Plato in Italy

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these others: excellent laws are always given by those who are determined to execute them even upon their own person; very bad, on the contrary, by those who, imposing them on others, wish to remain exempt from them themselves . . . I stood for more than half an hour motionless, now turning my eyes to the statue, now to the inscription . . . Woe to him who is not convinced of its truth!

In the laws of Charondas there are many parts worthy of observation — He changed the ancient orders regarding the guardianship of orphans. Before him, both the persons and the assets of these were committed to the faith of the father’s relatives; and such orders were common to all of Italy (1). Charondas arranged that the assets remain in the care of the father’s relatives, who in case of death were the only heirs, but he gave the guardianship of the person to the mother's relatives: thus he made the former more diligent because they had much to hope for from their diligence, and the latter more faithful because they could no longer hope for anything from their crime.

Before Charondas, those who in battle abandoned their ranks, and others who refused to take up arms for the fatherland, were punished with death. He condemned them to live, but

(1) Such was Roman guardianship. Heinec. Antiq. Rom. L. I.