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118 ANCIENT GREECE.[CHAP. ix.maintaining them. In an individual case, such an unlimitedfreedom of choice can become very injurious ;but it is., onthe whole, much less so than it appears to be and; the restrictions are aptto become pernicious.If it be birthwhich forms the limiting principle,if a man must belong tocertain families in order to gain an office, it would be madedirectly impossible for men of talents to obtain them ;andthis has often produced the most violent revolutions. If for1tune be made the qualification, this is in itself no criterionof desert. If it be age, want of energyis too often connected with riper experience.In most of the Grecian cities, there certainly existed areason, why regard should be had to wealth ;because thatconsisted almost always in real estate. But where the poorwere excluded by no restrictive laws, they were obliged oftheir own accord to retire from most of the magistracies.These offices were not lucrative ;on the contrary, considerable expenses were often connected with them. 2 Therewere no fixed salaries, as in our states ;and the prospectwhich in Rome in a later period was so inviting to the magistrates, the administration of a province, did not exist inGreece. It was therefore impossible for the poorer class toin many citiespress forward with eagerness to these offices ;there even existed a necessity of imposing a punishment,ifthe person elected would not accept the office committed tohim. 3 It was far more the honour and the glory, than thegain, which gave a value to the magistracies. But the honour of being the first, or one of the first, amonghis fellow citizens, is for many a more powerful excitement, than thatwhich can be derived from emolument.In small republics, no other fear needs be entertained respecting the offices of magistrates, than lest certain familiesshould gain the exclusive possession of them. This is whatthe Greeks meant by an 4 oligarchy, when the number ofsuch families remained small These were with justice regarded as a corruption of the constitutions, there may1Many places in Aristotle show, that this was theot Cities5and under the most various regulations ;e g. iv. 1 1f r-t A ?case in a lame numberxb^? et ? J ?? blic buil< Kngs, festivals, etc. Aristot. Polit. vi. 8.fAnstot Pokt iv. 9.only Aristot. iv. 6, but many passages in Thucydides; as, e. g.,