Page:A History of Ancient Greek Literature.djvu/191

 THE 'OLD OLIGARCH' 167 ultramontane journalist, wearing rather a modern look among his contemporaries, but not quite equal to wh:,t we now produce at our worst. Similar to Stesimbrotus in general political views, vastly removed from him in spirit, is the 'Old Oligarch,' whose priceless study of the Athenian constitution is preserved to us by the happy accident of the publisher taking it for Xenophon's. It is not only unlike Xenophon's style and way of thinking, but it demon strably belongs to the first Athenian Empire, before the Sicilian catastrophe. It is, in fact, the earliest piece of Attic prose preserved to us, and represents almost alone the practical Athenian style of writing, before literature was affected by Gorgias or the orators. It is familiar, terse, vivid ; it follows the free grammar of conversa- tion, with disconnected sentences and frequent changes of number and person. It leaves, like some parts of Aristotle, a certain impression of naked, unphrased thought. The Old Oligarch has a clear conception of the meaning of Athenian democracy, and admitting for the moment that he and his friends are the ' Noble and Good,' while the masses are the ' Base and Vile,' he sees straight and clear, and speaks without unfairness. " / dislike the ki^id of constitution, because in choosing it they have definitely chosen to make the Vile better off than the Noble. This I dislike. But granted that this is their intention, I will show that they conserve the spirit of their constitution well, and viatiage their affairs in general well, in -points where the Greeks think them most at fault.^' There is even a kind of justice in the arrangement ; ''for it is the masses that row the ships, and the ships that have made the Empire!' They do not follow the advice of the Good men — no ; " the first Vile man who likes, stands up