es of the world. Scholars who have taken an
interest in inquiring into such points as these, have come to the
conclusion that the amount of gold and silver coin which Pythius thus
reported to Xerxes was equal to about thirty millions of dollars.

Pythius added, after stating the amount of the gold and silver which he
had at command, that it was all at the service of the king for the
purpose of carrying on the war. He had, he said, besides his money,
slaves and farms enough for his own maintenance.

Xerxes was extremely gratified at this generosity, and at the proof
which it afforded of the interest which Pythius felt in the cause of the
king. "You are the only man," said he, "who has offered hospitality to
me or to my army since I set out upon this march, and, in addition to
your hospitality, you tender me your whole fortune. I will not, however,
deprive you of your treasure. I will, on the contrary, order my
treasurer to pay to you the seven thousand staters necessary to make
your four millions complete. I offer you also my friendship, and will do
any thing in my power, now and hereafter, to serve you. Continue to live
in the enjoyment of your fortune. If you always act under the influence
of the noble and generous impulses which govern you now, you will never
cease to be prosperous and happy."

If we could end the account of Pythius and Xerxes here, what generous
and noble-minded men we might suppose them to be! But alas! how large a
portion of the apparent generosity and nobleness which shows itself
among potentates and kings, turns into selfishness and hypocrisy when
closely examined. Pythius was one of the most merciless tyrants that
ever lived. He held all the people that lived upon his vast estates in
a condition of abject slavery, compelling them to toil continually in
his mines, in destitution and wretchedness, in order to add more and
more to his treasures. The people came to his wife with their bitter
complaints. She pitied them, but could not relieve them. One day, it is
said that, in order to show her husband the vanity and folly of living
only to amass silver and gold, and to convince him how little real power
such treasures have to satisfy the wants of the human soul, she made him
a great entertainment, in which there was a boundless profusion of
wealth in the way of vessels and furniture of silver and gold, but
scarcely any food. There was every thing to satisfy the eye with the
sight of magnificence,