No More Learning

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? AGAINST CTESIPHON. 239
legal Forms of our judicial Proceedings, and by temporary De-
crees determine all Caufcs, as they ^rc aduatcd by their
Paflions, that excellent and wifeft Proclamation in the Republic
is no longer heard, " What Citizen above fifty Years of Age
" propofes to harangue the People, and afterwards what other
'' Athenian in his Degree of Seniority ? " Indeed, neither the
Laws, the Magiftrates, nor the ruling Tribe, are any longer
able to reprefs the indecent Licentioufnefs of our Orators.
-^SiNCE, therefore, fuch is our Situation; fuch the prefent Cir-
cumftances of the Republic, as you yourfelves muft perceive,
the only furviving Part of our Conftitution (if haply I pofiefs
any Degree of Knowledge) confifts in preferring Articles of Im-
peachment againfl: the Violators of our Laws. If you abolifb
this Cuftom, or fufler others to abolifh it, I venture to foretell,
you will imperceptibly by fuch Conceflions betray the Confti-
tution to this ambitious Fadliony For you perfectly well under-
fland, Athenians, there are only three Forms of Government
amongft Mankind ; Monarchy, Oligarchy, and Democracy.
Monarchies and Oligarchies are governed according to the ar-
bitrary Pleafure of their Rulers ; but democratical States by
fixed and eftablifhed Laws. Let not any therefore among you
be ignorant ; let them rather know with utmoft Certainty, that
whenever he enters upon the Judgement-Seat to give Sentence
on an Impeachment for propofing any Laws in Oppofition to
thoie already enaded, he fhall that very Day pronounce upon
his
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? 240 ORATION OF /E S C H I N E S -
his own proper Independence. For this Reafon, the Legiflator
placed this Article in the Beginning of tiie Judges Oath, I
WILL GIVE Sentence according to Law; being fully fen-
fible, that while the Laws are obferved with Reverence in any
Republic, fo long fliall a popular Government continue in
Safety. I While you recoUedl thefe Maxims, you ought to be-
hold with Deteftation and Abhorrence whoever propofes a
Decree fubverfive of your eflablifhed Laws, and not efteem a
Crime of this Nature trivial and inconfiderable, but in every
fingle Inftance moft atrocious. Of this your undoubted Right
let not any Man defpoil you ; neither the Patronage of your
Generals, who have long fince confpired with certain of your
Orators, and now ablblutely deftroy the Conftitution ; neither
the Supplications of Strangers, whom fome Perfons have intro-
duced into our Afiemblies, and by their Influence efcaped the
Punifhment due to their own illegal Adminiftration. But as
each of you would blufli to defert the Rank, in which he was
placed by his Commander in the Day of Battle, fo fhould you
blufh to defert that Station, in which you are this Day placed by
the Laws of your Country, the Guardians of her Liberty, (i)
? ^ You fhould alfo conftantly remember, that the whole Body
of your fellow-Citizens have this Day depolited in your Hands,
and
( I ) The Dignity and Beauty of this Jiis Audience, and at the fame Time a
Comparifon muft have been fenfibly felt fevere, though feemingly cafual, Reflex-
by a People, among whom every Citizen ion upon the Cowardice of Demofthenes
? was a Soldier. It is a noble Compliment in the Battle of Chasronea. This lafl
paid by the Orator to the Courage of Remark is due to Mr. Tourrcille,
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? AGAINST>> CTESIPHON. 241
and committed to your Integrity the Republic and its Confti-
tution. ' Some of them are prefent and hear the pleadings in
this important Cauie ; others are abfent, neceffarily engaged
in their private Occupations. Infpired with a reverential Re-
gard for them ; attentive to your Oaths, and to the Laws,
which you have fworn to maintain, it I clearly convict Cte-
fiphon of having preferred a Decree directly oppoGte to thofe
Laws, to Truth, to the general Interefts of the Common-
wealth, annul, Athenians, this illegal Decree ; confirm to
Athens her Democracy ; punifli whoever during their Admini-
ftration, ad: in Contradiction to your Laws, the general Utility
of the Republic, and your peculiar Interefts. ' If you come
hither with this difpolition of Mind, and will hear the Reafon-
ings I fhall now produce, I am afTured, you will pronounce
a Sentence equitable in itfelf; rehgioully conformable to your
Oaths, and of fingular Advantage to yourfelves and to the
whole Republic.
I HOPE, therefore, that I have fufficiently opened the ge-
neral State of this Profecution. But I would \\ illingly make
fome fliort Remarks concerning the Laws enacted againft thofe,
who have not yet rendered an Account of their Condu6t in the
Offices, f with which they have been intrufted : thofe Laws, in
diredt Oppofition to which Ctefiphon hath preferred his De-
cree. (2) For, in thefe latter Times, fome of our Citizens,
who
(2) Whoever had born any public OfRce in the State was obliged to render
Vol. II. I i a
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? 242 ORATION OF ^SCHINES
v/ho were inverted with the moll: coniiderable Employments In
the State^ and managed the public Revenues, though guilty of
Peculation and Corruption in their feveral Offices, yet having
gained over to their Caufe fome powerful Orators both in the
Senate, and in our popular Aflemblies, have by Praifes and
Proclamations, iniquitoufly purchafed, prevented their ever
being compelled to render an Account of their Condudl. 1
From thence, when they have been called upon to pafs their
Accounts, their Profecutors, and efpecially their Judges, have
been extremely doubtful how to proceed ; fo that many of
them, although manifeftly convi6led of having embezzled the
public Money, yet eluded all judicial Inquiry. I Neither is this
extraordinary. For the Judges, I can well imagine, were not
infenfible of the Ignominy, that the very fame Man, in the fame
City, perhaps within the fame Year, but certainly not long
before, fhould by Proclamation amidft our public Games be
honoured by the People with a golden Crown for his Virtue
and Integrity, yet that this very Man fhould afterwards depart
from a Court of Juftice, convided of Peculation. The Judges
therefore
an Account of his Condu(ft in It to the He urges the Proofs of this Aflertion
People. Until he had difcharged him- with his utmoft Force ; he repeats and
lelf of this Obligation, he was incapable varies them with his befl. Art and Ad-
of alienating his Fortune when living, drefs ; he confiders them as the principal
or bequeathing it at his Death ; of being Strength of his Profecution. Yet the
adopted into any other Family, or of Part inoft interefting to the Orator, it is
leaving Athens, and, in particular regard confefTed, is leaft entertaining to his
to the prefent Caufe, of receiving any Readers. It will appear to an Englifla
public Honours, ^fchines alTerts, that Reader like the p'eading of a common
Demofthenes is in thefe Circumftanccs. Lawyer, quoting Statutes and Precedents.
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? AGAINST GTE SIPHON. 243
therefore were compelled to pronounce Sentence, not with Re-
gard to the Griminal, but to the Difhonour, which his being
condemned muft have refleded on the People.
f One of our Legiflators, therefore, obferving thefe Abufes,
enaded a Law, in itfelf really excellent, and which exprefsly
forbids our crowning any Perfon, who hath not paiTed his Ac-
counts. " Yet, however wifely provident our Legiilator, certain
fallacious Reafonings have been invented, which have affumed
a Power fuperior to the Authority of his Law, and by which,
if you be not rightly informed, you may be infenftbly deceived.
For fome, who contrary to Law propofe to crown the Magif-
trate, yet accountable for his Condudl, have a Kind of natural
Modefty (if he can poflibly be called Modeft, who violates the
Laws of his Country) and throw a Veil over the Turpitude of
their Defigns. They write in the Preamble of their Decrees,
Let fuch a Perfon be crowned, when he hath given in his Ac-
counts, and thofe Accounts have been approved. " The Republic
is however equally injured, for by the Praifes and Crov. 'ns thus
irregularly decreed, all future Inquiries are precluded; while he,
who prefers the Decree, convinces his Audience, that he violates
indeed the Laws of his Gountry, yet blufhes for the Crime he
commits. But Ctefiphon, O Athenians, having notorioufly
tranfgreffed an eftablifhed Law, and even omitted that plaufible
Evafion, I have juft now mentioned, hath propofed to crown
Demoflhenes, before his giving in his Accounts ; before thofe
I i 2 Accounts
(C
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? 244 ORATION OF ^SCHINES
Accounts have been examined j and even while he ftill continues
in his Office. !
They u^ill offer, Athenians, another Manner of reafoning^
fomewhat different from that already mentioned ; I that w^hoever
is created by the Decree of any particular Tribe, is not proper-
ly a Magiftrate, but fimply executes fome certain Office and
Employment. For Magiftracies, they afTert, are what the
ThefmothetJE diftribute by Lot in the Temple of Thefeus, or
thofe, which the People have been accuftomed to decree at a
general Election ; fuch as the Command of your Infantry and
Cavalry,! with others of the fame Nature ; but that all the reft
are meerly Employments, appointed by Decree of fome partis
cular Tribe. i In Oppofftion to thefe Arguments I fhall produce
a Law, which you yourfelves enafted, imagining it would ef-
fedlually obviate fuch Pretexts. It is there exprefsly written,
" all thofe Employments are ftridlly Magiftracies, that are con-
" ferred by a Decree of the People. " I When the Legiffator
hath included them under one general Term, and declared,
that all Offices, conferred by the Suffrages of the People, are
properly Magiftracies, he then particularly mentions the Sur-
veyors of the public Works (Demofthenes is even now appoint-
ed to repair our Walls, and overfee the moft important of our
public Works) all, who execute any Office more than thirty
Days ; all, who prclide in any Courts of Judicature (but all
Surveyors cf the public Works really have their Courts of Ju-
dicature,
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? AGAINST CTESIPHON. 245
dicature, in which they prefide) 'What does he command
them to do ? Not to adminifter an Office, but execute a Ma-
giftracy, when they have been approved of in the proper
Courts ; for even they, who are eledled by Lot, cannot enter
upon their Employments, untill they have been regularly ap-
proved. (3) He commands them to pafs their Accounts
before the proper Officers. In Proof of what I affert, the
Secretary fliall read the Laws themfelves. /''^
The Laws.
SiNCE therefore, Athenians, what the Legiflator names
Magifh-acies, thefe People call Offices and Employments, it
is your Buiinefs to remember this Law ; to fet it in Oppoiition
to their frontlefs Aflurance, and to fuggefl: to them, that you
approve not of that pernicious Sophift, who is confident he
fhall with Words overturn your Conftitution ; but that in
Proportion, as he fpeaks with greater Eloquence, when he
propofes a Decree, which violates your Laws, fo fhall he feel
your feverer Indignation. l For the Orator, O Athenians, and
the Law fhould neceffarily fpeak the fame Sentiments ; but
when the Laws utter one Language, and the Orator anpther,
it is your Duty to give your afient rather to the Juftice of the
Law, than to the Confidence of the Orator. '
With
(3) "Whoever accepted any OiHce in private Charader, he was not fuppofed
the State was obligeci to pafs an Exa- capable of acling with Probity or Re-
mination of his Life and Manners. If putation in the Affairs of the Public.
he was found vicious or fcandalous in his
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? 246 ORATION OF iESCHINES
With regard to what Demofthenes calls an invincible Ar-
gument, I would willingly premife fome fhort Remarks. He
will argue thus j "I am appointed to rebuild our Walls.
" I acknowledge it. But I have liberally given to the Re-
*' public an hundred Min^, and the Work hath been execu-
" ted by my Care with greater Dignity. For what therefore
" am I accountable, unlefs we muft account for our voluntary
" Bounty ? " To this fallacious Reafoning hear me anfwer
with Juflice to Him, and Advantage to You. In this City,
thus ancient, thus powerful, among the Numbers who have
engaged in the Service of the Public, in whatever Kind
of Employment, there never was a iingle Perfon exempted
from the Obligation of rendering his Accounts. This I fhall
demonftrate in Inflances almoft incredible. The Law com-
mands our Priefls and Prieftefies, both colledlively for their
Societies, and feparately for themfelves, to be accountable, al-
though they receive no pecuniary Reward, but Plonour only
for offering up their Prayers to the Gods for your Welfare.
Nor private Perfons alone, but Families, fupported by the
Public, fuch as the Eumolpids and Ceryces and all others of
this Kind, are fubjeded to this Inquiry. Thus the Law obli-
ges even thofc, who have fitted out Gallies at their own Ex-
pence, to pafs their Accounts ; who never touched the public
Money, < nor after having rapaciouily plundered your Revenues,
and then paid back fome inconfiderable Part of ir, profefs
they have liberally contributed out of their private Fortunes,
when
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? AGAINST CTESIPHON. 247
\\hen they mcerly reftore fome little Portion of your own
Treafures ; <<but even they, who have confefTedly expended their
paternal Eftates to demonftrate their Zeal and Ambition to ferve
you ; nor they alone, but even the higheft Councils of the
Republic, fubmit themfelves to the Infpedtion of the Courts,
appointed to receive their Accounts. ' For the Law commands
the Senate held in the Areopagus to render in writing to the
proper Officers a general Account of their Conduct, and to
give in their Accounts of Money received or expended ; and
even this fupreme Court fubmits to your Judgement its graved
and mod: important Deciiions. " Shall not the Senate then of
*' the Areopagus be crowned ? " It is not agreeable to their In-
ftitution. *' Are they not animated with the love of Glory? "
So entirely, as not to be fatisfied, that none of their own Bo-
dy commits any flagrant Offence, but they punifli the moft
inconfiderable Errors with Severity. Yet thefe your Orators
exult in their Licentioufnefs.
? TAgain, the Legiflator hath made the Council of five hund-
red accountable, and fo vehemently does he fufped the Perlbn,
v/ho hath not pafled his Accounts, that in the very Beginning
of the Law he declares, whoever is yet accountable for his Ma-
giftracy, (thefe are his Words) let him not leave the City. / " In
" the Name of Hercules (^thus might any one exclaim) bccaufe
" I have been a Magiftrate, fh:-! ! I not leave the City ? " No ;
to prevent your flying from Juflice, after liaving embezzled
5 our
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? 24>> ORATION OF iESCHINES
our Treafures, or been guilty of Irregularities in your OiEce.
Again. He forbids the Perfon, who ftands accountable, to'
confecrate his Wealth to the Gods ; to fufpend any votive Or-
naments in their Temples ; to alienate his Fortune by being a-
dopted into any other Family ; or to bequeath his PofTeffions
by Will, with many other fuch Inftances. In a Word, the
Legislator feizes the Property of all thefe Perfons, as a Pledge
and Security, untill they have given in their Accounts to the Re-
public. ! " Acknowledged. But there are fome perhaps, who
" never received, nor ever expended, any of the public Mo-
" ney, butmeerly executed fome common Office in the State. "
Even this Man, the Legiflator obliges to bring in his Accounts
to the Clerks of the Treafury. i " But how is it poiTible, that
" a Man, who has neither received, nor expended any fuch
*' Money, fliall bring in an Account of it ? " The Law itfelf an-
fwers, and informs him, what he ought to write; " I have
*' neither received, nor expended any fums belonging to the Re-
** public. " For in this Republic there is not any Employment,
that is not liable to the ftridlefl: Examination and Inquiry. In
Proof of thefe Affertions, hear the Laws themfelves.
The Laws.
When Demoflhenes therefore fhall be moft confident, and
declare, he is not accountable for his Liberality, make him this
Reply ; " you ought however, Demoflhenes, to permit the
" Crier, employed by the Tribunal of Accounts, to publifh the
" Pro-
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? AGAINST CTESIPHON. 249
" Proclamation, derived to us from our Anceftors, and fup-
" ported by our Laws; Who will accuse? Permit our
" Citizens, whoever pleafes, to make it Matter of Doubt,
" whether you have really given thus liberally, or of the nu-
** merous Sums, ftill in your Hands for repairing the Walls,
*' whether you have expended but a very inconfiderable Part,
" although you received ten Talents for that Purpofe. Do not
" extort from us this Glory of being liberal ; tear not, from the
" Hands of your Judges, thofe Tablets, by which they fliall
*' pronounce your Sentence; nor prefume to dire6l, but be
*? content as a Citizen to follow the Laws ; for luch Condudt
" only can fupport a democratical State,"'
In Anfwer to the weak Praetexts therefore, which they will
hereafter urge, I have hitherto fpoken. But that Demofthenes,
when Ctefiphon preferred this Decree, was really accountable,
as a Magiftrate preliding over the Funds belonging to the The-
atre, and thofe deftined for repairing our Walls ; and that he
hath never given you an Account of his Condudt, or of the
Money committed to his Care in either of thefe Employments,
I fliall now endeavour to convince you by the public Records.
Read therefore under whofe Archonfliip, in vvliat Month, what
Day, and what Affembly, Demofthenes was eled:ed into the
Management jaf the theatrical Funds, from whence it will
appear, that Ctefiphon preferred a Decree to crown him, when
only half his Magiftracy was expired. ( Read.
Vol. ir. K k Com-
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? 250 ORATION OF ^SCHINES
Computation of Days.
Should I therefore urge no farther Proof, Ctefiphon would
be with Juftice condemned ; for not my Accufation condemns
him, but the pubHc Records. Formerly, O Athenians, a
Comptroller was appointed, who laid before the People, every
thirty-five Days, an Account of the public Revenues.
But
from the Confidence you placed in Eubulus, they, who were
eledled to fuperintend your theatrical Funds, held at once,
untill Hegemon's Law, the different Employments of Comp-
trollers, Receivers- General, Surveyors of the Marine, Infpedors
of our Arfenals, and Overfeers of the High-Ways ; indeed al-
moft all the great Offices of the Adminifl:ration. Neither do
I purpofe to accufe, or refled any Difhonour upon them, but
I would willingly demonftrate to you, that our Legiflator, if
the Citizen, who holds any one even the leaft confidcrable
Employment, fhall be accountable, certainly permits not his
being crowned, before he hath given in, and proved his Ac-
counts. Yet Ctefiphon hath not hefitated to decree a Crown
to Demoflhenes, who executed at once all the principal Ma-
siftracies in Athens, t^
That he was really Superintendant for repairing our Walls, when
Ctefiphon preferred this Decree ; that he had the Management
of the public Revenues ; impofed Fines, like other Magiftrates ;
exercifed a judicial Power of determining Caufes ; of all thefe
Affertions I fhall produce Demoflhenes himfelf and Ctefiphon
3 as
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? ^ AGAINST CTESIPHON. 251
as Witneflcs. For when Chaeirondas was Archon, Dcinofthc-
nes, in an AfTembly held the twenty-ninth of May, preferred
a Decree, that all the Tribes fhould aflemble the fecond and
third of June. ' He then ordered, that certain Perfons fhould
be eledled for Infpedion of the Walls, and the Diftribution of
the Revenues. A truly excellent Decree, by which the
Republic might have Perfons, from whom it might re-
ceive an Account of whatever Money was expended. l Read
the Decrees.
The Decrees.
^
Yet Demofthenes will perplex the Queftion, and immediately
reply, that neither by Lot, nor by Eledion of the People,
was he appointed Overfeer of the Walls. ' Upon this Subjedl
both Ctefiphon and Demofthenes will make their very copious
Orations. Mine (hall be fhort, and clear, and able inftantly
to expofe all their Fallacies. Yet I would firft mention fome
Particulars, neceflary for your Inftrudion. There are, Athe-
nians, three Kinds of Magiftracies in our Republic. The firft,
which is univerfally known, includes thofe, who are chofen by
Lot, or elected by the Suffrages of the People : the fecond,
who exercifc any Employment in the Commonwealth, more
than thirty Days, and particularly thole, who arc Superinten-
dants of any public Works. The third is exprcfsly written in
the Law itfelf : " And if any others, elccled by the People,
*' receive a judicial Power in any of our Courts, let thcni enter
K k 2 ''' upon
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? 252 ORATION OF iESCHINES
" upon their Magiflracy, when they have been approved of by
" a leo-al Examination into their Lives and Manners. " ' If we
therefore take away from this Number, thofe who are appointed
by Eleftion, and by Lot, it then remains, that they, whom
either a whole Tribe, or a third of it, or the Boroughs of At-
tica choofc out of their own Body to expend the pubHc Money,
muft be acknowledged Magiftrates, duly eleded. This hap-
pens, whenever, as in the prefent Inftance, any public Work
is decreed to the Tribes, whether to compleat your Intrench-
ments, or build your Gallies. That I afiert the Truth, you
fhall be informed by the Laws themfclves.
The Laws.
" You remember what I have already urged, that the Legiila-
tor commands thofe, who have been ele6led by their Tribes, ta
enter upon their Magiftracy, when they have pafTed the judicial
Examination with Regard to their Reputation. I But the Pan-
dionian Tribe declared Demofthenes a Magiftrate and Super-
intendant of our Walls, and he received, out of the Funds
afTigned for repairing them, little lefs than ten Talents. Yet
another Law exprefsly forbids any Magiftrate, who hath not
given in his Accounts, to be crowned ; ^ You have fworn to
pronounce Sentence according to the Laws : Ctefiphon hath
propofed to crown a Man yet accountable, and even without
adding, " after he ftiall have given in, and proved his Ac-
counts. " '
Thus
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? AGAINST CTESIPHON. 253
Thus have I clearly proved the Illegality of this Decree, and
at once produced the Laws, your own Decrees, and even my
Adverfaries as my Witnefies. How can any Man more clearly
demonftrate, that another hath preferred Decrees moft ^directly
contrary to Law ? But I fhall now convince you, that the Procla-
mation of this Crown is abfolutely illegal. For the Law
exprefsly commands, '' if theScnate decrees a Crown, it fhall be
" proclaimed in the Senate-Houfe ; if the People, in their own
'* AfTembly. ^ever in any other Place. " ' Read the Law.
The Law.
This Law, Athenians, is really excellent. For, in my
Judgement, the Legiflator did not imagine it neceflary, that
an Orator fhould make himfelf honoured by Strangers, but
content himfelf with being efteemed in his own Republic by
the People, and not make a Trade of publifhing thefe Pro-
clamations. (4) Thus the Legiflator ; but Ctefiphon, how does
he a(5l ? Read his Decree>>
The Decree.
You hear, Athenians, that the Author of the Law com-
mands, whoever is crowned by a Decree of the People, (hall
be proclaimed in their own AlTembly, nor in any other Place.
But
(4) [A,7j lpyoXx^? ~v IvroTi K'Tigwy^ccG'tv. tega de i handi. Italian Ttanslator.
Qiiasftum exercere in pronunciandis pras- Non briguer des proclamations par des
niiis, hoc eft, in perferendis promulga- veucs d'un indigne interell. Toub. -
tionibus. Bud. -eus. E non faccia iot- Reil-
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? 254 ORATION OF iESCHINES
But Ctefiphon proclaimed it in the Theatre, not only tranfgref-
ing the Laws by decreeing the Crown, but by changing the
Place of proclaiming it : not in full Affembly of the Athenian
People, but where our new Tragedians are adling; (5) not be-
fore the People, but before the Grecians in general, that they
may be equally confcious, as we are, upon what Kind of Man
we confer the Honours of the Republic. |
Having therefore preferred a Decree thus manifeftly illegal,
he will join his Forces, as if in Battle Array, with thofe of
Demofthenes, and form his Fallacies againft the Law, he has
violated. Thefe I fliall clearly lay open, and I now foretell
them, that you may not incautioufly be deceived by them.
That the Laws forbid the Perfon, whom the People have
decreed to crown, to be proclaimed in any other than in their
own Affembly, neither Ctefiphon, nor Demofthenes have it
in their Power to deny. But in their Defence, they will cite
a Law, that concerns only your Bacchanalian Feftivals ; they
will cite it partially, to impofe upon their Audience ; they will
produce a Law totally foreign to the prefent Indidment , they
will affert, that there are two Laws, with regard to Procla-
mations, of equal Force in the Republic. One of thefe I have
quoted, exprefsly forbidding the Perfon, who is honoured with
a Crown
(5) rpuyuSuv y. anZv. The Italian fignifies in itfelf, fahulas agere. Who
and French Tranflatois render the Words, thefe new Tragedians were, or what new
new Tragedies; certainly againft their Tragedies they might have afted, is
ftria: Meaning, Befides oiyuni^i<T^oc^, equally unknown.
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? AGAINST CTESIPHON. 255
a Crown by the People, to be proclaimed out of their own
Aflemblies. The other, they will affirm in dire6t Contra-
didion grants a Power of proclaiming the Crown in the Theatre,
during the Reprefentation of our Tragedies, If the People
approve/ According to this Law, they will conclude, that
Ctefiphon preferred his Decree.
In Oppofition to thefe Subtleties I fhall produce your Laws,-
which I have endeavoured to make my great Patrons and Ad-
vocates through this whole Profecution. For if it indeed be
true ; if fuch a Cuftom hath infinuated itfelf into your Confti-
tution, that obfolete Laws are to be reckoned among thofe in
full Force ; if ever two fhall meet diredly contradiding each
other in the very fame Caufe, by what Name (hall we call that
Government, in which the Laws command and forbid the very
fame Adions ? But not fuch our prefent Situation ; and may
you never hereafter fall into fuch Confufion. Nor was this
Care negledied by the Legiflator, who founded our Democracy ;:
for he hath exprefsly appointed certain Confervators of our Laws
to revife and corred them every Year in public Aflembly ; ac-
curately to examine, and attentively confider, whether any
one Law contradidls another ; whether the obfolete are retained
among thofe in Force, and whether there be more than one
upon the fame Subjed. If they find any fuch, he commands,
that they fliall be written upon Tables, and placed in public:
View before the Statues of our guardian Heroes ; that the
proper
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? 256 ORATION OF iE S C H 1 N E S
proper Magillrates lliould convoke an Affembly, and after having
infcribed upon each Law the Name of the Perfon, who had
propofed It, the Prefident of the Affembly fhall grant to
the People a Power of voting, which they will annul, which
they will retain, that there may be only one Law, no more,
upon every fmgle Fadl. ^ Now read the Laws.
The Laws.
If therefore, Athenians, their Afiertions were true ; if there
were indeed any two Laws in Force with regard to thefe Pro-
clamations, of NeceiTity, I prefume, when the Magiftrates had
found, and the Senators of the prefiding Tribe had prefented them
to the proper Officers, one of them had certainly been repealed ;
cither that which granted, or that which denied a Power to
proclaim. But fince nothing of this Kind was ever done,
both Ctefiphon and Demofthenes are manifeftly convided of
uttering not Falfehoods only, but even abfolute ImpoflibiHties.
I SHALL inform you, from what Source they have derived
thefe Falfehoods, when I have mentioned for what Reafons the
Laws concerning Proclamations in the Theatre were enaded.
When Tragedies have been reprefented in this City, fome
certain Perfons proclaimed, without having obtained the Con-
fent of the People, that they were crowned by their own Tribes,
or by their Boroughs; others corrupted the Herald to proclaim,
that they generoufly fet their Slaves at Liberty, and thus they
called
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? AGAINST CTE SIPHON. 257
called upon the Grecians to be Witncffes of their Gcncrofity.
Yet flill more provoking and odious, they, who were appointed
to receive and entertain Foreigners at the pubHc Expence, con-
trived to have it proclaimed, that the People, for Inftance oi
Rhodes or Chios, or any other City, had crowned them for
their Virtue and Magnanimity. (6) Nor did they a6l in this
Manner, as if they were crowned by your Senate, or by your
People ; as if they had perfuaded you to confent, or were fup-
ported by your Decrees, or had laid fome mighty Obligation
upon you, but they feized upon the Crown without afking or
obtaining your Approbation. ' Hence it hath happened, that
the Spectators, the Directors of the Sports, and the Adors
were often difturbed, while they, who were proclaimed in the
Theatre, were far more gloriouily diftinguiflied, than they,
whom you yourfelves crowned. Thefe laft had only one par-
ticular Place, the general Affcmbly, in which they muft necef-
farily receive this Honour ; the others were proclaimed in open View
of all Greece. Thefe adled under Sandlion of your Decree, and by
your Confent ; the others without any Authority. Confcious
Vol. H. LI of
(6) U^olmxi; nvh sy^Jj^evo/ \v roug milufing their Employments, and the
e|^- TToAs^;. The Words, in their firfl: Funds appointed for the Entertainment
natural Conftrudion, feem to mean, of Strangers, to influence thofe Strangers
^hg, -^ho had been hofpitably received in ^? decree tliem a Crown of Vn-tuc and
foreign Cities, and in this Manner are Magnanimity. >> In fupport of this Rea-
they rendered by all our Interpreters, ^ning^ we have the great Authority of
The Senfe however leads us to a very Budsus upon the Word Tr^o^im; fie
different, indeed oppofite, Meaning. The cnim dicebantur, quibus publice hoc
^rime ofthefe People, foftrongly marked, munus delegarum erat, ut legates civi-
iTTiipBcvt^TKTov, iHvidiof! ,lf,mum, was their tatum honoris caufa hofpitio fufcipeccnr.
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? 258 ORATION OF iESCHINES
of thefe Irregularities, one of your Legiflators enaded a Law,
wliich has nothing in common with that, relating to Perfons
crowned by you, neither does it abrogate that Law, (for not
your Affembly was difturbed, but the Theatre) nor propofes
any thing in Oppofition to others formerly eftablifhed (for this
could never be permitted) but regards only thofe, who without
your Decree were crowned by their own Tribes and Boroughs ;
thofe, who had made their Slaves free ; or thofe, who were
honoured with Crowns granted by Foreigners. I He therefore
exprefsly forbids, either that a Slave fhall be made free in the
Theatre, or that any Perfon fhould be proclaimed to be crowned
by the People of his own Tribe, or Borough, or by any others,
and then orders, that the Herald who violates this Law, fhali
be ftigmatized with Infamy*
Since he therefore precilely appoints the Senate-Houfe for
proclaiming thofe, who are crowned by the Senate, and for
thofe, who are crowned by the People, their own Affembly ;
lince he hath abfolutely forbidden thofe, who are crov/ned by
their own Boroughs and Tribes, to be proclaimed in the The-
atre during the Reprefentation of our Tragedies, left any one,
by obtaining Crowns, and Proclamations by private Interefts
and Friendfhips, fhould obtain the unmerited Glory of having
ferved his Country : fince he declares, that the Crowns con-
ferred by the Senate and the People, the Tribes and Boroughs
Ihall be proclaimed in the Senate-Houfe or Affembly, what
then
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? AGAINST CTESIPHON. 259
then remains, except that the Crowns conferred by Foreigners
can alone be legally proclaimed in the Theatre ? ' In Proof of
this Reafoning, I fhall produce to you one powerful Argument
from the Laws themfclves. They take away the golden
Crown, proclaimed in our Theatre, from the Perfon to whom
it was given ; and command it to be confecrated to Minerva.
Yet who fhall dare to condemn the People of Athens of an
Aclion thus ilUberal ? For not the Republic only, but even no
private Athenian could be fo degenerate, as in the fame Mo-
ment to proclaim, and take away, and confecrate that very
Crown, which he himfelf had beftowcd. But, in my Opinion,
this Confecration arifes from its being conferred by Foreigners ;
left a Citizen of Athens more highly valuing the Affedion of
Strangers, than that of his own Coimtry, may be corrupted in
his Principles. But the Crown, which hath been proclaimed in
full Aflembly of the People, is never confecrated. It is per-
mitted to be pollefled by him, to whom it was given, that not
he alone, but all his Poflerity, preferving in their Houfes this
glorious Monument, may never entertain a Thought injurious
to this Republic. Thus the Legiflator hath added ; " no fo-
" reign Crown Hiall be proclaimed in the Theatre, except the
" People fliall confirm it by Decree," that whatever State
fhall have an Inclination to crown a Citizen of Athens may be
obliged to fend Ambafladors to folicite the Permiflion of our
People ; and that whoever is thus proclaimed may be confcious
of a greater Obligation to you, for the Crown he receives, than
L 1 2 to
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? "^? ,.
260 ORATION OF ^SCHINES
to thofe, who crown him, becaufe you permitted the Procla-
mation. ' To evince this Truth, hear the Laws themfelves.
The Laws.
When therefore, with an Intention of deceiving you, they
fliall affirm, that it is written in the Law, " Let it be permit-
ted to crown in the Theatre if the People (hall decree," re-
member to anfwer them. Yes, if any other City crown you;
but if the People of Athens, the Place is then pointed out to
you, where the Ceremony muft be performed J It is abfolutely
forbidden to proclaim you out of the general Aflembly. For
by this Expreflion, *' Not in any other Place," talk the whole
Day to explain it, you fhall never clearly fhew, that you have
preferred a legal Decree.
There yet remains one Part of my Accufatlon, to which I
am particularly attentive ; the Pretext, upon which Ctefiphon
fuppofes Demofthenes worthy of being crowned. ^ For thus he
fpeaks in his Decree, ** And the Herald fnall proclaim in the
" Theatre in Prefence of all the Grecians, that the People of
** Athens crown Demofthenes for his Virtue and Fortitude,
" and" (what is moft extraordinary) '* becaufe he conftantly
*' purfues in all his Words and Adions the Welfare of the Re-
" public. " The Remainder of my Difcourfe will be to me
extremely fimple. and to you moft eafy to form your Judge-
ment upon it. I My Duty as an Accufer obliges me to inform
you,
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? AGAINST CTESIPHON. 261
you, that the Praifes given to Demofthenes are abfolutely falfe ;
that he never propofed the moft falutary Counfels, nor at
prefent perfeveres in his Adlions to promote the Welfare of the
RepubHc. I If I clearly prove this Aliertion, Ctefiphon fhall
juftly be convi? led upon this Article, for all our Laws forbid
us to infert a Falfehood in any public Decrees. Ctefiphon in
his Defence muft maniteftly prove the contrary. You fhall
be Judges of our Reafonings. Behold the Caufe therefore
fairly ftatcd.
Minutely to inquire into the Life of Demofthenes, would
be the Work, I imagine, of a very long Oration. But where-
fore fhould I mention, either what befell him, when ne cited
his Coufin-German Democles before the Areopagus, upon an
Adion of Battery for Wounds he had given himfelf ;' or when
he received Cephifodotus, General of the Expedition to the
Hellefpont, on board the Galley he commanded, and although
lie had eaten with him at the fame Table, performed the fame
Sacrifices, the fame Libations, (Honours which the General
conferred upon him becaufe he had a Friendfliip for his Father)
yet he hefitated not to become his Accufer in an Indidment for
a capital Crime ?