eir residence there to
much account. Of course they must have the means of living, nay, in a
certain sense, of enjoyment; if Athens was to be an Alma Mater at the
time, or to remain afterwards a pleasant thought in their memory. And
so they had: be it recollected Athens was a port, and a mart of trade,
perhaps the first in Greece; and this was very much to the point, when
a number of strangers were ever flocking to it, whose combat was to be
with intellectual, not physical difficulties, and who claimed to have
their bodily wants supplied, that they might be at leisure to set about
furnishing their minds. Now, barren as was the soil of Attica, and
bare the face of the country, yet it had only too many resources for an
elegant, nay luxurious abode there. So abundant were the imports of
the place, that it was a common saying, that the productions, which
were found singly elsewhere, were brought all together in Athens. Corn
and wine, the staple of subsistence in such a climate, came from the
isles of the Aegean; fine wool and carpeting from Asia Minor; slaves,
as, now, from the Euxine, and timber too; and iron and brass from the
coasts of the Mediterranean. The Athenian did not condescend to
manufactures himself, but encouraged them in others; and a population
of foreigners caught at the lucrative occupation both for home
consumption and for exportation. Their cloth, and other textures for
dress and furniture, and their hardware--for instance, armour--were in
great request. Labour was cheap; stone and marble in plenty; and the
taste and skill, which at first were devoted to public buildings, as
temples and porticos, were in course of time applied to the mansions of
public men. If nature did much for Athens, it is undeniable that art
did much more.

Here some one will interrupt me with the remark: "By the bye, where are
we, and whither are we going?--what has all this to do with a
University? at least what has it to do with education? It is
instructive doubtless; but still how much has it to do with your
subject?" Now I beg to assure the reader that I am most
conscientiously employed upon my subject; and I should have thought
every one would have seen this: however, since the objection is made, I
may be allowed to pause awhile, and show distinctly the drift of what I
have been saying, before I go farther. What has this to do with my
subject! why, the question of the site is the very first that comes
into conside