to arbitration not as contesting parties, but under terms of compromise; so that there was nothing strange in his choosing Nicomachus for arbitrator; indeed it would have been much more strange if, having agreed upon the case, he had quarrelled about the arbitrator. In the next place, though it was not likely that, if ten thousand drachms were due to him, he would have settled for two minas, yet, if he were making an unjust and vexatious demand, there is nothing wonderful in his choosing to take that sum. Further, if upon a large claim he recovered a very little, it is no proof for him that the award has never been made, but a very strong proof for me that his claim was altogether unfounded. I wonder he thinks himself clever enough to see, that it was unlikely he should accept two hundred drachms for ten thousand, yet does not suppose me able to have discovered, that, if I wished to tell a falsehood, I ought to have said he had given a larger sum. I submit that, as it would have been a proof for the plaintiff, that there had been no award, if he had convicted the persor who swore the affidavit, it should be equally good proof of the truth of my statement, when it appears that he ventured not to take any proceedings against the witness." APPENDIX XI. CLUBS. THE institution of clubs, both for social and for political purposes, has been common in all ages, from the time of the Athenian Erani to the Jacobin clubs of Paris. The most ancient kind were the convivial. It was common among the early Greeks for friends to meet together and have a dinner or supper at their joint expense. This was done either by each bringing his own provisions with him, as they do at our picnics, or by each contributing his share in money and deputing one to cater for the rest. Homer and Hesiod allude to banquets of this sort. There is frequent mention of them by writers who describe the customs of later periods, as Aristophanes, Xenophon, Athenæus, and others. The Athenians, an eminently convivial people, were (1) Ὑμεῖς δὲ ἐνθυμεῖσθε πρῶτον μὲν ὅτι τὴν δίαιταν οὐκ ἀμφισβητοῦντες ἀλλ ̓ ἐπὶ ῥητοῖς ἐπετρέψαμεν, ὥστε οὐδὲν ἄτοπον ἐποίησεν εἰ Νικόμαχον εἵλετο διαιτητήν, ἀλλὰ πολὺ μᾶλλον εἰ περὶ τῶν πραγμάτων ὡμολογηκὼς περὶ τοῦ διαιτητοῦ διεφέρετο. (2) Odyssey, i. 225. Ibid xi. 414. Τίς δαὶς, τίς δὲ ὅμιλος ὅδ ̓ ἔπλετο; τίπτε δέ σε χρεώ; Η γάμῳ ἢ ἐράνῳ ἢ εἰλαπίνῃ τεθαλυίῃ. Hesiod, Opera et Dies, 722. Μηδὲ πολυξείνου δαιτὸς δυσπέμφελος εἶναι Ἐκ κοινοῦ· πλείστη δὲ χάρις δαπάνη τ' ὀλιγίστη. (3) Xenophon, Memorabilia, iii. 14. Οπότε δὲ τῶν ξυνιόντων ἐπὶ δεῖπνον οἱ μὲν μικρὸν ὄψον, οἱ δὲ πολὺ φέροιεν, ἐκέλευεν ὁ Σωκράτης τὸν παῖδα τὸ μικρὸν ἢ εἰς τὸ κοινὸν τιθέναι, ἢ διανέμειν ἑκάστῳ τὸ μέρος. fond of picnics, as they were of feasting in general, and frequently made up parties to dine in the country or at the sea-side, or at the town-house of one of the company, or even at less reputable places. Thus, Antipho says in Terence's play of the Eunuch, Act III. Scene 4. Heri aliquot adolescentuli coiimus in Piræo, In hunc diem ut de symbolis essemus. Chæream ei rei 1 where symbole are the subscriptions to the feast; annuli the rings given as pledges by each of the messmates. The convivial habits of the Athenians led them to form permanent clubs for dining together at stated periods, as once a month, or oftener. Each club had its president, Eranarches, who took the chair (as we should say) at the banquets: also its rules and bye-laws, fixing the places of meeting, the amount of subscription, and other matters. Nothing was more natural than that persons who met frequently at the same table should increase their intimacy, and then combine together for further objects. Clubs, which originally were associations for good cheer and good fellowship, were enlarged into institutions for mutual assistance and relief; bearing a resemblance to our friendly societies, but differing in this, that they did not raise any permanent fund, or regulate their charities upon any fixed plan. There is a good deal of obscurity upon the subject of these Athenian societies. With respect to their objects-it is not to be supposed that every club existed both for feasting and for charity; nor on the other hand can I accede to Meier's view, that the two kinds of clubs were always distinct. It is likely enough that there should be purely convivial clubs but when other objects were proposed, the monthly feast would rarely, I should think, be omitted. Athenians were too like Englishmen for that. The mode of dispensing relief was simple. When a man was reduced to distress by illness or other misfortune, he applied to his club for assistance; and each member was expected to contribute something. The president collected subscriptions for him, and sometimes advanced them in the first instance out of his own pocket, as he might advance the money for a dinner. The relief thus afforded Οἱ οὖν τὸ πολὺ φέροντες ᾐσχύνοντό τε τὸ μὴ κοινωνεῖν τοῦ εἰς τὸ κοινὸν τιθεμένου, καὶ τὸ μὴ ἀντιτιθέναι τὸ ἑαυτῶν· ἐτίθεσαν οὖν καὶ τὸ ἑαυτῶν εἰς τὸ κοινόν. καὶ ἐπεὶ οὐδὲν πλέον εἶχον τῶν μικρὸν φερομένων, ἐπαύοντο πολλοῦ ὀψωνοῦντες. Athenæus, viii. 362, explains the term épavos: τὰς θυσίας καὶ τὰς λαμπροτέρας παρασκευὰς ἐκάλουν οἱ παλαιοὶ εἰλαπίνας, καὶ τοὺς τούτων μετέχοντας εἰλαπιναστάς. ἔρανοι δέ εἰσιν αἱ ἀπὸ τῶν συμβαλλομένων εἰσαγωγαὶ, ἀπὸ τοῦ συνερῶν καὶ συμφέρειν ἕκαστον. καλεῖται δὲ ὁ αὐτὸς καὶ ἔρανος καὶ θίασος, καὶ οἱ συνιόντες ερανισταὶ καὶ συνθιασῶται. A picnic was sometimes called deiπvоv άπò σπvρidos, because the provisions were carried in a basket. Ibid. 365. Compare Aristophanes, Acharnians, 1138. τὸ δεῖπνον ὦ παῖ δῆσον ἐκ τῆς κιστίδος. See Becker's Charicles, Excursus I. to scene vi: τοῖς χουσὶ γάρ τις ξυμβολὰς ἐπράττετο; was, as Meier says, neither a gift nor a loan, but something between the two. Whether it was a debt recoverable at law, as Meier thinks, when the relieved party was in better circumstances, is doubtful.1 It was at all events a debt of honour; and it was considered highly disgraceful for any man, who had accepted the bounty of his friends, not to repay them when he had the means. Club debts in general were among the first which an Athenian thought it incumbent on him to discharge. Even Leocrates, who deserted his country, sent a commission from Megara to his brother, desiring him to pay his club debts at Athens. 2 There were public laws applicable to the clubs, and courts of speedy justice enforcing their rules and deciding disputes which arose under them. The president would be able to recover all sums which he had either an express or implied authority to advance; or he might be called to account for any misapplication of the common funds; or the members might sue one another for contribution. It is very likely that a more equitable kind of law was administered upon such trials. They were conducted by the Thesmothetæ.3 The formation of societies was common in the Greek republics. There were commercial, religious, and political societies. That there should be political associations in cities where the spirit of party ran high, was a thing to be expected. Many, which had a different object at first, were diverted to political ends. Pisander and Phrynichus at Athens engaged the clubs to assist them in their project of overthrowing the democracy.5 Lysander, to forward his own ambitious views, established clubs in Asia Minor. Thucydides, in commenting upon the violence of the Greek factions, expressly declares, that men felt a stronger attachment to their political associates than to their country. A bond of union thus formed became stronger often than the ties of moral obligation, and led to mischievous consequences. The caballing in courts of justice, to which so much allusion is made by the orators, may be traced to the like source. A word, which (according to its natural import) might signify the whole preparation for conducting a cause, was understood often in a more limited sense (1) The words of Isæus, De Hagn. Hered. 88, ἐξ ἐράνων ὀφλήματα εἰσπεπραγμένα, do not inform us as to the nature of the debts in question. (2) Ερανικοὶ νόμοι ερανικαὶ δίκαι. Plato disapproved of these, and would not allow them in his republic. (3) Meier and Schömann, Att. Proc. 540. (4) The religious associations were called Oiaro. See Böckh's Public Economy of Athens, transl. i. 328. 'Eraipia was a general name for all associations. The political ones have a more invidious name given them by Thucydides; see the following note. (5) Thucydides, viii. 54. Καὶ ὁ μὲν Πείσανδρος τάς τε ξυνωμοσίας, αἵπερ ἐτύγχανον πρότερον ἐν τῇ πόλει οἶσαι ἐπὶ δίκαις καὶ ἀρχαῖς, ἁπάσας ἐπελθὼν, καὶ παρακελευσάμενος όπως ξυστραφέντες καὶ κοινῇ βουλευσάμενοι καταλύσουσι τὸν δῆμον, καὶ τἄλλα παρασκευάσας ἐπὶ τοῖς παροῦσιν ὥστε μηκέτι διαμέλλεσθαι, αὐτὸς μετὰ τῶν δέκα ἀνδρῶν τον πλοῦν ὡς τὸν Τισσαφέρνην ποιεῖται. (6) Thucydides, iii. 82. Καὶ μὴν καὶ τὸ ξυγγενὲς τοῦ ἑταιρικοῦ ἀλλοτριώτερον ἐγένετο διὰ τὸ ἑτοιμότερον εἶναι ἀπροφασίστως τολμᾷν· οὐ γὰρ μετὰ τῶν κειμένων νόμων ὠφελείας αἱ τοιαῦται ξύνοδοι, ἀλλὰ παρὰ τοὺς καθεστῶτας πλεονεξία. to signify a troop of friends, who by their appearance in court, as well as by open intercession or pleading, endeavoured to influence the jury.1 Thirlwall in his History of Greece (IV. 36) gives a good description of the party feeling which these political associations engendered :"In most of the Greek states the ambition of individuals, or the conflict of parties, had given rise to a number of private associations, for purposes either wholly or mainly political, some attached to a single leader, others united by the common interests of the members. These clubs were of long standing at Athens. Cimon had formed one, which rallied round him as its centre, attracted not more perhaps by his fortune and abilities than by his principles, shared the reproach which he had incurred by his partiality for Sparta, and proved its devotedness to his person at the battle of Tanagra. It seems to have been by means of a similar union that Thucydides, the rival of Pericles, endeavoured to collect and guide the strength of the aristocratical party. It was so perhaps that Nicias and Alcibiades had been able to defeat the attempt of Hyperbolus. It was on his command over such associations that Alcibiades relied for the accomplishment of his ambitious designs. But there appear to have been many political clubs at Athens, which did not acknowledge any chief, but merely aimed at certain objects in which all the members were equally concerned. The defective administration of justice exposed unprotected individuals to vexation and wrong, but enabled a number who combined their fortunes and credit the more easily to shield each other, or to strike a common enemy. Another end, for which such coalitions were formed, was to control the elections for offices of trust and power, either with a view to self-defence, or to the extension of their influence. In every case both the object and the means, if not positively illegal, were such as the law did not recognise; the mutual attachment of the associates was stronger than the ties by which they were bound to the state, and even than those of blood; and the law of honour which generally prevailed among them required that they should shrink from no sacrifice and from no crime, which the common interest might demand. These associations therefore were hotbeds of seditious and revolutionary projects; and Phrynichus found it easy to engage them on his side; and, before he left Athens, he had organized an extensive conspiracy among them for the immediate subversion of the democratical government." In the days of the Roman empire we read of institutions formed for benevolent purposes, although the government kept a watchful eye upon them, for fear of their leading to political combination, and did not allow the members to meet more than once a month. Trajan, in answer to a letter from Pliny, consulting him about such an institution in a city of Cappadocia, says: 2 Amisenos, quorum libellum epistolæ tuæ subjunxeras, si legibus istorum, quibus de officio fœderis (2) Pliny, Epist. x. 93. (1) Παρασκευή. 2 66 utuntur, concessum est eranos habere, possumus quo minus habeant non impedire ; eo facilius si tali collatione non ad turbas et illicitos cœtus, sed ad sustinendam tenuiorum inopiam utuntur. In ceteris civitatibus, quæ nostro jure obstrictæ sunt, res hujusmodi prohibenda est." When the Christian communities were accused of factious intentions, because they met together and subscribed to a common chest, Tertullian answered, that the subscriptions were of small amount, and not for feasting, but for charity; "deposita pietatis, egenis alendis humandisque, et pueris ac puellis, re ac parentibus destitutis, jamque domesticis senibus." The gilds or guilds of the Anglo-Saxons were associations for mutual contribution, to meet various exigencies arising from burials, legal exactions, mulcts, fines, and other payments. In mercantile towns and seaports there were gilds for carrying on commercial enterprise. They met in their gihalla, or guildhall. That of the burghers of Dover is mentioned in Domesday Book. The word is derived from gildan, to pay. To enumerate the various clubs or societies which are established in this country for purposes of all kinds-for politics and for amusement, for feasting and for charity, for debating, gambling, building, money-lending, &c.-would be a difficult matter. Those which most nearly resemble the best sort of Athenian erani are, as I have said, our Friendly Societies, which are established for provident and benevolent purposes, chiefly for the benefit of the lower classes of people. A fund is commonly raised by voluntary subscriptions, out of which the members, their wives or children, relations or nominees, may be maintained or relieved in old age, sickness, widowhood, or orphanage, or upon any other contingency, the occurrence of which is susceptible of calculation by way of average. Sometimes sums of money are insured to be paid on the birth of a child or the death of a member, or for funeral expenses; or provision is made for granting pensions or emoluments at certain ages. Again, there are building societies for enabling every member to become the owner of a freehold dwelling house after a certain number of years. All these associations have been sanctioned by the legislature, which has made various enactments for their good government and for the security of the members; so that their funds may be safely invested, their accounts duly audited, and their officers subject to proper checks. Before any such society can be legally established, its proposed rules have to be sent up to the general registry office in London and examined by the registrar: if he approves of them, he gives a certificate, and thereupon they become the guiding rules of the society, and binding upon all parties concerned. One of the rules commonly is, that disputes among the members may be settled by arbitration. And now by the statute which consolidates the whole law upon the subject, the 18th and 19th Victoria, chapter 63, not only the magistrates, but the judges of the county courts, upon complaints preferred by members of Friendly Societies, are empowered to give equitable relief. |