must bestow the benefits of the true Greek genius upon all mankind.
He took it away from the little cities and the little villages and tried
to make it blossom and bear fruit amidst the vast royal residences of
his newly acquired Empire. But the Greeks, removed from the familiar
sight of their own temples, removed from the well-known sounds and
smells of their own crooked streets, at once lost the cheerful joy and
the marvellous sense of moderation which had inspired the work of
their hands and brains while they laboured for the glory of their old
city-states. They became cheap artisans, content with second-rate work.
The day the little city-states of old Hellas lost their independence and
were forced to become part of a big nation, the old Greek spirit died.
And it has been dead ever since.

GREEK SELF-GOVERNMENT

THE GREEKS WERE THE FIRST PEOPLE TO TRY THE DIFFICULT EXPERIMENT OF
SELF-GOVERNMENT

IN the beginning, all the Greeks had been equally rich and equally poor.
Every man had owned a certain number of cows and sheep. His mud-hut had
been his castle. He had been free to come and go as he wished. Whenever
it was necessary to discuss matters of public importance, all the
citizens had gathered in the market-place. One of the older men of the
village was elected chairman and it was his duty to see that everybody
had a chance to express his views. In case of war, a particularly
energetic and self-confident villager was chosen commander-in-chief, but
the same people who had voluntarily given this man the right to be
their leader, claimed an equal right to deprive him of his job, once the
danger had been averted.

But gradually the village had grown into a city. Some people had worked
hard and others had been lazy. A few had been unlucky and still others
had been just plain dishonest in dealing with their neighbours and had
gathered wealth. As a result, the city no longer consisted of a number
of men who were equally well-off. On the contrary it was inhabited by a
small class of very rich people and a large class of very poor ones.

There had been another change. The old commander-in-chief who had been
willingly recognised as "headman" or "King" because he knew how to lead
his men to victory, had disappeared from the scene. His place had been
taken by the nobles--a class of rich people who during the course of
time had got hold of an undue share of the farms and estates.

These nobles enjoyed many advantag