The Rhodians Lapse in Dignity
The Rhodians, though in other respects maintaining
note
the dignity of their state, made in my opinion a
slight lapse at this period. They had received two
hundred and eighty thousand medimni of corn
from Eumenes, that its value might be invested
and the interest devoted to pay the fees of the tutors and schoolmasters of their sons. One might accept this from friends in a case
of financial embarrassment, as one might in private life, rather
than allow children to remain uneducated for want of means;
but where means are abundant a man would rather do anything than allow the schoolmaster's fee to be supplied by a
joint contribution from his friends. And in proportion as a
state should hold higher notions than an individual, so ought
governments to be more jealous of their dignity than private
men, and above all a Rhodian government, considering the
wealth of the country and its high pretensions. . . .
