We are not ignorant, O Euphanes, that you, being an
				extoller of Pindar, have often in your mouth this saying
				of his, as a thing well and to the purpose spoken by him:
				
				 
 
 When as the combat's once agreed,
					 
 Who by pretence seeks to be freed
					 
 Obscures his virtue quite. 
 
 
 
 But since sloth and effeminacy towards civil affairs, having
					many pretences, do for the last, as if it were drawn from
					the sacred line, tender to us old age, and thinking by this
					chiefly to abate and cool our honorable desire, allege that
					there is a certain decent dissolution, not only of the athletical, but also of the political period, or that there is in
					the revolution of our years a certain set and limited time,
					after which it is no more proper for us to employ ourselves
					in the conduct of the state than in the corporeal and robust
					exercises of youth; I esteem myself obliged to communicate also to you those sentiments of mine concerning old
					men's intermeddling with public matters, which I am ever
					and anon ruminating on by myself; so that neither of us
					may desert that long course we have to this day held
					together, nor rejecting the political life, which has been
					(as it were) an intimate friend of our own years, change it
					for another to which we are absolute strangers, and with
					which we have not time to become acquainted and familiar, but that we may persist in what we had chosen and
					have been inured to from the beginning, putting the same
					
					 
					
					conclusion to our life and our living honorably; unless we
					would, by the short space of life we have remaining, disgrace that longer time we have already lived, as having
					been spent idly and in nothing that is commendable. For
					tyranny is not an honorable sepulchre, as one told Dionysius, whose monarchy, obtained by and administered with
					injustice, did by its long continuance bring on him but a
					more perfect calamity; as Diogenes afterwards let his son
					know, when, seeing him at Corinth, of a tyrant become a
					private person, he said to him: How unworthy of thyself,
						Dionysius, thou actest! For thou oughtest not to live
						here at liberty and fearless with us, but to spend thy life,
						as thy father did, even to old age, immured within a
						tyrannical fortress. But the popular and legal government
					of a man accustomed to show himself no less profitable in
					obeying than in commanding is an honorable monument,
					which really adds to death the glory accruing from life.
					For this thing, as Simonides says, goes last under the
						ground; unless it be in those in whom humanity and the
					love of honor die first, and whose zeal for goodness sooner
					decays than their covetousness after temporal necessaries;
					as if the soul had its active and divine parts weaker than
					those that are passive and corporeal; which it were neither
					honest to say, nor yet to admit from those who affirm that
					only of gaining we are never weary. But we ought to
					turn to a better purpose the saying of Thucydides, and
					believe that it is not the desire of honor only that never
					grows old, but much more also the inclinations to society
					and affection to the state, which continue even in ants and
					bees to the very last. For never did any one know a bee
					to become by age a drone, as some think it requisite of
					statesmen, of whom they expect that, when the vigor of
					their youth is past, they should retire and sit mouldy at
					home, suffering their active virtue to be consumed by idleness,
					
					 
					
					 as iron is by rust. For Cato excellently well said,
					that we ought not willingly to add the shame proceeding
					from vice to those many afflictions which old age has of
					its own. For of the many vices everywhere abounding,
					there is none which more disgraces an old man than sloth,
					delicacy, and effeminateness, when, retiring from the court
					and council, he mews himself up at home like a woman,
					or getting into the country oversees his reapers and gleaners; for of such a one we may say,
					
					 
 
 Where's Oedipus, and all his famous riddles? 
 
 
 
 But as for him who should in his old age, and not before, begin to meddle with public matters,—as they say
					of Epimenides, that having fallen asleep while he was a
					young man, he awakened fifty years after,—and shaking
					off so long and so close-sticking a repose, should thrust
					himself, being unaccustomed and unexercised, into difficult
					and laborious employs, without having been experienced
					in civil affairs, or inured to the conversations of men, such
					a man may perhaps give occasion to one that would reprehend him, to say with the prophetess Pythia:
					
					 
 
 Thou com'st too late, 
 
 
 
 seeking to govern in the state and rule the people, and at
					an unfit hour knocking at the palace gate, like an ill-bred
					guest coming late to a banquet, or a stranger, thou wouldst
					change, not thy place or region, but thy life for one
					of which thou hast made no trial. For that saying of
					Simonides,
					
					 
 
 The state instructs a man, 
 
 
 
 is true in those who apply themselves to the business of
					the commonweal whilst they have yet time to be taught,
					and to learn a science which is scarce attained with much
					labor through many strugglings and negotiations, even
					when it timely meets with a nature that can easily undergo toil and difficulty. These things seem not to be
					
					 
					
					impertinently spoken against him who in his old age begins
					to act in the management of the state.

And yet, on the contrary, we see how young men and
				those of unripe years are by persons of judgment diverted
				from meddling in public matters; and the laws also testify
				the same, when by the crier in the assemblies they summon not first the men like Alcibiades and Pytheas to come
				to the desk, but those who have passed the age of fifty
				years, to make speeches and consult together for the
				good of the people. For the being unused to boldness
				and the want of experience are not so much to every
				soldier.... 
 [Here is a defect in the original.]
					But Cato, when above eighty years of age he was to plead
					his own cause, said, that it was a difficult thing for a
					man to make his apology and justify his life before others
					than those with whom he had lived and been conversant. 
 All men indeed confess, that the actions of Augustus
					Caesar, when he had defeated Antony, were no less royal
					and useful to the public towards the end of his life, than
					any he had done before. And himself severely reprehending the dissoluteness of young men by establishing good
					customs and laws, when they raised an uproar, he only
					said to them: Young men, refuse not to hear an old man,
					to whom old men not unwillingly gave ear when he was
					young. The government also of Pericles exerted itself
					with most vigor in his old age, when he both persuaded
					the Athenians to make war, and at another time, when
					they were eagerly bent unseasonably to go forth and fight
					sixty thousand armed men withstood and hindered them,
					sealing up in a manner the arms of the people and the
					keys of the gates. Now as for what Xenophon has written
					of Agesilaus, it is fit it should be set down in his own
					words. What youth, says he, was ever so gallant but
						that his old age surpassed it? Who was ever so terrible to
						
						 
						
						his enemies in the very flower of his virility, as Agesilaus
						in the declension of his days? At whose death were
						adversaries ever seen more joyful than at that of Agesilaus, though he departed not this life till he was stooping
						under the burden of his years? Who more emboldened
						his confederates than Agesilaus, though being at the utmost period of his life? What young man was ever missed
						more by his friends than Agesilaus, who died not till he
						was very old?

Age then hindered not these men from performing
				such gallant actions; and yet we, forsooth, being at our
				ease in states which have neither tyranny, war, nor siege
				to molest them, are afraid of such bloodless debates and
				emulations, as are for the most part terminated with justice
				only by law and words; confessing ourselves by this not
				only worse than those ancient generals and statesmen, but
				even than poets, sophisters, and players. Since Simonides
				in his old age gained the victory by his choral songs, as the
				epigram testifies in these concluding verses:
				
				 
 
 Fourscore years old was Leoprepes' son,
					 
 Simonides, when he this glory won. 
 
 
 
 And it is said of Sophocles, that, to avoid being condemned
					of dotage at the instance of his children, he repeated the
					entrance song of the Chorus in his tragedy of Oedipus in
					Colonus, which begins thus:
					
					 
 
 Welcome, stranger, come in time
						 
 To the best place of this clime,
						 
 White Colonus, which abounds
						 
 With brave horses. In these grounds,
						 
 Spread with Nature's choicest green,
						 
 Philomel is often seen.
						 
 Here she her hearers charms with sweetest lays,
						 
 Whilst with shrill throat
						 
 And warbling note
						 
 She moans the sad misfortunes of her former days: 
 	 
 
 
 
 and that, this song appearing admirable, he was dismissed
					
					 
					
					from the court, as from the theatre, with the applause and
					acclamations of all that were present. And this short verse
					is acknowledged to be written of him:
					
					 
 
 When Sophocles framed for Herodotus
						 
 This ode, his years were fifty-five. 
 
 
 
 Philemon also the comedian and Alexis were snatched
					away by death, whilst they were acting on the stage and
					crowned with garlands. And as for Polus the tragedian,
					Eratosthenes and Philochorus related of him that, being
					seventy years of age, he a little before his death acted in
					four days eight tragedies.

Is it not then a shame, that those who have grown
				old in councils and courts of judicature should appear less
				generous than such as have spent their years on the stage,
				and forsaking those exercises which are really sacred, cast
				off the person of the statesman, to put on instead of it I
				know not what other? For to descend from the state of a
				prince to that of a ploughman is all over base and mean.
				For since Demosthenes says that the Paralus, being a
				sacred galley, was unworthily used in being employed to
				carry timber, pales, and cattle to Midias; would not a man
				who should, after his having quitted the office of superintendent at the public solemnities, governor of Boeotia,
				or president in the council of the Amphictyons, be seen
				measuring of corn, weighing of raisins, and bargaining
				about fleeces and wool-fells,—would not such a one, I
				say, wholly seem to have brought on himself, as the proverb has it, the old age of a horse, without any one's necessitating him to it? For to set one's self to mechanical
				employments and trafficking, after one has borne office in
				the state, is the same as if one should strip a well-bred
				virtuous gentlewoman out of her matron-like attire, and
				thrust her with an apron tied about her into a public victualling-house. For the dignity and greatness of political
				virtue is overthrown, when it is debased to such mean
				
				 
				
				administrations and traffics for gain. But if (which is the
				only thing remaining) they shall, by giving effeminacies
				and voluptuousness the name of living at quiet and enjoying one's self, exhort a statesman leisurely to waste away
				and grow old in them, I know not to which of the two
				shameful pictures his life will seem to have the greater
				resemblance,—whether to the mariners who, leaving their
				ship for the future not in the harbor but under sail, spend
				all their time in celebrating the feasts of Venus; or to
				Hercules, whom some painters merrily but yet ridiculously
				represent wearing in Omphale's palace a yellow petticoat,
				and giving himself up to be boxed and combed by the
				Lydian damsels. So shall we, stripping a statesman of
				his lion's-skin, and seating him at a luxurious table, there
				be always cloying his palate with delicacies, and filling his
				ears with effeminate songs and music; being not a whit
				put to the blush by the saying of Pompey the Great to
				Lucullus, who after his public services both in camp and
				council, addicted himself to bathing, feasting, conversing
				with women in the day, and much other dissoluteness, even
				to the raising and extravagantly furnishing of sumptuous
				buildings, and who, once upbraiding Pompey with an ambition and desire of rule unsuitable to his age, was by him
				answered, that it was more misbecoming an old man to
				live voluptuously than to govern? The same Pompey,
				when in his sickness his physican had prescribed him the
				eating of a thrush, which was then hard to be got, as
				being out of season, being told that Lucullus bred great
				store of such birds, would not send to him for one, but
				said: What! Cannot Pompey live, unless Lucullus be
				luxurious?

For though Nature seeks by all means to delight and
				rejoice herself, yet the bodies of old men are incapacitated
				for all pleasures, except a few that are absolutely necessary. For not only
				
				 
				
				 
 
 Venus to old men is averse, 
 	 
 
 
 
 as Euripides has it; but their appetite also to their meat
					and drink is for the most part dull, and as one would say,
					toothless; so that they have but little gust and relish in
					them.. 
 They ought therefore to furnish themselves with pleasures of the mind, not ungenerous or illiberal, like those of
					Simonides, who said to those who reproached him with
					covetousness, that being by his years deprived of other
					pleasures, he recreated his old age with the only delight
					which remained, that of heaping up riches. But political
					life has in it pleasures exceeding great, and no less honorable, being such as it is probable the very Gods do only
					or at least chiefly enjoy themselves in; and these are the
					delights which proceed from doing good and performing
					what is honest and laudable. For if Nicias the painter
					took such pleasure in the work of his hands, that he often
					was fain to ask his servants whether he had washed or
					dined; and if Archimedes was so intent upon the table in
					which he drew his geometrical figures, that his attendants
					were obliged by force to pluck him from it and strip him
					of his clothes that they might anoint him, whilst he in the
					mean time drew new schemes on his anointed body; and
					if Canus the piper, whom you also know, was wont to say
					that men knew not how much more he delighted himself
					with his playing than he did others, for that then his hearers would rather demand of him than give him a reward;
					do we not thence conceive how great pleasures the virtues
					afford to those who practise them, from their honest actions and public-spirited works tending to the benefit of
					human society? They do not tickle or weaken, as do such
					sweet and gentle motions as are made on the flesh; for
					these indeed have a furious and unconstant itching, mixed
					with a feverish inflammation; whereas those which accompany
					
					 
					
					 such gallant actions as he who rightly administers
					the state is worker of, not like the golden plumes of Euripides, but like those celestial wings of Plato, elevate the
					soul which has received a greatness of courage and wisdom accompanied with joy.

Call to mind a little, I entreat you, those things you
				have so often heard. For Epaminondas indeed, being
				asked what was the most pleasant thing that ever befell
				him, answered, his having gained the victory at Leuctra
				whilst his father and mother were yet living. And Sylla,
				when, having freed Italy from civil wars, he came to Rome,
				could not the first night fetch the least wink of sleep,
				having his soul transported with excessive joy and content,
				as with a strong and mighty wind; and this he himself
				has written in his Commentaries. For be it indeed so, as
				Xenophon says, that there is no sound more pleasing than
				one's own praises; yet there is no sight, remembrance, or
				consideration which gives a man so much satisfaction as
				the contemplation of his own actions, performed by him
				in offices of magistracy, and management of the state, in
				eminent and public places. 
 It is moreover true, that the courteous thanks attending
					as a witness on such virtuous acts, and the emulous praise
					conferred on them, which is as a guide conducting us in
					the way of just benevolence, add a certain lustre and
					shining gloss to the joy of virtue. Neither ought a man
					negligently to suffer his glory to wither in his old age, like
					a wrestler's garland; but, by adding always something new
					and fresh, he should awaken, meliorate, and confirm the
					grace of his former actions. For as those workmen on
					whom was incumbent the charge of keeping in repair the
					Delian ship, by supplying and putting into the place of
					the decayed planks and timber others that were new and
					sound, seem to have preserved it from ancient times, as if
					it were eternal and incorruptible; so the preserving and
					
					 
					
					upholding of one's glory is as the keeping in of a fire, a
					work of no difficulty, as requiring only to be supplied with
					a little fuel, but when either of them is wholly extinct and
					suppressed, one cannot without great labor rekindle it
					again. Lampis, the sea commander, being asked how he
					got his wealth, answered: My greatest estate I gained
						easily enough, but the smaller slowly and with much labor. 
					In like manner, it is not easy at the beginning to acquire
					reputation and power in the state; but to augment and
					conserve it, when it is grown great, is not at all hard for
					those who have obtained it. For neither does a friend,
					when he is once had, require many and great services that
					he may so continue, but assiduity does by small signs preserve his good-will; nor do the friendship and confidence
					of the people expect to have a man always bestowing largesses, defending their causes, or executing of magistracy,
					but they are maintained by a readiness, and by not failing
					or being weary of carefulness and solicitude for the public.
					For even wars themselves have not alway conflicts, fights,
					and sieges; but there sometimes intervene sacrifices and
					parleys, and abundance of leisure for sports and pastimes.
					Whence then comes it, that the administration of the commonwealth should be feared as inconsolable, laborious,
					and unsupportable, where theatres, processions, largesses,
					music, joy, and at every turn the service and festival of
					some God or other, unbending the brows of every council
					and senate, yield a manifold pleasure and delight?

As for envy, which is the greatest evil attending the
				management of public affairs, it least attacks old age. For
				dogs indeed, as Heraclitus has it, bark at a stranger whom
				they do not know; and envy opposes him who is a beginner on the very steps of the tribune, hindering his access,
				but she meekly bears an accustomed and familiar glory,
				and not churlishly or difficultly. Wherefore some resemble
				envy to smoke; for it arises thick at first, when the fire
				
				 
				
				begins to burn; but when the flame grows clear, it vanishes
				away. Now men usually quarrel and contend about other
				excellences, as virtue, nobility, and honor, as if they were
				of opinion that they took from themselves as much as they
				give to others; but the precedency of time, which is properly called by the Greeks Πρεσβεῖον (or the honor of old
				age), is free from jealousy, and willingly granted by men
				to their companions. For to no honor is it so incident to
				grace the honorer more than the honored, as to that which
				is given to persons in years. Moreover, all men do not
				expect to gain themselves authority from wealth, eloquence,
				or wisdom; but as for the reverence and glory to which
				old age brings men, there is not any one of those who act
				in the management of the state but hopes to attain it. 
 He therefore who, having a long time contended against
					envy, shall when it ceases and is appeased withdraw himself from the state, and together with public actions desert
					communities and societies, differs nothing from that pilot
					who, having kept his ship out at sea when in danger of
					being overwhelmed by contrary and tempestuous waves
					and winds, seeks to put into harbor as soon as ever the
					weather is grown calm and favorable. For the longer time
					there has been, the more friends and companions he has
					made; all which he cannot carry out with him, as a
					singing-master does his choir, nor is it just to leave them.
					But as it is not easy to root up old trees, so neither is it to
					extirpate a long-continued practice in the management of
					the state, which having many roots is involved in a tangled
					mass of affairs, which create more troubles and vexations
					to those who retire from them than to those who continue
					in them. And if there is any remainder of envy and emulation against old men from former contentions about civil
					affairs, they should rather extinguish it by authority, than
					turn their backs on it and go away naked and disarmed.
					For envious persons do not so much assail those who contend
					
					 
					
					 against them, as they do by contempt insult over such
					as retire.

And to this bears witness that saying of the great
				Epaminondas to the Thebans, when in the winter the Arcadians requested them to come into their city and dwell
				in their houses,—which he would not permit, but said to
				them: Now the Arcadians admire you, seeing you exercise
				yourselves, and wrestle in your armor; but if they shall
				behold you sitting by the fire and pounding of beans, they
				will think you to differ nothing from themselves. So an
				old man speaking to the people, acting in the state, and
				honored, is a venerable spectacle; but he who wastes away
				his days in his bed, or sits discoursing of trivial matters
				and wiping his nose in the corner of a gallery, easily renders himself an object of contempt. And this indeed
				Homer himself teaches those who hear him aright. For
				Nestor, who fought before Troy, was highly venerated and
				esteemed; whilst Peleus and Laertes, who stayed at home,
				were slighted and despised. For the habit of prudence
				does not continue the same in those who give themselves
				to their ease; but by little and little diminishes and is
				dissolved by sloth, as always requiring some exercise of
				the thought to rouse up and purify the rational, active faculty of the soul. For,
				
				 
 
 Like glittering brass, by being used it shines. 
 
 
 
 
 For the infirmity of the body does not so much incommode
					the administrations of those who, almost spent with age,
					go to the tribune or to the council of war, as they are
					advantageous by the caution and prudence which attend
					their years, and keep them from thrusting themselves precipitately into affairs, abused partly by want of experience
					and partly by vain-glory, and hurrying the people along
					with them by violence, like a sea agitated by the winds;
					
					 
					
					causing them mildly and moderately to manage those with
					whom they have to do. 
 Whence cities, when they are in adversity and fear, desire the government of grave and ancient personages; and
					often having drawn out of his field some old man who had
					not so much as the least thought of it, have compelled
					him, though unwilling, to put his hand to the helm, and
					conduct the ship of the state into the haven of security,
					rejecting generals and orators, who not only knew how to
					speak loud and make long harangues without drawing
					their breath, but were able also valiantly to march forth
					and fight their enemies. So when the orators one day at
					Athens, before Timotheus and Iphicrates uncovering
					Chares the son of Theochares, a vigorous and stout-bodied young man, said they were of opinion that the general
					of the Athenians ought to be such a one; Not so, by all
					the Gods, answered Timotheus, but such a one he should
					be that is to carry the general's bedding; but the general
					himself ought to be such a one as can at the same time see
					both forwards and backwards, and will suffer not his reasonings about things convenient to be disturbed by any
					passion. 
 Sophocles indeed said, he was glad that he was got free
					from the tyranny of wanton love, as being a furious and
					raging master; but in the administrations of state, we are
					not to avoid this one only master, the love of women or
					boys, but many who are madder than he, such as obstinacy in contending ambition, and a desire of being always
					the first and greatest, which is a disease most fruitful in
					bringing forth envy, jealousy, and conspiracies; some of
					which vices old age abates and dulls, while it wholly extinguishes and cools the others, not so much detracting
					from the practical impulse of the mind, as repressing its
					impetuous and over-hot passions, that it may apply a sober
					and settled reasoning to its considerations about the management of affairs.

Nevertheless let this speech of the poet,
				
				 
 
 Lie still at ease, poor wretch, in thy own bed, 
 	 
 
 
 
 both be and seem to be spoken for the dissuading of him
					who shall, when he is now grown gray with age, begin to
					play the youth; and for the restraining an old man who,
					rising from a long administration of his domestic affairs,
					as from a lingering disease, shall set himself to lead an
					army to the field, or perform the office of secretary of
					state. 
 But altogether senseless, and nothing like to this, is he
					who will not suffer one that has spent his whole time in
					political administrations, and been thoroughly beaten to
					them, to go on to his funeral torch and the conclusion of
					his life, but shall call him back, and command him (as it
					were) to turn out of the long road he has been travelling
					in. He who, to draw off from his design an old fellow
					who is crowned and is perfuming himself to go a wooing,
					should say to him, as was heretofore said to Philoctetes,
					
					 
 
 What virgin will her blooming maidenhead
						 
 Bestow on such a wretch? Why would'st thou wed? 
 
 
 
 would not be at all absurd, since even old men break
					many such jests upon themselves, and say,
					
					 
 
 I, old fool, know, I for my neighbors wed; 
 
 
 
 but he who should think, that a man which has long cohabited and lived irreprehensibly with his wife ought, because he is grown old, to dismiss her and live alone, or
					take a concubine in her place, would have attained the
					utmost excess of perverseness. So he would not act
					altogether unreasonably, that should admonish an old man
					who is making his first approaches to the people, whether
					he be such a one as Chlidon the farmer, or Lampon the mariner, or some old dreaming philosopher of the garden, and
					
					 
					
					advise him to continue in his accustomed unconcernedness
					for the public; but he who, taking hold of Phocion, Cato,
					or Pericles, should say to him, My Athenian or Roman
					friend, who art come to thy withered old age, make a divorce, and henceforth quit the state; and dismissing all
					conversations and cares about either council or camp, retire into the country, there with an old maid-servant looking after thy husbandry, or spending the remainder of thy
					time in managing thy domestic affairs and taking thy accounts,—would persuade a statesman to do things misbeseeming him and unacceptable.

What then! may some one say; do we not hear the
				soldier in the comedy affirming,
				
				 
 
 Henceforth my gray hairs exempt me from wars? 
 
 
 
 Yes indeed, my friend, it is altogether so; for it becomes
					the servants of Mars to be young and vigorous, as managing
					
					 
 
 War, and war's toilsome works; 
 	 
 
 
 
 in which, though an helmet may also hide the old man's
					gray hairs,
					
					 
 
 Yet inwardly his limbs are all decayed, 
 	 
 
 
 
 and his strength falls short of his good-will. But from
					the ministers of Jupiter, the counsellor, orator, and patron
					of cities, we expect not the works of feet and hands, but
					those of counsel, providence, and reason,—not such as
					raises a noise and shouting amongst the people, but such as
					has it in understanding, prudent solicitousness, and safety;
					by which the derided hoariness and wrinkles appear as
					witnesses of his experience, and add to him the help of
					persuasion, and the glory of ingenuity. For youth is
					made to follow and be persuaded, age to guide and direct;
					and that city is most secure, where the counsels of the old
					and the prowess of the young bear sway. And this of
					Homer, 
					
					 
					
					 
 
 A council first of valiant old men
						 
 He called in Nestor's ship, 
 
 
 
 is wonderfully commended. Wherefore the Pythian Apollo
					called the aristocracy or council of noblemen in Lacedaemon, joined as assistants to their kings, Πρεσβυγενεῖς (or the
					 ancients ), and Lycurgus named it plainly Γέροντες (or the
					 council of old men ); and even to this day the council of
					the Romans is called the senate (from seniunm, signifying
					 old age ). And as the law places the diadem and crown,
					so does Nature the hoariness of the head, as an honorable
					sign of princely dignity. And I am of opinion, that γέρας 
					(signifying an honorable reward ) and γεραίρειν (signifying
					 to honor ) continue still in use amongst the Greeks, being
					made venerable from the respect paid to old men, not because they wash in warm water and sleep on softer beds
					than others, but because they have as it were a king-like
					esteem in states for their prudence, from which, as from a
					late-bearing tree, Nature scarcely in old age brings forth
					its proper and perfect good. Therefore none of those
					martial and magnanimous Achaeans blamed that king of
					kings, Agamemnon, for praying thus to the Gods,
					
					 
 
 O that among the Greeks I had but ten
						 
 Such counsellors as Nestor; 
 	 
 
 
 
 but they all granted, that not in policy only, but in war
					also, old age has great influence;
					
					 
 
 For one discreet advice is much more worth
						 
 Than many hands, 
 	 
 
 
 
 and one rational and persuasive sentence effects the bravest
					and greatest of public exploits.

Moreover, the regal dignity, which is the perfectest
				and greatest of all political governments, has exceeding
				many cares, labors, and difficulties; insomuch that Seleucus
				is reported ever and anon to have said: If men knew how
				laborious are only the writing and reading of so many
				
				 
				
				epistles, they would not so much as stoop to take up a
				diadem thrown on the ground. And Philip, when, being
				about to pitch his camp in a fair and commodious place, he
				was told that there was not there forage for his regiments,
				cried out: O Hercules, what a life is ours, if we must live
				for the conveniency of asses! It is then time to persuade a
				king, when he is now grown into years, to lay aside his
				diadem and purple, and putting on a coarse coat, with a
				crook in his hand, to betake himself to a country life, lest
				he should seem to act superfluously and unseasonably by
				reigning in his old age. But if the very mentioning such
				a thing to an Agesilaus, a Numa, or a Darius would be an
				indignity; let us not, because they are in years, either
				drive away Solon from the council of the Areopagus, or
				remove Cato out of the senate; nor yet let us advise
				Pericles to abandon the democracy. For it is besides altogether unreasonable and absurd, that he who has in his
				youth leaped into the tribunal should, after he has discharged all his furious ambitions and impetuous passions
				on the public, when he is come to that maturity of years
				which by experience brings prudence, desert and abandon
				the commonwealth, having abused it as if it were a woman.

Aesop's fox indeed would not permit the hedge-hog,
				who offered it, to take from him the ticks that fed upon
				his body. For, said he, if thou remov'st those that are full,
				other hungry ones will succeed them. So it is of necessity,
				that a commonwealth which is always casting off those
				who grow old must be replenished with young men, thirsting after glory and power, and void of understanding in
				state affairs. For whence, I pray, should they have it, if
				they shall have been neither disciples nor spectators of any
				ancient statesman? For if treatises of navigation cannot
				make those skilful pilots who have not often in the stern
				been spectators of the conflicts against the waves, winds,
				and pitchy darkness of the night,
				
				 
				
				 
 
 When the poor trembling seaman longs to see
					 
 The safety-boding twins, Tyndaridae; 
 
 
 
 how should a raw young man take in hand the government of a city, and rightly advise both the senate and the
					people, having only read a book or written an exercise in
					the Lyceum concerning policy, though he has seldom or
					never stood by the reins or helm, when grave statesmen
					and old commanders have in debating alleged both their
					experiences and fortunes, whilst he was wavering on both
					sides, that so he might with dangers and transacting of
					affairs gain instruction? This is not to be said. But if it
					were for nothing else, yet ought an old man to manage in
					public affairs, that he may instruct and teach those who
					are young. For as those who teach children reading and
					music do, by pronouncing and by singing notes and tunes
					before them, lead and bring on their scholars; so an old
					statesman, not by speaking and dictating exteriorly, but by
					acting and administering public affairs, directs and breeds
					up a young one, who is by his deeds joined with his words
					interiorly formed and fashioned. For he who is exercised
					after this manner, not amongst the disputes of nimble
					tongued sophisters, as in the wrestling-schools and anointings, where there is not the least appearance of any danger,
					but really, and as it were in the Olympian and Pythian
					games, will tread in his teacher's steps,
					
					 
 
 Like a young colt, which runs by th' horse's side,— 
 
 
 
 as Simonides has it. Thus Aristides followed Clisthenes,
					Cimon Aristides, Phocion Chabrias, Cato Fabius Maximus, Pompey Sylla, and Polybius Philopoemen; for these,
					when they were young, joining themselves with their
					elders, and afterwards as it were flourishing and growing
					up by their administrations and actions, gained experience,
					and were inured to the management of public affairs with
					reputation and power.

Aeschines therefore the Academic, being charged
				
				 
				
				by certain sophisters that he pretended himself a disciple
				of Carneades when he was not so, said: I was then a
				hearer of Carneades, when his discourse, having dismissed
				contention and noise by reason of his old age, contracted
				itself to what was useful and fit to be communicated. Now
				an aged man's government being not only in words but in
				deeds far remote from all ostentation and vain-glory,—as
				they say of the bird ibis, that when she is grown old,
				having exhaled all her venomous and stinking savor, she
				sends forth a most sweet and aromatical one,—so in men
				grown into years, there is no opinion or counsel disturbed,
				but all grave and settled. Wherefore, even for the young
				men's sake, as has been said, ought an old man to act in
				the government of the state; that, (as Plato said of wine
				allayed with water, that the furious God was made wise,
				being chastised by another who was sober) so the caution
				of old age, mixed among the people with the fervency of
				youth, transported by glory and ambition, may take off
				that which is furious and over-violent.

But besides all this, they are under a mistake who
				think that, as sailing and going to the wars, so also acting
				in the state is done for a certain end, and ceases when that
				is obtained. For the managing of state affairs is not a
				ministry which has profit for its end; but the life of gentle,
				civil, and sociable animals, framed by nature to live civilly,
				honestly, and for the benefit of mankind. Wherefore it is
				fit he should be such a one as that it may be said of him,
				he is employed in state affairs, and not he has been so employed; as also, that he is true, and not he has been true;
				he acts justly, and not he has acted justly; and that he
				loves his country and fellow-citizens, and not he has loved
				them. For to these things does Nature direct, and these
				voices does she sound to those who are not totally corrupted
				with sloth and effeminacy:
				
				 
				
				 
 
 Thy father has engendered thee a man,
					 
 Worthy of much esteem with men: 
 
 
 
 and again,
					
					 
 
 Let us not cease to benefit mankind.

Now as for those who pretend weakness and impotency, they accuse rather sickness and infirmity of body
				than old age; for there are many young men sickly, and
				many old ones lusty; so that we are not to remove from
				the administration of the state aged, but impotent persons;
				nor call to it such as are young, but such as are able. For
				Aridaeus was young, and Antigonus old; and yet the latter
				conquered in a manner all Asia, whereas the former, as if
				he had only been to make a dumb show with his guards
				upon a stage, was but the bare name of a king, a puppet
				always mocked by those who were in power. As therefore
				he would be a very fool that should think Prodicus the
				sophister and Philetas the poet—men indeed young, but
				withal weak, sickly, and almost always confined by their
				infirmity to their beds—fit to be concerned in the management of the state; so he would be no less absurd that
				should hinder such vigorous old men as were Phocion,
				Masinissa the Libyan, and Cato the Roman, from governing or leading forth of armies. For Phocion, when the
				Athenians were at an unseasonable time hurrying to war,
				made proclamation that all who were not above sixty years
				of age should take up arms and follow him; and when
				they were offended at it, he said, There is no hardship put
				upon you, for I, who am above fourscore years old, will be
				your general. And Polybius relates, that Masinissa, dying
				at the age of ninety years, left behind him a young son of
				his own begetting, not above four years old; and that,
				having a little before been in a great fight, he was the next
				day seen at the door of his tent eating a dirty piece of
				bread, and that he said to those who wondered at it, that
				he did this....
				
				 
				
				 
 
 For brass by use and wear its gleam displays,
					 
 But every house untenanted decays; 
 
 
 
 
 as Sophocles has it; we all say the same of that light and
					lustre of the soul, by which we reason, remember, and
					think.

Wherefore also they say, that kings become better
				in wars and military expeditions than when they live at
				ease. Attalus therefore, the brother of Eumenes, being
				enervated with long idleness and peace, was with little
				skill managed by Philopoemen, one of his favorites, who
				fattened him like a hog in the sty; so that the Romans
				were wont in derision to ask those who came out of Asia,
				whether the king had any power with Philopoemen. Now
				one cannot find amongst the Romans many stouter generals
				than Lucullus, as long as he applied his mind to action;
				but when he gave himself up to an unactive life, to a continuing lazily at home, and an unconcernedness for the
				public, being dulled and mortified, like sponges in calm
				weather, and then delivering his old age to be dieted and
				ordered by Callisthenes one of his freedmen, he seemed
				bewitched by him with philters and other incantations; till
				such time as his brother Marcus, having driven away this
				fellow, did himself govern and conduct the remainder of
				his life, which was not very long. But Darius, father of
				Xerxes, said, that by difficulties he grew wiser than himself. And the Scythian Ateas affirmed, that he thought
				there was no difference between himself and his horse-keepers, when he was idle. And Dionysius the Elder,
				when one asked him whether he was at leisure, answered,
				May that never befall me. For a bow, they say, will
				break, if over-bent; and a soul, if too much slackened.
				For even musicians, if they over-long omit to hear accords,
				geometricians, if they leave off demonstrating their propositions, and arithmeticians, if they discontinue their casting
				
				 
				
				up of accounts, do, together with the actions, impair by
				their progress in age the habits, though they are not
				practical but speculative arts; but the habit of statesmen
				—being wise counsel, discretion, and justice, and besides
				these, experience which seizes upon the right opportunities
				and words, the very faculty which works persuasion—is
				maintained by frequent speaking, acting, reasoning, and
				judging. And a hard thing it would be, if by avoiding to
				do these things it should suffer such and so great virtues
				to run out of the soul. For it is probable also that humanity, friendly society, and beneficence will then also
				decay, of which there ought to be no end or limit.

If then you had Tithonus to your father, who was
				indeed immortal, but yet by reason of his old age stood
				perpetually in need of much attendance, I do think you
				would shun or be weary of looking to him, discoursing
				with him, and helping him, as having a long time done
				him service. Now our fatherland (or, as the Cretans call
				it, our motherland ), being older and having greater rights
				than our parents, is indeed long lasting, yet neither free
				from the inconveniences of old age nor self-sufficient; but
				standing always in need of a serious regard, succor, and
				vigilance, she pulls to her and takes hold of a statesman,
				
				 
 
 And with strong hand restrains him, who would go. 
 	 
 
 
 
 And you indeed know that I have these many Pythiads
					served the Pythian Apollo; but yet you would not say to
					me: Thou hast sufficiently, O Plutarch, sacrificed, gone in
					procession, and led dances in honor of the Gods; it is now
					time that, being in years, thou shouldst in favor of thy
					old age lay aside the garland and leave the oracle. Therefore neither do you think that you, who are the chief priest
					and interpreter of religious ceremonies in the state, may
					
					 
					
					leave the service of Jupiter, the protector of cities and
					governor of assemblies, for the performance of which you
					were long since consecrated.

But leaving, if you please, this discourse about
				withdrawing old men from performing their duties to the
				state, let us make it a little the subject of our consideration and philosophy, how we may enjoin them no exercise
				unfitting or grievous to their years, the administration of a
				commonwealth having many parts beseeming and suitable
				for such persons. For as, if we were obliged to persevere
				in the practice of singing to the end of our days, it would
				behoove us, being now grown old, of the many tones and
				tensions there are of the voice, which the musicians call
				harmonies, not to aim at the highest and shrillest, but to
				make choice of that in which there is an easiness joined
				with a decent suitableness; so, since it is more natural for
				men to act and speak even to the end of their lives, than
				for swans to sing, we must not reject action, like a harp
				that is set too high, but rather let it a little down, accommodating it to such employs in the state as are easy,
				moderate, and fitting for men in years. For neither do we
				suffer our bodies to be altogether motionless and unexercised because we cannot any longer make use of spades
				and plummets, nor yet throw quoits or skirmish in armor,
				as we have formerly done; but some of us do by swinging
				and walking, others by playing gently at ball, and some
				again by discoursing, stir up our spirits and revive our
				natural heat. Therefore neither let us permit ourselves to
				be wholly chilled and frozen by idleness, nor yet on the
				contrary let us, by burthening ourselves with every office
				or intermeddling with every public business, force on old
				age, convinced of its disability, to break forth into these
				exclamations:
				
				 
 
 The spear to brandish, thou, right hand, art bent;
					 
 But weak old age opposes thy intent. 
 
 
 
 
 Since even that man is not commended who, in the vigor
					and strength of his years, imposing all public affairs in
					general on himself, and unwilling to leave any thing for
					another (as the Stoics say of Jupiter), thrusts himself into
					all employs, and intermeddles in every business, through
					an insatiable desire of glory, or through envy against those
					who are in some measure partakers of honor and authority
					in the state. But to an old man, though you should free
					him from the infamy, yet painful and miserable would be
					an ambition always laying wait at every election of magistrates, a curiosity attending for every opportunity of judicature or assembling in counsel, and a humor of vain-glory
					catching at every embassy and patronage. For the doing
					of these things, even with the favor and good liking of
					every one, is too heavy for that age. And yet the contrary
					to this happens; for they are hated by the young men, as
					leaving them no occasions of action, nor suffering them to
					put themselves forth; and their ambitious desire of primacy
					and rule is no less odious to others than the covetousness
					and voluptuousness of other old men.

Therefore, as Alexander, unwilling to tire his Bucephalus when he now began to grow old, did before the
				fight ride on other horses, to view his army and draw it up
				for battle, and then, after the signal was given, mounting
				this, marched forth and charged the enemy; so a statesman,
				if he is wise, moderating himself when he finds years
				coming on, will abstain from intermeddling in unnecessary
				affairs, and suffering the state to make use of younger
				persons in smaller matters, will readily exercise himself in
				such as are of great importance. For champions indeed
				keep their bodies untouched and unemployed in necessary
				matters, that they may be in a readiness for unprofitable
				engagements; but let us on the contrary, letting pass what
				is little and frivolous, carefully preserve ourselves for
				worthy and gallant actions. For all things perhaps, as
				
				 
				
				Homer says, equally become a young man; all men now
				esteem and love him; so that for undertaking frequently
				little and many businesses, they say he is laborious and a
				good commonwealths-man; and for enterprising none but
				splendid and noble actions, they style him generous and
				magnanimous; nay, there are also some occurrences when
				even contention and rashness have a certain seasonableness
				and grace, becoming such men. But an old man's undertaking in a state such servile employs as the farming out
				of the customs, and the looking after the havens and market-place, or else his running on embassies and journeys
				to princes and potentates when there are no necessary or
				honorable affairs to be treated of, but only compliments
				and a maintaining of correspondence,—such management,
				dear friend, seems to me a thing miserable and not to be
				imitated, but to others, perhaps, odious and intolerable.

For it is not even seasonable for such men to be
				employed in magistracies, unless it be such as bear somewhat of grandeur and dignity; such is the presidency in
				the council of Areopagus, which you now exercise, and
				such also, by Jove, is the excellency of the Amphictyonic
				office, which your country has conferred on you for your
				life, having an easy labor and pleasant pains. And yet old
				men ought not ambitiously to affect even these honors, but
				accept them with refusal, not seeking but being sought;
				nor as taking government on themselves, but bestowing
				themselves on government. For it is not, as Tiberius
				Caesar said, a shame for those that are above threescore
				years old to reach forth their hands to the physician; but
				it far more misbeseems them to hold up their hands to the
				people, to beg their votes or suffrages for the obtaining
				offices; for this is ungenerous and mean, whereas the contrary has a certain majesty and comeliness, when, his
				country choosing, inviting, and expecting him, he comes
				
				 
				
				down with honor and courtesy to welcome and receive the
				present, truly befitting his old age and acceptance.

After the same manner also ought he that is grown
				old to use his speech in assemblies, not ever and anon
				climbing up to the desk to make harangues, nor always,
				like a cock, crowing against those that speak, nor letting
				go the reins of the young men's respect to him by contending against them and provoking them, nor breeding in them
				a desire and custom of disobedience and unwillingness to
				hear him; but he should sometimes pass them by, and let
				them strut and brave it against his opinion, neither being
				present nor concerning himself much at it, as long as there
				is no great danger to the public safety nor any offence
				against what is honest and decent. But in such cases, on
				the contrary, he ought, though nobody call him, to run
				beyond his strength, or to deliver himself to be led or carried in a chair, as historians report of Appius Claudius in
				Rome. For he having understood that the senate, after
				their army had been in a great fight worsted by Pyrrhus,
				were debating about receiving proposals of peace and alliance, could not bear it, but, although he had lost both his
				eyes, caused himself to be carried through the common
				place straight to the senate house, where entering among
				them and standing in the midst, he said, that he had formerly indeed been troubled at his being deprived of his
				sight, but that he now wished he had also lost his ears,
				rather than to have heard that the Roman senators were
				consulting and acting things so ungenerous and dishonorable. And then partly reprehending, and partly teaching
				and exalting them, he persuaded them to betake themselves presently to their arms, and fight with Pyrrhus for
				the dominion of Italy. And Solon, when the popularity
				of Pisistratus was discovered to be only a plot for the obtaining of a tyranny, none daring to oppose or impeach it,
				did himself bring forth his arms, and setting them before
				
				 
				
				the doors of his house, called out to the people to assist
				him; and when Pisistratus sent to ask him what gave him
				the confidence to act in that manner, My old age, answered he.

For matters that are so necessary as these inflame
				and rouse up old men who are in a manner extinct, so that
				they have but any breath yet left them; but in other occurrences, an old man, as has been said, should be careful to
				avoid mean and servile offices, and such in which the trouble to those who manage them exceeds the advantage and
				profit for which they are done. Sometimes by expecting
				also till the citizens call and desire and fetch him out of
				house, he is thought more worthy of credit by those who
				request him. And even when he is present, let him for
				the most part silently permit the younger men to speak, as
				if he were an arbitrator, judging to whom the reward and
				honor of this their debate about public matters ought to be
				given; but if any thing should exceed a due mediocrity,
				let him mildly reprehend it, and with sweetness cut off all
				obstinate contentions, all injurious and choleric expressions, directing and teaching without reproof him that errs
				in his opinions, boldly praising him that is in the right,
				and often willingly suffering himself to be overcome, persuaded, and brought to their side, that he may hearten and
				encourage them; and sometimes with commendations supplying what has been omitted, not unlike to Nestor, whom
				Homer makes to speak in this manner:
				
				 
 
 There is no Greek can contradict or mend
					 
 What you have said; yet to no perfect end
					 
 Is your speech brought. No wonder, for't appears
					 
 You're young, and may my son be for your years.

And it were yet more civil and politic, not only in
				reprehending them openly and in the face of the people,
				to forbear that sharpness of speech which exceedingly
				
				 
				
				dashes a young man and puts him out of countenance, but
				rather, wholly abstaining from all such public reproofs,
				privately to instruct such as have a good genius for the
				managing of state affairs, drawing them on by setting
				gently before them useful counsels and political precepts,
				inciting them to commendable actions, enlightening their
				understanding, and showing them, as those do who teach
				to ride, how at their beginning to render the people tractable and mild, and if any young man chances to fall, not
				to suffer him to lie gasping and panting on the ground, but
				to help him up and comfort him, as Aristides dealt by
				Cimon, and Mnesiphilus by Themistocles; whom they
				raised up and encouraged, though at first they were harshly
				received and ill spoken of in the city, as audacious and
				intemperate. It is said also, that Demosthenes being rejected by the people and taking it to heart, there came to
				him a certain old man, who had in former years been an
				hearer of Pericles, and told him, that he naturally resembled that great man, and did unjustly cast down himself.
				In like manner Euripides exhorted Timotheus, when he
				was hissed at for introducing of novelty, and thought to
				transgress against the law of music, to be of good courage,
				for that he should in a short time have all the theatres
				subject to him.

In brief, as in Rome the Vestal virgins have their
				time divided into three parts, in one of which they are to
				learn what belong to the ceremonies of their religion, in
				the second to execute what they have learned, and in the
				third to teach the younger; and as in like manner they
				call every one of those who are consecrated to the service
				of Diana in Ephesus, first Mell-hiere (one that is to be a
				priestess), then Hiere (priestess), and thirdly Par-hiere (or
				one that has been a priestess), so he that is a perfect statesman is at first a learner in the management of public affairs,
				then a practitioner, and at last a teacher and instructor in
				
				 
				
				the mysteries of government. For indeed he who is to
				oversee others that are performing their exercise or fighting for prizes cannot judge at the same exercise and fight
				himself. Thus he who instructs a young man in public
				affairs and negotiations of the state, and prepares him
				
				 
 
 Both to speak well and act heroicly 
 	 
 
 
 
 for the service of his country, is in no small or mean degree useful to the commonwealth, but in that at which
					Lycurgus chiefly and principally aimed himself, when he
					accustomed young men to persist in obedience to every
					one that was elder, as if he were a lawgiver. For to
					what, think you, had Lysander respect, when he said that
					in Lacedaemon men most honorably grew old? Was it
					because old men could most honorably grow old there enjoying idleness, putting out money to use, sitting together
					at tables, and after their game taking a cheerful cup? You
					will not, I believe, say any such thing. But it was because all such men, being after some sort in the place of
					magistrates, fatherly governors, or tutors of youth, inspected not only the public affairs, but also made inquiry—and
					that not slightly—into every action of the younger men,
					both as concerning their exercises, recreations, and diet,
					being terrible indeed to offenders, but venerable and desirable to the good. For young men indeed always venerate
					and follow those who increase and cherish the neatness
					and generosity of their disposition without any envy.

For this vice, though beseeming no age, is nevertheless in young men veiled with specious names, being
				styled emulation, zeal, and desire of honor; but in old
				men, it is altogether unseasonable, savage, and unmanly.
				Therefore a statesman that is in years must be very far
				from being envious, and not act like those old trees and
				stocks which, as with a certain charm, manifestly withdraw
				
				 
				
				 the nutritive juice from such young plants as grow
				near them or spring up under them, and hinder their
				growth; but he should kindly admit and even offer himself to those that apply themselves to him and seek to converse with him, directing, leading, and educating them,
				not only by good instructions and counsels, but also by
				affording them the means of administering such public
				affairs as may bring them honor and repute, and executing
				such unprejudicial commissions as will be pleasing and
				acceptable to the multitude. But for such things as, being
				untoward and difficult, do like medicines at first gripe and
				molest, but afterwards yield honor and profit,—upon these
				things he ought not to put young men, nor expose those
				who are inexperienced to the mutinous clamors of the rude
				and ill-natured multitude, but he should rather take the
				odium upon himself for such things as (though harsh and
				unpleasing) may yet prove beneficial to the commonwealth;
				for this will render the young men both more affectionate
				to him, and more cheerful in the undertaking other services.

But besides all this, we are to keep in mind, that to
				be a statesman is not only to bear offices, go on embassies,
				talk loud in public meetings, and thunder on the tribune,
				speaking and writing such things in which the vulgar
				think the art of government to consist; as they also think
				that those only philosophize who dispute from a chair and
				spend their leisure time in books, while the policy and
				philosophy which is continually exercised in works and conspicuous in actions is nowise known to them. For they
				say, as Dicaearchus affirmed, that they who fetch turns to
				and fro in galleries walk, but not they who go into the
				country or to visit a friend. But the being a statesman is
				like the being a philosopher. Wherefore Socrates did
				philosophize, not only when he neither placed benches nor
				seated himself in his chair, nor kept the hour of conference
				
				 
				
				 and walking appointed for his disciples, but also
				when, as it happened, he played, drank, went to war with
				some, bargained, finally, even when he was imprisoned
				and drank the poison; having first shown that man's life
				does at all times, in every part, and universally in all passions and actions, admit of philosophy. The same also
				we are to understand of civil government, to wit, that fools
				do not administer the state, even when they lead forth
				armies, write dispatches and edicts, or make speeches to
				the people; but that they either endeavor to insinuate
				themselves into the favor of the vulgar and become popular, seek applause by their harangues, raise seditions and
				disturbances, or at the best perform some service, as compelled by necessity. But he that seeks the public good,
				loves his country and fellow-citizens, has a serious regard
				to the welfare of the state, and is a true commonwealthsman, such a one, though he never puts on the military
				garment or senatorial robe, is yet always employed in the
				administration of the state, by inciting to action those who
				are able, guiding and instructing those that want it, assisting and advising those that ask counsel, deterring and
				reclaiming those that are ill-given, and confirming and
				encouraging those that are well-minded; so that it is manifest, he does not for fashion's sake apply himself to the
				public affairs, nor go then to the theatre or council when
				there is any haste or when he is sent for by name, that he
				may have the first place there, being otherwise present
				only for his recreation, as when he goes to some show or
				a concert of music; but on the contrary, though absent in
				body, yet is he present in mind, and being informed of
				what is done, approves some things and disapproves
				others.

For neither did Aristides amongst the Athenians,
				nor Cato amongst the Romans often execute the office of
				magistrate; and yet both the one and the other employed
				
				 
				
				their whole lives perpetually in the service of their country. And Epaminondas indeed, being general, performed
				many and great actions; but yet there is related an exploit
				of his, not inferior to any of them, performed about
				Thessaly when he had neither command in the army nor
				office in the state. For, when the commanders, having
				through inadvertency drawn a squadron into a difficult
				and disadvantageous ground, were in amaze, for that the
				enemies pressed hard upon them, galling them with their
				arrows, he, being called up from amongst the heavy-armed foot, first by his encouraging them dissipated the
				trouble and fright of the army, and then, having ranged
				and brought into order that squadron whose ranks had
				been broken, he easily disengaged them out of those straits,
				and placed them in front against their enemies, who, thereupon changing their resolutions, marched off. Also when
				Agis, king of Sparta, was leading on his army, already put
				in good order for fight, against the enemies, a certain old
				Spartan called out aloud to him, and said, that he thought
				to cure one evil by another; meaning that he was desirous
				the present unseasonable promptness to fight should salve
				the disgrace of their over-hasty departure from before Argos, as Thucydides says. Now Agis, hearing him, took
				his advice, and at that present retreated; but afterwards
				got the victory. And there was every day a chair set for
				him before the doors of the government house, and the
				Ephori, often rising from their consistory and going to
				him, asked his advice and consulted him about the greatest and most important affairs; for he was esteemed very
				prudent, and is recorded to have been a man of great
				sense. And therefore, having now wholly exhausted the
				strength of his body, and being for the most part tied to
				his bed, when the Ephori sent for him to the common hall
				of the city, he strove to get up and go to them; but walking heavily and with great difficulty, and meeting by the
				
				 
				
				way certain boys, he asked them whether they knew any
				thing stronger than the necessity of obeying their master;
				and they answering him that inability was of greater force,
				he, supposing that this ought to be the limit of his service,
				turned back again homewards. For a readiness and good
				will to serve the public ought not to fail, whilst ability
				lasts; but when that is once gone, it is no longer to be
				forced. And indeed Scipio, both in war and peace, always used Caius Laelius for a counsellor; insomuch that
				some said, Scipio was the actor of those noble exploits,
				and Caius the poet or author. And Cicero himself confessed, that the honorablest and greatest of his counsels,
				by the right performance of which he in his consulship
				preserved his country, were concerted with Publius Nigi
				dius the philosopher.

Thus is there nothing that in any manner of government hinders old men from helping the public by the
				best things, to wit, by their reason, sentences, freedom of
				speech, and solicitous care, as the poets term it. For not
				only our hands, feet, and corporeal strength are the possession and share of the commonwealth; but chiefly our
				soul, and the beauties of our soul, justice, temperance,
				and prudence; which receiving their perfection late and
				slowly, it were absurd that men should remain in charge of
				house and land and other wealth, and yet not be beneficial to their common country and fellow-citizens by reason
				of their age, which does not so much detract from their
				ministerial abilities as it adds to their directive and political. And this is the reason why they portrayed the Mercuries of old without hands and feet, but having their
				natural parts stiff, enigmatically representing that there is
				no great need of old men's corporeal services, if they have
				but their reason (as is convenient) active and fruitful.