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It is said that the reign of Amasis was the most prosperous time that
Egypt ever saw, - the river was more liberal to the land, and the
land brought forth more abundantly for the service of man than had ever
been known before; while the number of inhabited cities was not less
than twenty thousand. It was this king Amasis who established the law
that every Egyptian should appear once a year before the governor of
his canton, and show his means of living; or, failing to do so, and
to prove that he got an honest livelihood, should be put to death.
Solon the Athenian borrowed this law from the Egyptians, and imposed
it on his countrymen, who have observed it ever since. It is indeed
an excellent custom.
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