Jonah, which might have been brought by the Phoenician
sailors.

Solon was Athenian by birth, and of the old royal line. He had served
his country in war, and had travelled to study the habits of other lands,
when the Athenians, wearied with the oppressions of the rich and great,
and finding that no one attended to the laws of Draco, left it to him to
form a new constitution. It would be of no use to try to explain it all.
The chief thing to be remembered about it is, that at the head of the
government were nine chief magistrates, who were called Archons, and who
were changed every three years. To work with them, there was a council
of four hundred _aristoi_, or nobles; but when war or peace was decided,
the whole _demos_, or people, had to vote, according to their tribes; and
if a man was thought to be dangerous to the state, the _demos_ might
sentence him to be banished. His name was written on an oyster shell, or
on a tile, by those who wished him to be driven away, and these were
thrown into one great vessel. If they amounted to a certain number, the
man was said to be "ostracised," and forced to leave the city. This was
sometimes done very unjustly, but it answered the purpose of sending away
rich men who became overbearing, and kept tyrants from rising up. There
were no unnatural laws as there were at Sparta; people might live at home
as they pleased; but there were schools, and all the youths were to be
taught there, both learning and training in all exercises. And whether
it was from Solon's laws or their own character, there certainly did
arise in Athens some of the greatest and noblest men of all times.

After having set things in order, Solon is said to have been so annoyed
by foolish questions on his schemes, that he went again on his travels.
First he visited his friend Thales, at Miletus, in Asia Minor; and,
finding him rich and comfortable, he asked why he had never married.
Thales made no answer then, but a few days later he brought in a
stranger, who, he said, was just from Athens. Solon asked what was the
news. "A great funeral was going on, and much lamentation," said the
man. "Whose was it?" He did not learn the name, but it was a young man
of great promise, whose father was abroad upon his travels. "The father
was much famed for his wisdom and justice." "Was it Solon?" cried the
listener. "It was." Solon burst into tears, tore his hair, and beat his
breast; but Thales took his hand,