No More Learning

You did, O Men of Athens j when I fay you, I fay the Re-
public.
4
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? 398 DEMOSTHENES
public. But who was he, that in all his Orations, Decrees
and Adions, with Simplicity of Heart, and without Referve,
devoted himfelf to the Service of that Republic ? I. (9) How
univTrfally advantageous were thofe Meafures, you are not now
to learn by my Oration ; you have been convinced by their Ef-
feds. For that War, belides the honeft Fame you acquired,
fupplied you with a larger Abundance of all the NecefTaries of
Life, and at a cheaper Rate, than this Peace, of which, to the
Ruin of their Country, fome of our very excellent Citizens, in
View of their own future Expedtations, are fo religiouily obfer-
vant. In fuch Expedlations may they for ever be difappointed,
nor ever partake of thofe BlefTings, which you implore of the
immortal Gods in your warmeft Affedlion for the Common-
wealth, nor ever prevail upon you to engage in their Machina-
tions. Now read the Decrees, by which the Byzantians and
Perinthians crowned the Republic for thefe Meafures.
Decree of the Byzantians.
JBosPHORicus being Pontiffe, Damagetus, having obtained
Leave
(9) Medea's Anfwer to her Confidant, Line? Mci^ disje, ^ c'eft affez. There
in Corneille, very much refembles the is another PafTage, of almoft the fame
Boldnefs and Sublimity of this Paflage. Kind, in this great Author.
Voire pays vous hdit^ fotre Epoux ejl Julia, ^e vouliez-vous qiCil fit centre
fans foi, irois ?
Centre tant cfennemis que vous refle-t-il? Horace. i^V/ mourut.
Med. Moi. Adt i. Sc. 4. Horace, Aft 3. So. 6.
All France, fays Tourreil, hath felt and How much more forcibly might the Ex-
admired this Anfwer. But fliould not preffion have been ? What would you
the Critic have acknowledged, how cold have had him done againfi three ? -- Died.
and fpiritlefs the Beginning of the next 8
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? IN DEFENCE OF CTESIPHON. 399
Leave of the Senate to deliver his Opinion, fpoke thus in the
Affembly : Whereas the People of Athens have in Times pafi:
conftantly preferved a Spirit of Bene\'olence towards the By-
zantians, and their Confederates and Kindred, the Perinthi-
ans ; and whereas they have conferred upon them many and
great Obligations, particularly in a late Conjundlure, when
Philip of Macedon invaded their Dominions, with Intention
utterly to deftroy their whole Nation ; laying wafte their
Country with Fire, and cutting down their Forefts ; the Peo-
ple of Athens then fent us Succours of an hundred and twenty
Ships with Proviiions, Arms, and SiDldiers ; relieved us
from imminent Danger, and reftored to us our ancient Form
of Government, our Laws, and the Sepulchres of our Ancef-
tors ; it therefore feemeth good to the Byzantians and Perin-
thians, to grant unto the Athenians the Rights of Intermarriage,
the Privileges of Citizens, the Poffefllon of Lands and Tene-
ments, a diftinguifhed Seat at all our public Games, a Free-
dom of entering into our Senate, and into the Affemblies of
our People, next to thofe, who have the Superintendence of
all religious Matters : furthermore, that whoever thinks proper
to inhabit our Cities fhall be exempted from all Taxes and
Impofts : that three Statues, fixteen Cubits high, fhall be e-
redled at the Port of Byzantium, reprefenting the Republic of
Athens crowned by the Byzantian and Perinthian Republics :
that Prizes (hall be fent to the general Meetings of Greece at
the Ifthmian, Nemean, Olympic and Pythian Games : that
the
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? 400 DEMOSTHENES
the Crowns, with which the People of Athens are crowned by
us, fhall be there proclaimed, to the Intent that all the States
of Greece may know the Magnanimity of the Athenians, and
the Gratitude of the Byzantians and Perinthians.
Now recite the Decrees of the People of Cherfonefus, when
they fent Crowns to this Commonwealth.
The Decree of the Chersonesites.
The People inhabiting the Cities of Seftus, Eleus, Madytus,
and Alopeconnefus, prefent the People of Athens with a golden
Crown of fixty Talents Weight ; and confecrate an Altar to
Gratitude, and the Athenian People, becaufe they have received
from that People the greateft of all human Bleflings, by being
taken out of the Hand of Philip, and reftored to their Country,
their Laws, their Liberty and their Temples. Thefe Benefits
we fhall through all Time gratefully remember, and return
thefe Obligations to the utmoft of our Power. Thus they
unanimoufly decreed in their general Aflembly.
' My Counfels therefore, and my Adminiftration not only
preferved Cherfonefus and Byzantium ; not only prevented Phi-
lip from making himfelf Mafter of the Hellefpont ; not only
acquired thefe Honours for the Republic, but made the Gene-
rofity of Athens, and the Perfidy of Philip, evidently manifeft
to all Mankind. For while he was adlually an Ally and Con-
federate
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? IN DEFENCE OF CTESIPHON. 401
federate of the Byzantians, yet he befieged them in the Face of
the whole World, (an Adion at once mod infamous, and ex-
ecrable) while you, although you had many juft Reafons of
Complaint againft them for Injuries formerly committed, not
only did not remember your Refentment, or abandon them,
when they were opprefTed, but openly appeared in their De-
fence. By this Condu6t you gained univcrfal Honour and
Efteem. That indeed you yourfelves have crowned many ot
your Citizens for the Wifdom of their Adminift ration, no Man
'is ignorant. But that the Republic herfelf was ever crowned,
I mean by any of her Senators or Orators, except by me, no
Man living will venture to affert.
I SHALL now demonftrate, that his Invedives againfl: the
Euboeans and Byzantians, when he numbered over the Er-
rors, which perhaps they had really committed againft the
Interefts of the Commonwealth, are abfolute Calumnies ;
not only becaufe they are falfe in themfelves (of which I
prefume you are perfedlly convinced) but fuppofing them true,
becaufe I have employed them in fuch a Manner, as to have
rendered them advantageous to your Affairs. To this Fur-
pofe, I fhall briefly mention one or two Inftances of your
own Condud:, moft honourable to the Republic. , For
every Citizen in his priv^ate, and every Nation in its
public Chara6ter, fhould perpetually endeavour to excell in
their future Adions, whatever they themfelves have already
Vol. II. F f f per-
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? 402 DEMOSTHENES
performed mofl: reputable and glorious. (lo) When the Lace-
daemonians therefore, O Men of Athens, were abfolute Mafters
both by Land and Sea ; had furrounded Attica with Guards and
Garrifons ; had taken PoffefTion of Eubosa, Tanagra, Boeotia,
Megara, JEgma, Cleonae and the adjacent Iflands ; when the
Republic had neither Ships in her Harbours, nor Walls round
her Capita], yet you marched to Haliartus, and a few Days
afterwards to Corinth, although you might juftly have refented
the numberlefs Outrages, committed both by the Corinthians
and Thebans in the Decelean war. (ii) But you a6led not
thus inglorioufly ; far otherwife. The Athenians, ^Efchines,
engaged in both thefe Expeditions, neither in gratitude for Be-
nefits received, nor becaufe they were infenfible of their Dan-
ger; but becaufe they would not abandon thofe, who fled
to them for Protedion. Then, ardent in the Purfuit of Honour
and of Fame, they determined to expofe themfelves to the
moft formidable Perils ; thus generoufly confulting at once their
Intereft and their Glory. For Death is the certain Period of
Life to every human Creature, although he hide himfelf for
Safety in his moft fecret Chambers. It therefore becomes the
brave
(lo) This PafTage hath been ill ren- cibiades, built a ftrong Fort, from whence
dered by our Tranflators, except the Ita- they ravaged the open Country ; kept
lian. Percicche rhiwmo nelle ftie private Athens in perpetual Alarms, and often.
alticni, iS una citta nelle publiche, aW e- intercepted her Convoys of Provifions.
f-mpiodelle piu belle operefempre, c\\tQg)\, The Importance of this Fort gave its.
6 ella ha fatte, debhe forzarji di far Tal- Name to the War, although it was noc
tre cofe, eke a far gli rimangano. built 'till the nineteenth Year of what is
(ii) Decelea was a little Village about generally called the Pcloponnefian War.
fifteen Miles from Athens. Here the Thucydides. 7. Lib*
Lacedaemonians, by the Advice of Al-
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? IN DEFENCE OF CTESIPHON. 403
brave to attempt every honourable Enterprize ; oppofing their
Courage and their Hopes to the Danger, and refolute to bear
with Fortitude, whatever God fhall appoint. Thus a6led our
Anceftors ; thus adled fome of our Citizens, who are yet Hving,
when they fuccoured the Lacediemonians, (12) certainly neither
Friends nor Benefadors, but guilty of a thoufand Ads of In-
juftice and Oppreflion with regard to the RepubHc. Yet when
the Thebans, after their Vidlory at Leudra, determined utterly
to deftroy them, you oppofed their OpprefTors, neither terrified
by the Greatnefs of their Power, nor the niilitary Reputation
they had acquired ; neither confidering the numberlefs Wrongs
you had received from that very People, in whofe Defence you
now endangered your own Safety. By thefe Inftances/ you
made it evident to all the States of Greece, that however they
might offend, you would referve your Refentment for fome
other Occafion, and neither remember nor demand an Account
of their Offences, when either their Safety, or their Liberty ^
were in Danger. |
Fff2 Nor
(12) The Sentence in the Original is than in the temperate Digniry of the
imperfeft. The Verb, that (hould ex- Pa/Tage before us. Would not fome of
prefs defending, ftucourhigy relieving the the ancient Orators have imitated, or the
Lac-edsmonians, does not appear in the Critics have mentioned it with their ufiial
Text. Ol' AocxeSxificavin;. Doftor Tay- Marks of Wonder and Approbation?
! or thinks it an Inftance of that velientent Is it not more natural and fimple to iina-
and violent Spirit, which will not be con- gine, that Iqc-^B-. -txi/, la-xuxrxv, or fome
fined by the Rules of Grammarians, fuch Word, hath been loft by the Care-
Yet furely we might rather have expefted leirnefs of Tranfcribers ^ However, we
to find fuch an Inftance of Irregularity, fliouid be cautious of applauding thefe
unknown even to the Boldnefs and Li- hazardous Beauties, which perhaps are
centioufnefs of Poetry, in fome other only pardonable in their original Author,
Parts of this Oration, where the PalTions and are greatly liable to be abufed by
inight be fuppofed to have occafioneJ ir, his Imitators.
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? 404 DEMOSTHENES
Nor with regard to the Lacedemonians only did you behave
yourfelves in this Manner, but when the Thebans invaded Eu-
boea, you did not indolently behold that Event, nor remember
how you had been injured by Themifon, and Theodorus in the
Affair of Oropus, but fuccoured and relieved them. It was at
this Period, that our Citizens, among whom I have a Right of
being numbered, firfl voluntarily offered themfelves to the Re-
public to fupport the Expence of fitting out your Gallies.
But of this Matter hereafter. Yet however glorious your pre-
ferving that Ifland, fiill more glorious, when you became abfo-
lute Mafters of its Cities and the Lives of their Inhabitants, that
you honourably reftored them to thofe, by whom you were thus
injured, without demanding an Account of their Injuftice,
when they had placed this Confidence in your Integrity. A
thoufand other Inftances I pafs over unmentioned ; the Sea-
fights, Expeditions, Battles, in which, both formerly and within
our Memory, the Republic engaged, in Support of the Liberties
and Interefts of Greece. When I beheld Her, upon fo many and
fuch important Occafions, voluntarily entering into thefe Contefts
in Defence of others, what Counfelfhould I have propofed, what
Advice fhould I have given, where her own Safety was in fome
Meafure under her Confideration ? To remember her Refent-
ments againft thofe, forbid it Jupiter ! who now folicited her
Protedion ; and to feek for Pretences, by which we ihould
have betrayed the common Caufe of Liberty ? ^ightnotany of
our Citizens have been juftified in killing me, if I had attempted,
everi
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? IN DEFENCE OF CTESIPIION. 405
even in Words alone, to diOionour the ancient Glories of the
Commonwealth ? For that in Fadl you were incapable of a6t-
ing in fo degenerate a Manner, I was perfedlly convinced. If
you had been thus inclined, what could have hindered you ?
Was it not undoubtedly in your Power ? Were not iEfchines
and his Fadion moft afliduous in advifing you to fuch Mea-
lures ? ?
But I return to the regular Account of my Adminiftration
after this Period, and do you again confider, whether I have
adled for the general Advantage of the Commonwealth. When
I beheld your Marine, O Men of Athens, lying in Ruins, and
the Rich for an inconfiderable Pittance exempted from the
Taxes, that fhould fupport it ; when I beheld your Citizens, of
moderate and indigent Circumftanccs, defpoiled of their Pro-
perty, and the Republic perpetually too late in her Operations,
jl determined to eftablifh a Law, by which I compelled the
rich to adl with Juftice ; protected the poor from Oppreflion,
and, what was of infinite Importance, effedually provided, that
the Commonwealth fhould always be ready, at the appointed
Time, in all her military Preparations. When I was indided
upon an Adlion of preferring a new Law in oppofition to thofe
already eftablifhed, I appealed to your Tribunal, and was ac-
quitted ; nor did my Prolecutor obtain the fifth Part of the
Suffrages, (i 3) What Sums do you then imagine would our
principal
(13) This was an honourable Acquittal. When a Profecutor had not a fifth
Patt
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? 4o6 DEMOSTHENES
principal Citizens, (14) appointed for the Equipment of our
Gallies, have given me, not to have 'propofed this Law ; or at
leaft, to have fufpended the immediate Profecution of it, under
the ufual Forms of an Oath to propofe it hereafter. (15)
Such Sums, O Men of Athens, as in Truth I am afhamed to
mention. Nor would they have adled imprudently ; becaufe
by the former Laws fixteen of them were permitted to join in
building a fingle Galley ; from whence their Taxes were very
inconfiderable, or rather abfolutely nothing, while the poor
were cruelly opprelTed. But by my Law, every Citizen was
obliged to contribute in proportion to his Fortune ; and thus the
Man, who before had contributed only a lixteenth part to build-
ing one Galley, was now obliged to build two at his own
Expence. For they did not before call themfelves Trierarchs,
but Contributors. (16) Certainly there was not any Sum, they
would not chearfully have given to have evaded the force of the
new Law, and not been compelled to adl with Equity to their
Fellow-
Part of the Votes, he was generally fined fignifying the Oath, by which the De-
in Proportion to the Importance of the cifion of a Caufe was put off. One ot
Caufe. This was done to difcoiirage the Parties fwore he was incapable of at-
vexatious and litigious Profecutions. Pa- tending, either through Sicknefs, or fome
trocles, who preferred this Indidment other Neceflity, but would renew the
againft our Orator, was fined five hun- Suit, as foon as poiTible.
dred Drachmas. (i6) The 'V\'ox<\ Trier arch in its firfl
(14) Litterally tranflated, 'They, who and principal Senfe fignifies, the Com-
hold the firft, fccond and third Rank in mander of a Galley. In this, and many
the Clajfes appointed to raife this Tax. other Paflages, it means the Perion, ap-
The Reader may find the Scheme, upon pointed to build it. Our very excellent
which our Autlior founded his Law, in Itahan Tranflator has not been attentive
the firft Oration, fird Volume. to this Difference ; / governatori delle
(ij) Ev ^TTuiA,ocrto(. , A Law-Term, galee.
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? IN DEFENCE OF CTESIPHON. 407
Fellow-Citizens. Now read the Decree, for which I was in-
didled. Then read the Schedule of Taxes appointed by our
former Laws, and afterwards by mine.
The Decree.
Under the Archonfhip of Polycles, on the fixteenth of Sep-
tember, Demofthenes propofed a Law to the Board of Admiral-
ty, repealing all former Laws, by which the Contributions of
the Trierarchs were regulated. It was confirmed by the Senate
and People. Patrocles preferred an Indictment againft De-
mofthenes for this Violation of our Laws, and not gaining a
fifth Part of the Suffrages, was fined five hundred Drachmas.
Now produce the very honeft Taxes of our former Laws.
The Taxes.
Let fixteen Trierarchs, from twenty five Years of Age to for-
ty, be appointed for building one Galley, and let them equally
contribute to the Expence.
Now read the Taxes propofed by my Law,
The Taxes.
tET the Trierarchs be chofen, according to the Valuation of
their Eftates. If it amount to ten Talents, kt them build one
Galley ; if to more than ten Talents, let them be taxed in pro-
portion as far as building three Gallies and a Frigate ; if to lefs,
then let a Number be joined together, whofe Eftates amount
to that Sum. i
Bco
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? 4o8 DEMOSTHENES
Do I then appear to have inconfiderably relieved the Poor
from their Oppreflions, or would not the Rich have purchafed at
any Price a Power of continuing their Injuftice ? I do not
therefore only triumph in my not having yielded to their Soli-
talions, or in having been honourably acquitted when I was
indidled, but in having eftablifhed this falutary Law, and pro-
dudlive of fuch happy EfFe6ts. For during the whole Courfe
of the War, while your Expeditions were conduced according
to this new Regulation, no Trierarch ever complained of In-
juftice, or applied to you for Redrefs ; none ever" fled for Re-
fuge to the Afylum of Diana's Temple at Munychia ; none were
ever thrown into Prifon by the Comptrollers of the Navy ;
your Galleys were never taken by the Enemy, or detained in
Harbour, unable to put to Sea by not being properly equipped.
Yet all thefe Accidents often happened by your former Laws,
becaufe the Poor were incapable of paying their Taxes, i From
hence many infuperable Difficulties arofe. But I removed the
Expence of thefe Armaments from the Poor to the Rich, and
then every thing was regularly conduced. I therefore imagine,
that I am not unworthy of Pralfe, for having through my
whole Courfe of Miniftry conftantly preferred fuch Meafures,
as at once added Reputation, Honour, Strength to the Republic,
and that nothing envious, malignant, ill-natured ; nothing
abjedl, or unworthy of the Commonwealth ever appeared in
my Adminiftration. Upon thefe Principles I (hall appear to
have a(5ted, not only with Regard to your Affairs, but to the
general
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? IN DEFENCE OF CTESIPHON. 409
general Interefts of Greece. In Athens I preferred not the Fa-
vour of the Rich to the Jufticc due to the Poor j nor in Greece
preferred the Prefents and Amity of PhiHp to the common
Welfare of her States.
I THEREFORE imagine it only remains to fpeak. to the Procla-
mation, and the Obligation of paffmg my Accounts before I
am crowned ; becaufe I prefume I have fufficiently proved,
that I have ever aded for the Utility of the Republic ; that I
have always been zealous and ardent for its Welfare. I fhall
therefore pafs over the principal and more important Meaiures
I recommended, and carried into Execution during my Miniftry,
as I am convinced, that loughtfirft to juftify myfelf againfl: the
Charge of having violated our Laws ; and if I am filent after-
wards with regard to the refl of my Adminiftration, I believe
your Confcioufnefs will give fufficient Teftimony in my Favour.
I cannot, by the Gods, imagine, you were much informed by
the confufed and perplexed Harangue, that iEfchines made con-
cerning the Laws, he had tranfcribed, (i6) and many Farts
of it I myfelf was utterly unable to conceive. However, I Hiall
in perfect Simplicity follow the dirc6l Path in conhdering the
Juflice and LegaHty of this Decree. For fo far from aiTerting,
that I am not obliged to render an Account of my Miniflr)',
Vol. if G 2 2 as
E> G
(16) iEfichines had tranfcribed die was to be crowned. This was the Rule
Laws, that he aiTerted Ctefiphon had cfjuftice, mentioned in Page 330, by
violated, upon a Tablet, cravlhov, which which the People might difcern the Dif-
he placed in public View in Oppofition agreement between the Decree, and the
to the Decree, by which Demofthenes Laws it contradided. Tayior.
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? 4IO DEMOSTHENES
as he hath falfely and repeatedly affirmed, that I confefs ray-
felf through my \^'hole Life accountable for whatever Employ-
ments I have held, or whatever Meafures I have recommended ;
but for what I have voluntarily given out of my own private
Fortune to the Public, I do maintain, I am at no Time liable
to account. Doft thou hear, iEfchines ? Neither I, nor any
other Citizen, although he had actually poffefled the Dignity
of one of our nine Archons. For where is the Law, fo full of
Injuftice and Inhumanity, as to deprive that Man of the grateful
Acknowledgements due to his Merit, who hath given any Part
of his Fortune to his Country; or hath performed any humane
and generous Adion ? Where is the Law, that delivers him
up to the Mercy of Calumniators, and makes them Judges of
his Liberality ? There never was fuch an inhuman Law. If
iEfchines affirms the contrary, let him produce it. I fhall
acquiefce and be filent. But in Truth, O Men of Athens,
there is no fuch Law in being. Yet becaufe I was Treafurer of
your theatrical Funds, when I generoufly gave thofe Sums to>
the Pubhc, he therefore impudently allerts, " The Senate con-
" ferred thefe Honours upon him, while he was yet accounta-
" ble for that Employment". But I received thefe Hononrs,
not for any Employment, fubjed: to account, but for my pure
Liberality, thou Calumniator.
" But you were Surveyor of our Walls ;" yes, and even from
that Office have I merited thefe Honours, becaufe I expended
largely
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? IN DEFENCE OF C T E S I P H O N. 41>>
largely of my own Fortune, nor charged my Expence to the
Commonwealth. Accounts of public Money do indeed require
a fevere Infpeftion and Scrutiny; but voluntary Gifts jufHy de-
mand Gratitude and Praife. Upon thefe Motives Cteiiphon
preferred this Decree. That fuch hath ever been your Manner
of Proceeding, not only confirmed by our Laws, but by out
general Ufages, I fhall eafily demonftrate by numberlefs Exam-
ples. Firft, Nauficles, Commander of your Forces, was often
crowned for his Liberality. When Diotimus and Charidemus
gave Shields to their Soldiers, they were honoured with Crowns.
Neoptolemus, Diredor of feveral public Works, was alfo diftin-
guiflied with this Honour for his Generofity. It were indeed
deplorable that a Magiftrate, while he exercifes his Office, fhould
be forbidden to give of his Bounty to the Republic, or inftead
of receiving Thanks for that Bounty, fhould be fubjeded to
pafTmg an Account. To evince the Truth of what I afTert,
read the Decrees relating to thefe Perfons.
o
The Decree.
Demonicus was Archon, when Callias, according to tlie
Refolution of the Senate, on the twenty-fixth Day of Septem-
ber, delivered this Opinion : that it feemeth good to the Se-
nate and People to crown Nauficles, Commander of their For-
ces, becaufe when two thoufand Athenian Soldiers were in
Garrifon at Imbros, whither they had marched to fuccour
their Countrymen, eflabliilied in that Ifland ; and when Phi-
G g g 2 alon.
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? 412 DEMOSTHENES
alon, appointed to provide for their Subfiftence, was prevented
by a violent Storm from failing thither, and from paying the
Troops, he advanced their Pay out of his own Fortune, nor
ever afterwards demanded it from the Republic. Let the
Crown be proclaimed during the Feftival of Bacchus, when
the new Tragedians appear upon the Stage.
The Decree.
When the proper Magiftrates had colledled the Suffrages of
the Senate, Callias thus delivered his Opinion : Whereas Chari-
demus, Commander of our Infantry in the Expedition to Sala-
mis, and Diotimus, General of the Cavalry, did at their own
Expence furniflTi with Shields eight hundred of our Soldiery,
who had been plundered by the Enemy in the Battle at the
River Cephifllis : it therefore feemeth good to the Senate and
People to crown Charidemus and Diotimus with golden
Crowns, and that Proclamation thereof be made at the great
Feftival of Minerva, at the gymnaftic Games, at the Feftival
of Bacchus, when the new Tragedians appear ; and that the
proper Magiftrates, the prefiding Tribe, and the Directors of
the Games, take Care, that this Proclamation be duly executed.
Each of thefe Perfons, iEfchines, was indeed accountable
lor whatever Employment he held ; certainly not for the Ge-
nerofity, by which he merited thefe Honours ; neither, confe-
quently, fhould I be accountable for mine. I may with Juftice
claim the fame Privileges with others, in the fame Circumftan-
ces.
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? IN DEFENCE OF CTESIPHON. 413
ces. I liberally gave, and for that Liberality I am honoured ;
furely not accountable for what I have given. I have born
Employments, and for them have paffed my Accounts ; not for
,thefe Inftances of my own Generofity. ; But, in the Name of
Jupiter ! *' I have been guilty of ftrange Mifdemeanors in the
" Difcharge of thcfe Employments. " As you were prefent,
JEfchines, when I paffed my Accounts before the proper Officers,
why did you not then prefer this Indictment ? But clearly to
demonftrate, that he himfelf bears Witnefs for me, that I receive
this Honour for thofe AAions, of which I am by no means obli-
ged to render an Account, let the Secretary read Ctefiphon's
whole Decree. Becaufe, by every Article of that Decree, to
which he never made any Objection, he will appear in his
prefent Profecution an infamous Calumniator. Read.
The Decree.
Under the Archonfhip of Euthycles, on the twenty-fecond
Day of Oftober, the Oenean Tribe prefiding in the Senate,
Ctefiphon delivered this Opinion : whereas Demofthenes, when
he was appointed Surveyor of our Walls, expended and gave to
the People, out of his own private Fortune, the Sum of three
Talents ; and when he was Director of the theatrical Trcafiiry,
generoufly added an hundred Minae to the common Fund for
Sacrifices: (17) it feemeth good to the Senate and People of
Athens,
(17) Wolfius acknowledges the Diffi- mous latin Trandation. Ha donafo a
culty of this Paffage, and gives '. -. is own tutti curatori delle cofe /acre cento njine
Explanation of it, with the different per fare i facrifici. Tradidit omnium
Tranflations of it before his Time, tribuum jerariis centum minas pro fuppH-
Let us add the Italian, and an anony- cationibus peragendis.
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? 414 DEMOSTHENES
Atlieusj that Demofthenes iliall receive the Honour due to his
ringular Merit, and to that Affcdion, which he hath always
pieferved towards the Athenian People ; that he be crowned
with a golden Crown, and Proclamation thereof be made in the
Theatre, during theFeftival of Bacchus, when the new Trage-
dians appear, and that the Care of this Proclamation be com-
mitted to the Diredor of the Games.
These, iEfchines, are the Particulars of my Liberality ;
thefe you have not thought proper to arraign ; but the Honours,
conferred upon me by the Senate as a Reward for that Liberahty,
thefe are the Obje<5ls of your Indidment. To receive Obliga-
tions therefore you acknowledge to be within the Law ; and do
you efleem the Gratitude of repaying them, illegal ? If we
were obliged to defcribe the moft abandoned Profligate, deteft-
ed by the Gods, and verily pofTeffed with the moft malignant
Spirit of Envy, would not thefe, I here atteft thofe Gods, be
the Marks ot his Charader ?
With regard to Proclamations, I fhall pafs over a thoufand
Inftances, and without even mentioning, that I myfelf have been
often crowned in the Theatre. But in the Name of the im-
mortal Gods, canfl: thou indeed, iEfchines, be fo perverfely
abfurd ; fo flupidly fenfelefs, as not to be capable of difcern-
ing, that a Crown always conveys the fame Honour to the
Perlbn, upon whom it is conferred, wherever it be proclaimed ;
2 but
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? IN DEFENCE OF C T E S I P H O N. 415
but that the Proclamation is made in the Theatre, for the Bene-
fit and Advantage of thofe, by whom it is beftowed ? Who-
ever hears it proclaimed is animated with a more generous
Ardour for the Intercft of the Republic, and they, who beftow
the Crown, and thus gratefully repay the Services, that deferved
it, are more honoured, than the Perfon who receives it. Up-
on thefe Reafons the Commonwealth has founded the following
Law.
The Law.
The Proclamations for Crowns granted by the Boroughs of
Attica fhall be made in their own refpedive Boroughs ; but if
the People and Senate of Athens crown any of their Citizens, it
fball be permitted to proclaim them in the Theatre, during
the Feftival of Bacchus.
DosT thou hear, iEfchines, the Law itfelf exprefsly de-
claring, "if the People and Senate of Athens crown any of
" their Citizens, let them be proclaimed in the Theatre ? "!
Wherefore then, unhappy Man, doft thou utter thefe Calum-
nies? Wherefore invent thefe Falfehoods? Why doft thou not
purge away this Madnefs of thy Brain with Hellebore? Art
thou not afhamed of having urged this Profecution, not for any
Crime, committed againft the State, but to gratiiy thy own
malignant Spirit of Envy ? Doft thou not blufti for having
corrupted fome of our Laws, and quoted others partially, which
ought in Juftice to have been recited at length ; efpecially before
Judges,
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? 4i6 DEMOSTHENES
Judges, who are engaged by Oath to pronounce Sentence ac-^
cordincT to thofe Laws ? Yet after having a6ted in this Man-
ner, you enumerate the QuaHfications, that {Kould neceflarily
enter into the Charadler of a zealous and faithful Republican,
as if you were giving Diredions to a Sculptor, and had after-
wards received a Statue greatly different from the Diredions
you had given ; or as if a valuable Republican were to be de-
fcribed by your Words, not by his own Conduft, and the
Meafures he had propofed in his Miniftry. (i8) Then with
Clamour and Vociferation, as if you were ftill in the original
Cart of your Profeffion, (19) you utter a Language, without
Diftindion of fitting or unfitting, far better fuited to thee, and thy
Family, than mine. However, I conceive there is this Differ-
ence, O Men of Athens, between Invedives and a legal Profe-
cution, that Profecutions have for their Objedls fome Crimes,
for which the Laws denounce a proper Punifhment ; but In-
vedives
(18) Our Author laughs at ^fchines Part of the Sentence rendered very difFer-
for luppofmg, that a Minifter of State ently from the Senfe, in which it is under-
could be exaftly formed according to his flood by our Tranflators, and Commen-
Defcription. He makes no Allowance tators.
for the various Abilities and Virtues and (19) uu-tt^d e^ a^a'l'iyf. ^s if out
Paffions, that mufl: enter into the Com- of a Cart. The Tranflator confelFes, he
pofition ? , and form perhaps the moft has no Authority among our Commen-
complex Being of the Creation. He ex- tators for applying tbefe Words to the
pec^s it (liould be complete and fimple, particular Cart, in which Thefpis and
as it appears in his Ideas. Thushegivts his firft flrolli g Comedians exhibited
Dircdt ons to a Sculptor for a Statue, but their Plays. Yet this Application gives
will be miferably difappointed, if he a peculiar Spirit to the Pafiage, as it
imagines, he lliall fee it finiflied in every whimfically reprefents ^fchines in this
FeatLtre, Lineament, and Attitude, ac- original Theatreof his Profefllon. which
. cording to thofe DirecT:ions. Demofthenes is always extremely careful
1'he learned Reader will find the latter to remember.
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? IN DEFENCE OF C T E S I P H O N. 417
vedivcs have only thofe Expreffions of Bitternef>, which they,
who hate each other, are apt to utter in Proportion to the na-
tural Malignity of their DifpoHtions. Yet I cannot imagine,
that our Anceftors ered;ed thefe Courts of Juftice, that you
fhould afiemblc here, and liften to thofe atrocious Calumnics>
with which we flander each other; but that we fhould legally
accufe and convidt whoever hath been guilty of any Crime
againfl: the Republic. Although ^fchines was equally con-
fcious, as I am, of this Truth, yet he hath chofen the Invec-
tives of his Cart, rather than a legal Profecution.
It were however unreafonable, that he fhould go ofF in
Triumph on this Occafion, and efcape the Vengeance he hath
provoked. I fhall therefore regularly proceed upon that Con-
fideration, when I have afked him the following Queflion.
Whether, ^Efchines, may we pronounce you my Enemy, or
that of the Republic? Mine undoubtedly. When it was
however in your Power to revenge, in regular Courfe of Law,
the Crimes I am now fuppofed to have committed, v/hy did
you totally negled: to profecute me by an Examination into my
Accounts, by an Indi6lment for the Laws I had tranfgrefled, or
by fome other judicial Proceeding ? Or when I was declared
innocent in every Inftance by the Laws themfelves ; by the
flated Days appointed for my Arraignment, and by the Judge-
ment frequently pronounced upon my Condu6l ; when i never
was convicted of any one Aiflion injurious to the Interefls of my
Vol. II. o FI h h Coun-
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? 4i8 DEMOSTHENES
Country ; when the Republic certainly gained, according to
particular Incidents and Conjundures, a greater or lefs confide-
rable Share of Glory by my Adminiflration, haft thou now de-
termined upon this Oppofition ? Be cautious however of being
found an Enemy to the People of Athens in Reality, to me in
Appearance.
Since you are now inftruded how to pronounce Sentence ac-
cording to Juftice, and the religious Obligation of your Oaths,
I hold myfelf compelled, (for fo it appears) although not natu-
rally fond of Invedives, to return fome Anfwer to his Calum-
nies, and Falfehoods ; to tell fome neceftary Truths concerning
him, and to demonftate both what he is in himfelf, and from
what Anceftry defcended, who with fuch Facility provokes,
and talks Evil of others ; who tears to Pieces fome cafual
Expreflions of mine, though he himfelf utters Things, of
which, what good Man would not be afhamed ? If JEncus,
Rhadamanthus or Minos were my Accufers, not this Word-
Catcher, this hackneyed Pettifogger, this miferable Scrivener, I
do not imagine they would have treated me with fuch injurious
Language, or with fuch Infolence, as when, like an Adlor in
a Tragedy, he cried out aloud, O Earth, and Sun, and Virtue,
with other Exclamations of the fame Kind ; and again, when he
invoked that Intelligence and Erudition, by which we diftinguifli
between Things beautiful and deformed. You yourfelves heard
him talk this extraordinary Language.