"fhould either not come near them at all, or elfe fpeak fuch things as may be for their good."

66

In Plutarch's time, fome of the learned were of opinion, that this interview between Solon and Crofus did not agree with the dates of chronology. But as those dates are very uncertain, that judicious author did not think this objection ought to prevail against the authority of feveral credible writers, by whom this story is attested.

What we have now related of Crofus is a very natural picture of the behaviour of kings and great men, who for the most part are feduced by flattery; and fhews us at the fame time the two fources from whence that blindness generally proceeds. The one is, a fecret inclination which all men have, but especially the great, of receiving praife without any precaution, of judging favourably of all that admire them, or that thew an unlimited fubmiffion and complai-" fance to their humours. The other is, the great refemblance there is between flattery and a fincere affection, or a reasonable refpect; which is fometimes counterfeited fo exactly, that the wifeft may be deceived, if they are not very much

guard.

upon their

Croefus, if we judge of him by the character he bears in hiftory, was a very good prince, and worthy of esteem in many refpects. He had a great deal of good-nature, affability and humanity. His palace was a receptacle for men of wit and learning; which fhews, that he himfelf was a perfon of learning, and had a tafte for the fciences. His weakness was, that he laid a great ftrefs upon riches and magnificence, thought himfelf great and happy in proportion to his poffeffions, miftook regal pomp and fplendor for true and folid greatnefs, and fed his vanity with the exceffive fubmiffions of thofe, that ftood in a kind of adoration before him.

Thofe

Those learned men, those wits and other courtiers, that surrounded this prince, eat at his table, partook of his pleasures, fhared his confidence, and enriched themselves by his bounty and liberality; took care not to differ from the prince's tafte, and never thought of undeceiving him, with respect to his errors, or false ideas. On the contrary, they made it their business to cherish and fortify them in him, extolling him perpetually as the moft opulent prince of his age, and never fpeaking of his wealth, or the magnificence of his palace, but in terms of admiration and rapture, because they knew this was the fure way to please him, and to fecure his favour. For flattery is nothing else but a commerce of falfhood and lying, founded upon intereft on one fide, and vanity on the other. The flatterer has a mind to advance himself, and to make his fortune; the prince has a mind to be praised and admired, because he is his own firft flatterer, and carries in his own breast a more fubtle and better prepared poifon than any that is given him.

That faying of Æfop, who had formerly been a slave, and still retained fomewhat of the spirit and character of flavery, tho' he had varnished it over with the addrefs of an artful courtier; that faying of his, I fay, to Solon, "That we should either "not come near kings, or fay what is agreeable to "them", fhews us what kind of men Croefus had filled his court with, and by what means he had banished all fincerity, integrity, and duty, from his prefence. Therefore we fee he could not bear that noble and generous freedom in the philofopher, upon which he ought to have fet an infinite value; as he would have done, had he but understood the worth of a friend, who, attaching himself to the perfon, and not to the fortune of a prince, has the courage to tell him difagreeable truths; truths unpalatable, and bitter to felf-love at the prefent, but that may prove very falutary and ferviceable for

F 4

the

the future. Dic illis, non quod volunt audire, fed quod audiffe femper volent. These are Seneca's words, where he is endeavouring to fhew, of what great ufe a faithful and fincere friend may be to a prince: and what he adds further feems to be writ on purpofe for Crofus: *« Give him (fays he) whole

fome advice. Let a word of truth once reach "thofe ears, which are perpetually fed and enter"tained with flattery. You'll ask me, what fer"vice can be done to a perfon arrived at the "highest pitch of felicity? It will teach him not "to truft in his profperity; it will remove that "vain confidence he has in his power and greatness, "as if they were always to laft; make him un"derstand, that every-thing, which belongs to and "depends upon fortune, is as unstable as herfelf; "and that there is often but a moment's interval "between the highest elevation and the lowest "downfal."

Her. 1. 1. It was not long before Crofus experienced the c. 34--45- truth of what Solon had told him. He had two fons; one of which being dumb, was a perpetual subject of affliction for him; the other, named Atys, diftinguished himself by all kinds of good qualities, and was his great confolation and delight. The father dream'd one night, which made a great impreffion upon his mind, that this beloved fon of his was to perifh by iron. Behold a new fource of anxiety and trouble! Upon this care is taken to remove out of the young prince's way every thing made of iron, as partizans, lances, javelins, &c. No mention is made of armies, wars, or fieges, before him. But one day there was to be an extraor

*Plenas aures adulationibus aliquando vera vox intret: da confilium utile. Quæris, quid felici præftare poffis? Effice, ne felicitati fuæ credat. Parum in illum contuleris, fi illi femel fiul

tam fiduciam permanfuræ femper potentia excuferis, docuerifque mobilia effe quae dedit cafus; ac fæpe inter fortunam maximam & ultimam nihil intereffe. Sen. de benef. 1. 6. c. 33.

dinary hunting-match, for the killing of a wild boar, which had committed great ravage in the neighbourhood. All the young lords of the court were to be at this hunting. Atys very earnestly importuned his father, that he would give him leave to be prefent, at least as a fpectator. The king could not refuse him that request, but let him go under the care of a difcreet young prince, who had taken refuge in his court, and was named Adraftus. And this very Adraftus, as he was aiming to fling his javelin at the boar, unfortunately killed Atys. 'Tis impoffible to exprefs either the affliction of the father, when he heard of this fatal accident, or of the unhappy prince, the innocent author of the murder, and who expiated his fault with his blood, ftabbing himself in the breaft with his own fword, upon the funeral-pile of the unfortunate Atys.

Two years were spent on this occafion in deep Herod. c. mourning, the afflicted father's thoughts being wholly 46--56. taken up with the lofs he had fuftained. But the growing reputation, and great qualities of Cyrus, who began to make himself known, rouzed him out of his lethargy. He thought it behoved him to put a stop to the power of the Perfians, which was enlarging itself every day. As he was very religious in his way, he would never enter upon any enterprife, without confulting the gods. But, that he might not act blindly, but might be able to form a certain judgment of the anfwers he fhould receive, he was willing to affure himself before-hand of the truth of the oracles. For which purpose, he fent meffengers to all the most celebrated oracles both of Greece and Africa, with orders to enquire, every one at his respective oracle, what Crofus was doing on fuch a day, and fuch an hour, that was agreed on. His orders were punctually obferved; and of all the oracles, none gave a true answer but that of Delphos. The anfwer was given in Greek hexameter verfes, and was in fubftance as follows: I

know

I

know the number of the grains of fand on the feafhore, and the measure of the ocean's vast extent. can bear the dumb, and him that has not yet learnt to fpeak. A frong fmell of a tortoife boiled in brass, together with sheep's flesh, has reached my nostrils, brafs beneath, brafs above. And indeed the king, thinking to invent fomething, that could not poffibly be guefs'd at, had employed himself, on the day and hour fet down, in boiling a tortoise and a lamb in a brass pot, which had a brass cover. St. Auftin obferves in feveral places, that God, to punish the blindness of the Pagans, fometimes permitted the devils to give anfwers conformable to the truth.

Crofus, thus affured of the god's veracity, whom he defigned to confult, offered three thousand victims to his honour, and ordered an infinite number of veffels, tripods, and golden tables, to be melted down, and converted into ingots of gold, to the number of an hundred and feventeen, to augment the treasures of the Delphic temple. Each of these ingots weighed at leaft two talents; befides which, he made feveral other prefents: amongst others, Herodotus mentions a golden lion, weighing ten talents, and two veffels of an extraordinary bignefs, one of gold, which weighed eight talents and an half, and twelve mina's; the other of filver, which contained fix hundred of their meafures, called amphora's. All these prefents, and many more, which for brevity's fake I omit, were fill to be seen in the time of Herodotus.

The messengers were order'd to confult the god upon two points; firft, whether Crofus fhould undertake a war against the Perfians; fecondly, if he did, whether he fhould require the fuccour of any auxiliary troops. The oracle anfwered upon the first article, that if he carried his arms against the Perfians, he would overturn a great empire; upon the fecond, that he would do well to make alliances