They both advanced to perfection by contemporaneous steps， and from similar causes.The early speakers， like the early warriors of Greece， were merely a militia.It was found that in both employments practice and discipline gave superiority.(It has often occurred to me， that to the circumstances mentioned in the text is to be referred one of the most remarkable events in Grecian history； I mean the silent but rapid downfall of the Lacedaemonian power.Soon after the termination of the Peloponnesian war， the strength of Lacedaemon began to decline.
Its military discipline， its social institutions， were the same.
Agesilaus， during whose reign the change took place， was the ablest of its kings.Yet the Spartan armies were frequently defeated in pitched battles，--an occurrence considered impossible in the earlier ages of Greece.They are allowed to have fought most bravely； yet they were no longer attended by the success to which they had formerly been accustomed.No solution of these circumstances is offered， as far as I know， by any ancient author.The real cause， I conceive， was this.The Lacedaemonians， alone among the Greeks， formed a permanent standing army.While the citizens of other commonwealths were engaged in agriculture and trade， they had no employment whatever but the study of military discipline.Hence， during the Persian and Peloponnesian wars， they had that advantage over their neighbours which regular troops always possess over militia.
This advantage they lost， when other states began， at a later period， to employ mercenary forces， who were probably as superior to them in the art of war as they had hitherto been to their antagonists.) Each pursuit therefore became first an art， and then a trade.In proportion as the professors of each became more expert in their particular craft， they became less respectable in their general character.Their skill had been obtained at too great expense to be employed only from disinterested views.Thus， the soldiers forgot that they were citizens， and the orators that they were statesmen.I know not to what Demosthenes and his famous contemporaries can be so justly compared as to those mercenary troops who， in their time， overran Greece； or those who， from similar causes， were some centuries ago the scourge of the Italian republics，--perfectly acquainted with every part of their profession， irresistible in the field， powerful to defend or to destroy， but defending without love， and destroying without hatred.We may despise the characters of these political Condottieri； but is impossible to examine the system of their tactics without being amazed at its perfection.
I had intended to proceed to this examination， and to consider separately the remains of Lysias， of Aeschines， of Demosthenes， and of Isocrates， who， though strictly speaking he was rather a pamphleteer than an orator， deserves， on many accounts， a place in such a disquisition.The length of my prolegomena and digressions compels me to postpone this part of the subject to another occasion.A Magazine is certainly a delightful invention for a very idle or a very busy man.He is not compelled to complete his plan or to adhere to his subject.He may ramble as far as he is inclined， and stop as soon as he is tired.No one takes the trouble to recollect his contradictory opinions or his unredeemed pledges.He may be as superficial， as inconsistent， and as careless as he chooses.Magazines resemble those little angels， who， according to the pretty Rabbinical tradition， are generated every morning by the brook which rolls over the flowers of Paradise，--whose life is a song，--who warble till sunset， and then sink back without regret into nothingness.Such spirits have nothing to do with the detecting spear of Ithuriel or the victorious sword of Michael.It is enough for them to please and be forgotten....
第一章A PROPHETIC ACCOUNT OF A GRAND NATIONAL EPIC POEM， TO BE ENTITLED"THE WELLINGTONIAD，" AND TO BE PUBLISHED A.D.2824.
(November 1824.)
How I became a prophet it is not very important to the reader to know.Nevertheless I feel all the anxiety which， under similar circumstances， troubled the sensitive mind of Sidrophel； and， like him， am eager to vindicate myself from the suspicion of having practised forbidden arts， or held intercourse with beings of another world.I solemnly declare， therefore， that I never saw a ghost， like Lord Lyttleton； consulted a gipsy， like Josephine； or heard my name pronounced by an absent person， like Dr Johnson.Though it is now almost as usual for gentlemen to appear at the moment of their death to their friends as to call on them during their life， none of my acquaintance have been so polite as to pay me that customary attention.I have derived my knowledge neither from the dead nor from the living； neither from the lines of a hand， nor from the grounds of a tea-cup； neither from the stars of the firmament， nor from the fiends of the abyss.I have never， like the Wesley family， heard "that mighty leading angel，" who "drew after him the third part of heaven's sons，" scratching in my cupboard.I have never been enticed to sign any of those delusive bonds which have been the ruin of so many poor creatures； and， having always been an indifferent horse man， I have been careful not to venture myself on a broomstick.
My insight into futurity， like that of George Fox the quaker， and that of our great and philosophic poet， Lord Byron， is derived from ****** presentiment.This is a far less artificial process than those which are employed by some others.Yet my predictions will， I believe， be found more correct than theirs， or， at all events， as Sir Benjamin Back bite says in the play， "more circumstantial."I prophesy then， that， in the year 2824， according to our present reckoning， a grand national Epic Poem， worthy to be compared with the Iliad， the Aeneid， or the Jerusalem， will be published in London.
