor fhould I have ever
fufpected you, even in my laſt moments.
For had their confpiracy fucceeded to their
wiſhes, I am fatisfy'd Stefichorus would
never have approved of it. You may indeed
in your verſes, with all the eloquence you
were mafter of, have extoll'd the man, who
ſhould kill a Tyrant, nor fhould I think fuch
praiſes ill beſtow'd; but thoſe, who kill Pha-
laris, will not flay a Tyrant. You know
this is not the first time I have been in the
utmoſt peril; for when neither Dropidas,
nor any other man, would have dared to ap-
pear in the Temple, I alone ftood undaunted
between Eubulus and Ariphantus, the moſt
wicked of men ; and, Tyrant as I was, Jupiter
deliver'd me; but thofe infamous wretches
Conon, Theagoras, Antimedes, Pericles, and
the reft, who were in the confpiracy againſt
me, met with the puniſhment they deſerved.
I had rather have fuffer'd death, than
not revenged myſelf upon them. Let them
call me a Tyrant and a murtherer, polluted
with
160
The EPISTLES of
with a thouſand crimes; or, if they
; or, if they have any
thing ftill more heavy to lay on me, let them
not ſpare their invectives. In the judgment
of the good and wife, the praiſes only of
ſuch men are real calumny; fome of whom
I burn'd in my bull, others perish'd on the
croſs, as an example and terror to thoſe, who
would engage in the fame defigns for the
future. Some had their eyes burn'd out ;
others I puniſh'd by cutting off the extre-
mities of their hands and feet, and torturing
them on wheels; others were ſcalp'd, and
others dy'd by ftill more afflicting torments.
To thofe, I own myſelf a Tyrant ; and ſuch
to the wicked I will never ceafe to be; but
to the good will ever behave as I did be-
fore I was in power. Think not therefore
whatever the mufe infpires thee with againſt
Tyrants docs any ways affect Phalaris ; nor
would I have you, through fear, conceal any
thing you would make publick of that kind.
For know, I am not to be destroy'd before the
appointed time; nor can we haften or put
off that day, which is fix'd from the hour of
our births, whether poets write for or againſt
us; and which when it happens, I fhall
look on as a debt I owe to nature. But yet
I
វ
PHALARIS.
161
I puniſh'd Eubulus and Ariphantus for vain-
ly attempting that, which fate deny'd. They
met with a death, not fuch as the law in-
join'd, but fuch as a Tyrant, who'was above
the law, had power to inflict. Some of the
Himereans were thrown into a den of wild-
beafts, where they pafs'd the night after a
variety of torments. Thou haft been for-
tunate. Farewell. I fhall pray to the Gods
for thee, not that thou may'ſt never ſuffer as
they have, (for that thy virtue will infure
thee from) but that thou may'ft never be
drove to the neceffity of acting like Phalaris.
Let the noble ſtudy of the mufes employ
thee; and fend me fome of your poems to
alleviate, if poffible, my prefent affliction.
To the ENNEAN S.
CXLVIII.
THOUGH I am ſatisfy'd you are indebted
intirely to me for your liberties, yet ſhall I
not reproach you for your ingratitude on
that account. But I muft defire you to re-
turn the money you borrow'd of me. For I
am myſelf at preſent in the greateſt neceffity,
and have ſent letters all over Sicily for money.
The Leontines have already ſupply'd me with
fome,
M
162
The EPISTLES of
fome, and I am promiſed more by the Hy-
bleans and Phintians. What then can you
think of yourſelves, who whilft others,
under no obligations to me, are voluntarily
offering me their affiftance, will not even
pay me what I lent you? Do you think thofe,
who have promiſed me money, will ever give
me any, when they know I cannot get
what I lent to others? They will naturally
fuppofe he, who does not call in what
is due will never pay what he himſelf
borrows. If you ſeriouſly confider this,
I hope you will be afhamed not to re-
ſtore me what you owe; but if this has no
effect, fomething much more forcible than
argument muſt compel you to act justly at
laft; if thoſe can ever be properly faid to
act justly, who are compell'd to it.
FINI
I S.
SELECT
EPISTLES,
From the moſt Eminent
GREEK WRITERS.
LONDON:
Printed in the Year MDCCXLVIII.
( 165 )
SELECT
EPISTLES.
PYTHAGORAS to HIERO,
king of SICILY.
I
Am happy at prefent in a life of ſafety
and retirement; a life entirely different
from yours. Sicilian luxury can never
add to the felicity of a man, whofe fole
enjoyment is in moderation and tranquillity.
Wherever Pythagoras goes, he will find every
thing he ſtands in need of. Attendance on
the great is a heavy tafk, to which thofe,
who are not uſed to fervitude, can never
fubmit. To depend on ourſelves alone is
true greatnefs, fecures us from the envy and
M 3
malice
1
166
SELECT
malice of mankind, and approaches neareſt
to the divine nature. Health is not to be
preferved by intemperance; but by that
abſtinence, which leads men to the practice
of virtue. All pleaſures weaken and impair
the mind, and eſpecially thofe, in which
you fo frequently indulge yourſelf. Whilft
you live thus, do not therefore invite Pytha-
goras; but remember that phyficians are
moſt careful to avoid thoſe diftempers which
afflict their patients.
PLATO to ARCHYTAS of Tarentum.
ARCHIPPUS and Philomedes came to me,
and brought your letter and meffage. Their
publick buſineſs, which was not indeed of
any great importance, they diſpatch'd with
the utmoſt facility. I hear with concern
your uneafinefs at not being releaſed from
the affairs of government. It is doubtlefs of
all things the moſt eligible to ſpend our time
in the purſuit of ſuch ſtudies as are moſt a-
greeable to our own inclinations; and efpe-
cially when they are of that kind, which
you ſo much admire ; but you ſhould at the
fame time confider that we are not born for
ourfelves
EPISTLE S.
x67
ourſelves alone; our country, our relations
and our friends claim a part of us. A
thouſand accidents, which happen daily,
muſt inevitably involve us in buſineſs of
different kinds. At this time your country
calls you to the government of the common-
wealth. Not to obey its voice would be un-
pardonable, Befides, by your neglect, the
office, which you refuſe to accept, may fall
into the hands of bad men, who will not
promote the intereſt of their fellow-citizens.
But of this enough. Echecrates, be affured, I
ſhall ever love and eſteem, as well on his own
account as for the fake of his father Phrynio
and yourſelf.
PLATO to ARISTO DORU S.
I hear you are enter'd into the cloſeſt
friendſhip with Dion, * and continually em-
ploy yourſelf in the study of moral duties.
For my own part, I hold faith, conftancy,
and fincerity to be the only true philoſophy;
and that all other knowlege, arts and ſciences
*
A nobleman of Syracuſe, and intimate friend of Plato, by
whofe advice and affiltance he drove the Tyrant Dionyfius out
of Sicily.
M 4
are
168 SELECT
are merely ornamental. Farewell. Continue
your reſolution, and be happy.
in
EURIPIDES to SOPHOCLES.
WHEN the news was brought to Athens
of the unhappy accident, which befel you
in your voyage to Chios, the whole city was
deeply affected; nor was the grief confined
to your friends, but reach'd even your moſt
inveterate enemies. That you efcaped ſuch
imminent danger, and not even a fervant pe-
rish'd in the ſtorm, I attribute to the hand
of divine providence in your favour. The
lofs of the plays, which was indeed a
publick calamity, cannot fufficiently be re-
gretted; but whilft you live it is not irre-
parable. Confult, I beg you, in your return,
rather fafety than expedition. Take the
utmoſt care of yourſelf for fome time, to
prevent the ill effects of the fea, and that
cold you muſt have felt in fwimming; and
come back if poffible on foot. In regard to
Euripides is faid to have wrote feventy five plays, of
which we have only nineteen; the reft are ſuppoſed to have
been loft in this voyage when he was ſhip-wreck'd.
thoſe
EPIST LE S.
169
as you
thofe affairs of your family, with which
you intruſted me, I have done every thing
defired. Salute Chionides and Lapreta;
and tell them I heartily rejoyce in their hap-
py deliverance; as alfo Antigenes, the phy-
fician, if not yet gone to Rhodes. He is
one of the beſt of men. Salute alſo the fons
of Cratinus.
EURIPIDES to CEPH ISOPHON.
I arrived at Macedonia, O my beſt Cephi-
fophon, in perfect health, and much fooner
than I expected; where I was received by
Archelaus, not only with that magnificence
and generofity, which I had already expe-
rienced, but with infinitely more good na-
ture and affability than is ufually fhewn by
kings to men fo much beneath them. Clito
is well; we are frequently together; for in
all their converfations and amufements I
have the honour to participate. Both Clito
and Archelaus are continually preffing me to
plan and execute fomething in that kind of
writing, I have always loved; a taſk, which,
though it requires great pains and affiduity,
is yet attended with fome pleaſure; and I
believe I ſhall more readily engage in it, be-
caufe
170
SELECT
1
cauſe the king feems to expect it, in return
for the favours he has already beſtow'd, and
thofe magnificent prefents, much more
magnificent indeed than I could with, which
he is every day heaping on me. In regard
to the afperfions of Agatho and Mefatus, be
affured I look on them with the fame con-
tempt I did on the ridiculous jefts of Arif
tophanes. To aufwer them would be doing
me the greateſt injury; even though they
continue to calumniate me. But if any of
thofe, who love to talk and hear of Euripides,
take upon them to cenfure my viſit to Ar-
chelaus, which I was indeed apprehenfive of
before I fet out for Macedonia, to fuch de-
fend.me; that, being inform'd by you of my
real motive, they may not attribute it to ava-
rice. I know there are thofe, who will affirm
that even tho' it was not for power, for the
purple or fceptre, or for the government of
the Triballians, it might be for the fake
of amafling wealth; and yet how weak
is it for any man to imagine I ſhould fo
induſtriouſly ſeek, in
my old
age,
riches, which in my youth and vigour
I contemn'd; at a feafon when I could fo
much better enjoy them, and when my dear
mother
thofe
EPISTLE S.
171
mother was living, for whofe fake only I
could have defired them! It is evident I
have been always fo far from any folicitude
about things of this kind that I have even
refuſed what was offer'd to me; and indeed
what advantage could I propofe to myſelf
from abundance, unleſs ridiculouſly to facri-
fice my honour and reputation to encreaſe
thoſe fortunes, which, when I had finish'd
my days in a foreign land, muſt revert to
Archelaus? But a few days after my arrival,
the king would have given me forty talents,
which I could never be prevail'd on to ac-
cept, though he highly refented my refufal,
and of thoſe few prefents, which I did re-
ceive, I have not kept any here, but ſent
them by the perfon, who brings this letter,
to be diſtributed by you amongſt my friends
and fervants. After this, the envious and
malicious only can affert that the love of
money carried me to Macedonia. Others
again call it luft of power. But I had
as much influence over Archelaus, when I
was at Athens, as I have here; Clito in vain
endeavour'd to make me change my refo-
lution of returning to Athens, to stay in
Macedonia,
"
172
SELECT
Macedonia,* and dye in a place fo far dif-
tant from my native
would brand my name
country; which
with infamy to
open to the bit-
But know,
future ages, and lay me
tereft reflections of my enemies.
had I affected power, it would have been
the power of ferving my country and my
friends. Had I acted thus from pride, it
would have been the pride of appearing
with 'grandeur among thofe, whom I knew
and loved. That I am fickle and inconftant,
either in my friendships or my enmities,
few will I believe affirm; fince I have
in both behaved with firmness, except in
regard to Sophocles. To him indeed I have
not always been the fame; whom yet I ne-
* In ſpite of this refolution, hiftorians agree that Euripides
dyed in the court of Archelaus, after a few years flay; and
that he was kill'd by the king's dogs; whether by accident, or
through envy of fome of the courtiers, is not known. Some
indeed, in compliment to the ladies, report him to have ſuf-
fer'd the death of Orpheus; and to have been torn to pieces
by the women, who thus revenged themſelves on him for the
many fevere fatires on the fex, which we meet with in his
works. The Ibis of Ovid alludes to the death of Euripides,
in the two following verſes,
Utque cothurnatum vatem tutela Dianæ
Dilanient vigilum te quoque turba canum.
ver
EPISTLE S.
173
ver hated, but always admired. I have not,
I confefs, loved him my whole life with equal
warmth: When I faw him inclined to
ftrife and contention, I treated him with
that coldness he deferved; on the other
hand, the moment he feem'd willing to lay
afide all animofities, I embraced the firſt
opportunity of a reconcilement; and from
that time we have ever loved, and I hope ever
ſhall love and eſteem each other. By thus
uniting we ſhall deftroy the malice of thoſe,
who are perpetually employ'd in raifing
jealouſes and divifions between us, and have
ſpread ſo many idle reports concerning me
amongſt the populace. But as they have
hitherto in vain afperfed me, and only been
laugh'd at and deſpiſed by thofe, who heard
them, fo I doubt not they will now meet
with the fame fate, and instead of preju-
dicing me bring hatred and contempt upon
themſelves. I acknowlege my obligation to
you for informing me of thoſe things, as you
thought they concern'd my intereft and
reputation. In writing to me, you have per-
form'd the duty of a friend; yet be affured
you will not ſerve but injure me, by giving
any
174
SELECT
any anſwer to men fo much beneath my
notice or refentment.
ESCHINES to the Senate and people
of ATHEN s.
Ar the age of three and thirty, I came
into the management of the commonwealth;
not with the poor qualifications of an in-
ferior actor, as Demofthenes maliciously af
ferted, but with the knowlege and abilities of
an accompliſh'd ſtateſman and an able ora-
tor; who ſcorn'd the flattery of a Sycophant,
and knew how to write with fpirit and
freedom, and to fpeak, with the fincerity of
an Athenian; nor dare my moft inveterate
enemy aver I ever proſtituted my voice for
money, either in the defence or accufation
of any man. I never received an inju-
becauſe I never gave the leaft provo-
cation. I brought no citizen to judgment,
except Timarchus ; nor do I mention this to
boaſt my difintereſtedneſs in refuſing the
money, which was offer'd, and puniſhing
him with that juftice, which the laws re-
quired. Ctesipho indeed, by whom as well
as Demofbene's I had been treated with the
utmoſt cruelty, I accuſed of illegal practices ;
ry;
and
EPISTLES.
175
and I call the Gods to witneſs, not without
foundation; though it is by no means to
be wonder'd at that the eloquence of De-
mofthenes fhould overthrow both my oratory
and the laws of Athens. When this man,
fome time before, accufed me of crimes in-
finitely greater than thofe, for which I was
unjustly baniſh'd, I was honourably acquit-
ted, in fpite of all the endeavours of
fo powerful an adverfary; which ought to
be look'd upon as the ſtrongeſt teſtimony of
my
innocence. From that time, I confefs, I
flatter'd myſelf my character muft appear un-
fullied, not only in your eyes, but in thoſe of
all Greece. Banifhment, like death, brings
all the vices and follies of men to light; and
thoſe things, which while we continue in
the world are eafily conceal'd, when we
remove from it, are brought forth and ex-
pofed. The malice of an enemy will always
attack with more freedom and fuccefs, when
it is no longer in the power of the accuſed
to defend himſelf. Thofe, who are baniſh'd
from their native country for having baſely
given it up a facrifice to its enemies,
draw the eyes of the world
of the world upon their
how they are affected
conduc ; and
to
176
SELECT
to the common-weal may for the moſt part
be diſcern'd by the manner, in which they
bear their misfortune. After I had betray'd
my country to Philip; after I had
acted in favour of the Macedonians, did I,
when driven into exile, fly to Alexander for
the reward of my treachery and ingratitude?
I faw Demades nobly entertain'd in Bæotia,
ploughing a rich farm of twenty acres, and
drinking out of cups of gold. I faw Hege-
mon and Callimedon, the one at Pella, the
other at Berrhæa, rewarded by moſt magni-
ficent preſents, and enter'd into alliances of
marriage with women of the higheſt rank;
and yet neither did I go to the Thebans, to
Theffaly, or to any other place, where I might
freely have given way to my reſentment,
vented my just reproaches againſt mycountry,
and heard it afperfed by others. I went to
Rhodes; a city, whofe inhabitants, I ſwear by
the great Jove, are not only friends to you,
but to all mankind. Thofe, who in their
banishment are fond of fettling in a place
near their own country, do not in my opini-
on fhew their love of it; but feem rather to
make a jeft of their calamity; for ſurely we
ſhould chufe to be removed as far as poffible,
from
EPIST LE S.
177
from all thofe objects, which might bring
back the memory of that happineſs
we had forfeited, and embitter our miſ-
fortunes. For my own part, I did not
even remain long in the city of Rhodes;
but fought out a little defart fpot, where
I purchaſed a farm for two talents; a feat
fitting the noble ftation and magnificence
of a man, who had firft (as you allege)
been hired by Philip, and afterwards by Al-
exander, to give up to them the liberties of
Greece. Here you will find this powerful
agent of the Macedonians with two private
friends and feven Domefticks; my mother,
now feventy three years of age, who ac-
companied me in my exile, to be the kind
partner of thofe undeferved forrows, which
you had inflicted on me; my wife, who at-
tended me by her father's confent, tho' the
laws would have obliged her to ſtay behind;
add to theſe my three children, as yet in-
fenfible of their own unhappineſs, who
know nothing of that illuſtrious city, in
which they were born, and of which, almoſt
as foon as they were born, they were de-
prived. Others, alas! fend their children
from Baotia and Ætolia to Athens for learn-
N
ing
178
SELECT
ing and improvement; whilſt thofe, who
have a claim to it from nature, thofe, who
are the offspring not of a new made citizen
or a condemn'd criminal, but the defcen-
dants of an antient and an honourable family,
are forced to receive their education in a
wilderneſs, and fuffer under their father's
exile. Demofthenes implored you, in favour
of the children of Lycurgus, not to puniſh
them for their father's crimes; and you,
touch'd with that pity, which every true
Athenian feels, granted his requeft. No
men indeed of old had minds more prone to
anger or more eafily foften'd into forgivenefs
than your felves. I would intreat you there-
fore, in the name of my unfortunate little
ones, that they may not hereafter be deprived
both of their parents, and their country, and
fuffer for a crime, which they were never
able to commit. Be perfuaded, I beseech
you, to act with your accuftom'd juſtice and
humanity; and by your tenderneſs towards
thoſe, for whom I plead, fhew your regard
to me. Nor will it fully the glory of that
city, where mercy and equity have ever re-
fided, to attend to the prayers of Efchines.
The
EPISTLES.
179
The influence of Melanopus over the citizens
will, I am fatisfied, rather increafe, by ex-
horting you to this lenity than by diffuading
you from it.
I know too well it is not
Afchines, who can now prevail. * I have
no power or intereft at Athens; eſpecially in
a caufe where I am myſelf ſo nearly con-
cern'd. But the laws and cuſtoms of your an-
ceſtors, and the glory of the commonwealth,
will I hope have more weight with
you than
all the arguments, which the malice of my
adverfary can fuggeft.
DEMOSTHENES to the Senate and people
of ATHENS.
THE immortal Gods do, in all important
affairs, infpire the words and direct the acti-
ons of men. May thoſe Gods grant me, both
now and ever, to ſpeak that alone, which will
promote the happineſs of my country and
*As it would fwell theſe notes too much to mention every
circumftance alluded to in this and the following orations of
the two illuftrious rival orators; we must refer the reader to
the lives of the authors, or rather to their works, and par-
ticularly to Demofthenes's oration de coronâ; and that againſt
the falfe embaffy of Echines, with his answer, which are ftill
remaining.
N 2
her
180
SELECT
her friends. Trufting that the divine
powers, which he hath here implored, have
dictated thefe his counfels, Demofthenes thus
writes to the fenate and people of Athens.
I have not wrote to you at prefent, O Athe-
nians, concerning my return from baniſhment,
as it is a point of little weight, and which
you will always have fufficient leifure to de-
bate on; but as I am fatisfied that, if you act
with difcretion at this time, you may acquire
fafety, happineſs and freedom for yourſelves
and all Greece, and that on the other hand, if
you are now misguided and deceived, you
will never recover fo glorious an opportunity,
I think it incumbent on me to give you my
opinion and advice, though this cannot in-
deed be fo well done by letter. For were
I prefent, it would be much easier to anfwer
what might be objected to, explain what
may appear difficult or obfcure, and by that
means put a stop to all the clamours of fuch
as fhall oppofe it; yet, if you will with pa-
tience and attention give ear to what I pro-
pofe, I ſhall not defpair of convincing you that
your fervice, honour and intereſt are the true
end
EPISTLE S.
181
end and deſign of all my endeavours. Think
not I ſent you this advice, as if I thought you
wanted orators; of ſuch you have enough;
who are always ready to give their unaſk'd
and unpremeditated counfels. I fent it, that
I might impart to thefe men, who are ambi-
tious of fpeaking in publick, the knowlege I
acquired from long experience; that I might
fupply them with abundant matter for their
harangues, and thus render their tafk more
fhort and eafy. Know then firft, O Atheni-
ans, the publick good commands you to put
an end immediately to all diffenfions, and
be of one mind; that whatever fhall be
decreed, you may all fhew that fpirit, refolu-
tion and unanimity, which is neceſſary to
put in execution; to waver perpetually in
opinion is not only unbecoming and un-
worthy of a noble mind, but also attended
with the greatest danger. You cannot be
ignorant, that if an addition be made to thofe
forces, which are of themselves infufficient to
protect the state, we fhall have a better
profpect of fuccefs. How then are thoſe
forces to be encreafed? By blotting out the
remembrance of all the injuries you ever
received from thofe cities or private men,
who
N 3
182
SELECT
who have at any time oppofed your mea-
fures, and ftood up in defence of their an-
tient conftitution. Fears and jealoufies will
unite your enemies; who, when they find
their numbers grow formidable, and that
their common fafety is concern'd, will rea-
dily affift each other to deftroy you. But
if theſe fears and jealoufies are carefully re-
moved, their refentments will fubfide, and
you may hereafter reap the advantage of
their friendſhip. To proclaim this indeed
from city to city would be ridiculous, and
even impracticable; but, beginning with your
own citizens, you might by degrees open to
others your intention of proceeding with
them in the fame manner. I think, no
city, no leader, orator or private man what-
ever, who defended the antient government,
fhould, for the future, fuffer any cenfure
or reproach on that account. It is in
your power to determine what is moſt
eligible, tho' theſe men may be entirely
blameleſs, in ftrenuously defending their
own opinions. When the ſhip is in danger,
every paffenger has the liberty to fay whe-
ther he thinks the fail or oar may be of moſt
fervice; and the fame right has every man
to
EPISTLE S.
183
to ſpeak his real thoughts in the affairs
of the commonwealth; all are to be heard,
and that counſel embraced, which feems
moſt agreeable to the will of the Gods.
If thus you act, you will behave like wife
and good men, raiſe your power and intereſt,
and induce many, if not all
if not all your adverſaries,
to confefs themſelves in an error, and change
their fentiments. Whilft the great and prin-
cipal affairs are thus carefully conducted, let
not thoſe of an inferior nature be neglected.
I do not mean that the whole ſtate ſhould
be endanger'd to revenge the cauſe of any
individual, nor would I fuffer private refent-
ments to interfere with the publick good.
What preparations are neceffary, what cauti-
ons to be obferved, and what methods (as
far as human wisdom can forefee) are moſt
likely to meet with fuccefs, I have endeavour'd
to point out to you. To be every day at
the head of bufinefs, to turn every accident
and circumftance to advantage, to feize every
favourable opportunity, and judge what may
be beſt gain'd by folicitation, and what ex-
torted by open violence, must be left to the
conduct of thofe, whom you fhall appoint
your leaders; and, on this account as well
N 4
as
184.
SELECT
as on many others, giving advice is a moſt
difficult province. For thoſe things, which
are nicely plan'd, and after great labour and
ſtudy have been approved of by all, may be
fruſtrated or entirely changed by thoſe, who
are entruſted with the execution of them;
and yet I hope we ſhall now fucceed. If
any ſhould extol the good fortune of Alex-
ander, becauſe he profper'd in every un-
dertaking, let him remember, that he was
fortunate, becauſe he was active, vigilant and
brave. He is dead; and fortune is now in
ſearch of other favorites. Thoſe favorites you
muft and will be, if you chuſe out men of
conduct and valour for your leaders; what
every one of you would wish, and is able to
do, that let every one hold already done, that
let him promiſe to himſelf, and without de
ceiving or being deceived take care ſtrictly to
perform. If you neglect this opportunity, it
can never be retrieved. The danger of vary-
ing in our refolutions is not fo great in things,
which may be done at our leifure as in
affairs, which require immediate diſpatch.
In theſe cafes, to change our refolutions is
utterly to deſtroy them. Avoid that fatak
Whatever you are going to engage in,
error.
let
EPISTLES.
185
let your minds be prepared to execute it;
and when you have once determined to act,
then, under the kind aufpices and influence
of the Dodonaan Jove, and the other Gods,
whoſe oracles you have confulted and whoſe
aid you have implored, (if fortune be pro-
pitious) reſtore the liberties of Greece.
DEMOSTHENES to the Senate and people
of ATHENS; requesting his return from
banishment.
I not only thought, O Athenians, that
my innocence would have fecured me from
the treatment I have met with, but that, if I
had even been quite in an error, the fervices.
I have done the common-weal might atone
for it. When I faw indeed many others,
befides myſelf, condemn'd without any proof
againſt them, not by the general voice but by
the private factions of a few bad men ; as I
was fatisfy'd that not only I, but your rights
alfo were, by this iniquitous conduct, tramp-
led on and contemn'd, I thought it became
me to bear my wrongs with temper and re-
fignation. To give way thus to the power of
fuch as had no title to the authority they
affumed was doubtless to yield up the pri-
vileges
186
SELECT
vileges of the fenate. As you have now
thought proper to take into confideration the
pretences of theſe men and to examine into
their claims; as you have deem'd their fecret
practices worthy of your refentment, and
taken the cauſes of the accufed under your
own inſpection, I hope (if it feem good to
you,) to meet with that pardon, which you
have extended to all thofe, who were invol-
ved with me in the fame fuppofed guilt;
that ſo I alone may not, for crimes of which
I am innocent, be deprived of my country,
fortune and friends. Demofthenes, ○ Athe
nians, merits your utmoſt care and indul-
gence; not only for having fuffer'd unjustly
by your decree, but becauſe your reputation
and character with foreign nations may de-
pend on your behaviour to me; for
you muſt
not think that tho' you do not call to mind
what I have done for you, the reſt of Greece
will fo ungratefully forget my fervices. I
ſhall not dwell on my own praiſes, as well,
for fear of that envy, which in theſe cafes
truth itſelf cannot fecure us from, as becauſe
to mention what we then did would be to
reproach our prefent floth and indolence,
which has forced us to put up with indigni-
ties
EPIST LE S.
187
;
ties we ſhould not then have borne. It muſt,
upon the whole, be acknowleged that my
advice and affiftance made your valour and
happineſs the admiration of mankind
and I had reaſon to expect in return all, which
you had power to beftow. When cruel
and inevitable fortune had involved
you in
an unſucceſsful war, enter'd into in defence
of the liberties of Greece, I ftill preſerved
my love for you, and maintain'd my own
honour. The hopes of fafety, riches and
power could never rob me of my integrity;
though I faw the men, who oppofed your
intereſt and that of the ſtate, in full poffeffion
of all thoſe valuable bleffings. One thing,
which I have, I think, a right to boaſt of, I
muſt call to your remembrance. When
Philip, the moſt artful man hiſtory can fur-
niſh us with, had by complaifancy, kindneſs,
and affability fo bound to him the hearts of
all men as to have them entirely at his dif
pofal; when he had by prefents corrupted all,
who had any authority in Greece; remember
that I alone remain'd unconquer'd; which
you to this day reap the advantage of.
Tho' I frequently met and converſed with
him concerning the bufinefs of my embaffies,
I
188
SELECT
I conftantly refuſed to accept the bribes he
offer'd, which many now amongſt you can
teſtify. Reflect then what theſe men muſt
think of you. My fufferings they will doubt-
lefs attribute not to my crimes but my miſ
fortune and your baſe ingratitude; an infamy,
which nothing can wipe out but a reverſion
of your unjuft decree. What I have hitherto
alleged in my defence will not perhaps plead
fo ftrongly in my behalf, as my continual
attachment to you in the daily adminiftration
of your affairs; in which I fo acted, as never
meanly to engage in any falfe accufations, or
give car to malicious and frivolous difputes,
publick or private ; never calumniated either
citizen or ſtranger; never turn'd my voice
againſt you; but, whenever there was occafion,
ftood up with courage and refolution in your
defence. Tell your fons how Demosthenes
behaved, when Python the Byzantine
pour'd forth his invectives against your city,
and met with a reception he little expected,
*After the conquest of Elatan, the two orators Demosthenes
and Python were fent, the one by Philip, the other by the
Athenians, to request the afflarce of Baotia; where Pytho
inveigh'd bitterly against the Athenians, and Demosthenes an
{werd him extempore with great fuccelo.
returning
EPISTLE S.
189
I
returning with fhame and difgrace.
will not ſpeak of all the embaffies, in which
you employ'd me; or boaſt my ſucceſs in
them. You can bear witnefs for me, O
Athenians, that whilft I was engaged in the
affairs of government I never raiſed divifions
amongſt you, or arm'd the city againſt itſelf;
but endeavour'd to excite you to fuch actions
as might encreaſe your glory and renown; a
defign, it would well become the old among
you to admire, and the young to imitate; nor
fhould you wiſh for an orator, who is only
ambitious of popular applaufe, and meanly
fubfervient to the multitude, (for of fuch you
have already enough,) but a man, who has
the honefty and courage to reprove your
faults. I pafs over many things, which with-
out thofe already mention'd, might, I think,
give me a title to your indulgence; my be-
haviour when Edile, my care of the Gallies,
and thoſe largeffes, which in times of publick
neceffity I either advanced myſelf, or in-
duced others to fupply you with; every one
of which is a reproach to you for your un-
juſt ſentence againſt me. Surrounded as I
am with misfortunes, I know not which I
fhould first lament; the time of life, which
I
»
190
SELECT
I am forced to fpend in a dangerous exile,
and in a manner fo much beneath that dig-
nity, in which I once appear'd; the igno-
miny I have fuffer'd for crimes, which I
never committed; or laftly thofe
or laſtly thoſe great and
glorious hopes, which are now fo cruelly
fruftrated, and have left me in their ftead
nothing but the poor inheritance of fuch
calamities as only the worst of men could
deſerve. I never was a friend to Harpalus;
nor ought I to fuffer for any former mif-
carriage, when that, of which I was accuſed,
was never proved against me. Among all
the decrees made concerning Harpalus, * it
may not be improper to remind you that
thofe only, which I dictated, freed the city
from fufpicion of favouring his defigns. Thus
does every circumſtance make it appear that,
from the iniquity of the times, and not my
Harpalus quitted the fervice of Alexander, who had
committed to him the charge of his revenue in Babylon, and
came over to the Athenians; many of whom he won by bribes,
and among the rest Demofthenes, who at firft, (which he in this
paffage alludes to) adviſed the Athenians to drive him out of
the country; but afterwards took a filver cup, for which he
was fined fifty talents, and committed to prifon, from whence, by
the connivance of his keeper, he made his eſcape.
own,
EPISTLE S.
191
own, I felt the whole weight of the puniſh-
ment due to the guilty only, and fell the firſt
facrifice to your refentment. What argument,
な
​which thofe, whom you afterwards pardon'd
made uſe of, did not I alſo bring in my de-
fence; or can any thing be now ſaid, which
has not been faid already? No man can
prove that done, which never was done.
Tho' I could add many things, I chufe to
paſs them over in filence. When we fuffer,
our innocence is of little fervice in remo-
ving the prejudices of others, and only en-
creaſes the anguiſh of our own minds. As
you are reconciled, O Athenians, to the
reft, be reconciled to me alfo. I call the,
Gods and heroes to witneſs, I never wrong'd
you. Let my paſt life plead in my behalf.
Let that be heard fooner than thofe accufati-
ons, which were brought, but never made
good, against me. Surely I am not more
to be contemn'd, or lefs to be trufted than
others, whom calumny hath afperfed. My
flight you cannot blame. I did not leave
Athens from any diftruft of you, or the
hopes of a kind reception in any other place,
but the apprehenfion of a ſhamefull priſon,
and confinement; which the weakness of
my
192
SELECT
, my age would not have been able to bear.
You could not cenfure my avoiding an infa-
my, which would have deſtroy'd me, and
could be of no fervice to you. That I fought
out no foreign friends is fufficiently apparent.
I did not retire to any place, where I might
flatter myſelf with the profpect of living in
fplendor and magnificence, but went to
Trazene, a city well affected to you ; where
many of my ancestors retreated, after
the Perfian war; whofe inhabitants may
the immortal Gods protect, as well for their
friendſhip to you, as their many kind offices
to me; and grant it may hereafter, (when by
your favour I am reftored) be in my power
to repay them! Even here, when one, who
thought by that means to gain my applauſe,
condemn'd your injuftice, I reproved him,
and defended you; for which I merit both
your pardon and reward. Though I had
the greateſt reaſon to love and eſteem theſe
men for their humanity and benevolence,
yet as I perceived it was not in their power
to ferve me in what I wiſh'd for, I left them
and went to the Temple of Neptune in Ca-
labria, not as a place of fafety, but becauſe
I might from thence look every day upon
my
EPISTLES:
193
native country; and I wiſh to God De-
mofthenes were as dear to you as Athens is to
him. Let me not then, O Athenians, be
any longer unhappy; let not me alone be
deprived of your indulgence, or force me to
afk that of others, which you deny; a me-
thod, which though you ſhould ſtill continue
inexorable, as it would reflect difhonour on
you, I had rather dye than make uſe of.
Since the fame authority, which decreed the
fentence, may now repeal it, act as it be-
comes Athenians towards a man, who fo well
merits your favour.
favour. You know I never de-
ferved ignominy or death, but have ſerved
and loved you as I ought; nor think the
grief, which is exprefs'd in this letter, pro-
ceeds from weakness of mind. Ilament, as
every man in my condition would, the lofs
of your eſteem, and of my country; a ſuf-
ficient caufe for tears and forrow, and not
the effect of fear and effeminacy, to which
you yourſelves know, when I had the ma-
nagement of your affairs, I was an utter
ftranger. Thus far I have fpoke to you
only. In regard to thofe, who have calum-
niated me, I would anſwer them before you
all. What they did againſt me, in obedience
O
to
194
SELECT
to your directions, I fhall not mention. They
have ceaſed to perfecute others; and to leave
me alfo at quiet would be a mark of their
difcretion. But if they ſtill perfevere, I muſt
call on you for affiftance; and I hope their
malice and inveteracy will not get the better
of your juftice and humanity.
ARTAXERXES the great, king of kings, to
PETUS.
THE plague is in our camp; and in ſpite
of all our endeavours to remove it, ftill rages
with the utmoſt violence. I beseech thee
therefore, by the memory of all thoſe bene-
fits I ever beftow'd on thee, to fend me fome
immediate help. Drive away, if poffible,
this terrible calumnity, which hath ſpread
terror and deftruction through the whole.
army. Inftead of attacking the enemy, we
are ourſelves attack'd by this moſt dread-
ful adverſary, whofe fatal arrows have pierced
us with wounds, which medicine cannot heal.
I am not able to exprefs to you my anxiety
on this occafion; nor do I know how to
proceed. Free me from this diftrefs, and do
not let me, at fuch a time, want your beſt
affiſtance and advice. Farewell.
PATUS
EPISTLE S.
195
PATUS to the king of kings, ARTAXERXES
the great.
In moſt of thofe diforders, which nature
brings, nature is herſelf the beſt phyſician;
but the more violent difeafes, which ſpread
through a whole people, fhe is often too
weak to remove. Art may then ſtep into her
affiftance, and from a knowledge of the
mechaniſm of our bodies fometimes prevail.
Hippocrates, the phyfician, cures this diftem-
per; a Dorian, native of Cos, and ſon of Hera-
clides; a man, who from low and mean be-
ginnings hath brought the art of medicine to
the higheſt perfection. He is by birth di-
vine; being, on his father's fide, the ninth in
deſcent from king Chryfamis, the eighteenth
from Æfculapius, the twentieth from Jove;
and, on his mother's, fprung from the Hera-
clide; from them he received the principles
of his knowlege, and by a noble and extenfive
genius as far furpaſs'd his anceſtors in this art
as the art itſelf is fuperior to all others; curing
every diſeaſe, and fcattering the glorious
bleffings of the divine Efculapius, as Trip-
tolemus did the gifts of Ceres on every fide:
Juftly therefore in many places has he met
O 2
with
196
SELECT
with divine honours, and the Athenians
have beftow'd on him the fame rewards as
they once gave to Hercules and Æfculapius.
Let him be immediately fent for, and give
him all he requires; for he alone can remove
this dreadful peftilence; he is the father and
preſerver of health, and the prince of that di-
vine ſcience, which he profeffeth.
ARTAXERXES the great, king of kings, to
HYSTANES governor of the Hellefport.
We have heard of the great phyſician Hip-
pocrates of Cos, fprung from Efculapius.
Him fend to us. We will beſtow on him
every thing he can defire, in return for his
affiftance; and hold him in equal honour
with our nobles. If you find any other, no
lefs illuftrious for wifdom and knowlege,
ſpare no cost to acquire him. Such treaſures
are moft rarely to be met with, and when
found of all things the most valuable.
HYSTANES,
EPISTLE S.
197
HYSTANES, governor of the Hellefpont, to
HIPPOCRATES Sprung from ÆsCULA-
PIUS.
I here fend you the king's letter requiring
your immediate prefence. Let me have your
anfwer as foon as poffible. Farewell.
HIPPOCRATES, the phyfician, to HYSTANES,
governor of the Hellefpont.
To the letter you fent me from the king
you may immediately return this anſwer; that
I have already all the neceffaries of life, and
do not therefore ftand in need of his bounty.
I hold it neither juft nor honourable to re-
ceive any thing from a Perfian, or to beſtow
health on Barbarians, who are the enemies
of Greece.
}
The Senate and People of ABDERA to HIP-
POCRATES.
OUR city, O Hippocrates, is in the utmoſt
danger of lofing its greateſt ornament. If
Democritus is not cured of his madnefs, Ab-
dera is deſtroy'd. Forgetful of himſelf and
0 3
every
198
SELECT
every thing round him, he fits up night and
day, raves, and laughs at every thing. Mar-
riages, merchandiſe, embaffies, fpeeches,
magiftracies, wounds, fickneſs and death are
alike the objects of his mirth. Diſorder'd
both in body and mind, he fearches into, and
writes concerning the infernal regions, affirms
that the air is full of images, that he un-
derſtands the language of birds, that he wan-
ders into infinity, and there meets with
beings like himſelf. Thefe dreadful fymp-
toms terrify and alarm us. Do not deſpiſe us
therefore, but come immediately and fave our
country. If you cure him, fame and riches
ſhall be your reward; and though we are
fatisfied you prefer honour and reputation to
all the gifts of fortune, yet muft you permit
us to fhew our gratitude by a prefent worthy
your acceptance. Were our city all of gold
* This alludes to the doctrine of Democritus of the tranfition
of images, which fucceed one another from a conftant fupply
of atoms, adopted by Epicurus and his followers.
Quid Democritus (fays Tully,) qui tum imagines earumque
circuitus in deorum numero refert, tum illam naturam quæ ima-
gines fundat ac mittat tum fcientiam intelligentiamque noftram,
nonne in maximo errore verjatur ? Cicero de nat. Deorum,
Lib. 1.
We
EPISTLE S.
199
we would gladly beftow it to purchaſe th
health of Democritus. If he dyes, our laws
muſt periſh with him. Come then, we im-
plore thee, and be not only our phyſician,
but our founder, and preferver; be the wall
and bulwark of all Greece; for it is not a
fingle city, but the whole country, which now
aſks thy affiftance. Imagine learning our
interceffor, and learning our Ambaffador,
in favour of their beloved Democritus. The
rifing generation fhall thank thee for prefer-
ving him, who if he lives will by his pre-
cepts render them fuperior in their knowlege
of truth to all paſt ages. You are deſcended
from Æfculapius; he by the brothers fide
from Hercules; from whom came our great
founder Abderus.
Let this induce thee to
comply with our requeft. It is ftrange that
diftempers fhould thus arife from the excefs
of what is good. Too much knowledge
hath caufed the madnefs of Democritus,
while the common people of Abdera,
* The people of Abdera, a city in Thrace, were remarkably
dull and heavy. Juvenal calls it Fervecum Patria, and Mar-
tial fays
Abderitan pectora plebis habes.
We meet with many other fevere reflections on them, in
antient authors.
0 4
who
200
SELECT
who are wholly illiterate, enjoy their fenfes,
and even thoſe, who were branded with con-
tempt for their remarkable dulneſs and ftu-
pidity, have had fagacity enough to diſcover
the diſeaſe of the wifeft of men. Come
then, and may Æfculapius and the daughter
of Hercules affift thee. Bring with thee
Paonian remedies. Our earth abounds with
roots, herbs and flowers of fovereign efficacy
in this distemper, and furely it will now, if
ever, pour them forth in plenty to pre-
ſerve the health of its darling Democritus.
Farewell.
HIPPOCRATES to the Senate, and people of
ABDERA.
AMELESAGORAS, your fellow citizen,
arrived at Cos on the day of our grand feſtival,
As he feem'd by his countenance and manner
to have ſome bufinefs of importance and
which required diſpatch, I immediately read
the letter he brought from you, and was not
a little furpriſed to find your concern for the
health of one man as great as if he had been
the only one remaining in the city. Happy
doubtless is that people, who look on the
wife
EPISTLES.
201
wife and good as better guardians of their
ftate than walls and bulwarks. Men
Men,are
the work of nature, and art the gift of the
Gods. Let it not offend you then, O men
of Abdera, if I fay it is not you, who now
invite me, but nature herſelf, who calls on
me to preſerve her nobleſt work from periſh-
ing by this cruel diftemper. In obedience
therefore to the command of nature and the
Gods, I haften to cure Democritus, if he is
indeed fick, and you are not, as I could
with you were, deceived on this occafion;
though, if it is ſo, the uneafineſs, which you
expreſs at his fuppofed danger, is the fſtrongeſt
mark of your efteem for and tenderneſs to-
wards him. But, if I come, remember,
God and nature have promised me no re-
ward, neither will I accept any from you.
Do not therefore offer it. Let a liberal art re-
main free. Thofe, who meanly proſtitute
their knowledge for hire, enflave the ſciences.
Such will flatter men, when diſeaſes are moft
dangerous, and alarm them with falfe fears,
when they are not fo; will diſappoint where
they have promiſed, and come when they
are not fent for. Human life is not on any
account more miferable than becauſe the in-
tolerable
202
SELECT
tolerable thirſt of gain hath, like a baleful
wind, fo fpread its malignant influence over
every part of it. Would to heaven phyſi-
cians would all join their aid to cure this
worst delirium! I have always look'd on the
various diſeaſes of the mind as fo many
diſtinct ſpecies of madneſs, which diſturb our
reaſon with ſtrange opinions and extravagant
defires; and when theſe humours are purged
off by virtue, the man recovers. If riches
were my principal aim, O men of Abdera,
ten talents would not have brought me to
you. I ſhould have gone into Perfia, where
the king would have beftowed on me as
much filver and gold as I defired, after I
had removed the plague, which now reigns
there. But I refuſed my aid to the enemies
of Greece. Thus have I conquer'd the Bar-
barians. I fhould hold it a difgrace to re-
ceive any thing at the hands of Archelaus,
and think myſelf an enemy to my country.
True wealth does not confift merely in riches,
amafs'd together from every part and by every
method. Virtue is a much nobler and more
valuable poffeffion. As it is unwarrantable
to preſerve our enemies, no leſs fo is it to take
a reward for curing our friends; I do not
make
EPISTLES.
203
make a trade of my profeffion. I was not
glad to hear of the fickneſs of Democritus.
If he is well, he is my friend; if ill, and I
have the happineſs to cure him, he will be
ftill more fo; for I hear he is a man of hon-
our and integrity and an ornament to your
city. Farewell.
HIPPOCRATES to PHILOPÆMEN.
I
WITH the epiſtle from the people of Ab-
dera I received yours alfo, and shall gladly
accept the kind offer of your houſe and other
accommodations during my ftay there.
fhall come the more willingly as I have had
fome intimation by letter that this man is
not really diſorder'd, but one, whofe uncom-
mon wiſdom and fuperior underſtanding have.
deceived the multitude into an opinion of his
being mad. That he is a great and learned
philofopher, who being intirely free from
family affairs fpends whole days and nights
in caves and folitary places, lying down on
the grafs, or by the banks of rivers; all which
is ufual with men of melancholly and con-
templative difpofitions, who love filence and
folitude, and avoid as much as poffible the
faciety
204
SELECT
1
fociety as well of friends as ſtrangers: Nor
is it at all to be wonder'd at that thoſe, who
apply themſelves clofely to ftudy and the
culture of their minds, fhould lofe all other
cares in the ſearch of wiſdom; for as fervants
in a family, when left to themſelves, are for
the moſt part noify and quarrelfome, but at
fight of their miftrefs are immediately re-
duced to filence and order; ſo all the paffions
of men, which are turbulent and unruly,
when wiſdom appears, are quieted or re-
moved. Madmen do not feek retirement,
but thoſe only, who from a contempt of the
buſineſs and amufements of the world, leave
it in fearch of eaſe and tranquillity. When
the mind, broken and fubdued by accidents
from without, would refreſh both itſelf and
the body, it naturally flies to a place of reſt;
where it may ſtand alone and look round, as
it were from an eminence, for the fituation
of true happineſs; where neither wife, chil-
dren, fervants, fortune, or any of the cares and
concerns of life, may difturb him; where
the heavens ſhine forth, crown'd with ftars
moving on every fide; where noife and trou-
ble dare not appear, but ſtand at a diſtance in
aweful reverence of thofe glorious deities,
wiſdom
EPISTLE S.
205
wiſdom and virtue, which there refide.
To fome fuch delightful feat perhaps is
Democritus retired, and from this love of
folitude alone the Abderites fuppofe him mad.
Prepare, O Philopamen, for my reception. I
would not trouble the city at a time of gene-
ral affliction, eſpecially when I have ſo old
a friend as yourſelf, from whom I am ſure of
meeting with the fincereft welcome.
HIPPOCRATES to DIONYSIUS.
MEET me at Halicarnaffus. I muſt go to
Democritus at Abdera. It is amazing, O my
friend, to ſee how the whole city ſympathifes
with one man and feems fo to participate of
his diftemper as to want a cure as much as
himself; though I have reafon to think his
diſeaſe is nothing but extraordinary learning
and virtue, which in reality can never be
hurtful to any. But whatever goes beyond
the common bounds is look'd on by the ig-
norant multitude as a diforder. Every one
thinks that excefs in another, which he is
himſelf deficient in.
fteems fortitude a folly,
Thus the coward e-
and the covetous
calls generofity a crime. In regard to De-
mocritus,
206
SELECT
mocritus, when I have feen and converfed
with him I fhall be better able to judge of
his illneſs. Do you, Ọ Dionyfius,
O make
haſte hither; where I would have you ftay
year
till my return, and take care of the city.
From what caufes I know not, but the
has hitherto been extremely healthful, fo
that you will not have much trouble. You
will live at my houfe.
father and mother.
conduct in my abfence.
My wife is with her
Have an eye upon her
Her father is a
man of honour and fpirit, but much in years.
Women muſt always have fome one near to
reſtrain them; for they have by nature an
intemperance, which if ſuffer'd to grow will
like trees unpruned fhout out into a vicious.
luxuriancy. A friend on thefe occafions is
always preferable to a parent; for one is free
from that natural affection, which too often
inclines the other to partiality, and renders
him incapable of advifing and reproving as
he ought. Where paffion interferes the leaft
there is always the greateſt ſhare of difcreti-
on.
HIPPO-
EPISTLES
207
HIPPOCRATES to PHILOPÆMEN.
I went to reft laft night, not without the
greateſt care and folicitude, with the thoughts
of Democritus ftrongly imprefs'd on my
mind; and a little before morning had this
extraordinary dream; from which, at the
fame time that I was much aftoniſh'd at it,
I drew an omen of my future fuccefs. Me-
thought I no fooner arrived at the gates of
Abdera than Æfculapius himſelf appear'd to
me; not with that mildneſs and complacen-
cy
in his countenance, which we meet with
in the ſtatues of him, but with an aſpect
frowning and feemingly full of trouble.
Behind him were ferpents of moſt exquiſite
beauty, which trail'd after him, and hiſs'd as
is uſual in fandy and defart places. Near
him were ſeveral fervants with boxes of me-
dicinal preparations. The God ſtretch'd forth
his hand to me, which I eagerly embraced,
and begg'd him to go with and affift me in
the important buſineſs, which brought me
to Abdera; to which he reply'd, you will
not want my aid. This Goddefs, adored by
mortal and immortal beings, ſhall protect
thee. At theſe words I turn'd round and be-
hold
SELECT
held a large and beautiful woman in a mag-
nificent robe; her hair tyed up with an air
of the greateft fimplicity, with eyes that
darted forth a kind of ftarry luftre. The
God withdrew, and the woman, taking hold
of my hand, led me through the city, and
when we came to the houfe vanifh'd like
a fpectre, with theſe words, to morrow I
fhall find thee with Democritus. I had just
time to aſk her her name, to which ſhe an-
fwer'd, I am Truth. She, whom
you fee
approaching towards you, is Opinion. She
lives at Abdera. No fooner had ſhe ſaid this,
when the other woman came up to me, with
a perfon not difagreeable, but a countenance
full of fierceness and pride. At the fight of
her I fuddenly awoke, and on reflection thus
expounded this ftrange dream. That the
God of phyfick ſhould leave me in that man-
ner and affure me I had no need of medicine
to affift me, I interpreted to fignify that De-
mocritus wanted not a phyfician; that truth
dwells with him, becaufe he is in perfect
health; and that his fickneſs is nothing but
the fooliſh opinion of it, which reigns among
the people of Abdera. Theſe things, O Phi-
lopamen, I believe. Dreams are not to be re-
jected;
EPISTLE S.
209
jected; eſpecially when the circumſtances
of them are ranged in fo much order, and
have ſo great an appearance of probability.
Phyfick and divination bear the greateſt a-
nalogy to each other. One god, Apollo, our
great anceſtor, is the father of them both;
who alone can remove all preſent diſeaſes,
and foretell thoſe, which are to come.
HIPPOCRATES to DAMAGETUS.
IT was as we expected, O Damagetus;
Democritus is not mad, but full of learning
and wiſdom, which he imparts to me and
all, who converfe with him. I have fent
back the ſhip, which truly deferves to be call'd
the fhip of Efculapius. Together with
the fun let the figure of health be engraved
on it. We fail'd with a profperous gale and
arrived at Abdera the very day, on which I
had wrote word that I ſhould be there.
whole city, men and women, old and young,
were gather'd together at the gates in expec-
tation of me; who all fhew'd at firſt in
their faces and behaviour the deepeſt afflic-
tion for the fickness of Democritus; but on
fight of me feem'd to return as it were to
themſelves
P
The
210
SELECT
themſelves, and entertain hopes of his reco-
very. Philopamen conducted me to his
houſe, with which they were highly pleaſed.
I told them I could do nothing till I had ſeen
Democritus; upon which the people, with
loud acclamations of joy, led me through
the Forum, while the croud throng'd on
every fide of me crying out help him, cure
him, fave him. I encouraged them, affuring
them that an Etefian wind favour'd my de-
fign, and gave me the greatest hopes of fuc-
cefs. Behind the tower, near the walls of
the city, we came to a high hill, fet thick
with poplars; from whence we ſaw the ha-
bitation of Democritus, and the philofopher
himſelf alone under the fhade of a ſmall
plane-tree, in a fhort gown, which hung
loofe on his ſhoulders. He had a long beard,
feem'd pale and lean, and was fitting on a
ftone. A little rivulet trickled down a hil-
lock adjoining to the place, near which was
a kind of temple dedicated, as I fuppoſe, to
fome nymph, and furrounded with vines,
which grew wild about it. He held a book
upon his knee, and others lay fcatter'd on
each fide; and by him in a heap were ſeveral
carcaffes of animals, which he had diffected.
He
EPISTLE S;
211
He was fometimes intent on the writing
before him, and a little while after feem'd
entirely wrapp'd up in the moſt ſerious me-
ditation. He then roſe up and walk'd;
look'd in the bowels of the animals, and
laying them afide return'd to his feat. The
Abderites in the mean time obferving him,
and crying out to me, you fee,O Hippocrates,
his diftemper, and that he knows not what
he would have, or what he is doing; one
of them look'd at him and wept bitter-
ly, as if he had been robb'd of all that was
dear to him. Democritus, ſeeing him,
fmiled, left off his writing, and fhook his
head. I then defired the Abderites to ftay
there, and let me go nigher to him, that I
might the better learn the nature of his Dif-
temper. The defcent was fo fteep that I
could not keep my foot from flipping, but
I fell upon him as he was writing. I ftood
fome time expecting him to leave off, which
he did, and laying down his pen he ſaid,
hail to thee, O gueft. To thee alfo, re-
ply'd I, O Democritus, thou wifeſt of men.
What name, faid he, fhould I have faluted
thee by; to which I anfwer'd, Hippocrates
the phyfician. The nobility of your family,
P z
faid
212
SELECT
the great,
he, and your extraordinary ſkill in phyfick,
I have long fince heard of; but what buſineſs
brought you hither? Sit down here and in-
form me. This verdant feat, ftrow'd with
leaves, is foft and pleafant, and to me far
beyond the pompous dwellings of
ever obnoxious to care and envy. Tell me
freely whether you are come on a publick or
private buſineſs; whatever it be, you may
depend on my readiness to affift you. I
came, reply'd I, to fee and converſe with
the wife Democritus; but I am obliged to
the whole city for the opportunity, being
fent by them on a publick embaffy. You
ſhall then, faid he, be my gueft. You
know, reply'd I, Philopamen your fellow
citizen, who lives near the fountain Hermais,
I am his gueſt in the city, but permit me, O
Democritus, to be yours here, and entertain
me with an account of what you are now
writing. I am writing, anſwer'd he, after
a fhort paufe, concerning madneſs, what it
is, whence it arifes, and by what means it
may be removed. O Jupiter, cry'd I, moſt
luckily then will your difcourfe fit the pre-
fent occafion, and be the fevereft fatire on
the city. What city, faid he, turning fud-
denly
EPIST LE S.
213
denly. But I evaded his queſtion and de-
fired him to go on. Thefe animals pro-
ceeded he, which you fee here, I have for
this purpoſe diffected; not from a cruel plea-
fure of deſtroying the works of god, but
in order to diſcover the nature and feat of the
bile, the redundance of which you cannot
be ignorant is the principal caufe of madneſs
among men, and indeed of many other dif
orders. Your obſervation, ſaid I, O De--
mocritus, is extremely juft. How fortu-
nate are you to be able to enjoy yourſelf and
improve your mind in fo delicious a retire-
ment! Diſeaſes, deaths, children, fervants
and the like, cut off from me all hopes of a
happineſs like this. At thefe words he burft
into a fit of exceffive laughter, which
the Abderites, who were at fome di-
ftance, perceiving, beat their heads and.
breafts, tore their hair and fhew'd every to-
ken of forrow; becauſe, as they afterwards
told me, they had never before feen him
laugh fo vehemently; which they look'd on
as the ſtrongeſt ſymptom of his madneſs. I
then afk'd him what could occafion this ex-
traordinary mirth. I told him, if I had
faid any thing ridiculous, I would gladly
P 3
correct
214
SELECT
correct myself; and, if I had not, I hoped
he would own he was to blame for this im-
moderate laughter. If, faid he, you can
convince me I am to blame for that, Q
Hippocrates, you will work a cure indeed.
Would you not, faid I, think it abfurd to
laugh at diſeaſes, death, madneſs, melan-
cholly, or any other of the misfortunes in-
cident to human life; or, on the other
hand, at marriages, publick feftivals, reli-
gious rites, honours, magiftracies, or the
like? Would you laugh indifcriminately at
every thing; at thofe, whom we ſhould
pity, and thoſe, whom we ſhould rejoice
with; and thus make no diftinction be-
tween good and evil? True, faid he, O
Hippocrates; but you do not as yet know at
what and whom I laugh; which, when you
are acquainted with, I am fatisfy'd you will
own you have learn'd fomething from me
that may repay the labour of
the labour of your journey,
and be of fervice both to yourſelf, and
to your fellow-citizens. You will perhaps,
in return, teach me the fcience of phyfick,
when I ſhall have fhew'd you with how
much eagerness men follow thofe things,
which are of no value, and fpend their
lives
EPIST LE S.
215
you
lives in the purſuit of fuch only as are fit to
to be laugh'd at and defpifed. Is man then,
faid I, diſorder'd and ignorant of his diſeaſe,
or can he not find out a remedy, and fend
for affiftance? May he not traverſe this
whole globe for a cure? And beyond this
there is nothing. Fall not into that error,
interrupted he, do not think rich nature fo
poor and barren. Know, there is an infinite
number of worlds befides this, which, we
inhabit. If launch out into infinity,
faid I, I fear you will laugh again. Pro-
ceed, I beg you, in your account of thoſe
things, which are the objects of your mirth.
You think then, faid he, looking fedfaftly
on me, I make no difference between good
and evil; but know, I laugh at only one
kind of men; men ignorant of truth and
virtue; children in their Judgments, fub-
jecting themſelves to the greateft toils without
the leaft real profit or advantage from them;
wandering in ſearch of riches to the utmoſt
limits of the earth; when in poffeffion
of their defired wealth, no less anxious
for its prefervation; and ever dreading,
not that they ſhould be really unhappy,
but that they ſhould be eſteem'd ſo
digging
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digging into the bowels of the earth
for filver and gold, which when found
they perhaps look on with contempt.
Some laviſh away their fortunes in dogs and
horſes, while others purchaſe lands, houſes
and eſtates, and are maſters of every thing
but themſelves. Some marry, and ſoon af
ter part from their wives; firft love, then
hate; bring up children with care and foli-
citude and then caft them off to poverty and
ruin. Does not this deferve our laughter?
Is it not foolish, irrational and next to mad-
nefs, for men to be perpetually at variance
with themſelves, without a thought of that
quiet, which is alone defireable; to change
their money into land; that land into mo-
ney again; always grafping at thoſe riches,
which when got they bury or ſquander
away? Fellow-citizens, brethren, and pa-
rents deſtroy each other for thofe poor pof-
feffions, which in a few years they muſt all
part with. They defpife their friends and
country when deftitute and opprefs'd; prize
inanimate and idle trifles as real wealth; give
an extravagant price for a dumb and lifeleſs
image; and at the fame time contemn the
words of truth, and the precepts of the wife;
value
EPISTLES
217
value things merely from the difficulty of
obtaining them; whilft they live on the
continent, they envy the inhabitants of an
ifland; if on an ifland, they will remove to
the continent. Every man harangues in
praiſe of courage, and acts himſelf like a
Therfites; the flave of avarice, pride, lux-
ury and every paffion in its turn. Why
ſhould not I, O Hippocrates, laugh at all,
when every man laughs at his neighbour's
follies without feeing his own? The fol-
dier, the failor, the epicure, the lover, and
the husbandman,afford mirth for each other.
Hence arife eternal divifions amongſt men,
who violate the laws of truth and reafon and
make themſelves unhappy. Nothing ſaid I,
O Democritus, is more juft than what you
have obferved, or can better fhew the mifer-
able ſtate of mankind; but the different
actions, the various buſineſs and affairs of
life, in which we are by the great law of
nature engaged, muft make thefe diffentions
and theſe errors unovoidable. We are born
with an averfion to indolence and inactivity,
and the ambition of excelling others may
lead the wifeft into miftakes. Though we
take the utmoſt care, we cannot foreſee
what
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what will happen. He, that marries, does
not think of a divorce. When a man takes
pains in the education of his children, he
does not at that time know that death, or
their own indiſcretion, will deprive him of
them. It muſt be thus in many other cir-
cumſtances; we are led on by the hopes of
good, and do not fee the ill. Your laughter
therefore is not in every thing defenfible.
Hippocrates, reply'd Democritus, you muſt
doubtleſs miſapprehend me. I do not mean
to laugh at fuch as act with that prudence
and diſcretion, but at thofe only, who blind-
ly purſue their inordinate defires, and never
fuffer wiſdom to direct them. To a wife
man the viciffitude of human affairs, which
like a wheel are always revolving, is a fuf-
ficient monitor; whilft thofe, on the other
hand, whom I deride, look on every thing
as fix'd and invariable, and never being
aware of accidents, or prepared againſt
them, are perpetually involved in calami-
ties. If every one would act as well as he
could, would not extend his defires beyond
their due bounds, but follow nature, and
be content with what ſhe alone could
ſupply him with, he might be happy. As
when
EPISTLE S.
219
when the body is in perfect health, the paſ-
fions of men are moſt folicitous, and there-
fore more to be dreaded; fo in profperity
we have generally the leaft caution. It is
misfortune only, which makes us wife. Some
are indeed ſo infenfible of every thing, which
paffes round them, as to reap no advantage
from daily experience; and even in the ſpace
of a long life, not fo to obferve what has
been, as to foreſee what may happen here-
after. Theſe men are the objects of my
laughter, who fuffer for their own folly and
extravagance. The cunning and artifice of
mankind, which fhews itſelf in their mali-
cious defigns againſt each other, no words
cin expreſs; their lyes and frauds, their love of
pleaſure, which they fo openly extol, and the
bounds, which they ridiculouſly ſet to virtue.
They embrace the very things, which they
had condemn'd; abhor the ſea, and are yet
perpetually on it; leave off agriculture from
diſguſt, and take it up again by choice ;
part from one woman to marry another
bury the children, which they had educated,
and afterwards get more, and thus encreaſe
their cares; wiſh for old age, and when it
comes
220
SELECT
comes complain of it; and are, in ſhort, in
no degree or condition of life whatever eafy
or contented. Kings would be private men,
and private men would be kings. The ftatef
man envies the happineſs of the low me-
chanic, the mechanic extols the dignity of
the ſtateſman, and wiſhes for his power and
authority; whilft, in the mean time, the
fafe and eaſy road of virtue is not ſeen, or
if feen neglected. Men prefer the rough
and thorny paths, where they purſue each
other, where all flip, and moſt of them fall
and are loft. Luft urges on fome to adulte-
ry; others are poiſon'd by avarice, or given
up to treachery and perfidioufnefs; and if
by conferring a benefit they gain a friend,
they quickly repent of their generofity, and
make him their enemy; whilft thoſe, who
are raiſed by ambition, fink under the weight
of their crimes, and fall headlong into ruin
and deftruction: What are thefe but in-
fants, who are delighted with any thing that
chance throws in their way? Where is the
difference between them and the brutes, un-
leſs indeed that the latter, when they have
enough, are contented? Does the lion bury
his treaſures in the earth; or the bull ufurp
223
EPISTLE S.
221
a power over his fellow creatures, which he
has no right to? The boar thirfts, but that
thirſt is foon quench'd; and the wolf, when
he has laid his appetite, is tame and gentle;
but infatiate man feafts day and night and
yet is never fatisfy'd. Beafts propagate their
fpecies as the proper ſeaſons return, but man
is a flave to his luft throughout the whole
year; and ſhall I not, O Hippocrates, laugh
at him, who complains that love hath robb'd
him of all the bleffings of life, and drives
him over feas, rocks, and precipices, and into
a thouſand dangers? Shall I not laugh at him,
who curfes the fea for fwallowing up the
ſhip, which his own avarice had funk by overla
ding? For fuch follies laughter is not fufficient;
they deferve a feverer puniſhment. May no
remedy ever be apply'd to fuch diſeaſes! I
would not have them cured. Thefe #fculapius
fhould have taught you never to remove;
Æfculapius, your great and renown'd anceſ-
tor, who for his fervices to mankind obtain'd
of the gods fo glorious a reward. The
whole world feems to confpire againſt man
that inhabits it, and to load him with innu-
merable calamities. Even from our birth we
are diſeaſed. In infancy ufelefs and impo-
tent
222
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tent; in youth mad and wicked; in man-
hood daring and infolent; in age wither'd,
faint, and miſerable. Some are proud and
revengeful, others drunken and incontinent;
fome perpetually imploy'd in fearch of their
neighbour's wealth, others no leſs buſy in
ſquandering their own. Could we detect
the hidden actions of men, we fhould fee
them laying fnares to deceive each other;
fee their falfe joys and pretended ſorrows;
fee them betraying their friends, and
over-reaching their enemies. Rich and
poor,
old and young, the fordid and the extrava-
gant,`the grave and the gay, the wife and
the fooliſh, all diffemble. Pictures, horſes,
ftatues, and the like, amufe one half; war,
merchandiſe, agriculture, the forum, and
the theatre engage the other. Who can ſee
fuch and refrain from laughter; ſuch as look
on wiſdom as the higheſt folly, by whom
even your art is defpifed? Phyfick has fuf-
fer'd much both from envy and ingratitude;
for the fick man, when reftored to health,
attributes his prefervation to fortune or the
Gods. Many think themſelves indebted to
the goodness of their conftitution only for
their recovery, and treat their phyfician with
contempt;
EPISTLE S.
223
contempt; many from vanity condemn an art,
which they are ignorant of; and envy prevents
men from beſtowing on others of the fame
profeffion that praiſe, which they deferve. I
am fure, O Hippocrates, you are no ftranger to
indignities of this kind, though I know you
never willingly hurt the authors of them.
At theſe words, O Damagetus, he fmiled,
and with ſuch grace as made him appear in
my eyes almoſt divine. I then thus addrefs'd
myſelf to him. O moft excellent Democri-
tus, I fhall carry back to Cos the nobleſt
teftimonies of your bounty, when you fhall
have fill'd me with wifdom. I muft indeed
report you deeply ſkill'd in the knowlege
of human nature, and the inveſtigator of
truth. With my own mind reſtored to vir-
tue I depart, to take care of the bodies of
others. To-morrow, I ſhall return. Saying
this, I aroſe. He follow'd me, and put
into my hands fome books.
hands fome books. I went back
to the Abderites, who were waiting for me.
O men of Abdera, faid I, I return you my
fincereft thanks for fending me to Democri-
tus, who is, doubtlefs, the wiſeſt of mor-
tals, and the only one capable of inftructing
mankind-
24
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mankind.
This is what I had to inform
you of, O Damagetus, and which I now
fend you with the utmoſt fatisfaction, con-
cerning Democritus.
Farewell.
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