power to reward and to punish. From the guilt of murder to the
negative offence of idleness [207], their control extended--the
consecration of altars to new deities, the penalties affixed to
impiety, were at their decision, and in their charge. Theirs was the
illimitable authority to scrutinize the lives of men--they attended
public meetings and solemn sacrifices, to preserve order by the
majesty of their presence. The custody of the laws and the management
of the public funds, the superintendence of the education of youth,
were committed to their care. Despite their power, they interfered
but little in the management of political affairs, save in cases of
imminent danger. Their duties, grave, tranquil, and solemn, held them
aloof from the stir of temporary agitation. They were the last great
refuge of the state, to which, on common occasions, it was almost
profanity to appeal. Their very demeanour was modelled to harmonize
with the reputation of their virtues and the dignity of their office.
It was forbidden to laugh in their assembly--no archon who had been
seen in a public tavern could be admitted to their order [208], and
for an areopagite to compose a comedy was a matter of special
prohibition [209]. They sat in the open air, in common with all
courts having cognizance of murder. If the business before them was
great and various, they were wont to divide themselves into
committees, to each of which the several causes were assigned by lot,
so that no man knowing the cause he was to adjudge could be assailed
with the imputation of dishonest or partial prepossession. After duly
hearing both parties, they gave their judgment with proverbial gravity
and silence. The institution of the ballot (a subsequent custom)
afforded secrecy to their award--a proceeding necessary amid the
jealousy and power of factions, to preserve their judgment unbiased by
personal fear, and the abolition of which, we shall see hereafter, was
among the causes that crushed for a while the liberties of Athens. A