Lycurgus did not view children as belonging to their parents, but above all to the state; and therefore he wished his citizens to be born of the best possible parents; besides the inconsistency and folly which he noticed in the customs of the rest of mankind, who are willing to pay money, or use their influence with the owners of well-bred stock, to obtain a good breed of horses or dogs, while they lock up their women in seclusion and permit them to have children by none but themselves, even though they be mad, decrepit, or diseased; just as if the good or bad qualities of children did not depend entirely upon their parents, and did not affect their parents more than anyone else.... Adultery was regarded amongst them as an impossible crime.... The training of the Spartan youth continued till their manhood. No one was permitted to live according to his own pleasure, but they lived in the city as if in a camp, with a fixed diet and public duties, thinking themselves to belong not to themselves but to their country.... Lycurgus would not entrust Spartan boys to any bought or hired servants nor was each man allowed to bring up and educate his son as he chose, but as soon as they were seven years of age he himself received them from their parents, and enrolled them in companies. A superintendent of the boys was appointed, one of the best born and bravest of the state.... The boys were taught to compress much thought in few words; though Lycurgus made the iron-money of little value he made their speech have great value. One of his great reforms was the common dining-table.... In Sparta, as was natural, lawsuits became extinct, together with money, as the people had neither excess nor deficiency, but were all equally well off, and enjoyed abundant leisure by reason of their simple habits.

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TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES

  1. P [3], added “THE REVIEW OF A CENTURY; OR, THE FRUIT OF FIVE THOUSAND YEARS” chapter heading.
  2. Silently corrected typographical errors and variations in spelling.
  3. Archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings retained as printed.