however ludicrous the idea may seem, if noble men and noble women could be induced to open a shop, and to trade upon incorruptible principles, then the aspect of things would change, and retail traders would be regarded as nursing fathers and mothers.  In our own day the trader goes and settles in distant places, and receives the weary traveller hospitably at first, but in the end treats him as an enemy and a captive, whom he only liberates for an enormous ransom.  This is what has brought retail trade into disrepute, and against this the legislator ought to provide.  Men have said of old, that to fight against two opponents is hard; and the two opponents of whom I am thinking are wealth and poverty—­the one corrupting men by luxury; the other, through misery, depriving them of the sense of shame.  What remedies can a city find for this disease?  First, to have as few retail traders as possible; secondly, to give retail trade over to a class whose corruption will not injure the state; and thirdly, to restrain the insolence and meanness of the retailers.

Let us make the following laws:—­(1) In the city of the Magnetes none of the 5040 citizens shall be a retailer or merchant, or do any service to any private persons who do not equally serve him, except to his father and mother and their fathers and mothers, and generally to his elders who are freemen, and whom he serves as a freeman.  He who follows an illiberal pursuit may be cited for dishonouring his family, and kept in bonds for a year; and if he offend again, he shall be bound for two years; and for every offence his punishment shall be doubled:  (2) Every retailer shall be a metic or a foreigner:  (3) The guardians of the law shall have a special care of this part of the community, whose calling exposes them to peculiar temptations.  They shall consult with persons of experience, and find out what prices will yield the traders a moderate profit, and fix them.

When a man does not fulfil his contract, he being under no legal or other impediment, the case shall be brought before the court of the tribes, if not previously settled by arbitration.  The class of artisans is consecrated to Hephaestus and Athene; the makers of weapons to Ares and Athene:  all of whom, remembering that the Gods are their ancestors, should be ashamed to deceive in the practice of their craft.  If any man is lazy in the fulfilment of his work, and fancies, foolish fellow, that his patron God will not deal hardly with him, he will be punished by the God; and let the law follow:—­He who fails in his undertaking shall pay the value, and do the work gratis in a specified time.  The contractor, like the seller, is enjoined by law to charge the simple value of his work; in a free city, art should be a true thing, and the artist must not practise on the ignorance of others.  On the other hand, he who has ordered any work and does not pay the workman according to agreement, dishonours Zeus and Athene, and breaks the bonds of society.