wearing a crown or wreath, and from being allowed to enter any places of-publick worship. He appointed it for a ftatute, that a citizen of Athens fhould be tried no where but at Athens; and that the eldest citizens fhould first make orations, but with the greatest modefty, and without any endeavours to ftir the paffions of the people; afterwards he ordered, that all should speak according to their feniority, and have leave to deliver their opinions freely, on any matter in debate; but he prohibited young men, however wife they might be efteemed, either to become magiftrates, or to make orations to the people.

Ir was a maxim eftablished by this wife legiflator, That the common people should be punished flowly, but magiftrates, and perfons in authority, fuddenly; affigning for it this reason, that the former might be punished at any time, but that, in correcting the latter, there ought to be no delay. As to funerals, the expence of which were in his time exceffive, Demofthenes recites his directions in these words: "Let the dead bodies be laid "out within the houfe, according as the de"ceafed gave order; and the day following, "before fun-rife, carried forth; whilft the "body is carrying to the grave, let the men go before, and the women follow: it fhall not be lawful for any woman to enter upon the goods of the dead, and to follow. "the body to the grave, under threefcore years of age, except fuch as are within the degree of coufins." Cicero reports, that, with refpect to fepulchres, he enacted, no man fhould demolish them, or bring any new thing

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into them; and that fuch fhould be punished, as demolished any monument ercted to the memory of the dead. From thefe laws of his inftituting, it appears, that his philofophy did not lead to trefpafs on thofe notions of humanity commonly received in his country; he fought to moderate the extravagance of-their funerals, but, at the fame time, permitted all reasonable honours to be paid to the memory of fuch as were defunct.

WE will conclude our account of Solon's laws, with two or three, which had more regard to fociety, than to the intereft of private perfons. He ordained, that if one citizen injured another, any Athenian might have his action against him. Hence it is evident, he regarded each individual as a member of the body politick, which could not be hurt without affecting all the other members: and thus he provided against the power of the great; for though a poor man who was injured, might think fit to acquiefce, yet a perfon of equal rank with the aggreffor, might, either out of a principle of juftice, or of rivalfhip, commence a profecution on that account. Solon inftituted feafts in the common halls, under the title of publick meals; but he forbad that the fame perfon fhould be entertained often; and ordered fuch to be fined, as did not come in their turn; afcribing the former offence to greedinefs; the latter, to a contempt of the publick. He forbad any firangers to be naturalized in Athens, who were not either perpetual exiles from their own country, or, out of love to Athens, had brought their whole families to fettle there, fo as to have no in

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tereft in any other place. He provided for the children of fuch as were flain in the fervice of the state, by directing that they should be brought up, and inftructed at the publick expence, till they were twenty years old. He made but few laws relating to religion; and against parricides he made none, affigning for it this reafon, That he fcarce believed any Athenian would be fo wicked.

HE fhewed the excellency of his knowledge, by correcting the irregularity of months; for, confidering that the courfe of the moon did not agree with the rifing and fetting of the fun, but that sometimes fhe overtook and paffed him in the fame day, he ordered fuch a day to be called the laft and the firft; attributing that part of the day which preceeded the conjunction to the old moon, and that which fucceeded it to the new. The next day he ordered to be called neumenia, i. e. the new moon; and, for thefe alterations, he is reckoned, by Plutarch, to have been the first who understood a line in Homer, wherein mention is made of a day wherein month ended, and the next began.

one.

Of PROFANE HISTORY.

THE rules and principles-for the study of profane may reduced to fix or feven. To reduce this ftudy to order and method; to obferve what relates to ufuages and cuftoms; principally to inquire after the truth; to endeavour to find out the caules of the rife and fall of empires, the vi

εtory

atory or lofs of battles, and events of the like nature; to ftudy the character of the people, and great men, mentioned in hiftory; to attend to fuch inftructions as concern manners and the conduct of life; and, lastly, carefully to take notice of every thing that relates to religion :

I. DIVIDE the whole body of an history into certain parts and intervals; which at once lay before the mind a kind of general plan of the whole hiftory, point out the principal events, and let us into the feries and duration of them. Thefe divifions muft not be too many, left they throw us into confufion and obfcurity.

THUS the whole time of the Roman hiftory, from Romulus to Auguftus, which takes in 723 years, may be divided into five parts.

THE first division, from the building of the city, includes the reigns of feven kings, which lafted 244 years.

THE fecond is, from the establishment of the confuls, to the conqueft of Rome, and takes in 120 years. It includes the establishment of the confuis, the tribunes of the people, the decemvirs, the military tribunes with con fular power, and the fiege and conquest of Veii.

THE third is, from the facking of Rome, to the first Punick war, and takes in 124 years. It includes the conquest of Rome by the Gauls, the war with the Samnites, and against Pyrrhus, &c.

So much chronology as is fufficient to give a clear and diftinct idea, not of the precife year of every particular fact, but, in general, G 2. ofi

of the age wherein the most confiderable events fell out, is needful.

GEOGRAPHY alfo is abfolutely neceffary for boys; and, for want of learning it when they are. young, abundance of perfons continue ignorant of it all the reft of their lives, and expofe themfelves to fuch miftakes upon this article as make them look ridiculous.

II. Ir is a matter of great confequence, whilst we are upon the ftudy of hiftory, to take notice of the different ufages, of countries; the invention of arts; the refpective manners of living; buildings, fighting, difpofing of fieges, or defending towns; of building fhips, and failing; the ceremonies of their marriages, funerals, and facrifices; in a word, whatever relates to cuftoms and antiquity.

III. WHAT makes the most effential qualification and indifpenfable duty of an hiftorian, points out, at the fame time, what should be the principal care of every reader of hiftory. Now we all know, that it is principally required of an hiftorian, that, being free from all paffion and prejudice, he fhould not prefume to advance any falfhoods, and have always courage to fpeak the truth. Negligences in his ftyle may be paffed over; but want of fincerity is inexcufable. And herein lies the difference between an hiftory and a poem. As the principal end of a poem is to divert the reader, it neceffarily fhocks and offends him, if it wants art or elegance: whereas, an history, however written, is always fure to give pleafure, if it is true; as it fatisfies a defire natural to mankind, who are fond of knowing, and always curious in inquiring