played the part of gentleman-usher at the levee of the Disdar Aga. That worthy magistrate conducted himself on the occasion with becoming dignity, and received our pecuniary deposit with the air of a turnpike-man collecting the toll. He offered us, however, the usual refreshments of sweetmeats and coffee.

LETTER XXI.

Athens, May, 1817.

THE Areopagus was the seat of a court of justice, the most solemn and respected of any in the states of Greece. Its origin, like every other remote institution, is involved in fable. Mythologists derive the term 'Aglonayos from the arraignment of Mars, who was the first criminal that came under its cognisance, being charged with the murder of one of Neptune's sons, and the seduction of his daughter, Alcippa. The celestial synod here sat in judgment on the accused, and he was acquitted by six voices.

The period when this tribunal was first constituted cannot now be ascertained; the precise date, perhaps, is not very material. It is wellknown to have existed antecedently to Solon', who revised and regulated its enactments, and extended

1 Solon flourished between five and six hundred years before the birth of our Saviour.

its jurisdiction. Ecclesiastical concerns, as well as secular, were within its province; and all points of religion, blasphemy against the recognised deities, contempt of the holy mysteries, and the introduction of new forms of worship, were referred to its authority and subjected to its judgment. It was in this capacity that the Areopagites cited St. Paul to appear before them, as a setter forth of strange gods," and as proclaiming the doctrine of a future resurrection'.

66

The identity of the mount is ascertained by Dr. Chandler, from a comparison of a passage in Pausanias with one of Lucian's dialogues. The first of these writers describes the Areopagus to be opposite the cave of Pan and Apollo; and Lucian represents Mercury arriving at Athens in company with Justice, who is commissioned by Jupiter to hold a court on that eminence. Mercury desires his companion to sit down on the hill looking towards the Pnyx, while he ascends the Acropolis, and makes proclamation to all parties interested in the case to appear before her; Justice detains him for a moment, to desire he will instruct her who it was

1 Acts xviii. 18, 19.

she beheld approaching, with horns on his head, hairy legs, and a pastoral pipe in his hand. Mercury hereupon relates the history of Pan; and, pointing to the cave where he dwelt, tells her that as he had probably seen them from so short a distance, he was coming to pay them his personal compliments. The cavern alluded to is an excavation in the rock, on the western side of the Acropolis; and, though extremely simple in its form and decorations, might have been no inappropriate residence for a Silvan deity.

The Pnyx was one of the places in which the assemblies of the people were held, to discuss those questions which affected the general interests. Etymologists derive the term διὰ το πεπυκνωσθαι ; in allusion either to the crowded position of the seats, or to the throngs which usually pressed to these meetings. Between the hill Lycabettus and the Acropolis there is a ravine, which was anciently known by a term descriptive of its natural situation'. Having traversed this pass, so as to arrive nearly opposite the rock of the Areopagus, I observed a semicircular area of some extent, hewn 1 The Hollow.

with great labour from the cliffs. This was the Pnyx; and here is the stage from which Demosthenes and other demagogues addressed the Athenian citizens. The orator stood on an elevation in the centre, sufficiently raised to bring him within the view of the multitude, but purposely contrived to shut out a sight of the Piræus. The ground in front slopes towards the town, but appears to have been artificially raised for the accommodation of the audience. The earth piled up for this purpose is supported by a curvilinear wall, composed of enormous masses of stone regularly cut and fitted into each other. Some of the largest blocks are twenty feet by twelve in magnitude.

Without attempting to particularize every object calculated to arrest and detain the attention in these memorable enclosures, I believe I have not omitted any of those which are usually considered the most interesting. Indeed the same objects contemplated at different seasons of the year, or even at different periods of the day, will appear in an altered form or clothed with a new dress, and present, alternately, fresh claims to admiration; and I have frequently retired at