Tent-Maker? Alcibiades confessing that he did; then said Socrates, "Is not the Body of the Athenian People composed of Men like these? And therefore, when you despise the Individuals, why should you fear the Whole?[1]"—A hopeful Tribe of Legislators! and such as might naturally be supposed to give Rise to that Licentiousness, Discord, and Ruin, in which they were soon swallowed up.
From this weak and imperfect Establishment, founded on the Caprices of an ignorant, unprincipled, and licentious Populace, all the subsequent Factions, which ended in the Ruin of this Republic, are clearly derived.
Even Solon, the original Legislator, outlived the Commonwealth he had formed. On his Departure from Athens, Factions immediately arose. Pisistratus, the first ruling Demagogue, led the People; obtained a Guard; seized the Castle; and established a Tyranny.[2]
