SOLON, THE LAW-GIVER OF ATHENS. 71

tocrats. But he was too honest and too wise for
this. He set himself earnestly to overcome the
difficulties which lay before him. And he did this
with a radical hand. In truth, the people were in
no mood for any but radical measures.

The enslaved debtors were at once set free. All
contracts in which the person or the land of the
debtor had been given as. security were cancelled.
No future contract under which a citizen could be
enslaved or imprisoned for debt was permitted.
All past claims against the land of Attica were can-
celled, and the mortgage pillars removed. (These
pillars were set up at the boundaries of the land,
and had the lender's name and the amount of the
debt cut into the stone).

But as many of the creditors were themselves in
debt to richer men, and as Solon’s laws left them
poor, he adopted a measure for their relief. This
was to lower the value of the money of the state.
The old silver drachmas were replaced by new
drachmas, of which seventy-three equalled one hun-
dred of the old. Debtors were thus able to pay
their debts at a discount of twenty-seven per cent.,
and the great loss fell on the rich; and justly so, for
most of them had gained their wealth through dis-
honesty and oppression. Lastly, Solon made full
citizens of all from whom political rights had been
taken, except those who had been condemned for
murder or treason.

This was a bold measure. And, like such bold
measures generally, it did injustice to many. But
the evil was temporary, the good permanent. It