He saw that Londoners who did not read were profoundly ignorant; and he inferred that a Greek, who had few or no books, must have been as uninformed as one of Mr Thrale's draymen.
There seems to be, on the contrary, every reason to believe, that, in general intelligence, the Athenian populace far surpassed the lower orders of any community that has ever existed.

It must be considered, that to be a citizen was to be a legislator,--a soldier,--a judge,--one upon whose voice might depend the fate of the wealthiest tributary state, of the most eminent public man.

The lowest offices, both of agriculture and of trade, were, in common, performed by slaves.

The commonwealth supplied its meanest members with the support of life, the opportunity of leisure, and the means of amusement.

Books were indeed few: but they were excellent; and they were accurately known.