erbury doubt necessary to keep in mind the turbulence of the times in which he lived, and the political contentions in which he had so great a share. It may easily be conceived, that, in such a scene, his activity and zeal, in whatever cause he espoused, would draw from his friends more frequent and pointed eulogies than he really deserved, as well as excite in his opponents stronger prejudices, and keener reproaches, than strict justice authorised. But, after making all reasonable allowances for the partialities of party, and following the fairest medium of judgment, it is not easy to form a very favourable estimate. It is known, that, in open defiance of all propriety and principle as a clerical character, he was accustomed to swear upon any strong provocation; that he was even amongst the foremost and keenest in every political contest which occurred in his time; that, in the different stages through which he passed in the course of his church preferments, he was involved in quarrels ; and that Dr Smalridge, who succeeded him in two of the stations which he had filled, complained of his hard fate, in being obliged "to carry water after him, to extinguish the flame which his litigiousness had every where occasioned." merely attending, then, to the acknowledged tenor and transactions of Bishop Atterbury's life, it appears too evident, that he was a man of a hot temper, and haughty spirit ; ambitious of preferment, and jealous of his rights; violent in his public proceedings, and ready for political contention; cautious and cunning in general, yet frequently prompted by passion to expose his own reputation, and to injure his most favourite cause. There is no good ground for suspecting, that he was either inclined to infidelity,* or even favourable to Popery; but, besides the evidence advanced on his trial, there are several uncontroverted facts, which clearly indicate his attachment to the Stuart family, and which strongly tend to confirm the charge of his having been engaged in treasonable practices for their restoration.+ But however much his personal concern in such plots may be doubted, and his disaffection to the reigning family excused, yet there is no adequate apology which can be made for the turbulence of his public proceedings, and no sufficient substitute to be found among all his excel

From

lencies and attainments, for that humility and meekness, that love of peace and of good order, which became him as a Christian bishop, but in which he was so extremely deficient. Even they who approve his principles as a high churchman, or who sympathise with his feelings as a friend of the Pretender, will not be able to vindicate the means which he used, and the spirit which he displayed, in supporting what, perhaps, he sincerely considered as just and right. He may claim our admiration for his natural endowments and acquired accomplishments: he may stand high in our opinion as an acute politician and an active partisan: and he may be contemplated with approbation in his intercourse with his family and friends; but his title is not so valid to that true greatness which consists in self government, integrity, and candour; nor can he even be admitted to have possessed any great share of that moral worth, which can attach to any man only by supporting consistently that character which he assumes, and by discharging consistently those duties which belong to him in his particular place and station. See Stackhouse's Memoirs of Dr F. Atterbury; and Biograph. Britannica. (g)

ATTICA, a country of Greece, immediately to the east of Peloponnesus, from which it is separated by the Saronic Gulf. That gulf and the Ægean Sea form it into a species of peninsula. By land, it joins with Bootia. The soil is barren, except in olives, for which it has always been famous, and in honey, which it produces copiously and of the best quality, from Mount Hymettus.

The people of Attica were anciently divided into ten tribes, who derived their names from the most distinguished of its heroes. Three were afterwards added, in compliment to Ptolemy, king of Egypt, Attalus, king of Pergamus, and the emperor Adrian. These were subdivided into a hundred and seventyfour communities, the names of which have been searched out by the learned with indefatigable industry. dustry. They are given in Meursius (Attica,) or more correctly in Spon, (Voyage d'Italie,) where they may be found by any one who is desirous of such barren information.

Attica is chiefly distinguished as having for its

Atticus capital ATHENS, in treating of which, we have given a Herodes. full detail of its history. Besides Athens, it contained Eleusis, Sunium, and Marathon. (P)

ATTICUS, TIBERIUS CLAUDIUS HERODES, an opulent and munificent citizen of Athens. He was descended from a noble family of large possessions in the district of Marathon, whose lineage was traced back as far as Miltiades, the great hero of the place. His grandfather, Hipparchus, having been proscribed, and his property confiscated, Julius Atticus, the father of Herodes, found himself in a state of poverty, or rather feigned himself to be so: for when the good Nerva reigned, he discovered an immense treasure in his own house. Filled, it is pretended, with terror, rather than joy at this discovery, he immediately wrote a letter to the emperor in these words: "I have discovered, O emperor, a treasure in my house; what do you order to be done with it?" The answer of Nerva was equally laconic: "Use what you have found." Julius wrote back, that it was "more than he could use." "Abuse it then," replied the emperor; for it is your own." Julius after this resumed the proper rank of his family: and this fortune, together with other possessions, paternal and maternal, which soon accumulated in the person of his son, rendered him the richest individual that Attica ever produced.

Herodes possessed excellent talents, which fitted him to shine in any situation. His attention, however, was principally directed, according to the taste of the age, to the study of rhetoric, in which he made distinguished proficiency under Scopelian, and other masters of repute: and such was the force and propriety of his eloquence, that when yet a youth, he was selected to be the head of a deputation to the emperor Hadrian, who was then at Sirmium in Pannonia. The situation, however, was new. Young Herodes failed in his attempt to deliver a speech, and was 80 mortified at his misfortune, that he had some thoughts of throwing himself into the Danube. But this precipitate resolution was soon succeeded by a more rational remedy. Far from being disgusted by the accident with his favourite pursuit, he, on the contrary, redoubled his perseverance; and attained to such eminence in eloquence and philosophy, that he still lives, in biography, among the orators and wise men of Greece and Rome. His great celebrity attracted the attention of Titus Antoninus, who appointed him to the high and honourable office of preceptor in eloquence to his two sons, M. Aurelius and L. Verus. From this station Herodes ascended to the summit of greatness, and was created consul A. D. 143. He was also constituted president of the Panhellenic and Panathenæan festivals, on which occasion he was crowned.

At a very early period, he obtained the government of the free cities in Asia, where he distinguished himself by many acts of munificence. Having observed that the chief city of Troas was badly supplied with water, he obtained from Hadrian a grant of three millions of sesterces for the construction of an aqueduct; but such was his natural attachment to grand designs, that he laid out seven millions instead of three, in the execution of it. Of this profusion

Hadrian complained to the father of Herodes, who, Atticus on that occasion, is noted by the ancient writers for Herodes one of the most magnificent replies ever made to an emperor. "Hadrian," said the father, "be not discomposed by small matters: whatever he has spent above the three millions my son shall defray out of my fortune."

The death of his father occasioned a considerable quarrel between Herodes and his fellow citizens. Julius had lived more like a prince than a private man among the Athenians. His enormous wealth enabled him to distribute to that abject people the most ample largesses ever heard of. He sacrificed a hundred beeves in one day, and regaled the whole Athenian people by tribes and classes on several occasions. In his last will, he bequeathed to each individual, for life, an annuity of one mina, or about three guineas sterling; a sum which, in those days, was very considerable. This enormous bequest, dictated more by patriotism than sound judgment, was but ill relished by Herodes, who resolved to withhold it. Having for this purpose got the people to an agreement, that, on his paying down five min at once, he should be relieved from all future demands, he collected all the accounts of old debts due by them to his father and himself, and presented these in part of payment. The people loudly exclaimed against this equitable procedure, and said that they were defrauded of the legacy; and when Herodes built the great stadium with this money, which had been intended for the encouragement of idleness and beggary, the people insisted, in derision, that it was called the Panathenaicum, not in honour of the festival, but as having been built by all the Athenians.

This stratagem, though it savours of ingenuity, is by no means to be considered as dictated by selfish considerations. There never was a man who had a more thorough contempt for the mere possession of riches than Herodes. The leading object of this celebrated character was to benefit the public by his princely fortune; and this application of it certainly entitles him to a distinguished rank in the annals of his country. It was a remark of his own, that wealth not applied for the common good, is but dead wealth; and that the chest of the miser is but a prison for riches. Those men who set so high a value on their money as to confine it to their coffers, he compared to the fanatics, who worshipped the god Mars, after having bound him. It was a noble maxim of this rich philosopher, that we ought to give, not only to relieve need, but also to prevent it. Boundless in his liberality to his friends and the necessitous, and influenced in his generosity by no paltry prejudice of language or country, it was his professed desire to accumulate treasure only in the affections of those around him, to promote learning and the arts, and to decorate the mighty empire to which he belonged. While other nobles were surrounded by musicians, players, and buffoons, the retinue of Herodes was composed of men of genius and learning, who found it their interest to court his notice. His public lectures, which he gave for the advantage of the youth, were numerously attended by people from all the neighbouring countries, and were well calculated to

Atticus rouse the Athenians from that lethargy of genius inHerodes. to which they were now fallen. Some orations of his were still extant in the days of Suidas.

The encouragement which Herodes extended to men of literary pretensions exposed him occasionally to the arts of the designing. Aulus Gellius, who Aulus Gellius, who was one of his disciples and companions, relates one instance of this kind, which is much to the credit of his humanity. A man dressed in the style of a philosopher, wearing a cloak and a very long beard, presented himself to Herodes, and demanded some pecuniary assistance. On being asked who he was, the man replied, with indignant surprise, that he was a philosopher. "I see,' "observed Herodes, "the cloak and the beard; but I do not see the philosopher." When informed by one of the company that this was an impudent beggar, who was constantly teazing people for alms; "Well then," said Herodes, "let us give as men, though not as to a

man.

The fame of Herodes chiefly rests now on his ar chitectural works. His stadium, or race-course, on the banks of the Ilissus, which was four years in building, was the noblest work of the kind ever beheld. It was 630 feet long, 120 broad, and was constructed entirely of white marble. Mount Pentelicus was nearly consumed to supply materials for this magnificent pile, which itself, according to Pausa nias, seemed at a distance to be a white mountain. Upon the death of his wife Regilla, to which his enemies had the cruelty to accuse him of being accessory, he was thrown into the deepest sorrow; and to perpetuate her memory, he built a noble theatre at Athens, called after her name. This structure, according to Philostratus, exceeded in magnificence all the theatres in the Roman empire, being roofed with cedar, and adorned with all manner of statuary. Herodes, besides, adorned Corinth with a costly temple, dedicated to Apollo a grand stadium at Delphi, built an aqueduct at Olympia in honour of Jupiter, repair ed the Odeum of Pericles at Athens, erected baths at Thermopyla for the use of the infirm, and, in short, decorated many cities in Italy, Greece, and Asia, with the most splendid and useful edifices. But the greatest of all his designs he unfortunately did not think it safe to execute. This was no less, than by cutting through the Isthmus, to unite the Corinthian and Saronic gulfs, and thus shorten the navigation on these coasts by 800 miles. He was heard to say, that this would be a monument which would discover to posterity the existence of a MAN, and that while it remained unfinished, he had done nothing for his country. The magnitude, however, of the undertaking, to which the power of a Nero had not been adequate, deterred him from proposing it to the emperor, whose jealousy of his wealth and popularity might be productive of fatal consequences.

In his person Herodes was of a gigantic stature, being, it is said, eight feet high, and strong and brawny in proportion. He wore but a small quantity of hair; his nose was aquiline; his eye brows were thick, and joined into one; his eye, which was remarkably lively, was at the same time full of sweetness and complacency. He had a son, who, like the sons of many other great men, was distinguished for

nothing but idleness and vice. When a boy, he was exceedingly dull: and to make him learn, Herodes was obliged to keep in the house a living alphabet, consisting of four-and-twenty boys, each of whom went by the name of a particular letter. The philosopher had too much principle to entrust the whole of his wealth to such a fool.

The celebrity of Herodes Atticus, it is true, ist owing chiefly to the accidental circumstance of being possessed of a great fortune. But if we reflect on the purposes to which he devoted that wealth; the liberality with which he relieved want; the encouragement which he gave to learning by example and munificence; the edifices which he reared in various parts of the empire for the important purposes of public splendour and convenience; he is fully entitled to a station in the temple of immortality. His example is an eternal satire on the conduct of all those men of rank and opulence, who, instead of consecrating a part of their superabundant affluence to the same elegant and useful pursuits, lay it out in the purchase of a few selfish sensations. He died at his family residence in Marathon at the age of 76,and was buried with great pomp at Athens. His funeral oration was pronounced, in a most feeling manner, by the philosopher Adrian, his disciple and friend, who, in recounting the eminent services of the deceased to his country, drew tears from the eyes of all the Athenians. See Philostratus, Sophistarum vitæ, l. ii. c. 1. Suid. Lexic. Aulus Gellius, 1. i. c. 2; 1. ix. c. 2; 1. xix.. c. 12. (E)

ATTICUS, TITUS POMPONIUS CECILIUS, was descended of one of the most ancient families in Rome. He was of the equestrian order; and whether we consider him as an intimate associate of the great, a prudent politician, or a dignified man of letters, he is one of the most honourable men that his country ever produced. He was born during the latter period of the republic: a time when the convulsions of a mighty state, now on the verge of dissolution, necessarily disclosed the real characters of men, and compelled the mind to exert to the utmost all the faculties bestowed upon it by nature. Hence it was that, at this memorable period, there arose such a constellation of geniuses, both in arts and in arms, as the world in all, probability will never again witness.

His father being distinguished for his attention. both to his domestic affairs and to the study of letters; two of the greatest of human advantages, fortune and education, were thus secured to young Atticus. When yet a child, he is said to have discovered undoubted signs of natural talent. He is described as possessing, at that tender age, a most engaging manner, a quick apprehension, and a peculiar gracefulness of cadence and elocution; qualities which, while they commanded the respect of his companions, inspired them not a little with secret jealousy. It will give the reader a higher idea of the excellence of his parts than any description could produce, to be informed, that those youths, who were thus mortified at the superiority of Atticus, were L. Torquatus, the younger Marius, and the great orator Cicero. Such, however, were his gentleness and conciliating manner, that while he excited the juvenile emulation of his companions, he, at the same time, was their chief fa

Atticus Titus.

Having lost his father when young, and the civil commotions now beginning, between the parties of Cinna and Sylla, in which he had already lost an uncle; Atticus resolved when yet a youth, to abandon, for a time, the scene of tumult and danger, and to retire with the greater part of his fortune to Athens, then the asylum of learning and refinement. Here, amid the groves of the Academy, he indulged the elegant propensities of his genius, and made such distinguished progress in his acquaintance with the Greek Language, that he wrote and spoke it with the same propriety as a native. It was from this circumstance, together with his long residence at Athens, that he obtained the surname of Atticus, a designation of which he seems to have been proud, and that by which the children of his friends were taught to speak of him. Cicero ends one of his letters to him thus: Κικέρων ὁ μικρος ασπάζεται Τιτον Αθηναιον : 6 The little ¿ Cicero salutes Titus the Athenian."

The amiable qualities of his heart soon endeared Atticus to the Athenian people. His deportment was such, that while accessible to the humblest, he lost nothing of his dignity, but was on a level with the highest. His prudence was so well known, that his advice was solicited by the magistrates; while his purse was open to all, and the poorest of the people hailed him as their benefactor. He frequently relieved the embarrassments of the state, by advancing large sums of money without interest; thus saving the public from falling into the hands of usurers and extortioners; and on some occasion he distributed among the people large quantities of corn, with a liberality truly magnificent. Having continued for many years at Athens, dividing his time between the duties of his household, the pursuits of literature, the affairs of the city, and the interest of his friends, to many of whom he extended assistance when absent, he at last found the opportunity, which he had long desired, of returning to his native country.

On the return of tranquillity, accordingly, he took his departure from Athens. On this occasion, he received one of the finest compliments ever paid to a private individual; for the whole Athenian people assembled to witness his departure, and testified by their tears the genuine sorrow with which they were moved; and in his absence they did, what he had prevented with much difficulty while present; they erected statues in honour of him and his wife Pilia, in the most sacred parts of the city. This honour, it is probable, was not conferred on him till many years after his departure, since he was turned of 50 before he was married.

Thus loaded with the genuine honours of respect and gratitude, Atticus returned to enjoy the society of his early friends, who were now leading characters in the state. His school-fellow L. Torquatus was that year consul; Hortensius, his intimate friend, made a great figure as a public orator; as did also M. T. Cicero. It was difficult to say which of these two loved him most; and it is mentioned as a singular instance of his delicate management, that though they frequently met in his company, these rival orators never gave vent to that acrimony of speech, which

was natural to two angry competitors for public ap plause. His connection with Cicero was, if possible, rendered still more intimate by the marriage of Q. Cicero, the brother of the orator, with Pomponia the sister of Atticus. Of this match, which was brought about by Cicero, frequent mention is made in the let ters of that orator to Atticus. These, consisting of sixteen books, are still extant; and for sprightliness of wit, accuracy of political information, and expres sions of ardent and genuine friendship, they may be safely opposed to any epistolary collection in exist

ence.

The paternal inheritance of Atticus was ample, though not splendid. though not splendid. But on the death of his uncle Q. Cæcilius, his fortune received a considerable accession. This old man was of a remarkably peevish disposition, insomuch that few could bear his humour; but Atticus so won upon him by his dutiful atten tions, that he adopted him as his son, and left him an inheritance of 10,000,000 sesterces, or near £100,000 sterling. The unsettled state of affairs at home, and his long relegation at Athens, prevented him from marrying till considerably advanced in life. His wife's name was Pilia; but who she was, or what were her connections, no author has mentioned. By this mar. riage he had a daughter Pomponia, who was married to Agrippa the favourite of Augustus: and his grand. daughter again by this marriage was betrothed by command of Augustus, almost as soon as she was born, to Tiberius, who was afterwards emperor. Nothing can be more decisive of the high consideration in which Atticus was held, and of his extensive though secret influence in the state, than this alliance into which he was pressed with the family of the Cæsars.

Atticus

Titus.

In his political life Atticus pursued a line of conduct which would not have been tolerated by the law of Solon; for in all the disturbances which took place at Rome during that eventful period, he so managed matters, that he was seldom implicated on either side. His friendship for Cicero, it is true, induced him to violate this principle of neutrality to a certain extent; and he had no hesitation to declare himself openly against such a character as Catiline. But, in general, such was his attachment to peace and repose, that even in his boyish days, nothing could prevail upon him to enlist under the banners of faction. This firm adherence to professed principle could not well be displeasing to either party; for though he should happen, as he sometimes did, to give private assistance to one, yet this was ascribed by the other to private friendship, and not to his approbation of political conduct. Hence it happened that Atticus was always courted by the two hostile factions at the same time. Thus, while he relieved the wants of the exiled Marius, he was at that very time caressed by Sylla. Though he furnished some of his private friends with money, who were devoted to Pompey's cause, yet Cæsar was so little displeased at this, that he applauded the neutrality of Atticus: and, after his victory at Pharsalia, while that conqueror made large demands on the rich citizens for money, he not only never molested Atticus, but, on his account, pardoned his nephew, who had carried arms against him.

Atticus was always a powerful advocate for mode

Atticus ration and humanity during that sanguinary period; Titus. and to this circumstance, no less than to his strict

neutrality, we are to ascribe his wonderful success in preserving the good opinion of all parties. It was his constant maxim to alleviate, as much as in him lay, by his influence and money, the misfortunes of the sufferers, to whatever cause they were attached. Thus, though his strict intimacy with Cicero rendered him naturally favourable to the interest of Brutus, in opposition to Antony; yet, when Antony's affairs seemed utterly irretrievable, and his friends went over to the other side, Atticus interposed his good offices, and restrained Cicero and his coadjutors not only from committing any violence on the person of Antony, but from persecuting his remaining adherents; whom he liberally supplied with whatever they required, out of his own pocket. Such, however, was the depravity of heart which influenced the proceedings of the triumvirate, that these services were not sufficient to prevent the name of Atticus from being inserted in the list of the proscribed. The fury of Antony raged to such a degree against Cicero, that he had resolved to extirpate from the face of the earth the orator and all his friends without a single exception. But the tyrant was prevailed upon to relent in favour of Atticus, who had retired into concealment he wrote to him a letter with his own hand, inviting him to return, and sent a guard to escort him through the horrors of the night. It is a singular fact, that after Antony and Augustus quarrelled, Atticus continued to be their common friend: he frequently received letters from Antony, detailing his plans and operations in the East; while at the same time he maintained a daily correspondence with Augustus, who consulted him on the most important questions. The refined policy by which he conducted himself in this delicate predicament, almost justifies the eulogium of his panegyrist, when he says, that the history of Atticus has taught the world, "That man is fortunate or unfortunate, according to his own conduct."

The same prudence and forbearance which prevented Atticus from taking any active part in the civil commotions of his time, prevented him also from availing himself of many opportunities of obtaining public offices. The honour and emolument attached to these, he considered as completely counterbalanced by the cares and dangers from which they are inseparable in troublesome times. On more than one occasion, he might have obtained a province: but this he declined as incompatible with that rule of political quiet which he had adopted. To this indolence he was also probably inclined from the maxims of the Epicurean philosophy, to which he professed an attachment. As pleasure, that is, virtuous enjoyment, together with the absence of pain and care, constituted the sole object of his desire, he would be disposed not to interfere in the angry contentions of the world; but rather, like the gods of Epicurus, to observe them in dignified repose, at a distance. It is difficult to determine whether this political neutrality be altogether consistent with the interest which a good man ought to take in the welfare of his country.

But the truth is, that the Roman empire at that time had extended itself over so many kingdoms and provinces, that the proper idea of country was in a

VOL. III. PART I.

Titus.

great measure lost, and the feelings of patriotism, Atticus which are ever most ardent in a small state, could there have scarcely been excited.

In his domestic capacity, Atticus was equally interesting. He was remarkably assiduous in the management of his private affairs, taking charge not only of his own, but of those of Cicero, Marius, Hortensius, Cato, and others. Though his revenue was considerable, his expenses were extremely moderate. He had no magnificent equipage, nor costly villa: in all things he was partial to the simplicity of the ancients, whose manners he had thoroughly studied. His house, which stood on the Quirinal hill, was a plain old edifice; though at the same time abundantly convenient, and suitable to his equestrian rank :· and here every thing was equally remote from meanness and ostentation. Splendid occasionally in his hospitality, and entertaining, as he did, men of the most exalted condition, such as Cicero, Cæsar, Antony, and Augustus; still there was displayed more politeness than magnificence; more neatness than show. It was his peculiar praise, that of all his household, there was none who was not born under his own roof; and every person, to the meanest lacquey, was a proficient in the valuable arts of reading and writing. His feasts were never attended by bands of music, nor accompanied by any sumptuous exhibitions, such as were agreeable to the gross taste of most of his cotemporaries. The only vocal entertainment allowed by him on these occasions was reading, which was performed by persons trained for the purpose; and this rational amusement communicated the most lively pleasure to the guests, who, he took care, were always of the same taste with himself. What must have been the elegance of the remarks, and the interest of the whole amusement, when the company consisted of Atticus, Cicero, Cæsar, the poet Callidius, Sallust, Hortensius, Cornelius Nepos, and similar men of letters !

In conversation, Atticus was so fascinating, that young men preferred his company to that of their own equals: but in his gayest moments, he had such a regard for decorum, that when even in jest, he had an air of dignity and elevation; so that it was uncertain whether he was more beloved or respected by his friends. Enviable talent! which could thus temper the suavity of the companion with the dignity of the instructor; which could insensibly charm the levity of youth into the chastened majesty of philosophy!

In his attachment to his friends, Atticus possessed the utmost steadiness, and, unlike many a pretended patron, when he once made a promise, he considered the whole business as his own till he performed it. His economical style of living enabled him to indulge the generous dispositions of his heart to a much greater extent than most could afford, who even surpassed him in wealth. Money was not his object, but the luxury of bestowing it well; and this he often did in the noblest manner. When Brutus was in the plenitude of his power, Atticus refused to support him; but his fortunes were no sooner broken, than he relieved his private necessity by a princely donation. To Cicero, when stript of his possessions, and driven into exile, his faithful friend sent a sum of money in his distress, amounting to £2000 sterling.

K