gion and Power of an Oath was so strongly impressed on their Minds, that Lycurgus trusted the future Execution of his Laws, to That Oath which the People took, on his last Departure from the City:[1]—An Oath, which proves, that the Religion of the Country was not at Variance with the Appointments of the State; because it obliged them never to depart from the Institutions of Lycurgus.
The Principle of Honour was not at Variance, but co-operated with and sustained That of Religion. Plutarch is very particular, on their early and continued Encouragement of this Principle. Their Songs (which made a Part of their Education) tended to inflame their Minds with honest Ambition. "Their Subject was generally the Praise of such Men as had dy'd in Defence of their Country; or in Derision of Those who had shrunk from the public Service. The old Men talked high of what they had
- ↑ Plutarch: in Lycurgo.
