rison of their own; nor will there, I think,
be any room after that for them to pretend either that we have no such
laws ourselves, an epitome of which I will present to the reader, or
that we do not, above all men, continue in the observation of them.

16. To begin then a good way backward, I would advance this, in the
first place, that those who have been admirers of good order, and of
living under common laws, and who began to introduce them, may well have
this testimony that they are better than other men, both for moderation
and such virtue as is agreeable to nature. Indeed their endeavor was to
have every thing they ordained believed to be very ancient, that
they might not be thought to imitate others, but might appear to have
delivered a regular way of living to others after them. Since then this
is the case, the excellency of a legislator is seen in providing for the
people's living after the best manner, and in prevailing with those that
are to use the laws he ordains for them, to have a good opinion of
them, and in obliging the multitude to persevere in them, and to make no
changes in them, neither in prosperity nor adversity. Now I venture to
say, that our legislator is the most ancient of all the legislators whom
we have ally where heard of; for as for the Lycurguses, and Solons, and
Zaleucus Locrensis, and all those legislators who are so admired by the
Greeks, they seem to be of yesterday, if compared with our legislator,
insomuch as the very name of a law was not so much as known in old times
among the Grecians. Homer is a witness to the truth of this observation,
who never uses that term in all his poems; for indeed there was then no
such thing among them, but the multitude was governed by wise maxims,
and by the injunctions of their king. It was also a long time that they
continued in the use of these unwritten customs, although they were
always changing them upon several occasions. But for our legislator,
who was of so much greater antiquity than the rest, [as even those that
speak against us upon all occasions do always confess,] he exhibited
himself to the people as their best governor and counselor, and included
in his legislation the entire conduct of their lives, and prevailed with
them to receive it, and brought it so to pass, that those that were made
acquainted with his laws did most carefully observe them.

17. But let us consider his first and greatest work; for when it was
resolved on by our