Page:History of Greece Vol I.djvu/515

Rh reminds as of the appeal made by Æschinês, in the contention between the Athenians and Philip of Macedôn, respecting Ampbipolis, to the primitive dotal rights of Akamas son of Thêseus —and also of the defence urged by the Athenians to sustain their Conquest of Sigeium, against the reclamations of the Mityleneans, Therein the former alleged that they had as much right to the place as any of the other Greeks who had formed part of the notorious armament of Agamemnôn.

The tenacity with which this early series of British kings was defended, is no less remarkable than the facility with which it was admitted. The chroniclers at the beginning of the seventeenth century warmly protested against the intrusive scepticism which would cashier so many venerable sovereigns and efface so many noble deeds. They appealed to the patriotic feelings of their hearers, represented the enormity of thus setting up a presumptuous criticism against the belief of ages, and insisted on the danger of the precedent as regarded history generally. How this controversy stood, at the time and in the view of the illus-