No More Learning

His forged Letters I pafs over in Silence ; his arrefting pre-
tended Spies ; his Inquifitions by Torture for Crimes, that
never were committed ; as if I had formed a Confpiracy to in-
troduce fome Innovations into our Conftitution. Yet he now
intends, as I am informed, to a/k me, what Character would
that Phyfician deferve, who during his Patient's Illnefs refufed
to prefcribe for him, yet after his Death fliould go to his Fu-
neral, and pompoudy difplay to his Relations the Prefcriptions,
which if he had carefully followed, he had recovered his Health?
But you never afk yourfelf, Demofthenes, what Kind of De-
magogue is He, whofe Power confifls in foothing the People
with his Adulation ; who could vilely bai;i:er away thofe criticg. 1
Conjundlures, which might have preferved his Country ; who by
his Calumnies hath deterred every prudent Citizen from giving
his Advice; who after having ignominioully fled from the
Danger
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? AGAINST CTESIPHON. 343
Danger of Battle, and expofed the Republic to Calamities mod
irremediable, now thinks himfelf worthy of being crowned for
his Virtues ; He, who never performed one meritorious A6lion;
He, the fole Caufe ot all our Misfortunes ? Then let him ve-
hemently demand ofthofe, whom by flanderous Accufations he
hath driven from the Adminiflration, at a Time when they might
have preferved the Commonwealth, let him demand, why they
did not oppofe him in thefe pernicious Schemes. They may
return this Anfwcr ; " immediately after the Battle we had not
*' Leifure for your PuniOiment, but were employed in difpatch-
" ing EmbalHes for the Safety of the Republic. " But when
unfatisfied with efcaping with impunity, you claim Rewards
and Honours, making Athens ridiculous in the Eyes of Greece,
I then ftood forth to oppofe ; I then preferred this Indidment.
But, by all the Deities of Olympus, I mofl impatiently rc-
fent his intending, as I am informed, to compare mc, in my
Genius for Eloquence, to the Syrens, by whom their Hearers
are not enchanted only, but deft royed. Thus, whatever Talents
I poffefs from Nature, or have improved by Pradice and Ex-
perience are ever fatal to my Audience. Such Language with
regard to me, I am well aflured, is moft unfit for any Man, to
utter (and furely it is infamous, that an Accufer fhould be un-
able to prove what he aflerts as a Fad) or if ever it were ne-
cefTary, yet it certainly ought not to be the Language of Demoft-
henes. It can be proper only for fome gallant General, who
having
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? 344 ORATION OF ^SCHINES
having performed many fignal Services for his Country, and
being little powerful in his Elocution, envies the Talents of
his Adverfaries. He is confcious of his own Inability to defcribe
with Advantage thofe Adions, he had worthily performed, while
he beholds his Accufer enabled by his Eloquence to convince
his Audience of the Reality of thofe A6lions, which in Truth
he never performed. But when a Man abfolutely compared
of Words ; the Words of Bitternefs, and chofen with exquifite
Curiofity ; that fuch a Man fhould pretend to rely upon an
artlefs Simplicity of fpeaking, ora meer Reprefentation of Fadls,
is it not moft intolerable? A Man, whofe Tongue is his only
Merit. Take that away, the Remainder of him is as worthlefs,
as a tonguelefs Pipe. (40)
I REALLY wonder, Athenians, and would gladly know, up-
on what Motives you will acquit Cteliphon of this Indidlment ?
Becaufe his Decree is agreeable to your Laws ? Nothing was
ever more illegal. Becaufe he merits not the Trouble of pu-
nifhing ? you never can have any Rules to dired the Lives and
Manners of our People, if this Man is acquitted. But is it not
truly deplorable, that formerly this Orcheftra was filled with
Crowns of Gold, prefented by the States of Greece to the Peo-
ple of Athens upon this Day, appointed to receive them with
greater Solemnity, and now, when by the unhappy Politics of
Demofl-
(jo) A thin Plate, cut in the Shape of the Pipe; perhaps not unlike the
of a I'ongue, was fixed in the Mouth Reeds of our Hautboys.
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? AGAINST CTESIPHON. 345
Demofthenes, you are neither honoured with Crowns or Procla-
mations, fliall Demofthenes himfelf be proclaimed ? Yet if any
of our Tragic Poets, whofe PJays fliall be brought upon the
Stage immediately after the Ceremony of his being crowned,
fhould introduce Therfltes crowned by the Greeks, you never
would endure it; becaufe Homer calls him a Coward and a
Calumniator. But if you crown our prefent Therfites, do you
not imagine, the Grecians will treat you with the utmofl: De-
rifion and Contempt?
Your Anceftors afcribed whatever was glorious and fplendid
in their A6lions to the People ; whatever was lefs important, or
lefs fuccefsful was imputed to the Counfels of their corrupted
Orators. But Ctefiphon is of Opinion, we fhould take away
our prefent Ignominy from Demofthenes, and tranfer it to the
People. You profefs yourfelves moft happy in the good Favour
of Fortune, and with Reafon make the Profefllon. Will you
therefore by your own Decree declare, you are deferted by For-
tune, and preferved by Demofthenes ? Yet of all things moft
abfurd, in thefe very Courts of Juftice you brand with Infamy
the Man, who has been convifted upon an Adion of Bribery,
and will you crown this Demofthenes, whofe whole Admi-
niftration you are confcious hath been corrupt ? You rigoroufly
fine the Judges, who do not impartially diftribute the Prizes
to the Dancers in our Bacchanalian Games, and will you, who
are appointed Judges, not of Dances, but of Laws and civil
Vol. II. Y y Virtue,
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? 346 ORATION OF ^SCHINES
Virtue, will you diftribute the Prizes, not as the Law diredls,
not to the few and the deferving, but to Him, who hath prac-
tifed for them by briguing and Fadlion ? When a Judge of this
Character leaves the Court, he hath weakened his own Autho-
rity, and ftrengthened the Power of the Orator. For every pri-
vate Citizen in a democratical Government hath in himfelf the
Majefly of Kings, by the Protedlion of the Laws, and the Free-
dom of his Vote, by which thofe Laws are enadted. But the
Moment he refigns thefe Prerogatives to another, he hath abfo-
lutely annulled his own Sovereignty. Befides, the Oath, by
which he was engaged to judge with Impartiality, perpetually
attends upon him and torments him (for in the Violation of that
Oath, I fuppofe, confifts his Crime) while the Favour itfelf,
which he defigned to confer, is totally loll, and even unknown
to the Perfon, whom he purpofed to oblige, becaufe his Suffrage,
which is given by Balot, cannot be publicly known.
We {eem, Athenians, in my Judgement, to be at once both
fortunate and imprudent in our Adminiftration of the Com-
monwealth. That in the prefent Conjundlure of Affairs the
Many have refigned to the Few the very Strength of our Con-
flitution, I cannot approve ; but that a greater Harvefi: of Ora-
tors, both wicked to conceive and bold to execute, hath not
rifen from this Refignation, I deem a peculiar Inftance of our
good Fortune. Our Democracy formerly produced Men of
tiiis Charader in Abundance, who, like the prefent Race,
eafily
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? AGAINST CTESIPHON. 347
eafily foothed the People to Ruin with their Flattery. For the
People were delighted with being flattered, and thus were op-
prefled, not by thofe, whom they dreaded, as dangerous, but
by them, in whom they confided. Some of them were after-
wards among the Number of your thirty Tyrants, who flaugh-
tered more than fifteen hundred Citizens without the common
Forms of a Trial, or informing them for what Crimes they
were to fuffer Death ; who would not permit their Relations
to attend their Funerals, or pay them the laft, decent Rites of
Sepulture. Will you not then keep fuch Minifters in due Sub-
jedlion to your Authority . ? Will you not humble fuch info-
lent Spirits, and banifh them to other Climes ? Will you not
recolledl, that none ever attempted the Ruin of a popular State,
until they had affumed a Power fuperiour to the Juftice of our
Courts ?
I COULD with Pleafure, Athenians, argue with the Author
of this Decree in your Prefence, and afk, for what good Ser-
vices Demofthenes deferves to be crowned. If, Ctefiphon, you
alTert, as in the Opening of your Decree, becaufe he hath fiir-
rounded our Walls with very magnificent Intrenchments, thou
art to me an Objedl of Admiration. For greater is the Guilt
of having rendered thefe Fortifications necefTary, than is the
Merit of having executed them with what Dignity foever. He,
who afTumes to himfelf the Reputation of having wifely govern-
ed the Commonwealth, fbould not demand an honorary Re-
Y y 2 war d
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? 348 ORATION OF iESCHINES
ward for fortifying our Walls with Ramparts and Intrenchments,
or impioufly violating the Sepulchres of the dead, (41) but
producing for her fome real Advantage. If you proceed to the
fecond Article of your Decree, in which you have the Confi-
dence to affirm, that he is an eminently good Man, and con-
ftantly directs all his Words and Adions to the Service of the
Athenian People, throw away this Vanity and Pomp of Ex-
preffion ; come to Fads and prove what you affirm. His Pe-
culation with Regard to the Amphiifeans and Eubceans, I
willingly pafs over ; but when you afcribe to him the Caufes,
which produced our Alliance with the Thebans, you impofe
upon the ignorant, and affi-ont the knowing, who are confcious
of the Falfehood. For while you fupprefs the Circumftances
of that important Conjundure, nor mention the Glory of this
People now alTembled round us, by which that Alliance was
really concluded, you imagine we do not perceive, you attribute to
Demofthenes an Honour, that of Right belongs to the Republic.
How
(41) We have herean Tnftance of per- build the Walls of Athens, he ordered,
haps the boldeft Figure in Rhetoric. The that the Materials fhould be collefled from
Orator is proceeding with Impetiiofity every other Building, private or pubhc ;
and Vehemence in his Defcription of the facred or profane. From thence, ex
Magiftrate, who may juftly demand the facellisy fepulchrilque muri ccnjlarent. The.
Honour of being crowned by his Coun- Walls were hnilt of the Stories of Se-
try. Not he^ who fortifies the City with pulchres and Temples. Corn. Nepos.
Ramparts ; furroiinds it with Intrench- Demofthenes therefore, by whom they
ments. , and here he flops at once, are now repaired, muft have neccffiirily
and contrary to Expeftation, who deftroys removed fome of thefe fepulchral Stones,
the Sepulchres of our yhicejlors ; an Aft, and confequently have in Faft been guilty
of all others mod impious. Thre Faft of that Impiety, with which he is charged.
is expL'. ined by IJiftory. When The- Taylor.
miftoclcs had perfuaded the Athenians to
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? AGAINST CTESIPHON. 349
How extravagant the Infolence of this Proceeding I fhall en-
deavour to demonftrate by this one fignal Inftance. The King
of Perfia, fome little Time before Alexander's Expedition into
Alia, fent the People of Athens an affronting and barbarian
Letter, in which among other ill-mannered ExprefTions he
wrote at the Conclufion, " I fhall give you no Gold ; impor-
" tune me no more ; you never fhall receive any. " Yet this very
Monarch, when furrounded with Dangers, which ftill prefs hard
upon him, without any Requefl from the People of Athens vo-
luntarily fent them three hundred Talents, which with a no-
ble Moderation they refufed to accept. Thus a critical Con-
jun6lure, his own Terrours, and his Want of Allies, offered to
us the Perfian Gold, and the very fame Caufes operated in our
Alliance with the Thebans. Yet you, Demofthenes, are ever
clamoroufly repeating the Name of Thebes, and that unfortu-
nate Alliance, but are profoundly filent with Regard to the
feventy Talents of Perfian Gold, which you fecreted for your
own Purpofes. Yet was it not evidently for Want of Money,
even of five Talents, that their Mercenaries refufed to deliver
up their Citadel to the Thebans ? When the Arcadians had
taken the Field with all their Forces, and their Generals were
ready to enter upon Adion, was not the whole Expedition loft,
meerly for Want of nine Talents ? However you are rich, and
able to fupport the Expence of your luxurious Pleafures. In
very Fad:, the royal Gold he referves to himfelf, and leaves to
you the Dangers of his Adminiftration.
But
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? 350 ORATION OF iESCHINES
But their Want of common Senfe is worthy of your Confi-
deration. For if Ctefiphon fhall dare to call Demofthenes to
his Affiftance ; if he fhould come forward and pronounce his
own Encomium, the very liftening to him will be more into-
lerable, than all the Calamities you have fuffered by his Mi-
niftry. Becaufe, if we can ill endure even perfons of real Me-
rit, of whofe great and glorious Adions we are perfectly
confcious, when they proclaim their own Praifes, who can
have Fortitude enough to hear a Man, the Difhonour and
Reproach of the Commonwealth, il: he fliotild pronounce his
own Panegyric? You will therefore, Ctefiphon, if you are
wife, delifl: from fuch an impudent Experiment, and make your
own Defence. You cannot excufe yourfelf by any pretended
Want of Eloquence ; for it were abfurd indeed, that you, who
formerly fuiTered yourfelf to be elected Ambaflador to Cleopa-
tra, the Davighter of Philip, to condole with her upon the
Death of her Hufband Alexander, fhould now declare you are
not a very able Orator. (42) Were you capable of confoling
a foreign Queen in her Sorrows, and are you unable to juflify a
Decree, which you have been bribed to prefer ?
But the Perfon, to whom you have decreed this Crown^
is he really fo unknown to the People of Athens, who have been
thus
(42) Alexander, King of Epirus, had Upon this unhappy Occafion, the Re-
carried the War into Italy ; his Army public fent Ctefiphon with Compliments
was routed ; he himfelf killed, and his of Condolence to his Queen.
Body treated with a thoufand Indignities.
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? AGAINST CTESIPHON. 351
thus indebted to his Merit, that he muft plead this Caufe
himfelf. Let us afk the Judges, whether they know Chabrias,
Iphicrates and Timotheus ; or wherefore they gave them fuch
honorary Rewards, and eredled Statues to them. They will
unanimoufly anfwer, to Chabrias, for his naval Vidlory at
Naxos ; to Iphicrates, for having cut to pieces the Lacedaemo-
nian Phalanx; to Timotheus, for his Expedition to Corcyra;
to others, for their many great and glorious Services performed
in War. If it fhould be afked, why then refufe this Honour
to Demofthenes ? Becaufe he is corrupt, a Coward, a Defcr-
ter of his Poft in Battle. Whether will you therefore honour
Him, or difhonour yourfelves and them, who gallantly loft
their Lives in your Defence ? Imagine you behold them, with
every Expreilion of Mifery and Indignation, lamenting his
being crowned ; for if we carry, beyond the Limits of Attica,
either Timber or Stones, or Pieces of Iron, things fenfelefs and
inanimate, that have accidentally fallen and killed an human
Creature ; or if, when a Citizen hath been guilty of Self-Mur-
der, we bury the Hand, that committed the Deed, feparately
from the Body ; it will be terrible indeed, that Demofthenes,,
O Athenians, the Man, who decreed this laft unfortunate Ex~
peditlon ; who betrayed the Army by his Cowardice,, fhall be
honoured and rewarded. The Dead will be infuhed, and the
Living difcouraged, when they behold, that Death is placed
before them as the only Reward of their Virtue, and that evea
their Virtue fhall itfelf be loft; to Remembrance.
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? 352 ORATION OF iESCHINES
But of more Importance the Confideration^ if our Youtfi
fhoiild afk upon what Model they fhall form their future Lives,
what will you anfwer ? You are confcious, that neither the
Places appointed for their Exercifes, nor the Schools, nor their
Mufic, are fufficient to form them to Virtue, but far more ef-
ficacious our public Proclamations. Is a Man proclaimed in
the Theatre to be crowned for his Integrity, his Courage, and
Love of his Country, who is infamous for the Turpitude and
Impurity of his Life ? Our Youth are inftantly corrupted in
their Principles. Is an impious and a proftituted Wretch, like
Ctefiphon, punifhed, as he deferves ? Others are inftrudled.
Is a Father, who hath pafTed a Decree in Oppofition to every
Sentiment of Honour and Juftice, capable, when he returns
home, of forming his Son to Virtue ? His Son will undoubted-
ly pay him little Attention, and his Advice at fuch a Time will
juftly be called tedious and impertinent. Not therefore as
Judges only, but as Magiftrates ading in View of their Coun-
try, you fhould give Judgement in fuch a Manner as will juflify
you to your abfent Fellow-Citizens, when they fhall demand
what Sentence you have pronounced. For be well afTured,
Athenians, that the I Republic will always be thought to bear
fome Refemblance to the Perfon we crown. Will it not be
therefore infamous in you to refemble the Cowardice of this
Demofthenes ; not the Magnanimity of your Anceftors ?
But how fliall you efcape fuch Infamy? Keep a ftrong
Guard
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? AGAINST CTESIPHON. 1^53
Guard upon thofe, who afTume to themfelves the Style of pub-
lic Virtue and Philanthropy, yet in their private Chara6lers
are difhoneft and perfidious. For Love of our Country and of
Liberty, are Expreflions, that lie open in common to every
Body, and in general, they, who take FoflefTion of the Words,
are fartheft diftant from them in their Adions. When you
therefore find an Orator ardently defirous of Crowns and Pro-
clamations in the general Aflemblies of Greece, command him
to bring back his vague Oration, and his Aflertions (as the Law
directs) to the Proofs of a Life worthy of Praife, and of un-
blemifKed Morals.
If he cannot give you fuch Teftimony, do
not ratify the Praifes, with which he is proclaimed ; and thus
be careful to preferve what yet remains of your Authority.
But does it not appear to you moft terrible, that the Senate
and People are treated with Contempt ; that Difpatches and
Embaflies come to private Houfes, not from Perfons of inferior
Rank, but from the greateft Potentates of Europe and Afia ?
The very Crimes our Laws make punifhable with Death, a
certain Party do not deny their having committed, but profefs
them in Prelence of the People, and read their Difpatches to
each other. Some of them defire you to look up to them, as
to the Guardians of your Democracy ; others demand Rewards,
as Prefervers of the Republic ; while the People, from very
Dejedion of Spirit by their Misfortunes, as if they were grown
aged and doting in their Underftanding, affume to themfelves
the Name alone of a popular Goverment, but have yielded the
Vol. IL Z z Power
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? 354 ORATION OF ^SCHINES
Power to others. Thus you depart from this AfTembly, not
like Perfons, who had confulted upon the Welfare of their
Country, but Hke Guefts, who had divided the Fragments of a
public Entertainment.
That I do not trifle with your Attention, let the following
Remarks convince you. There was a certain-- with Grief I
mention the Calamities of the Republic fo frequently -- there
was a certain private Citizen, who attempting to fail to Samos
alone, was the very fame Day condemned and executed by Sen-
tence of the Areopagus. Another, who had taken Refuge in
Rhodes, unable to fupport with Fortitude the Dangers of the
Commonwealth, was lately impeached, and acquitted only
becaufe the Votes were equal. Had a fingle Suffrage more
been given againft him, he had been either baniflied, or put
to Death. (43) Let us now place the prefent Inftance in Op-
pofition to thefe. An Orator, the Author of all our Misfor-
tunes, deferted his Poft in Battle, and afterwards fled from the
Defence of Athens ; yet now prefumes to think he deferves a
CroWn, and the Honours of a Proclamation. Will you not
drive him hence into Banifhment, this common Peft of Greece ?
Will you not rather feize and punifli this public Robber ; this
Pyratc, who fiils through your Conftitiition upon the Power
of Words ? Remember too the particular Circumftances of
the
(43) A Decree was pafTed immediately of the Jaft Perfon, who thus deferted iiis-
after the Defeat at Chsronea, to make Country, was Leocrates. He was pro~
it punilhable with Death for any of the feciued by Lycurgus, whofe Speech is
Citizens to leave Athens. The Name flill extant. Tourreil.
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? AGAINST CTESIPHON. 355
the Time, in which you pronounce this Judgement. The Pythian
Games are in a (tw Days approaching, and the general States
of Greece will be aflembled. The Republic is already calum-
niated for the Adminiftration of Demofthenes, and if you de-
termine this Crown in his Favour, you will appear to have
afl;ed in Confederacy with them, who violated the general
Peace; on the contrary, you will acquit the People of fuch Ca-
lumnies.
Do not therefore determine with an Indifference, as if the
Interefts of fome foreign State, not thofe of your native Coun-
try, were concerned. Do not diftribute your Honours to mecr
Ambition, but give them with Difcernment. Place your
Bounty upon Perfons moft eAimable ; upon Men more worthy
of your Praile. Do not depend upon your Ears only, but with
your Eyes examine, what Kind of Citizens they are, who fup-
port the Caufe of Demofthenes. Were they his Companions
in hunting, or the gymnaftic Exercifes in his Youth? No; by
Olympic Jupiter. He never uncoupled the Hounds to roufe
the favage Boar; never was anxious to obtain a vigorous Ha-
bit of Body, but exercifed thofe Arts alone, which he well
knew how to pra(5life againft the wealthy.
(44) Now mark thelnfolence of the Man, and when he boafts,
that by his Negotiations in his Embafly, he wrefted Byzantium
out
(44) Here the Peroration begins. It is great, beautiful, fublime, pathetic, ani
Z z 2 affeftiiig.
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? 356 ORATION OF i^SCHINES
out of the Hands of Philip ; engaged the Acarnanians to forfake
his Party : aftonifhed the Thebans with his Eloquence (for he
prefumes you are now arrived at fuch Excefs of Simplicity,
as to believe, you have educated in Athens the very God-
defs of Perfuafion, not a pernicious Calumniator) when at the
Conclulion of his Defence he calls upon the Partners and Aflb-
ciates of his Corruptions to be his Advocates, imagine you be-
hold upon this very Tribunal where I ftand, the Perfons, who
have eminently well deferved of the Republic, ranged in Op~
pofition to their Arrogance : Solon, who adorned your Demo-
cracy with its wifefl: Laws ; Solon, equally eminent as a Phi-
lofopher and a Legiflator ; imagine you behold him imploring
you with that modeft Dignity, fo befitting his Character, never
to fuffer the Eloquence of Demofthenes to have a greater In-
fluence over you, than the Religion of your Oaths, and the
Obligations of your Laws. Imagine Ariftides, who regulated
with [o much Equity the general Contributions of Greece for
her common Defence ; whofe Daughters the People portioned
after his Death ; imagine him in Anguifh and Sorrow deploring
the Contumely, with which Juftice is treated, and afking " if
" your Anceflors almofl: put to Death the Zelite Arthmius, an
*' Inhabitant of Athens, and received by her People with the pub-
*' lie Rites of Hofpitality, becaufe he brought Gold from Perfia
" into
afFe(5ling. Solon, Ariftides, Themifto- tice of the Sentence now to be pronounced,
cles, all the Heroes, who had facrificed Our Orator engages all Nature in his
their Lives at Marathon and Plataea in Quarrel, and raifes all the Powers of
Defence of their Country, are called forth Earth and Heaven, of Gods and Men,
from their Tombs to witnefs to the Juf- againft his Adverfary. Tourreil.
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? AGAINST CTESIPHON. 357
*' into Greece : if they banifhcd him by Proclamation, not from
" Athens only, but from all her Dominions, will you not
*' blufli to crown this Demofthenes with a golden Crown, who
*' did not indeed bring Gold from Perfia, but hath amafled it
" by every Kind of Corruption, and even now pofleffes it. "
Will not Themiftoclesj and they, who died at Marathon and
Platsea ; will not the very Sepulchres of your Anceftors burft
forth into Groans, if he, who confeffes he confpired againft
Greece with the Barbarians, fhall be crowned by your Decree ?
Here therefore, O Earth, and Sun, and Virtue, and Intel-
ligence, and Erudition, by which we diftinguifh between things
beautiful and deformed, be witnefs I have endeavoured to fup-
port your Influence, and have pleaded the Caufe of the Re-
public. If I have fpoken with that Force and Dignity befitting
this Impeachment, I have fpoken to theutmoft of my Wiflies ; if
not, to the utmoft of my Abilities. May you, both from the
Arguments I have mentioned, and thofe I have pafTed over hi
Silence, pronounce fuch a Sentence, as in itfelf may be mofl;
agreeable to Juftice, and conducive to the Frofperity of the Re-
public.
(45) BiCo'^B'fixa. Some Word muft the Powers here invoked by our Oraror,
be underfiood. The Commentators and f^ol^'^ ? pe>>i auxiliuniqtie tuli, and upon his
Tranflators fuppofe rv TreXsi, the Com- Authority the prefent Trandation. Mi-
monwealth. Lambinu's alone feems to chines in another Place in this Oration,
have read v^7v, which he applies to all Bayi^u ku\ tu Biu, kui t? y^ t;? >>e^<<.
End of the Oration againfl Ctesiphon,
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? ^j^X? ;^|)(? j5|)^R|)(|? ^(? j(R)
ORATION XVIII.
DEMOSTHENES
IN DEFENCE OF
C TESIPHON.
(|J^)(5J(R)(R)(R)(5J^E)(R)i5X^j(^^X|J^^(5J^^^
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? DEMOSTHENES
IN DEFENCE OF
CTESIPHO N.
1 First implore, O Men of Athens, all our Gods, and all
our Goddefles, that the fame Meafure of AfFedlion for this '
Republic in general, and for every fingle Citizen among you,
which hath ever been the Guide of all my Adlions, may be
iiowprefent to me in this Conteft. Next, as of exceeding Im-
portance to you, to the facred Obligation of your Oaths, and
to your Glory, I do implore the fame Deities to imprefs upon
your Minds a Refolution not to make my Profecutor, your
Advifer,
The Solemnity, with which our Ora-
tor opens his Defence, inuft have com-
manded the Attention of his Audience,
and the religious Confidence of his Prayer
to the Gods imprefled upon them a fa-
vourable Opinion of his Piety, that bed
Aflli ranee he could give of his Integrity.
The pathetic Profeffions of his Zeal for
the Republic in general, and for every
individual Citizen in particular, had a
Right of Claim to an equal Return of
their Affedlion. 'I hefe Sentiments a
Tranflation may poflibly be ab! e to ex-
prefs ; but when the Ancients talk to us
with Rapture of a peculiar Harmony in
the Words and Meafures of the Origi-
nal, and the Influence it muft necefiarily
have had upon an Athenian Audience,
a Tranflator can only lament the Lofs
of fo exquifite a Pleafure : a Lofs, per-
haps, for ever irrecoverable. But when
Quintilian tells us, our Orator opened
his Oration in a timid, low, fubmifTive
Tone of Voice, and imrigines his Aftion
was fuited to that Tone, does he not
afcribe rather too much to his Timidity
and SubmilTion ? Should he not recol-
left, that the Solemnity of Prayer re-
quires a folemn Firmnefs in the Voice,
and an Adion of fuperior Dignity ?
\\'ould nor any Aftion of this temperate
Kind be much unequal to the Vehemence
and Ardour and Sublimity of this Ex. -
ordium ?
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? 360 DEMOSTHENES
Advifer, or admit him to dired: in what Manner, I ought to
make my Defence (that would be mod unjuft) but to confult the
Laws themfelves, and your own Oath, in which, among other
Sentiments of perfe6l Equity, this Maxim is written. Let both
Parties be heard with Impartiality. This ExprefTion
not only obliges you not to bring with you to this Affembly any
premeditated Sentence ; not only obliges you to treat both
Parties with equal Favour, but to fuffer each of them to ar-
range his Arguments, and the Proofs of his Defence in whatever
Order he pleafes.
Among many Difadvantages, under which I labour in this
Caufe, more than ^fchines, there are two, O Men of Athens,
of greater Moment. One, that the Objedl, for which we con-
tend is by no Means equal ; fince very unequal indeed is my
lofing your Efteem, and his being unable to fucceed in this
Indidment. For fhould I lofe-- But I will not begin my De-
fence with any ill-omened or inaulpicious Expreffion. -- Yet cer-
tainly the Contention between us is very unequal. There is
another Difadvantage, under which I labour, that Nature
hath implanted in the Breafts of human Kind, to liften with
Pleafure to Calumny and Inve6lives, but to hear the Man,
who praifes himfelf, with Pain and Indignation. Thus the
pleafurable Part is allotted to Him; and what is ofFenfive, I
may venture to fay, to all Mankind, remains to me. lYet if
under this Apprehcnfion, I fhould pafs over in Silence the Ser-
vices
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? IN DEFENCE OF CTESIPHON. 361
vices I have rendered to the Commonwealth, I fhall appear
unable to refute the Crimes whereof I am accufed, or to (hew
myfelf worthy of thofe Honours, I profefs to deferve. Or if
I enter into the Particulars of thofe Services, and of my general
Adminiftration, I fhall often be compelled to fpeak of myfelf.
This I will endeavour with all poflible Moderation, which if
an abfolute NecefHty (hould fometimes oblige me to tranfgrefs,
the Man, who hath impofed fuch a Conteft upon me, fhould
alone in Juftice be condemned.
I BELIEVE, you will unanimoufly acknowledge, that this
Caufe is of common Concernment to me and Ctefiphon, nor
ought to be regarded by me with lefs Anxiety and Attention.
, For to be defpoiled of all we poflefs, efpecially by the Malice
of an Enemy, is with Pain and Difficulty to be fupported ; but
infupportable indeed, to be defpoiled of your Efteem and Af-
fedlion, themoft valuable of all human Bleflings. Since there-
fore I am thus interefted in this Trial, I with equal Earneftnefs
demand from your Integrity, and implore from your Com-
paflion, that you will hear my Defence againft thefe Accufati-
ons with that impartial Spirit, which the Laws command : thole
Laws, which Solon, ever well affedioned towards this Repub-
lic, and zealous for the Liberty of its Conftitution, founded in
the earlieft State of the Commonwealth ; which he deemed ne^-
cefiary, for the Prefervation of their Authority, not only to en-
grave upon public Tables, but to imprefs upon the Confciences
Voh' H. , A a a of
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? 362 DEMOSTHENES
of our Judges, by the Solemnity of an Oath, whenever they
afcended this Tribunal. Not from his Diffidence, in mv O-
pinion, of your Integrity, but confcious how impoflible, fo
powerful is the Profecutor by the Advantage of fpeaking firft,
that the Defendant in thefe Indidlments ever fhould efcape
being condemned, unlefs his Judges will univerfally preferve
their Piety towards the Gods ; receive the Juftice of his Plea
with Benignity of Mind , render themfelves equal and impartial-
Hearers to either Party, and thus take perfect Cognizance of
the whole TriaL
But fince I am this Day to render an Account, as it appears,
both of my whole private Life, and of my public Adminiftra-
tion, I will again, as in the Beginning, invoke the Gods, and
in your Prefence implore them to grant, that fuch a Meafure
of Affedion, as I ha. ve ever preferved for Athens, and for all
her Citizens, may now be prefent to me in this Contention :
and next, that they will infpire you to determine in fuch a
Manner, as may beft promote the general Glory of the State,
and preferve to every fingle Perfon the Religion of his Oath inr
violable.
If iEfchines had profecuted me only upon the exprefs Articles
of this Indidlment, I fhould have entered immediately into the
Legality of the Decree, with which I am thus honoured by
the Senate. But fmce he hath confumed a no lefs abun-
dant
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? IN DEFENCE OF CTESIPHON. 363
dant Quantity of Words in Reflexions mofl impertinent to his
Caufe, and hath multiplied his Falfehoods againft me, I hold
it neceflary and fitting, O Men of Athens, briefly to anfwer,
firfl:, to his Calumnies, that none of you may be influenced by
Arguments thus totally foreign to the Subje^^, and hear me from
thence with Prejudice or Abhorrence, when I make my juft
Defence againfl: this Profecution. To thofe Invecflives there-
fore, with which he hath maligned my private Reputation, be-
hold, how Ample and ingenuous is my Anfwer. If you are
confcious, that I am indeed fuch a Man, as he hath calumni-
oufly reprefented me (nor have I ever lived any v\'here, but a-
mong you alone) do not fuffer me to fpeak ; and however un-
blameable, or even meritorious, my whole Adminifl:ration may
poflibly have been, this Moment rife from the Tribunal, and
pronounce my Sentence. But if you believe and are convinced,
that I am a Man of better Morals, than my Accufer ; that I
am defcended from a more reputable Family ; from Anceflors
(that I may avoid faying any thing offenflve) not inferior to any
of thofe, who maintain the fecond Rank of Birth among our
Citizens, let him not find Credit with you in any other In-
fiance ; for it is manifefl:, that all other Inflances are equally
the Produce of his Invention. \ Then continue to me in the
prefent Contefl that Favour and Benevolence, which in many
former Trials I have conftantly experienced.
Famed as you are, ijEfchines, for Malignity and Subtlety,
A a a 2 YOU
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? 364 DEMOSTHENES
you have furely been exceilively weak in imagining that I
would pafs over in Silence the Condudl and Services of my pub-
lic Ad minift ration, to vindicate my private Chara(S]:er againft
your Invedives. I fhall not ad in this Manner. I am not
yet fo abfurdly blind, but fhall enter immediately into the Me-
rits of my political Condud, which you malignantly traduce,
and fhall afterwards, if it can be any Pleafure to my Audience,
recoiled the exceflive Licentioufnefs of thofe Invedives.
Numerous indeed, and atrocious are the Crimes whereof I am
accufed. For fome of them the Laws ordain very fevere, and
even the laft Punifhments. (i) But the fole Defign of this
Profecution evinces at once the Malice, Outrage, Defamation
and Infults of an Enemy, with every other ExprefTion of his
Malevolence. Such Profecutions, by the Gods, O Men of
Athens, are neither equitable, or juft in themfelves, nor a-
greeable to your Conftitution. For we neither ought to take
away the Privilege, that every Citizen fhould enjoy, of addrefs-
ing and fpeaking to the People, neither fhould it be abufed to
the bad Purpofes of Malice and Envy. (2) But when iEfchines
faw
(i) Thfre is not perhaps an Inftance moved, and our Author vindicated from
in Doftor Taylor's Edition of a more the Charge of Obfcurity, and Confufion
venturous and fortunate Criticifm, than in his reafoning, fo injurious, and fo con-
on the Paffage before us. It was univer- trary to his Charadter. It were little
Tally acknowledged obfcure ; it was in ufeful to an Englifli Reader to enter into
general thought to be corrupt. But by the Particulars of this Criticifm, and the
a judicious Arrangement of the different learned will be far better fatisfied by con-
Members of the Period, which were be- fulting Doftor Taylor,
fore confufed and in Diforder, the Suf- (2) The Words in the Original are
picion of Corruption in the Text is re- differently underftood by Lambinus
whole
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? IN DEFENCE OF CTESIPHON. 365
faw me committing thefe Crimes, efpecially if they were of fuch
enormous Magnitude, as he now moft tragically reprefcnts
them, it was his Duty to have urged againft me the proper
PuniOiments, that the Laws have appointed, and proportioned
to fuch Crimes. If he faw my Adions merited an Impeach-
ment of Treafon, he ought to have impeached me.