396 HISTORY OF GREECE. the counteracting authority of a judge, and without the benefit of a procedure such as has now been obtained in England. The quaujourdhui ce sont ces hommes qui dans presque toute la France forment toujours Id, majorite des jures : mettez au milieu d'eux un homme d"un etat plus eleve, d'un esprit delie, d'une elocution facile, il entrainera ses col- legues, il decidera la deliberation : et si cet homme a le jugement faux ou le ccEur corrompu, cette deliberation sera necessairement mauvaise. "Mais pourra-t on parvenir ci vaincre I'insouciance des proprietaires riches et eclaires, a leur faire abandonner leurs affaires, leurs families, leurs habitudes, pour les entrainer dans les rilles, et leur j faire remplir des fonc- tions qui tourmentent quelquefois la probite, et donnent des inquietudes d'autant plus vives que la conscience est plus delicate 1 Pourquoi non 1 Pourquoi les memes classes de citoyens qui dans les huit ou dix premiers mois de 1792, se portaient avec tant de zele k I'exercice de ces fonctions, les fuiroient elles aujourdhui 1 surtout si, pour les y rappeler, la loi fait mouvoir les deux grands ressorts qui sont dans sa main, si elle s'engage k recompenser I'exactitude, et k punir la negligence?" (Merlin, Repertoire de Jurisprudence, art. Jures, p. 97.) In these passages, it deserves notice, that what is particularly remarked about juries, both English and French, is, their reluctance to convict ac- cused persons brought before them. Now the character of the Atheniaa dikasts, as described by Mr. Mitford and by many other authors, is the pre- cise reverse of this : an extreme severity and cruelty, and a disposition to convict all accused persons brought before them, upon little or no evidence, — especially rich accused persons. I venture to aflSrm that, to ascribe to them such a temper generally, is not less improbable in itself, than unsup- ported by any good evidence. In the speeches remaining to us from de- fendants, we do indeed find complaints made of the severity of the dikas- teries : but in those speeches which come from accusers, there are abun- dance of complaints to the contrary, — of over-indulgence on the part of the dikasteries, and consequent impunity of criminals. Nor does Aristoph- anes, — by whom most modem authors are guided, even when they do not quote him, — when fairly studied, bear out the temper ascribed by Mr. IMitford to the dikasts ; even if we admitted Aristophanes to be a faithful and trustworthy witness, which no man who knows his picture of Sokrates will be disposed to do. Aristophanes takes hold of every quality which will raise a laugh against the dikasts, and his portrait of them as wasps was well calculated for this purpose, — to describe them as boiling over with acrimony, irritation, impatience, to find some one whom they could convict and punish. But even he, when he comes to describe these dikasts in action, represents them as obeying the appeals to their pity, as well as those to their anger, — as being yielding and impressionable when their feelings are ap- proached on either side, and unable, when they hear the exculpatory appeal of the accused, to maintain the anger which had been raised by the speech of the
