in the field; the possessions of the supine to the active and intrepid. Animated by these sentiments, he overturns whole countries; he holds all people in subjection : some, as by the right of conquest; others, under the title of allies and confederates; for all are willing to confederate with those whom they see prepared and resolved to exert themselves as they ought.

And if you, my countrymen! will now at length be persuaded to entertain the like sentiments: if each of you, renouncing all evasions, will be ready to approve himself. a useful citizen, to the utmost that his station and abilities demand if the rich will be ready to contribute, and the young to take the field in one word, if you will be yourselves, and banish those vain hopes which every single person entertains,—that while so many others are engaged in public business, his service will not be required; you then (if heaven so pleases) shall regain your dominions, recall those opportunities your supineness hath neglected, and chastise the insolence of this man. For you are not to imagine, that, like a god, he is to enjoy his present greatness for ever fixed and unchangeable. No, Athenians! there are who hate him, who fear him, who envy him, even among those seemingly the most attached to his cause. These are passions common to mankind; nor must we think that his friends only are exempted from them. It is true they lie concealed at present, as our indolence deprives them of all resource. But let us shake off this indolence! for you see how we are situated; you see the outrageous arrogance of this man, who does not leave it to your choice whether you shall act, or remain quiet; but braves you with his menaces; and talks (as we are informed) in a strain of the highest extravagance and is not able to rest satisfied with his present acquisitions, but is ever in pursuit of farther

332 DEMOSTHENES' FIRST ORATION AGAINST PHILIP.

conquests; and while we sit down, inactive and irresolute, encloses us on all sides with his toils.

exert

When, therefore, O my countrymen, when will you your vigour? When roused by some event? When forced by some necessity? What then are we to think of our present condition? To freemen, the disgrace attending on misconduct, is, in my opinion, the most urgent necessity. Or say, is it your sole ambition to wander through the public places, each inquiring of the other, What new advices? Can any thing be more new, than that a man of Macedon should conquer the Athenians, and give law to Greece Is Philip dead ?*-No, but in great danger.

-How are you concerned in those rumours? Suppose he should meet some fatal stroke: you would soon raise up another Philip, if your interests are thus regarded. For it is not to his own strength that he so much owes his elevation, as to our supineness. And should some accident affect him, should Fortune, who hath ever been more careful of the state, than we ourselves, now repeat her favours; (and may she thus crown them !)—be assured of this, that by being on the spot, ready to take advantage of the confusion, you will every where be absolute masters; but in your present disposition, even if a favourable juncture should present you with Amphipolis,† you could not take possession of it, while this suspense prevails in your designs and in your councils.

Is Philip dead, &c. These rumours and inquiries of the Athenians were occasioned by the wound Philip received at Methone, the year before, and which was followed by a dangerous fit of sickness.-Longinus quotes this whole passage as a beautiful instance of those pathetic figures, which give life, and force, and energy, to an oration Tourreil.

† Present you with Amphipolis, &c. They had nothing more at heart than the recovery of this city. So that the author here gives the last and most heightening stroke to his description of their indolence. Tourreil.

LESSON XCII.

Extract from Demosthenes' second Olynthiac Oration.

AND be not ignorant of this, Athenians! that a decree is of no signification,' unless attended with resolution and alacrity to execute it. For were decrees of themselves sufficient to engage you to perform your duty; could they even execute the things which they enact; so many would not have been made to so little, or rather to no good purpose; nor would the insolence of Philip have had so long a date. For if decrees can punish, he hath long since felt all their fury. But they have no such power: for though proposing and resolving be first in order; yet, in force and efficacy, action is superior. Let this then be your principal concern; the others you cannot want : for you have men among you capable of advising, and you are of all people most acute in apprehending: now, let your interest direct you, and it will be in your power to be as remarkable for acting. What season indeed, what opportunity do you wait for, more favourable than the present? or when will you exert your vigour, if not now, my countrymen? Hath not this man seized all those places that were ours? should he become master of this country too, must we not sink into the lowest state of infamy? are not they whom we have promised to assist, whenever they are engaged in war, now attacked themselves? Is he not our enemy? is he not in possession of our dominions? is he not a barbarian ?* is he not every base thing words can express? If we are insensible to all this, if we almost aid his designs ;-Heavens ! can we

* A barbarian? This was the term of reproach which the Greeks applied to all other nations nor were the Macedonians excepted.

then ask to whom the consequences are owing? Yes, I know full well, we never will impute them to ourselves. Just as in the dangers of the field: not one of those who fly will accuse himself; he will rather blame the general, or his fellow-soldiers: yet every single man that fled was accessary to the defeat: he who blames others might have maintained his own post; and had every man maintained his, success must have ensued. Thus then, in the present case, is there a man whose counsel seems liable to objection? let the next rise, and not inveigh against him, but declare his own opinion. Doth another offer some more salutary counsel ? pursue it, in the name of Heaven!- -But then it is not pleasing.This is not the fault of the speaker, unless in that he hath neglected to express his affection in prayers and wishes. To pray is easy, Athenians! and in one petition may be collected as many instances of good fortune as we please. To determine justly, when affairs are to be considered, is not so easy. But what is most useful, should ever be preferred to that which is agreeable, where both cannot be obtained.

LESSON XCIII.

Extract from Demosthenes' third Oration against Philip.

AND now what could be the reason (you may possibly ask with surprise) that the people of Olynthus, and those of Eretria, and those of Oreum, all attended with greater pleasure to the advocates of Philip than to their own friends? The same reason which prevails here. Because they who are engaged on the part of truth and justice, can never, even if they were inclined, advance any thing to

:

recommend themselves to favour their whole concern is for the welfare of the state. The others need but to soothe and flatter, in order to second the designs of Philip. The one press for supplies; the others insist that they are not wanted the one call their countrymen to battle, and alarm them with apprehensions of danger; the others are ever recommending peace, until the toils come too near to be escaped. And thus, on all occasions, one set of men speak but to insinuate themselves into the affections of their fellow-citizens; the other to preserve them from ruin till, at last, the interests of the state are given up; not corruptly or ignorantly, but from a desperate purpose of yielding to the fate of a constitution thought to be irrecoverably lost. And, by the powers of heaven! I dread, that this may prove your case; when you find that reflection cannot serve you! And when I turn my eyes to the men who have reduced you to this, it is not terror that I feel; it is the utmost detestation. For, whether they act through design or ignorance, the distress to which they are reducing us is manifest. But far be this distress from us, Athenians! It were better to die ten thousand deaths, than to be guilty of a servile complaisance to Philip, and to abandon any of your faithful counsellors! The people of Oreum have now met a noble return for their confidence in Philip's creatures, and their violence towards Euphræus. The Eretrians are nobly rewarded for driving out our ambassadors, and committing their affairs to Clitarchus. Captivity, and stripes, and racks are their reward. Great was his indulgence to the Olynthians, for choosing Lasthenes their general, and banishing Apollonides. It were folly and baseness to be amused with such false hopes as theirs, when neither our counsels direct us, nor our inclinations prompt us, to the pursuit of our true interests; and to suffer those who speak for our enemies, to persuade us