The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1905-01-25
THE
&eAzsZsIlLEZZEE.EE VILE Ecz.zes.
NhgSEJ 20 -, W ~ -
Sf1Ez72 s@1AE-l
JANUARY rs. 1905.
THE ANCIENT GREEKS
THEY WERE MASTERS IN THE
SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT.


Exception to the Rule.
The statues and literary master
pieces Of Hellas, whose themes were
mainly legendary, are responsible for
the impression that the ancient Greek
was cast in the heroic mold. The he
roic Greek was n turbulent, master
full, egotistic demigod. lie had no
counterpart In any historical figure ex-
cept Alexander the Great, who deem
ed himself u descendant of Achilles,
the sea nymph's son, and acted very
much like him.
The Greek of history was an uncom-
monty consistent republican. In the
tolerance he gave to indiylduallsm and
the capacity he showed-inslde his city
state-for collective action he carried
the science Of government and of po-
lltlcal self control in some respects to
height from which all subsequent
history is descending slope. While
maintaining democratic standards, lie
did not enforce nor bow to that tyr1n-
nous and narrowing public opinion
which In our own time threatens to
cast all men in much the same mold.
lie found place In his scheme of
things for dlyersitles of natural bent
for the effemlnate dress Of Alcibiades,
the tub of Dlogenes, the ratings or
Cleon, the austerities of Aristides, the
satire of Aristophanes, the arrogance
OF Phoclon. The democracy of Athens
was never the democracy of the dead
level 1t meant opportunity, not
steam roller.
As creditablc Il story is told on the
side of collective action. Greek politics
implied. rs Mahaffy has observed, THE
reasonable discussion of the public, the
final decision of the ma ority, the sub
mission of magistrates and rulers to
the will of the people" The Greek
multitude" was tolerant patient, 10y
al to It's leaders and capable, as 1t
showed in the Peloponnesian war; Of
making exemplary sacrifices and of In
itiating and maintaining course of
action for protracted period. The
whole population of Athens, for IN
stance. abandoned the country and
took to their ships, leaving the enemy
to destroy their city and their posses
slons while they sought him and finally
conquered him on the sea. For that
fortitude it would be impossible to find
modern parallel.
The civic qualities are uppermost In
the great period of Greek history-a
keen appreciation of humor that acted
as II safety valve to the turbulence of
assemblies an aptitude ut public
speaking which was useful in battle as
In council Every free Greek was Mt
once n legislator, an orator, II potential
admiral or general.
There was one capital defect in the
Hellenic character. The Individual
Greek could not stand prosperity. AS
Grote put it. "The effects of n copious
draft of glory on the temperament Of
an enterprising and ambitious Greek
were perfectly maddening." He was Il
good loser, but nearly always bad
winner. Almost every conspicuous
Greek of history became Mt the end II
corruptionst or traitor. Miltiades,
victor of Marathon. became n pirate
and died in Imprisonment Themisto-
cles was negotiating to betray the Gre
clan armament to the great king the
day before he destroyed the Persian
fleet at Salamis Alcibiades betrayed
In turn the Athenlans, the Spartans
and the persians. Demosthenes was
banlshed for ENLIGHTENMENT. The SYRIA
cusan leaders became tyrants when
they could or all Greeks only limo
leon, the Corinthian who freed SYRIA
cuse, was ut once honorable. fortunate
and acclaimed.
Although the Hellenic world fringed
the Mediterranean and the Black seas
from end to end, the significant politi-
cal history of Greece is almost alto
gether the history of Athens and Spar
tn. The great places of heroic legend,
Ithaca ard Pylos and Phthia and Ar
cadia and Argos and Corcyra. the
Phaeakes' land" figure but family in
the historical period. Ithaca was only
q barren rock, Arcadia II recruiting
ground for rustic mercenaries and Ar
gos and Corcyra and such states as Ae-
tolia, Messena. Thcssaly and the Achae-
an League ancient prototypes of the
rude and turbulent Balkan states of to-
day. The transitory pre- eminence of
Thebes was the pre- emincnce of Its
one great soldier Epamnondas.
Between them Spartans and Atheni-
ans wrote the great story of political
Greece The Spartans We're more a
milNary brotherhood than n state, the
men dining in barracks and visiting
their families by stealth and all free
men despislng wealth and any toll cx
cept that of the gymnasium. the drill
ground and the battlefield. They were
proud, shy. self contained, home
keeping people. so i'll Mt ease and un-
practiced in public speech that the
word "laconlc" has become a proverb.
Their cautious political sense, their
military discipline, their long lived dy-
nasty and their unbroken maintenance
OF one form of government secured
them the instructive Difference of other
Greeks
What the Spartans We're not the
Athenians in their best period were
eager wanderers over the earth, trait
fickers. impcriallsts, orators, scholars
and artists. They We're always get
ting forward" As the slower Pelopon-
nesians complained, every acquisition
was made by them the basis of a
new venture. and when they meas
ured arms with the complainants they
showed that they could be MS constant
In misfortune and as elastic In rising
fram crushing disaster as they were
aggressive in pressing an advantage
New York Mail.