Such were
generally the immediate impressions, though not
always permanent and effectual.
generally the immediate impressions, though not
always permanent and effectual.
Demosthenes - Leland - Orations
org/access_use#pd-google
? 202 ORATIONS OF DEMOSTHENES.
might be expected. The power of Macedon, indeed, ,
as an ally, may have some effect; but, if left to itself,
is insufficient; and when compared with his pompous
enterprises, quite contemptible. And then his wars,
his expeditions, and those exploits which have given
him this splendour are the very means of rendering
it yet weaker: for you are not to imagine, Athenians,
that Philip and his subjects have the same desires.
He is possessed with the love of glory; they wish
only for security. The object of his passion must
be attended with danger; and they but ill endure a 1
banishment from their children, parents, wives; a
life worn out with toils, and exposed to continual
perils in his cause.
Hence we may learn how his subjects in general
are affected to their prince. But then his guards
and officers of his foreign troops: these you will find
have some military reputation: yet they live in
greater terrors than the obscure and mean. These
are exposed only to their avowed enemies; the
others have more to fear from calumny and flattery
than in the field. The one, when engaged in battle,
but share the common danger: the others, besides
their part, and this not the least of that danger, have
also their private apprehensions from the temper of
their prince. Among the many, when one hath
transgressed, his punishment is proportioned to his
crime : the others, when they have most eminently
distinguished themselves, are then, in open defiance
of all decency, treated with the greatest insolence
and disdain.
That these are mcontestable truths no reasonable
man can doubt: for they who have lived with him
assure us, that his ambition is so insatiable that he
will have the glory of every exploit ascribed wholly
to himself: and is much more incensed against such
commanders as have performed any thing worthy
of honour, than against those whose misconduct hath
ruined his enterprises. But, if this be the case, how
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? ORATION ON THE LETTER. 203
is it that they have persevered so long in their attach-
ment to his cause 1 It is for this reason, Athenians,
because success throws a shade on all his odious
qualities (for nothing veils men's faults from ob-
servation so effectually as success): but let any acci-
dent happen, and they will all be perfectly discovered.
Just as in our bodies; while we are in health our
inward defects lie concealed; but when we are
attacked by a disorder, then they are all sensible, in
the vessels, in the joints, or wherever we are affected:
so in kingdoms and governments of every kind,
while their arms are victorious, their disorders escape
the common observation; but a reverse of fortune
(and-this he must experience, as he hath taken up a
burden much beyond his strength) never fails to lay
them open to every eye.
If there be a man among you, Athenians, who re-
gards Philip as a powerful and formidable enemy on
account of his good fortune, such cautious foresight
bespeaks a truly prudent mind. Fortune, indeed,
does greatly influence, or rather has the entire direc-
tion, of all human affairs; but there are many rea-
sons to expect much more from the fortune of
Athens than that of Philip. We can boast of an
authority in Greece, derived from our ancestors, not
only before his days, but before any one prince of
Macedon. They all were tributaries of Athens:
Athens never paid that mark of subjection to any
people. In the next place, the more inviolably we
have adhered to piety and justice, the greater may be
our confidence in the favour of the gods. But, if
this be the case, how is it that in the late war hia
arms had such superior fortune ? This is the cause
(for I will speak with undaunted freedom); he takes
the field himself; endures its toils, and shares its
dangers; no favourable incident escapes him; no
season of the year retards him. While we (for the
truth must not be concealed) are confined within our
walls in perfect inactivity, delaying, and voting, and
Vol. I. --Q
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? 204 ORATIONS OF DEMOSTHENES.
wandering through the public places in search ot
news. Can any thing better deserve the name of
new, than that one sprung from Macedon should
insult Athens, and dare to send such letters as you
have just heard recited? that he should have his
armies and his orators in pay? (yes, 1 call Heaven
to witness, there are those among us who do not
blush to live for Philip, who have not sense to per-
ceive that they are selling all the interests of the
state, all their own real interests, for a trifling pit-
tance ! )--while we never once think of preparing to
oppose him; are quite averse to hiring troops, and
want resolution to take up arms ourselves. No
wonder, therefore, that he had some advantage over
us in the late war: on the contrary, it is really sur-
prising that we, who are quite regardless of all that
concerns our cause, should expect to conquer him
who leaves no means omitted that may assure his
success.
Let these things be duly weighed, Athenians, and
deeply impressed on your minds. Consider that it
is not at your option whether to profess peace or
no ; for he hath now made a declaration of war, and
hostilities are commenced. Spare no expense, pub-
lic or private: let a general ardour appear for taking
arms: appoint abler commanders than you have
hitherto chosen; for it must not be imagined that
the men who, from a state of prosperity, have re-
duced us to these difficulties, will again extricate us,
and restore us to our former splendour: nor is it to
be expected that, if you continue thus supine, your
cause will find other assertors. Think how infa-
mous it is that you, whose ancestors were exposed
to such incessant toils and so great dangers, in the
war with Lacedaemon, should refuse to engage with
resolution in defence of that rightful power which
they transmitted to us! How shameful that this
Macedonian should have a soul so daring, that, to
enlarge his empire, his whole body is covered with
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? ORATION ON THE LETTER.
205
wounds; and that the Athenians, they whose heredi-
tary character it is to yield to none, but to give law
to all their adversaries, are now supine and enervated,
insensible to the glory of their fathers, and regard-
less of the interests of their country!
That I may not detain you, my sentence is this:
that we should instantly prepare for war, and call on
the other states of Greece to join in the common
cause, not by words, but by actions; for words, if
not attended with actions, are of no force. Our pro-
fessions particularly have alwayshad theless weight,
as we are confessedly superior to the rest of Greece,
in prompt address and excellence of speaking.
Dem. Vol. I. --S
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? CONCLUSION.
Havinq thus far traced the progress of Philip's attempts on Greece,
It may be no improper conclusion to continue the account down to his
final triumph over the liberty of that country.
We have seen the Athenians at last exerting themselves in a manner
worthy of that renowned people: and Philip, now returning from bis
Scythian expedition, in which he had engaged when foiled in his
attempts on Perinthus and Byzantium, found himself considerably
distressed and harassed by the hostilities of Athens. To extricate
himself from these difficulties he formed a bold and subtle project of
entering Greece; and so laid his scheme as to make the Athenians
themselves the instruments of his designs. i
By his intrigues he procured jEschines to be sent as their deputy to
the council of amphictyons. This was in reality of the highest conse-
quence : for no sooner had the deputy taken his seat but a question
was moved, whether the Locrians of Amphissa had not been guilty of
sacrilege in ploughing the fields of Cirrha, contiguous to the temple of
Delphos I Sentiments were divided. iEschines proposed a view: this
was decreed ; and, when the amphictyons came to take it, the Locrians,
1ealous of their property, and no doubt inflamed by those who were in
the secret of the whole design, fell on those venerable persons, and
obliged them to consult their safety by flight. Such an outrage was
judged to demand the severest punishment; and it was decreed that all
Greece should join in inflicting it. But when the army came to the
place of rendezvous, their appearance gave no great prospect of success.
His agents and partisans then rose, and by their artful representations,
prevailed on the amphictyons to declare Philip general of the Grecian
forces, and to invite him to execute their decrees. As the event was
expected, his army was ready. He marched into Greece; but, instead
of attacking the Locrians, he immediately seized Elatsea, a city of
Phocis, of the utmost moment, as it awed Bceotia, and opened bun s
passage into Attica.
This step struck Greece with astonishment. Athens particularly
received the news with inexpressible confusion. The people ran dis-
mayed to an assembly, and called on their usual counsellors to give
their opinion in this critical juncture. Demosthenes rose, and his elo-
quence was exerted to animate their drooping courage; by his advice,
ambassadors were sent through Greece, and particularly to Thebes, to
engage the states to rise at once to oppose the Macedonian torrent
before it bore down ail. Demosthenes himself headed the embassy to
the Thebans. He found a powerful antagonist in Python, Philip's
agent: yet, in spite of bis remonstrances, he so fired that people, that
they at once forgot all the favours Philip had conferred on them, and
Joined against him with the most,cordial zeal. The confederates met at
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? CONCLUSION.
207
Eteusis. The Pythian priestess uttered the most terrible predictions,
and threatened them wilh the severest mte: but Demosthenes took
care to prevent the effect of this, by treating her oracles with contempt;
which he declared were dictated by Philip, and calculated to serve his
interests.
This prince now saw all his arts defeated ; and therefore resolved on
an engagement, as his last resource. He advanced to Chseronea, in
the neighbourhood of which city the confederates were encamped, under
the command of Chares and Lysicles, tv o Athenian generals, by no
means worthy of commanding so illustrious an army. The next day
by sunrise both armies were in the field. Alexander, then but nine-
teen years old, surrounded by a number of experienced officers, com-
manded the left wing of the Macedonians. He began the onset, and
was bravely opposed by the Sacred Band of the Thebans. On the
right Philip himself commanded, where the Athenians made their at-
tack with such vigour as obliged his soldiers to give ground. The
advantage was pursued with the most imprudent and intemperate heat;
but while the Athenians were rushing on without any order, Philip
bore down on them with his phalanx, and obtained an easy, though a
bloody victory. At the same time, and with a like effusion of blood,
Alexander triumphed over the Thebans.
Thus were the confederates totally overthrown, and the liberty of
fireece lost for ever.
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? ORATIONS OF DEMOSTHENES
ON
OCCASIONS OF PUBLIC DELIBERATION.
TO WHICH IS ADDED,
THE ORATION OF DINARCHUS AGAINST
DEMOSTHENES.
89
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? PREFACE.
Thk Public Orations of Demosthenes here pre-
sented to the reader are not indeed of the same
interesting nature with those which precede them,
but such as have been always deemed well worthy
the regards of the learned: and if we may ever
hope to gain an attention to the remains of this elo-
quent statesman, we must look for it in Britain,
where a love of liberty possesses its inhabitants,
and a freedom of debate, the natural consequence,
of a freedom of constitution, is held sacred and
inviolable; where opposite opinions, accidental
abuses and corruptions, various plans of policy,
contentions for power, and many other causes, con-
spire to animate its counsellors, and call forth their
abilities ; where a profusion of glittering ornament,
gay nights of fancy, and figurative eloquence do
by no means form the character of national elo-
quence : but simplicity and severity of reasoning,
force, and energy eminently distinguish the speakers
of every kind from those of the neighbouring na-
tions : and where, above all, a warm benevolence
of heart, confessedly the glory of its citizens, may
at some times engage their attention to the interests
and concerns of a people who experienced the
vicissitudes of integrity and corruption, happiness
and misfortune ; who were disgraced or renowned,
just as their councils were weak or well directed.
Vol. L--R
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? 212
PREFACE.
The history of the wars, negotiations, govern-
ment, and policy, of the conquests and defeats, of
the progress and declension of all ancient states,
is universally allowed to be a study highly delightful
and interesting to the ingenuous mind. The ha-
rangues and counsels of their statesmen are no
inconsiderable part of this history. Nor can it be
deemed a useless or unaffecting occupation to
inquire what were the arguments used in a free
assembly, on any occasions where the public inter-
ests were concerned; what were the topics urged
to awaken the indolence, or to check the violence
of the people--to elevate their hopes, or to alarm
their apprehensions--to correct their prejudices, and
to reform their abuses ;--what schemes of policy
were proposed, what measures suggested--what
artifices were used, what arguments urged by con-
tending parties to establish their power and interest--
what motives were proposed to engage the com-
munity in war, or to inspire the people with pacific
dispositions, to prompt them to form or to dissolve
alliances--to extend their views to the interests and
concerns of foreigners, or to confine their regards
to their own security. These, I say, and such
like, are by no means unworthy of attention; and
these we find in a translation of an ancient orator,
executed with any tolerable care and fidelity, how-
ever it may be discovered by the learned reader
inferior to the illustrious original, in dignity of ex-
pression, and excellence of style and composition.
Or, if we consider the remains of an ancient
orator, in a critical view, merely as the productions
of ait. and genius, it can be no unworthy curiosity
to endeavour at gaining a just, though faint idea of
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? PREFACE.
that excellence which, we are told, had such won-
derful effects. The appearance of a great public
speaker, and the power of his eloquence, are so
feelingly described by Cicero, that we may be cer-
tain the piece was copied for himself, and from what
he accounted his greatest glory. " Give me the
orator," says he, " who can produce the follow-
ing effects: when it is once known that he is to
speak, let there be the utmost impatience to secure
places in the court, which must be instantly
crowded : let all be hurry and eagerness ; the clerks
and officers must fly up and down with an obliging
solicitude to provide seats and accommodations for
the assembly. The auditors must press forward in
a crowded circle. Let the judge be roused to the
utmost attention. When the speaker rises the
audience must command silence; all must be
hushed, till some marks of approbation are extorted,
and expressions of wonder break out at frequent
intervals. If he would inspire them with mirth, the
smile must be universal--if with sorrow, their tears
must instantly flow. So that a person at a distance,
though he does not know directly what piece is
acting, must yet be witness of the powerful impres-
sion, and assured that some great and favourite
actor is on the stage. He that has such power we
may pronounce the truly complete speaker: as we
have heard of Pericles, as of Hyperides, as of
^Eschines; but chiefly of Demosthenes himself. "1
1 Volo hoe orator! con tin gat, nt cum auditum sit eum esse dicturum,
locus in subsellits occupetur, compleatur tribunal; gratiosi scriba e sint
in (Undo et cedendo loco, corona multiplex, judex erectus; cum surgit is
qui dicturus sit, significetur a corona silentium, deinde crebree assenta-
tiones, mulla e admirationes; risus, cum velit; cum velit, Actus; ut qui
bac procul videat, etiamsi quid agatur rvsseiat, placere tamen, et in scena
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? 214
PREFACE.
And if Demosthenes appeared with so great
splendour in his judicial pleadings, his speeches
in public deliberations seem to have been
attended with circumstances still more honourable,
and with proofs of his abilities still more forcible.
He generally acted in scenes of turbulence and
public confusion. The speakers of the opposite
party had first laboured to prepossess the people
against the sentiments he was to deliver; to this
their own corrupted inclinations conspired, and
vengeance was denounced against all that should
dare to control them. In the midst of clamour
and commotion the orator rises: his adversaries
dread him, and endeavour to drown his remon-
strances in tumult. By degrees he gains a patient
audience. Opposition is checked, dismayed, and
silenced. His countrymen hang on him as on some
oracle, that denounces destruction on their vices
and misconduct, and points out the only way to se-
curity. They feel their own weakness and unwor-
thiness; they acknowledge the justice of his se-
verity ; they resign themselves to his direction, and
rush enthusiastically forward to the dangerous field
of glory which he points out to them.
Such were
generally the immediate impressions, though not
always permanent and effectual.
At other times he appeared when a universal
terror and dismay had seized the assembly. When
the enemy seemed to be at their gates, when de-
struction appeared inevitable, and despair had buried
the faculties of those speakers in a mournful silence
esse Roscium intelligat. Haec cui continuant, eum scito AM lee deem'
at de Pericle audivimus, nt de Hypcride, ut de iEschme, de lpeoquiden
Dcmosthene maxime. --Cic. irkSrul.
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? PREFACE.
215
who, in times of less danger, were ever forward to
take the lead;--then did their country (as Demos-
thenes himself describes the solemn scene) call on
her sons to aid and support her by their counsels in
this affecting hour of distress. But, in a case of
extreme difficulty, who can dare to propose any
measures whose event must be precarious, where
ill success may be imputed to the first adviser, and
be severely avenged as his crime ? --Neither the
dangerous situation of affairs, nor the well-known
injustice and capriciousness of his countrymen,
could deter Demosthenes. He is known, on such
occasions, to have risen in the assembly, and by
his appearance only to have inspired his country
men with some confused expectation of relief. He
has awakened them from their despair, and gradually
calmed their apprehensions; he has dispelled the
mist of terror, and diffused bright hopes and cheerful
expectations through the assembly. Confidence
and resolution, magnanimity and courage, indigna-
tion and martial rage, vigorous efforts and generous
contempt of danger, have fully confessed the irre-
sistible force and energy of the speaker.
Such effects were a full reward for the patient
assiduity with which Demosthenes laboured to
qualify himself for a public speaker and leader;
not by weighing words, culling rhetorical flowers,
and arranging periods; but by collecting a large
treasure of political knowledge, with which his
most early performances appear to be enriched: by
learning and habituating himself to strict and solid
reasoning; by studying the human heart, and the
means of affecting it; by acquiring from constant
practice a promptness which no difficulties could
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? 218
PREFACE.
embarrass, an acuteness which no opposition, how-
ever subtle and unexpected, could disconcert; and
a copiousness inexhaustible--prepared for all emer-
gencies? ever flowing, and ever abundantly supplied
from its rich and bountiful source.
" Eloquence," says an admired writer,1" must flow
like a stream that is fed by an abundant spring, and
not spout forth a little frothy stream on some gaudy
day, and remain dry for the rest of the year. "
Such was the eloquence of all those illustrious
ancients that history has celebrated ; and such, in
every free state, must be the eloquence which can
really bring advantage to the public or honour to
the possessor. The voice may be tuned to the
most musical perfection; the action maybe modelled
to the utmost grace and propriety; expressions
may be chosen of energy, delicacy, and majesty;
the period may be taught to flow with all the ease
and elegance of harmonious modulation : yet these
are but inferior parts of genuine eloquence ; by no
means the first and principal, much less the sole
objects of regard. The weapon of the orator
should be bright and glittering indeed; but this
should arise from the keenness of its edge: it
should be managed with grace, but with such a
grace as is an indication of consummate skill and
strength,
We are told of a Grecian general who, when he
travelled and viewed the country round him, re-
volved in his mind how an army might be there
drawn up to the greatest advantage; how he could
best defend himself, if attacked from such a quar-
ter ; how advance with greatest security; how
>> Lord Bolingbroke," Spirit of Patriotism. "
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? PREFACE.
retreat with least danger. Something similar to this
should be the practice and study of a public
speaker: and thus was Demosthenes for the most
part employed in his days of retirement and severe
application. It is indeed insinuated by his enemy'
that he was more solicitous about rounding a period
than preserving his country. But this is an object
fitted rather to the minute regards of such a speaker
as the noble author quoted above describes with
so just a contempt, whose whole abilities consist
in providing a slender fund for some particular oc-
casion, when perhaps a weak or wicked cause is
to be graced and ornamented; who lays on his
thin covering with the utmost care and most scru-
pulous nicety; which dazzles for a moment, till the
first blast of true forcible eloquence puffs away the
flimsy produce of his labours, and leaves all beneath
in its native condition of deformity and shame.
But to return from this digression. Ancient elo-
quence in general, and that of Demosthenes in par-
ticular, we are told, had wonderful effects. The
impression was strong and violent; the conse-
quences, sometimes, of the utmost moment. But
by reading the orator in a modern language, how
fully and justly soever it might be possible to ex-
press the genius and general spirit of the original,
or by consulting the original itself, are we always
affected with the like impressions ? or, can we
always trace the artifice, or feel the force which
produced effects so magnificently described ? By
no means. And this is partly to be imputed to the
fault of the reader, partly to a difference of circum-
stances.
? jEscMno in Ctesiph.
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? 218
PREFACE.
He who applies himself to the study of Demos-
thenes after a long intercourse with writers of a
different character; who hath been accustomed to
pointed periods, phrases of affected delicacy, fan-
ciful allusions, figures and images calculated to
dazzle and delight the eye rather than to illuminate
and cast the full glory of evidence round simple
truth; he, I say, must throw by the author in dis-
gust, or labour through him in a cold and lifeless
progress, which must serve but to fatigue and dis-
appoint him. He whose taste is ever so justly
formed to relish simplicity and true manly grace,
must yet read the orator to great disadvantage if
entirely a stranger to the spirit of free uncontrolled
debate. Liberty (if we may so speak) hath its
own ideas and its own language, whose force can-
not always be felt, or even its meaning rightly
and thoroughly conceived by strangers.
Tourreil, the French interpreter of Demosthenes,
and Iiucchesini, the Italian commentator, seem to
have been instances of what is here advanced. The
first appears to have had no just taste for the sim-
plicity of modest Attic elegance. He dressed out
his author in all that finery to which he annexed
the notions of grace and beauty, and presented him
to his countrymen turgid and inflated, encumbered
and disgraced by adventitious ornaments. ' The
latter lived and wrote in a country where the voice
of liberty is but seldom and faintly heard; where
political transactions are of a confined nature, and
not generally discussed in bold and spirited de-
bate ; where parties are seldom formed, public dis-
sensions seldom raised ; no grand interests boldly
asserted; no political measures freely censured-
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? PREFACE. 219
And the effect seems to have been this; the com-
mentator appears shocked at the free, lively, and
animated excursions of Demosthenes: he endea-
vours to reduce him within more sober bounds, and
is sometimes perhaps misled by trying his expres-
sions by the rules of cold precision. Passages
might be produced to warrant these observations ;
but I shall content myself with just hinting at one,
of which notice has been taken in the oration on
the Classes, and which seems to prove what may
be deemed the boldest assertion, that Demosthenes
cannot be always even understood but in a country
of liberty. " I am sensible," says the orator, " that
the Persian is the common enemy of the Greeks. "
To the Italian this assertion was strange and un-
accountable, at a time when the two nations were
at peace, and when treaties actually subsisted be-
tween them. History was ransacked and tortured
for some plausible pretence or grounds for this ex-
traordinary declaration. But in Britain such pains
were needless : there, no idea is more familiar than
that of a natural and hereditary enemy.
The reader's taste, however, may be strictly
just; he may be well acquainted with the senti-
ments and language of liberty; he may be duly
instructed in the history of an ancient people; he
may suffer their affairs and interests to make a
lively and forcible impression on his mind: yet
still, though well prepared for the perusal of an
orator, he cannot always perceive his whole force
and artifice; as, at this distance of time, facts may
appear trivial and arguments inconclusive, which
fired every imagination, and silenced all opposition
in the assembly to which they were originally
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? 220
PREFACE.
addressed. We know, in general, the genius, char
acter, and temper of a people whom the orator
may have endeavoured to affect: we can, there-
fore, in general, conceive, and must acknowledge
his force and delicacy, the propriety and energy
of his representations: they must please and sur-
prise us, and sometimes affect and warm us ; and
such impressions sufficiently reward our attention.
But in particular passages the traces of excellence
must be faint, or perhaps totally effaced; where
the art and force of the speaker consist in a judi-
cious attention to particular circumstances of times,
occasions, conjunctures of affairs, and dispositions
of the auditors. A modern reader is struck with
some particular argument or topic; he is perhaps
disappointed to find that it is not extended and en-
larged on. But it is possible, nay, very likely, that
the disposition of those who heard it required but
a single hint, and that a minute detail would have
tired and offended. We read, that such a particu-
lar stroke of eloquence had wonderful effects ; that
such a passage raised a general acclamation, af-
fected, transported, or terrified: we examine this
passage by the general rules of criticism, and we
pronounce it inadequate to the wonderful effects
ascribed to it. But here we seem to confine our
regards to our own sentiments, our own passions, and
our own situations ; we argue from our own feelings
to those of other persons in circumstances totally
different. Cicero, by introducing the mention of
the battle of Pharsalia, and the danger which
Caesar there encountered, in a manner artful and
lively indeed, but such as by no means indicates a
surprising or singular elevation of genius, is said
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? PREFACE.
221
to have made this hero turn pale and tremble.
And why should we doubt of the reality of these
effects ? We can read of this battle of Pharsalia
without emotion: but it was a more important ob-
ject to a Roman; still more affecting to the sol-
dier who fought in that famous field; but to the
general who there gained the victory, and by this
victory rescued himself from destruction and ob-
tained the sovereignty of the world, what object
can be conceived more capable of alarming his
passions and filling his mind with the most turbu-
lent emotions ?
But it may be said, that however true the gene-
ral position, )ret the instance brought to illustrate
it is but unhappily chosen; for that in this case
Caesar's emotion was but pretended. --" He was
himself an accomplished orator, and knew all the
windings of the art: he courted Cicero's friend-
ship ; he saw where his vanity and his weakness
lay: with perfect address, therefore, he played back
the orator's art on himself: his concern was
feigned. '"--With deference to the author here
quoted, I must declare that I cannot think this sug-
gestion well warranted, no more than I can sup-
pose that Octavia, the sister of Augustus, meant
to pay a compliment to the poet, and but pretended
concern when she appeared to faint at the recital
of the famous passage in the sixth iEneid:
Hen, miserande puer I si qua fata aspera rumpas,
TU M&RCELLUS KRIS.
If Caesar was too well acquainted with the arts
of eloquence, and of consequence too well armed
1 See Brown's Essay on Ridicule.
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? 222
PREFACE.
against them to receive any real impression from
the efforts of Cicero, this orator, who was equally
well acquainted with those arts, the proper occa-
sions of exerting them, and the effects to be expected
from them, could not well be deceived by anyun-
natural semblance of emotion. I say unnatural sem-
blance, because it is supposed that such emotion, in
such a case, is contrary to reason and the nature of
things ; and therefore Cicero, amid all his vanity,
must have seen and despised the injudicious artifice.
The truth seems to be, that in minds the most
enlightened, the passions frequently retain a con-
siderable degree of strength, and when kindled by
some touch of the orator's address, the combustion
is too sudden, as well as too violent, to be effect-
ually suppressed by reason. At least the ancients
seem persuaded of this ; for whatever may be said
of eloquence being made for the multitude and the
forum,' yet, when they addressed themselves, not
to the populace, but to select and refined judges, they
were by no means (as Quintilian expresses it)
" quadam eloquentia frugalitate contenti, ac manum
semper intra pallium continentes. " On the con-
trary, some of the noblest and boldest efforts of
art were exerted, some of the sublimest flights of
genius indulged on such occasions. To be con-
vinced of this we need but turn to any of the
judicial pleadings of Cicero. Take the beautiful
passage in an oration against Verres, quoted by
Mr. Hume in his elegant Essay on Eloquence ; or
read the following passage in the oration for Milo:
" On you, ye Albanian mounts and groves, on you
i Cicoro In Brat.
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? PREFACE.
233
I call. Bear witness for me, ye ruined altars of
Alba (equal in sanctity to the Eoman shrines), de-
stroyed, and buried under the profane edifices raised
by his outrageous sacrilege. Your influence,, your
power it was which then prevailed. Your divinity
then triumphed, and completed its vengeance on
all his profanations. And thou, O holy Jove, didst
then, at length, look down from thy mount; then
didst thou execute thy justice on the wretch whose
wickedness and abandoned impurity had so often
polluted thy lakes, thy groves, thy boundaries. To
thee--to thee, and in thy presence, did he pay the
late but justly merited punishment. "1 That the
circumstances of the trial contributed to animate
the orator's style is certain, as he himself informs
us. e Yet, amid all his enthusiasm, the consum-
mate master must have had a due regard to pro-
priety. He could not have forgotten that he ad-
dressed himself immediately to a few selected
judges. And if such elevated strains of eloquence
sometimes failed of success in select assemblies,
and before judges of penetration and refinement,
the same may be observed of sober, solid, and
just argument. Modern times are acquainted with
refined assemblies, in which affairs of highest mo-
ment are commonly discussed ; and if the spirited
and impassioned orator does not on all occasions
I Vos enim jam, Albani tumuli atque luci, vos, inquam, imploro atque
obtestor, vosque Albanorum obrutae arae, sacrorum populi Romani sodas
et sequales, quas ille praceps amentia, csesis prostratisque sanctissimis
lucis, substructioDum insanis molibus oppresserat: vestrae tum arae,
vestrse religiones viguerurtt, vestra vis valuit, quam ille omni scelere
luerat: tuque ex tuo edito monte Latiari, sancte Jupiter, cujus ille
ua, nemora, fineaque nape omni netario atupro et scelere macularat,
? Hqaando ad eum puniendum oculos aperuisti; vobis ilia;, vobis, vestro
kl conspectu serai sed justa e tajnen, et debita e pceme solutGB sunt.
> In Brut.
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? 224
PREFACE.
obtain a majority in such assemblies, they do not
always impute it to the superior strength of reason
that fortifies his hearers against the assaults of
eloquence.
In poetry, the impression made on the hearer is
so far from being lessened or defeated by his re-
finement and understanding, that it is really height-
ened and increased in proportion to the accuracy
of his judgment and the delicacy of his sentiments.
And although the man of sense, who in this case
resigns himself up to the pleasing delusion, guards
and arms himself against all artifice--in that of
eloquence, it might not be difficult to show how
this vigilance is sometimes defeated and eluded.
But the points which I am at present concerned to
establish are no more than these: That the won-
derful effects ascribed to ancient eloquence are not
mistaken or exaggerated: that its force was really
extraordinary, and its impressions in proportion
violent; but that the reader who applies himself
to study the remains of an ancient orator, and of
Demosthenes in particular, may sometimes be dis-
appointed in his sanguine expectations of delight,
if he hath been long accustomed to compositions
of less intrinsic worth, though of more glittering
ornament; if he is in general unused to the energy
of free debate; if he is unacquainted with the his-
tory and character of the people to whom the orator
addressed himself; or if he precipitately judges of
the real force and efficacy of his eloquence from
his own sentiments and feelings, without making
the necessary allowance for a difference of times,
circumstances, passions, and dispositions.
He who will not acknowledge that some par-
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? PREFACE
225
Ocular traces of that exquisite skill which our orator
possessed are now become faint and obscure, pays
him a veneration rather too implicit: and he who
does not still perceive and " feel his rapid harmony
exactly adjusted to the sense; his vehement rea-
soning without any appearance of art; his disdain,
anger, boldness, freedom, involved in a continued
stream of argument,"1 may justly suspect his own
deficiency in point of taste : nor is it any indication
of a superior strength of reason if he does not
sometimes accompany the orator in those impetuous
passions and exalted sentiments which animate his
compositions.
It is a common observation, how much an oratot
is assisted by the charms of action or pronun-
ciation; which Demosthenes is said to have re-
garded as the chief part, or rather the whole of
his art: and how much the loss of these must
diminish his lustre! Yet there are other advan-
tages which such a speaker derives from subjecting
his works to a private review, to a strict, dispas-
sionate, and reiterated study. The justness of. his
reasoning, the soundness of his policy, the worth
and elevation of his sentiments--and these are the
really valuable parts of an orator--are thus brought
to a new and severe trial: and if, on such a trial,
these excellences preserve their weight and lustre,
this is an additional proof that they are real and
intrinsic. What Longinus observes of the sublime
is equally applicable to all the excellences of an
orator; that if they are really genuine, we must
form the higher ideas of them the more frequently
? See Hume's Essay on Eloquence.
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? 226
PREFACE.
and attentively they are considered; and that the
true and indisputable proof of a writer's value
arises from the consenting approbation of all ages,
professions, and inclinations. This last and final
sanction our orator's merit has received from private
examination; though at this time but a part of his
merit can thus appear. And hence, again, we may
form a judgment of the force and influence of his
living eloquence. If he still commands our appro-
bation, and even warms our hearts, how must the
Rhodians have been affected when iEschines read
his celebrated performance to that people ! And if
they were strongly affected, how must the speaker
himself have shaken and transported the souls of
his hearers in the Athenian assembly!
? 202 ORATIONS OF DEMOSTHENES.
might be expected. The power of Macedon, indeed, ,
as an ally, may have some effect; but, if left to itself,
is insufficient; and when compared with his pompous
enterprises, quite contemptible. And then his wars,
his expeditions, and those exploits which have given
him this splendour are the very means of rendering
it yet weaker: for you are not to imagine, Athenians,
that Philip and his subjects have the same desires.
He is possessed with the love of glory; they wish
only for security. The object of his passion must
be attended with danger; and they but ill endure a 1
banishment from their children, parents, wives; a
life worn out with toils, and exposed to continual
perils in his cause.
Hence we may learn how his subjects in general
are affected to their prince. But then his guards
and officers of his foreign troops: these you will find
have some military reputation: yet they live in
greater terrors than the obscure and mean. These
are exposed only to their avowed enemies; the
others have more to fear from calumny and flattery
than in the field. The one, when engaged in battle,
but share the common danger: the others, besides
their part, and this not the least of that danger, have
also their private apprehensions from the temper of
their prince. Among the many, when one hath
transgressed, his punishment is proportioned to his
crime : the others, when they have most eminently
distinguished themselves, are then, in open defiance
of all decency, treated with the greatest insolence
and disdain.
That these are mcontestable truths no reasonable
man can doubt: for they who have lived with him
assure us, that his ambition is so insatiable that he
will have the glory of every exploit ascribed wholly
to himself: and is much more incensed against such
commanders as have performed any thing worthy
of honour, than against those whose misconduct hath
ruined his enterprises. But, if this be the case, how
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? ORATION ON THE LETTER. 203
is it that they have persevered so long in their attach-
ment to his cause 1 It is for this reason, Athenians,
because success throws a shade on all his odious
qualities (for nothing veils men's faults from ob-
servation so effectually as success): but let any acci-
dent happen, and they will all be perfectly discovered.
Just as in our bodies; while we are in health our
inward defects lie concealed; but when we are
attacked by a disorder, then they are all sensible, in
the vessels, in the joints, or wherever we are affected:
so in kingdoms and governments of every kind,
while their arms are victorious, their disorders escape
the common observation; but a reverse of fortune
(and-this he must experience, as he hath taken up a
burden much beyond his strength) never fails to lay
them open to every eye.
If there be a man among you, Athenians, who re-
gards Philip as a powerful and formidable enemy on
account of his good fortune, such cautious foresight
bespeaks a truly prudent mind. Fortune, indeed,
does greatly influence, or rather has the entire direc-
tion, of all human affairs; but there are many rea-
sons to expect much more from the fortune of
Athens than that of Philip. We can boast of an
authority in Greece, derived from our ancestors, not
only before his days, but before any one prince of
Macedon. They all were tributaries of Athens:
Athens never paid that mark of subjection to any
people. In the next place, the more inviolably we
have adhered to piety and justice, the greater may be
our confidence in the favour of the gods. But, if
this be the case, how is it that in the late war hia
arms had such superior fortune ? This is the cause
(for I will speak with undaunted freedom); he takes
the field himself; endures its toils, and shares its
dangers; no favourable incident escapes him; no
season of the year retards him. While we (for the
truth must not be concealed) are confined within our
walls in perfect inactivity, delaying, and voting, and
Vol. I. --Q
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? 204 ORATIONS OF DEMOSTHENES.
wandering through the public places in search ot
news. Can any thing better deserve the name of
new, than that one sprung from Macedon should
insult Athens, and dare to send such letters as you
have just heard recited? that he should have his
armies and his orators in pay? (yes, 1 call Heaven
to witness, there are those among us who do not
blush to live for Philip, who have not sense to per-
ceive that they are selling all the interests of the
state, all their own real interests, for a trifling pit-
tance ! )--while we never once think of preparing to
oppose him; are quite averse to hiring troops, and
want resolution to take up arms ourselves. No
wonder, therefore, that he had some advantage over
us in the late war: on the contrary, it is really sur-
prising that we, who are quite regardless of all that
concerns our cause, should expect to conquer him
who leaves no means omitted that may assure his
success.
Let these things be duly weighed, Athenians, and
deeply impressed on your minds. Consider that it
is not at your option whether to profess peace or
no ; for he hath now made a declaration of war, and
hostilities are commenced. Spare no expense, pub-
lic or private: let a general ardour appear for taking
arms: appoint abler commanders than you have
hitherto chosen; for it must not be imagined that
the men who, from a state of prosperity, have re-
duced us to these difficulties, will again extricate us,
and restore us to our former splendour: nor is it to
be expected that, if you continue thus supine, your
cause will find other assertors. Think how infa-
mous it is that you, whose ancestors were exposed
to such incessant toils and so great dangers, in the
war with Lacedaemon, should refuse to engage with
resolution in defence of that rightful power which
they transmitted to us! How shameful that this
Macedonian should have a soul so daring, that, to
enlarge his empire, his whole body is covered with
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? ORATION ON THE LETTER.
205
wounds; and that the Athenians, they whose heredi-
tary character it is to yield to none, but to give law
to all their adversaries, are now supine and enervated,
insensible to the glory of their fathers, and regard-
less of the interests of their country!
That I may not detain you, my sentence is this:
that we should instantly prepare for war, and call on
the other states of Greece to join in the common
cause, not by words, but by actions; for words, if
not attended with actions, are of no force. Our pro-
fessions particularly have alwayshad theless weight,
as we are confessedly superior to the rest of Greece,
in prompt address and excellence of speaking.
Dem. Vol. I. --S
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? CONCLUSION.
Havinq thus far traced the progress of Philip's attempts on Greece,
It may be no improper conclusion to continue the account down to his
final triumph over the liberty of that country.
We have seen the Athenians at last exerting themselves in a manner
worthy of that renowned people: and Philip, now returning from bis
Scythian expedition, in which he had engaged when foiled in his
attempts on Perinthus and Byzantium, found himself considerably
distressed and harassed by the hostilities of Athens. To extricate
himself from these difficulties he formed a bold and subtle project of
entering Greece; and so laid his scheme as to make the Athenians
themselves the instruments of his designs. i
By his intrigues he procured jEschines to be sent as their deputy to
the council of amphictyons. This was in reality of the highest conse-
quence : for no sooner had the deputy taken his seat but a question
was moved, whether the Locrians of Amphissa had not been guilty of
sacrilege in ploughing the fields of Cirrha, contiguous to the temple of
Delphos I Sentiments were divided. iEschines proposed a view: this
was decreed ; and, when the amphictyons came to take it, the Locrians,
1ealous of their property, and no doubt inflamed by those who were in
the secret of the whole design, fell on those venerable persons, and
obliged them to consult their safety by flight. Such an outrage was
judged to demand the severest punishment; and it was decreed that all
Greece should join in inflicting it. But when the army came to the
place of rendezvous, their appearance gave no great prospect of success.
His agents and partisans then rose, and by their artful representations,
prevailed on the amphictyons to declare Philip general of the Grecian
forces, and to invite him to execute their decrees. As the event was
expected, his army was ready. He marched into Greece; but, instead
of attacking the Locrians, he immediately seized Elatsea, a city of
Phocis, of the utmost moment, as it awed Bceotia, and opened bun s
passage into Attica.
This step struck Greece with astonishment. Athens particularly
received the news with inexpressible confusion. The people ran dis-
mayed to an assembly, and called on their usual counsellors to give
their opinion in this critical juncture. Demosthenes rose, and his elo-
quence was exerted to animate their drooping courage; by his advice,
ambassadors were sent through Greece, and particularly to Thebes, to
engage the states to rise at once to oppose the Macedonian torrent
before it bore down ail. Demosthenes himself headed the embassy to
the Thebans. He found a powerful antagonist in Python, Philip's
agent: yet, in spite of bis remonstrances, he so fired that people, that
they at once forgot all the favours Philip had conferred on them, and
Joined against him with the most,cordial zeal. The confederates met at
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? CONCLUSION.
207
Eteusis. The Pythian priestess uttered the most terrible predictions,
and threatened them wilh the severest mte: but Demosthenes took
care to prevent the effect of this, by treating her oracles with contempt;
which he declared were dictated by Philip, and calculated to serve his
interests.
This prince now saw all his arts defeated ; and therefore resolved on
an engagement, as his last resource. He advanced to Chseronea, in
the neighbourhood of which city the confederates were encamped, under
the command of Chares and Lysicles, tv o Athenian generals, by no
means worthy of commanding so illustrious an army. The next day
by sunrise both armies were in the field. Alexander, then but nine-
teen years old, surrounded by a number of experienced officers, com-
manded the left wing of the Macedonians. He began the onset, and
was bravely opposed by the Sacred Band of the Thebans. On the
right Philip himself commanded, where the Athenians made their at-
tack with such vigour as obliged his soldiers to give ground. The
advantage was pursued with the most imprudent and intemperate heat;
but while the Athenians were rushing on without any order, Philip
bore down on them with his phalanx, and obtained an easy, though a
bloody victory. At the same time, and with a like effusion of blood,
Alexander triumphed over the Thebans.
Thus were the confederates totally overthrown, and the liberty of
fireece lost for ever.
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? ORATIONS OF DEMOSTHENES
ON
OCCASIONS OF PUBLIC DELIBERATION.
TO WHICH IS ADDED,
THE ORATION OF DINARCHUS AGAINST
DEMOSTHENES.
89
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? PREFACE.
Thk Public Orations of Demosthenes here pre-
sented to the reader are not indeed of the same
interesting nature with those which precede them,
but such as have been always deemed well worthy
the regards of the learned: and if we may ever
hope to gain an attention to the remains of this elo-
quent statesman, we must look for it in Britain,
where a love of liberty possesses its inhabitants,
and a freedom of debate, the natural consequence,
of a freedom of constitution, is held sacred and
inviolable; where opposite opinions, accidental
abuses and corruptions, various plans of policy,
contentions for power, and many other causes, con-
spire to animate its counsellors, and call forth their
abilities ; where a profusion of glittering ornament,
gay nights of fancy, and figurative eloquence do
by no means form the character of national elo-
quence : but simplicity and severity of reasoning,
force, and energy eminently distinguish the speakers
of every kind from those of the neighbouring na-
tions : and where, above all, a warm benevolence
of heart, confessedly the glory of its citizens, may
at some times engage their attention to the interests
and concerns of a people who experienced the
vicissitudes of integrity and corruption, happiness
and misfortune ; who were disgraced or renowned,
just as their councils were weak or well directed.
Vol. L--R
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? 212
PREFACE.
The history of the wars, negotiations, govern-
ment, and policy, of the conquests and defeats, of
the progress and declension of all ancient states,
is universally allowed to be a study highly delightful
and interesting to the ingenuous mind. The ha-
rangues and counsels of their statesmen are no
inconsiderable part of this history. Nor can it be
deemed a useless or unaffecting occupation to
inquire what were the arguments used in a free
assembly, on any occasions where the public inter-
ests were concerned; what were the topics urged
to awaken the indolence, or to check the violence
of the people--to elevate their hopes, or to alarm
their apprehensions--to correct their prejudices, and
to reform their abuses ;--what schemes of policy
were proposed, what measures suggested--what
artifices were used, what arguments urged by con-
tending parties to establish their power and interest--
what motives were proposed to engage the com-
munity in war, or to inspire the people with pacific
dispositions, to prompt them to form or to dissolve
alliances--to extend their views to the interests and
concerns of foreigners, or to confine their regards
to their own security. These, I say, and such
like, are by no means unworthy of attention; and
these we find in a translation of an ancient orator,
executed with any tolerable care and fidelity, how-
ever it may be discovered by the learned reader
inferior to the illustrious original, in dignity of ex-
pression, and excellence of style and composition.
Or, if we consider the remains of an ancient
orator, in a critical view, merely as the productions
of ait. and genius, it can be no unworthy curiosity
to endeavour at gaining a just, though faint idea of
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? PREFACE.
that excellence which, we are told, had such won-
derful effects. The appearance of a great public
speaker, and the power of his eloquence, are so
feelingly described by Cicero, that we may be cer-
tain the piece was copied for himself, and from what
he accounted his greatest glory. " Give me the
orator," says he, " who can produce the follow-
ing effects: when it is once known that he is to
speak, let there be the utmost impatience to secure
places in the court, which must be instantly
crowded : let all be hurry and eagerness ; the clerks
and officers must fly up and down with an obliging
solicitude to provide seats and accommodations for
the assembly. The auditors must press forward in
a crowded circle. Let the judge be roused to the
utmost attention. When the speaker rises the
audience must command silence; all must be
hushed, till some marks of approbation are extorted,
and expressions of wonder break out at frequent
intervals. If he would inspire them with mirth, the
smile must be universal--if with sorrow, their tears
must instantly flow. So that a person at a distance,
though he does not know directly what piece is
acting, must yet be witness of the powerful impres-
sion, and assured that some great and favourite
actor is on the stage. He that has such power we
may pronounce the truly complete speaker: as we
have heard of Pericles, as of Hyperides, as of
^Eschines; but chiefly of Demosthenes himself. "1
1 Volo hoe orator! con tin gat, nt cum auditum sit eum esse dicturum,
locus in subsellits occupetur, compleatur tribunal; gratiosi scriba e sint
in (Undo et cedendo loco, corona multiplex, judex erectus; cum surgit is
qui dicturus sit, significetur a corona silentium, deinde crebree assenta-
tiones, mulla e admirationes; risus, cum velit; cum velit, Actus; ut qui
bac procul videat, etiamsi quid agatur rvsseiat, placere tamen, et in scena
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PREFACE.
And if Demosthenes appeared with so great
splendour in his judicial pleadings, his speeches
in public deliberations seem to have been
attended with circumstances still more honourable,
and with proofs of his abilities still more forcible.
He generally acted in scenes of turbulence and
public confusion. The speakers of the opposite
party had first laboured to prepossess the people
against the sentiments he was to deliver; to this
their own corrupted inclinations conspired, and
vengeance was denounced against all that should
dare to control them. In the midst of clamour
and commotion the orator rises: his adversaries
dread him, and endeavour to drown his remon-
strances in tumult. By degrees he gains a patient
audience. Opposition is checked, dismayed, and
silenced. His countrymen hang on him as on some
oracle, that denounces destruction on their vices
and misconduct, and points out the only way to se-
curity. They feel their own weakness and unwor-
thiness; they acknowledge the justice of his se-
verity ; they resign themselves to his direction, and
rush enthusiastically forward to the dangerous field
of glory which he points out to them.
Such were
generally the immediate impressions, though not
always permanent and effectual.
At other times he appeared when a universal
terror and dismay had seized the assembly. When
the enemy seemed to be at their gates, when de-
struction appeared inevitable, and despair had buried
the faculties of those speakers in a mournful silence
esse Roscium intelligat. Haec cui continuant, eum scito AM lee deem'
at de Pericle audivimus, nt de Hypcride, ut de iEschme, de lpeoquiden
Dcmosthene maxime. --Cic. irkSrul.
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? PREFACE.
215
who, in times of less danger, were ever forward to
take the lead;--then did their country (as Demos-
thenes himself describes the solemn scene) call on
her sons to aid and support her by their counsels in
this affecting hour of distress. But, in a case of
extreme difficulty, who can dare to propose any
measures whose event must be precarious, where
ill success may be imputed to the first adviser, and
be severely avenged as his crime ? --Neither the
dangerous situation of affairs, nor the well-known
injustice and capriciousness of his countrymen,
could deter Demosthenes. He is known, on such
occasions, to have risen in the assembly, and by
his appearance only to have inspired his country
men with some confused expectation of relief. He
has awakened them from their despair, and gradually
calmed their apprehensions; he has dispelled the
mist of terror, and diffused bright hopes and cheerful
expectations through the assembly. Confidence
and resolution, magnanimity and courage, indigna-
tion and martial rage, vigorous efforts and generous
contempt of danger, have fully confessed the irre-
sistible force and energy of the speaker.
Such effects were a full reward for the patient
assiduity with which Demosthenes laboured to
qualify himself for a public speaker and leader;
not by weighing words, culling rhetorical flowers,
and arranging periods; but by collecting a large
treasure of political knowledge, with which his
most early performances appear to be enriched: by
learning and habituating himself to strict and solid
reasoning; by studying the human heart, and the
means of affecting it; by acquiring from constant
practice a promptness which no difficulties could
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PREFACE.
embarrass, an acuteness which no opposition, how-
ever subtle and unexpected, could disconcert; and
a copiousness inexhaustible--prepared for all emer-
gencies? ever flowing, and ever abundantly supplied
from its rich and bountiful source.
" Eloquence," says an admired writer,1" must flow
like a stream that is fed by an abundant spring, and
not spout forth a little frothy stream on some gaudy
day, and remain dry for the rest of the year. "
Such was the eloquence of all those illustrious
ancients that history has celebrated ; and such, in
every free state, must be the eloquence which can
really bring advantage to the public or honour to
the possessor. The voice may be tuned to the
most musical perfection; the action maybe modelled
to the utmost grace and propriety; expressions
may be chosen of energy, delicacy, and majesty;
the period may be taught to flow with all the ease
and elegance of harmonious modulation : yet these
are but inferior parts of genuine eloquence ; by no
means the first and principal, much less the sole
objects of regard. The weapon of the orator
should be bright and glittering indeed; but this
should arise from the keenness of its edge: it
should be managed with grace, but with such a
grace as is an indication of consummate skill and
strength,
We are told of a Grecian general who, when he
travelled and viewed the country round him, re-
volved in his mind how an army might be there
drawn up to the greatest advantage; how he could
best defend himself, if attacked from such a quar-
ter ; how advance with greatest security; how
>> Lord Bolingbroke," Spirit of Patriotism. "
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? PREFACE.
retreat with least danger. Something similar to this
should be the practice and study of a public
speaker: and thus was Demosthenes for the most
part employed in his days of retirement and severe
application. It is indeed insinuated by his enemy'
that he was more solicitous about rounding a period
than preserving his country. But this is an object
fitted rather to the minute regards of such a speaker
as the noble author quoted above describes with
so just a contempt, whose whole abilities consist
in providing a slender fund for some particular oc-
casion, when perhaps a weak or wicked cause is
to be graced and ornamented; who lays on his
thin covering with the utmost care and most scru-
pulous nicety; which dazzles for a moment, till the
first blast of true forcible eloquence puffs away the
flimsy produce of his labours, and leaves all beneath
in its native condition of deformity and shame.
But to return from this digression. Ancient elo-
quence in general, and that of Demosthenes in par-
ticular, we are told, had wonderful effects. The
impression was strong and violent; the conse-
quences, sometimes, of the utmost moment. But
by reading the orator in a modern language, how
fully and justly soever it might be possible to ex-
press the genius and general spirit of the original,
or by consulting the original itself, are we always
affected with the like impressions ? or, can we
always trace the artifice, or feel the force which
produced effects so magnificently described ? By
no means. And this is partly to be imputed to the
fault of the reader, partly to a difference of circum-
stances.
? jEscMno in Ctesiph.
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PREFACE.
He who applies himself to the study of Demos-
thenes after a long intercourse with writers of a
different character; who hath been accustomed to
pointed periods, phrases of affected delicacy, fan-
ciful allusions, figures and images calculated to
dazzle and delight the eye rather than to illuminate
and cast the full glory of evidence round simple
truth; he, I say, must throw by the author in dis-
gust, or labour through him in a cold and lifeless
progress, which must serve but to fatigue and dis-
appoint him. He whose taste is ever so justly
formed to relish simplicity and true manly grace,
must yet read the orator to great disadvantage if
entirely a stranger to the spirit of free uncontrolled
debate. Liberty (if we may so speak) hath its
own ideas and its own language, whose force can-
not always be felt, or even its meaning rightly
and thoroughly conceived by strangers.
Tourreil, the French interpreter of Demosthenes,
and Iiucchesini, the Italian commentator, seem to
have been instances of what is here advanced. The
first appears to have had no just taste for the sim-
plicity of modest Attic elegance. He dressed out
his author in all that finery to which he annexed
the notions of grace and beauty, and presented him
to his countrymen turgid and inflated, encumbered
and disgraced by adventitious ornaments. ' The
latter lived and wrote in a country where the voice
of liberty is but seldom and faintly heard; where
political transactions are of a confined nature, and
not generally discussed in bold and spirited de-
bate ; where parties are seldom formed, public dis-
sensions seldom raised ; no grand interests boldly
asserted; no political measures freely censured-
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? PREFACE. 219
And the effect seems to have been this; the com-
mentator appears shocked at the free, lively, and
animated excursions of Demosthenes: he endea-
vours to reduce him within more sober bounds, and
is sometimes perhaps misled by trying his expres-
sions by the rules of cold precision. Passages
might be produced to warrant these observations ;
but I shall content myself with just hinting at one,
of which notice has been taken in the oration on
the Classes, and which seems to prove what may
be deemed the boldest assertion, that Demosthenes
cannot be always even understood but in a country
of liberty. " I am sensible," says the orator, " that
the Persian is the common enemy of the Greeks. "
To the Italian this assertion was strange and un-
accountable, at a time when the two nations were
at peace, and when treaties actually subsisted be-
tween them. History was ransacked and tortured
for some plausible pretence or grounds for this ex-
traordinary declaration. But in Britain such pains
were needless : there, no idea is more familiar than
that of a natural and hereditary enemy.
The reader's taste, however, may be strictly
just; he may be well acquainted with the senti-
ments and language of liberty; he may be duly
instructed in the history of an ancient people; he
may suffer their affairs and interests to make a
lively and forcible impression on his mind: yet
still, though well prepared for the perusal of an
orator, he cannot always perceive his whole force
and artifice; as, at this distance of time, facts may
appear trivial and arguments inconclusive, which
fired every imagination, and silenced all opposition
in the assembly to which they were originally
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? 220
PREFACE.
addressed. We know, in general, the genius, char
acter, and temper of a people whom the orator
may have endeavoured to affect: we can, there-
fore, in general, conceive, and must acknowledge
his force and delicacy, the propriety and energy
of his representations: they must please and sur-
prise us, and sometimes affect and warm us ; and
such impressions sufficiently reward our attention.
But in particular passages the traces of excellence
must be faint, or perhaps totally effaced; where
the art and force of the speaker consist in a judi-
cious attention to particular circumstances of times,
occasions, conjunctures of affairs, and dispositions
of the auditors. A modern reader is struck with
some particular argument or topic; he is perhaps
disappointed to find that it is not extended and en-
larged on. But it is possible, nay, very likely, that
the disposition of those who heard it required but
a single hint, and that a minute detail would have
tired and offended. We read, that such a particu-
lar stroke of eloquence had wonderful effects ; that
such a passage raised a general acclamation, af-
fected, transported, or terrified: we examine this
passage by the general rules of criticism, and we
pronounce it inadequate to the wonderful effects
ascribed to it. But here we seem to confine our
regards to our own sentiments, our own passions, and
our own situations ; we argue from our own feelings
to those of other persons in circumstances totally
different. Cicero, by introducing the mention of
the battle of Pharsalia, and the danger which
Caesar there encountered, in a manner artful and
lively indeed, but such as by no means indicates a
surprising or singular elevation of genius, is said
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? PREFACE.
221
to have made this hero turn pale and tremble.
And why should we doubt of the reality of these
effects ? We can read of this battle of Pharsalia
without emotion: but it was a more important ob-
ject to a Roman; still more affecting to the sol-
dier who fought in that famous field; but to the
general who there gained the victory, and by this
victory rescued himself from destruction and ob-
tained the sovereignty of the world, what object
can be conceived more capable of alarming his
passions and filling his mind with the most turbu-
lent emotions ?
But it may be said, that however true the gene-
ral position, )ret the instance brought to illustrate
it is but unhappily chosen; for that in this case
Caesar's emotion was but pretended. --" He was
himself an accomplished orator, and knew all the
windings of the art: he courted Cicero's friend-
ship ; he saw where his vanity and his weakness
lay: with perfect address, therefore, he played back
the orator's art on himself: his concern was
feigned. '"--With deference to the author here
quoted, I must declare that I cannot think this sug-
gestion well warranted, no more than I can sup-
pose that Octavia, the sister of Augustus, meant
to pay a compliment to the poet, and but pretended
concern when she appeared to faint at the recital
of the famous passage in the sixth iEneid:
Hen, miserande puer I si qua fata aspera rumpas,
TU M&RCELLUS KRIS.
If Caesar was too well acquainted with the arts
of eloquence, and of consequence too well armed
1 See Brown's Essay on Ridicule.
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? 222
PREFACE.
against them to receive any real impression from
the efforts of Cicero, this orator, who was equally
well acquainted with those arts, the proper occa-
sions of exerting them, and the effects to be expected
from them, could not well be deceived by anyun-
natural semblance of emotion. I say unnatural sem-
blance, because it is supposed that such emotion, in
such a case, is contrary to reason and the nature of
things ; and therefore Cicero, amid all his vanity,
must have seen and despised the injudicious artifice.
The truth seems to be, that in minds the most
enlightened, the passions frequently retain a con-
siderable degree of strength, and when kindled by
some touch of the orator's address, the combustion
is too sudden, as well as too violent, to be effect-
ually suppressed by reason. At least the ancients
seem persuaded of this ; for whatever may be said
of eloquence being made for the multitude and the
forum,' yet, when they addressed themselves, not
to the populace, but to select and refined judges, they
were by no means (as Quintilian expresses it)
" quadam eloquentia frugalitate contenti, ac manum
semper intra pallium continentes. " On the con-
trary, some of the noblest and boldest efforts of
art were exerted, some of the sublimest flights of
genius indulged on such occasions. To be con-
vinced of this we need but turn to any of the
judicial pleadings of Cicero. Take the beautiful
passage in an oration against Verres, quoted by
Mr. Hume in his elegant Essay on Eloquence ; or
read the following passage in the oration for Milo:
" On you, ye Albanian mounts and groves, on you
i Cicoro In Brat.
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? PREFACE.
233
I call. Bear witness for me, ye ruined altars of
Alba (equal in sanctity to the Eoman shrines), de-
stroyed, and buried under the profane edifices raised
by his outrageous sacrilege. Your influence,, your
power it was which then prevailed. Your divinity
then triumphed, and completed its vengeance on
all his profanations. And thou, O holy Jove, didst
then, at length, look down from thy mount; then
didst thou execute thy justice on the wretch whose
wickedness and abandoned impurity had so often
polluted thy lakes, thy groves, thy boundaries. To
thee--to thee, and in thy presence, did he pay the
late but justly merited punishment. "1 That the
circumstances of the trial contributed to animate
the orator's style is certain, as he himself informs
us. e Yet, amid all his enthusiasm, the consum-
mate master must have had a due regard to pro-
priety. He could not have forgotten that he ad-
dressed himself immediately to a few selected
judges. And if such elevated strains of eloquence
sometimes failed of success in select assemblies,
and before judges of penetration and refinement,
the same may be observed of sober, solid, and
just argument. Modern times are acquainted with
refined assemblies, in which affairs of highest mo-
ment are commonly discussed ; and if the spirited
and impassioned orator does not on all occasions
I Vos enim jam, Albani tumuli atque luci, vos, inquam, imploro atque
obtestor, vosque Albanorum obrutae arae, sacrorum populi Romani sodas
et sequales, quas ille praceps amentia, csesis prostratisque sanctissimis
lucis, substructioDum insanis molibus oppresserat: vestrae tum arae,
vestrse religiones viguerurtt, vestra vis valuit, quam ille omni scelere
luerat: tuque ex tuo edito monte Latiari, sancte Jupiter, cujus ille
ua, nemora, fineaque nape omni netario atupro et scelere macularat,
? Hqaando ad eum puniendum oculos aperuisti; vobis ilia;, vobis, vestro
kl conspectu serai sed justa e tajnen, et debita e pceme solutGB sunt.
> In Brut.
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? 224
PREFACE.
obtain a majority in such assemblies, they do not
always impute it to the superior strength of reason
that fortifies his hearers against the assaults of
eloquence.
In poetry, the impression made on the hearer is
so far from being lessened or defeated by his re-
finement and understanding, that it is really height-
ened and increased in proportion to the accuracy
of his judgment and the delicacy of his sentiments.
And although the man of sense, who in this case
resigns himself up to the pleasing delusion, guards
and arms himself against all artifice--in that of
eloquence, it might not be difficult to show how
this vigilance is sometimes defeated and eluded.
But the points which I am at present concerned to
establish are no more than these: That the won-
derful effects ascribed to ancient eloquence are not
mistaken or exaggerated: that its force was really
extraordinary, and its impressions in proportion
violent; but that the reader who applies himself
to study the remains of an ancient orator, and of
Demosthenes in particular, may sometimes be dis-
appointed in his sanguine expectations of delight,
if he hath been long accustomed to compositions
of less intrinsic worth, though of more glittering
ornament; if he is in general unused to the energy
of free debate; if he is unacquainted with the his-
tory and character of the people to whom the orator
addressed himself; or if he precipitately judges of
the real force and efficacy of his eloquence from
his own sentiments and feelings, without making
the necessary allowance for a difference of times,
circumstances, passions, and dispositions.
He who will not acknowledge that some par-
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? PREFACE
225
Ocular traces of that exquisite skill which our orator
possessed are now become faint and obscure, pays
him a veneration rather too implicit: and he who
does not still perceive and " feel his rapid harmony
exactly adjusted to the sense; his vehement rea-
soning without any appearance of art; his disdain,
anger, boldness, freedom, involved in a continued
stream of argument,"1 may justly suspect his own
deficiency in point of taste : nor is it any indication
of a superior strength of reason if he does not
sometimes accompany the orator in those impetuous
passions and exalted sentiments which animate his
compositions.
It is a common observation, how much an oratot
is assisted by the charms of action or pronun-
ciation; which Demosthenes is said to have re-
garded as the chief part, or rather the whole of
his art: and how much the loss of these must
diminish his lustre! Yet there are other advan-
tages which such a speaker derives from subjecting
his works to a private review, to a strict, dispas-
sionate, and reiterated study. The justness of. his
reasoning, the soundness of his policy, the worth
and elevation of his sentiments--and these are the
really valuable parts of an orator--are thus brought
to a new and severe trial: and if, on such a trial,
these excellences preserve their weight and lustre,
this is an additional proof that they are real and
intrinsic. What Longinus observes of the sublime
is equally applicable to all the excellences of an
orator; that if they are really genuine, we must
form the higher ideas of them the more frequently
? See Hume's Essay on Eloquence.
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? 226
PREFACE.
and attentively they are considered; and that the
true and indisputable proof of a writer's value
arises from the consenting approbation of all ages,
professions, and inclinations. This last and final
sanction our orator's merit has received from private
examination; though at this time but a part of his
merit can thus appear. And hence, again, we may
form a judgment of the force and influence of his
living eloquence. If he still commands our appro-
bation, and even warms our hearts, how must the
Rhodians have been affected when iEschines read
his celebrated performance to that people ! And if
they were strongly affected, how must the speaker
himself have shaken and transported the souls of
his hearers in the Athenian assembly!
