Jove Crowns him with eloquence: his hearers charm’d Behold him, while with unassuming tone He bears the prize of fluent speech from all; And when he walks the city, as they pass, All turn and gaze, as they had pass’d a god. COWPER. [152] _The great assembly._] The ancient Grecian princes, as Dionysius of Halicarnassus remarks, were not absolute like the Asiatic monarchs: their power being limited by laws and established customs:” and this is perfectly consonant to the higher authority of Homer. The poet himself appears a warm friend to monarchical rule, and takes every opportunity zealously to inculcate loyalty. “The government of many is bad: let there be one chief, one king.” It is, however, sufficiently evident that the poet means here to speak of executive government only: “Let there be one chief, one king,” he says: but he adds, “to whom Jupiter has intrusted the sceptre and the laws, _that by them he may govern_.” Accordingly in every Grecian government which he has occasion to enlarge upon, he plainly discovers to us strong principles of republican rule. Not only the council of principal men, but the assembly of the people also is familiar to him. The name _agora_ signifying a place of meeting, and the verb formed from it to express haranguing in assemblies of the people, were already in common use; and to be a good public speaker was esteemed among the highest qualifications a man could possess. In the government of Phæacia, as described in the Odyssey, the mixture of monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy is not less clearly marked than in the British constitution. One chief, twelve peers (all honoured, like the chief, with the title which we translate _king_), and the assembly of the people, shared the supreme authority. The universal and undoubted prerogatives of kings were religious supremacy and military command. They often also exercised judicial power. But in all civil concerns their authority appears very limited. Every thing, indeed, that remains concerning government in the oldest Grecian poets and historians, tends to demonstrate that the general spirit of it among the early Greeks was nearly the same as among our Teutonic ancestors. The ordinary business of the community was directed by the chiefs. Concerning extraordinary matters and more essential interests, the multitude claimed a right to be consulted. MITFORD, History of Greece, i. 3. [153] _Harpers and men of song._] Singer was a common name among the Hebrews, Greeks, Romans, and other ancient people, for poet and musician; employments which were then inseparable: as no poetry was written but to be sung; and little or no music composed, but as an accompaniment to poetry. BURNEY, History of Music, 312. [154] _Is there one_ _Who hides some fresh grief._]