The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1869-03-11
IcHAIAUsRIASDlSaGO

Translated for the Democratic Press.3
AS the first cause for the faIlsof the
b Greeks, would mention ,co1, which
the two republics (Athens and Sparta)
waged against one another after they
had humbled the Persians. Athens,
: as a State, ceased to exist so soon as
I the city. had been captured by the Lac
edemonians. a complete, absolute
4 conquest puts an end to the indpend-
4 ent life of people, how great soeyer
the fame of the people may be, which
it retains in the history of the world.
4 The defects in the Athenian constitu-
i ton of government paved the way for.
J the conquest by the Lacedsemonians.
4 A purely democratic constitution is
the worst of all, whenever it is neces-
.Rsary to oppose powerful enemy,
and only single viii is, needed for
the salvation of ones country. Moth
ing was more lamentable than the
madness and folly of the Athenian
populace, while the Spartans were al,
OCIOIC
1 Now were the citizens who might have
delivered them driven into exile, and
soon after the same were recalled
They permitted themselves to be led
with mutinous ~oratory, and thus,
] through their folly, they deserved
1 their well merited lot And if Athens
was not totally destroyed, Athens may
thank the victor for its preservation,
on occount of his respect for her for
mer virtues. tzN
VICTORIOUS Sparta, on her side,
found, as well as Athens, the first
cause of her ruin in her own institu-
tutions. Chastity, which by an ex$
press law was trodden under foot, in
order to preserve chastity, was finally,
by this peculiar law, itself Destroyed.
Spartan women, who exhibited them
selves half. naked to the eyes of men,
became the most profigate of all wo-
men through the whole extent of
Greece; and from all these unnatural
laws, there remained to the Laced9-
monians only licentiousness and cru,
city. Cicero, an eyewitness of chill
dren's sports in Sparta, paints for us
those children as they tore one another
with their nails and their teeth. For
what purpose then must such rude
and brutal institutions have served?
Did they preserve inviolate the inde-
pendence, of Sparta? Indeed itlcould
] not reward her for her pains to train
up men like wild animals, in order to
obey the tyrant, Nabis, and to become
slaves to the Romans Il}H Il
Even the best laws often lead astray,
and many times have dangerous sides.
Lycurgus wished to- overthrow ambi-
ton within the walls of Lacedamon,
and while he believed that he should
give security TO his republic, he him3
self was the cause of its ruin. Had
pthe Lacedamonians, after the con-
quest, divided Greece into Laeedemo7
nian provinces, they would, in all
probability, have become masters of
the whole world. This conjecture is
so much the more reasonable, since
they, as weak as they already were,
caused he,power of the great king of
Asia to tremble. Their victories ev-
erywhere, and at all times succeeding
one another, would not have permitted
a powerful monarchy to rise in the vi
cinity of Greece, which could imperil
the various free states. Had LacedH<
mon incorporated within her own ju-
4 risdiction the nations subdued by her
own arms she swoald have crushed
King Phillip even in the cradle. The
greatest men who were her enemies
would have become her subjects,{ and
Alexander, instead of being born in a
kingdom, would like Cesar, have
come from the bosom of republic.
But far from this; instead of exhib-
iting that 10ftiness of spirit, and that
self-sustaining ambition, the Laceda-
monians contented themselves with
establishing over Athens, thirty ,ty7
rants, and returned back to their own
valley, from that propensity to obscu-
4 rity which their laws had instilled into
them. The same condition is not COM
patible with nation as with private
) man: Moderation in prosperity and
the love of quiet, which may we'll be-
come citizen, will not elevate a state
very high. 1t is very true that an un-
righteous war should not. be 8waged,
nor should fame be purchased at the
expense ofjustice. But to fail to take
advantage of ones situation in order
to honor and magnify ones nation,
, proves rather the want of intellectual
, power than a sentiment in favor OF
virtue 80 - 80 1oi{t e :. i5Iaa'.Iea i....' "a
To what result did this conduct OF
Spartans lead ? Macedonia soon ele-
vated herself to rule. over all Greece,
: and Phillip dictated laws to the Coun-
Gil of the Amphyctions. On the other
hand, the weak kingdom of Laconia.
e which regarded the fame of its arms
J as its principal merit, but was asus-
: tanned by mo real power, fell in ruins
Epaminondes arose and the Lacedae.
monians were beaten at Leuctra,7 and
were compelled to apologize at length
II before their conqueror. They were
g constrained to hear these, erue. words
: to-wit lao. We have speedily put al
q end to your eloquenee." 70 s-7.a ggt = Z. Z
q Then the Spartans might have learn
It ed how useful it would have been fol
e them to have formed, out of the Gre
o clan cities only one State, and to hav,
1t reckoned Epaminondasf among thei
n generals and citizens. When once tn,
le secret of their weakness b ecam,
y known, all was (hopelessly lost aht
Dh,lonoopoon ondod uulora