Thus my good Genius fpeaks, and bids advife
The Sons of Athens to be juft and wife ;
To mark attentive what a Stream of Woes
From civil Difcord, and Contention flows ;
What beauteous Order fhines, where Juftice reigns,,.
The Sons of Athens to be juft and wife ;
To mark attentive what a Stream of Woes
From civil Difcord, and Contention flows ;
What beauteous Order fhines, where Juftice reigns,,.
Demosthenes - Orations - v2
io6 O R A T I O N S O F
the Senate, and afterwards that of the People (while In thofe
Affemblies, in which you were to deliberate upon the Peace,
there were yet no Sufpicions of their Condud rumoured abroad,
nor any apparent Injury committed by them) according to the
Ufages eftablifhed by Law, I pronounced their Panegyric, and
invited them to the Prytanacum. Befides, I confefs I entertained
Philip's Ambafladors moft hofpitably ; indeed, O Men of
Athens, moft fplendidly. For having obferved in Macedonia,
that they gloried in the Luxury of fuch Entertainments, as
Objedis of Happinefs and Splendor, I inftantly thought myfelf
obliged to aflume a Superiority over them, and to difplay a
greater Spirit of Magnificence. But uSfchines will urge it as an
Objecftion, and exclaim, " Demofthenes himfelf pronounced
*' our Panegyric; Demofthenes entertained Philip's Ambafta-
dors," but without diftinguifhing the Date of thefe Fads.
They happened, however, before the Republic was injured;
before thefe Traitors had apparently fold themfelves; when
Philip's Ambafladors were but juft arrived, and the People were
yet to hear their Propofals ; when ^(chines had not openly
pleaded the Caufe of Philocrates, and when he himfelf had not
propofed his Decree. If he urges thefe Objedions, do you
remember the Date of thefe Tranfadlions ; that they preceded
their Crimes, and that afterwards I never had any Society with
them, any Communication. Read the Evidence>>
The Evidence>>
But
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? DEMOSTHENES. 107
But perhaps his Brothers, Philocrates, and Aphobetus will
undertake his Defence ; to both of whom you may return a
very full and reafonable Reply ; but it is neceflary to fpeak with
Freedom, and without referve. " We are not ignorant that you,
** Philocrates, are a Painter of earthen Vafes for Perfumers, and
" of Bacchanalian Cymbals; that your Brothers Aphobetus,
" and iEfchines, are public-Notaries by Profeffion, and by
" Birth of the common People (Circum fiances indeed removed
" from Infamy, but certainly not meriting any military Com-
" mand) yet we have efteemed you worthy of EmbaiTics,
" Commiflions in our Armies, and all the higheft Dignities of
the Republic. Suppofe then you never have committed a
Crime, we do not therefore owe you any Obligation, but
you are in Gratitude indebted to us for the Employments you
hold, becaufe we paffed by many others more deferving,
" and adorned you with thefe Honours. If either of you hath
" been faulty in thefe Employments, with which you were thus
" diftinguifhed, efpecially as they were of fuch Importance,
** how much rather fhould you be detefted, than acquitted? "
In my Opinion, much rather.
But they will perhaps grow violent, and being, as they are,
clamorous, and impudent, they will aflert, that defending a
Brother is always pardonable. Do not give way to this Afier-
tion, but be convinced, that as it is their Duty to be anxious
P 2 for
(C
C(
<(
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? io8 O R A T I O N S O F
for the Safety of their Brother, fo is it yours to defend the Laws,
the whole RepubUc, and efpecially to preferve the Oaths invio-
lable, which you took before you fat upon this Tribunal. But
if they folicit you to acquit this Man, confider whether they
make the Requeft upon a Prefuinption of his appearing innocent
or guilty ? If innocent, I myfelf declare for his acquittal ; if
they defire it upon any other Terms, they defire you to perjure
yourfelves. Becaufe, although the Suffrage be given in fecret,
it does not therefore efcape the Knowledge of the Gods. For
the Legiflator, in this, and all other Inftances, mofl: excellent,
hath pronounced*, " the fuffrages fhall be given in fecret. "
Wherefore? That the Criminal may never know the Man,
to whom he is obliged. But the Gods, and the fupreme Divi-
nity will know the Man, who hath not pronounced an upright
Sentence j and it is infinitely more eligible to expert from them
our own Happinefs, and that of our Pofterity, for giving
Judgement with Juftice and Equity, than to fix a fecret and
uncertain Obligation upon the Criminal, or to acquit this Man,
who hath himfelf given Evidence againft himfelf. For what
more unexceptionable Witneis, jEfchines, that you have com-
mitted many flagrant Villainies in your Embafly, can I poflibly
produce, than you againft yourfelf? Even that fevere and ex-
traordinary Punifliment, which you thought proper to infli(5t
upon him, who propofed to deted: your Crimes, openly declares
what Vengeance you yourfelf exped:, if your Judges are informed
of your Condudl.
His
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? DEMOSTHENES. 109
His own Pra(flices, therefore, ifyoubewife, fLall be turned
againft him, not only becaufe they are powerhil Proofs of the
Manner, in which he hath executed his Embafly, but becaufe
when he was himfelf an Accufer, he made ufe of thofe very
Expreflions, which may now be retorted upon his own Head,
For that Juftice, which you pronounced, when you profecuted
Timarchus, that very Juftice ought to be enforced againft you
by others. He then declared to the Judges, " Demofthenes
" will undertake his Defence, and accufe me of Mifcondudl
" in my Embafly, and if he can feduce you by the Power of
" Words, he will grow petulant, and wander about vaunting
" him of the Circumftances, in what Manner, by what
*' Force of Arguments, he feduced the Judges from the Quef-
" tion, and took from them the very Cognizance of the Fa6t.
" But do not adt thus, Demofthenes. The Subject of Difpute,
" make that the Subjedt of your Defence. " But, iEfchines,
when you profecuted Timarchus, you had it in your Power to
urge what Accufations, and make ufe of what Arguments you
pleafed. Yet unable to produce any Evidence of the Crimes,
of which you accufed him, you affured the Judges,
What all report can never be a Lie,
And born a Goddefs, Fame can never die.
But, -S^fchines, this whole AfTembly declares, tliat you have
taken Bribes from Philip, and the Remark may therefore be
retorted againft you.
What all report can never be a Lie,
I - Yet
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? no ORATIONSOF
Yet confider the Reafon, why more People accufe you, than
Timarchus. Him, his Neighbours hardly knew. But there is
neither Greek, nor Barbarian, who does not declare, that you
and your Colleagues have taken Bribes in your Embafly. If
Fame therefore may be relied upon, it will appear againft you
in the Opinion of thoufands. That we ought to rely upon her,
becaufe (he is a Goddefs, and becaufe the Poet was wife, who
made thefe Verfes, you yourfelf have determined.
Having then colleded fome Iambics out of Sophocles he
concluded.
Who holds licentious Converfe with the wicked,
I afk not of his Morals, well convinc'd.
He differs not from thofe, he loves, and lives with.
" Are you then ignorant," fays he, among other ExprefHons of
the fame Kind, " what Opinion you ought to conceive of the
" Man, who goes into Aviaries, and walks with Pittalacus ? " (39)
Now, -ffifchines, I can with exceeding Aptnefs make ufe of
thefe Iambics againft you, and if I repeat them to your Judges,
I fhall repeat them with Juftice and Propriety. Whoever k
delighted with the Converfation of Philocrates, and enters into
his Schemes of Embafly, I never aiked, being perfedly convin-
ced, whether he had taken Prefents like Philocrates, who confefies
it,
(39) Pittalacus was probaWy a Citizen among their Amufements to go into
of diflblute, effeminate Manners, with Aviaries, but, very poffibly, not to fee
whom Timarchus was intimate. It was the Birds fight.
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? DEMOSTHENES. m
it. But when he calls others Tranfcribers of common-place
Sentences and Plagiaries of Verfes; when he endeavours to treat
them with Contempt, he may be very clearly convidtcd of being
himfelf obnoxious to thefe Titles; (4. 0) becaufe thefe Verfes are
taken out of Phienice, a Tragedy of Euripides, which neither
TheodoruSj nor Ariftodemus (to whom ^fchines a6led his third-
rate Chara<flers) ever performed ; butMolon, only, and fome of
our ancient Tragedians. (41) Yet Theodorus and Ariftodemus
often reprefented the Antigone of Sophocles, in which are many
beautiful Verfes, and to you of great Importance, which JEC-
chines had frequently repeated on the Stage, and perfedly well
remembers, but which he has now pafled over in Silence. You
know, it is an Honour peculiar to the third-Rate Actors in our
Tragedies to make their Entrance in the Charaders of Tyrants,
and pompoufly holding their Scepters in their Hands. Recoi-
led: therefore in this Tragedy the Lines, which Sophocles made
for Creon-^^fchines, but which he never repeated, either in
his Embafly, or to the Judges in the Trial of Timarchus.
Read.
, Pio-
(40) The Word in the Original, which (41) Demofthenes feems to wonder
IS here tranflated Plagiary, fignifies in where ^fchines got thefe Verfes, as if
general a Deceiver, an Impoftor ? , neither his Reading extended no farther than the
of which will explain the Senfe of the Plays, in whicii he himfelf had afted.
Context, or account for the Contempt, Molon was an ancient Adtor, whom lEl'-
with which they are ufed. ^fchines chines had never fecn. Theodcrus and
had probably repeated thefe Verfes as his Ariftodemus had never performed tlfe
own, for otherwife it were impertinent to Antigone of Euripides,
tell the People they were written by Eu-
ripides.
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? TI2 ORATIONS OF
Pronounce on no Man's Genius, Wifdom, Senfc,
Till Power, and public Bufinefs afcertain
His doubtful Charader. As for myfelf,
Who takes the fole Diredion of the State,
Nor yields him to the Counfels of the wife,
Nor fpeaks, through Fear, the Dictates of his Heart,
I hold him worthlefs, and fhall ever hold him.
He too is vile, who to his Country's Good,
Prefers liis Friend ; Witnefs all-feeing Jove
I never will be filent, when I fee
Deftrudion ftalking o'er my native Land,
Nor to my bofom'd Confidence receive
My Country's Foe; convinc'd that in her Welfare
We fail in Safety down the Tide of Life,
And form our happieft Friendftiips for the Voyage.
Not one of thefe Verfes did ever ^fchines repeat to himfelf
during his Embafly ; but having preferred the Hofpitality and
Friendfliip of Philip to the Interefts of the Commonwealth, as
of greater Importance to him and more profitable, he heartily
bad Farewel to the Wifdom of Sophocles. He neither declared,
nor gave you Notice of Philip's Expedition againfl; the Phocseans,
although he faw Defirudlion advancing along with it. On the
contrary, he concealed, he affifted it, he oppofed whoever
would hav^e given their Sentiments upon it, not remembring,
that in our Country alone " we fail in Safety down the Tide
*'of
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? DEMOSTHENES. 113
" of Life ;" and that his Mother performed in it her holy Myftc-
ries and Luftrations ; that fhc picked up a LiveHhood by
plundering the Houfcs of thofe, who made ufe of her Incanta-
tions, and thus educated t<liefe her illuftrious Sons; while their
Father, as I have heard fome old People relate, taught Children
their Alphabet, according to the befl of his Abilities, near the
Temple of the Gods of Phyfic. In this City however he
lived, where /Efchines and his Brothers, by being under-
Clerks, and writing in all our public OjfHces, got a little Money;
and at length, being appointed Notaries by you, they were
maintained two Years in the vaulted Cells adjoining our
Temples, from whence i^fchines was fent an Ambaflador to
Philip. None of thefe Circumftances did he regard, nor was
anxious, that the Republic might fail in Safety, but overfet,
and funk, and to the utmoft of his Power betrayed her to her
Enemies. Art thou not then a Plagiary? Yes; and impious.
Art thou not a Tranfcribcr of Sentences? Yes ; and an Enemy
to the Gods. The Verfcs you had often repeated upon the
Stage, and which you faithfully remembered, thofe you paflcd
over in Silence, but what you never aded in your Life, }'ou
very curioufly fought for, and repeated in public to ruin }^our
Fellow-Citizens,
Now confider the Remarks he made with regard to Solon.
He faid the Statue of Solon, clothed in his Tunic, and holding
his Hands within the Folds of his Robe, was eredled as an
Vol. II. Q^ Example
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? 114 ORATIONSOF
Example of the Modefty of the Orators in his Time. Thus
did he malignantly aim at Timarchus, and reproach him with
the Vivacity of his Adion. But the People of Salamis afTure
us, that Statue has not been fifty years ereded, yet from Solon
to the prefent Time we reckon full two hundred and fifty.
The Statuary therefore, who gave him his Attitude was not
himfelf, nor was even his Grand-father, alive at that Time. Such
were the Remarks he made to the Judges, and imitated Solon's
Attitude. But far more important to the Republic, to have
entered into the Spirit and Senfe of Solon, which he never
imitated, but in every polTible Inftance contradidled. For
when Salamis revolted from the Athenians, and they had de-
creed, it fhould be punifhable with Death, even to mention
the recovering it, Solon undertook the Danger, and fung fome
elegiac Verfes he made upon the Occafion, recovered the Ifland
to the Republic, and removed the Ignominy fhe had fuffered.
But JEfchines betrayed and delivered into the Hands of Philip
the City of Amphipolis, which the Perfian Monarch, and every
State of Greece acknowledged to be yours, and afterwards fup-
ported Philocrates, who confirmed the Treachery by Decree.
An honourable Inftance (was it not? ) of his remembering Solon,
But he not only a6led in this Manner here in Athens, for when
he arrived at Macedonia, he never once pronounced the Name
ot thofe Territories, for the Recovery of which he was appointed
an Ambaflador. This he himfelf declared; for you muft re-
member his flying, " I could indeed fay fomething concerning
" Am-
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? DEMOSTHENES, 115
" Amphipolis, but have left it for Demofthenes to fpeak upon
" that Subjed:. " I advanced upon the Tribunal and declared,
" he had left me nothing to fay of his Conferences with Philip,
" for he would rather give away Part of his Blood, than of
*' thofe Conferences. But, Iprefume, he thought it indecent,
" after having received Philip's Money, to oppofe him in that
*' very Purpofe for which he gave his Money, for he certainly
" gave it, that he might not be obliged toreftore Amphipolis. "
Now take and read me thefe elegiac Verfes of Solon, by
which you will be convinced, that Solon detefted Men like
iElchines. But indeed, JEfchines, it is by no means neceffary,
that an Orator fhould fpeak with his Hand under his Robe,
No; but an AmbafTador fhould perform his Embafly with his
Hand under his Robe. Yet when you ftretched forth yours in
Macedonia, and held it open, and brought Shame upon this Peo-
ple, were you then a magnificent Orator ? Or when you curioufly
collecSted thofe miferable Conceits, and exercifed the Sweetnefs
of your Voice in repeating them, did you not imagine you
fhould fuffer the Vengeance due to fuch and fo many Villainies,
although you wandered round the City with that extraordinary
Bonnet upon your Head, and uttered your Invedives againft
me? (42) Read.
Solon's
(42) Solon, to avoid the Funifliment having made fome Verfes proper for the
denounced againft whoever fhould pro- Occafion, he got them by Heart, chaunt-
pofe to renew the War for the Recovery ed them, fays Plutarch, as if under an
of Salamis, counterfeited Madnefs, and immediate Infpiration, and appeared in
Q 2 public
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? ii6 O R A T I O N S O F
Solon's Elegiac Verses. *
. Nor Jove fupreme, whofe fecret Will is Fate,
' Nor the blefl: Gods have doom'd th' Athenian State;
For Pallas, with her Father's Glories crown'd,,
Spreads the Protedtion of her ^Egis round.
But dire Corruption wide extends its Sway;
Athenians hear its Didates, and obey.
Oppreffive Demagogues our Counfels guide.
Though various Mifchiefs wait to quell their Pride.
Untaught with chearful Appetite to tafte
The calm Delights, that crown the temperate Feaftj
A Luft of Gold their reftlefs Bofoms fires,
A Luft of Gold their guilty Schemes infpires.
Vain are all Laws, or human or divine.
To guard the public Wealth, or facred Shrine,
While private Life is fill'd with mutual Fraud,
By Juftice and her facred Laws unaw'd.
Silent She fits, the pafl:, the prefent views.
And in her own good Time the guilty Scene purfues. .
Thus other States their mortal Wound receive,
And fervile Chains their freeborn Sons enflave ;
Sedition^
public with a Bonnet on his Head. In Spirit. They are a Colledion of poli-
this laft Circnmftance ^fchines feems to tical Maxims, that feem to prefage the
have been ridiculoufly careful to imitate Diflblution of every State wherein they
the Spirit of Solon. appear. Let this Reflexion, by which
* Thefe Verfes have all the Simplicity they may be happily applied to our pre-
of the Age, in which they were written, fent Hiftory, excufe the Poetiy, either
but very little poetical Elegance and in the Original, or the Trandation.
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? DEMOSTHENES. 117
Sedition rages ; Wars, long-flu mbering, rife,
And the lov'd Youth in Prime of Beauty dies ;
For foon the Foe lays wafte that haplefs State,
Where joylefs Difcord dwells, and foul Debate.
For the poor Wretch an harder Lot remains,
Sold like a Slave to pine in foreign Chains.
His proper Woes the Man of Wealth await,
Bound o'er his Walls, and thunder at his Gate;
Clofe on th' unhappy Fugitive they prefs.
And find him in his Chamber's dark recefs.
Thus my good Genius fpeaks, and bids advife
The Sons of Athens to be juft and wife ;
To mark attentive what a Stream of Woes
From civil Difcord, and Contention flows ;
What beauteous Order fhines, where Juftice reigns,,.
And binds the Sons of Violence in Chains.
Folly, of thoufand Forms, before her flies.
And in the Bud the flowerins Mifchief dies,
She guides the Judge's Sentence, quells the proud.
And midft Sedition's Rage appalls the Croud j
While clamorous Fadion, and Contention ceafe,,
And Man is blefl: with Happpinefs and Peace. .
*
Do you not hear, O Men of Athens, what Solon declares
of fuch Men, and his Opinion of the Gods, whom he calls the
Guardians.
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? ii8 ORATIONSOF
Guardians of Athens? For myfelf, I chearfully aflent to the
Truth of this Opinion, that the Gods are Guardians of this
Republic, and in fome Meafure am convinced, that all the
Circumftances, which have appeared during this Trial, are
fignal Proofs of the divine Favour. For only reflect, that the
Man, who hath committed fo many enormous Crimes in his
Embafly, and traiteroufly given away whole Provinces, in
which the Gods ought to be worfhiped by you, and your
Confederates; this Man hath accufed, and rendered incapable
of giving Evidence againft him, a Citizen, who was determi-
ned to profecute him. What Proofs of the divine Favour
in this Inftance? That he himfelf may find neither Compaflion,
nor Pardon for his own Guilt. Then in his Accufation of
Timarchus he chofe to mention me with much Malignity, and
afterwards in an Aflembly of the People, among other Me-
naces threatned me with a Profecution. To what good Purpofe
can this anfwer? That I, who am clearly informed, and have
pundually followed him through all his Villainies, may with
greater Indulgence ftand forth his Accufer. Befides, having
eluded to this Moment every Attempt to bring him to Juflice,
he hath now reduced himfelf to fuch Circumftances, that even
upon Account of thofe imminent Dangers, which threaten uf,
if for no other Reafon, it is neither pofTible, nor fafe to fuffcr
him to efcape unpuniflied. You ought indeed, O Men of
Athens, eternally to deteft and puniQi thefe Betrayers, thefe
Receivers of Bribes, but more efpecially at this Time, and for
the
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? DEMOSTHENES. 119
the general Prefervation of the Grecian States. For a Diftem-
per, O Men of Athens, terrible, and pernicious, hath aflaulted
Greece; a Diftemper, that demands much Favour from the
Gods, and from you the flridtcft Attention, to prevent its In-
fedion. They, who are moft diftingiiifhed in Oligarchies, and
thought worthy of prefiding over the Adminiftration of their feve-
ral Cities, are become the Betrayers of Liberty, and, unhappy
Men ! bring upon themfelves a voluntary Slavery, which, among
many other fuch Titles, they fpecioufly call the Hofpitality,
and Familiarity, and Friendfhip of Philip. Yet even in de-
mocratical States, like this of Athens, and the Forms of Govern-
ment, that prevail in every other City, the Citizens, whofe
Vengeance ought to fall upon thefe Traitors, and punifh them
with inftant Death, are fo far from acfling in this Manner, that
they admire, and emulate them, and every one wiflies gladly,
that he himfelf were fuch a Man.
Yet this Diftemper, attended with fuch Emulation, O
Men of Athens, very lately ruined the Sovereignty and general
Dignity of the Theflalians, and now abfolutely deprives them
even of their Liberty; for the Macedonians have Garrifons in
fome of their Citadels. It then entered into Peloponnefus;
wrought fuch Deftrudion in Elis ; filled the miferable People
with fuch a Spirit of violating the Laws, with fuch Excefs of
Madnefs, that in Hopes of exerting an Authority over each
other, and of obliging Philip, they polluted themfelves with
I the
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? 120 O R A T I O N S O F
the Blood of their Relations, and Fellow-Citizens. Neither
did it flop there, but advancing into Arcadia, threw every thing
into Confufion ; and now the Arcadian Democracies, which
ought, like yours, to be greatly anxious in the Caufe of Liberty
(for of all the Grecians, you and the Arcadians are the only
original Natives of your Countries) admire Philip, ere? l Statues
of Brafs to him, prefent him with Crowns, and if ever he fiiould
go into Feloponnefus, they have decreed to receive him in their
Cities. In the very fame Manner the Argives. Thele Cir-
cumflances, by the Deity of Ceres, if we purpofj to be ferious,
demand no little Prudence ; efpccially, fince after having taken
its Progrefs round us, this Diftemper, O Men of Athens, hath
made its way into this City. While you are therefore yet in
Safety, guard yourfelves againfl it, and ftigmatize with Infamy
the Traitors, who have introduced itamongfl us. Or otherwife,
be cautious, left what I now fay may not hereafter apoear too
juftly Ipoken, when you fhali no longer have it in your Power
to act as your Situation fliall demand.
Do you not behold how confpicuous, O Men of Athens,
and evident an Example of this Truth are the unhappy Olynthi-
ans ? From no other Errour, than their having adled in this
Manner, have they perifhed miferably, as you may clearly be
convinced by a Series of Events. When they could command
only four hundred Florfe, and the whole Number of their Citi-
zens did not exceed five thoufandj when they were not yet
joined
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? DEMOSTHENES. 121
joined by the Chalcideans, they were invaded by the Lacedae-
monians with a very confiderablc Force both by Sea and Land;
for you know the Lacedaemonians, at that Time, held the
Sovereignty of Greece both by Land and Sea. However, al-
though fo formidable a Power invaded them, yet they never
loft any one City or Fortrefs, but were victorious in feveral
Engagements, killed three Commanders in Chief of the Enemy,
and at length concluded the War upon their own Conditions.
But when fome of them began to receive Prefents, and the
People, through Weaknels, or rather through Misfortune,
imagined thefe Traitors more faithful to them, than the Citizens,
who with Integrity fupported their Interefts ; when Lafthenes
covered his Houfe with Macedonian Shingles, and Euthycrates
fed his Herds of Oxen, for which he never paid in Macedonia ;
when one of their Magiftrates brought Sheep from thence, and
another Horfes, yet the People, againft whom thefe Treafons
were committed, were not only not angry, nor pvmiftied the
Traitors, who committed them, but looked up to them with
Admiration, envied, honoured, and efteemed them, as Men
of fuperior Abilities. While Affiiirs proceeded in this Manner,
and Corruption grew powerful, although they now commanded
a thoufand Horfe, and their Numbers amounted to more than
ten thoufand; although all their Neighbours were their Con-
federates, and you fent them Succours of ten thoufand Merce-
naries and fifty Gallies, with a Body of four thoufand Citizens,
yet nothing was capable of preferving them, but before one Year
Vol. n. R of
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? 122 ORATIONSOF
of War had expired, thefe Traitors had delivered up all the
Cities in Chalcis, while Philip was unable to attend the Betray-
ers, nor could determine where he fhould firft take PoflefTion.
Yet what no other Mortal had ever done, he took five hundred
Horfe, betrayed, with all their Arms, even by their own
Commanders. Nor did they, who perpetrated thefe Florrors,
blufli to behold the Sun, that Mother-Earth, upon which they
flood, the Temples of the Gods, the Sepulchres of their Ancef-
tors, or the Infamy attending fuch Crimes. So fenfelefs, O
Men of Athens, fo ftupid does Corruption render Mankind,
You therefore, in whom the Conftitution is placed, ought to
to be greatly wife, nor fuffer fuch Evils, but punifli theni
with fome diftinguifhed Vengeance. For it were exceedingly
ftrange, after having publiflied fo many fevere Decrees again ft
the Betrayers of Olynthus, if you fliould appear carelefs of
punifhing your own proper Traitors. Read the Decree uppn
the Olynthians,
The Decree.
Thus did you appear both to Greeks and' Barbarians, to hav^
righteoufly and honourably decreed againft thefe Traitors, and'
Enemies of the Gods.
Since therefore fuch Offences are the conftant Attendants of
Corruption, and Mankind a6t in this Manner by its Influence,
whofoever, O Men of Athens, you are confcious receives Prefents,
be fure to conclude him a Traitor. But if one Man betrays
every
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? DEMOSTHENES. 123
every favourable Conjim6lure ; another the Bufinefs of the State ;
a third his Soldiers, and each of tliem deftroys whatever he
was appointed to preferve, then fhould all of them be equally
detefted. To you alone, of all Mankind, O Men of Athens,
it is given to make ufe of your own hiftorical Examples upon
thefe Occadons, and to imitate in your Adions thofe Aucef-
tors you fo juftly applaud. But if at prelent, in Time of Peace,
you cannot imitate the Battles, Expeditions, Dangers, in which
they were fplendidly glorious, yet imitate their Wifdom, for
which there is every where Occalion. Neither is Wifdom more
difficult to acquire, or more troubleforae to preferve, than
Folly. Whoever, therefore, while you are fitting here, will
take Cognizance of your Affairs, and form his Decrees upon
them as he ought, will ad: for the Advantage of the Republic,
and behave himfelf not unworthy of his Anceftors; otherwifc
he will ruin his Country, and be a Difhonour to his Ancef-
tors. (43) But what Opinion did they entertain of fuch Trai-
tors ? Here, Secretary, read this Infcriptlon ; for it is nc-
cefiary you fhould be convinced, that the Crimes, which you
treat with Indifference, they punifhed with Death. Read it.
An Inscription on a Column. (44)
R 2 You
(43) The PafTage Is not without Ob- cording to the Inte<<efls of the Common-
fturity. Although we cannot imitate, wealth.
in Time of Peace, the military Virtues (44) The Reader may find the Words
of our Anceftors, let us imitate tlieir po- of this Decree in tbe firll Volume, FsLg:
litical Wifdom, in attending the public 265.
Councils, and giving our Suffrages ac-
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? 124 ORATIONS OF
You hear, O Men of Athens, that this Infcription pro-
nounces Arthmius an Enemy to the Athenian People, and their
Confederates ; him and all his Generation. Why ? Becaufe he
brought Gold from the Barbarians into Greece. By this Inftance
you may perceive, that your Anceflors were anxious to prevent
even Foreigners from introducing the Mifchiefs of Gold into
any Part of Greece, while you with Indifference behold your
own Citizens importing it even into the Midft of the Republic.
But, in the Name of Jupiter! was this Column placed merely
as Chance diredled the Situation ? No ; by the Gods, Although
this whole Citadel be facred, and of a large Circumference,
yet it was placed upon the right Hand of our great bronze
Minerva, which the Republic confecrated in Remembrance of
the Victory gained over the Barbarians, and to the Expence of
which all the States of Greece contributed. So much was Juftice
at that Time revered, and. the Puniihment of fuch Offenders
held in Honour, that the Statue of the Goddefs, and the
Column, upon which were infcribed the PuniQiments of
Traitors, were deemed worthy of the fame Situation. But now,.
Laughter and Difhonour will be the Confequence of fuch.
Crimes, if you do not immediately reprefs this Audacioufnefs,
this immoderate Licentioufnefs.
Yet I (liould imagine, O Men of Athens, you will ad vi^ith.
Wifdom, if you imitate your Anceftors, not in this Inftanc^
alone, but in the whole Series of their Condud: afterwards.
When
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? DEMOSTHENES. 125
When Callias, for Inftance, was AmbafTador to Pcrfia, as I
am perfuaded you have heard, and had negotiated a Peace,
which was applauded by all the States of Greece, and by which
the Perfian Monarch could not defcend with any Body of
Forces nearer the Sea-Coafts, than the Diftance, that an Horfe
could run in a Day; nor approach by Sea to the Chalydonian,,
or Cyanean Iflands with any VelTel beyond a certain Bulk, yet
as he appeared to have accepted Prefents in his Embafly, our
Anceftors had very nearly ordered his Execution, and in pafling;
his Accounts fined him fifty Talents; though certainly the Re-
public never concluded, either before or afterwards, a Peace
more honourable. But this Circumftance they did not confider,
or they attributed it to their own Virtue, and the Authority
of the Commonwealth; but whether their Ambaflador was
influenced by Money, they imputed to his own Manners, vvhicli
they judged fhould be honeft and uncorrupted, when engaging
in the Adminiftration of public Affairs. So much did they
efteem Corruption an Enemy and pernicious to the State, as
not to fuffer it in any Negotiation, however glorious, or in any
Perfon, however eftimable. But you, O Men of Athens,,
although you behold the very fame Peace rafing to the Ground
thf Walls of your Confederates, and building the Houfes
of your Ambaffadors; taking away from the Republic her
PoffefTions, and giving to them what they never hoped for;
even in their Dreams, yet you do not order them to be put to.
Death, but want an Accufer, and profecute with Words thofe
Oftcnces,
8
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? 126 O R A T I O N S O F
Offences, which you have beheld in Deeds. Nor might ancient
Examples only be cited to animate you topunifli thefe Traitors,
but even within your own Time many have fuffered the
Punifliment they deferved. Other Criminals I fliall pafs over,
and oiiiy mention one or two, who were capitally convicted
for Mifcondudt in their Embaflies, though far lefs pernicious
to the Republic, than this of iEfchines. Read me this Decree.
The Decree.
According to this Decree, OMen of Athens, you capitally
condemned thefe Ambafladors, one of whom, Epicrates, as I
have been informed by our aged Citizens, was a valuable Man,
greatly ufeful to the Commonwealth, and one of the Leaders,
who brought home the People from the Pyrasum, and in other
Inftances extremely popular. Yet none of thefe Virtues availed
him; and with Reafon. Becaufe, whoever undertakes to
execute fuch an Employment fhould not be partially virtuous,
nor abufe the Credit he hath gained with you to the Commiffion
of greater Villainies, but in general fhould never be guilty of
any voluntary Offence.
If iEfchines therefore and his Colleagues have not committed
every Crime, for which thefe Men fuffered Death, then let mc
be condemned. For confider; *' Whereas they have a<Eled in
" their Embafly (thefe are the Words of the Decree) contrary
*' to their Inftrudlions, and our Decrees;" this wasthefirft
Offence,
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? DEMOSTHENES. 127
Offence, with which they were charged. But have not thefe
Ambaffadors aded in contradidlion to their Inflrudions? Docs
not your Decree exprefsly command, that the Peace {Tiould
extend to the Athenians, and the Confederates of the Athenians,
and have they not openly excluded the Phocaeans? Does it
not order, " that the Magiftrates of the feveral Cities fhould
** take the Oaths of Ratification," but have they ever tendered
thefe Oaths to the Magiftrates, who were fent by PhiHp ? Were
not your Ambaffadors forbidden ever to be alone with Philip,
and did they ever ceafe to enter inta private Conferences with
him? " Some of them were Gonvi6led before the Senate of
*' declaring Falfe hoods;" and are not your prefent Ambaffidors
eonvidled before the People ? But by what Evidence convicfled^
for this is an illuftrioiis Circumftance? By the Fads themfelves,
for every Event hath happened in dired: Contradidion to their
Declarations. " Neither have they (fo fpeaks the Decree)
'* written Truth in their Difpatches. " But did thefe Men write
Truth? " They eahimniated our Confederates and were cor-
" rupted. " Inftead of calumniating, they utterly deftroyed; a
Crime, far more atrocious than Calumny. But with regard to
their having been corrupted, if they denied, it would only re-
Efiain to conviift thenij but fince they themfelves confcfs, let
them be carried away to Execution,.
What then, O Men of Athens ? when Affairs are in fueh a
Situation, fhall you, the Defcendants of fuch Anceftors, and
fome
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? 12^ ORATIONSOF
fome of you alive, when thefe Tranfadions happened; fhall
you endure that Epicrates, the Benefadlor of the Athenians,
and one of the Leaders, whiO brought home the People from
the Pyrasum, fhould be deprived of his Rank as a Citizen, and
delivered over to Punifiiment ; again, that, fomc Time before,
Thrafybulus, the Son of Thrafybulus, that Favourite of the
People, whom he brought home from their Exile in Phyle,
fhould be fined ten Talents ; that a Defcendant of Harmodius
and Ariftogitoa, who had wrought the mofl important Services
for the Republic, and whom, in Remembrance of thofe Ser-
vices, you invited by a Law to partake of your Libations, and
the facred Cups, in rJl your Temples and Sacrifices; whom
you have ever celebrated and honoured equally with our Heroes
and Gods; that all thefe Perfons fhould fuffer the Punifliment
appointed by our Laws ; that neither Pardon, norCompalTion, nor
the weeping Children, who bore the Names of your. Benefadlors,
nor any other Influence could fupport them, and will you ac-
quit the Son of that Pedagogue Atrometus, and that Sorcerefs
Glaucothoe, who ufcd to dance before her Chorus of Bacchanali-
ans, and for whofe Myfferies another Prieftefs was put to Death j
will you acquit the Defcendant from fuch Anceflors, who never
were ufeful in any one Inftance to the Republic, neither himfelf,
his Father, or any of his Relations? For what Horfe, what
Galley, what Expedition, what Expence in Shows, what
mufical Entertainment, what public OfKce, what Contribution,
what Benevolence, what Danger, what fingle Service of any
Kind
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? DEMOSTHENES.
the Senate, and afterwards that of the People (while In thofe
Affemblies, in which you were to deliberate upon the Peace,
there were yet no Sufpicions of their Condud rumoured abroad,
nor any apparent Injury committed by them) according to the
Ufages eftablifhed by Law, I pronounced their Panegyric, and
invited them to the Prytanacum. Befides, I confefs I entertained
Philip's Ambafladors moft hofpitably ; indeed, O Men of
Athens, moft fplendidly. For having obferved in Macedonia,
that they gloried in the Luxury of fuch Entertainments, as
Objedis of Happinefs and Splendor, I inftantly thought myfelf
obliged to aflume a Superiority over them, and to difplay a
greater Spirit of Magnificence. But uSfchines will urge it as an
Objecftion, and exclaim, " Demofthenes himfelf pronounced
*' our Panegyric; Demofthenes entertained Philip's Ambafta-
dors," but without diftinguifhing the Date of thefe Fads.
They happened, however, before the Republic was injured;
before thefe Traitors had apparently fold themfelves; when
Philip's Ambafladors were but juft arrived, and the People were
yet to hear their Propofals ; when ^(chines had not openly
pleaded the Caufe of Philocrates, and when he himfelf had not
propofed his Decree. If he urges thefe Objedions, do you
remember the Date of thefe Tranfadlions ; that they preceded
their Crimes, and that afterwards I never had any Society with
them, any Communication. Read the Evidence>>
The Evidence>>
But
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? DEMOSTHENES. 107
But perhaps his Brothers, Philocrates, and Aphobetus will
undertake his Defence ; to both of whom you may return a
very full and reafonable Reply ; but it is neceflary to fpeak with
Freedom, and without referve. " We are not ignorant that you,
** Philocrates, are a Painter of earthen Vafes for Perfumers, and
" of Bacchanalian Cymbals; that your Brothers Aphobetus,
" and iEfchines, are public-Notaries by Profeffion, and by
" Birth of the common People (Circum fiances indeed removed
" from Infamy, but certainly not meriting any military Com-
" mand) yet we have efteemed you worthy of EmbaiTics,
" Commiflions in our Armies, and all the higheft Dignities of
the Republic. Suppofe then you never have committed a
Crime, we do not therefore owe you any Obligation, but
you are in Gratitude indebted to us for the Employments you
hold, becaufe we paffed by many others more deferving,
" and adorned you with thefe Honours. If either of you hath
" been faulty in thefe Employments, with which you were thus
" diftinguifhed, efpecially as they were of fuch Importance,
** how much rather fhould you be detefted, than acquitted? "
In my Opinion, much rather.
But they will perhaps grow violent, and being, as they are,
clamorous, and impudent, they will aflert, that defending a
Brother is always pardonable. Do not give way to this Afier-
tion, but be convinced, that as it is their Duty to be anxious
P 2 for
(C
C(
<(
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? io8 O R A T I O N S O F
for the Safety of their Brother, fo is it yours to defend the Laws,
the whole RepubUc, and efpecially to preferve the Oaths invio-
lable, which you took before you fat upon this Tribunal. But
if they folicit you to acquit this Man, confider whether they
make the Requeft upon a Prefuinption of his appearing innocent
or guilty ? If innocent, I myfelf declare for his acquittal ; if
they defire it upon any other Terms, they defire you to perjure
yourfelves. Becaufe, although the Suffrage be given in fecret,
it does not therefore efcape the Knowledge of the Gods. For
the Legiflator, in this, and all other Inftances, mofl: excellent,
hath pronounced*, " the fuffrages fhall be given in fecret. "
Wherefore? That the Criminal may never know the Man,
to whom he is obliged. But the Gods, and the fupreme Divi-
nity will know the Man, who hath not pronounced an upright
Sentence j and it is infinitely more eligible to expert from them
our own Happinefs, and that of our Pofterity, for giving
Judgement with Juftice and Equity, than to fix a fecret and
uncertain Obligation upon the Criminal, or to acquit this Man,
who hath himfelf given Evidence againft himfelf. For what
more unexceptionable Witneis, jEfchines, that you have com-
mitted many flagrant Villainies in your Embafly, can I poflibly
produce, than you againft yourfelf? Even that fevere and ex-
traordinary Punifliment, which you thought proper to infli(5t
upon him, who propofed to deted: your Crimes, openly declares
what Vengeance you yourfelf exped:, if your Judges are informed
of your Condudl.
His
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? DEMOSTHENES. 109
His own Pra(flices, therefore, ifyoubewife, fLall be turned
againft him, not only becaufe they are powerhil Proofs of the
Manner, in which he hath executed his Embafly, but becaufe
when he was himfelf an Accufer, he made ufe of thofe very
Expreflions, which may now be retorted upon his own Head,
For that Juftice, which you pronounced, when you profecuted
Timarchus, that very Juftice ought to be enforced againft you
by others. He then declared to the Judges, " Demofthenes
" will undertake his Defence, and accufe me of Mifcondudl
" in my Embafly, and if he can feduce you by the Power of
" Words, he will grow petulant, and wander about vaunting
" him of the Circumftances, in what Manner, by what
*' Force of Arguments, he feduced the Judges from the Quef-
" tion, and took from them the very Cognizance of the Fa6t.
" But do not adt thus, Demofthenes. The Subject of Difpute,
" make that the Subjedt of your Defence. " But, iEfchines,
when you profecuted Timarchus, you had it in your Power to
urge what Accufations, and make ufe of what Arguments you
pleafed. Yet unable to produce any Evidence of the Crimes,
of which you accufed him, you affured the Judges,
What all report can never be a Lie,
And born a Goddefs, Fame can never die.
But, -S^fchines, this whole AfTembly declares, tliat you have
taken Bribes from Philip, and the Remark may therefore be
retorted againft you.
What all report can never be a Lie,
I - Yet
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? no ORATIONSOF
Yet confider the Reafon, why more People accufe you, than
Timarchus. Him, his Neighbours hardly knew. But there is
neither Greek, nor Barbarian, who does not declare, that you
and your Colleagues have taken Bribes in your Embafly. If
Fame therefore may be relied upon, it will appear againft you
in the Opinion of thoufands. That we ought to rely upon her,
becaufe (he is a Goddefs, and becaufe the Poet was wife, who
made thefe Verfes, you yourfelf have determined.
Having then colleded fome Iambics out of Sophocles he
concluded.
Who holds licentious Converfe with the wicked,
I afk not of his Morals, well convinc'd.
He differs not from thofe, he loves, and lives with.
" Are you then ignorant," fays he, among other ExprefHons of
the fame Kind, " what Opinion you ought to conceive of the
" Man, who goes into Aviaries, and walks with Pittalacus ? " (39)
Now, -ffifchines, I can with exceeding Aptnefs make ufe of
thefe Iambics againft you, and if I repeat them to your Judges,
I fhall repeat them with Juftice and Propriety. Whoever k
delighted with the Converfation of Philocrates, and enters into
his Schemes of Embafly, I never aiked, being perfedly convin-
ced, whether he had taken Prefents like Philocrates, who confefies
it,
(39) Pittalacus was probaWy a Citizen among their Amufements to go into
of diflblute, effeminate Manners, with Aviaries, but, very poffibly, not to fee
whom Timarchus was intimate. It was the Birds fight.
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? DEMOSTHENES. m
it. But when he calls others Tranfcribers of common-place
Sentences and Plagiaries of Verfes; when he endeavours to treat
them with Contempt, he may be very clearly convidtcd of being
himfelf obnoxious to thefe Titles; (4. 0) becaufe thefe Verfes are
taken out of Phienice, a Tragedy of Euripides, which neither
TheodoruSj nor Ariftodemus (to whom ^fchines a6led his third-
rate Chara<flers) ever performed ; butMolon, only, and fome of
our ancient Tragedians. (41) Yet Theodorus and Ariftodemus
often reprefented the Antigone of Sophocles, in which are many
beautiful Verfes, and to you of great Importance, which JEC-
chines had frequently repeated on the Stage, and perfedly well
remembers, but which he has now pafled over in Silence. You
know, it is an Honour peculiar to the third-Rate Actors in our
Tragedies to make their Entrance in the Charaders of Tyrants,
and pompoufly holding their Scepters in their Hands. Recoi-
led: therefore in this Tragedy the Lines, which Sophocles made
for Creon-^^fchines, but which he never repeated, either in
his Embafly, or to the Judges in the Trial of Timarchus.
Read.
, Pio-
(40) The Word in the Original, which (41) Demofthenes feems to wonder
IS here tranflated Plagiary, fignifies in where ^fchines got thefe Verfes, as if
general a Deceiver, an Impoftor ? , neither his Reading extended no farther than the
of which will explain the Senfe of the Plays, in whicii he himfelf had afted.
Context, or account for the Contempt, Molon was an ancient Adtor, whom lEl'-
with which they are ufed. ^fchines chines had never fecn. Theodcrus and
had probably repeated thefe Verfes as his Ariftodemus had never performed tlfe
own, for otherwife it were impertinent to Antigone of Euripides,
tell the People they were written by Eu-
ripides.
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? TI2 ORATIONS OF
Pronounce on no Man's Genius, Wifdom, Senfc,
Till Power, and public Bufinefs afcertain
His doubtful Charader. As for myfelf,
Who takes the fole Diredion of the State,
Nor yields him to the Counfels of the wife,
Nor fpeaks, through Fear, the Dictates of his Heart,
I hold him worthlefs, and fhall ever hold him.
He too is vile, who to his Country's Good,
Prefers liis Friend ; Witnefs all-feeing Jove
I never will be filent, when I fee
Deftrudion ftalking o'er my native Land,
Nor to my bofom'd Confidence receive
My Country's Foe; convinc'd that in her Welfare
We fail in Safety down the Tide of Life,
And form our happieft Friendftiips for the Voyage.
Not one of thefe Verfes did ever ^fchines repeat to himfelf
during his Embafly ; but having preferred the Hofpitality and
Friendfliip of Philip to the Interefts of the Commonwealth, as
of greater Importance to him and more profitable, he heartily
bad Farewel to the Wifdom of Sophocles. He neither declared,
nor gave you Notice of Philip's Expedition againfl; the Phocseans,
although he faw Defirudlion advancing along with it. On the
contrary, he concealed, he affifted it, he oppofed whoever
would hav^e given their Sentiments upon it, not remembring,
that in our Country alone " we fail in Safety down the Tide
*'of
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? DEMOSTHENES. 113
" of Life ;" and that his Mother performed in it her holy Myftc-
ries and Luftrations ; that fhc picked up a LiveHhood by
plundering the Houfcs of thofe, who made ufe of her Incanta-
tions, and thus educated t<liefe her illuftrious Sons; while their
Father, as I have heard fome old People relate, taught Children
their Alphabet, according to the befl of his Abilities, near the
Temple of the Gods of Phyfic. In this City however he
lived, where /Efchines and his Brothers, by being under-
Clerks, and writing in all our public OjfHces, got a little Money;
and at length, being appointed Notaries by you, they were
maintained two Years in the vaulted Cells adjoining our
Temples, from whence i^fchines was fent an Ambaflador to
Philip. None of thefe Circumftances did he regard, nor was
anxious, that the Republic might fail in Safety, but overfet,
and funk, and to the utmoft of his Power betrayed her to her
Enemies. Art thou not then a Plagiary? Yes; and impious.
Art thou not a Tranfcribcr of Sentences? Yes ; and an Enemy
to the Gods. The Verfcs you had often repeated upon the
Stage, and which you faithfully remembered, thofe you paflcd
over in Silence, but what you never aded in your Life, }'ou
very curioufly fought for, and repeated in public to ruin }^our
Fellow-Citizens,
Now confider the Remarks he made with regard to Solon.
He faid the Statue of Solon, clothed in his Tunic, and holding
his Hands within the Folds of his Robe, was eredled as an
Vol. II. Q^ Example
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? 114 ORATIONSOF
Example of the Modefty of the Orators in his Time. Thus
did he malignantly aim at Timarchus, and reproach him with
the Vivacity of his Adion. But the People of Salamis afTure
us, that Statue has not been fifty years ereded, yet from Solon
to the prefent Time we reckon full two hundred and fifty.
The Statuary therefore, who gave him his Attitude was not
himfelf, nor was even his Grand-father, alive at that Time. Such
were the Remarks he made to the Judges, and imitated Solon's
Attitude. But far more important to the Republic, to have
entered into the Spirit and Senfe of Solon, which he never
imitated, but in every polTible Inftance contradidled. For
when Salamis revolted from the Athenians, and they had de-
creed, it fhould be punifhable with Death, even to mention
the recovering it, Solon undertook the Danger, and fung fome
elegiac Verfes he made upon the Occafion, recovered the Ifland
to the Republic, and removed the Ignominy fhe had fuffered.
But JEfchines betrayed and delivered into the Hands of Philip
the City of Amphipolis, which the Perfian Monarch, and every
State of Greece acknowledged to be yours, and afterwards fup-
ported Philocrates, who confirmed the Treachery by Decree.
An honourable Inftance (was it not? ) of his remembering Solon,
But he not only a6led in this Manner here in Athens, for when
he arrived at Macedonia, he never once pronounced the Name
ot thofe Territories, for the Recovery of which he was appointed
an Ambaflador. This he himfelf declared; for you muft re-
member his flying, " I could indeed fay fomething concerning
" Am-
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? DEMOSTHENES, 115
" Amphipolis, but have left it for Demofthenes to fpeak upon
" that Subjed:. " I advanced upon the Tribunal and declared,
" he had left me nothing to fay of his Conferences with Philip,
" for he would rather give away Part of his Blood, than of
*' thofe Conferences. But, Iprefume, he thought it indecent,
" after having received Philip's Money, to oppofe him in that
*' very Purpofe for which he gave his Money, for he certainly
" gave it, that he might not be obliged toreftore Amphipolis. "
Now take and read me thefe elegiac Verfes of Solon, by
which you will be convinced, that Solon detefted Men like
iElchines. But indeed, JEfchines, it is by no means neceffary,
that an Orator fhould fpeak with his Hand under his Robe,
No; but an AmbafTador fhould perform his Embafly with his
Hand under his Robe. Yet when you ftretched forth yours in
Macedonia, and held it open, and brought Shame upon this Peo-
ple, were you then a magnificent Orator ? Or when you curioufly
collecSted thofe miferable Conceits, and exercifed the Sweetnefs
of your Voice in repeating them, did you not imagine you
fhould fuffer the Vengeance due to fuch and fo many Villainies,
although you wandered round the City with that extraordinary
Bonnet upon your Head, and uttered your Invedives againft
me? (42) Read.
Solon's
(42) Solon, to avoid the Funifliment having made fome Verfes proper for the
denounced againft whoever fhould pro- Occafion, he got them by Heart, chaunt-
pofe to renew the War for the Recovery ed them, fays Plutarch, as if under an
of Salamis, counterfeited Madnefs, and immediate Infpiration, and appeared in
Q 2 public
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? ii6 O R A T I O N S O F
Solon's Elegiac Verses. *
. Nor Jove fupreme, whofe fecret Will is Fate,
' Nor the blefl: Gods have doom'd th' Athenian State;
For Pallas, with her Father's Glories crown'd,,
Spreads the Protedtion of her ^Egis round.
But dire Corruption wide extends its Sway;
Athenians hear its Didates, and obey.
Oppreffive Demagogues our Counfels guide.
Though various Mifchiefs wait to quell their Pride.
Untaught with chearful Appetite to tafte
The calm Delights, that crown the temperate Feaftj
A Luft of Gold their reftlefs Bofoms fires,
A Luft of Gold their guilty Schemes infpires.
Vain are all Laws, or human or divine.
To guard the public Wealth, or facred Shrine,
While private Life is fill'd with mutual Fraud,
By Juftice and her facred Laws unaw'd.
Silent She fits, the pafl:, the prefent views.
And in her own good Time the guilty Scene purfues. .
Thus other States their mortal Wound receive,
And fervile Chains their freeborn Sons enflave ;
Sedition^
public with a Bonnet on his Head. In Spirit. They are a Colledion of poli-
this laft Circnmftance ^fchines feems to tical Maxims, that feem to prefage the
have been ridiculoufly careful to imitate Diflblution of every State wherein they
the Spirit of Solon. appear. Let this Reflexion, by which
* Thefe Verfes have all the Simplicity they may be happily applied to our pre-
of the Age, in which they were written, fent Hiftory, excufe the Poetiy, either
but very little poetical Elegance and in the Original, or the Trandation.
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? DEMOSTHENES. 117
Sedition rages ; Wars, long-flu mbering, rife,
And the lov'd Youth in Prime of Beauty dies ;
For foon the Foe lays wafte that haplefs State,
Where joylefs Difcord dwells, and foul Debate.
For the poor Wretch an harder Lot remains,
Sold like a Slave to pine in foreign Chains.
His proper Woes the Man of Wealth await,
Bound o'er his Walls, and thunder at his Gate;
Clofe on th' unhappy Fugitive they prefs.
And find him in his Chamber's dark recefs.
Thus my good Genius fpeaks, and bids advife
The Sons of Athens to be juft and wife ;
To mark attentive what a Stream of Woes
From civil Difcord, and Contention flows ;
What beauteous Order fhines, where Juftice reigns,,.
And binds the Sons of Violence in Chains.
Folly, of thoufand Forms, before her flies.
And in the Bud the flowerins Mifchief dies,
She guides the Judge's Sentence, quells the proud.
And midft Sedition's Rage appalls the Croud j
While clamorous Fadion, and Contention ceafe,,
And Man is blefl: with Happpinefs and Peace. .
*
Do you not hear, O Men of Athens, what Solon declares
of fuch Men, and his Opinion of the Gods, whom he calls the
Guardians.
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? ii8 ORATIONSOF
Guardians of Athens? For myfelf, I chearfully aflent to the
Truth of this Opinion, that the Gods are Guardians of this
Republic, and in fome Meafure am convinced, that all the
Circumftances, which have appeared during this Trial, are
fignal Proofs of the divine Favour. For only reflect, that the
Man, who hath committed fo many enormous Crimes in his
Embafly, and traiteroufly given away whole Provinces, in
which the Gods ought to be worfhiped by you, and your
Confederates; this Man hath accufed, and rendered incapable
of giving Evidence againft him, a Citizen, who was determi-
ned to profecute him. What Proofs of the divine Favour
in this Inftance? That he himfelf may find neither Compaflion,
nor Pardon for his own Guilt. Then in his Accufation of
Timarchus he chofe to mention me with much Malignity, and
afterwards in an Aflembly of the People, among other Me-
naces threatned me with a Profecution. To what good Purpofe
can this anfwer? That I, who am clearly informed, and have
pundually followed him through all his Villainies, may with
greater Indulgence ftand forth his Accufer. Befides, having
eluded to this Moment every Attempt to bring him to Juflice,
he hath now reduced himfelf to fuch Circumftances, that even
upon Account of thofe imminent Dangers, which threaten uf,
if for no other Reafon, it is neither pofTible, nor fafe to fuffcr
him to efcape unpuniflied. You ought indeed, O Men of
Athens, eternally to deteft and puniQi thefe Betrayers, thefe
Receivers of Bribes, but more efpecially at this Time, and for
the
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? DEMOSTHENES. 119
the general Prefervation of the Grecian States. For a Diftem-
per, O Men of Athens, terrible, and pernicious, hath aflaulted
Greece; a Diftemper, that demands much Favour from the
Gods, and from you the flridtcft Attention, to prevent its In-
fedion. They, who are moft diftingiiifhed in Oligarchies, and
thought worthy of prefiding over the Adminiftration of their feve-
ral Cities, are become the Betrayers of Liberty, and, unhappy
Men ! bring upon themfelves a voluntary Slavery, which, among
many other fuch Titles, they fpecioufly call the Hofpitality,
and Familiarity, and Friendfhip of Philip. Yet even in de-
mocratical States, like this of Athens, and the Forms of Govern-
ment, that prevail in every other City, the Citizens, whofe
Vengeance ought to fall upon thefe Traitors, and punifh them
with inftant Death, are fo far from acfling in this Manner, that
they admire, and emulate them, and every one wiflies gladly,
that he himfelf were fuch a Man.
Yet this Diftemper, attended with fuch Emulation, O
Men of Athens, very lately ruined the Sovereignty and general
Dignity of the Theflalians, and now abfolutely deprives them
even of their Liberty; for the Macedonians have Garrifons in
fome of their Citadels. It then entered into Peloponnefus;
wrought fuch Deftrudion in Elis ; filled the miferable People
with fuch a Spirit of violating the Laws, with fuch Excefs of
Madnefs, that in Hopes of exerting an Authority over each
other, and of obliging Philip, they polluted themfelves with
I the
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? 120 O R A T I O N S O F
the Blood of their Relations, and Fellow-Citizens. Neither
did it flop there, but advancing into Arcadia, threw every thing
into Confufion ; and now the Arcadian Democracies, which
ought, like yours, to be greatly anxious in the Caufe of Liberty
(for of all the Grecians, you and the Arcadians are the only
original Natives of your Countries) admire Philip, ere? l Statues
of Brafs to him, prefent him with Crowns, and if ever he fiiould
go into Feloponnefus, they have decreed to receive him in their
Cities. In the very fame Manner the Argives. Thele Cir-
cumflances, by the Deity of Ceres, if we purpofj to be ferious,
demand no little Prudence ; efpccially, fince after having taken
its Progrefs round us, this Diftemper, O Men of Athens, hath
made its way into this City. While you are therefore yet in
Safety, guard yourfelves againfl it, and ftigmatize with Infamy
the Traitors, who have introduced itamongfl us. Or otherwife,
be cautious, left what I now fay may not hereafter apoear too
juftly Ipoken, when you fhali no longer have it in your Power
to act as your Situation fliall demand.
Do you not behold how confpicuous, O Men of Athens,
and evident an Example of this Truth are the unhappy Olynthi-
ans ? From no other Errour, than their having adled in this
Manner, have they perifhed miferably, as you may clearly be
convinced by a Series of Events. When they could command
only four hundred Florfe, and the whole Number of their Citi-
zens did not exceed five thoufandj when they were not yet
joined
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? DEMOSTHENES. 121
joined by the Chalcideans, they were invaded by the Lacedae-
monians with a very confiderablc Force both by Sea and Land;
for you know the Lacedaemonians, at that Time, held the
Sovereignty of Greece both by Land and Sea. However, al-
though fo formidable a Power invaded them, yet they never
loft any one City or Fortrefs, but were victorious in feveral
Engagements, killed three Commanders in Chief of the Enemy,
and at length concluded the War upon their own Conditions.
But when fome of them began to receive Prefents, and the
People, through Weaknels, or rather through Misfortune,
imagined thefe Traitors more faithful to them, than the Citizens,
who with Integrity fupported their Interefts ; when Lafthenes
covered his Houfe with Macedonian Shingles, and Euthycrates
fed his Herds of Oxen, for which he never paid in Macedonia ;
when one of their Magiftrates brought Sheep from thence, and
another Horfes, yet the People, againft whom thefe Treafons
were committed, were not only not angry, nor pvmiftied the
Traitors, who committed them, but looked up to them with
Admiration, envied, honoured, and efteemed them, as Men
of fuperior Abilities. While Affiiirs proceeded in this Manner,
and Corruption grew powerful, although they now commanded
a thoufand Horfe, and their Numbers amounted to more than
ten thoufand; although all their Neighbours were their Con-
federates, and you fent them Succours of ten thoufand Merce-
naries and fifty Gallies, with a Body of four thoufand Citizens,
yet nothing was capable of preferving them, but before one Year
Vol. n. R of
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? 122 ORATIONSOF
of War had expired, thefe Traitors had delivered up all the
Cities in Chalcis, while Philip was unable to attend the Betray-
ers, nor could determine where he fhould firft take PoflefTion.
Yet what no other Mortal had ever done, he took five hundred
Horfe, betrayed, with all their Arms, even by their own
Commanders. Nor did they, who perpetrated thefe Florrors,
blufli to behold the Sun, that Mother-Earth, upon which they
flood, the Temples of the Gods, the Sepulchres of their Ancef-
tors, or the Infamy attending fuch Crimes. So fenfelefs, O
Men of Athens, fo ftupid does Corruption render Mankind,
You therefore, in whom the Conftitution is placed, ought to
to be greatly wife, nor fuffer fuch Evils, but punifli theni
with fome diftinguifhed Vengeance. For it were exceedingly
ftrange, after having publiflied fo many fevere Decrees again ft
the Betrayers of Olynthus, if you fliould appear carelefs of
punifhing your own proper Traitors. Read the Decree uppn
the Olynthians,
The Decree.
Thus did you appear both to Greeks and' Barbarians, to hav^
righteoufly and honourably decreed againft thefe Traitors, and'
Enemies of the Gods.
Since therefore fuch Offences are the conftant Attendants of
Corruption, and Mankind a6t in this Manner by its Influence,
whofoever, O Men of Athens, you are confcious receives Prefents,
be fure to conclude him a Traitor. But if one Man betrays
every
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? DEMOSTHENES. 123
every favourable Conjim6lure ; another the Bufinefs of the State ;
a third his Soldiers, and each of tliem deftroys whatever he
was appointed to preferve, then fhould all of them be equally
detefted. To you alone, of all Mankind, O Men of Athens,
it is given to make ufe of your own hiftorical Examples upon
thefe Occadons, and to imitate in your Adions thofe Aucef-
tors you fo juftly applaud. But if at prelent, in Time of Peace,
you cannot imitate the Battles, Expeditions, Dangers, in which
they were fplendidly glorious, yet imitate their Wifdom, for
which there is every where Occalion. Neither is Wifdom more
difficult to acquire, or more troubleforae to preferve, than
Folly. Whoever, therefore, while you are fitting here, will
take Cognizance of your Affairs, and form his Decrees upon
them as he ought, will ad: for the Advantage of the Republic,
and behave himfelf not unworthy of his Anceftors; otherwifc
he will ruin his Country, and be a Difhonour to his Ancef-
tors. (43) But what Opinion did they entertain of fuch Trai-
tors ? Here, Secretary, read this Infcriptlon ; for it is nc-
cefiary you fhould be convinced, that the Crimes, which you
treat with Indifference, they punifhed with Death. Read it.
An Inscription on a Column. (44)
R 2 You
(43) The PafTage Is not without Ob- cording to the Inte<<efls of the Common-
fturity. Although we cannot imitate, wealth.
in Time of Peace, the military Virtues (44) The Reader may find the Words
of our Anceftors, let us imitate tlieir po- of this Decree in tbe firll Volume, FsLg:
litical Wifdom, in attending the public 265.
Councils, and giving our Suffrages ac-
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? 124 ORATIONS OF
You hear, O Men of Athens, that this Infcription pro-
nounces Arthmius an Enemy to the Athenian People, and their
Confederates ; him and all his Generation. Why ? Becaufe he
brought Gold from the Barbarians into Greece. By this Inftance
you may perceive, that your Anceflors were anxious to prevent
even Foreigners from introducing the Mifchiefs of Gold into
any Part of Greece, while you with Indifference behold your
own Citizens importing it even into the Midft of the Republic.
But, in the Name of Jupiter! was this Column placed merely
as Chance diredled the Situation ? No ; by the Gods, Although
this whole Citadel be facred, and of a large Circumference,
yet it was placed upon the right Hand of our great bronze
Minerva, which the Republic confecrated in Remembrance of
the Victory gained over the Barbarians, and to the Expence of
which all the States of Greece contributed. So much was Juftice
at that Time revered, and. the Puniihment of fuch Offenders
held in Honour, that the Statue of the Goddefs, and the
Column, upon which were infcribed the PuniQiments of
Traitors, were deemed worthy of the fame Situation. But now,.
Laughter and Difhonour will be the Confequence of fuch.
Crimes, if you do not immediately reprefs this Audacioufnefs,
this immoderate Licentioufnefs.
Yet I (liould imagine, O Men of Athens, you will ad vi^ith.
Wifdom, if you imitate your Anceftors, not in this Inftanc^
alone, but in the whole Series of their Condud: afterwards.
When
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? DEMOSTHENES. 125
When Callias, for Inftance, was AmbafTador to Pcrfia, as I
am perfuaded you have heard, and had negotiated a Peace,
which was applauded by all the States of Greece, and by which
the Perfian Monarch could not defcend with any Body of
Forces nearer the Sea-Coafts, than the Diftance, that an Horfe
could run in a Day; nor approach by Sea to the Chalydonian,,
or Cyanean Iflands with any VelTel beyond a certain Bulk, yet
as he appeared to have accepted Prefents in his Embafly, our
Anceftors had very nearly ordered his Execution, and in pafling;
his Accounts fined him fifty Talents; though certainly the Re-
public never concluded, either before or afterwards, a Peace
more honourable. But this Circumftance they did not confider,
or they attributed it to their own Virtue, and the Authority
of the Commonwealth; but whether their Ambaflador was
influenced by Money, they imputed to his own Manners, vvhicli
they judged fhould be honeft and uncorrupted, when engaging
in the Adminiftration of public Affairs. So much did they
efteem Corruption an Enemy and pernicious to the State, as
not to fuffer it in any Negotiation, however glorious, or in any
Perfon, however eftimable. But you, O Men of Athens,,
although you behold the very fame Peace rafing to the Ground
thf Walls of your Confederates, and building the Houfes
of your Ambaffadors; taking away from the Republic her
PoffefTions, and giving to them what they never hoped for;
even in their Dreams, yet you do not order them to be put to.
Death, but want an Accufer, and profecute with Words thofe
Oftcnces,
8
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? 126 O R A T I O N S O F
Offences, which you have beheld in Deeds. Nor might ancient
Examples only be cited to animate you topunifli thefe Traitors,
but even within your own Time many have fuffered the
Punifliment they deferved. Other Criminals I fliall pafs over,
and oiiiy mention one or two, who were capitally convicted
for Mifcondudt in their Embaflies, though far lefs pernicious
to the Republic, than this of iEfchines. Read me this Decree.
The Decree.
According to this Decree, OMen of Athens, you capitally
condemned thefe Ambafladors, one of whom, Epicrates, as I
have been informed by our aged Citizens, was a valuable Man,
greatly ufeful to the Commonwealth, and one of the Leaders,
who brought home the People from the Pyrasum, and in other
Inftances extremely popular. Yet none of thefe Virtues availed
him; and with Reafon. Becaufe, whoever undertakes to
execute fuch an Employment fhould not be partially virtuous,
nor abufe the Credit he hath gained with you to the Commiffion
of greater Villainies, but in general fhould never be guilty of
any voluntary Offence.
If iEfchines therefore and his Colleagues have not committed
every Crime, for which thefe Men fuffered Death, then let mc
be condemned. For confider; *' Whereas they have a<Eled in
" their Embafly (thefe are the Words of the Decree) contrary
*' to their Inftrudlions, and our Decrees;" this wasthefirft
Offence,
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? DEMOSTHENES. 127
Offence, with which they were charged. But have not thefe
Ambaffadors aded in contradidlion to their Inflrudions? Docs
not your Decree exprefsly command, that the Peace {Tiould
extend to the Athenians, and the Confederates of the Athenians,
and have they not openly excluded the Phocaeans? Does it
not order, " that the Magiftrates of the feveral Cities fhould
** take the Oaths of Ratification," but have they ever tendered
thefe Oaths to the Magiftrates, who were fent by PhiHp ? Were
not your Ambaffadors forbidden ever to be alone with Philip,
and did they ever ceafe to enter inta private Conferences with
him? " Some of them were Gonvi6led before the Senate of
*' declaring Falfe hoods;" and are not your prefent Ambaffidors
eonvidled before the People ? But by what Evidence convicfled^
for this is an illuftrioiis Circumftance? By the Fads themfelves,
for every Event hath happened in dired: Contradidion to their
Declarations. " Neither have they (fo fpeaks the Decree)
'* written Truth in their Difpatches. " But did thefe Men write
Truth? " They eahimniated our Confederates and were cor-
" rupted. " Inftead of calumniating, they utterly deftroyed; a
Crime, far more atrocious than Calumny. But with regard to
their having been corrupted, if they denied, it would only re-
Efiain to conviift thenij but fince they themfelves confcfs, let
them be carried away to Execution,.
What then, O Men of Athens ? when Affairs are in fueh a
Situation, fhall you, the Defcendants of fuch Anceftors, and
fome
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? 12^ ORATIONSOF
fome of you alive, when thefe Tranfadions happened; fhall
you endure that Epicrates, the Benefadlor of the Athenians,
and one of the Leaders, whiO brought home the People from
the Pyrasum, fhould be deprived of his Rank as a Citizen, and
delivered over to Punifiiment ; again, that, fomc Time before,
Thrafybulus, the Son of Thrafybulus, that Favourite of the
People, whom he brought home from their Exile in Phyle,
fhould be fined ten Talents ; that a Defcendant of Harmodius
and Ariftogitoa, who had wrought the mofl important Services
for the Republic, and whom, in Remembrance of thofe Ser-
vices, you invited by a Law to partake of your Libations, and
the facred Cups, in rJl your Temples and Sacrifices; whom
you have ever celebrated and honoured equally with our Heroes
and Gods; that all thefe Perfons fhould fuffer the Punifliment
appointed by our Laws ; that neither Pardon, norCompalTion, nor
the weeping Children, who bore the Names of your. Benefadlors,
nor any other Influence could fupport them, and will you ac-
quit the Son of that Pedagogue Atrometus, and that Sorcerefs
Glaucothoe, who ufcd to dance before her Chorus of Bacchanali-
ans, and for whofe Myfferies another Prieftefs was put to Death j
will you acquit the Defcendant from fuch Anceflors, who never
were ufeful in any one Inftance to the Republic, neither himfelf,
his Father, or any of his Relations? For what Horfe, what
Galley, what Expedition, what Expence in Shows, what
mufical Entertainment, what public OfKce, what Contribution,
what Benevolence, what Danger, what fingle Service of any
Kind
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-27 04:57 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/uc2. ark:/13960/t9x06c69h Public Domain / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd
? DEMOSTHENES.
