No More Learning

Thra-
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? IN DEFENCE OF CTESIPHON. 461
Thrafybulus and a thoufand others, yet none of them ever de-
voted himfelf totally and abfolutely to the Republic. He, who
preferred the Decree, never perfonally engaged in the Embafl}\
He, who engaged in the Embafly, never preferred the Decree
by which it was appointed. Each of them referved to himfelf
feme Relaxation from the Fatigue ; fome Refuge and Refource,
if any unfortunate Accident fhould happen. What then (it
may perhaps be objedled) are you fo far fuperior in Abilities and
Intrepidity to others, that you are able, and dare alone under-
take the whole Adminiftration ? I would not venture fuch an
Affertion ; but I imagined fo imminent was the Danger, that
furrounded the Commonwealth, as not to give me Time to
confider and provide for my own perfonal Safety. I befides
imagined, we ought to be perfedly fatisfied, if nothing was
left unattempted, and whatever appeared abfolutely neceflary,
was done for our Security. I then perfuaded myfelf, perhaps
fooliflily, but I perfuaded myfelt, that whoever preferred a
Decree, would never prefer any more falutary, than mine ;
whoever entered into Negotiations, would never execute them
with greater Spirit ; and that whoever engaged in your Em-
baflies, would never difcharge the Fundions of them with more
Integrity. For thefe Reafons I fingly took upon myfelf all
thefe different Employments. Now read Philip's Letters.
The Letters.
To thefe Terms did my Adminiftration, -ffifchines, reduce
Philip, and by me was he compelled to this Language, who
before
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? 462 DEMOSTHENES
before had written to the Republic in a Style of Infolence and
Superiority. For thefe Services I was juftly crowned, nor did
you, though perfonally prefent, oppofe it ; nor had Diondas,
who preferred an Indidment againft it, a fifth Part of the Suff-
rages. Now read the Decrees themfelves, v/hich at that Time
were pronounced moft equitable, and to which ^fchines never
made the leafk Oppofition.
The Decrees.
Those Decrees, O Men of Athens, contain the very fame
Syllables, the very fame Words, that Ariftonicus formerly,
and Ctefiphon makes ufe of at prefent. Yet neither did JEf-
chines profecute them himfelf, nor join with Diondas in his
Profecution, though certainly, if the Crimes, of which he now
accufes me were real, he might with much greater Juftice have
thenprofecuted Demomeles and Hyperides, than have engaged in
his prefent Indictment. Why ? Becaufe Ctefiphon may juftify
himfelf by their Example, and by the former Decifions of our
Courts; by urging, that ^fchines never indicted the Authors
of thofe Decrees, fo exadtly refembling this, which is now
under your Confideration ; and laftly, that the Laws do not
allow a fecond Profecution for any Caufe, already determined ;
with many other Arguments of the fame Kind. The prefent
Affair would have then been determined by its own proper
Merits, before he could have taken Advantage of any Circum-
ftances, that have fince happened. It would then, I prefume, ^
have
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? IN DEFENCE OF CTESIPHON. 463
have been impoflible for him to have adted in the Manner he
does atprefent j to have colledled Extradls from ancient Records
and obfolete Decrees, which no Man ever heard of before, or
conid imagine would have been quoted upon the prefent Occa-
fion, meerly with an Intention to calumniate ; to have con-
founded all Dates and Order of Time, or fupprefled the real,
and fubftituted falfe Motives of Adlion, only to maintain the
fpecious Appearance of a Profecution. This Manner of pro-
ceeding would have been then impradlicable. All his Argu-
ments muft hav^e been urged in the very Prefence of Truth it-
felf, while you yourfelves remembered every Circumftance,
and only had them not, at that very Moment, in your own
Hands. Having therefore declined the Proofs and Convit^ion
of Fadls, he now, though late, comes forward, imagining, as
it appears to me, that you have here propofed a Prize of Elo-
quence, not appointed an Inquiry into the Affairs of your Ad-
miniftration ; and that you are now to pronounce Judgement
upon the Power of Words, not upon the Utility of your public
Meafures.
He then argues with exceeding Sophiflry, and affirms, you;
ought no longer to regard the Opinions you brought with you
into this Affembly, either in relation to him or me j but as
when you imagine a Sum of Money to be ftill remaining in any
public Account, yet if the Calculations are clear, and nothing
jjeally remains, you yield to Convidion, and are latisfied ;. in
? hc
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? 464 DEMOSTHENES
the fame Manner you fhould inlift upon a clear and pofitive
Demonftration in the prefent Difpute. Behold how corrupt in
its own Nature, as indeed it ought, is every Argument, that is
not founded upon Truth and Juftice. For even by this very
fubtle Comparifon, it is acknowledged, you are now confcious,
that I am pleading for the Interefts of my Country, and that
j^^fchines is the Advocate of Philip. He never could have been
thus anxious to perfuade you to alter your Opinion of us, if he
had not been aflured, that thefe were your prefent Sentiments. But
I fhall eafily convince you, how iniquitous is the Attempt of en-
gaging you to alter this Opinion, not by arithmetical Calculations,
(for this is not a Computation of Money) but by a fhort Recol-
lection of Fads, while I take this Aflembly, as Auditors at
once and Witnefles to the Account. Inftead of the Thebans
joining with Philip to make an Irruption into our Territories,
which all Mankind expeded, my Adminiftration, which he
thus condemns, produced this good Effed:, that they united
with us to prevent his invading us ; inftead of making Attica
the Seat of War, it was removed to the Frontiers of Boeotia,
almoft ninety Miles from Athens ; inftead of being infefted
and plundered by the Euboean Pyrates, our Sea-Coafts enjoyed
an uninterrupted Security, during the whole War ; inftead of
Philip's making himfelf Mafter of the Hellefpont by reducing
Byzantium, the Byzantians engaged with us againft him. Does
this Account of Fads appear to you, iEfchines, to refemble
your arithmetical Calculations ? Is it neceflary to take thefe v
Articles
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? IN DEFENCE OF CTESIPHON. 465
Articles out of the Account ? Or fhould we not rather endea-
vour to perpetuate the Remembrance of them to all future
Ages ? I might add another Circumftance, that others have
unhappily experienced the Cruelty, which it is apparent Philip
conftantly exercifed over all the Nations he fubdued, while
you, by the Wifdom of your Condu6l, have reaped the Fruits
of thaj: pretended Clemency, which he artfully aflumed, with
regard to you, while he was extending and enlarging his Con-
quefts. I do not infift upon thefe Circumftances ; but I fhall
not hefitate to affirm, that whoever would inquire with Candour,
though with Severity, into the Condud of a public Minifter,
and not purfue him meerly with the Malevolence of a Slanderer,
would not accufe him, as thou haft done, by inventing Com-
parifons, ridiculing his Words and mimicking his Geftures (for
do you not abfolutely behold, that the Fate of Greece depended
upon my ufing this, not that particular Expreffion ; upon my
extending my hand on this, not on the other fide ? } but he
would examine Fads themfelves with Attention ; what Re-
fources the Republic poffefted, what military Strength, when
I entered into Miniftry ; and what Addition of Power I ac-
quired for her, while I was in the Diredion of Affairs. He
would afterwards inquire into the State and Circumftances of
our Enemies. If then I have leflened the Strength of the Re-
public, in any one of thefe Inftances, prove and convid me of
. the Crime ; but if I have conftderably augmented it, do not
abufe me with Slander and Invedlives. However, ftnce he
Vol. II. O o o hath
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? 466 DEMOSTHENES
hath avoided this Method of Proceeding I will undertake it, and
do you confider the Juftice of my Difcourfe.
The Forces of the Republic at that Period confifled of the
lilanders, nor indeed of all, but even the leaft powerful among
them ; for neither Chios, Rhodes, nor Corcyra were united
with us. Our Funds amounted only to forty-five Talents,
and even thefe were anticipated. We had neither Infantry,
nor Cavalry, befides our own domeftic Troops. But the Cir-
cumftanci of all others mofl: terrible, and which wrought moft
powei fully in Favour of our Enemies, all the neighbouring
Nations, Megareans, Thebans, Euboeans, were inclined, by
the Pradices of thefe Traitors, rather to declare War againft
you, than enter into Terms of Friendfhip and Alliance. Such
was the Situation of the Republic, which it is impoffible for
any Man to deny, or contradidl. Now behold the Condition
of Philip's Affairs, with whom we were to enter into this
Conteft. Firft, he governed with an uncontroulable Authority
whoever followed his Fortune ; a Circumftance in War of
all others of greatefl: Importance. His Troops were inured to
Adion ; his Funds were inexhauftible ; he was abfolute Mafter
of his own Defigns ; he neither declared them by his Decrees,
nor concerted his Schemes in Public ; he was neither con-
demned by Slanderers, nor indided for Tranfgreflion of the
Laws, nor accountable to any Man for his Condu6t. In fhort,
he was at once a defpotic Sovereign, a General, and a Mafter
of
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? IN DEFENCE OF CTESIPHON. 467
of every thing. But I, who was appointed to oppofe him (for
this Circumftance fhould in Juftice be coniidered) of what
was I. Mafter ? Nothing. The Power of haranguing the
People, that only Power of which I had any Share, you granted
equally to thofe, who had vilely fold themfelves to Philip ;
and whenever they gained a Superiority over me in Debate,
(which from various Pretences often happened) you departed
from your Aflemblies, after having pafled every pofTible Refb-
lution in Favour of your Enemies. However, under all thefe
Difad vantages, I procured you the Alliance of the Euboeans,
Achseans, Corinthians, Thebans, Megareans, Leucadians and
Corcyraeans, who levied fifteen thoufand mercenary Troops,
and two thoufand Horfe, befides their own national Forces,
Then with regard to the Contributions, I raifed them as high,
as I was able. Yet if you aflert, ^fchines, that the Contin-
gents furnifhed by the Thebans, Byzantians, or Euboeans, were
extremely difproportioned to thofe of the Athenians, and now
difpute about their Equality, you are certainly ignorant, that
when three hundred Galleys fought for the Liberties of Greece,
Athens alone furniilied two hundred of them. Neither did
fhe deem herfelf injured by this Difproportion, nor did fhe
profecute, or let her Indignation appear againfl the Perlbns,
who then diredled her Councils, (this had been infamous indeed)
but gratefully bleffed the immortal Gods, that in the common
Danger, which furrounded Greece, (he was able to contribute
a double Proportion to all its other States, for the general
O o o 2 Safety.
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? 468 DEMOSTHENES
Safety. You then attempt in vain, by calumniating me to in-
gratiate yourfelf with our Judges. Wherefore now tell us what
Meafures we ought to have purfued, yet though you were in
Athens, though prefent at all our Confultations, you never
propofed thofe Meafures in your Decrees, if indeed it were
poflible to have carried them into Execution at fuch a Period,
in which we were obliged to accept Conditions, not fuch as
we fhould have voluntarily chofen, but fuch as the Neceffity
of our Affairs compelled us to receive. For Philip was always
ready to out bid us upon all Occafions of Purchafe ; to receive
whomfoever we rejedled, and even to enlarge their Price.
But if I am now accufed for my Conduct in thefe Circum-
ftances, what do you imagine would have been the Confe-
quence, if thefe Nations, by my entering into a fcrupulous Cal-
culation of their Contingents, had deferted us ; if they had united,
with Philip, and he had become Mafter at once of Euboea,
Thebes and Byzantium ? What do you conceive, would thefe
execrable Wretches have done, or faid upon fuch a Misfortune ?
That all thefe Cities had been betrayed, and when they had
determined to unite with us, had been driven into a Treaty with
Philip ? That by his Alliance with the Byzantians, he had
made himfelf Mafter of the Hellefpont, and the Importation of
Corn into Greece ? That a heavy War, maintained before
upon our Frontiers, was brought into the Heart of Attica by
the Thebans, and that all Navigation was interrupted by the
fudden
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? IN DEFENCE OF CTESIPHON. 469
fudden Excur lions of the Euboean Py rates ? Would they not
have urged thefe, and a thoufand other Complaints of the fame
Nature ? An execrable Creature indeed, O Men of Athens,
at all Times execrable is the Slanderer ; at all Times, and in
all Places, malignant, envious, and fond of Contention. Such
in its own Nature is this pernicious Animal in human Shape ;
who never from his Birth was capable of any one Action, honeft
or liberal ; this Ape, that mimicks our Tragedians ; this Oe-
nomaus of our Country-Villages ; this Orator, of falfe and
adulterate Coin. What Advantage did his Eloquence ever pro-
cure for his Country ? And doft thou now declaim upon paft
Meafures ? Thus a Phyfician vifits the Sick, but neither ad-
vifes nor prefcribes for their Diforders ; yet when any of them
dies, and the laft funeral Rites are performed, he follows the
Body to the Sepulchre, and there tedioufly declares, that if the
deceafed had followed this or that particular Regimen, he had
certainly recovered. Doft thou, in very Frenzy, make thefe
Declarations ?
But even that Defeat, in which you impioufly exult, and
for which you ought rather to groan in Bitternefs of Anguifli,
will be found to have happened, not by any Error in my Ad-
miniftration. Let us reafbn in the following Manner. In
whatever Embaffies I have been employed, I never returned
home, vanquifhed by Philip's Ambaffadors ; neither from,
Theflaly, norAmbraciaj from Illyria, nor the Kings of Thrace ;
from
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? 470 DEMOSTHENES
from Byzantium, or from any other Country, nor laftly from
Thebes. Yet whatever Advantages I gained over his Ambaf-
fadors by Superiority of Reafon, he totally deftroyed by Force
of Arms. S And doft thou nou^ demand the Proofs of this Su-
periority ? Art thou not afhamed to expe6l that a Man, whofe
Effeminacy you fo licentioufly ridicule, fhould alone have routed
the Armies of Philip ; and meerly by the limple Power of
Words ? For of what other Power was I Mafter ? I could
neither difpofc of the Lives and Fortunes of the Soldiers, nor the
Condu<5l of their General, for which however you thus ab-
furdly would make me accountable. But here inGft upon
every Account a Minifter can pofTibly be obliged to render of
his Adminiftration. I fhall not deprecate the fevereft Inquiry.
What therefore are the Duties of his Station ? To difcern
Conjundures as they rife ; to forefee, and foretell them to others.
This Duty I have performed. Then, upon every Occafion,
to bring into the narrowed Compafs the Delays, Irrefolution,
Ignorance and Factions of the People : thofe Errors inherent
in the Conflitution, and neceffary to the very Being of every
free State; and on the contrary, to induce his Fellow-Citizens
to Unanimity and Friendfliip, and then to animate them with
Vigour and Refolution in the Service of their Country. Thefe
Duties alfo I have performed, nor can any Man charge me with
the flighteft Omiflion. . If it therefore fhould be afked, by what
Means Philip has conducted his Enterprizcs in general with fo
much Succefs, all Mankind would anfwer, by his Armies, by
his
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? IN DEFENCE OF CTESIPHON. 471
Ms Profulion in giving, and by corrupting thofc, who liad the
Dirc<<5lion of Aflairs. But I was neither Commander, nor Ge-
neral of your Forces, and am confcquently not accountable for
their Condu(5t/? But in one Inftance, that of preferving myfelf
uncorrupted, I have even conquered Philip. For as the Pur-
chafer, if he compleats his Bargain, is really fuperior to him,
who receives the fordid Price, for which he hath fold himfclf ;
fo the Man, who refufes to receive, and preferves his Incorrupt-
ibility, is undoubtedly fuperior to him, who offers the Price
of Corruption. Thus, with regard to me, the Republic is
invincible.
These, and many other Services of the fame Nature, may
juftify CteGphon in his prefent Decree ; but I fhall mention
fome Circumftances, of which you cannot be ignorant. Im-
mediately after the Battle, the People, who were confcious of,
and had beheld every Particular of my Condudt, even amidft
the univerfal Terror and Alarm (when it were nothing wonder-
ful, if the Multitude had entered into fome angry Refolutions
againft me) confirmed all the Meafures I had propofed for the
Safety of the Republic ; and all the Precautions, that were
taken for the Prefervation of the City, the porting our Guards,
the Care of our Intrenchments, the Funds, that were raifed for
repairing our Walls, were all direcled by my Decrees. /When
the Eledioii came for a Magiftrate to fuperintend the public
Granaries, the People elected me out of all the Candidates for
5 that
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?
472 DEMOSTHENES
for that important Employment. Afterwards, when my Ene-
mies had confpired together for my Deftrudlion, and perfecuted
me with Indidments for violated Laws, and embezzling the
publick Money ; with Impeachments for Treafon, and with
every other Kind of Profecution ; not indeed at firft, in their
own Perfons, but by Agents, under whofe Names they ima-
gined, they might continue undifcovered ; (for you certainly
know and remember, that I was tried almoft every day upon
fome new Indictment, and that neither the Madnefs of Soficles,
the Slanders of Philocrates, the Rage of Diondas and Melanus,
or any other Methods of opprefling me, were left unattempted]
yet in all thefe Trials I was acquitted y firft, by the good Pro-
vidence of the Gods ; next by your AfFe6tion, and by that of
the whole People of Athens. My Acquittal was juft, for it was
founded on Truth; and it was honourable to my Judges, who
had fworn to pronounce Sentence with Integrity, and who
were confcious of the facred Obligation of their Oaths. Thus,
when 1 was impeached of Treafon, and when you acquitted
me, nor gave the fifth Part of your Suffrages to my Accufers,
you then pronounced in Favour of my Adminiftration. When
you acquitted me upon the Indidments for having preferred a
Decree in Oppofition to your eftablifhed Laws, you then
openly declared, whatever I had decreed, whatever I had pro-
pofed in my Orations, was perfeflly legal ; and when you
audited my Accounts, you gave public Teftimony, that I had
adled with Probity and an Honefty, not to be corrupted. In
3 fiich
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? IN DEFENCE OF CTESIPHON. 473
fuch Circumftances therefore, what Name could Ctefiphon
have given with Juftice and Propriety to my Adminiftration ?
Not that, which he faw given by the People ? Not that, de-
termined by our Judges upon their Oaths ? Not that, con-
firmed by Truth itfelf, and by the united Voice of all our Ci-
tizens ? Undoubtedly, replies ^fchines, but it was the Glory
of Cephalus, that he never was indided ; yes ; by the Gods, and
his good Fortune too. But becaufe a Man hath often been accufed,
though never convided, can he for that Reafon be juftly liable
to Blame ? However, O Men of Athens, I may boldly aflume
to myfelf this Glory, that feems peculiar to Cephalus, as far as JEC-
chines is concerned, becaule he never preferred any regular In-
didment, or entered any Profecution againft me. Thus by
your own Confeflion, iEfchines, I am acknowledged not infe-
rior even to Cephalus in the Charader of an upright and valu-
able Citizen.
Although the Malignity and Envy of my Accufer are
obfervable in a thoufand Inftances, yet in none more remark-
ably, than in his Harangue upon Fortune. For whoever, while
he confefTes himfelf a Man, and liable to the Accidents of
Humanity, reproaches any other Mortal with the Difpleafure
of Fortune, I am abfolutely convinced is not in his perfedl
Mind. Becaufe if he, who now imagines the Goddefs moft
bounteous to his Wifhes ; who flatters himfelf, that he poffef-
fes Her moft abfolutely, is ignorant whether her Favour and her
Vol. II. P P P Bountv'
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? 474 DEMOSTHENES
Bounty fLall continue to him 'till the Evening, ought he to
boaft of her Favours, or reproach others with her Severity. But
fince i^fchines hath talked upon this Subjed, as upon many
others, in a Style of Infolence and Arrogance, behold, O Men
of Athens, and conlider, how much more agreeable to Truth,
and to the general Circumftances of Humanity, are the Senti-
ments, which I fhall now lay before you, with regard to For-
tune. That the Deftiny of this Republic is eminently glorious,
I verily believe, and behold it confirmed by the Oracles of
Dodonaean Jove, and Pythian Apollo ; but the Deftiny, that
now governs all human kind, I apprehend to be moft cruel
and oppreflive. For, where is the Grecian ; where is the Bar-
barian, who hath not experienced, during this Period, a thou-
fand Calamities ? That you have always determined to choofe
the moft honourable Meafures, and that we have received
better Terms from the Conqueror, than the other Grecian
States, who imagined they could fix their future Happinefs by
abandoning the Fate of Athens, I afcribe to the good Fortune
of the Republic i but that we have encountered fome dreadful
Accidents, and have not always been fuccefsful in our Defigns,
I conceive to be that Proportion allotted to the Commonwealth
in the general Calamities of Greece. But my particular Def-
tiny, or that of any other private Citizen, I think fhould be
determined by an Examination into private and perfonal Cir-
cumftances. In this Manner we ought, in my Opinion, to
reafon concerning Fortune ; thus rightly and juftly to make an
3 Eftimate
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? IN DEFENCE OF C T E S I P H O N. 475
Eftimate of her Power ; and I prefume you will concur with
me in thefe Sentiments. Yet yEfchines aflerts, that my parti-
cular Deftiny, inconfiderable as it is and infignificant, hath
overpowered the great and glorious Fate of the Republic
How is this poflible ? But if you are determined, j3i^fchines,
pundlually to examine the whole Fortune of my Life, confider
it however, and compare it with your own ; and if you find
it hath any fuperior Advantage to yours, forbear to rail againft
it hereafter. This Moment therefore confider them both from
their firft Origin. But here, let me conjure you by all our
Deities, not to imagine, I mean to utter any thing offenfive to
this Affembly. For whoever talks of Poverty'with Contumely
and Derifion, or infolently boafts him of the Affluence, in
which he was educated, in my Opinion, is not Mafter of his
proper Underftanding. Yet I am compelled by the injurious
Invectives and Slanders of this cruel Detradter to defcend into
fuch a Difpute ; in which however I fliall preferve the utmoft
Moderation, that the Nature of my Subjed will allow.
It was therefore my Fortune, iEfchines, avhen I was a Boy,
to frequent the Schools moft proper for my Infl:ru<51:ion ; to en-
joy that Affluence, which alone can preferve us from the Ne-
cefflty of committing any bafe or diflionourable Adion ; and
afterwards, when I came to age, to ad in a Manner fuitable
to the generous Education I had received j to exhibit Games to
the People; to build Galleys; to contribute voluntarily to the
P p p 2 Neceffities
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? 476 DEMOSTHENES
Neceflities of the State, nor ever to negled: any private or pub-
lic Occafion of fhewing my Liberality, but to render myfelf
ufeful both to the Commonwealth, and to my Friends. When
I entered into Miniftry, I determined to choofe a Syftem of
Adminiftration, in which I might frequently be crowned by my
Country, and the other States of Greece ; and in which even
you, my moft inveterate Enemies, fhould not dare to afiert,
that the Meafures I propofed v/qtc difhonourable. Such was
the Fortune of my whole Life, of which I could give many
other Proofs, were I not cautious of offending by an Appearance
of boafting. Here then, illuftrious Mortal, who treat others
fo contemptuouily, compare with mine the honourable Fortune
you have enjoyed. ' You were educated, when a Boy,, in the
moft fordid Penury ; an Afliftant to your Father in his Pro-
fcflion of teaching Grammar j grinding the Ink- Powder, wafh-
ing the Benches with Spunges ; fweeping the School, and em-
ployed in all Offices of a domeftic Slave, not of a Youth, libe-
rally born. When you commenced Man, you read her holy
Rituals to your Mother, when fhe was initiating her Difciples,
and were employed in all the other Duties of her Miniftry. At
Night you covered the initiated with Skins of Deer ; you poured
out the confecrated Wine, and aflifted them in the Solemnities
of their Purification. You compofed, of Clay and Bran, the
facred Images of Bacchus. Then making your Difciples arife
to the laft Ceremonies of their Initiation, you commanded
them to chaunt the hallowed Hymn.
The
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? IN DEFENCE OF CTE SIPHON. 477
The Rites are clos'd ; the worft is o'er ;
ril now a better Fate explore,
in which you folemnly boaftcd, that no Man ever howled To
exquifitdy. This I verily believe, for impoflible to conceive,
thathe,- who fpeaks in this AlTembly with a Voice of fuch fo-
norous Dignity, muft not have howled in fuch a Concert moft
melodioufly. In the Day- Time you led the honourable Pro-
cefllon of your Bacchanalians, crowned w^ith Fennel and Po-
plar, through the Streets ; grafping in your Hands the fvvollen-
cheeked Serpents ; holding them high over your Head, and
clamouroufly repeating, " Glory to thee, great Bacchus. "
Then dancing to the myftick Surnames of the God, " Hyes
" Attes, Attes Hyes," you were complimented by many an
old Beldam with the Title of " Prince and Leader of the Cho-
** nis; the Ivy-Bearer; the Van-Carrier," and other fuch
illuftrious Appellations ; receiving befides, as a Reward for your
Labours, Crufts, fopped in Wine, and Cheefe- Cakes, and
Grape-Tarts, fweetened with Honey. Who would not then
have pronounced him truly happy , and have envied his good
Fortune ? Being afterwards enrolled, by whatever infamous
Pradices (for I fhall not mention them at prefent) but being
enrolled among our Citizens, you immediately chofe the moft
honourable of all Employments, that of being an Under- Clerk
and Secretary to our Courts of Regiftry. When you were dif-
miffed from this Office, where you committed every Villainy,
for which you drew up Indictments againft others, you did not
however
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? 478 DEMOSTHENES
however do any Diflionour in your next Employment to the
Adions of your paft Life, but hired yourfelf to the deep-groan-
ing Tragedians, Simylus and Socrates, to whom you played
fome under-Charadlers. Then, as you ftrolled through the
Country, you gathered out of other People's Grounds, Figs,
Grapes and Olives, as if you meant to turn Fruiterer ; and for
thefe Plunderings, received more Wounds, than in all your the-
atrical Skirmifhes, where you, and the Folks of your Profef-
iion, fight for their Lives. For there hath ever been an im-
placable and irreconcilable War between you Players, and your
Spectators, from whom you have received fo many honourable
Wounds, that you now with fome Degree of Juftice make a
Mockery of thofe, who never experienced fucli Dangers. (24)
'? 'But paffing over thefe Villainies, which may be perhaps
imputed to his Poverty, I fhall now proceed to Crimes, that
demonftrate his natural Genius, and the depravity of his Man-
ners. As foon as it entered into his Imagination to engage in the
Adminiftration, he chofe fuch a Syftem of Politics, that when his
Country was fortunate in her Meafurcs he lived the very Life of
a Hare,
(24) Never have any Set of People ters of Jupiter, Neptune, or Minerva by
been treated in all Ages and Countries their Performance, m'ght be the Refent-
in a Manner fo unaccountable to com- ment of a pious and religious Zeal,
men Senfe, as Players. In /Athens they But furely the Profedlon itfelf, to which
were employed in the moft important every polite People are indebted for the
Offices of the Republic, yet were ex- moft pleafmg, as well as rational, En-
pofed, upon the Stage, to every Kind tertainment they are capable of receiving,
of Infult and Contempt. That tliey fhould have protefted even its worft Per-
were publicly whipped, as Lucian in- formers from perlbna! Crailty and Out-
forms us, for diflionouring th? Charac- r<igc.
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? IN DEFENCE OF CTESIPFI ON. 479
a Hare, fearful and trembling and perpetually apprehenfive of
that Chaftifement, he was confcious he had merited. On the
contrary, when Philip and his Adherents were fuccefsful in their
Projedls, he grew confident and afTured. He therefore, who
could aflume this Air of Confidence upon the Death of a thou-
fand Citizens, what Vengeance does he not juftly deferve from
the living ?
Many other Inftances of his Guilt I fliall pafs over, for I do
not hold it fitting to mention every Adion in his Life of Bafe-
nefs and Turpitude, but thofe only, that I can mention with-
out Diflionour to myfelf. For this Reafon, iEfchines, I defire
you will compare, with Temper and without Bitternefs, all
the Circumf^ances of our Lives, that have any Refemblance
between the n, and then afk our Audience, which they would
choofe for themfelves. You taught Children their Alphabet ;
I was a Scholar. You initiated others into the loweft Myfteries
of our Religion ; I was initiated into the moft folemn. You
were a Performer, and I was a Dire6lor, in our public Games.
You were a Clerk, and I was an Orator in our AfTemblies.
You were a villainous Comedian, and I was a Spedlator. You
blundered in your Part, and I hifled. You exerted your Po-
litics in Favour of our Enemies; I employed my Adminiftration
for the Prefervation of my Country. I fhall carry the Compa-
rifon no farther, and fhall only mention, that I am this Day
thought worthy of the Honour of a Crown, and am already
publicly
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? 480 DEMOSTHENES
publickly acknowledged never to have committed any Crime
againft the RepubHc ; while you are adjudged an abfolute In-
former, and are in Danger, either of continuing in this odious
Employment, or of having an eternal Silence impofed upon
you by the Sentence of our Judges. ' An honourable Fortune,
is it not, which you, for your whole Life, enjoyed; and in
Comparifon of which, you efteem mine vile and delpicable ?
But I fhall now produce the Teftimonials of my Behaviour in
all the public Offices I have held, and do you compare, in Op-
portion to them, the Verfes you have repeated upon the Stage,
and murdered.
" From Hell's Abyfs and Darknefs, lo ! I come. (25)
and
and.
" Behold th' unwilling Meflenger of Fate.
" Mifchiefs" May the good Gods rather, and this Af-
fembly, inflid thofe Mifchiefs upon thee, pernicious Citizen,
thou Traitor, thou very villainous Comedian. Now read the
Teftimonials.
The Testimonials.
Such hath ever been my Conduct towards the Republic.
But in my private Charader, if you do not all acknowledge
me
(25) Our unfortunate Adtor blunders, expe<5l:edly breaks the Line and turns
E^e-n-tT7TB(, in the firfl: Line of his Part, the ExprefTion into a violent Execration
and leaves out the Word vsk^uv. ^ku againft his Adverfaiy. This laft Re-
uBn^wu tcevBf^uva. In his third Speech mark, certainly a very happy one, be-
he begins with the Word ^cocov Mif- '""S^ originally to Wolfius, and is con-
. . , , r\ . c i\ \ 1 firmed by Dodor Markland.
cviefy when our Orator fuddenly and un- ^
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? IN DEFENCE OF CTESIPHON. 481
me to have been goodnaturcd, humane, and always ready to
relieve the diflreflcd, I fliall be filcnt. I will not utter any
thing in my ov/n Defence, or produce a {ingle Witnefs either
of my having ranfomed any of my Fellow- Citizens from the
Enemy, or portioned out their Daughters in Marriage, or any
other Inftance of my Liberality. For I have ever held it as a
Maxim, that he, who received an Obligation, fhould remem-
ber it for ever ; but he, who conferred, fhould inftantly forget
- it, if the firfl: would deferve the Reputation of being grateful,
or the other avoid the Appearance of a mean and contradled
Spirit. To recolledl, and to repeat with Oftentation, the Fa-
vours we have perfonally beftowed, I conceive to be very little
different from upbraiding and Reproach. I will- not a6t in this
Manner. I will not be [o far tranfported ; but content myfclf
with whatever Opinion my Fellow- Citizens entertain of me at
this Moment. Leaving then thefe Inftances of private Cha-
ra6ler, I fhall briefly fpeak to the Affairs of the Republic. ' If
you can therefore, ^fchines, produce any one Nation, whe-
Greek or Barbarian, beneath yonder Sun, that did not formerly
experience the Tyranny of Philip, and at this Moment docs
not feel the Power of Alexander, I fliall readily acknowledge,
that either my Fortune, or if you rather pleafe to call it, my
unhappy Def^iny, hath been the ible Occafion of all our Dif-
treffes. I But if many, who never law me; never heard my
Voice, not only fingle Perfons, but whole Cities and Nations,
have fuffered numberlefs and the fevereft Calamities under their
Vol. IL 0^4 9. Tyranny,
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? 482 D E M O S T H E N E S
Tyranny, how much morcjuft, and more agreeable to Triitfl^
were it to imagine, that the comm^on Fortune, as it a! . pears,
of human kind, and the rapid fmpctuonty of particular Con-
jundurcs, cruel and unaccountable, have been the real Caufe'
of our common Ruin ? feut rcgardlefs of thefe Confidcrations,
you accufe me, as the fole Author of this univcrflil Roin, be-
caufe I had fome Share in the Admlnifl:ration at that dangerous
Crifis ; ^ although you are confcious, that if not abfolutely the-
whole, yet certainly a confiderable Part, of your Invedives falls
upon our Citizens in general, and upon you more particular! }''.
For if I had afTumed tomyfelf the fole Dire6lion of our Coun-
fels, it was in your Power undoubtedly, and that of our other
Magiflrates, to have infliantly aecufed me. But if you were
conftantly prefent in all our Airemblies ; if the Commonwealth
propofed every Meafure to public Debate, and every Refolution
was univerfally approved of, and efpecially by you (though
furely not from any perfonal Kindnefs to me did you encou-
rage the People in their Hopes of Succefs, and permit me to
receive thofe Praifes and Honours beftowed on my Admi-
niftration, but becaufe you were manifeftly compelled by the
Force of Truth, and had no better Expedients to propole) are
you not guilty of Injuflice and Inhumanity, in now blaming
thofe very Mcafures, than which you then knew no other more
ufeful to the Public.
The following Maxims I have ever found inconteftably fixed
and
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? IN DEFENCE OF CTESIPHON. 483
and determined among Mankind. Are we guilty of a volun-
tary Crime ? Indignation and Punifhment is our Portion.
Have we committed an involuntary Midake } Inilcad of
being puniflied, we are pardoned. Is there a Man, wlio
has neither been guilty of any voluntary Crime, nor com-
mitted even an involuntary Miftake j who hath totally given
himfclf to the Execution of thofe Meafures, which were univer-
fally thought moft expedient, and hath been unfuccefsl'ul, not
fingly, but with all his Fellow-Citizens in general ?