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'AEsopo ingentem statuam posuere Attici, Servumque collocarunt AEterna in Basi, Patere honoris scirent ut Cuncti viam. Phaed. The Reception, manner of Attendance, undisturbed Freedom and Quiet, which I meet with here in the Country, has confirm'd me in the Opinion I always had, that the general Corruption of Manners in Servants is owing to the Conduct of Masters.
AEsopo ingentem statuam posuere Attici, Servumque collocarunt oeterna in basi, Patere honoris scirent ut cunctis viam. PHAED. Epilog. 1. 2. The Athenians erected a large statue to AEsop, and placed him, though a slave, on a lasting pedestal; to show, that the way to honour lies open indifferently to all.
The passage in Phaedrus differs thus far from that in "Macbeth," that the first line, simply stating a matter of fact, with no more of sentiment than belongs to the word ingentem, and to the antithesis between the two parties so enormously divided, Aesop the slave and the Athenians, must be read as an appoggiatura, or hurried note of introduction flying forward as if on wings to descend with the fury and weight of a thousand orchestras upon the immortal passion of the second line "Servumque collocarunt ETERNA IN BASI." This passage from Phaedrus, which might be briefly designated The Apotheosis of the Slave, gave to me my first grand and jubilant sense of the moral sublime.
These were the two lines in which that glory of the sublime, so stirring to my childish sense, seemed to burn as in some mighty pharos: "Aesopo statuam ingentem posuere Attici; Servumque collocarunt eterna in basi:" A colossal statue did the Athenians raise to Aesop; and a poor pariah slave they planted upon an everlasting pedestal.
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