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Demosthenes - Orations - v2
Both Philip and his Succeflbr
permitted them to enjoy their Laws and Conftitution ; their
Senate and Aflemblies. Yet their Povi^er is no longer exerted
in the Deftination of Fleets and Armies, but in punifhing their
own unhappy Citizens. Their Aflemblies are no longer em-
ployed in fuccouring their Allies, or fupporting their own, and
the univerlal Liberties of Greece, but in hearing their Orators
accufe each other, v/ith a Malignity, that offers Violence and
Outrage to the common Sentiments of Humanity. In certain
Confequence, the People are divided into Fadions, and the
public Spirit, that might pofTibly have made fome powerful
and effed:ual Effort againft the common Oppreflbr, is diflipated
and wafled in unavailing and pernicious Contefts.
We are not able to determine upon the Succefs of the firfl
Profecution. -ffifchines was probably acquitted, but with
what Degree of Infamy or Honour is uncertain. In the fe-
cond he was condemned, and although the Fine impofed upon
him
A4-fr^P5?
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? ADVERTISEMENT.
him by the Laws was inconfiderable, and which he could
eafily have paid, yet he chofe perpetual Banifhment, rather
than live in Athens under the Charader of a Traitor and In^
former. He retired to Rhodes, where he purchafed a little
Eftate, and taught Rhetoric for his Subfiftcnce. Thefe Cir-
ciimftances appear in Favour of his Innocence ; for we can
hardly fuppofe, that a Man, who muft have been largely re-
warded by Philip for betraying his Country, aad who was at
that Moment a Penfioner of Alexander, could have been re-
duced to fuch Neceflity. But the Athenian People were better
Judges of Eloquence by their Paffions, than of Reaibn and
Juftice by their Underftanding. The Caufe was really that of
Eloquence itfelf ; and in fuch a Caufe Demofthenes muft un-
doubtedly have been fuccefsful. Thus did the Republic lofe
by this unhappy Conteft a Citizen of eminent Abilities, and
Eloquence inferior only to that of Demofthenes.
It now remains to make pubKc Acknowledgement of the
Afliftance I have received in the following Work. The firft
Oration is tranflated into Italian ; the fecond into Latin only ;
the two laft into French and Italian. All thefe I have ufed
without Referve, and, I hope, not without Advantage. Per-
haps, in the common Forms among V/riters, this general Ac-
knowledgement may be fufficient. But it were difingenuous
and ungrateful not to mention a late Edition of our Author
by Dodtor Taylor, in a more particular Manner. This very
valuable
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? ADVERTISEMENT.
valuable Work cannot want my Teftimony to its Merit. Let
me however be permitted to fay, that whatever Thanks are
due to the Diligence and Accuracy of collating Manufcripts
and Editions, or of fearching through all the Writers of An-
tiquity for PafTages, that might afcertain the original Text,
are undoubtedly due to this Gentleman. A great Number of
conjedural Emendations will certainly do honour to his critical
Sagacity ; but his peculiar Merit confifts in his Knowledge
of the Athenian Courts of Judicature ; their Laws and Ufages,
and Terms employed in their Pleadings ; a Kind of Erudition,
that was greatly wanted, and abfolutely neceilary to explain a
thoufand Difficulties in thefe Orations.
How much I am indebted to this Writer will appear in every
Page, and almoft in every Sentence of the following Tranfla-
tion. Yet, it may be objedled, I have fometimes differed from
him in Opinion. Never without Unwillingnefs and Appre-
henfion ; certainly never in a Prefumption of that Equality or
Superiority, which Difference in Opinion generally fuppofes.
I HAVE now finiflied a difficult and a laborious Tafk.
Whatever may be the Merit or Succefs of this Tranflation, I
can truly fay I have endeavoured to deferve the public Appro-
bation ; to be juft to my Subfcribers, and grateful to the Gen-
tleman, who has honoured it with his Patronage.
CO N-
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? CONTENTS.
ORATION Page
XV. Demosthenes againfl: ^schines for Misconduct
in his Embassy - - i
XVI. ^scHiNEs hij Defence - - 155
XVII. ^scHiNES againfl Ctesiphon - 235
XVIII. Demosthenes in Defence of Ctesiphon 358
O R A-
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? (|^j^(M)(SS)G^g)@^>g^gKSS0SiS^
ORATION XV.
Upon an Indiament againft ^ S C H I N E S
for Mifconduft in his Embafly.
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? ORATION XV.
Upon an Indiament againft ^ S C H I N E S for
. Mifcondudl: in his EmbraTy.
WHAT violent Contefts, O Men of Athens, what In-
trigues have appeared during this Trial, I prefumc
you are almoft univerfally fenfible, lince you have
undoubtedly obferved fome certain Perfons, vi^hen the Lots were
drawing at the late Eledion, and You were appointed out-
Judges, importunate and prelling upon you with their Soli-
citations. But I fhall implore, what ought in Equity to be
granted even to them, who do not implore it, that neither
perfonal Friendfliip, nor the Interefl: of any particular Perfon,
may have a greater Influence over you, than your Regard for
Juftice,
The Title of this Oration hath never Juftice, Ju IndiBment upon the Law of
been accurately exprefTed in the Original. Embajfies ; or, as we might exprefs it,
Cicero renders it Orat'w falfe legat'tonis An Jifion upon the Statute. Unable to
contra . Efchinejn ; and other Latin Writ- convey thefe Ideas to his Readers by any
ers, Oratio ie male obita, vmie gejh, ExpreiT:on in our Courts, the Tranflator
and cmentita legatione, from whence the hatli chofen a fimpler, and, he hopes,
Italian, Oratione della falfa anibafcieria. a more intelligible I icie for the Oration. '
None of thefe Translations pay any At- The Reader may find a fhort Account
tendon to the part'cular Meaning of of this Embaffy, Page i/Sof thefirft
Ud'puTr^tirQilx, which lignifies, m the VolunjC.
L;nguage of the Athenian Courts of
B2
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? 4 ORATIONSOF
Juftice, and the Reverence due to that Oath, which each of
you folemnly fwore when lie entered into this Aflembly. Be
convinced, that fuch Conduct will be to you mofl advanta-
geous, and to the whole Republic ; but that the SuppHcations
and Earneftnefs of the declared Advocates in this Caufe are in-
tended for fome private Advantages, for Prevention of which
the Laws have this Day convened You, not to confirm them
as Privileges to the iinjuft.
Our other Citizens, who enter with an upright Intention
into the Service of the Public, although they have already
made Report of their Adminiftration, are always willing, and
even offer themfelves to any fecond Inquiry. In dired Op-
pofition to their Condud is that of i^fchines ; for before he
appeared upon his Trial, and palled the Accounts of his Em-
baffy, he rendered one of the Perfons, who defigned to pro-
fecute him, incapable of giving a legal Evidence againfl: him j (i)
others he deterred with Menaces, taking his Progrefs through
the City for that Purpofe, and introducing, into your Govern-
ment
(i) Timafchus, whom our Orator here He was condemned under the Statute of
aneans, and whom he frequently mentions Infamy, a Law-Term not unHke that
in this Oration, was a Man of Abilities, of Outlawry, by which he was deprived
and Intereft in the Republic. He had of all the Privileges of an Athenian Ci-
dctermincd to profecute TEfchines upon tizen, and rendered incapable of giving
this Otcaru)n, but ^Ichines prevented his Teftimony, or pleading in a Courc
him with an Accuiation upon the Licen- of Judicature,
tioulhels and Impurity of his Manners.
I
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? DEMOSTHENES. 5
ment a Cuftom in itfelf of all others mofl iniquitous, and to
You pernicious. For if whoever hath executed any pubHc
Employment, or engaged in the Adminiftration, can prevent
his being profecuted, by rendering himfelf terrible to his Ac-
cufers, or by any other unjuftifiable Method, you will aflur-
edly be deprived of all Authority.
That I (hall be able to convid this Man of having com-
mitted many atrocious Crimes, and merited the fevereft Pu-
nifhment, I am affured, and abfolutely confident. Yet al-
though I fpeak under this Perfuafion, I will declare, without
Concealment or Difguife, what I greatly dread. All the Trials
at prefent brought before you appear to me to depend not lefs,
O Men of Athens, upon Circumftances of Time, than upon
the Certainty of Fadls j and as a confiderable Length of Time
hath intervened fince this Embafly, I fear it hath created in
you a certain Forgetful nefs of your Wrongs, and even an Ha-
bitude of fuffering them. However, I will inform you, how
you may better underftand the Juftice of the Caufe, and pro-
nounce an equitable Sentence upon it ; if you, who are ap-
pointed our Judges, will confider and determine among your-
felves, what Account it may be of Advantage to the Repub-
lic to demand from an Ambaflador ; firft, what Reports he
made of his Embally, when he returned 3 fecondly, \^'hat
Meafures he recommended ; thirdly, what Inflirudions you
gave him J then recoiled: the Circumftances of the Timesj^
and
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? 6 ORATIONSOF
and afterwards Inquire, whether in all thefe Inftances he hath
preferved his Integrity iincorrupted. Wherefore thefe Inqui-
ries ? Becaufe from his Anfwers it is in your Power to deter-
mine concerning particular Conjundures ; for if thofe Anfwers
are true, You will pronounce the proper Sentence ; if falfe, the
contrary. But you generally efteem the Counfels of your
Ambafladors more worthy, than any other, of your Confi-
dence ; You hear and depend upon them, as perfe<ftly know-
ing in the Affairs, for which they were fcnt. Nothing there-
fore is more unworthy the Chara<5ler of an Ambaffador, than
to be convidled of having given you futile and pernicious Coun-
fel. Thofe Inftrudions, which you yourfelves gave iEfchines,
both for his Words and Adlions ; which you exprefsly decreed
he fhould obey, it was moft fitting he fhould have executed.
This you will allow. But wherefore an Account of any par-
ticular Time ? Becaufe, O Men of Athens, it often happens,
that in Affairs of greateft Moment, fome favourable Occafion
of ading is included in a very fmall Space ot Time, and
whoever voluntarily yields, or betrays it to his Enemy, fliall
never, with all his befl: F>ndeavours, be able to recover it again.
But did he yield for nothing, or was he corrupted to betray ?
Receiving an))- Emolument for fupporting Meafures injurious
to the Republic, I am confcious, you will all pronounce an
atrocious Crime, and worthy of your fevercil: Indignation. Our
f-cgifiator hath not perfectly defined this Crime, but hath
^mply forbidden any Man to receive Prcfents ; convinced, as
I ima-
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? DEMOSTHENES. 7
I imagine, that whoever hath once received a bribe ; whoever
hath been once corrupted, will never be a iafe and upright
Judge, where the Interefts of the Republic arc concerned.
If I can therefore manifeftly demonftrate, that j^^fchines
hath not uttered one iingle Truth in the Reports of his Em-
bafly; that he hindered the People from being informed by
me of the real State of their Affairs ; that he hath ever advifed
You in dire<fl; Oppofition to your Interefts ; that he hath not
executed thofe Inftrudlions, with which he was charged in his
Embafly ; that he idly wafted the Time, in which many fa-
vourable Conjundlures, and thofe in Affairs of utmoft Impor-
tance, were treacheroufly loft to the Republic ; that he and
Philocrates have received Prefents, and even Bribes, from Phi-
lip ; if I prove thefe Accufations, let him be condemned ; let
him fuffer a Punifhment, proportioned to his Guilt. 11, on
the contrary, I cannot demonftrate thefe Fads, efteem me a
Calumniator, and let him be acquitted. But although I might
accufe him, beftdes thefe, of many other enormous Offences^
O Men of Athens, which would juftly render him an Objedl
of your univerfal Deteftation, yet I rather choofe, before I
enter upon my future Proofs, to recall to your Remembrance
(ftnce I am affured many of you can eaftly remember) what
Rank ^Ichines affumed to himfelf upon his Entrance into the
Adminiftradon, and what Kind of Harangues he held it ne-
ceffary for him to make againft Philip in every Aftembly of the
People,^
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? 8 ORATIONSOF
People, that by his own Adlions, his own iirft Orations, ^ou
may be convinced, he ftands convided of receiving Bribes.
This therefore is the Man, who firft of all our Athenians
was fenfible, as he declared in his Harangues to the People,
that Philip was forming Defigns againft the common Liberties
of Greece, and had already corrupted fome certain Magiftrates
in Arcadia : who engaged Ifchander, an Under-A6lor to Ne-
optolemus, to play the fecond Charafter to him in this Tra-
gedy : (2) who propofed an Inquiry into thefe Affairs to the
Senate ; propofed it to the People, and perfuaded you to fend
Ambafladors for appointing a Congrefs here to confult upon
a Declaration of War againft Philip : who, when he returned
from Arcadia, repeated upon Memory thofe long and pompous
Orations, which he affirmed he had pronounced at MegalopoHs,
before the fupreme Council of Arcadia, in Support of your
Interefts againft Hieronymus, who fpoke in Defence of Philip ;
and laftly, who enumerated the mighty Calamities, thefe Mer-
cenaries, thefe Receivers of Money from Philip, occaftoned
not only to their own Countries in particular, but to the ge-
neral State of Greece.
While
(2) Our Orator never lofcs any Op- a Company of Comedians, maintained
portunity of infulting iEfchines upon his by Neoptolemus, the greatefc Adur of
Profeflion as a Player. He had carried his Age. He now introduces him into
llchnnder with him from Arcadia to the Politics of his Adminifcration, and
Athens, and had probably entered him a engages him to play fome under Cha-
Performer of fecond Charaflers (or, as raster in this Tragedy of hi? Qwn E{T}-
we might exprefs it) ap Under-Aftor in bafTy.
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? DEMOSTHENES. 9
While he was in this Manner opening his Adminiftration,
and exhibiting this Specimen of himfelf, you were perfuaded
by Ariftodemus, and others, whole Reports from Macedonia
brought you home nothing but Falfehood, to fend Ambafia-
dors to Phihp to negotiate a Peace. ^Efchines was appointed
one of thefe Ambaffadors, not to betray your proper Domi-
nions to your Enemies, or to place a Confidence in Philip, but
'to guard others from joining in fuch pernicious Pradices. For
by thofe Orations, which he repeated to you, and by his de-
clared Enmity to Philip, you with reafon entertained this
Opinion of him. He afterwards came to me, and agreed,
that we fhould mutually fupport each other in our Embafly,
aiid with many Arguments urged the Neceffity of our guarding
againfl: the polluted and fhamelefs Philocrates. Nor indeed,
until! our Return from our firft Embafiy, did even I fufpecV,
O Men of Athens, that ^fchines was corrupted, and had fold
himfelf. For befides his other Speeches, which I have already
mentioned, he rofe in the firft AfTembly, where you debated
upon the Peace, and opened his Oration with fome Expref-
fions, which, I believe, I can repeat in the very Words he
fpoke. '* Had Philocrates earneftly and induflrioully medi-
" tated, O Men of Athens, in what Manner he might befl
*' oppofe the Peace, he could never, in my Opinion, find a
Vol, II. C " bet-
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? lo ORATIONSOF
<' better Method than in the Decrees he propofes. For my
" own Part, while any one fingle Athenian furvives, never
" will I perfuade the ' Commonwealth to conclude fiich a
" Peace ; however I declare, that Peace, in general, is abfo-
" lutely neceflary. " Thus concife were his Exprefllons ; thus
moderate his Sentiments. But although he had thus expreffed
himfelf in our firft AfTembly ; though You yourfelves heard
him, yet the very next Day, when of Neceflity the Peace was
to be ratified, while I fupported the common Decrees of our
Confederates, and contended for a juft and honourable Peace i
while you approved of the Meafures I propofed, and determined
not to hear even the Voice of that execrable Philocrates, at
this very Time did ^Efehines rife, and harangue the People in,
his Defence, O Jupiter and all ye Gods ! in Exprefllons juftly
meriting a thoufand Deaths : " That it was no longer your
*' Duty to remember your Anceftors, or to fuffer thofe, who.
" mention to you their Trophies, their naval Vidories ; that
'< he would himfelf propofe and eftablifh a Law, by which
" you fhould never fend Succours to any Grecian State, by
" whom you had not before been aflifted. " Thus did this
miferable and fhamelefs Wretch dare to fpeak even in the Pre-
fencc, and Hearing of thofe very Ambafladors, whom you had
convened through all Greece by his Perfuafion, before he had
fbld himfelf to Philip.
When
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? DEMOSTHENES. n
When you had again, O Men of Athens, decreed him one
of your Ambafladors for demanding Philip's Oath in Ratifica-
tion of the Peace, in what Manner he confumed the Time,
and ruined the whole Affairs of the Republic, and what fre-
quent Quarrels arofe between us, becaufe I endeavoured to op-
pofe him, you fhall inftantly hear. When we returned from
our fecond Embafly, appointed for demanding Philip's Oath
and the Subjed of your prefent Inquiries ; when we found
not ev^n the leaft Article performed of all that had been pro-
mifcd, and therefore reafonably expelled ; when we faw you
were in every Inftance deceived, and that your AmbafTadors
adled in diredl Contradidion to your Decrees, we appeared
before the Senate. Many of you are confcious of the Fadls
1 am going to relate, for the Houfe was crouded with private
Citizens. I came forward, and laid the whole Truth before
the Senate, and accufed our guilty Ambafladors, from the very
firft Hopes brought you home by Ctefiphon and Ariftodemus.
Even when you had ratified the Peace, I enumerated every
Particular, which this bad Man had uttered in his Harangues ;
every Circumftance, by which they had reduced the Common-
wealth to that unhappy Crifis. What yet remained to us (the
Phoc^eans and Thermopyls) I counfelled you not to abandon ;
nor ever to commit the fame Errors again, nor to be held in
Sufpence by Hopes, repeated upon Hopes, by Promifes, on
C 2 Pro-
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? ,2 ORATIONSOF
Promifes ; nor to fuffer your Affairs to be reduced to fucli ex-
treme Deflrudion. Such the Counfel I gave, and the Senate
was convinced.
When an Affembly was afterwards convened; when it was
become neceflary to give you an Account of our Embaily^
this j^fchines, firft of all our Ambaffadors came forward (and
now by Jupiter and all our Deities I conjure you, endeavour
with me to recoiled, whether I repeat the Truth, for tliefe are
certainly the Circumftances, by which your Affairs were wholly
diftreffed and ruined) but he totally abftained from making
any Report with Regard to his own Condud during his Em_
baffy, or to what I had declared in the Senate, if perchance
he had entertained any Doubt of the Truth of what I de-
clared, but fuch an Oration did he make, containing Advan-
tacres fo numerous and fo great, that he abfolutely forced you
all into his Opinion. For he affirmed, he had perfuaded Phi-
lip to comply with every Meafure, wherein the Interefts of
the Republic were concerned, both with regard to the Caufe
depending before the Amphidyons, and in every other In-
ftance. (3) He then made a Recital of a long Harangue,
(3) The Amphidyons, however de- mifed to influence their Suffrages in Fa-
oenerate from the Virtue of their origi- vour of the Phocasans, as Allies and
nal Conftitution, ftill preferved an Ap- Friends of the Republic,
pearance of their ancient Authority, and The Reader may find fome Account
affumed a Right to determine upon the of the Amphidtyons in the Preface to
Juftice of the Qiiarrel between the Pho- the firfl Volume ; twelfth Page.
ca;ans and Thcbans. Philip had pro-
which
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? DEMOSTHENES. 13
which he informed us he had pronounced againft the Thebans
in the prefence of Phihp ; he repeated the general Heads of
it, and then computed, that by his pecuHar Condu6l in this
Embafly, you fliould hear, within two or three Days, with-
out your leaving home, or undertaking any Expedition, or
giving yourfelves the leaft Solicitude, that Thebes alone, with-
out an Invasion of the reft of Bceotia, was befieged ; that
Thefpiae and Platasa were again inhabited ; that Apollo's Trea-
fures were repaid Him, not by the Phocaeans, but the The-
bans, who had themfelves formed a Defio-n of feizino: his
Temple. (4) For ^fchines boafted of his having taught Phi-
lip, that they, who purpofe to commit a Crime, are not lefs
impious, than they, who really with their own Hands perpe-
trate the Fa(5l. He then affured us, that the Thebans, in Re-
fentment, had proclaimed a Reward for his Head. Laftly,
he affirmed his having heard, that the Euboeans were terrified,
(4) Tuv CaXiva-uvTuv r-^v kutccXti^iv committed the Sacrilege. Thus the rea-
T>> *? fl? . Tranflated by Wolfius, qui au- foning is direft and conclufive, which by
tores fuijfent templi occupandi, and he then his Tranflation is broken and imperfefl.
explains his Tranflation, as if the 1 he- The Italian Tranflator renders the Paf-
bans had advifed the Phocsans to feize fage, / quali haveano con/igliato, que fi
the Temple of Apollo. In his Notes occupajfe il tempio. Dodlor Taylor, by
he very juftly condemns the Abfurdity giving us . Wolfius his Tranflation and
of fuppofing fuch Advice, and remarks, his Note without any Remark upon it,
that the Fadt is unfupported by Hiftory. has given his own Authority to the Mif-
But the Abfurdity is totally his own. take ; it therefore becomes necelTary to
The Thebans had formed a Bejign of feiz- fay, it muft have efcaped that very ac-
ing this Temple, and were therefore equally curate and learned Editor.
criminal, as the Phcc^cans, ivho really
and
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? 14 ORATIONSOF
and confounded at the Reconciliation between Philip and the
Republic ; that they had declared ; " Ambafladors, it hath
" not efcaped us, upon what Conditions you have concluded
" a Peace with Philip ; neither are we ignorant, that you
" have ceded Amphipolis to him, nor that he hath promifed
" to deliver up Euboea to you. " Another important Affair
he affured you he had regulated, which hov/ever he would
not yet mention openly, becaufe at prefent fome of his Col-
leagues envied him. He thus obfcurely hinted at me, and
the Ceffion of Oropus. (5)
Being, with all Appearance of Juftice, much honoured
for his Condudl ; acknowledged a very powerful Orator, and a
Man of admirable Abilities, he with much Solemnity de-
fcended from the Tribunal. I then arofe; I declared my
total Ignorance of thefe Promifes, and attempted to repeat
fome Circumflances, which I had mentioned before in the Se-
nate, while iEfchines on one Side, and this Philocrates on the
other, clamoroufly interrupted, and at length abfolutely mocked
me. You laughed, nor would either hear, nor be perfuaded
to believe, except what jEfchines had declared : and, by the
(5) Oropus, by its Situation on the Acknowledgement of the Succours they '
Borders of Attica and Boeotia, was the had fent him againfl: the Athenians. Our '
Occafion of frequent Contefts between Orator here charges ^fchines with infi-
the two States. It had been taken from nuating, that PhiHp had promifed him
Athens by Themefion, Tyrant of Ere- to reftore it the Republic.
fria, who ceded it to the Thebans, in
8 Gods,
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? DEMOSTHENES. 15
Gods, you a6led thus, in my Judgement, not without Reafon.
For who could have endured, while he expeded Advantages
fo great, fo numerous, to hear even the PofTibility of them
denied, and the Perfons, who wrought fuch Wonders, ac-
cufed ? All other Coniiderations were certainly of little Im-
portance, when compared to fuch Hopes and Expedations.
Whoever contradidled them, appeared actuated merely by a
Spirit of Oppofition and Envy ; while all his Propofals were
thought wonderfully great, and advantageous to the Republic.
But to what Purpofe have I now recollected, for the firft
Time, thefe Circumflances, and repeated thefe Harangues ?
For one, O Men of Athens, aa important and principal Rea-
fon ; that none of you, who fliall hereafter hear me accufe
thefe Meafures, may imagine me fevere, and exceflive in my
Cenfures, or afk with Wonder, *' Why did you not upon the
" Inftant mention, and inform us of theie Circumftances ;"
but that you may rather recolledl the Promifes, which thefe
People made upon all Occafions, and by which they excluded,
others from the Liberty of fpeaking : that you may remem-
ber the famous Declaration of ^^fchines, and be convinced,
that, in addition to all his other Injuries, you have been hin-
dered from hearing the Truth at the immediate Inftant, when
it was moft neceffary, and deceived by Hopes, Impoftures, and
Promifes. This was the firft, and indeed the principal Rea-
fen, for which I have recolleded thefe Circumftances> The
fecond
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? i6 ORATIONSOF
fecond, and not of lefs Importance, that when you remember
the whole Tenour of his Adminiftration, while he was yet
iincorrupted, how incredulous with Regard to Philip ; how
ftrongly fortified againft him, you may confider how fudden
were his Confidence and Friendfhip. Laftly, that if his Pro-
mifes have been attended with Succefs^ if his Adminiftration
hath been alorious to the Commonwealth, you may then com-
pute, that he adled with Integrity, and for the public Advan-
tage ; on the contrary, if the Event hath always happened in
diredl Contradidion to what he promifed ; if he hath brought
much Diflionour, and imminent Danger upon the Republic,
by a fordid Avarice, and the Proftitution of Truth, you may-
then account for the Alteration.
But fince 1 have proceeded thus far, I would willingly
mention, before all other Confiderations, the Manner in which
your Ambaffadors deprived you of all Diredion in the Affairs
of the Phocaeans. Nor fhould any of our Judges, while he
confiders the Greatnefs of thofe Affairs, imagine that ^fchines,
according to the general Eftimation of his Charader, was in-
capable of committing thofe Crimes, of which he is accufed.
You fhould fix your Attention to this Confideration alone,
that whomfoever you have appointed to any fuch Employ-
ment, and intrufted with a Power to difpofe of all Conjunc-
tures which may happen to arife, that Man, if he thought
proper to follow the Example of jl)fchines in felling himfelf
to
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? DEMOSTHENES. 17
to your Enemies, is capable of deceiving and deluding you,
. and producing Mifchiefs as great, as thofe, which ^fchincs
himfelf hath occafioned. But although you often employ
very worthlefs People in the Direction of your Affairs, not for
that Reafon are thofe Affairs themfelves worthlefs, or do not
become honourable to the Republic, when they are conduced
by others. Far otherwife. Let us then conclude, that Philip
did indeed deftroy the Phocaeans, but that thefe Ambaffidors
affifted him. It is your Duty therefore to confider and in-
quire, whether, as far as the Prefervation of the Phocaeans
depended on their Embafly, they have voluntarily ruined,
and deffroyed that People; not whether Philip was powerful
enough in himfelf to have deftroyed them. For to what Pur-
pofe fuch Inquiries ? But give me the Decree of the Senate,
which Vv'as formed when I made my Report of our Embafiy ;
then give me the Teftimony of the Clerk, who laid it before
the Senate, that you may be convinced, I was not then filent,
or now alone feparate myfelf from tlieir Adminiftration, but
that I inffantly accufed them, and forefaw our prefent Cala-
mities. The Senate, who were not hindered from hearing
me declare the Truth, neither applauded, nor thought them
worthy of being invited to any public Entertainment, although,
fince the Foundation of the City, no other Ambaffadors had
ever fuffered fuch an Indignity; not even Timagoras, whom
the People afterwards capitally condemned. But thefe Am-
VoL. II. D baffadors
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? i8 ORATIONSOF
bafladors fuffered it. Firfl read the Teftimony j then the De-
cree.
Testimony. Decree.
Here are no Praifes, no Invitation from the Senate to the Am-
bafladors ; or if ^fchines aflerts the contrary, let him prove,
let him make them appear. But it is impofllble.
Indeed, if we had all afted in the fame Manner, mofi:
juftly had the Senate refufed its Praifes to us all; for undeniably
our Condudt in general was greatly criminal. But if fome of us
preferved, while others betrayed, their Integrity, it is apparent,
that the Innocent have been obliged to participate of one com-
mon Infamy with the Guilty. " But how fhall you all with-
" out Difficulty diftinguifh, who is guilty ? " Remember, who
blamed the Conduct of thefe Ambafladors upon the Inftant
they returned. For it is manifeft, that a Man, who was con-
fcious of his own Guilt, would have been contented with being
filcnt ; and if he could have eluded an immediate Inquiry,
would never afterwards render an Account of his Condud:.
But to the Man, who is confcious of his Innocence, it is mod
afflidling to be filent, when his Silence expofes him to the Suf-
picion of being a Partner in the Crimes and Guilt of others.
But I ftood forth the Accufer of thefe AmbafTadors, when
they returned from their Embafly, nor have ever by any of
them been accufed. .
Such
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? DEMOSTHENES. 19
Such was the Decree of the Senate ; but when a general
Aflembly was convened, and PhiHp had marched into Ther-
mopylae (for their principal Crime was having given Philip an
Opportunity of furprifing the Phocaeans) when it was become
necefTary for you to take Cognizance of your Affairs, to con-
fult, and to execute, they rendered it difficult for you at once
to hear of PhiHp's Approach, and to determine how you fhould
aft. In addition to thefe Mifchiefs no Man read the Senate's
Decree to the People ; the People heard it not ; but -^fchines
harangued the Aflembly, as I have repeated to you, upon the
numerous and magnificent Advantages, which Philip (fo he
affured us) had granted to his Perfuafions, and for which the
Thebans had fet a Price upon his Head. Thus, although you were
terrified at Philip's March, and angry at them, who had not
informed you of it, yet you became more temperate, and even
to fuch a Degree, as to expert whatever you thought proper
to defire. You would neither hear me fpeak, nor any other.
Philip's Letter was then read, which ^^fchines, who had ftaid
behind us in Macedonia, had himfelf written. It was an open,
manifeft Defence of the guilty Adminiftration of his Collegues.
For it mentions his having hindered them, when they were
determined to go into the Cities of Greece, and require the
Oaths of Philip's Confederates in Ratification of the Peace,
and his having detained them, that they might affift him in
reconciling the Alenfes and Pharfalians, thus taking from them,-
D 2 and
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? 20 ORATIONSOF
and appropriating to himfelf, all their Crimes. But with Re-
gard to the Phocseans, and Thefpians, and all the Promifes he
had made, not a Tingle Syllable. Nor did this happen by
meer Accident; but that Vengeance, which was juftly due
to thofe, who had never aded, during their Embaffy, in Obe-
dience to your Decrees, he voluntarily takes upon himfelf, and
profefles himfelf the Caufe of all their Crimes, becaufe you
are unable, fo I prefume he thinks, to punifh him. Every
Circumftance, by which he could deceive the Republic, or de-
fpoil her of her Poffeflions, thefe he takes to himfelf, that you
might have no Pretence to accufe, or complain of Philip, fince
they are neither mentioned in his Letters, nor any of his Me-
morials. Secretary, read the Letter, which -^fchines wrote
himfelf, and which he himfelf fent, that you may fee, whether
it be fuch as I have reprefented. Read.
The LETTER.
You hear, O Men of Athens, this Letter ; how elegant and
humane ; but of the Phocaeans, or Thebans, or any others,
with regard to whom iEfchines had made fuch Declarations,
not one fingle Expreflion. But there is nothing true, nothing
fmcere in this Letter, as you fhall inftantly perceive. The
Alenfes, for the Sake of whofe Reconciliation with thePhar-
falians, he fays he had detained his Colleagues, have experi-
enced fuch a Reconciliation, that they are driven from their
native
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? DEMOSTHENES. 21
native Country, and their City is totally dedrovcd ; while
Philip, who, it feems, is folicitous to iind an Opportunity of
obliging you, does not even profefs an Intention of rcftoring
their Liberty to the Wretches, whom he has taken Prifoners.
It hath often appeared in Evidence before the People, and (Tiall
again appear, that I took with me a Talent for their Ranfom,
while iEfchines, willing to deprive me of the Honour of fuch
an Acl of Humanity, perfuaded Philip to write, that he would
not fuffer them to be ranfomed. But what is ftill of far greater
Importance, he, who WTOte in the firfl Letter we received,
" Thus have I exprefsly mentioned the Benefits I purpofe to
" confer upon you, if I were perfedlly aflured, that an Alli-
** ance could be formed between us," yet the Moment that
Alliance is concluded, he then declares, he knows not in vvhat
Inftance he can oblige you. What 1 did he not know, what
he himfelf had promifed ? He would certainly have known,
if he had not intended to deceive. To convince you, that he
wrote thefe very Words, take his firft Letter, and read me the
Paflage. Begin.
The Passage is read>>
Thus, before he obtained a Peace, he promifed, if you eon-
eluded an Alliance with him, to write what wonderous Obli-
gations he would confer on the Republic ; but when both were
at length obtained, he then declares, he knows not in what
Manner
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? 22 ORATIONSOF
Manner lie can oblige you. If you inform him how he may
ad with Regard to you without Infamy, or Difhonour to him-
felf ; or if he fliould abfolutely promife, and you (liould pre-
vail upon yourfelves to afk a Favour, he then flies for Refuge
to his ufual Pretences, and leaves you nothing, but Excules
and Apologies.
These and many other Circumfiances might have inftantly
convi(fled him, and inftru6ted you not to fuffer your Affairs to
be totally ruined, if his Promifes of refloring the Thefpians
and Plateaus, and his Menaces of immediately chaftifing the
Thebans had not hindered you from perceiving the real State
of your Affairs. However, thefe Promifes and Menaces, if
the Republic alone were fuppofed to hear and be amufed by
them, were not unwifely employed ; but if really defigned to
be carried into Execution, they had better been pafTed over
in Silence. Becaufe if the Thebans were already in fuch a Si-
tuation, that although they forefaw, yet they were unable to
prevent, their Ruin, why were not thefe Menaces executed ?
If that Ruin was prevented by their being thus made fenfible
of their Danger, who was the Difcoverer ? Was it not JEf-
chines ? But PhiHp never intended their Deflrudion, nor did
JEfchines either propofe, or defire it. He therefore ftands ac-
quitted of any Guilt in making the Difcovery. But it was
neceflary, that you fhould be amufed by this Language, and
de-
? ?
permitted them to enjoy their Laws and Conftitution ; their
Senate and Aflemblies. Yet their Povi^er is no longer exerted
in the Deftination of Fleets and Armies, but in punifhing their
own unhappy Citizens. Their Aflemblies are no longer em-
ployed in fuccouring their Allies, or fupporting their own, and
the univerlal Liberties of Greece, but in hearing their Orators
accufe each other, v/ith a Malignity, that offers Violence and
Outrage to the common Sentiments of Humanity. In certain
Confequence, the People are divided into Fadions, and the
public Spirit, that might pofTibly have made fome powerful
and effed:ual Effort againft the common Oppreflbr, is diflipated
and wafled in unavailing and pernicious Contefts.
We are not able to determine upon the Succefs of the firfl
Profecution. -ffifchines was probably acquitted, but with
what Degree of Infamy or Honour is uncertain. In the fe-
cond he was condemned, and although the Fine impofed upon
him
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? ADVERTISEMENT.
him by the Laws was inconfiderable, and which he could
eafily have paid, yet he chofe perpetual Banifhment, rather
than live in Athens under the Charader of a Traitor and In^
former. He retired to Rhodes, where he purchafed a little
Eftate, and taught Rhetoric for his Subfiftcnce. Thefe Cir-
ciimftances appear in Favour of his Innocence ; for we can
hardly fuppofe, that a Man, who muft have been largely re-
warded by Philip for betraying his Country, aad who was at
that Moment a Penfioner of Alexander, could have been re-
duced to fuch Neceflity. But the Athenian People were better
Judges of Eloquence by their Paffions, than of Reaibn and
Juftice by their Underftanding. The Caufe was really that of
Eloquence itfelf ; and in fuch a Caufe Demofthenes muft un-
doubtedly have been fuccefsful. Thus did the Republic lofe
by this unhappy Conteft a Citizen of eminent Abilities, and
Eloquence inferior only to that of Demofthenes.
It now remains to make pubKc Acknowledgement of the
Afliftance I have received in the following Work. The firft
Oration is tranflated into Italian ; the fecond into Latin only ;
the two laft into French and Italian. All thefe I have ufed
without Referve, and, I hope, not without Advantage. Per-
haps, in the common Forms among V/riters, this general Ac-
knowledgement may be fufficient. But it were difingenuous
and ungrateful not to mention a late Edition of our Author
by Dodtor Taylor, in a more particular Manner. This very
valuable
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? ADVERTISEMENT.
valuable Work cannot want my Teftimony to its Merit. Let
me however be permitted to fay, that whatever Thanks are
due to the Diligence and Accuracy of collating Manufcripts
and Editions, or of fearching through all the Writers of An-
tiquity for PafTages, that might afcertain the original Text,
are undoubtedly due to this Gentleman. A great Number of
conjedural Emendations will certainly do honour to his critical
Sagacity ; but his peculiar Merit confifts in his Knowledge
of the Athenian Courts of Judicature ; their Laws and Ufages,
and Terms employed in their Pleadings ; a Kind of Erudition,
that was greatly wanted, and abfolutely neceilary to explain a
thoufand Difficulties in thefe Orations.
How much I am indebted to this Writer will appear in every
Page, and almoft in every Sentence of the following Tranfla-
tion. Yet, it may be objedled, I have fometimes differed from
him in Opinion. Never without Unwillingnefs and Appre-
henfion ; certainly never in a Prefumption of that Equality or
Superiority, which Difference in Opinion generally fuppofes.
I HAVE now finiflied a difficult and a laborious Tafk.
Whatever may be the Merit or Succefs of this Tranflation, I
can truly fay I have endeavoured to deferve the public Appro-
bation ; to be juft to my Subfcribers, and grateful to the Gen-
tleman, who has honoured it with his Patronage.
CO N-
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? CONTENTS.
ORATION Page
XV. Demosthenes againfl: ^schines for Misconduct
in his Embassy - - i
XVI. ^scHiNEs hij Defence - - 155
XVII. ^scHiNES againfl Ctesiphon - 235
XVIII. Demosthenes in Defence of Ctesiphon 358
O R A-
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? (|^j^(M)(SS)G^g)@^>g^gKSS0SiS^
ORATION XV.
Upon an Indiament againft ^ S C H I N E S
for Mifconduft in his Embafly.
. <^1Sai(R)(iS(R);M)(^(R)^(R)(S11XSS(R)GS(R)(i^^(M)(l^'(l^^
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? ORATION XV.
Upon an Indiament againft ^ S C H I N E S for
. Mifcondudl: in his EmbraTy.
WHAT violent Contefts, O Men of Athens, what In-
trigues have appeared during this Trial, I prefumc
you are almoft univerfally fenfible, lince you have
undoubtedly obferved fome certain Perfons, vi^hen the Lots were
drawing at the late Eledion, and You were appointed out-
Judges, importunate and prelling upon you with their Soli-
citations. But I fhall implore, what ought in Equity to be
granted even to them, who do not implore it, that neither
perfonal Friendfliip, nor the Interefl: of any particular Perfon,
may have a greater Influence over you, than your Regard for
Juftice,
The Title of this Oration hath never Juftice, Ju IndiBment upon the Law of
been accurately exprefTed in the Original. Embajfies ; or, as we might exprefs it,
Cicero renders it Orat'w falfe legat'tonis An Jifion upon the Statute. Unable to
contra . Efchinejn ; and other Latin Writ- convey thefe Ideas to his Readers by any
ers, Oratio ie male obita, vmie gejh, ExpreiT:on in our Courts, the Tranflator
and cmentita legatione, from whence the hatli chofen a fimpler, and, he hopes,
Italian, Oratione della falfa anibafcieria. a more intelligible I icie for the Oration. '
None of thefe Translations pay any At- The Reader may find a fhort Account
tendon to the part'cular Meaning of of this Embaffy, Page i/Sof thefirft
Ud'puTr^tirQilx, which lignifies, m the VolunjC.
L;nguage of the Athenian Courts of
B2
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? 4 ORATIONSOF
Juftice, and the Reverence due to that Oath, which each of
you folemnly fwore when lie entered into this Aflembly. Be
convinced, that fuch Conduct will be to you mofl advanta-
geous, and to the whole Republic ; but that the SuppHcations
and Earneftnefs of the declared Advocates in this Caufe are in-
tended for fome private Advantages, for Prevention of which
the Laws have this Day convened You, not to confirm them
as Privileges to the iinjuft.
Our other Citizens, who enter with an upright Intention
into the Service of the Public, although they have already
made Report of their Adminiftration, are always willing, and
even offer themfelves to any fecond Inquiry. In dired Op-
pofition to their Condud is that of i^fchines ; for before he
appeared upon his Trial, and palled the Accounts of his Em-
baffy, he rendered one of the Perfons, who defigned to pro-
fecute him, incapable of giving a legal Evidence againfl: him j (i)
others he deterred with Menaces, taking his Progrefs through
the City for that Purpofe, and introducing, into your Govern-
ment
(i) Timafchus, whom our Orator here He was condemned under the Statute of
aneans, and whom he frequently mentions Infamy, a Law-Term not unHke that
in this Oration, was a Man of Abilities, of Outlawry, by which he was deprived
and Intereft in the Republic. He had of all the Privileges of an Athenian Ci-
dctermincd to profecute TEfchines upon tizen, and rendered incapable of giving
this Otcaru)n, but ^Ichines prevented his Teftimony, or pleading in a Courc
him with an Accuiation upon the Licen- of Judicature,
tioulhels and Impurity of his Manners.
I
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? DEMOSTHENES. 5
ment a Cuftom in itfelf of all others mofl iniquitous, and to
You pernicious. For if whoever hath executed any pubHc
Employment, or engaged in the Adminiftration, can prevent
his being profecuted, by rendering himfelf terrible to his Ac-
cufers, or by any other unjuftifiable Method, you will aflur-
edly be deprived of all Authority.
That I (hall be able to convid this Man of having com-
mitted many atrocious Crimes, and merited the fevereft Pu-
nifhment, I am affured, and abfolutely confident. Yet al-
though I fpeak under this Perfuafion, I will declare, without
Concealment or Difguife, what I greatly dread. All the Trials
at prefent brought before you appear to me to depend not lefs,
O Men of Athens, upon Circumftances of Time, than upon
the Certainty of Fadls j and as a confiderable Length of Time
hath intervened fince this Embafly, I fear it hath created in
you a certain Forgetful nefs of your Wrongs, and even an Ha-
bitude of fuffering them. However, I will inform you, how
you may better underftand the Juftice of the Caufe, and pro-
nounce an equitable Sentence upon it ; if you, who are ap-
pointed our Judges, will confider and determine among your-
felves, what Account it may be of Advantage to the Repub-
lic to demand from an Ambaflador ; firft, what Reports he
made of his Embally, when he returned 3 fecondly, \^'hat
Meafures he recommended ; thirdly, what Inflirudions you
gave him J then recoiled: the Circumftances of the Timesj^
and
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? 6 ORATIONSOF
and afterwards Inquire, whether in all thefe Inftances he hath
preferved his Integrity iincorrupted. Wherefore thefe Inqui-
ries ? Becaufe from his Anfwers it is in your Power to deter-
mine concerning particular Conjundures ; for if thofe Anfwers
are true, You will pronounce the proper Sentence ; if falfe, the
contrary. But you generally efteem the Counfels of your
Ambafladors more worthy, than any other, of your Confi-
dence ; You hear and depend upon them, as perfe<ftly know-
ing in the Affairs, for which they were fcnt. Nothing there-
fore is more unworthy the Chara<5ler of an Ambaffador, than
to be convidled of having given you futile and pernicious Coun-
fel. Thofe Inftrudions, which you yourfelves gave iEfchines,
both for his Words and Adlions ; which you exprefsly decreed
he fhould obey, it was moft fitting he fhould have executed.
This you will allow. But wherefore an Account of any par-
ticular Time ? Becaufe, O Men of Athens, it often happens,
that in Affairs of greateft Moment, fome favourable Occafion
of ading is included in a very fmall Space ot Time, and
whoever voluntarily yields, or betrays it to his Enemy, fliall
never, with all his befl: F>ndeavours, be able to recover it again.
But did he yield for nothing, or was he corrupted to betray ?
Receiving an))- Emolument for fupporting Meafures injurious
to the Republic, I am confcious, you will all pronounce an
atrocious Crime, and worthy of your fevercil: Indignation. Our
f-cgifiator hath not perfectly defined this Crime, but hath
^mply forbidden any Man to receive Prcfents ; convinced, as
I ima-
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? DEMOSTHENES. 7
I imagine, that whoever hath once received a bribe ; whoever
hath been once corrupted, will never be a iafe and upright
Judge, where the Interefts of the Republic arc concerned.
If I can therefore manifeftly demonftrate, that j^^fchines
hath not uttered one iingle Truth in the Reports of his Em-
bafly; that he hindered the People from being informed by
me of the real State of their Affairs ; that he hath ever advifed
You in dire<fl; Oppofition to your Interefts ; that he hath not
executed thofe Inftrudlions, with which he was charged in his
Embafly ; that he idly wafted the Time, in which many fa-
vourable Conjundlures, and thofe in Affairs of utmoft Impor-
tance, were treacheroufly loft to the Republic ; that he and
Philocrates have received Prefents, and even Bribes, from Phi-
lip ; if I prove thefe Accufations, let him be condemned ; let
him fuffer a Punifhment, proportioned to his Guilt. 11, on
the contrary, I cannot demonftrate thefe Fads, efteem me a
Calumniator, and let him be acquitted. But although I might
accufe him, beftdes thefe, of many other enormous Offences^
O Men of Athens, which would juftly render him an Objedl
of your univerfal Deteftation, yet I rather choofe, before I
enter upon my future Proofs, to recall to your Remembrance
(ftnce I am affured many of you can eaftly remember) what
Rank ^Ichines affumed to himfelf upon his Entrance into the
Adminiftradon, and what Kind of Harangues he held it ne-
ceffary for him to make againft Philip in every Aftembly of the
People,^
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? 8 ORATIONSOF
People, that by his own Adlions, his own iirft Orations, ^ou
may be convinced, he ftands convided of receiving Bribes.
This therefore is the Man, who firft of all our Athenians
was fenfible, as he declared in his Harangues to the People,
that Philip was forming Defigns againft the common Liberties
of Greece, and had already corrupted fome certain Magiftrates
in Arcadia : who engaged Ifchander, an Under-A6lor to Ne-
optolemus, to play the fecond Charafter to him in this Tra-
gedy : (2) who propofed an Inquiry into thefe Affairs to the
Senate ; propofed it to the People, and perfuaded you to fend
Ambafladors for appointing a Congrefs here to confult upon
a Declaration of War againft Philip : who, when he returned
from Arcadia, repeated upon Memory thofe long and pompous
Orations, which he affirmed he had pronounced at MegalopoHs,
before the fupreme Council of Arcadia, in Support of your
Interefts againft Hieronymus, who fpoke in Defence of Philip ;
and laftly, who enumerated the mighty Calamities, thefe Mer-
cenaries, thefe Receivers of Money from Philip, occaftoned
not only to their own Countries in particular, but to the ge-
neral State of Greece.
While
(2) Our Orator never lofcs any Op- a Company of Comedians, maintained
portunity of infulting iEfchines upon his by Neoptolemus, the greatefc Adur of
Profeflion as a Player. He had carried his Age. He now introduces him into
llchnnder with him from Arcadia to the Politics of his Adminifcration, and
Athens, and had probably entered him a engages him to play fome under Cha-
Performer of fecond Charaflers (or, as raster in this Tragedy of hi? Qwn E{T}-
we might exprefs it) ap Under-Aftor in bafTy.
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? DEMOSTHENES. 9
While he was in this Manner opening his Adminiftration,
and exhibiting this Specimen of himfelf, you were perfuaded
by Ariftodemus, and others, whole Reports from Macedonia
brought you home nothing but Falfehood, to fend Ambafia-
dors to Phihp to negotiate a Peace. ^Efchines was appointed
one of thefe Ambaffadors, not to betray your proper Domi-
nions to your Enemies, or to place a Confidence in Philip, but
'to guard others from joining in fuch pernicious Pradices. For
by thofe Orations, which he repeated to you, and by his de-
clared Enmity to Philip, you with reafon entertained this
Opinion of him. He afterwards came to me, and agreed,
that we fhould mutually fupport each other in our Embafly,
aiid with many Arguments urged the Neceffity of our guarding
againfl: the polluted and fhamelefs Philocrates. Nor indeed,
until! our Return from our firft Embafiy, did even I fufpecV,
O Men of Athens, that ^fchines was corrupted, and had fold
himfelf. For befides his other Speeches, which I have already
mentioned, he rofe in the firft AfTembly, where you debated
upon the Peace, and opened his Oration with fome Expref-
fions, which, I believe, I can repeat in the very Words he
fpoke. '* Had Philocrates earneftly and induflrioully medi-
" tated, O Men of Athens, in what Manner he might befl
*' oppofe the Peace, he could never, in my Opinion, find a
Vol, II. C " bet-
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? lo ORATIONSOF
<' better Method than in the Decrees he propofes. For my
" own Part, while any one fingle Athenian furvives, never
" will I perfuade the ' Commonwealth to conclude fiich a
" Peace ; however I declare, that Peace, in general, is abfo-
" lutely neceflary. " Thus concife were his Exprefllons ; thus
moderate his Sentiments. But although he had thus expreffed
himfelf in our firft AfTembly ; though You yourfelves heard
him, yet the very next Day, when of Neceflity the Peace was
to be ratified, while I fupported the common Decrees of our
Confederates, and contended for a juft and honourable Peace i
while you approved of the Meafures I propofed, and determined
not to hear even the Voice of that execrable Philocrates, at
this very Time did ^Efehines rife, and harangue the People in,
his Defence, O Jupiter and all ye Gods ! in Exprefllons juftly
meriting a thoufand Deaths : " That it was no longer your
*' Duty to remember your Anceftors, or to fuffer thofe, who.
" mention to you their Trophies, their naval Vidories ; that
'< he would himfelf propofe and eftablifh a Law, by which
" you fhould never fend Succours to any Grecian State, by
" whom you had not before been aflifted. " Thus did this
miferable and fhamelefs Wretch dare to fpeak even in the Pre-
fencc, and Hearing of thofe very Ambafladors, whom you had
convened through all Greece by his Perfuafion, before he had
fbld himfelf to Philip.
When
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? DEMOSTHENES. n
When you had again, O Men of Athens, decreed him one
of your Ambafladors for demanding Philip's Oath in Ratifica-
tion of the Peace, in what Manner he confumed the Time,
and ruined the whole Affairs of the Republic, and what fre-
quent Quarrels arofe between us, becaufe I endeavoured to op-
pofe him, you fhall inftantly hear. When we returned from
our fecond Embafly, appointed for demanding Philip's Oath
and the Subjed of your prefent Inquiries ; when we found
not ev^n the leaft Article performed of all that had been pro-
mifcd, and therefore reafonably expelled ; when we faw you
were in every Inftance deceived, and that your AmbafTadors
adled in diredl Contradidion to your Decrees, we appeared
before the Senate. Many of you are confcious of the Fadls
1 am going to relate, for the Houfe was crouded with private
Citizens. I came forward, and laid the whole Truth before
the Senate, and accufed our guilty Ambafladors, from the very
firft Hopes brought you home by Ctefiphon and Ariftodemus.
Even when you had ratified the Peace, I enumerated every
Particular, which this bad Man had uttered in his Harangues ;
every Circumftance, by which they had reduced the Common-
wealth to that unhappy Crifis. What yet remained to us (the
Phoc^eans and Thermopyls) I counfelled you not to abandon ;
nor ever to commit the fame Errors again, nor to be held in
Sufpence by Hopes, repeated upon Hopes, by Promifes, on
C 2 Pro-
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? ,2 ORATIONSOF
Promifes ; nor to fuffer your Affairs to be reduced to fucli ex-
treme Deflrudion. Such the Counfel I gave, and the Senate
was convinced.
When an Affembly was afterwards convened; when it was
become neceflary to give you an Account of our Embaily^
this j^fchines, firft of all our Ambaffadors came forward (and
now by Jupiter and all our Deities I conjure you, endeavour
with me to recoiled, whether I repeat the Truth, for tliefe are
certainly the Circumftances, by which your Affairs were wholly
diftreffed and ruined) but he totally abftained from making
any Report with Regard to his own Condud during his Em_
baffy, or to what I had declared in the Senate, if perchance
he had entertained any Doubt of the Truth of what I de-
clared, but fuch an Oration did he make, containing Advan-
tacres fo numerous and fo great, that he abfolutely forced you
all into his Opinion. For he affirmed, he had perfuaded Phi-
lip to comply with every Meafure, wherein the Interefts of
the Republic were concerned, both with regard to the Caufe
depending before the Amphidyons, and in every other In-
ftance. (3) He then made a Recital of a long Harangue,
(3) The Amphidyons, however de- mifed to influence their Suffrages in Fa-
oenerate from the Virtue of their origi- vour of the Phocasans, as Allies and
nal Conftitution, ftill preferved an Ap- Friends of the Republic,
pearance of their ancient Authority, and The Reader may find fome Account
affumed a Right to determine upon the of the Amphidtyons in the Preface to
Juftice of the Qiiarrel between the Pho- the firfl Volume ; twelfth Page.
ca;ans and Thcbans. Philip had pro-
which
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? DEMOSTHENES. 13
which he informed us he had pronounced againft the Thebans
in the prefence of Phihp ; he repeated the general Heads of
it, and then computed, that by his pecuHar Condu6l in this
Embafly, you fliould hear, within two or three Days, with-
out your leaving home, or undertaking any Expedition, or
giving yourfelves the leaft Solicitude, that Thebes alone, with-
out an Invasion of the reft of Bceotia, was befieged ; that
Thefpiae and Platasa were again inhabited ; that Apollo's Trea-
fures were repaid Him, not by the Phocaeans, but the The-
bans, who had themfelves formed a Defio-n of feizino: his
Temple. (4) For ^fchines boafted of his having taught Phi-
lip, that they, who purpofe to commit a Crime, are not lefs
impious, than they, who really with their own Hands perpe-
trate the Fa(5l. He then affured us, that the Thebans, in Re-
fentment, had proclaimed a Reward for his Head. Laftly,
he affirmed his having heard, that the Euboeans were terrified,
(4) Tuv CaXiva-uvTuv r-^v kutccXti^iv committed the Sacrilege. Thus the rea-
T>> *? fl? . Tranflated by Wolfius, qui au- foning is direft and conclufive, which by
tores fuijfent templi occupandi, and he then his Tranflation is broken and imperfefl.
explains his Tranflation, as if the 1 he- The Italian Tranflator renders the Paf-
bans had advifed the Phocsans to feize fage, / quali haveano con/igliato, que fi
the Temple of Apollo. In his Notes occupajfe il tempio. Dodlor Taylor, by
he very juftly condemns the Abfurdity giving us . Wolfius his Tranflation and
of fuppofing fuch Advice, and remarks, his Note without any Remark upon it,
that the Fadt is unfupported by Hiftory. has given his own Authority to the Mif-
But the Abfurdity is totally his own. take ; it therefore becomes necelTary to
The Thebans had formed a Bejign of feiz- fay, it muft have efcaped that very ac-
ing this Temple, and were therefore equally curate and learned Editor.
criminal, as the Phcc^cans, ivho really
and
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? 14 ORATIONSOF
and confounded at the Reconciliation between Philip and the
Republic ; that they had declared ; " Ambafladors, it hath
" not efcaped us, upon what Conditions you have concluded
" a Peace with Philip ; neither are we ignorant, that you
" have ceded Amphipolis to him, nor that he hath promifed
" to deliver up Euboea to you. " Another important Affair
he affured you he had regulated, which hov/ever he would
not yet mention openly, becaufe at prefent fome of his Col-
leagues envied him. He thus obfcurely hinted at me, and
the Ceffion of Oropus. (5)
Being, with all Appearance of Juftice, much honoured
for his Condudl ; acknowledged a very powerful Orator, and a
Man of admirable Abilities, he with much Solemnity de-
fcended from the Tribunal. I then arofe; I declared my
total Ignorance of thefe Promifes, and attempted to repeat
fome Circumflances, which I had mentioned before in the Se-
nate, while iEfchines on one Side, and this Philocrates on the
other, clamoroufly interrupted, and at length abfolutely mocked
me. You laughed, nor would either hear, nor be perfuaded
to believe, except what jEfchines had declared : and, by the
(5) Oropus, by its Situation on the Acknowledgement of the Succours they '
Borders of Attica and Boeotia, was the had fent him againfl: the Athenians. Our '
Occafion of frequent Contefts between Orator here charges ^fchines with infi-
the two States. It had been taken from nuating, that PhiHp had promifed him
Athens by Themefion, Tyrant of Ere- to reftore it the Republic.
fria, who ceded it to the Thebans, in
8 Gods,
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? DEMOSTHENES. 15
Gods, you a6led thus, in my Judgement, not without Reafon.
For who could have endured, while he expeded Advantages
fo great, fo numerous, to hear even the PofTibility of them
denied, and the Perfons, who wrought fuch Wonders, ac-
cufed ? All other Coniiderations were certainly of little Im-
portance, when compared to fuch Hopes and Expedations.
Whoever contradidled them, appeared actuated merely by a
Spirit of Oppofition and Envy ; while all his Propofals were
thought wonderfully great, and advantageous to the Republic.
But to what Purpofe have I now recollected, for the firft
Time, thefe Circumflances, and repeated thefe Harangues ?
For one, O Men of Athens, aa important and principal Rea-
fon ; that none of you, who fliall hereafter hear me accufe
thefe Meafures, may imagine me fevere, and exceflive in my
Cenfures, or afk with Wonder, *' Why did you not upon the
" Inftant mention, and inform us of theie Circumftances ;"
but that you may rather recolledl the Promifes, which thefe
People made upon all Occafions, and by which they excluded,
others from the Liberty of fpeaking : that you may remem-
ber the famous Declaration of ^^fchines, and be convinced,
that, in addition to all his other Injuries, you have been hin-
dered from hearing the Truth at the immediate Inftant, when
it was moft neceffary, and deceived by Hopes, Impoftures, and
Promifes. This was the firft, and indeed the principal Rea-
fen, for which I have recolleded thefe Circumftances> The
fecond
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? i6 ORATIONSOF
fecond, and not of lefs Importance, that when you remember
the whole Tenour of his Adminiftration, while he was yet
iincorrupted, how incredulous with Regard to Philip ; how
ftrongly fortified againft him, you may confider how fudden
were his Confidence and Friendfhip. Laftly, that if his Pro-
mifes have been attended with Succefs^ if his Adminiftration
hath been alorious to the Commonwealth, you may then com-
pute, that he adled with Integrity, and for the public Advan-
tage ; on the contrary, if the Event hath always happened in
diredl Contradidion to what he promifed ; if he hath brought
much Diflionour, and imminent Danger upon the Republic,
by a fordid Avarice, and the Proftitution of Truth, you may-
then account for the Alteration.
But fince 1 have proceeded thus far, I would willingly
mention, before all other Confiderations, the Manner in which
your Ambaffadors deprived you of all Diredion in the Affairs
of the Phocaeans. Nor fhould any of our Judges, while he
confiders the Greatnefs of thofe Affairs, imagine that ^fchines,
according to the general Eftimation of his Charader, was in-
capable of committing thofe Crimes, of which he is accufed.
You fhould fix your Attention to this Confideration alone,
that whomfoever you have appointed to any fuch Employ-
ment, and intrufted with a Power to difpofe of all Conjunc-
tures which may happen to arife, that Man, if he thought
proper to follow the Example of jl)fchines in felling himfelf
to
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? DEMOSTHENES. 17
to your Enemies, is capable of deceiving and deluding you,
. and producing Mifchiefs as great, as thofe, which ^fchincs
himfelf hath occafioned. But although you often employ
very worthlefs People in the Direction of your Affairs, not for
that Reafon are thofe Affairs themfelves worthlefs, or do not
become honourable to the Republic, when they are conduced
by others. Far otherwife. Let us then conclude, that Philip
did indeed deftroy the Phocaeans, but that thefe Ambaffidors
affifted him. It is your Duty therefore to confider and in-
quire, whether, as far as the Prefervation of the Phocaeans
depended on their Embafly, they have voluntarily ruined,
and deffroyed that People; not whether Philip was powerful
enough in himfelf to have deftroyed them. For to what Pur-
pofe fuch Inquiries ? But give me the Decree of the Senate,
which Vv'as formed when I made my Report of our Embafiy ;
then give me the Teftimony of the Clerk, who laid it before
the Senate, that you may be convinced, I was not then filent,
or now alone feparate myfelf from tlieir Adminiftration, but
that I inffantly accufed them, and forefaw our prefent Cala-
mities. The Senate, who were not hindered from hearing
me declare the Truth, neither applauded, nor thought them
worthy of being invited to any public Entertainment, although,
fince the Foundation of the City, no other Ambaffadors had
ever fuffered fuch an Indignity; not even Timagoras, whom
the People afterwards capitally condemned. But thefe Am-
VoL. II. D baffadors
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? i8 ORATIONSOF
bafladors fuffered it. Firfl read the Teftimony j then the De-
cree.
Testimony. Decree.
Here are no Praifes, no Invitation from the Senate to the Am-
bafladors ; or if ^fchines aflerts the contrary, let him prove,
let him make them appear. But it is impofllble.
Indeed, if we had all afted in the fame Manner, mofi:
juftly had the Senate refufed its Praifes to us all; for undeniably
our Condudt in general was greatly criminal. But if fome of us
preferved, while others betrayed, their Integrity, it is apparent,
that the Innocent have been obliged to participate of one com-
mon Infamy with the Guilty. " But how fhall you all with-
" out Difficulty diftinguifh, who is guilty ? " Remember, who
blamed the Conduct of thefe Ambafladors upon the Inftant
they returned. For it is manifeft, that a Man, who was con-
fcious of his own Guilt, would have been contented with being
filcnt ; and if he could have eluded an immediate Inquiry,
would never afterwards render an Account of his Condud:.
But to the Man, who is confcious of his Innocence, it is mod
afflidling to be filent, when his Silence expofes him to the Suf-
picion of being a Partner in the Crimes and Guilt of others.
But I ftood forth the Accufer of thefe AmbafTadors, when
they returned from their Embafly, nor have ever by any of
them been accufed. .
Such
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? DEMOSTHENES. 19
Such was the Decree of the Senate ; but when a general
Aflembly was convened, and PhiHp had marched into Ther-
mopylae (for their principal Crime was having given Philip an
Opportunity of furprifing the Phocaeans) when it was become
necefTary for you to take Cognizance of your Affairs, to con-
fult, and to execute, they rendered it difficult for you at once
to hear of PhiHp's Approach, and to determine how you fhould
aft. In addition to thefe Mifchiefs no Man read the Senate's
Decree to the People ; the People heard it not ; but -^fchines
harangued the Aflembly, as I have repeated to you, upon the
numerous and magnificent Advantages, which Philip (fo he
affured us) had granted to his Perfuafions, and for which the
Thebans had fet a Price upon his Head. Thus, although you were
terrified at Philip's March, and angry at them, who had not
informed you of it, yet you became more temperate, and even
to fuch a Degree, as to expert whatever you thought proper
to defire. You would neither hear me fpeak, nor any other.
Philip's Letter was then read, which ^^fchines, who had ftaid
behind us in Macedonia, had himfelf written. It was an open,
manifeft Defence of the guilty Adminiftration of his Collegues.
For it mentions his having hindered them, when they were
determined to go into the Cities of Greece, and require the
Oaths of Philip's Confederates in Ratification of the Peace,
and his having detained them, that they might affift him in
reconciling the Alenfes and Pharfalians, thus taking from them,-
D 2 and
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? 20 ORATIONSOF
and appropriating to himfelf, all their Crimes. But with Re-
gard to the Phocseans, and Thefpians, and all the Promifes he
had made, not a Tingle Syllable. Nor did this happen by
meer Accident; but that Vengeance, which was juftly due
to thofe, who had never aded, during their Embaffy, in Obe-
dience to your Decrees, he voluntarily takes upon himfelf, and
profefles himfelf the Caufe of all their Crimes, becaufe you
are unable, fo I prefume he thinks, to punifh him. Every
Circumftance, by which he could deceive the Republic, or de-
fpoil her of her Poffeflions, thefe he takes to himfelf, that you
might have no Pretence to accufe, or complain of Philip, fince
they are neither mentioned in his Letters, nor any of his Me-
morials. Secretary, read the Letter, which -^fchines wrote
himfelf, and which he himfelf fent, that you may fee, whether
it be fuch as I have reprefented. Read.
The LETTER.
You hear, O Men of Athens, this Letter ; how elegant and
humane ; but of the Phocaeans, or Thebans, or any others,
with regard to whom iEfchines had made fuch Declarations,
not one fingle Expreflion. But there is nothing true, nothing
fmcere in this Letter, as you fhall inftantly perceive. The
Alenfes, for the Sake of whofe Reconciliation with thePhar-
falians, he fays he had detained his Colleagues, have experi-
enced fuch a Reconciliation, that they are driven from their
native
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? DEMOSTHENES. 21
native Country, and their City is totally dedrovcd ; while
Philip, who, it feems, is folicitous to iind an Opportunity of
obliging you, does not even profefs an Intention of rcftoring
their Liberty to the Wretches, whom he has taken Prifoners.
It hath often appeared in Evidence before the People, and (Tiall
again appear, that I took with me a Talent for their Ranfom,
while iEfchines, willing to deprive me of the Honour of fuch
an Acl of Humanity, perfuaded Philip to write, that he would
not fuffer them to be ranfomed. But what is ftill of far greater
Importance, he, who WTOte in the firfl Letter we received,
" Thus have I exprefsly mentioned the Benefits I purpofe to
" confer upon you, if I were perfedlly aflured, that an Alli-
** ance could be formed between us," yet the Moment that
Alliance is concluded, he then declares, he knows not in vvhat
Inftance he can oblige you. What 1 did he not know, what
he himfelf had promifed ? He would certainly have known,
if he had not intended to deceive. To convince you, that he
wrote thefe very Words, take his firft Letter, and read me the
Paflage. Begin.
The Passage is read>>
Thus, before he obtained a Peace, he promifed, if you eon-
eluded an Alliance with him, to write what wonderous Obli-
gations he would confer on the Republic ; but when both were
at length obtained, he then declares, he knows not in what
Manner
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-27 04:55 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/uc2. ark:/13960/t9x06c69h Public Domain / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd
? 22 ORATIONSOF
Manner lie can oblige you. If you inform him how he may
ad with Regard to you without Infamy, or Difhonour to him-
felf ; or if he fliould abfolutely promife, and you (liould pre-
vail upon yourfelves to afk a Favour, he then flies for Refuge
to his ufual Pretences, and leaves you nothing, but Excules
and Apologies.
These and many other Circumfiances might have inftantly
convi(fled him, and inftru6ted you not to fuffer your Affairs to
be totally ruined, if his Promifes of refloring the Thefpians
and Plateaus, and his Menaces of immediately chaftifing the
Thebans had not hindered you from perceiving the real State
of your Affairs. However, thefe Promifes and Menaces, if
the Republic alone were fuppofed to hear and be amufed by
them, were not unwifely employed ; but if really defigned to
be carried into Execution, they had better been pafTed over
in Silence. Becaufe if the Thebans were already in fuch a Si-
tuation, that although they forefaw, yet they were unable to
prevent, their Ruin, why were not thefe Menaces executed ?
If that Ruin was prevented by their being thus made fenfible
of their Danger, who was the Difcoverer ? Was it not JEf-
chines ? But PhiHp never intended their Deflrudion, nor did
JEfchines either propofe, or defire it. He therefore ftands ac-
quitted of any Guilt in making the Difcovery. But it was
neceflary, that you fhould be amufed by this Language, and
de-
? ?
