henians
thus to prefer pleasure to duty, fondness for the theatre to the love of
their country, trivial shows to application to public business, and to
consume, in useless expenses and dramatic entertainments, the funds
intended for the support of fleets and armies. Macedon, till then obscure
and inconsiderable, well knew how to take advantage of the Athenian
indolence and effeminacy;(221) and Philip, instructed by the Greeks
themselves, amongst whom he had for several years applied himself
successfully to the art of war, was not long before he gave Greece a
master, and subjected it to the yoke, as we shall see in the sequel.

I am now to open an entirely new scene to the reader's view, not unworthy
his curiosity and attention. We have seen two states of no great
consideration, Media and Persia, extend themselves far and wide, under the
conduct of Cyrus, like a torrent or a conflagration; and, with amazing
rapidity, conquer and subdue many provinces and kingdoms. We shall see now
that vast empire setting the nations under its dominion in motion, the
Persians, Medes, Phoenicians, Egyptians, Babylonians, Indians, and many
others; and falling, with all the forces of Asia and the East upon a
little country, of very small extent, and destitute of all foreign
assistance; I mean Greece. When, on the one hand, we behold so many
nations united together, such preparations of war made for several years
with so much diligence; innumerable armies by sea and land, and such
fleets as the sea could hardly contain; and, on the other hand, two weak
cities, Athens and Lacedaemon, abandoned by all their allies, and left
almost entirely to themselves; have we not reason to believe, that these
two little cities are going to be utterly destroyed and swallowed up by so
formidable an enemy; and that no footsteps of them will be left remaining?
And yet we shall find that they will prove victorious; and by their
invincible courage, and the several battles they gain, both by sea and
land, will make the Persian empire lay aside all thoughts of ever again
turning their arms against Greece.

The history of the war between the Persians and the Greeks will illustrate
the truth of this maxim, that it is not the number, but the valour of the
troops, and the conduct of the generals, on which depends the success of
military expeditions. The reader will admire the surprising courage and
intrepidity of the great men at the head of the Grecian affairs, whom