e the praise of men; and the greatest and truest
praise is that of virtue. And our Cretan colony should, and probably
will, have a character for virtue, such as few cities have. Let
this, then, be our law about foreign travel and the reception of
strangers:--No one shall be allowed to leave the country who is under
forty years of age--of course military service abroad is not included in
this regulation--and no one at all except in a public capacity. To the
Olympic, and Pythian, and Nemean, and Isthmian games, shall be sent the
fairest and best and bravest, who shall support the dignity of the city
in time of peace. These, when they come home, shall teach the youth the
inferiority of all other governments. Besides those who go on sacred
missions, other persons shall be sent out by permission of the guardians
to study the institutions of foreign countries. For a people which has
no experience, and no knowledge of the characters of men or the reason
of things, but lives by habit only, can never be perfectly civilized.
Moreover, in all states, bad as well as good, there are holy and
inspired men; these the citizen of a well-ordered city should be ever
seeking out; he should go forth to find them over sea and over land,
that he may more firmly establish institutions in his own state which
are good already and amend the bad. 'What will be the best way of
accomplishing such an object?' In the first place, let the visitor of
foreign countries be between fifty and sixty years of age, and let him
be a citizen of repute, especially in military matters. On his return
he shall appear before the Nocturnal Council: this is a body which sits
from dawn to sunrise, and includes amongst its members the priests who
have gained the prize of virtue, and the ten oldest guardians of the
law, and the director and past directors of education; each of whom has
power to bring with him a younger friend of his own selection, who is
between thirty and forty. The assembly thus constituted shall consider
the laws of their own and other states, and gather information relating
to them. Anything of the sort which is approved by the elder members of
the council shall be studied with all diligence by the younger; who are
to be specially watched by the rest of the citizens, and shall receive
honour, if they are deserving of honour, or dishonour, if they prove
inferior. This is the assembly to which the visitor of foreign countries
shall come and tell anything