I sought thee by the streamlet's flow,
The sun shone bright and clear,
But something whispered by my side
"Thou art not lonely here."

At evening's hour, I sought thee, too,
By mournful cares o'er-cast;
When pondering on the happy scenes
Of youthful days long-past:

I called to mind dear friends, since dead,
And those, who still are near;
But every thing around me said.

"No solitude is here."

Thus oft in midnight's silent gloom,

When all in sleep were laid,

And the moonlight's soft and gentle beams
About my chamber played;
While bending on my knees, to God

My soul is raised in prayer,

I've fancied that I was alone,

But knew that God was there.

P. T.

IDEAS UPON THE CAUSES OF THE
FALL OF ATHENS.

(Continued from p. 36.)

THE proximate cause of the ruin of the Athenian supremacy is undoubtedly to be traced to the disastrous issue of the Sicilian expedition; the primary cause, as we have already remarked, lies in the undue

influences possessed by demagogues over the popular mind. The conduct of the people of Athens during this, the period of their greatness, affords, perhaps, the most remarkable instance of national infatuation on record; the South Sea Bubble of 1720, in England, is probably the nearest parallel. That a nation, the most enlightened and cultivated of their time, should have listened patiently to the evil counsels of a succession of worthless demagogues, whom they despised all the while for their vulgarity and low birth, and hated for their selfish cupidity,—that they should have followed those counsels, well knowing their tendency, in opposition to their better judgment, that they should have reposed implicit confidence in men, whose innate vileness they were acquainted with,—is a phenomenon almost inexplicable in itself, the unravelling of which forms a deeply interesting psychological study. The Athenians knew that Cleon and the others who succeeded Pericles in the affections of the multitude were cowards, yet they entrusted them with the command of armies: they knew that they were selfish and unprincipled, yet they placed the public funds at their disposal. They knew the meanness of their extraction, and that every thought of their hearts, every word of their mouth, was as low and grovelling as their origin: yet they preferred listening to them, rather than to those, who, like the Alcmæonidæ, traced their descent from the heroic age. More than this, even when they had had experience of one demagogue, and had already suffered grievously through his mis

conduct, so infatuated were they, that they made no effort to cast off the degrading yoke, but gave themselves up to the dominion of other men of the same stamp, whose caprices they followed with equal sub

servience.

It was the advice of such men as these which induced them, intoxicated with success, to consent to the extermination of the Melians,-a barbarity which nothing can justify, not even the miserable plea of expediency, and which reflects lasting disgrace on the Athenian name. They were led by this democratic influence to put to death in cold blood those of the ten generals at Arginusa who had returned home, upon the frivolous pretext, that they had neglected to bury those who had been killed in the action; an act of almost suicidal insanity; since these were the only men capable of retrieving the disasters which they had already sustained. But their worthless leaders had so wrought upon their feelings, as to inspire them with a jealousy of their best citizens; and they had not sense enough to see, that the power of these demagogues was established on the ruin of the aristocracy. Noble and estimable as the Athenians were in many respects, (and we confess we have a great personal predilection for them), these are blots upon their character, compared with which their other follies and errors, however great in themselves, are venial. It remains, then, to be seen what causes could have combined to lead a people, naturally sagacious and quick-sighted, into so blind a deference to the opinions of so unworthy a set

of men as those who were their chief instigators to the commission of these crimes, and who ultimately brought about the ruin of the state.

The Athenians, like other nations, were wont to adorn their public places with the statues of those whom they esteemed as their benefactors. At the head of these might be expected to stand Theseus, the fabled author of their constitution,-Codrus, the patriot king, whom they had honoured, by declaring that no one was worthy to succeed him,-Solon, the framer of their admirable code of laws. Instead of these great names, however, we find that the highest honours were paid to Harmodius and Aristogiton, the murderers of the tyrant Hipparchus. The well-known drinking-song of the Athenians ranks them with Achilles and the heroes of the Trojan war. The inference to be drawn from this is, that they deemed the expulsion of the Pisistratids the greatest national benefit ever conferred on them; and their subsequent dread of relapsing into a similar form of government proves that this was the case. It is in the nature of a democracy to view its leaders with suspicion; and in this instance the suspiciousness of the Athenian people was aggravated by the recollection, that a bold citizen had once made himself their absolute master, and the possibility that a similar ambitious spirit might one day repeat the attempt. This idea seemed to haunt them on every occasion, and to pervade all their counsels: the name of the Pisistratids was a bugbear, which seemed to frighten them out of their wits. It was this feeling which gave rise to the odious Ostracism; a

species of self-mutilation, which was, in fact, doing for themselves what Tarquinius is said to have done to the inhabitants of Gabii. Rather than suffer such men as Aristides and Cimon, who had a firm hold on the affections of the people, and might therefore be suspected of exercising more influence than was becoming in private citizens, to exist in the state, they deprived themselves of their valuable services, by driving them into exile. Some of these men, the victims of their own popularity, turned their arms against their ungrateful country, and took part with her enemies. We may instance Alcibiades, who, though not ostracised, was made the object of a frivolous charge, the real motive for which was, the fear entertained of his aiming at the sovereign power. After the disaster in Sicily, his countrymen became sensible of their error, and recalled him to the defence of the capital; but no sooner had their prospects again brightened, than he was compelled to fly a second time from the effects of their jealousy. From Cleon and his successors, on the contrary, they had nothing to fear on that score; their want of ability, no less than the contempt in which they were held, rendered these men incapable of harbouring any designs against the state. They acted, therefore, according to their advice, because they knew that these demagogues were equally violent with themselves in expressing their opinion of the hated Pisistratids, and would take the lead in any movement against the aristocracy. Though these men were not only needy, but unscrupulous as to the means of satisfying themselves, the Athenians could

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