sent me, did I come off worsted by Philip's ambassadors; not from Thessaly, not from Ambracia, not from Illyria, not from the Thracian kings, not from the Byzantians, nor from any other quarter whatever,-nor finally, of late, from Thebes. But wheresoever his negotiators were overcome in debate, thither Philip marched, and carried the day by his arms. Do you, then, exact this of me, and are you not ashamed, at the moment you are upbraiding me for weakness, to require that I should defy him single-handed, and by force of words alone! For what other weapons had I? Certainly not the lives of men, nor the fortune of warriors, nor the military operations of which you are so blundering as to demand an account at my hands. But whatever a minister can be accountable for, make of that the strictest scrutiny, and I do not object. What, then, falls within this description? To descry events in their first beginnings, to cast his look forward, and to warn others of their approach. All this I have done. Then, to confine within the narrowest bounds all delays, and backwardness, and ignorance, and contentiousness,-faults which are inherent and unavoidable in all States; and, on the other hand, to promote unanimity, and friendly dispositions, and zeal in the performance of public duty:— and all these things I likewise did, nor can any man point out any of them that, so far as depended on me, was left undone. If, then, it should be asked by what means Philip for the most part succeeded in his operations, every one would answer, By his army, by his largesses, by corrupting those at the head of affairs. Well, then, I neither had armies, nor did I command them; and therefore the argument respecting military operations cannot touch me. Nay, in so far as I was inaccessible to bribes, there I conquered Philip! For, as he who purchases any one overcomes him who has received the price and sold himself, so he who will not take the money, nor consent to be bribed, has fairly conquered the bidder. Thus, as far as I am concerned, this country stands unconquered. . Under what circumstances, O Athenians ought the strenuous and patriotic orator to appear? When the State is in jeopardy, when the people are at issue with the enemy, then it is that his vehemence is timely. But now, when I stand clear on all hands,-by prescription, by judgments repeatedly pronounced, by my never having been convicted before the people of any offense,-and when more or less of glory has of necessity resulted to the public from my course-now it is that Eschines turns up, and attempts to wrest from me the honors which you propose to bestow! Personal spite and envy are at the bottom of all his trumped-up charges, my fellow-citizens; and I proclaim him no true man. Consider, Æschines, whether you are not in reality the country's enemy, while you pretend to be only mine. Let us look at the acts of the orator rather than at the speech. He who pays his court to the enemies of the State does not cast anchor in the same roadstead with the people. He looks elsewhere than to them for his security. Such a man-mark me! am not I. I have always made common cause with the people, nor have I shaped my public course for my individual benefit. Can you say as much? Can you? You, who, instantly after the battle, repaired as ambassador to Philip, the author of all our calamities; and this after you had declared loudly, on previous occasions, against engaging in any such commission, as all these citizens can testify! What worse charge can anyone bring against an orator than that his words and his deeds do not tally? Yet you have been discovered to be such a man; and you still lift your voice and dare to look this assembly in the face! Think you they do not know you for what you are? or that such a slumber and oblivion have come over them all as to make them forget the speeches in which, with oaths and imprecations, you disclaimed all dealings with Philip, and declared that I falsely brought this charge against you from personal enmity? And yet, no sooner was the advice received of that fatal-O! that fatal-battle, than your asseverations were forgotten, your connection publicly avowed! You affected to have been Philip's friend and guest. Such were the titles by which you sought to dignify your prostitution. But read here the epitaph inscribed by the State upon the monument of the slain, that you may see yourself in it, Eschines,-unjust, calumnious, and profligate. Read! "These were the brave, unknowing how to yield, Who, terrible in valor, kept the field Against the foe; and, higher than life's breath Prizing their honor, met the doom of death, Our common doom-that Greece unyoked might stand, Nor shuddering crouch beneath a tyrant's hand. Such was the will of Jove; and now they rest And erring mortals must submit to Fate." Do you hear, Æschines? It pertains only to the gods to control fortune and command success. To them the power of assuring victory to armies is ascribed,-not to the statesman, but to the gods. Wherefore, then, execrable wretch, wherefore upbraid me with what has happened? Why denounce against me what the just gods reserve for the heads of you and yours? 0 NE of the famous orators of Greece, Eschines by name, who especially came into reputation through his controversy with his great rival, began his career, like Demosthenes, as a violent opponent of Philip of Macedon. But, after a visit to Philip's court, a change took place, and he became a zealous opponent to war with Macedonia. This brought the two orators into a violent verbal contest, which began with a charge by Demosthenes that Æschines preferred the gold of Philip to the good of Greece. The final event in this quarrel of oratorical giants was a vigorous speech by Eschines against Ctesiphon for voting Demosthenes a crown of gold, and the overwhelming answer of Demosthenes. As a result of his defeat, Æschines went into voluntary exile to the island of Rhodes, where he founded a very successful school of oratory. AGAINST CTESIPHON [As an orator Aschines possessed a sonorous voice and vigorous manner, with fine rhetorical powers and great felicity of diction. His orations have much of the force and fire displayed by his rival, and closely approximate those of Demosthenes in general character. Of his extant speeches the best is that "Against Ctesiphon." On one occasion he read this to his pupils at Rhodes, who were much surprised that so powerful a speech could fail of success. He replied, "You would cease to be astonished if you had heard Demosthenes."] When Demosthenes boasts to you, O Athenians, of his Democratic zeal, examine, not his harangues, but his life; not what he professes to be, but what he really is ;-redoubtable in words, impotent in deeds; plausible in speech, perfidious in action. As to his courage—has he not himself, before the assembled people, confessed his poltroonery? By the laws of Athens, the man who refuses to bear arms, the coward, the deserter of his post in battle, is excluded from all share in the public deliberations. denied admission to our religious rites, and rendered incapable of receiving the honor of a crown. Yet now it is proposed to crown a man whom your laws expressly disqualify! Which, think you, was the more worthy citizen-Themistocles, who commanded your fleet when you vanquished the Persian at Salamis, or Demosthenes the deserter?-Miltiades, who conquered the Barbarians at Marathon, or this hireling traitor?-Aristides, surnamed the Just, or Demosthenes, who merits a far different surname? By all the gods of Olympus, it is a profanation to mention in the same breath this monster and those great men! Let him cite, if he can, one among them all to whom a crown was decreed. And was Athens ungrateful? No! She was magnanimous; and those uncrowned citizens were worthy of Athens. They placed their glory, not in the letter of a decree, but in the remembrance of a country of which they had merited well,-in the living, imperishable remembrance! And now a popular orator-the mainspring of our calamities-a deserter from the field of battle, a deserter from the city, claims of us a crown, exacts the honor of a proclamation! Crown him? Proclaim his worth? My countrymen, this would not be to exalt Demosthenes, but to degrade yourselves; to dishonor those brave men who perished for you in battle. Crown him! Shall his recreancy win what was denied to their devotion? This would indeed be to insult the memory of the dead, and to paralyze the emulation of the living! When Demosthenes tells you that, as ambassador, he wrested Byzantium from Philip; that, as orator, he roused the Acarnanians, and subdued the Thebans; let not the braggart impose on you. He flatters himself that the Athenians are simpletons enough to believe him; as if in him they cherished the very genius of persuasion, instead of a vile calumniator. But when, at the close of his defense, he shall summon to his aid his accomplices in corruption, imagine then, O Athenians, that you behold at the foot of this tribune, from which I now address you, the great benefactors of the Republic arrayed against them. Solon, who environed our liberty with the noblest institutions,— Solon, the philosopher, the mighty legislator,-with that benignity so characteristic, implores you not to pay more regard to the honeyed phrases of Demosthenes than to your own laws. Aristides, who fixed for Greece the apportionment of her contribution, and whose orphan daughters were dowered by the people, is moved to indignation at this prostitution of justice, and exclaims: "Think on your fathers! Arthmius of Zelia brought gold from Media into Greece, and, for the act, barely escaped death in banishment; and now Demosthenes, who has not merely brought gold, but who received it as the price of treachery, and still retains it,--Demosthenes it is unblushingly proposed to invest with a golden crown!" From those who fell at Marathon and at Platæa; from Themistocles; from the very sepulchres of your ancestors, issues the protesting groan of condemnation and rebuke! . . I neither envy the habits of Demosthenes nor blush for my own; nor would I retract the speeches I have spoken among you; nor, had I spoken as he has, would I be content to live; for my silence, Demosthenes, has been occasioned by the simplicity of my life. I am satisfied with little, and covet not the dishonest acquisition of more; so that I can be silent, and can speak advisedly, and not when constrained by innate extravagance; while you, I should say, are silent when your hand is full, and clamorous when it is empty, and speak, not when you choose, nor what you please, but whenever your employers instruct you, for you are never ashamed of exaggerations which are immediately detected. You censure me for coming before the city not continuously, but at intervals, and flatter yourself that you can escape detection in propounding this principle, which is not of democracy but a different form of government; for under an oligarchy not he who would, but he who has power, prefers indictments; but under a democracy, whoever chooses, and whenever he thinks proper. Besides, to appear occasionally in public is an indication of a policy suggested by opportunity of advantage; but to make no intermission, even of a day, is the proof of a traitor and a hireling. And yet, by the Gods of Olympus, of all that I understand Demosthenes intends to say, I am most indignant at what I am going to mention. He compares my talents, it seems, to the Sirens, for their hearers (he says) are not so much enchanted as lured to destruction-and hence the evil reputation of their minstrelsy. In like manner my rhetorical skill and abilities prove the ruin of my hearers. And, although I believe no man whatever is justified in any such assertion respecting me for it is discreditable for an accuser not to be able to prove the truth of his allegations-yet if the assertion must be made, it should not have been by Demosthenes, but by some military commander who had rendered important services to the state and was deficient in eloquence; and who therefore envied the talents of his adversaries because he was conscious of his inability to proclaim his achievements, while he saw an adversary capable of representing to his audience what he had never performed as though they were actual achievements. Yet when a man made up altogether of words-bitter and superfluously elaborate words-comes back to the simplicity of facts, who can tolerate it? A man whose tongue, like that of the flageolet, if you remove, the rest is nothing. |