The system of Lycurgus was agreeable to his stern and inflexible temper.

His integrity was republican--his loftiness of spirit was patrician.

He had all the purity, the disinterestedness, and the fervour of a patriot--he had none of the suppleness or the passion of a demagogue; on the contrary, he seems to have felt much of that high-spirited disdain of managing a people which is common to great minds conscious that they are serving a people.

His manners were austere, and he rather advised than persuaded men to his purposes.

He pursued no tortuous policy, but marched direct to his object, fronting, and not undermining, the obstacles in his path.