The three Orations of Demosthenes chiefe Orator among the Grecians, in fauour of the Olynthians, a people in Thracia, now called Romania: with those his fower Orations titled expressely & by name against king Philip of Macedonie: most nedefull to be redde in these daungerous dayes, of all them that loue their Countries libertie, and desire to take warning for their better auayle, by example of others. Englished out of the Greeke By Thomas Wylson Doctor of the ciuill lawes.
After these Orations ended, Demosthenes lyfe is set foorth, and gathered out of Plutarch, Lucian, Suidas, and others, with a large table, declaring all the principall matters conteyned in euerye part of this booke.
Seene and allowed according to the Queenes Maiesties Iniunctions.
¶Imprinted at London by Henrie Denham.
GVALTERI HADDONI, LEGVM DOCTORIS, Regiae Maiestati à libellis supplicibus, Tetrastichon.
EN Demostheneum fulmen sermone Britanno Mittitur, Anglorum Graecus in ora venit. Thomas VVilsonus, pretiosi muneris author Eximia, Graecam, qui ferit, arte, tubam.
AEgidij Laurentij, Oxoniensis, Regiae Maiestati in lingua Graeca professoris publici, Carmen in versionem Olynthiacarum, & Philipppicarum Orationum Demosthenis, per Thomam Wilsonum, Legum Doctorem.
In Demosthenis Olynthiacas, & Philippicas orationes à doctissimo Thoma VVilsono, Legum Doctore, de Graeco in Anglicum sermonem conuersas: Thomae Bingi, Oratoris Academiae Cantabrigiensis carmen.
Carmen Ioannis Cooci, scholae Paulinae moderatoris, in versionem Olynthiacarum, & Philippicarum Demosthenis, domini Thomae Wilsoni, legum doctoris.
I. M. Londinensis in eandem versionem carmen.
INTERPRES LECTORI
To the right Honorable Sir William Cecill Knight, principall Secretarie to the Queenes Maiestie, and of hir priuie counsell, Maister of the Court of Wardes and Liueries, and Chauncelor of the Vniuersitie of Cambridge: Thomas Wilson Doctor of the Ciuill lawe wisheth long and perfite health with encrease of Gods most holy spirite.
GReat is the force of Vertue (Right Honorable Counseller) to wynne loue and good will vniuersally, in whose minde soeuer it is perfitelye knowne, to haue once gotte a dwelling. I speake it for this ende, that being solitarie of late time from my other studies, and musinge on this world, in the middest of my bookes: I did then (as I haue oftentimes else done) deepelye thinke of Sir Iohn Checke Knyght, that rare learned man, and singular ornament of this lande. And as the remembrance of him was deare vnto me, for his manifolde great gifts and wonderfull vertues: so did I thinke of his most gentle nature and godly disposed minde, to helpe all those with his knowledge and vnderstanding, that any waye made meanes vnto him, and sought his fauour. And to say for my selfe amongest others, I founde him such a friende to me, for communicating the skill and giftes of hys minde, as I cannot but during my life speake reuerentlye of so worthie a man, and honor in my hart the heauenly remembrance of him. And thinking of my being with him in Italie in that famous Vniuersitie of Padua: I did cal to minde his care that he had ouer all the Englishe men there, to go to their bokes: and how gladly he did reade to me and others certaine Orations of Demosthenes in Greeke, the interpretation wherof, I and they had then frō his mouth. And so remembring the rather this world by the very argument of those actions: I did then seeke out amongest my other writings for the translation of them, and happily finding some, although [Page] not all: I was caried streightways (I trust by Gods good motion) to make certaine of them to be acquainted so nigh as I coulde with our Englishe tongue, aswell for the aptnesse of the matter, and needefull knowledge now at this time to be had: as also for the right notable, and most excellent handling of the same. And here must I saye, confessing mine owne weakenesse and imperfection, that I neuer founde in my life any thing so harde for me to doe. Yea, the more that I looke vpon this Orator to bring his sentences and wordes knowne to our common speach and language: the more doe I finde him harde and vnable to be translated, according to the excellencie of his tongue. And manye times I haue bene ashamed of my selfe, when I compared his Greeke and my English togither. And no marueyle neyther. For the Latine translatours being otherwise most excellent men, haue not alwayes satisfied themselues, much lesse aunswered to their charge and enterprise in the opinion of others that compared their doings and the Greeke togither. Hyeronymus Wolfius hath translated all Demosthenes (the like thing neuer yet done by anye other) and herein he is very carefull to keepe himselfe to the Greeke, and doth (as it shoulde seeme) better vnderstande Demosthenes than any other, and yet sometimes, either he is not well vnderstoode, or else he fayleth of Demosthenes meaning. And beeing thus very curious in his translation to followe his Author as nigh as may be: his Latine is now and than somwhat harsh, and more harde than is the Greeke it selfe. Christopherus Hegendorphius a notable learned man vndoubtedlye, makes himselfe ouerbolde with Demosthenes, enlarging his speach after the maner of a Paraphrasis, where as Demosthenes prayse was chiefly, his short knitting vppe of his matters togither. Philip Melanchthon, misliketh himselfe, and yet he hath done very well, but compared to the Greeke he is to seeke. Ioachimus Camerarius (for that which he hath taken in hande) deserueth great prayse with the best, and yet he doth not fully satisfie all men for his doings. Petrus Clobardus hath very learnedly translated the three first Orations made in fauour of the Olynthians, and varieth from others in sense, not without their misliking, and perhaps not alwayes expressing the verie force and pyth of the Greeke phrase. Nicholas Carre our Countrieman one notably learned in the Greeke tongue when he liued, as it is well knowne: hath done all these Orations passing well in eloquent Latine, that I haue done in English: who varieth from all others euen in the very sense sometimes and vnderstanding of the Author, & seemes to haue reason with him. Maister Cheeke (whome I dare match with anye one before named for his knowledge in the Greeke tongue,) hauing traueyled in Demosthenes as much as any one of them all, and famous for his learning throughout Europe: yet was he neuer so passing in his translations that no exception [Page] coulde be made against him. And then what shall I thinke of my selfe, after the naming of so manye excellent learned men, but onely submit my doings to the fauour of others, and desire men to beare with my weakenesse. For this must I needes confesse, that I am altogither vnable to doe so in Englishe, as the excellencie of this Orator deserueth in Greeke. And yet the cunning is no lesse, and the prayse as great in my iudgement, to translate any thing excellently into Englishe, as into any other language. And I thinke (although there be many doers) yet scant one is to be found worthie amongst vs, for translating into our Countrie speach. Such a hard thing it is to bring matter out of any one language into another. And perhaps it may be that euen those who take themselues to bee much better learned than I am (as what is he that is not, hauing any name for learning at all?) will finde it an harder peece of woorke than they thinke, euen to make Greeke speake Englishe, if they will make proofe thereof as I haue done. Whose labor and trauayle I woulde as gladly see, as they are lyke now to see mine, that such an Orator as this is, might bee so framed to speake our tongue, as none were able to amende him, and that he might be founde to be most like himselfe. The which enterprise if any might haue bene most bolde to haue taken vpon him, Sir Iohn Cheeke was the man, of all that euer I knew, or doe yet know in Englande. Such acquaintance had he with this notable Orator, so gladly did he reade him, and so often: that I thinke there was neuer olde Priest more perfite in his Por [...]eise, nor supersticious Monke in our Ladies Psalter as they call it, nor yet good Preacher in the Bible or testament, thā this mā was in Demosthenes. And great cause moued him so to be, for that he sawe him to be the perfitest Orator that euer wrate for these two thousand yeares almost by past (for so long it is since he was) and also for that he perceyued him to haue before his eyes in all his Orations the aduauncement of vertue as a thing chiefly to be sought for, togither with the honor and welfare of his countrie. Besides this, maister Cheekes iudgement was great in translating out of one tongue into an other, and better skill he had in our English speach to iudge of the Phrases and properties of wordes, and to diuide sentences: than any else had that I haue knowne. And often he woulde englyshe his matters out of the Latine or Greeke vpon the sodeyne, by looking of the booke onely without reading or construing any thing at all: An vsage right worthie and verie profitable for all men, aswell for the vnderstanding of the booke, as also for the aptnesse of framing the Authors meaning, and bettering thereby their iudgement, and therewithall perfiting their tongue and vtterance of speach. Moreouer he was moued greatly to like Demosthenes aboue all others, for that he sawe him so familiarly applying himselfe to the sense and vnderstanding of the common people, that [Page] he sticked not to say, that none euer was more fitte to make an English man tell his tale praise worthily in any open hearing, either in Parlament or in Pulpit, or otherwise, than this onely Orator was. But seeing maister Cheeke is gone from vs to God, after whom we must all seeke to follow, and that this thing is not done by him, the which I woulde with all my hart had bene done, for that he was best able: it can not be counted now I trust, any fault in me, if I endeuour to doe that, the which I neuer sawe done before me. And in dede my labor can be no hurt to any body, except it be to my selfe. For the Greeke is as it was, and those that weare Grecians may read the Greke stil notwithstanding my English. And such as haue no Greeke, may goe to the Latine for all my doings, or any other translation else in any other strange tongue or language. For as I do heare say, certaine peeces of Demosthenes are translated also into diuers other tongues. But such as are grieued with translated bokes, are lyke to them that eating fine Manchet, are angry with others that feede on Cheate breade. And yet God knoweth men would as gladly eate Manchet as they, if they had it. But all can not weare Veluet, or feede with the best, and therefore such are contented for necessities sake to weare our Countrie cloth, and to take themselues to harde fare, that can haue no better. But what reason haue they I pray you that will not suffer men to write reason as well as to speake reason? for this I dare say, that euen those men, if they haue any reason with them at all, will vse in their proofes vpon weightie matters, the arguments of Demosthenes or reasons of like value. And may not I or any other sette downe those reasons by penne, in our English language, the which are vttered daily in our common speach, by men of vnderstanding? Now wicked is that minde the which doth enuie welfare or wisedome to an other bodie, bicause the same man can not be so welthie, or as wise as the best. And therefore in my simple reason, there is no harme done I say to anye body by this my English translation, except perhaps it be to my selfe. For whereas I might haue liued peraduenture vnder the colour of silence and stilnesse in some opinion of learning: I may now perchaunce with myne ouermuch boldenesse in seeking to fashion so famous an Orator out of Greeke into English: happen to bewraye mine owne vnskilfull dealing. But howsoeuer it is, I had rather hazarde rebuke, if by this meanes I could towle out some other to do this perfitely, the which I haue only assaide to do plainly and homely: than to suffer so noble an Orator and so necessarie a writer for all those that loue their Countries libertie, and welfare, to lye hid and vnknowne: especially in such a daungerous worlde as this is. And although your honour hath no neede of these my doinges, for that the Greeke is so familiar vnto you, and that you also, as well as I, haue hearde Sir Iohn Cheeke read the same Orations at other times: yet I thinke for diuers [Page] causes I shoulde in right present vnto your honour this my traueyle the rather to haue it through your good liking and allowance, to be made common to many. First the sayd Sir Iohn Cheeke (whome I doe often name, for the honour and reuerence due to so worthie a man) was your brother in lawe, your deare friende, your good admonisher, and teacher in your yonger yeares, to take that way of vertue, the fruite whereof you do feele and taste to your great ioy at this day, and shall for euer be remembred therefore. Againe, by him you haue hearde these Orations redde and translated, as I after you (although out of Englande) haue hearde the same likewise of him, to my great comfort and profite in learning. Thirdly the Orator himselfe hauing bene a Counsellor in his Countrie as you now are in this Realme, he is your glasse I am wel assured wherevpon you do often loke, and compare his time, with this time: Countrie with Countrie: neighbours with neighbours: and King with King. Lastly your great goodnesse vsed to me from time to time, togither with that your good conceyued opinion to enhable me to deale in things much aboue my power: (for so it pleased you to like and allowe of me) all these respectes I say, doe mooue me at this time, to offer most humbly to your honor this mine enterprised traueyle of so noble an Orator of those his seauen seuerall famous Orations wherof three are made in fauour of the distressed Olynthians sometimes a warlike people in Thracia, now called Romania: and the other fowre entituled against king Philip of Macedonie by name. The arguments wherof and Orations also shall hereafter appeare translated in order. And after this done his lyfe and dealings shall be truly set forth, and his faultes tolde aswell as his vertues rehearsed. That it may appeare hee was a man subiect to imperfections & lacks as others are: and though he was in some things for his rare vertues and singular giftes most excellent and passed all others: yet had he his wants, as what is he that hath not? according to that saying in Titus Liuius of Maharball to Anniball, after that great victorie gotte at Cannas in Italie against the Romanes. ‘God neuer gaue all thinges to any one man.’ And thus hauing done my voluntarie taske, I desire none other thankes for all my labor and traueyle herein, but your fauourable defence against certaine, that will doe nothing themselues, and yet will finde fault with all thinges, being in nature Drones, and no Bees: Lubbers and no learners: as voyde of sounde iudgement and vnderstanding, as they are out of reason curious iudges, ouer the traueile and paines taking of others. But who can stoppe these open mouthed talkers? emptie vesselles make the greatest sounde, and ringe out a hollowe noyse to small purpose, and so doe these that haue the least skill and smallest knowledge, make the mightiest bragge, and are the boldest of all others without cause or reason God he knoweth. Of which croking paddockes, and manifest ouerweeners of [Page] themselues: I doe make verie little account, or no reckoning at all. Your sounde iudgement Sir and good likyng, maye be of sufficient value with me to holde my selfe well contented whatsoeuer shall be sayde to the contrarie. And thus most heartilye I doe wishe to that heauenlye minde of yours a strong and lustie bodie, that in these perillous dayes your payne and trauayle may runne in equall course with your knowledge and vnderstanding. From the Queenes Maiesties Hospitall of Sainct Katherins nigh the Tower of London the .10. of Iune. 1570.
A Preface to the Reader, conteyning the commendation of Demosthenes.
THey are thought euer in the opinion of wisemen to bee the worthiest of all others, and to deserue the greatest estimation: that seeke always to kepe companie with the best sorte that bee. For that such euerye one is most lyke to be himselfe as the company is with whom he matcheth. And as it is in other things, so it is in the course that anye man taketh for his studie. They that doe acquaint themselues with the onely reading of the best and most excellent wryters, are lyke in tyme to resemble in some sorte their value and worthynesse, yea, according to that saying of Tullie, he that goeth much in the sunne, shall be sunne burnte though he thinke not of it. And as Aelianus sayth, he that kepeth company with Callias that iolly potte companion, shall be a lusty drinker as he was: if with Ismenias, he shall be a trimme Minstrell: if with Alcibiades, he shall be prowde and loftie: if with Corbylus, he shall be a good Cooke, and learne to dresse meate well: if anye gyue himselfe to followe Demosthenes, he shall growe eloquent and wise: if he seeke after Epaminundas, he shall be a lustie warrier: if he lyke Agesilaus, he shall be a stoute man, and of great courage: if he follow Phocion, he shall be a good man: if he loue Aristides, hee shall bee a iust man: if he followe Socrates, he shall be a wise man. And lykewyse Demosthenes himselfe in that his Oration De falsa legatione agaynst Aeschines, declareth Euripides verses as a testimonye and witnesse of Aeschines lewde lyfe, who kept company with Philocrates, and such other lewde lyuers.
And thus I begyn after a sort to chalenge prayse to my selfe, euen at the very first chop on Gods name: for that I haue thus trauayled & bene acquaynted wyth this famous Orator. But how I haue profited I know not, nor yet if I knewe, would I make any great bragge of it. Thus much I thynke I may boldly say, it is no small happe for any man to hit [Page] vpon the best, euen at the verie first beginning. As for prayse (as I sayd) I doe not looke for any, much lesse do I desire it, and what good I haue done to my selfe, that wyll appeare hereafter: Once vertue is contented with hir owne selfe, as yt which is of hir owne nature ful sufficiency, without neede of outward ayde or borrowed fauour. And therfore he that doth well, and profiteth in vertue & learning, nedeth not much to long after the good liking or allowance of others. For glory and welfare do as certainly follow well doings, as ye shadow followeth the bodie: as the which are in all ages the necessarie rewards of vertue. I do not disprayse any mans trade of lyfe eyther of elder tyme, or of later yeares: but I doe preferre in all faculties some certaine before others. As in Cosmographie Ptolomeus: in Arithmeticke our Tonstale, and Tartalio the Italian: in Geometrie Euclides, in Astronomye Aratus, in Philosophie Aristotel and Plato, in Phisick Hippocrates & Galenus, in law Iustinian ye Emperour, or rather Trebonianus & others that gathered the lawes: in hystories Titus Liuius and Cesar for the Latine, Thucidides and Herodotus as Quintilian sayth, wyth certayne others for the Greeke: in eloquence Demosthenes and Cicero, the one for the Greeke, and the other for the Latine. And hee that in all these faculties doth chieflye and aboue all others, followe these aboue named: he taketh the best way that maye bee in my mynde to doe himselfe the most good. For what is he that entering into any facultie would not desire (if he myght) to excell all others? And who can euer come to any such excellencye that doth not acquaynte himselfe first wyth the best, yea and seeketh to followe the chiefest that haue traueyled in those thinges, the perfection whereof hee wysheth to gette? So did Plato traueyle from Greece into Aegypt: Aristotell from Stagira in Macedonie, to Athens in Greece, to heare his maister Plato: and Cicero from Rome to Athens, and Anacharsis that barbarous Scithian to talke with Solon that wyse law maker of Athens, seeking euerye one of them the best abrode, when they coulde not haue them at home. Neither doe I repent me to haue traueylde in this wryter amongst others, who for excellencie passeth all others, and the more that he is studyed, the better he is lyked. For that there are hydde in him many secrete ornamentes, the which at the very first, doe not appeare, and are hardly to be vttered by me I confesse, in our Englysh tongue. Quintilian doth so set foorth this wryter, that he gyueth him the prayse aboue all others, specially for the graue and pithye handlyng of his matters much better than any man else. And therefore in comparing Cicero and Demosthenes togither, hee sayth that it needeth not so to doe, for that they were both most excellent men. And yet he wylleth that Demosthenes shoulde chiefly be read, naye rather to be cunde without booke, worde by worde of euery body. And concluding after a certayne comparison made of them both, sayth that Demosthenes beyng the elder, hath made Tullie to bee for the most part such a one altogither as he was. Then what should let but that all those who desire to be eloquent men (the chiefest ornament that can be giuen to man vpon earth) shoulde chieflye studie Demosthenes, and followe hym by all meanes possible, seeyng Cicero attayned to [Page] such eloquence vp the onely imitation of so famous an Orator? Now they that wyll be such [...] as he was, must doe as he did, that is, they must not spare any labor, but be alwayes occupied, and chiefly follow this mans profession, whose watchinges and paynes taking weare notable, as may appeare by the report made in his lyfe. Yea hee was so full set to atteine vnto the excellency of eloquence, that being vnapt & vntoward by nature through many his great impediments: he warred as it should seeme with Nature, & conquered Nature also, with very great paynes takyng, and continual wrastling for the victory. Neyther could any else that haue bene naturally apt, and had no let at all to be excellent Orators, euer be able to exceede Demosthenes, notwythstandyng all the barres and hinderances, that by Natures iniurie happened vnto him. Besides this, (as I haue sayde elsewhere) he was temperate of hys diet and kept his health, and encreased hys witte with sobrietie, and moderate vsage of him selfe at all tymes: a thing most requisite for any one that myndes to compasse great matters vpon earth. And where as all men of any vnderstanding seeke to follow some one, vnto whom they desire to be lyke, or if it may be, to passe him (the readiest way no doubt, for any one, to waxe most excellent) Demosthenes did imitate and follow first Plato, and after Thucidides hys Countriemen both, the one a Philosopher, the other a Chronicler of the warres betwixt Athens & Peloponnesus. And so well did he like Thucidides that manye times he did borrowe whole sentences of him, as appeareth by his very first sentence of the first Oration in fauour of the Olynthians, the which sentence and diuers other sentences hee tooke out of Thucidides first Oration made in fauour of ye Corcereans now Corfu, & out of the next Oration made by the Corinthians against the said Corcereans. Yea, it doth appeare that he did borow his chiefe arguments and best reasons that he vseth, out of this mans Orations: & that he did as it should seeme, imitate wholy Thucidides inuention. Wherevnto agreeth Vlpianus, who affirmeth that Demosthenes chiefe desire was, to haue Thucidides veyne and gift of writyng in all thinges. And in deede such was Demosthenes diligence and painfulnesse about this Author that he did wryte out with his owne hande, the whole hystorie of Thucidides (being a booke fully so bigge as all the newe Testament is) no lesse than eyght seuerall tymes. A trauayle certes right painefull, and yet the paynes very well bestowed, when so good fruite did followe therevpon. For no doubt Demosthenes by suche imitation and paynefull labor, came to that heigth of perfection, whereof he beareth the name, that is, to bee the chiefe Orator of all Greecelande, yea of all the worlde besides, I may well say. For in three or fower poyntes vnited in him togither, without doubt he passed greatly all others, that euer weare. First he had a singular iudgement to deuyse good matter, and to dispose the same most aptly, as tyme and place required: Agayne, he had the stomacke of a Lion, to speake boldly although not to fight manfully, and did vtter his meaning with such myght and grauitie, that he appalled greatly the courages of all others whatsoeuer: Thirdly his vtterance was so good (beyng made so by Arte, euen agaynst Nature) that neuer anye hath had better, eyther [Page] since or before. Lastly, he is to be praysed for that, which passeth all other gyftes, that is, he was a very honest man, a iust dealer, a true subiect alwayes to his countrie. And therefore although in some one of these gyftes, he myght perhaps be matched: yet was there neuer anye comparable to him for them all togyther. And of these his doynges the world is so true a iudge, that I neede not much to spende anye farther talke, although some will saye, that Tullie is to bee compared with hym in all things. Of the which two men if I shoulde saye my mynde flatly, there be perhaps that would byte the lippe at it, and count mee fonde in myne enterprise. And yet thus much I may boldly say, that Demosthenes hath more matter couched in a small roume, than Tullie hath in a large discourse, & that Demosthenes writing is more binding, more fast, firme, and more agreable to our common maner of speach, than Tullies Orations are. And who so speaketh now as Demosthenes doth, I doe thynke hee should be counted the wiser, the more temperate, and the more graue man a great deale, than if he wholy followed Tullie, and vsed his large veyne and vehement maner of eloquence. Besides this, Demosthenes vsed a playne familier maner of writing and speakyng in all his actions, applying hymselfe to the peoples nature and to their vnderstanding without vsing of Proheme, to wynne credite, or deuysing conclusion to moue affections and to purchase fauor after he had done hys matter: whereas Tullie with his flowing eloquence, sought to wrest the iudges to hys purpose both at the beginning, in the middle, & at the end, not trusting as it shou [...]d seeme to the goodnesse of his cause, or to speake more modestly it was sufferable in Rome, to vse these practises of eloquence, both in the beginning & ending of their orations to aduance their matters withall, ye same being vtterly forbidde in Greecelande, vpon paine of displeasure. And were it not better & more wisedome to speake plainly & nakedly after the common sort of men in few words, than to ouerflowe wyth vnnecessarie and superfluous eloquence as Cicero is thought sometimes to doe? But perhaps wheras I haue bene somewhat curious to followe Demosthenes naturall phrase, it may be thought that I doe speake ouer bare Englysh. Well I had rather follow his veyne, the whych was to speake simply and plainly to the cō mon peoples vnderstanding, than to ouerflouryshe wyth superfluous speach, although I might therby be counted equall with the best that euer wrate Englysh. For Demosthenes speaketh alwayes matter & hath such force in hys maner of wryting, as no man hitherto hath euer bene able to expresse, and all men haue styll had hym in moste hygh admiration for the same. But why doe I compare these two noble vertues togyther? makyng the one better than the other, whereas they weare both most excellent Orators, and chiefe ornamentes of eyther their owne countries in their dayes: both of them a rare example of nature, and such as none in anye age, hath bene lyke for excellencie, to eyther of them. Then what needes such comparisons, when both are equally chiefe in their kynde? as Quintilian hath very well declared, in rehearsing their vertues seuerally, and in lapping vp his matter, sayth in thys wise, that vnto Tullie nothing can be added, and from Demosthenes nothyng can be taken away wythout [Page] harme doyng to eyther of them. And therefore to returne to Demosthenes, I saye, he is to be read of yong and olde, of learned and vnlearned, of wyse, and vnwyse, for that he hath in hym to serue all mens turnes whatsoeuer. He that loues hys countrye, and desires to procure the welfare of it, let him reade Demosthenes, and he shall not want matter to doe hymselfe good. For him that seekes common quietnesse, Demosthenes can [...]eache hym the lesson: he that woulde gladlye preuent euyll to come, Demosthenes is for his purpose: He that desires to serue hys Countrye abrode, let hym reade Demosthenes day and nyght, for this is he that is able to make hym fitte to doe any seruyce for his Countryes welfare. For neuer dyd glasse so truely represent a mans face, as Demosthenes doth shewe the worlde to vs, and as it was then, so it is now, and wyll be so still, tyll the consummation and ende of all things shall be. The Deuill neuer ceaseth from the beginning of the worlde to make diuision betwixt Countrie and Countrie, to stirre ciuill warre, to enboulden the commons agaynst their superiours, to put euill thoughts into Counsellers heades, to make people ambicious and couetous, and to corrupt the hartes euen of the very messengers and preachers of Gods word, continuing his practyse styll in all places wyth all men. And therefore seeyng Demosthenes is so good a Schoolemayster for man to decypher the Deuill and hys ministers for the aduauncement of vpryghtnesse in all thinges: I would wyshe that all men woulde become his Scholers, yea, if it might bee I would that all youth weare first taught Greke, (for so Quintilian would haue it) and that they after some rypenesse in the tongue, and of elder yeares, weare fully acquaynted wyth Demosthenes, to learne hym without booke, that they myght perfite their iudgementes by oft readyng so worthy a man. Alexander was angrye wyth a Schoolemayster of children, bicause he did not teache them Homer. I wyll not be angrye wyth Schoolemaysters, but I woulde wyshe that Schollers beyng of rype yeares, and otherwyse trayned before in other Authors: weare taught Demosthenes, and not Homere onelye. Once this is most true, that the wysest man lyuing may learne of Demosthenes, how to benefite hymselfe and to doe good to hys Countrye, and to mayntayne also the safety of it. And a thing I haue to report, the whych almost is scant credible, touching a certayne ambassage made. And yet bicause I doe finde it written, I wyll make it knowne farther. Petrus Mosellanus a notable learned Germane, the restorer of good learning about fiftye yeares past, at what tyme he was famous in the Vniuersitie of Lipsia in hygh Almayne, dyd report vnto Christopherus Hegendorphinus a Germayne also, and a man of no lesse worthynesse, not onely for the Greeke, but also for the law whereof he made profession, that Bessario a Grecian borne and Cardinal in the tyme of Eugenius the fourth Pope of that name, and ouerlyuing hym tyll Xistus was Pope in the yeare of our Lorde God. 1484. desired of hys owne accorde to goe as Legate into Fraunce, to appease the great malyce that was then betwixt Lewys the .xj. of Fraunce, & Charles of Burgondie, and to exhort the same Kyng to turne hys warres vppon the Turke. The which Ambassage, as Mosellanus sayth, when he tooke [Page] vpon him, he vsed for hys speache to the Frenche King one of the Orations of Demosthenes in Greeke, made agaynst Philip of Macedonye as it laye worde for worde, alteryng verye fewe sentences or none in the discourse of hys whole matter, sauyng that hee applyed that agaynst the Turke, which Demosthenes vsed agaynst King Philip. Whereby it seemeth that Bessario beyng a notable learned Grecian, did see, not onely a patterne for hymselfe to vse in those dayes, but also a meane to woorke some good reformation by, for thamendement of thinges amysse, and the aduauncement of Gods truth and iustyce. Then how much is this Orator to bee esteemed, that hauing wrytten almost two thousande yeares past, can haue fresh matter styll, for an Ambassador to doe hys Legacye to a forreyne king, so manye hundreth yeares after. And as thys most learned Ambassador did helpe hymselfe then, to aduaunce the goodnesse of hys matter: so may all others at thys tyme, and hereafter doe the like, and not onely Ambassadors but Counsellers also, may finde great plentie of matter to doe their country good withall. For as Thucidides sayth, Tempora adferunt similia exempla donec hic mundus & haec rerum natura manet. That is to say: like time bringeth forth lyke examples, so long as the world lasteth, & the course of nature continueth. But what doe I in seeking to commende this Orator? I had neede to haue the eloquence of the Orator himselfe, hauyng so large a fielde to walke in. Howbeit, his owne workes, are sufficient ynough to commend themselues, beyng read in his naturall tongue, seeming perhaps but bare as they are now brought into Englyshe. But this I haue done onely to giue occasion to others much better learned than I am, to take this matter vpon them, confessing plainlye, that euen in these my small traueyles, both Cambridge and Oxforde men, haue gyuen me their learned aduise, and in some things haue set to their helpyng hande. Thys I speake, bicause I woulde not defraude any of their prayse. And touching Demosthenes worthynesse although I neede not saye anye more: yet wyll I set foorth after thys Prologue, the seuerall reports of diuers learned men, that haue spoken and written in all ages of his prayse, and so leaue the consideration therof to others. I, for myne owne doynges must euer make this request, that hauing a good meaning with me, none may blame me for mine enterprise, although things doe not so fall out, as I woulde haue them, many may well desire. For Demosthenes is not so easie to bee englyshed, neyther is he for all mens vnderstandings and capacities. Thys I thought good to aduertise the gentle Reader: that whereas in the printing of this booke, there is sometimes a sentence, or halfe a sentence in the small Italicke letter, the same is not in the Greeke, but added onely, for the more playne vnderstanding of the matter, that such as bee not learned, may the rather go thorow with the reading of these Orations, without any sticking at all. Other things that are harde and straunge, for the matter and Countries whereof he speaketh: I haue done myne endeuour to make them easie and better to bee knowne, wyth deuising addicions in the margine, such as I was best able to frame. Besides this I haue set forth the towne of Athens seuerally, with a certayne declaration or rather limitation [Page] of Greeceland, and also haue giuen as occasion serued, the names that be vsed at thys tyme, to diuers of their auncient townes. They that like not my labour, may suffer me to abounde wyth mine owne humor, and to serue my fantasie, as I am well contented, that they shall vse their pleasures, and satisfie their appetite, as they thinke meete. For so that vertue be aduaunced, no man is to be mislyked, although hee doe but meanely. Neyther is it possible nor yet agreeing wyth nature, that euerye man can excell. But howsoeuer it bee with vs, better or worse, let euerye man haue thys before hys eyes in all his lyfe and doyngs: first to honour God as hee hath willed himselfe to bee honoured: next to loue the naturall Countrie where he is borne, aboue all worldly thyngs: thirdly to obeye the Magistrate that is in authoritie: and last of all, euery one to doe to others, as they woulde haue others, doe to them. And these lessons he that hath them not otherwise, may learne them of Demosthenes well ynough, whom if my Countrie men shall aswell like of, for his good councell, as I haue taken paynes in him for their onely sakes: then haue I the fruite of my traueyle, and wysh them good successe in all their doyngs. 1570.
The testimonies and reportes made of Demosthenes his worthynesse, by diuers learned men in all ages as follovveth.
The report of Aristotel.
ARistotel was woont to say, to King Philip, and to Alexander his sonne, that whereas a great sort, had bene hys Scholers, yet had he neuer any one in such admiration, as he had Demosthenes, aswell for the greatnesse of his iudgement, as for his temperancie, his grauitie, his promptnesse, hys fréedome of speach to others, & his sufferance in all things. You thinke, saith Aristotel, that Demosthenes is like vnto Eubulus, Phrynon and Philocrates, and you thinke to corrupt this man also with mony, who hath bestowed his whole patrimonie vpō the Athenians, both priuately and publikely: and bicause you can do no good with mony, you manace him, that doubteth nothing at all, to die for his Countrie. And if he reproue any thing in your doyngs, you are much agréeued therewith. Whereas he doth not spare the people to tel them of their owne, and feareth them nothing at all. Doe not you sée that he taketh gouernement vpon him, for the loue he beareth to his Countrie, and thinketh that thys charge so taken vpon him, is a certaine schoole as a man woulde saye, of Philosophie, and vertue: the which were not méete to be vsed for gaine, or for the satisfaction of mans couetous desire and lust.
The report of Marcus Tullius Cicero.
CIcero in his booke entituled Brutus, where he talketh of Orators, and first of the Grecians, as the chiefest aboue all others, after he hath sayde hys minde of a great meany, and [Page] was come to talke of Lysias, thus he wrate and sayde. At that tyme was Lysias, a man not exercised in pleading causes at the barre, but a notable fine and excellent writer, whome a man might almost be bolde to call a perfite Orator. But as for a very perfite Orator in déede, and such a one as wanteth nothing in him at all: Demosthenes may easily be sayd to be the man. For in those causes that he wrate, there could be nothing wittily founde out, nothing as a man woulde saye artificially deuised, nothing to be cunningly handled that he did not espie, nothing finely to be sayde, nothing compactly knit togither, nothing exactly to be done, that coulde be better pullished or trimlyer handled: of the other side, nothing could be great, nothing high, nothing adorned eyther with grauitie of wordes or sentences, that coulde be more high and loftie. Lykewise in his booke De Oratore, he sayth, that Demosthenes did not giue place to the Orator Lysias in finenesse of witte, nor to Hiperides in quickenesse or sharpenesse of vnderstanding, neyther yet to Aeschines in smoothnesse and gaynesse of wordes. Manye of his Orations are altogither pure and fine, as against Leptines. Many altogither graue, as certaine against Philip. Many are partly fine & partly graue, as against Aeschines de falsa legatione, & against the sayd Aeschines in fauor of Ctesiphon. And when he listeth, he vseth the middle kind of eloquence, and leauing that most graue maner, descendeth chiefly to that low and familier kinde of speaking. And as touching exclamations, and crying out against abuses, them he vseth, and doth moste of all occupie in his speaking: when hée vttereth forth the places of grauitie. And a little before, he saith, that he remembreth he did preferre Demosthenes a great deale before all others. And in his seconde booke De Oratore, he willeth him that shoulde be an Orator to followe Demosthenes of Athens, who is graunted to be the chiefest Orator aboue all others. And again he sayth in an other place. None hath bene more graue, none more ware, none more temperate, than this man. Therefore they had néede to be warned by vs, whose vnlearned maner of [Page] speach is much knowne abroade, such as eyther desire to bée counted fine Attickes, or else haue a minde to speake Attickly, (that is to speake purely as the Athenians did) that they estéeme and honor this man chiefly, than the which I doe thynke that Athens it selfe was neuer more Atticke, that is more pure or more fine, for they may learne by him, what it is to be Atticke, that is, pure and fine, and let them iudge of eloquence, by his might and value, not by their owne weakenesse. For nowe euery bodye praiseth so much, as he thinketh himselfe able by his own force to compasse. In many places else, Tullie is full of such large reports, but these may suffice, to shewe his iudgement and opinion vpon so famous an Orator as Demosthenes was.
Lucian in his Dialogue where he prayseth Demosthenes.
AMongst other things whereof he speaketh at large, and I haue partly declared the same in the description and setting forth of Demosthenes his life according to Lucians report: he sayth these few wordes, the which cary great force with them. What other thing hath Fortune giuen to Demosthenes, but that which is great and sumptuous? yea what other thing, but that which is most honorable and renowmed? And after this he sayth, who knoweth not what maner of Orator Demosthenes was, howe he beautified his Orations with wordes and sentences, how he poudred his arguments with the stirring of affections? what brightnesse appeared in his plentyfulnesse and copie? what vehemencie and mightynesse of force? what reuerencie and sparenesse vsed he in his words and sentences? what shift and varietie had he of figures? And therefore Leosthenes sayde, that he onely amongst all other Orators, vsed the most liuely and naturall speach in his Oration aboue them all, without any hammer worke, or framing his talke with Béetles or Mawles, and so goeth on forth in a large discourse, as partlye elsewhere, somewhat is sayde to that ende.
Dionisius Halicarnasseus.
DEmosthenes was counted by the opinion of all the Grecians to bée the most excellent and moste perfite Orator amongst them all, as well in copie and cunning, as in finenesse of the Atticke tongue.
Quintilian in his tenth booke De institutione Oratoria.
QVintilian in making rehersall whom he woulde haue read chiefly of anye one that should be an Orator: after long speach of others in certaine professions, he commeth to the Orators, and sayth thus. Now followeth a great company of Orators in Athens, amongest whome Demosthenes was farre passing the chiefest Orator of them all, and almost the verye lawe of eloquence. So great pith was in him, all things so full and so thicke sette, so fastened with certeyne forces, nothing idle or superfluous, such a measure of speach, that a man can not tell what is wanting in him, nor yet what is too much. And a little after in matching Cicero and Demosthenes togither, he giueth the proper praises to them both, as I haue more largelye declared in the Prologue, and sayth that Demosthenes being before Tullie hath made him to bée such a one for the most part as he was, and woulde therefore that Demosthenes shoulde chiefly be read, or rather learned without booke, and so forth, he goth on heaping vp his praises, as elsewhere I haue shewed.
D. Erasmus vpon the Preface of Demosthenes printed in Greeke.
DEmosthenes hath more Arte hid in him than he sheweth at the first sight. For this man as Demades the Orator [Page] sayde, with an honorable ieast, did write to the water, that is to say, to sober men: neyther can he be vnderstoode of anye, but of those, that are sober and watchfull men. That therefore which Quintilian did write of Cicero, may be sayde with like reason of Demosthenes. Let that man knowe and assure himselfe, to haue profited in eloquence: whom Demosthenes hath begoon greatly to please and like. And euen as a péece of worke cunningly painted, doth not greatly please them that are ignoraunt of the Arte: so that heauenly graue maner and maiestie of Demosthenes, the which all eloquent men did alwayes greatly marueyle in him, is not perceyued, but of those that are well practised in the Arte of Rhetoricke, and stored wyth knowledge of hystories. Therefore I shall bée well contented that a childe shall taste of Demosthenes, but yet I would haue him returne to him againe, and reade him earnestly when he is of better iudgement, that he may perceyue that very Attike swéetenesse, that sounde iudgement, those short argumentes called Enthymemata, framed togither with excellent cunning: & last of all, that pithinesse and great grauity of his, wonderfull to all men, and not attayned yet vnto by any man. And a goodly exercise it were (the which thing hath bene done by elder time in Homer and Virgill) if any woulde doe the same in Demosthenes and Tullie, that he might finde by making conference of places, what Tullie hath borowed of him, and where our Latin Orator is equall to the Gréeke, and where he passeth him, and where the counterfayting of him, doth alter from the originall. There is nothing in the worlde so méete to perfite a mans iudgement withall. And here I will not spende labor to commende Demosthenes, to the setting forth of whose praises worthily, we had néede of Demosthenes eloquence: naye there néedeth no eloquence at all to set him foorth, whom all men with one whole consent doe prayse and set vp to the verye heauens.
Ludouicus Viues, a Spaniarde and one notably learned, in his seconde booke of Rhetoricke.
THerefore is Demosthenes preferred before Cicero in the opinion of some men, in that he hideth his Arte, and smelleth the lesse of Schooles, being more enclined to applye himselfe to the playne and familiar speache of the vulgar people: than otherwise to write or speake aboue the common capacitie and vnderstanding of men.
Sadoletus in his booke De liberis rectè instituendis.
IT will doe good to knowe, and therewithall to haue in admiration that vnspeakable pythinesse and vehemencie of Demosthenes, whose maner of speache séemeth to mée to bée knit togither as though it weare with certaine hookes or links, that if you take awaye neuer so little, the whole disposition and order of the matter must néedes quayle. And so passing fierce is his speache that it is like alwaies to preuaile, and so full and so well stored therewithall, that it is able to ouerthrowe, and so artificiall and cunning, that it is able alwayes to beguyle the aduersaries. And besides this, howe often report is there made in his Oratiōs of auncient things? what choyce of words and sentences? how many exhortations vsed vpon the sodeyne? and as the cause serued both for praise & for honor? that in good reason the eloquence of Gréecelande may be sayde to depende vppon the glorie and honor of this onely man the chiefe and péerelesse Orator in the profession of eloquence aboue al others.
The like opinion had sir Iohn Chéeke Knight of this famous man, and sayde plainly that he passed all others, not onely for learning, witte, and iudgement, but also for his familier and plaine kinde of writing, and was the méetest to bée [Page] folowed and studied of all those that would be in déede without colour or painted Arte, such as they woulde séeme in outwarde showe to be reputed and estéemed of others.
And yet thus much must I saye, after so many speaches vsed of this man, that although nothing can be more excellent than Demosthenes Orations: yet in Demosthenes there wanteth a great péece of Demosthenes himselfe, bicause he is rather knowne now by reading his workes, than by hearing his speach and vtterance, wherein he did chiefly excell, and got thereby the greatest prayse. But to conclude at length, what is he, that euer was taken for wyse and learned, that eyther coulde prayse this man sufficiently, or durst in any poynt diminish the glorie of his most famous and worthie renowme? And therefore I will saye of Demosthenes as one sayde of Carthage, Satius est silere quam parúm dicere, It were better to be silent, or at leastwise to forbeare speaking any more, thā not to vtter at full the iust commendation of so worthy a man. And when all is done, I maye applie Titus Liuius saying vppon Cato, iustly to Demosthenes: Hic ille est cuius gloriae nemo vnquam laudando addidit, ne (que) vituperando quisquam aliquando detraxit. This is he whose glorie no man hath euer made greater by praysing him, nor yet any hath euer made lesse by dispraysing him. So that he hath bene, is, and will be euer, the honor of learning, the fame of well doing, and the verye patterne of vertue and knowledge for all men liuing, euermore to follow. And as for his faithfull and heartie minde that he did beare to his Countrie, I will giue him none other prayse, than onely set forth those Gréeke verses of Sophocles in Antigona, the which he himselfe rehearsed in his Oration De falsa legatione agaynst Aeschines, and shewed to haue euer obserued for his part in the whole course of his lyfe as a very excellent lesson both to himselfe, and to all others that shall beare office or rule in their countrie: the which verses are thus to be englished.
Thus much of this worthy and famous Demosthenes, whose name as it is by interpretation, the strength and force of the people: so was he in very deede and by nature, the strong bulwarke, and mighty defence of his most deare natiue Countrie.
Moreouer bicause these Orations of Demosthenes conteyne matters of warre, I will shewe the Othe that the yong men of Grecia did take, when they weare appointed Souldiers for the warres: a note vndoubtedly at this time right needefull, for all Christians, not onely for Englishe men to obserue and followe.
I Wyll not doe any thing vnworthye the sacred and holye warres, neyther will I abandon or forsake my bande and Captayne if I be appoynted to any. I will fight for the right of the Church, and safetie of the state: aswell when I am alone, as when I am in companie. I wyll not make my Countrie to bee in worse case than it is: but I wyll make it better than I found it. And I will euer frame my selfe reuerentlye to obey such orders as are decreed and adiudged: and to lawes established, I wyll still yeelde my selfe, and obey those lawes also, that the state hereafter shall by common assent enact or set forth. That if any one man shall chaunge the lawes, or not obey them: I wyll not suffer him to my power, much lesse wyll I allow him in so doing. But I will bee a sure defender of right, aswell by my selfe alone, as when I am with others: and I will euermore honor the religion of my Countrie. The Goddes be they my witnesse of these my sayings. This Othe was solemnely giuen to yong men being in armour in the Church of their God, at eyghteene yeares of their age: and hauing thus sworne, they continued alwayes ready to serue for .xlij. yeares after, so that they weare fully three score yeare olde, before they were discharged of their Othe and seruice to their Countrie for the warres. And such loue did these people beare to their Countrie, that all their sacrifices and Church religion tended onely to the long preseruation and good welfare of their state. Such care had these heathen people to the prosperous safegarde of their Nation, much to the shame and confusion of all these in our dayes that are common traytors and open Rebels to their naturall soyle and Countrie.
The Description of Athens.
AThens (hauing hir name from Minerua, who was called otherwise, Athene) being somtimes the Paradise of Gréece, yea the Gréece of Gréece, as Thucidides sayd, the mart of learning, the nurse of knowledge, the mother of Orators, the fosterdame of Philosophers and Poetes, and the verye Palace or dwelling place of the Gods themselues to harbowre in, as some did tearme it: the same [Page] Citie hath felt in continuance of time much of fortunes frowning, not onely by the Persians, the Macedonians, and the Peloponnesians now called the people of Morea, but also by the Romaines diuers times, and after that, by the Gaules, and last of all, by the great Turke, who is now Lorde and ruler there ouer all. And to speake amongst others, of ye Gaules, you shall vnderstande that when they were driuen from Constantinople, and lost their seate in the East, they came backe to Athens, and planted their seate there and in the countrie of Morea, tyll translating themselues from thense to Naples, the same Citie came to the handes of a Florentine of the house of Acciolai in the tyme of Quéene Ioan of Naples, that notorious lewde Ladie, for hir wickednesse and euill lyfe, known throughout the world to hir shame for euer. The which Florentine séeking ayde of the Christians to kéepe it still, and not finding any helpe: he was driuen by fine force at the last, to giue ouer his right, interest, and tytle, to the great Turke about a hundreth yeares by past. So that now it is a very meane village, and a poore fisher Towne, hauing scant the name left of it, called after a barbarous and corrupt maner of speach, Sathines in steade of Athens, nothing now extant of so famous a Citie, sauing that vpon the rocke where the Church of Minerua was builded, there is a mighty pile or fortresse, of maine puissance and strength. Such is the course of this worlde that nothing kéepeth any long continuance, but as our bodies are naturally subiect to alteration: so haue all states and common weales in this worlde, their naturall ages and chaunges, to teache vs the rather to fasten our mindes wholy vpon heauen, and to dedicate our selues to God alone. And as Gréece was the midst of the worlde, and the countrie Attica, the midst of all Gréece: so was Athens, the verye heart of all Attica, as well for the situation of the soyle, as for the myndes and disposition of the men. The people whereof (as Plutarchus writeth) were very soone stirred to anger, and yet very easily moued to mercie, rather enclined to suspicion, than giuen to heare [Page] any long information or report made of things: and as they weare readie to helpe the poore afflicted sort, so did they gladlye delyte in sportes and pastymes. And being praysed by others, they tooke pleasure in it: againe being rebuked, they were not greatly discontented. A people much feared euen of ye greatest Princes, being notwithstanding very curteous and gentle to their greatest enimies. And touching the Countrie Attica, and the soyle thereof, Plato sayth in his dialogues Timeo and Menexemo, that the same was verye apt to bring forth most freshe and excellent wittes, the which riseth by reason of the temperature of the ayre, being of a verye moderate heate and moysture, the Countrie standing in .42. degrées from the equinoctiall. This Citie was builded in the middest betwyxt the Temple of Diana, and the famous Church of Ceres in the Citie Eleusine, next vnto the which is that great mountaine called Eron. Vpon the north side of Athens, runneth the riuer Asopus, and vpon the South side, the sea called Mare Aegeum, now Arcipelagus by name. The verie situation declared the maiestie of this Citie, as the whiche was the common harborowe or safe receyte of all Gréeceland to flie vnto for succor in their greatest extremities and miseries of warre, lying Eastwarde in such sort that it séemed to offer receyte, by stretching out hir arme. Yea their hauen or péere earst called Pyraeeus now Lion, did after a sort appeare to open hir lappe to harbowre succourlesse straungers, being a hauen both verye safe to enter to it, and a sure harbowre to ride in it, against all weather and daunger that might happen. They had another hauen set beyond the temple of Diana, & somewhat out of the Citie, called the port Munichia, standing East frō Athens, where was a little pretie towne marueylous strongly fensed, the hauen thereof being an harbowre or receyte of foure hundreth Gallies at the least, yea & so many Gallies the Athenians many times vsed to set forth in their warres. It is written furthermore, that Pericles that worthie Gouernour of Athens, in his time caused thrée score new Gallies yearely to be [Page] made for a certaine space of the Cities charge. These two hauens weare fortified with a notable wall of huge square frée stone, so strong and so thicke therewithall, that two Cartes might méete one another, and go and come from eyther of the hauens to the Citie. And it is further sayde that Munichia compassed within hir boundes both the hauen Pyraeeum, and also that notable Arsinall made by Philo that excellent Architect or Maister builder, the which was such a péece of worke for charges and beautie, as the lyke was not againe to be séene in all the worlde. Of this Munichia, one Epimenides Phaesti [...]s when he came to Athens, and sawe the perill that Athens was lyke to sustaine by the losse of such a place standing as it did, from Athens, and of such force: warned the Athenians very wisely in thrée Gréeke verses, what was néedefull to bée done with it, the which verses are to bée englished out of the Gréeke after this sort.
Meaning that it was good for them to beate downe Munichia to the grounde, rather than it shoulde remayne to be a daunger to the Citie. And as Epimenides sayde, so it fell out afterwards. For Antipater in his warre against Athens, assone as he had once got Munichia: he tooke the city immediatly after, and was Lord ouer all. Wherby may appeare that it is oftentimes as harmefull & as daungerous a thing to haue a strong fortresse next adioyning to some towne: as it is good and auaileable, for the defence and strength of the same. About this Citie laye the Islandes called Ciclades and Sporades which weare in steade of Suburbes and sporting places for the people of Athens, when they were disposed to go abrode: the which Citie shined ouer agaynst these Islandes, being a great manye in number, like as the great bright Moone doth shyne among the little small starres. The yearely reuenew of Athens (as Budaeus writeth) amounted to two hundreth and sixtéene thousande [Page] poundes starling, the saide reuenewes being called Prytanea. And this reckening is made after the rate of money at fiue shyllings the ounce, the which is a large and a good reuenew. And for the valewing of Talentum Atticum I doe followe Budaeus, estéeming still the standerde of their siluer after fiue shillings the ounce, and saye that fower Sestertia makes one Drachma, and one Drachma or Denarius is .7. d ⅕. and one hundreth Drachmae makes a Mina. one Mina or Libra is thrée pounde starling .60. Minae or Librae, makes a talent, the which is of our English monye .180. poundes starling. According wherevnto one Fauinus in Priscian, made these verses.
The bounding of Greecelande according to Ptolomeus.
GReecelande adioyneth vppon tvvo great Countries Macedonie and Epirus, nowe called Albania, & stretcheth vnto Peloponnesus, called at this present Morea. Vppon the west, Epirus is the last part of it, and northwarde Macedonie doth end it, with a part of the sea Aegeum, named now Arcipelagus. Eastwarde it runneth out to the Promontorie Sunium, the farthest part of all Atticke. Southwarde it runneth by the riuer Achelous, that passeth by Corinth, and so endeth in that Isthmus, where two seas are within small [Page] distance. This Gréecelande estéemed all other Countries and people as Barbarians, whereas now they themselues are the most barbarous people liuing, without learning, knowledge, or any goodnesse else at all, all others heretofore hauing taken light of them for vnderstanding, wisedome, and good gouernement, yea, that man was not estéemed to be learned in tymes past that had not studied in Athens. And for gouernement, other states sought to fetch light of them, amongst others the Romaynes did sende out their ten Ambassadors, and had their ten Tables from Athens. And yet albeit these men did minister examples of vnderstanding and knowledge: the Romaines for all that gaue euer more plentifull matter of vertue and good liuing, as who shoulde saye, the Grecians rather excelled in witte, than in worthinesse, and coulde speake better than they woulde doe, according to that saying: Athenienses sciunt quid facere debent, sed facere nolunt. The Athenians knowe what they ought to doe, but that they will not doe. Titus Liuius also writeth that the Athenians did warre with king Philip by their writings & their words, with the which two things only, they were famous, and counted excellent. And truth it is, they were a people of great vnderstanding and knowledge, inuenting by witte diuers thinges, that weare before time hid from man. And nowe most gentle Reader thinke that when I was occupied about this worke: to make Athens & the gouernment thereof to be knowne to my Countrie men: my meaning was, that euery good subiect according to the leuell of his witte, should compare the time past with the time present, and euer when he heareth Athens, or the Athenians, to remember Englande and Englishmen, and so all other things in like maner incident therevnto, that we maye learne by the doings of our olders howe we may deale in our owne affayres, and so through wisedome by our neyghbours example auoyde all harme that else vnwares might happen vnto vs.
Bicause Titus Liuius in his fourth decade and first Booke, declareth matter much agreeing to the Argument of Demosthenes in fauour of the Olynthians, especially for making warres rather in the enimies Countrie; than to tarie till the enimy should set vpon the Romaynes: I thought good to set foorth the hystorie of P. Sulpitius Consull according as it is reported.
IT seemes to me, O Romaines, you doe not know, that you are asked, not if you will haue warre or peace (for king Philip will not suffer you to haue free choyce in this behalfe, who warreth vppon you, both by sea and by lande) but whether you thinke it good to sende your armie into Macedonie, or else to receyue the enimie here in Italie. Now what difference there is betwixt the one and the other, if euer at any other time you haue had proofe: certes you haue had manifest experience thereof in these last warres against the Carthagineans. For who doubteth but that if wee had in lyke maner sent speedie ayde to the distressed Saguntines, when they desired succour of vs, as our forefathers did helpe the Mamertynes in lyke case, a people of Messana in Scicilia, wee had turned the whole warres vpon Spayne, the which through our lyngring and foreslowing our affayres, we haue brought vpon our owne backs into Italie, to our great losse and destruction. And there is no doubt of this at all, but that whereas this King Philip he meaneth.man is agreed with Anniball, by his ambassadors and letters sent, to come ouer into Italie we shall be able to holde him still in Macedonie by Leuinus meanes, whome we haue sent with a Nauie, to warre with him in his owne Countrie. And that which wee did in those dayes when we had Anniball our enimye in Italy, shall we stande in a mamerment nowe to doe, when Anniball is cleane banished, and the Carthagineans quyte ouorthrowne? Let vs tarye on Gods name, and suffer king Philip to make proofe of our lythernesse, whyle he destroyeth Athens: as we taried to suffer Anniball to doe, when he destroyed Saguntum. He will not be absent fiue monthes from you, as Anniball was, when he came from Sagunte▪ but he will be with you within fiue dayes with his whole power in Italy after he hath taken shipping at Corinth. I know, you will not match Philip wyth Anniball, nor yet compare the Macedonians with the Carthagineans. And yet surely you will make him equall with Pyrrhus, so farre forth I say, as eyther one man is better than another, or one nation of more value than is another. Epirus (now called a peece of Albania) was euer a small porcion and of little force in comparison of the Macedonians, and is at this houre none other. [Page] Whereas Philip hath all Morea at this present vnder his dominion, and the city of Argo, a towne no more famous by the auncient renowme therof, than by the death of Pyrrhus. Now let vs make a vewe of our doings. I pray you how much did Italie flourish more when Pyrrhus set vpon vs, than it doth at this present? what a full strength and force was the state in than? so many Captaynes being as yet safe, so many armies as yet whole & sound, whom afterward those Africane warres consumed and made away. Yet for all that he shooke the state, and came conquering welnie to the very gates of Rome. And not only did the Tarentynes, and all that part of Italie the which is called mayne Greece, reuolt from vs, so that a man myght well thinke they had followed their language, and their auncient name: but also the Basilicates, the Calabrians, and the Abruzzians, seuerall people in the kingdome of Naples. And thinke you if Philip passe into Italie, that these people will be long at rest, or keepe themselues within their allegeance? In dede they were all quiet during ye time that we warred afterwards abrode with the Carthagineans. Nay, nay, this kinde of people will neuer leaue reuolting frō vs, but when they shal haue no body to fal vnto. If it had bene so lothsom a matter to you at that time to make ouer into Africa: you had had Annibal, & the Carthage enimies within Italie at this day. Let Macedonie rather abyde the mischiefes of warre, than Italie: and the Countrie and towne rather of our enimies feele the force of fire and sworde, and be destroyed therewyth. We haue good triall already, that our force and might hath bene more fortunate and more puissant abrode, than at home. And therefore go you altogither on Gods name to giue your voyces, and allowe you those things with one consent, the which haue bene wysely considered vppon, by the Senate. And for this opinion, you haue not onely your Consull, to encourage you therevnto, but also the immortall Goddes: vnto whome when I made my sacrifice and my prayers, that this warre might be fortunate to me, to the Senate, to you, to the friendes and confederates of the Latine name, and to our Nauie and whole armie: they prognosticated and foreshewed vnto me, when I was at the sacrifice, that all things shoulde go happily forwarde and prosper very well.
PHILIP King of Macedonie, sonne to Amyntas, and father of Alexander the great, did much annoye the lande of Greece, but especially the people of Athens, frō whom by force and other meanes, he tooke many goodly Cities, as Pydna, Potydaea, Amphipolis with others, vsurping in all places where violence might preuayle. Yea, he brought by extreeme hande whole Thessalia vnder his yoke, and being growne insolent through many victories and conquestes of priuate Countries and Cities, he determined at the last to denounce open warre against the whole Countrie of Athens, and yet before he would fall into so playne a quarrell with them, he drew into his league the Citie Olynthus, being in the Countrie of Thracia, now called Romania, standing somtimes betwixt Abdera and Heraclia, a warrelike plat and a martiall soyle next adioyning to Attica, the people whereof were Grecians of Chalcis in Euboia, a colonie of the Athenians. Now these Olynthians had earst bene at warre aswel against the Athenians as also against the Lacedemonians, whose valiantnesse king Philip knowing, and desirous to haue them matche with him, hee sought by great giftes of Townes vnto them, which he had gotten from the Athenians and others, to make them assured to his part, bicause he might haue a more easie passage to Athens, a thing that he desired aboue al others. For hauing that, he thought it nothing to gette all the countrie of Grecia elsewhere whatsoeuer, being his full minde to make a plaine conquest of all Grecia if it were possible. The Olynthians herevpon perceyuing his ambicious nature, and smelling thereby that he was sharpely sette to be Lorde ouer all: weying also how vnfaithfull a man he was otherwise in all his doings: toke their time in his absence, and dispatched an Ambassade to Athens, to be confederate with them, contrarie to their league made before with King Philip, with whome they had agreed to sette vpon Athens, and to haue ech with others like friendes, and like foes togither. Which thing when king Philip vnderstoode, he tooke herevpon iust aduauntage to fall out with them and so forthwith proclaimed open warre against them. Whervpon the Olynthians sent to Athens for succour, whose cause Demosthenes fauouring as one that did full well perceyue the insaciable ambition of King Philips [Page] nature, perswaded earnestly that ayde shoulde be sent vnto them, bicause the safetye of Olynthus was (as a man woulde saye) a bulwarke or forte to Athens against Macedonie: and that King Philip coulde neuer annoye them so long as Olynthus stoode safe and sure. Whereas on the other side the Athenians might at pleasure pierce into Macedonie, and handle him hardly in his owne countrie. But if King Philip once got Olynthus, he had then an open entrie and a very playne passage to Athens. And to encourage his Countrie men the better in this quarrell, hee sayth that King Philip is not so mightie, but he may easily be dealt withall contrarie to the common opinion.
Further he willeth monye to bee leuied and taken out of the common treasurie, perswading, that where as it was wont to bee bestowed vppon Stage playes, Maygames, and publyke sightes, now the time serued that it might be better employed vpon Souldiers for their wages to defende the afflicted Olynthians, and to maintaine the safegarde of Athens. But bicause the maner is vnknowne to many how the Athenians vsed and dispensed their treasure at that time: it weare not amisse to touch it briefly. When the Athenians heretofore vsed no Theater or scaffolde for the people to stande vpon, but such only as was made of boardes, into the which euery man made haste to get a place, to see those sightes that weare there to bee seene: many times when their scaffolde fayled, they did hurt themselues, and sometimes they went togither by the eares, so that manslaughter followed for want of order, while euery man sought to place himselfe first, that first could get vp, wherevpon proclamation was made, that none hereafter shoulde haue any place there, except they first payde out of hand two halfe pence of that coyne, for their standing, being about two pence star [...]ing, and so they should be placed, of the which money, part was giuen for the building of the Theater of stone, where the playes and open shewes shoulde be made and set forth: and part was bestowed vpon officers appointed for these pastimes. And when the collection monye fayled, the Chamber of Athens did beare the reast for maintenaunce of their costly feasts and seuerall games to the great and intollerable charge of the Citie. And least the poore should be thought hereby to be kept backe, and to lose those sights for want of mony: it was ordered that they shoulde haue two halfe pence deliuered vnto them out of the common reuenewes and treasurie, to paye for their standings. Nowe this custome grewe so great that all the reuenewes of Athens, weare altogither consumed and wasted vpon such vnnecessary vses, in spending this waye and that waye, so that men had the lesse minde to serue their Countrie, no money being left in the treasurie, nor rewarde remayning for seruice and traueyle to be done, eyther at home or abrode. For whereas Souldiers and men of warre [Page] had their pensions and annuities giuen them before time out of the treasurie for their good seruice done: those that taried at home did now consume the same altogither vpon setting forth of those Pageants, royall banquets, reuels, and other such toyes, for the peoples comfort, pastime and delite. And besides this, there was a lawe made by Eubulus that none vppon paine of death shoulde giue councell to employe the common treasure otherwise than vpon stage pastymes, common feastes and games, to the great discouragement of all souldiers and good meaning men, that hoped to haue rewarde for good seruice doing. And here wee must note by the waye that the custome among the Athenians was to hang vp a Table nigh to the Pulpit or place where the Orator spake, conteyning the matters to be entreated of, and when that thing should be passed that the Orator perswaded, the maner was that the Orator shoulde subscribe to the Table, which made a very absolute maner of establishing anye decree among them, and was called in Greeke [...], that is, to write. And when so euer the Orator did presume so to vnder write or set his hande to the Table in capitall causes wherevnto the people, when he had done, did not giue their consent and agreement (which was called [...], of the which the whole thing being decreed was called [...] a decree:) thē shoulde that Orator be in great daunger, if his decree did any thing derogate to the lawes, or weare in any poynt contrarye to the order of decrees to bee made. For which cause Demosthenes being very warie in this behalfe, not to wade ouer deepely for feare of displeasure, vseth great cunning and sleight both to saue himselfe from harme, and to doe his Countrie good, for the better employing of this monye, perswading that the same Theater monye might better bee conuerted and made Souldiers fees, and the contribution to be rather for common profit and honor, than for common pleasure and vaine pastime, being neuer yet so hardie to vnderwrite the tables for the enacting of any new decree in the matter, considering the perill that did depende therevpon, if the people did not like it, after it was vnderwritten, and enacted by the Orator, but giues them only to vnderstand, that in his opinion, the very auncient order was to employ it vpon Souldiers, and that this their maner of spending it, was but an abuse.
Last of all, he willeth them to sende forth their owne Countrie people, and not to vse the onely seruice of Mercinarie foreiners, and hyred straungers, for that by those meanes they haue heretofore susteyned great losse and hinderance in the chiefe of their affayres. And to make this Oration more plaine, I will by a diuision somewhat enlarge and iterate my speach for the better vnderstanding of Demosthenes Arte and wisedome: Three causes hindred Demosthenes from getting the Athenians to helpe the OOlynthians, [Page] 1 first that the warre was not domesticall, nor proper to Athens, but forreyne, with the which kinde of warre the Athenians woulde not 2 seeme to deale. Againe, that they had no monye ready to maintaine these 3 warres. Thirdly, that King Philip was ouergreat, and therfore very daungerous for them to deale withall. All these things Demosthenes doth cunningly handle, and first sayth that the warres doe appertaine to them, bicause it is for their honor: vnto the which all men are caried by nature, for by this [...]anes, they shall make an entrance to aduaunce that principalitie, the which they seke ouer all Greeceland: Againe, he driueth them through necessitie to take this matter in hande, for else King Philip will pierce Athens, if the Olynthians be not presently ayded.
For monye he sayth they haue ynough, if they will turne the ydle expenses of the Theater charges, to the necessarie paye of the warres.
Thirdly, he weakneth King Philips force, by rehearsall of diuers things and deedes in perticularitie. And the two especiall points of the whole Oration, are these, profite and habilitie. Proouing by the first, with manye reasons that their gaine and honor shall be great therein, if they take these warres vpon them: by the seconde hee sheweth, both what their owne proper force is, and what strength the enimy hath, whose power he weakneth by all the cunning meanes hee can, the rather to harten his Countrie men against him. The cunning that Demosthenes vseth in this Oration is very great, and not easie for all men to conceyue, except they be very attentiue to obserue and followe the order and skilfull handling of this matter. And thus I haue bene the longer to dilate this argument, bicause I would make it the playner.
¶The first Oration of Demosthenes chiefe Orator in Athens, in fauour of the people and Citie of Olynthus, in the Countrie of Thracia, nowe called Romania: against king Philip of Macedonie, who sought the distr [...]sse of the sayde people and Citie.
I Do verily beleeue (O Athenians) you had rather thā a great deale of money, you were wel assured,In weightie affayres of the State: men shoulde not spare any mony to haue wise and faithfull counsell. and out of all doubt, what thing were best for the good estate & welfare of the Citie, in those matters which you do presently consult vpō. And séeing it is so, it is reasō, you should gladly giue thē ye hearing, that are willing to giue you their councel. Neither, if one come forth with some good matter studied for, & prepared before hand, ought you to giue eare to that only, & take it in good part: but I take it to be a péece of your good luck, yt many a néedefull poynt, should come into some mans head, vpon the sodaine Sodeyne motions and enforcements of the mind, do often breake out eyther for great good or great euill. to speake of. So shall it be no hard matter for you, out of them all to vse choyse of the best and most profitableIt is more easy to allowe wyse councell than to deuise it.. Wherefore (O Athenians) this present time euen verie now warneth vs Occasiō giuen is a warning sent from God, the which cannot be omitted without great daunger. with open mouth, to go in hand with those affayres our selues: if you haue any regard of your own safetieIt is scant credible that any man will forget his owne welfare.. Marrie then what maner of minde we séeme to haue to them, I know not: Once mine opinion is, that there weare an ayde decréed vpon out of hand:Domesticall souldiers better than forreyne hyrelings. and the same to be readie with all spéede, to the intent the ayde may [Page 2] be of men euen out of this towne, and that you commit not the lyke fault nowe,Craftie men wāt no meanes to compasse their deuises, seking all ye way that maye be to haue their will: and offering to serue the humor of others, for their owne purpose. as you haue done heretofore. And that there weare Ambassadors dispatched, both to aduertise them hereof, & also to be present with them at their doings. For this is greatly to be feared, least king Philip being a subtile man, and beaten with practise of doings, partly by yéelding and giuing ouer his owne right if néede so require, partly by threatning, (which if he doe, it is likely that he shall be beléeued) partly by blaming vs, and our absence, and the delaying of our matters: do quite and cleane ouerturne and dashe some thing, wherein the force of all our dooings lyeth. Howbeit, this falleth out very well (O Athenians) that wherein king Philip séemeth most inuincible:The presence of the Prince doth speede his affayres. therein haue you most aduauntage of him. For, that he being but one man is Lorde of all, as well secrete as open matters, and withall, chiefe Capitaine, Maister, and Treasurer, and that he is present euery where with his army himselfe: these be poyntes in déede, that for the doing of his Marciall affayres with spéede, and in good tyme,Men had then neede to watch when they are in daunger of vniuersall ruine and destruction. make verie much with him: But as to those attonementes which he would gladly make with the Olynthians, they make cleane against him. For it is manifest to the Olynthians, howe that they are not now at warre with him for Honour,Happie is he whom an other mans harme doth make wise. or parcell of theyr lande: but for the safegarde of theyr Countrie from destruction and thraldome. Neyther are they to learne, how he hath vsed himselfe towardes the Amphipolitanes, Ambicious Princes are euill neighbors to their inferiours. who gaue ouer their towne vnto him. And likewise howe he handled them of Pydna that receyued him into them. ‘And altogither (as I take it) the gouernment of tyranny, is a thing to be mistrusted of frée states: especially when they are neighbours and border togither.’ Take tyme, while time is for time will away.
Now these things (O Athenians) being knowne to you, and all other things that be requisite, well considered: me thinkes you ought to sette to, your good willes, your heartes, and your mindes wholy vpon the warres, and if at anye tyme else, nowe especially: as well in making a chearefull contribution of money, as in setting forth in your own persons, & leauing nothing [Page 3] vndone. Neyther haue you any thing to pretende or alleage to the contrarie, why you should not doe your dutyfull endeuour.Present occasion offred and vnlooked for. For why, the thing that you all talked so much of, how it should be requisite to make the Olynthians enimies to king Philip: you sée it is now come to passe of it selfe, and that in such sort, as better it could not haue fallen out for your purpose. For had they taken the warre in hande through your perswasion,Whose destruction is most certaine if they be [...]uercome, and the reconciling with the enimie most daungerous: their inconstancie is not to be suspected for continuaunce of amitie. there had bene no great holde to bée taken of their league, and they woulde haue tarryed but a while in that minde perhappes: but nowe séeing they be enimies for these quarrelles that he hath to them: it is likely that they will cōtinue this enmitie still, as well for those iniuries which he hath alredy done them, as for those which they feare he wil do. And therfore ye ought not (O Athenians) to let go such an occasiō now happened vnto you besides your expectatiō: neither to suffer those inconueniences, ye smart whereof you haue oftentymes heretofore felt. For if, when we went to ayde the Euboians, Examples of foreflowing things, and the losse of occasion offered. at which tyme Hierax and Stratocles Ambassadors for the Amphipolitanes weare with vs, and here in this verye place requested you to sende a power by Sea to take theyr Citie into your protection: we had shewed the same forwardnesse in vs for our owne selues, as we did for the Euboians safetie:Amphipolis [...] Citie betwixt Macedonie and Thracia▪ Pidna a towne of Macedonie. Potidea a towne in Thracia. Methona a towne in Achaia. Pegase a tow [...] of Thessalia. ye had both gotten Amphipolis at that tyme, and might haue béene ridde of all such troubles as afterwardes ensued. Againe, when you heard that Pydna, Potydea, Methona, Pegase, and diuers other Cities (to long to be rehearsed) weare besieged: had we our selues then couragiouslye, and as it was our partes to doe, ayded and succoured any one of them, at the first: wée shoulde haue founde king Philip by this tyme more lowely, and more easie to be dealt withall, by a great deale than he is. But nowe that we doe alwayes let slippe things present, and hope that the worlde will fall out better of it selfe hereafter: we our selues haue by this meanes (O Athenians) both encreased the might of King Philippe,New occasion offered vpon rehearsall of other occasions lost. and made him so great a Prince, as neuer yet was king of Macedonie before him. But nowe is there an occasion offered, what [Page 4] is that?Olynthians desire present ayde. Euen this same of the Olynthians, which offereth it selfe vnto this Citie, and is nothing inferior to any of those that haue béene made heretofore, and verily as I think (O Athenians) if one weare appoynted as it weare an Auditour truely to examine and to take a iust accompt of those benifites which GOD hath bestowed vppon vs: hée shall finde when all is done, although many thinges bée not with vs in so good state, as they should be: yet that we are bounde to giue him verie great thankes,Offers made, that may be receyued, are as much to be estemed as the present and absolute possession of things. and good reason too. For why, where as we haue lost many things by the warres: a man maye iustly impute it to our owne negligence: but whereas we haue neyther felt the same long agoe, and that certaine haue offered to ioyne wyth vs in these warres, who (if we will accept them) are able to counteruayle and recompence our former losses:Men ought as well to bee thankfull for that which they haue not, and yet eyther once had or might haue had: as they haue cause to giue thankes for that, which they haue in their possession and keping. that benifite surely woulde I impute to procéede of his goodnesse towards vs.
But herein mée thinkes I espie the lyke māner in you as men vse in getting of money. ‘For so a man can kéepe as much as he hath gotten, he thankes Fortune highly for it: but if it go awaye, he wotes néere howe: then awaye goes the remembraunce of any thankes to Fortune at all. And euen so in mens doings, they that doe not vse their tyme well, doe not so much as call to remembraunce, if anye good thing hath happened to them by the goodnesse of God. For according to that, which last happened,As things fall out, so doth the common sort iudge, esteeming thinges fondly by the euent, and not looking of the cause. euery thing that went before, is commonly iudged.’ Wherefore we haue great néede (O Athenians) to be carefull of the rest hereafter, to the intent that by the amending of these things, we may wype away the reproche of our former doings. For if we shall forsake these men (O Athenians) and that yonder man ouerthrow Olynthus, tel me some body what shall let him when that is done,They are to be defended wyth all care, whose destruction shall be their vndoing, that are desired to help, if they doe not sende ayde in tyme. to runne his course where he list? I beséech you (Athenians) is there none of you, that doth consider and sée by what meanes, king Philip, who was of small force at the beginning, is now growne & become thus mightie & great? First when he had taken Amphipolis, after that Pidna, then Potidea, and by & by Methona, then he inuaded Thessalia, after [Page 5] that when he had ordered Pheres, Pegase, Magnesia, and all as he woulde haue it, hée tooke his iourney to Thracia: and there hauing displaced some out of theyr Kingdomes, and established others, he fell sicke, and being somewhat amended, did not giue himselfe to slouthfulnesse, but by and by went in hand with the Olynthians. I will not speake of his iourneyes and exploytes made vpon the Illirians, Peonians, Illirians and Peonians people next adioyning to Macecedony, Italy, and Germanye. and against king Arymba his Vncle and euery where else.
But some will say vnto me, why tell you vs this tale then? Marie (O Athenians) to the intent that you may know right well and vnderstande both these things, first what inconuenience groweth of letting slip and neglecting alwayes somwhat in euerie thing you doe:Arymba king of the Molessians, and vncle to Olympiades, king Philips w [...]fe, whom he did not forbere to molest, notwithstanding the alliaunce and kindred. and next the carefull painfulnesse that king Philip vseth and practiseth in all his life towards all men, whereby it cannot be, that he contenting himselfe with thinges alreadie done▪ will be at rest. Now if he shall continue in this minde still, that he must alwayes be doing somewhat, whereby to aduaunce his state, and if you on the other side be of this opinion that you must take nothing in hande valiauntly:Neglecting euen of priuate causes, verye daungerous to a state. consider what ende is to be hoped, that these things will come vnto at length. Lorde God, which of you all, is so voyde of vnderstanding, that knoweth not that the warres will come from thence hither vpon vs, if we be carelesse.He that mindeth to conquer must be careful. And if that come to passe, I feare me (O Athenians) least that after the same sort as they who are readie to borowe vpon great vsurie,Mony borowed vpon vsurye bringeth misery, although for a tyme it seeme pleasaunt. haue good store for a little while, but afterwardes are faine to forgoe euen that also which was aunciently their owne before: Euen so shall we (if we shall appeare to haue payde déerely for our ease, séeking our pleasures in all things) be driuen hereafter to make many hard shiftes,For a short pleasure, long displeasure: repentance is the hyre. and be put in great hazarde to lose euen that, which we haue here at home.
Nowe to finde fault, some will say peraduenture, is [...] easie matter, and a thing that euery bodie can doe, but to shewe what is néedefull to be done, vpon these present matters: that is the part of a Counsellor. Well, I am not ignoraunt, that [Page 6] you oftentymes haue béene offended not with those that haue deserued blame, but with those whose chaunce was to speake last of matters:Priuate losse must be susteyned for cōmon weales behoofe. if any thing doe not fall out according to your minde. And yet I doe not thinke it méete for mine owne priuate safegarde, to suppresse or hinder any thing that I iudge is for your profite. Therefore, I say, touching these present affayres, you ought to prouide for them by two maner of wayes, both by kéeping to the Olynthians their townes in safetie, and sending them souldiours to doe thys: and also by annoying his Countrie with Galleys,Negligence in Magistrates a thing moste daungerous to a state. and an other bande of souldiors besides. But if you neglect to do any one of these things, I feare me least all your voyage besides will proue labour lost. For whether you doe but spoyle his Countrie, and he let you alone with that, till he shall haue subdued Olynthus: then shall he at his returne home, be auenged of you with ease: or whether you send but an ayde onely to Olynthus, then will he séeing thinges at home out of daunger, sit hard and fast by his matters: and in time will preuayle agaynst them, whom he besiegeth. Wherefore the ayde had néede to be great, and that in two places at once. And this is my opinion for ayde.
Nowe for prouision of money. You haue (O Athenians) money, you haue so much as no men else haue more, to employ vpon the warres: but that doe you take at your pleasure, wheras if you would restore the same to Souldiors, you should néede no other leuie besides, otherwise you shall haue néede, yea, and that verie great néede to. Why howe nowe, sayth one, doe you The custom in Athens was to haue a Table hung vp, conteyning the matter of their present assemblie, and wherof the Orators spake, and they that woulde haue any thing to passe did subscribe their mindes in the Table.passe a decrée to make this money to serue for pay of souldiours? no verily, not I. But mine opinion is, that you must néedes prouide souldiours, and that this money is ordeyned for pay of Souldiours, and that there is one order which is euen this,The common treasure was wont to be spēt vpon the common people, in making of feastes and seting forth of shewes, games, & stage playes, and paying for the standings that the poore [...] sort had. both for men to receyue their dutie, and to doe their dutie: whereas you neuerthelesse in this goodly maner without doing any thing, bestowe this money, vpon feastes & games. Therefore it remaynes (as I take it) that euery man must make contribution of money, if much néede, of much: if little néede, of [Page 7] little: once money must néedes be had whatsoeuer we doe: and without Money doth much, I will not say all. money, nothing can be done at all, as it ought to be done. There be others that haue other deuises to get money, take that way you like best, and while occasion serues, goe in hande with your businesse.
And here it weare verie néedefull for you to consider & weigh the matters in what case they stande nowe with king Philip. Neyther ywisse, as it séemeth and may be sayde by one that looketh but lightly vpon his doyngs, goeth the worlde very gay with him: or yet in such sort, as weare best for him at this time. Neyther would he euer haue taken this warre in hande in trust of his owne strength: King Philips force, made greater by common brute, than it is in deede. had he thought he should haue found a warre of it in déede. But his hope was to conquere all, euen at the verie first pushe, without resistaunce: and is deceyued nowe he hath done. And therefore this thing first of all doth vexe him, and breake his heart not a little: bycause things haue fallen out quite contrarie to his expectation.
Moreouer, the ficklenesse of the Thessalians, doth much trouble his minde,Thessalians vnfaythfull people, and full of treacherie. who haue béene alwayes false and vnfaithfull agaynst all men of their owne nature: and euen as they are, and haue béene to others: so are they now to him. And they are fully decréed among themselues to demaund backe Pegase of him, and haue forbidden the walling of Magnesia. Yea, and I my selfe haue heard it sayde of some, that they would let him no longer receyue the profites of their Hauens, and theyr Martes. For say they, it weare good reason that the common charges of the Thessalians ought to be borne therewithall, and not that king Philip shoulde gleane it, and intercept it for his owne vse. So that if he be put besides this money: his hired Souldiours shall quickly be brought to a very narrow strayte for their vittayles.
Moreouer it is most likely that the Peonians, and the Illirians, and generally all such other people, as dwell there aboutes: had rather still be frée, and liue vnder their owne lawes, than be in bondage of others. For they are a people vnwoont [Page 8] to be subiect to any: and King Philip he meaneth. yonder man as they say, is a verie spitefull person, and before God he is none other like in déede to be. ‘For prosperitie excéeding a mans desert giues an occasion to them that be witlesse,Immoderate welth causeth pryde: pryde bringeth hatred: hatred worketh rebellion: rebellion maketh an alteration & chaungeth kingdoms to be euill disposed, and to ouerwéene of themselues. Wherefore it séemes oftentymes a harder matter to kéepe goodes: than it is to get them.’
Therefore you must (O Athenians) assuring your selues that his euill season is your good season, go cherefully in hande with these matters, both by sending forth Ambassadors to such places as shall be méete, and setting forth your selues on warfare,That which the enimy would doe to vs when he might, we should not refuse to doe vnto him agayne, when we may. and encouraging all others to do the same: considering with your selues, that if king Philippe had the lyke occasion agaynst vs, and that the warres weare nighe to his countrie, howe readily thinke you woulde he come vpon vs? And then are not you ashamed that you dare not doe these things vnto him vpon this occasion and oportunitie: which if he had the like abilitie, you might be assured to féele at his hands? Moreouer, I would not haue you ignorant of this (O Athenians) that it is in your owne choyse nowe, whither you will go fight with him in his owne Countrie, or that he should come and fight with you at your owne dores. Better offende than defende. For if ye Olynthians shal be able to hold their owne, you shall fight with him there, and annoy his Realme, and enioy the fruits of this your owne Country, without feare of any daunger:Thebanes will take part with the stronger. but if king Philip shoulde take their Citie, who shall let him then, to draw straight hither? The Thebanes? be it spoken without bitternesse, they will be readie to enter vpon vs with him.Phoceyans of small force. But perhaps the Phoceyans? alas poore men, they are not able to kéepe their owne, except you your selues do succour them, or some bodie else. But good sir (sayth one) King Philip will neuer come hither.Fonde speach vsed lythe [...]non simple soules. Nowe surely this weare the greatest absurditie that euer was, if that thing which nowe he commonly talkes and brags of, though all men countes him a mad man for his labor: he would not do the same if he might.
Nowe howe much oddes there is whither you fight wyth him here, or in his owne Countrie: I thinke it not worth the [Page 9] speaking: for weare you once dryuen to bée in the Campe but one Moneth onelye, and shoulde haue all thinges néedefull for the armye out of your owne Countrey: I saye vnto you that althoughe none enimye appeared amongest vs, your farmours, and husbande menne shoulde susteyne more losse and harme at home, than all the charges of the warres heretofore haue amounted vnto.At Amphipolis. Better to annoy by offence than to stand at defence, and to begin warre, than to withstand warre. Great then will bée oure harme, if we shall be fought withall here at home. Besides this, what a reproche will it be, and what a shame also for vs to bee bearded by oure enimyes, and brested by them euen at oure owne doores, the which blemishe and rebuke vnto wise men, is comparable to the greatest losse that may be. Wherefore, séeing all this is séene vnto you: you ought altogither to plye your ayde, and to aduaunce the warre from hence vpon him. Those that be welthie men to depart with some portion of their goodes, to thintent they may better kéepe the masse of their treasure, and gotten goodes in more safetie at home. As for yong men what can they doe more honorable for themselues, than getting experience of warre within the boundes of King Philips Countrie, returne home like valiant and redoubted kéepers of their naturall soyle and welfare. And the Oratours for their partes to render vp a cléere account of their doinges in the common weale. For euen as the worlde frameth with you, so are ye commonlye woont to iudge of their doings. Thus I pray God all may be well.
AFter the Ambassadors of Olynthus had vttered their requests: the Athenians agreed vnto them and appointed vpon ayde to be sent, but yet foreslowed somwhat their matters, for feare of king Philips mightinesse, and somewhat also bicause King Philip had some bearers in the towne that thūdred his power out amaine, amongst the commons: wherby to discourage and quaile their hearts from making warre. Demosthenes vsing great cunning to cracke this his credite and the common digested opinion of him and his magnificence: first and formost perswades them by this Argument, that all his puissaunce hath growne but by craft and subtiltie, and therefore is of no continuaunce, nor yet to be weyed. Then howe his owne people be wasted with continuall taxes and tallages, and therefore likely to seeke meanes to disburdeine themselues thereof. Thirdly, that he is a man of naughtie liuing, which thing though it be presently kept hid, through the floud of his prosperitie: yet with time it will ebbe and be discouered, and therefore the heartes of his owne people must needes be alienated from him. And in this place he doth excellently paint out a Tiraunt in his colours: as one false to his confederates, cruell to his subiectes, and dissolute of his owne life: and by the way he sheweth most grauely that the good behauiour of Princes hath great force to winne, and to keepe the good will of the common people, and commonly good lucke foloweth good doinges: and as mens maners are, such is their prosperitie. And lastly, he doth most wisely discourse of happinesse and welfare, and sayth, that where as manye doe thinke that witte and pollicie doe mainteine States, he affirmeth that all prosperite and assuraunce of welth are the onely gift of God, tearmed by him, good fortune. Without the which all good counsels (bee they neuer so finely or cunningly deuised) are nothing worth at all. Wherein he doth not exclude counsell and wisedome, but he wisheth that God and good happe should be our guide in all our actions. In the second part of his Oration he rebuketh their sloth and idlenesse, warning them to further their good fortune and happinesse, with all painefull diligence and industrie that may be, and then he doubteth not but all shall be well.
¶The seconde Oration of Demosthenes in the fauour of the distressed Olynthians.
WHereas God hath in manye other thinges most plainly shewed his goodnesse towardes vs, he hath at this time moste especially declared his great fauour and mercie to this our Countrie. For séeing they are nowe at warre with King Philippe that border vpon him, being people of no small force, such as are resolued vpon this amongest themselues by full consent and agréement (the which is the chiefest matter of all) that first the conditions and accordes made with him are vntrustie and nothing safe, nay rather such, as if they be receyued and allowed, they will vtterly destroye them and their countrie for euer: it séemeth most euident that God of his goodnesse hath wrought this feate for our blessing and welfare. Now then, good it weare for vs to looke about vs, that wee lose not this occasion offered, Occasion is a commoditie offered for a thing to be well done, and therfore not to bee forslowed without great perill. and so deserue worse of our selues, than fortune offers vnto vs. For it were a reproche, yea a verie foule reproche, to séeme to let goe not onelye the Cities and Townes that sometymes we weare Lordes ouer, but also to abandon and refuse those warre fellowes, and occasions, that are by good fortune offered vnto vs. And here to discourse vnto you what the force of king Philip is, the rather to encourage you to take this matter in hande: I doe think it weare a speach nedelesse to be vsed. And why? Bicause al such talke shoulde turne to his honour, and to our shame. For the mo things that he hath done aboue the opinion & dignitie he was of, the greater honour shall be thought to be his, and the greater shame yours, that being of such force and renowme, haue done little or nothing thereafter. And therefore I will let these matters alone. For he that will truely consider the substaunce (O Athenians) shall find, that king Philip is growne great by our meanes, [Page 12] and not by his owne. Therefore the things for the which king Philips practicioners deserued thankes at his handes and punishment at yours: those I sée now is no time to speake of. But such things as are without the counsell of those, and which be most for the profite of you all, to heare off, and such as shall appeare to be very foule reproches against him, to them that are disposed to trie them out aright: those things doe I mynde to deale withall. And yet if one doe call him a false man or a periured person, not declaring what he hath done perticularly: he might iustly be thought an euill tongued body, and a vayne rayling felow. But if a man weare disposed to rippe vp all that euer he did, and to charge him with euery poynt thereof,King Philips force what it is. as it falles out: it shoulde néede but a short talke. And for two causes I thinke it good to be tolde: whereof the one is, (and that is verie true too) that he maye appeare to all the worlde to be a naughtie wicked man: and the other is, that they who are in a feare of Philip, as though he weare inuincible, may sée that all his sleights and craftie guyles, whereby he hath aduaunced himselfe to this greatnesse, are nowe spent and gone: and that all is nowe euen at the verye last cast with him. For I my selfe (O Athenians) woulde take Philip to be a verie terrible and wonderfull man, if I sawe him thus come aloft,Good kinges growne mighty are to be drad and feard. by his good and iust dealing: But when I well weye, and consider with my selfe, I finde that our owne simplicitie, euen from the beginning (what tyme the Olynthians desirous to haue had conference with vs, were kept backe, by certaine that bare vs in hande, how he would giue vp Amphipolis vnto vs, and bring to passe for vs, that secrete and close matter that they bragged vpon amonge themselues) is the thing that brought him to this.Amphipolis. The secret and close matter was the deliuering vp of Potidia. Olynthians. Thessalians. And after that, the friendshippe that he made with the Olynthians, by destroying Pydna, a towne of ours, and wronginge vs, that were his warre fellowes before, of purpose to giue it to them. And now last of all he did winne the Thessalians to take part with him, promising vnto them, the country of Magnesia, and to take warre in hand for their sakes, against the Phoceyans, so that to cōclude, he bleared the eyes of as many as had to do with him, through his craft [Page 13] and subtiltie. And by these meanes he hath aduaunced his might and power, with abusing the simplicitie of others, and entrapping them that knowe him not. And therefore euen as he hath mounted the whéele by these sleightes, when euery one hoped that he should doe somewhat for their profite: euen so must he néedes by the selfe same meanes discend againe, when it shall be proued vppon him, that he hath done all thinges for his owne gaine and lucre. Lo, thus stands the case, and doings of king Philip. Or if it be not so, let some come foorth and shewe vnto me, or to you rather, that these thinges are false, that I haue sayde: or that those, who haue béene first deceyued by him, will trust him hereafter. Or that the Thessalians now brought into bondage (farre otherwise than they haue deserued) will not desire to be at libertie againe. It may be that some thinkes all this to be true,Libertie sweete and desired of all men. and yet the same man is thus perswaded, yt king Philip is able by fine force to kéepe whatsoeuer he hath gotten, bicause he hath before hande got the Townes, Hauens, Portes, and Fortresses into his owne hands. But he that so sayth, is much deceyued in his opinion. ‘For when things are grounded togither vpon good will, and that the same things are séene expedient, for all such as are partakers of the warres: then will men ioyne their labors togither, abide all smart, and tarie by it, till the ende. But when a man hath got power and authoritie, by sleight and guilefull meanes, as he hath done: euery small occasion and light offence turneth al things vpside downe, and layeth it flat in the ende.’
‘For that authoritie or might which is gotten by wrong doing,Things wrongfully gotten haue none assuraunce. by periurie, and by falsehood: can neuer by any possible meanes continue and endure: tho I denie not but the same for a time may abyde and tarie, and shewe a faire flourishing face bicause many are with vaine hope caried away, but when tyme hath tryed the truth, such falsehoode fayleth sodainly, and falleth streight to the ground.’ ‘For in mine opinion, euen as the foundation of houses,A similitude declaring that falsehoode hath no continuance. shippes, or any other buildings, must be very strong made and sure: so ought all doings to haue sounde beginnings and perfite foundations to be grounded vpon.’ But king Philips attempts are cleane contrary: and therfore I think it weare good for vs all [Page 14] togither to ayde the Olynthians, he that will best and most spéedily vtter his minde in this behalfe, him will I best alow of. I doe thinke it good also an Ambassage weare sent to the Thessalians, partly to informe them of our readinesse, and partly also to stirre them to ioyne with vs. For they are already determined to demaunde backe Pegasas, and to haue a saying with him for Magnesia. But yet take ye good héede of this (O Athenians) that your Ambassadours carie not words only with thē,Deedes▪ perswade more than wordes. but that they haue some déedes to shewe, that is, that your armie is gone into the field accordingly, and that your affaires are alreadie in hand.
‘Shew me the man and not the meate.For why, wordes be but fonde and vaine when déedes be away, especially if they come from our Towne. And the readier that we séeme to be to vse it, the more doe all men mistrust vs for it.’ But, and you desire to haue any man to take part with you, you must let them sée a great alteration in you agaynst Kinge Philippe,He that will needes styrre affections in others, must first shew the same passion in himselfe. and perceyue you most willing to contribute for these warres, to bringe forth men and armour, and to doe all things most promptly and readily, that are to be done. And if you will shew your indeuour in this sort, as is méete for you to doe, King Philips confederates will not only breake of from him, but you shall sée also that his owne subiectes at home will faynt and ware weary of him. For in effect the power and state of Macedonie being ioyned with others, is no small péece of a helpe, as it appeared to be heretofore to vs in Tymotheus tyme against the Olynthians, Tymotheus. and to the Olynthians against Potydea, this coniunction & linking togither with him séemed a great matter.Thessalians oppressed with the tyrannie of one Alenus a noble man amongst them, whose children succeeded and vsed the same crueltie, beyng weary of such bondage, desired king Philipe ayde to banishe them the ste [...]e, who so doyng receyued in gift for his labor the custome and tolle of all their marchandizes & trafick. And now presently he hath bene an help to the Thessalians vexed and troubled with a ciuill warre among themselues against a family of Tyrants, vsurping vpon them. And at a worde, when a man hath an aide, whatsoeuer it be, annexed to his own: it helpes very much. But the Macedonians of themselues are of smal force, and marueilously weakned with many ouerthrowes and aduersities. For by al such meanes as men would gesse him to be the greater by, that is to saye, by warres, and martiall affayres: he hath made the same more vnsafe to himselfe, than they woulde be of their owne nature. And thinke not with your selues (O Athenians) [Page 15] that the same thing that lyketh well King Philip, is anye pleasure at all to his subiectes. For he desires honour and glorye aboue all reason, and longes altogither after that: neither will he refuse to hazard himselfe to any daungerous aduenture, wherby to bring ye things to passe,Diuersitie of disposition betwixt the prince and subiectes breedes dissention, and causeth hatred often to ensue. which neuer king of Macedonie did before him: preferring glorie before all quietnesse in the world. And as for his subiects, what part haue they of his glorie? but like men cloyed and tired with continual going vp & downe on warrefare, liue in continual trouble and miserie. And neither are suffered to follow their owne businesse, and dwell vpon their owne, nor yet to dispose of those goods which they haue gotten by such trade, as they could occupie themselues in: for that, that all the Ports and Hauens in the Countrie are shutte vp by reason of the warres. And by this you may easily iudge,Whom the people doe not well brooke, his state can not long stand, howe the common sort of the Macedonians are affected towardes their king.
But then his foreyne souldiours, and garde of footemen that attende vpon him, they beare a name to be iollye felowes and expert waryers. Well, I heard of one that was that countryman borne, a man that will not lie, that they are no better than others are. And whosoeuer is among them, a man of authoritie, & practised in warres, and martiall feates, him, puttes he away from him vpon an ambitious minde of his owne, as one that couets to haue all things séeme to be his owne doings, (for amongst other faultes that he hath) he is thought to be an excessiue vaine glorious and ambitious man. And if there be a sober person,King Philips nature. or otherwise an honest man amongest them, that can not away with his daily surfeiting, drunkennesse, his Cordacisinus, a filthy daunce, vsed among the Grecians. hoyting & reueling: he is streight way despised and naught set by, & as for the rest that are about him, they be a sight of theues & flatterers,Naughty packs make euill men the more bolde: and flatterers make fooles the more fonde. and such felowes as when they are dronken, wil fall to daunsing and leaping, and such other things as I am ashamed to name vnto you. And certaine it is that this is true that I haue touched. For why, such as haue béene chased by you out of the towne, a sight of rakehelles, worse than Coniurers or Iuglers, as Callias that towne slaue,Callias. and such like felowes, iesters, rymers, & wryters of filthie Ballades made against their Companions, as laughing stocks: those [Page 16] are his dearlings,Such is euery one, as the companie is, that he kepes. his chiefe Mates and Companions. And although some man will say that those are but light matters: yet vnto wise men if they consider well vpon them: they séeme tokens of a lewde naughtie minde,Whose doyngs are lewde, his lyfe is in daunger. Welfare couereth those vices that by aduersitie are discouered. and are manifest signes of mischiefe like to tumble vpon him. But peraduenture his good successe at this time kéepes these thinges from comming to light, ‘for prosperitie is a thing of such force that it shrowdes these reprochfull demeanours of his: but trippe he neuer so little awrie, then euery bodie falles a descanting, vpon all that euer he did in his life.’ And so I beléeue (O Athenians) ere it be long, it will appeare in him to the whole worlde,A similitude declaring that inward griefes doe then breake out in euerye countrie: when the warres are at home amōgst them, and they fought withall at their owne doores. if God be willing, and you togither. ‘For as we doe not féele in our bodyes (so long as we be in health) the griefe of any member diseased or euill affected, but as soone as sicknesse toucheth vs, than all those partes are out of frame and temper, that before weare eyther broken, wrinched, or anye otherwise diseased: euen so it fareth with Countries, and Kingdomes, so long as they kéepe warres abroade: domesticall wrongs and mischiefes lye vnespied: But when warres breakes out once in their owne Countries: than doe all inwarde gaulles, and griefes bewraie themselues.’ It may be that some perhaps wil thinke it very daungerous for vs to deale with king Philip, seing him so fortunate a man, and to haue so good successe folowing him at his héeles:He calleth it fortune in good part, and meaneth the grace of God that giues successe to all our actions. in déede that man that so thinketh doth thinke as any wise man would. ‘For it is very true that fortune beareth great sway in al worldly affayres, yea, to say the truth, fortune rules all the world. And yet for all that, if the choyse weare mine, I had rather haue the fortune of our Citie (so you would once do your duties, weare that neuer so meanely) than to haue al the happines yt king Philip hath.’ For why, I sée you haue many more offers and occasions to receiue gods benifites than he hath,Gods goodnes worketh all in all. which are plaine tokens of the great goodnesse of God towards vs. But I trowe we sit still at our ease, and doe nothing at all. And howe then is it possible that he that is ydle himselfe, should commaund his friends to do any thing for him? much lesse the Gods. It is no maruaile therefore, if king Philip that is alwayes in armour, alwayes taking of paynes in his owne person, readie at all exploytes, [Page 17] and such a one as wil not slip any occasion or houre of his time: doth ouerreach you, who spend all your time in lingring,The painefull man beareth away the garlande. in making of decrées, and in questioning one with another. For my part I meruaile neuer a whitte at this:The creeping and slow Crab, can neuer out go the swift and wight Hare. nay rather would I meruaile, if we by doing nothing, that is fitte for men of warre to do: should go beyond him, that doth all thinges that he néedes to doe. But this thing can I meruaile much at, to sée that in times past (O Athenians) you withstoode the Lacedemonians in the right of Greece, when being ofttimes in case to haue aduaunced your owne estate very much: you would none of it, but spent of your owne for the maintenance of other mens right, aswel in contributing your mony thervnto, as also in ventring your owne persons in the warres. And now when you should set forward, for defence of your own possessions: you draw back, and are loth to disburse any thing at all. And you that haue heretofore béene the safetie of all men in generall, and euerye man in particuler: nowe when your owne goodes and welfare is taken from you, ye sit still and doe nothing. Moreouer, I meruaile much at this (O Athenians) that not so much as one of you all can recken with himselfe what a long time you haue had warre with King Philip: and what a goodyeare you weare doyng, all the while that this tyme was a spending? For ywis you know this verie well, that whilest you houer and hope that others will fight for vs: and whilest you accuse & condemne one another, and lastly, whilest all that ere you do, is a maner all after the same sort still, as your olde woont was, the time runnes away. Haue you so little iudgement in déede,Thinges lo [...] by much lethernesse, must be recouered againe by gre [...] diligence, according to the prouerbe. Of contraries there is one, & the selfe same doctrine▪ that by such meanes as you sée our countrie fallen from great welth to a weaker state: you would thinke it likely by the same meanes to turne againe from a bad state to a better being? Now surely this is against all reason, and nature so to thinke. For by nature it is a more easie matter for a man that hath a thing to kepe it still, than it is to get it vnhad: howbeit by this time the warre hath left nothing for vs to kepe yt was ours before, but we must be fain to get it a fresh: & that belongs to you, to do. Wherfore I say vnto you, you must euery man bring in his mony, and go forth lustily your selues, and accusing no man before you had brought al your matters [Page 18] to passe, and than when it is done, you shall doe well to sit in iudgement,As rewardes are necessarye for well doers: so chastisement is meete for offenders. to rewarde the prayse worthie, and punish the offendors: laying aside all excuses, and quarreling one with another. Neyther is it fit to searche other mens doyngs ouer curiously, or rigorously vnlesse we first endeuour our selues aboue all others to doe that which we ought to doe.He that will blame an other man, must first be blamelesse himselfe, in the selfe same matter, that he blameth others. For I pray you what is the cause that all ye Capitaines whom you send forth, do eschue these our warres, and had rather séeke warres of their owne in other places? Mary if a man must néedes say as it is, and speake truth, of the Capitaines, is it not bicause that here with vs the rewards and booties of the warre are yours? For and Amphipolis should be taken, would not you sease it to your selues by & by? and so the Capitaines should abide all the perill, and haue no part of the reward at all,Rewardes due for paynes taking. whereas any where else the daunger should be lesse, and the gaynes much greater to the Capitaynes and Souldiors: As was to be séene at Lampsacus & Sygeum by the number of the sayles that they had the spoyle of:Mercenarie strangers serue chiefly there for gaine, where it is most to be had So that euerye man goes where as he ran make his most aduauntage. But you, so soone as you sée thinges go euill fauouredly forwarde with you, you haue your Capitaynes in sute by and by. And when they haue giuen vp their reckoning, and you haue heard their necessitie: you dismisse them streight out of the Court: And so you remayne still brabling and fauling out among your selues, some holding one opinion, and some another. And in the meane season the common weale taryes still at an euill stay.In euery ward of Athens, was 300. com [...]ers, whom the Orator abused, aswell in leuying of mony, as appoynting offices. For heretofore (O Athenians) you leuyed your mony by Wardes and companies, whereas nowe you beare office and rule by Wardes. The Orator, he rules both, & vnder him the grand Capitaine, and the thrée hundred to assist him, and the rest of you be deuided, some on one side, some on the other. Therefore I pray you setting these brawles aside, and calling better mindes to you: make it frée for euery man,Libertie of speach necessarie for the Countries welfare. to saye his minde, to giue his counsell, and to doe his part. for if you will giue some men leaue like Tyraunts to commaund you, & to enforce some to serue in Galleys, to contribute, to go in proper person to these warres: and other some to doe nothing, but make decrées, and orders, agaynst them, and not put theyr [Page 19] handes to any thing themselues: why than, you shall neuer haue any thing wel done, or in good time as it ought to be. For the party wronged, will alwayes fayle when you shall haue neede. And so shall you be faine to punishe them in stéede of enimies. And therefore to conclude, I thinke it good that you all do contribute money according to your wealth and habilitie, and that euery man go foorth in his course till you haue béene all at the warres, and that all men may haue libertie to speake their fantasies in this place, that when all haue said theyr mindes, you may pick out the best of all, and leaue the worst, and not be addicted to that which this man or that man hath said. Thus doyng, you shall not onely prayse the Orator for his redy counsell at the time present: but you shall hereafter also reioyce and cunne your selues thanke, when you shall sée your country in better case than now it is.
THe Athenians hauing sent ayde to Olynthus, did somewhat represse and hinder king Philips doings. Wherevpon the people weare marueylous glad and thought they needed not now to deale any further for helping the Olynthians. And so they slacked to contribute money, or to sende supplies, as though they had no more to doe. And some there was that thought it good pollicie to call backe the armie from Olynthus, to goe streight to Macedonie to vexe king Philip in his owne Countrie. Wherevpon Demosthenes seeing what perill remayned to the afflicted Olynthians if they weare not thorowly ayded: stept forth and rebuked the fonde ioy and vaine pride of his Countriemen for so smal cause, and willed them to vse more temperatenesse and waryer dealings, and not to looke only howe to be reuenged of king Philip, but how they might best helpe their friendes and allies according as they had promised: and to contribute more bountifully, and to abrogate the former law of the Theater mony, and now to employ it vpon Souldiours and men of warre. And here he sheweth howe necessarie it is to cut king Philip short, least he waxe so great hereafter that they shall not be able to deale with him. And altogether he calleth vpon them to followe the example of their elders, and to go to the warres in their owne persons, and rebuketh the inconstancie and follie of the common people that thinks so soone as anye good fortune commeth towardes them, or that they haue neuer so little aduauntage of their enimie: that then all is their owne, and that they neede not to trauaile anye farther. And with the people he blameth the Orators and Counsellors, that seekes onely to serue the peoples humor, and so to marre all thereby in the ende. In the thirde part of his Oration, he setteth forth a patterne or shape of a good gouerned common weale, shewing what the people should do abrode, what at home, and how euery man should priuately vse himselfe, and howe daungerous persons in the common weale are those wicked Counsellors and licencious people that will follow their owne fansie, and haue their owne will in all thinges. And therefore he chydeth sharpely not onely the people, but also the Magistrates that haue no better eye nor care to the prosperous estate and welfare of their Countrie.
¶The thirde Oration in fauour of the Olynthians.
I Cannot bee of the same minde,Wordes and deedes should be all one. (O Athenians) when I looke vppon mens doings, that I am of when I regard the talke which I heare. For the talke is altogither howe to bée reuenged of king Philip, but their doinges are come to that poynt, that we had néede to looke to our selues, for feare we be preuented wyth some euill perswasion before hande. For they that tell you those tales, me thinks they doe euill in thys poynt, that they séeke to put newe matters into your heade, to remoue you from that you are minded vnto already. But I knowe very well the tyme was, when both we might haue kept our owne safely, and haue bene reuenged of king Philip also. For euen in my time not longe ago, we might haue done them both. But nowe I am fully perswaded,After the afflicted confederates are first holpen, we may in the necke therof seeke reuengement of our enimy, and deuise his annoyaunce, and not before. that it is ynough for vs, if to begin withall, we fall in hand to preserue our confederates: whose safegarde when we haue well assured: then may we deuise howe to be reuenged of him. But before ye resolue and determine what to doe, at the beginning: I thinke it follie to talke any thing of the ende. And therefore (O Athenians) if euer ye had néede to take héede to your selues, and to be well aduised: euen now is the time. Neither doe I thinke that the hardest poynt, howe to aduise you,Happie is he that can take his tyme. what you haue to doe at this time: but this is all my doubt, after what maner (O Athenians) I might frame my talke vnto you. For I am perswaded by those thinges, that I vnderstande aswell by mine owne hearing, as by that I haue béene present at my selfe: that most aduauntages haue ouer passed you, not for want of vnderstanding,Rather negligence than ignoraunce, hath h [...]t the Grecians. but for lack of good will, to doe your duties. And I shall require you, if I speake boldly vnto you, to beare with me: and to consider that I speake truth, to the intent that such things hereafter may be amended. For ye sée howe through the flattering speaches of [Page 22] some Orators, we weare almost quite vndone. And I thinke it weare verie necessarie to rip vp part of the matter, and bring to your memorie things past, that haue heretofore happened. And ye be remembred (O Athenians) it was reported here about thrée or foure yeares past that king Philip in Thracia layde siege to a Fort, or péece, called the Castell of Iuno: and it was then iust the Moneth of October. And after much talke and great adoe here about the matter: ye decréed at last, to make out fortie Gallies, and to poynt into them such as were vnder .xlv. yeares of age.Ten thousande eight hundred pound starling. And to leuie thréescore talents for the charges. And after that when all that yeare was spent: and Iune, Iulie, and August past with much a doe, at the length in this moneth after the festiuals of Ceres weare solempnised: ye sent me foorth Charidemus with a tenne emptie vessels and a fiue talents of siluer. For when the rumor ranne that king Philip was sicke and deade too:Nine hundred poundes starling. (for both weare reported) ye thought it then no time to sende any ayde at all,It is good dealing with the en [...]mi [...] when he is most weake, and at the woorst. and so discharged the nauie. And yet euen then, was the verie time in déede, that you shoulde haue done good to your selues, and to haue annoyed king Philip. For had we then dispatched an ayde from hence, (as it was carefully decréed) King Philip being then recouered, should not haue bene hable to haue done vs any harme. Howbeit that which is done,Occasion to be taken nowe, or neuer. can not be vndone. But nowe wée haue newe occasions giuen vnto vs, to begin warres a freshe: and therefore I thought good to put you in remembrance of your doings heretofore, that you smart not through slacknesse in like sort as you haue done. And how shall we vse this occasion? for certainely if you send not ayde, with all your possible force: you shall sée how your selues shall haue entred these warres for the benefit of king Philippe.
The Olynthians they had gotten a certaine force togither and the state of thinges stoode so, that neyther king Philip durst deale with them, nor they with king Philip. Now haue we, and they, made peace togither. And this was a great blocke, and a difficult matter in king Philips way that so great a Citie as this is, being confederated with vs, should alwayes when his time serued to doe any thing: lye in the gap for him. And howsoeuer it [Page 23] was, we thought good, to set out men of warre agaynst him. And the thing that men talked of so much, but euen erewhile: the same is now come to passe, by such hap as it is. What then haue we else to doe (O Athenians) but chéerefully and stoutly to ayde them? Marie nothing that I sée.Besides dishonour, there is feare of daunger hereafter if ayde be not sent presently for that the Thebanes are very lyke to fall from them, and that the Phoceyans are very poore and needie. For besides the shame that waytes vppon vs, if we foreslow any part of our businesse: I sée we haue no small occasion, to dread the falling out of things hereafter: especially now that the Thebanes beare vs the stomacke, that you sée they doe: and that the Phoceyans be vtterly out of monye: and that there is none to stoppe king Philip, (after he hath once ouerthrowne them, whom he is nowe in hand withall) to bende himselfe to the affayres this way. But whosoeuer he be, that delayes to doe things till that time come: that fellow is disposed to sée sore matters hard at his nose,Gentlemen eschewe euill for shame: the common people for feare of harme. when he might well ynough haue heard of them farther of: and then be faine to séeke helpe at other mens handes, whereas he himselfe, by this time, might haue béene an ayde to others. And surely that the ende will be, that, he will set vppon vs (if we let slip this present occasion) almost euery man sées it by this tyme.
But peraduenture some wil say, it is a nedeful thing to giue ayd, and we be all determined vpon it, & minded to do it: but how we should do it, tell you vs that. And you shal not (O Athenians) maruaile much at it, if I shal speake somthing contrary to the opinion of a great many. Appoynt lawmakers, but among these lawmakers, sée you make no new lawes (for we haue inough of them alredy: but such as hinder our present estate, sée you do repeale.Euill lawes are to be abrogated, that hinder good proceedings. Yea those lawes I meane flatly, that are made for the maintenance of stage plaies & some other of those also, that be made for men to go on warfare, some of which lawes, doe apportion that monie, that belongs to souldiors, to be deuided in shewes, and stage expenses, amongst them that tarie at home. Othersome again, prouide for ye indemnitie of those that forsake their array in the fielde, & by that meanes doe the more discourage them, that otherwise would doe their endeuours. And then when you haue repealed these lawes, and haue made a safe way for all men to say their consciences: then a Gods name séeke ye out some one, to vnderwrite and enact [Page 24] all that,Those that sought to repeale lawes among the Grecians by decree written and recorded in a table, suffered smart for their attempt, if they weare not able to proue theyr assertion to be for the Countries welfare. which al ye know to be profitable. And before this be done, neuer looke that any man wil speake the best for you, and then perish by your meanes for his labour: no, you shall neuer find him, especially when there shall be nothing got by that meanes, but that he that speaketh, and enacteth these thinges, shall be sure to haue some hurt himselfe, and yet further your businesse neuer a whit by it. And besides that, it shall make him much more fearefull to vtter any good aduice hereafter, than he is at this present. And it weare requisite (O Athenians) that the verye selfe same men, that did make the lawes: shoulde also repeale them. For why,The lawe maker and none other should abrogate his own decree, and law established. it weare no reason that thanks should be their reward, that made those lawes, whereby the whole common weale then was endammaged: and on the other side, that those who haue spoken thinges for the behoofe of our Citie, and the thing that might be for the profite of vs all: should be punished with your displeasure and hatred. And before these things be brought into better order: neuer looke for it (O Athenians) that there should be any such one among you so great, as should not be punished for his labor, if hée transgressed these lawes: nor yet so foolish, that will put his neck into the haulter,Lawes not executed, are of no value: and as good not made, as not practised. when he may kéepe it out. ‘And surely you must not be ignoraunt of this poynt (O Athenians) that a decrée is nothing woorth, vnlesse you haue as good will to kepe it, as you were readie to make it. For weare decrées sufficient of themselues, to compell you eyther to doe your dutyes, or to performe the thinge that is set forth in them: then should neither you, who haue made so manye decrées, put so fewe, or rather none of them, in execution: nor yet king Philip shoulde haue wronged vs so long, as he hath done.’ For there was no let in our lawes and decrées, but that he should haue smarted,Execution of lawes a higher thing in nature than is the deuising, or bare reporting of them. long ere this time. But the matter is cleane otherwise: for why, although doings by order and decrée, follow after speaking, and passing of their matters, by holding vp of handes: yet in power it goes before, and is a much more worthie thing. And therfore this is it that we haue to do yet: the reast is done alreadie. For why, there are ynowe among you (O Athenians) that can say, as is fit for men to saye, and you your selues are as quicke witted to iudge of things sayde, as any others. And [Page 25] euen very now may you put them in execution, if you doe well. For I pray you what time, or what occasion,Occasion offered neuer better, and therefore not to be foreslowed. can you find better than this present season? or when will ye euer do, that ye haue to do, if now ye will not? hath not king Philip he meaneth. the man got all your countries into his hand alreadie? but if he get the Lordship of this lande of Olynthus also: it will be the greatest shame that euer came vnto vs. Are not those nowe troubled by him with warre, whom we promised to defende stoutely, if he did warre vpon them? is not he an enimie? holdes he not your countries and goodes? is not he a barbarous and outlandish Prince? is he not whatsoeuer a man list to call him? But Lorde God if we shall let all these things vnlooked to, and rather be a helpe in a maner for him:Better for euery man to amend one, and to doe his duty: than euery one to seeke faultes in others, without mending his owne. shall we then fall to séeke out who weare the authors of all these matters, so euill handled? And yet we will not accuse our selues I am well assured. No more will they that for feare runne away from the warres, accuse themselues: but rather will alwayes lay the fault in the Capitaine, and him that standes next them, yea, and vpon anye body than vpon himselfe. And yet for all that,Euery one shifteth to excuse his own doings and rather posteth faults ouer to others, than takes them vpon him, to beare the blame himselfe. was their running away the very cause, that they weare ouercome in the fielde. For he that accused others, might haue taryed the battayle himselfe. Which if euery one of them had done: they might haue got the victorie. And so nowe perhaps if some one doth not giue the best councell, let some other stand vp, and say his minde, and not find fault with him that spake before. Is there any man can tell you better? doe it a Gods name. But peraduenture this my speache is somewhat vnsauerie vnto you. Well, for all that, he doth you no wrong that telles it you, except peraduenture hée omittes prayer, if haply it néeded to Godwardes. For in déede (O Athenians) to wishe and to pray vnto God is an easie matter,Publike prayer and supplication vsed to Godwardes. where a man may trusse vp in a small rowme, as much as he list. But when matters are brought in counsell to be debated vpon, then is not the choyse so plentifull, but the better is to be preferred before the more pleasant, where a man may haue both.
But what if one coulde let you alone with the stage money, and yet find out other meanes, to get money for souldiors? weare not he a better fellow, would some man say? Yes marry weare [Page 26] he (O Athenians) if there were any such man to be found. But I wonder howe euer it was, or euer shall bée, that if one doe spend money which he hath vpon things vnnecessarie: howe he can get money, which he hath not: to bestowe and employ vpon things necessarie. ‘But in these cases it is a great matter howe mens mindes are enclined, and it is the easiest matter in the worlde,Not as men would, but as men may, and as the nature of things do require, so should they deale. for a man to deceyue himselfe in his owne opinion. For euerye one iudgeth as his owne fansie and affection carieth him, where as the nature of things is farre otherwise. And therfore I would wishe that yée considered these things, as the nature and condition of them requireth.’ So shall you be able to go to the warres, and receyue your wages. Neither is it the propertie of a wise man, nor yet of a Gentleman, to omit any thing that is to be done in time of warre, for want of mony: either to put vp lightly such foule rebukes as these be. And what a shame were it for you, in all the haste to warre with the Corynthians, and the Megareyans, being all Grecians: and in the meane season to suffer King Philip being a straunger and a Barbarian to subdue the townes of Greece vnto himselfe for want of prouision for souldiours? neyther doe I speake these thinges to get your euill will thereby. I am not so much without witte, and so voyde of grace, that I woulde willingly procure my selfe your displeasure, and then doe no good neyther.A good subiect preferreth the welfare of his Countrie, before all other things. ‘But I thinke it the part of a good Citizen when he shall say his minde, to regarde more the welfare of his countrie: than to currie fauell with the people. For so haue I heard say, and perhaps so haue you also, that your Councellors in the time of our Auncestors (whom all your Orators now doe much prayse and estéeme, and do yet but a little follow them) did vse themselues after this plaine maner and custome, when they had to deale in matters of the state:Aristides. Nicias. Demosthenes. Pericles. that is to say, Aristides that ioly felow, Nicias, and he that was called by my name Demosthenes, and also Pericles.’ But since these good felowes came forth, that will be first asking, what will you haue with vs? what will you haue me enact?Flatterers, people most daungerous to a common weale: wherein may I speake to please you? for a desire that they haue to picke thankes, and for a transitorie pleasure and liking at your handes: they haue drenched the whole welfare of [Page 27] the Citie. And this is euen come of it, they themselues spéede well by it, and are in very good case: but as for our country, it is in verie euill state. For I pray you waye with your selues (O Athenians) what great and principall poyntes a man might speake of, and howe farre different the doynges of our Auncestors weare from those of this tyme? I will recite them to you in few words, and that which is notorious. For you may be a fortunate and a happy Nation, not by vsing of forrayne and straunge actes, but of domesticall and home examples. A comparison betwixt those that weare, and those that are: and what oddes there is betwixt the one and the other. Those men therefore whom the Orators did not so flatter nor fawne vpon, as these men doe vpon you: had the chieftie and principalitie ouer all the Grecians, with their good liking and consent, by the space of .45. yeares, and they layde vp in the Treasure house more than .10000. talents. One Milion eight hundred thousand poundes starling. Perdicca king of Macedonie payde tribute to Athens. Yea, the king himselfe that then ruled this same countrie, that he now holdeth: was subiect to the Grecians, (as fit it is for a barbarous and outlandishe king, to be subiect to the Gréekes) and erected many a goodly triumphe of their déedes done both by sea, and by lande. And they amongst all other people, did leaue such fame and honour behinde them: as ouercame all enuie of man. Thus did these men behaue thēselues in defence of the Gréekes.
But in matters of the Citie, I Old Councellours what they weare among the Greekes. pray you marke how they ordered things both in publike and priuate dealings? As to publike buildinges they left behinde them suche gorgious Temples, and so great store of reliques, and offeringes in the same: that none comming after them, could be able to excéede them, Zerxes saddle dedicated to Minerua for his victorie had at Salamina. Mardonius Semiterra, or fawchen hong vp in the temple in honor of his victorie had agaynst the Plateians. The temperance of two gouernors, Aristides, and Miltiades. Magistrates what they should be. for their worthinesse signified by their insignes.
‘In their priuate doings, they weare so temperate, and kept so well the good orders of the Citie, that if any of you knewe which was the house of Aristides and Miltiades, and of the famous mens houses of that time what they weare: you should sée them to be nothing more gorgious: than weare their poore neighbours houses aboute them. For why, they weare not officers in the common weale to enrich themselues by it: but to aduaunce the honor and state of their countrie.’ And thus, with Old Councellors in Grece 1. Faithfull to their countrie, 2. Deuout towards God. 3. Vpright and iust as a beame towardes all. behauing them in the affayres and seruice of Greece faithfully: in matters of religion towards god, deuoutly: and in priuate trades and dealings [Page 28] euenly and vprightly with all men: they well deserued to make themselues happie and fortunate men. Thus flourishing was the state of the common weale as long as these men bare rule, whom I haue named before.
When flatterers beares rule, all things comes to naught.But now that these smooth & meale mouthed felowes a Gods name, are come to beare rule, howe go your matters forwarde I pray you? What? aswell as they did afore time? or any thing like vnto it at all? As for other things, I let them passe though in déed much weare to be said. But notwithstanding yt many, while this waste & desertnes round about vs, being so great as you sée it is: & that the Lacedemonians decayed, the Thebanes not at leysure, and that there is no body else left worthie inough to contend with vs for the principalitie: we might well inough both kepe our owne in safetie, & end the matters of cōtrouersie amongst others. Yet for all that I say, we haue not in this meane while so muche as defended our owne, but haue lost rather part therof: and we haue spent more than .1500. Two hundred seuentie thousand pounde starling. Talents to no purpose at all: and such confederates as we got vs in time of warre, we lost them againe in time of peace, through the fault of these our Orators: and haue made our enimie most mightie and strong against vs: Yea, we only and none other haue raysed king Philips strength to this that it is. And this be not true, let me sée him come forth, that can shew me how king Philip is become so mightie by any other meanes, than by yours onely?Trifles and vanities highly set foorth, in steade of weightie affayres. Magistrates and gouernors who they be▪ that are to be misliked, & wherfore. Demades, Phryno, Eubulus, Philocrates, noted to be the euill and corrupt Orators. The causes of corrupt gouernement. But O good sir, though things be not well abroade: yet all is wel at home, and better than euer it was, and what should you tell me of a sight of whyted turrets, and pynacles, of pauing of high wayes and stréetes, of fountaynes and such like toyes? Nay then I pray you looke vpon them, that had the charge and ordering of these matters: you shall sée some of them that were verie beggers before, are nowe waxen marueylous riche men: others, being meanely borne men, are made noble & honorable personages: some you shall sée to haue their owne houses more gorgeously furnished, than are the publike buildings of the Citie. So that the lesser and worse the estate of the common wealth is: the more are they aduaunced and encreased. And what is the cause of all these thinges? And why weare all these thinges so well in [Page 29] those dayes, and nowe nothing at all well done at this day? Forsooth thats this: bicause that afore time the Commons both had the stomacke to go a warfare themselues: and were also themselues maysters ouer the Maiestrates, and Lordes of all thinges that good were: than was euerye man contented to take office and aucthoritie of the Commons, and to receyue any good thing else at their handes. Where as nowe it is cleane contrarie, for the Maiestrates and gouernours haue all in their owne handes, and through them, all things are done: and you that be the Commons like men soken to the verie bottome, destitute of money, and warre fellowes:He meaneth the Orators. are become very vnderlings and hangers on vpon them: and thinke it pleasure ynough if their Maysterships can be contented to impart vnto you some small portion of the stage money, or cast a few harlatrie pence among you, [...] was a small peece of money hauing the print vpon it, of a small bull [...]cke, in value two pence, and somwhat more. and (that which is most vnsitting that can be to man) ye bring your selfe in daunger for a Pigge of your owne Sow. ‘And they in the meane season kéeping you fast lockt vp within the Citie: worke such maistries with you, and make you so tame, that you are contented to come to their handes, and to be at their becke. And surely that man shall neuer be found to haue a valiant & lustie courage of his owne: that is of so base & abiect doings. For why,Such is the man and his maners, as his delite and studie is. like as a man accustomes and trades himselfe: such must his courage and minde, néedes bée.’ And in speaking hereof, I sweare by our Ladie mother, I maruaile neuer a whitte, if I receyue more hurt for speaking of this matter, than they did,He meaneth Ceres who was fayned to be the Goddesse of corne, bicause she first taught the maner of manuring and turning vp the earth to cast corne therin. By diligence and paynes taking: all may be amended that is amisse. that weare the dooers of it. For a man may not alwayes be bolde to speake his minde before you in euery thing: yea rather I marueile to sée you giue me such quiet hearing as you doe, at this time. And therefore let me nowe at length entreate you to leaue of these condicions, and to go foorth on warrefare your selues, and to doe all thinges as becommeth you, vsing this ouerplus of money you haue at home, for an instrument to doe things well abroade withall: and in so doing it is not vnpossible, and it maye be well ynoughe (O Athenians) that you shall get some singuler great profite by it. ‘And make no more a doe with these petie trifling games of the stage playes, which are matters not much vnlike to meates that [Page 30] Phisitions giue to sicke folke,An apt similitude to perswade that the stage money should be employed vpon the warres. which neyther gyues strength to their bodies, nor yet suffers them to dye: Euen so these sommes of money that you doe nowe distribute, are neyther so great that they can bring you any notable profite: neyther yet will let you occupie your selues in anye thing else: but are rather nourishmentes of the lythernesse and slouth that you all wallowe in.’ Why then,Euery man bound to aduaunce for his part the welfare of his countrie. will one say, will you haue it serue for waging of men? In déede I saye so, and withall I woulde that one certaine order weare taken for euery man to haue his part of the common money, and shewe himselfe readie to doe good seruice when the Citie shall haue néede. Is it so with vs, that wée may bée at rest if we lyst? In déede then I must néedes saye he is in better case that taryes at home, so hée weare quitte from the necessitie of doing any wicked thing through lacke and néede. And when euer chaunced the like as it doth nowe? Hée that will haue the gaine of that same money, let him serue for a souldiour to, as reason good, in the quarrell [...] Countrie. Is their anye of you aboue the age of a Souldiour? Why, looke what so euer hée receyued besydes order, and did no good for it: let him nowe take the same by equall order, ouerséeing and directing thinges as néede shall bée. To conclude, I haue neither added nor diminished thinges, sauing in a verye little, but haue taken awaye the misorder, and brought the Citie into that order, as that men maye receyue wages, go on warrefare, sitte in iudgement, and doe whatsoeuer euerye mans owne age, and the tyme shall require. Neyther in making of thys order did I euer say that this money ought to bée bestowed vppon them that woulde doe nothing:The idle should not reape the fruite of the painefull. and that suche as they are should both liue ydlely and loyter and begge too, and stande a prating and questioning, what a goodlye victorie, what shoulde I call his Souldiours haue gotten.He misliketh that hired souldiours & straungers should doe great things for them, and they to do nothing for themselues. For thus is theyr doynges nowe a dayes. And yet I speake not thys to the reproche of them whatsoeuer they bée: that doe any good seruice. But I woulde require you all, your selues to doe those thinges for your selues, for which you doe estéeme and honour others: neyther to swarue a whitte from that your rancke [Page 31] and place of vertue (O Athenians) which your Auncestours by many and great daungers hauing attayned vnto, did leaue vnto you. Thus haue I sayde almost all that (as I suppose) maye be for your good. God graunt you to choose out that, which shall be best for the profite of the Citie, and welfare of you all.
AFter that the people of Athens had the worse in battaile, against king Philip, they assembled themselues in counsell as men altogither amazed and out of heart. Wherevpon Demosthenes willeth them to be of good courage, and not to stand in dispaire of themselues, saying: that it is no meruaile if they had the worse that weare so carelesse, and so negligent in their owne doyngs. And therefore he exhorteth them to bee more diligent hereafter and earnestly to giue their mindes to the defence of their countries libertie and the daunting of king Philips force.
In the seconde part he warneth them to addresse two armies, the one, and that the greater of Citizens that shall alwayes bee in a readinesse for the necessarie affayres of the Citie: the other somewhat lesse, to bee of forreyners and hyred Souldiours, among whom the Citizens to be intermingled. And these mercinarie straungers hee woulde not haue to abyde in Athens, nor yet to goe foorth into other countries for succouring others agaynst king Philip: but he would that they went forth to spoyle and waste about the borders of Macedonie: and to keepe them still occupied there, with skirmishes and bickerings, for feare least king Philip should come vpon them in the winter tyme, and take the aduauntage when the winde lyeth in the North east, which bicause it was customable to come at a certaine season of the yeare, therfore it was called of them Etesie, and as it should seeme, it laye so vpon the hauens of the Athenians countries, that their nauie could not put out from land, to helpe those that weare distressed by him: and so in their absence he might make some great enterprise and attempt a conquest: where, as hauing theyr armie in a readinesse, they shall be alwayes able to bearde him, and withstande his force from tyme to time.
In the thirde part he is earnest againe with them, and both wisely rebuketh, and grauely exhorteth them to looke well to their owne affayres, and herevpon he vseth very excellent similitudes, whereby he sheweth that all occasions and aduauntages possible shoulde be taken: and that men should neuer depend vpon casualties, and that it is the greatest fondnesse in the world to follow occasions alreadie escaped, as who should say, there weare hope to call agayne yesterday.
¶ The first Oration against king Philip of Macedonie.
IF any new thing had bene appoynted and propounded to be talked vpon (O Athenians) I woulde haue forborne till moste of them that are woont to speake first,The elders and most auncient weare wont to speake first. had sayde theyr mindes: and then, if any thing had liked me that they had sayde, I woulde haue holden my selfe fully contented therwith: whereas otherwise, I would haue endeuoured to haue giuen mine opinion also. But for as much as, it falleth out that those matters are nowe to be entreated vpon, that haue béene ofttymes heretofore ripped vp and examined by them, I do thinke that I may iustly be holden excused, although I haue stoode vp before others to speake my mynde vnto you. For truely had they so spoken when time was, and giuen such counsayle as was fitte for them to doe, you shoulde not now haue néeded to sitte in counsaile againe, vpon these matters.When things are in extremitie, it is good to be of good cheere, and rather lustily to amend that in amisse: than cowardly to faint, and be in dispayre of all. And therefore to beginne withall: you néede not (O Athenians) to be greatly discouraged with the present state of things, thoughe they séeme to runne verie much amisse. For why, those which haue hurted vs most in our matters heretofore, the selfe same hereafter shall doe vs most good. And what is that? Marie that it is the negligence and carelesse doinges of your selues that haue made all things to go awrie hitherto, whereas if you,Negligence, and want of care: doe cause much wo. doing your best indeuour (your state for all that had bene neuer the better) than might you well haue bene out of hope, of any recouery or amendment at all. Againe, you may consider as well by hearesay of others, as by your owne remembraunce and knowledge,He styrreth the Athenians to be doing, by example of their auncient prowes atchieued against the Lacedemonians. what a mightie armie the Lacedemonians haue had in times past, and that not long ago against you, and yet how trimly and how worthily you behaued your selues (as well beséemed for the honour of your country) in holding out & mainteyning warre in a rightfull quarrell. To what ende speake I this vnto you? Marie that you [Page 34] (O Athenians) maye both sée and verie well perceiue thus much that neither as long as you list to be circumspect and take héede to thinges, you shall néede to feare any thing at all. Neither yet as long as you continue without regarde or care of things: that euer you shall compasse any such matter as you looke for. And for example hereof, you haue aswell the might of the Lacedemonians in those dayes, whom you vanquished well ynough through your watchfull and diligent looking about you: as now, you may learne by this, his present spightfulnesse towardes vs at this time, that bringes vs to all this adoe and trouble, and all through our owne negligence who haue not that regarde to thinges that we ought to haue.
But, if any of you (O Athenians) doe thinke it an harde matter to vanquishe King Philip considering his present great force and strength, and the losse of all this that he hath taken from vs, that same man although he hath reason so to thinke: yet I would he weyed this also with himselfe, and remembred that we too (O Athenians) haue had in possession Pydna, Pidna a Citie in Macedonie. Potidea a towne in Thracia. Potidea, Methona, and all the Countries and people rounde aboute in our owne handes: and that many other Countries, nowe vnder his obeysaunce, weare sometymes frée, and had rather a great deale confederate themselues with vs,Methona, now called Modon a towne in Achaia. than with him. And had king Philip béene of that minde to thinke it so harde a matter with himselfe and so daungerous, to warre with the Athenians hauing their countrie so well fortified, and he himselfe being then at league with no others about him: nowe surely than he would neyther haue enterprised any such thing as he hath done, neyther yet should he euer haue attayned to be so mightie as he is.
Countries and states are the rewardes of valiaunt and couragious personages.But in déede (O Athenians) he knoweth it full well, that all such places as those, are booties of warre, and prayes layd open for him that can first catch them. ‘For by nature it is so ordeyned that those who are alway following and plying their matters, shal seaze and get the possessions of them that leaue their businesse alwayes vndone:God and nature do set all things to sale for labour. and those that will traueile and take paynes, shall enioy the goods of the idle and slouthful. And thus king Philip carying wisely this iudgement with him, hath both gotten all [Page 35] into his handes and kéepes them still, some of them with such garnisons, as townes gotten vpon the enimie are woont to be kept: some others againe, he admittes into a league and friendshippe with him.’ For in déede euerye man will bée glad to ioyne in league, and leane, and take part willingly with them: whome they sée to be well prouided for the matter, and to haue a will to execute things as are fit to be done. Wherefore (O Athenians) if you in like sort will nowe plucke vp your hearts (which seeme to haue beene deade in you heretofore) and euery one bende himselfe to doe his dutie, in all thinges, that he is able to shewe his country any seruice in, without daliaunce and in good sadnesse: that is to say, those that haue mony, will contribute and giue of their goodes and substaunce franckly: those that are yong and lustie to make themselues readie for the warres, and to speake all at one worde, if you will all of you, be your owne men, and maysters of your owne, and leaue of this doing of nothing, in hope that others shall doe all things for you: you shall than by Gods grace both get all your possessions againe, and receyue such things into your handes, as haue béene lost heretofore through negligence, and also shall reuenge your selues of him well enough.
Neyther woulde I haue you to thinke (O Athenians) that his present state and good hap is so firme and so immortall, as though hée weare a God,King Philips state both fickle and weake. and as tho all thinges went with him as hee would wish: but ywis there are some that hate him, some that f [...]are him (O Athenians) and some that enuie him to: yea, euen of those that beare him best countenaunce: and all those things, that are in diuers other men, the same may be thought to be in his familiers also. Albeit, all these matters are now whist and kept in, bicause they haue no bodie to betake themselues vnto for succor: seing you so slowe and so faint harted as you be. And that is the thing I say vnto you, that I woulde wishe you to shake off from you, and shewe your selues like men without more a doe. I pray you (O Athenians) marke well the matter, beholde what an insolencie and vnwoontnesse the man is growne vnto, that doth not so much as giue you choyse to aduice your selues, King Philip he meaneth. either to be at warre with him or to bée at rest: but manaceth you, and (as the [Page 36] common voyce goeth) he threatens you with prowde and hie wordes, as one not contenting himselfe to kéepe that which already he hath gotten, but as one alwaies incroching, and shooting at farther matter in his minde, and labouring to hemme you in, and barre you vp rounde about,The ydle man is soone taken tardie. that you shoulde neuer be able to stirre a foote out of doores, that lye thus lingring and clawing your elbowes after this sort doing nothing.
But when I pray you (O Athenians) will you doe your indeuours? when will you take care of the common welth? what? then,Neuer more neede to bee doing then nowe. when any great néede shall bée? what? when I trust verie necessitie shal enforce you to it? why, what shall we thinke of that that is nowe presently done? ‘In good sooth I doe thinke, that the dishonor which we sustaine for our euill and vnordered doinges: is the greatest necessitie that can be to any frée man.Necessitie. Shall this be the fashion of you?’ will you still continue walking vp and downe in the palace yarde,Common askers of newes, are no better than common pratlers. and common assemblies, asking of newes one of another? I praye you, can there be tolde anye greater, or straunger newes, than, that a man of Macedonie one of a barbarous nation, dares take in hande to subdue the Athenians, and aspire to the principalitie of Greece lande?
Againe, you aske among your selues, is Philip deade or no? no forsooth,Vnnecessarie questions asked of king Philips being. sayth one, but he is very sicke. Why? what skilles that matter to you? Now surely, I suppose that if ought hapned to him, otherwise than well, you would make an other king Philip rise streight wayes in his place, especially plying your businesse none otherwise than I sée you do. For it is manifest he is not growne so great and mightie by his owne force and worthinesse, as he is throughe the slouth and ydlenesse of your selues. But though he weare deade in déede, and that fortune woulde bée so much our friend, and shewe vs that fauour, (as in déede hauing euer had more care of vs, then we haue had of our selues) & meaning peraduenture to ende these matters hir selfe for vs, and to perfite hir owne goodnesse towardes vs: yet for all that assure you your selues to compasse all thinges as you woulde, so you would but haue your army alwayes at hand,Good dealing with the enimy: when he is at the woorst. and that you would set vpon him in this time, when you sée all thinges in this great [Page 37] garboyle and trouble. But as you stand nowe appoynted, you should not be able to recouer Amphipolis, no though,Great was the desire of the Athenians to recouer their lost townes. the tyme and occasion serued you neuer so well: and that, bicause I sée you are vnreadie and voyde of all preparation, and iudgement, howe to vse your selues.
And here I nede not to tel you, that you ought to be alwais ready & well appoynted like couragious men for the welfare of your coūtry, bicause you know that well ynough & are therof well and sufficiently perswaded. But I will endeuor my selfe to shew vnto you how you may doe, to get such an armie togither, as shall be able to deliuer and dispatch you out of care and trouble: and what number of men, and what payes of mony, is méete for them: and also howe other thinges may be made in a readinesse, so, as they shall lie best and spéedeliest to be done. This will I do mine endeuour to say my minde in: onely I pray you graunt me this request that you wil suspend your iudgements, and preuent me not, till you haue heard all. And although when I shall touch that point, it may séeme to some that I vtter a straunge kind of prouision, such as hath not béene heard of heretofore: yet let no man thinke therefore, that I doe minde the hinderaunce or delaye of thinges.
Neyther yet is their talke most to purpose that would haue things to be done in all post haste: nor yet do I thinke it possible to repulse these euils that alreadie touch vs, with this small supplie, that we now sende: but rather is he to be best allowed, that can shewe what, and how great an armie we should haue, when and howe the same might be mainteyned, and continued, till such time as we haue eyther made peace by equall treatie and composition, or else had altogither got the vpper hande of our enimies. And so by that meanes you shal féele no more smart or annoiance hereafter. Thus much I thought I might say, and I am not miscontented if others vndertake to say somwhat also for their parts. Thus you sée I take great things vpon me: well, the experience shall trie all, and you shall be iudges thereof.The maner how the Athenians did prepare themselues to the warres.
Therefore first and formost I say (O Athenians) you must make readie fiftie Galleys, and prepare your selues to be of that [Page 38] minde, (if néede so require) as to go aborde in your owne persons, like lustie Souldiours. Moreouer, I would that you had in a readinesse for halfe part of the men at armes on horsebacke, certaine horsebotes, crayes, and other vessels so many as shall be sufficient. And these I would haue to be readie furnished and appoynted, to the intent to lye in wayte for him agaynst all assayes and sodain issues of his, out of his country, vpon them of Pyla, Chersonesus, Pyla, Chersonesus, Olynthus. and Olynthus, or else wheresoeuer he weare disposed to offer inuasion or entrie. For, this opinion of you, must you put in king Philips head, to quicken his spirites withall, that you intend out of this your too too much negligence,Euboia, nowe Negroponte, an Island in Achaia. Halia [...]m a towne in Morea, within the territorie of Messe [...]i [...]. as you did vpō Euboia, and a little before that at Haliartum, and now last of all against Pyla, so likewise now, that it is not vnpossible you will set vpon him amaine. Neyther is this a matter to be lightly regarded, no though he minded no such thing at all, as in déede I dare say hée doth for all that: and it be but for this purpose, that either when he shal know it, he may for feare stay himselfe, & set his heart at rest, as surely he will know our doings, specially seing there be here amongst vs, yea amōgst our selfes I say, more than a good meany, that will tell him of al things: or else if he shall make none account of our readinesse & prouision: than, that we may distresse him vnwares hauing no gard about him: for there is no let in your way to passe into his country: when occasion shal serue you. These are the things that I would haue you all perswaded vnto: & withall, I thinke it also méete that you weare at all times in a readinesse.
Moreouer, mine aduice is (O Athenians) that you make readie a power before hande agaynst king Philip,Citizens alwayes to be readie for annoying the enimie. to kéepe him continually occupied, and to annoy him withall by all meanes possible. And here let no man braue vnto me, of ten thousand, or twentie thousand straungers, nor yet of these iolye armyes promised vs by Paper and written for: but let the Souldiours be our owne countrymen: so shall they obey and follow their Capitain, whom soeuer you shall chose or name: be he, one, or many, this man, or that man, or whatsoeuer he be: and that the sayd armie may haue vitailes, with all maner municion néedefull. And now what that army shall be, how great in number, where they shall haue their [Page 39] vittailes, and how all these things shall be ordered: that will I tell you, and from poynt to poynt, will I lay before you euery thing seuerally.
As concerning straungers, I like well of them: but here beware that you doe not (as you oftentimes haue done to your owne hurt) estéeming all thinges lesse than néedes, and so determine vpon great things with your decrées, and when it commeth to the poynt, put not in practise the verie least of them: nay, rather ought ye, after determination of a small number once got togither, and being in a readinesse, if afterwardes you thinke them to little, to agrée streight vpon more. So then I say, let there bée 2000. souldiours in all,The number of Souldiors fit for the warres. wherof I say there must be .500. our owne Countrymen, of such age as shall like you best: they shall serue out their appoynted tyme, and that not verie long neyther, but as shall séeme fitte to you, by course, one after another, that freshe men may supplie their places. And the reast of the armie let them be straungers: and with these two hundred horsemen, whereof fiftie at the least I would haue to be our owne Citizens to go to the warres in like maner, as the footemen shall do: and then must ye prouide ships for these horsemen to vse. Verie well, and what more else? Mary ten light Fusts or Pinnaces, for we haue great néede of light Botes, and Pinnaces, séeing there is a nauie of his vpon the Seas, to the intent that our power may sayle in more safetie.
But where shall we haue vittayles for maintenaunce of this armie? I will tell you that also, as soone as I haue declared vnto you, why I thinke, that so small an armie (as I haue sayde) will suffice: and wherefore I would that your owne countrymen should go to the warres.
So small an armie I thinke (O Athenians) will suffice, for that we can not gather such an armie togither,The reason why he would so small an armie should be prouided. as is able to beard king Philip, and encounter him in open fielde: but we shall be enforced to robbe and spoyle vpon him, and after this maner to begin our warres with him. And therefore must we not haue it ouer great, for that we neyther haue money nor vittayles sufficient, neither yet may we haue it to little.
[Page 40] Why he would haue his owne countrymen to be ioyned souldiours with the straungers.And the cause why I woulde haue our owne Citizens go to the seas mixed with forreyne Souldiors, is for that I vnderstand this countrie heretofore hath had a certaine bande of straungers in wages at Corynthe, whereof weare Capitaynes Policrates, Iphicrates, Corynthus a Citie in Morea. Policrates, Iphicrates, Gabrias. Euill trusting straungers alone to serue in the warres by themselues. Gabrias, with certaine others, and that you went a warrefare with them your selues: yea, and as I haue heard say, those straungers being mixed with you and you with them, ouercame the Lacedemonians. But after you once trusted the sayd straungers to warre, alone and by themselues, for you: then they spoyled and pilled our confederates and friendes, and by that meanes our enimies increased more than is conuenient. And so they regarding but a little the warres of our countrie went their wayes sayling to Artabasus Lieutenant to the Persians, and about, to diuers other places: and the Capitaine after them, as reason was for him to doe. For vnlesse the Capitaine gaue them theyr payes before hande, it is not possible to rule them, or to make them tarie. And now what is mine aduice herein? Marrie, that you take away all the causes of excuses to be made as well by the Capitaynes,Souldiours must haue their paye. as by the Souldiors: paying them their wages, and making your owne Souldiours as watches and spyes entermingled amongst them to know what their chiefe Capitaine doth. For as we now rule and gouerne: it is none other than a mockerie. For, and a man should aske you the question, haue you peace (O Athenians) with all men, or no? You woulde aunswere no, but we haue warre with king Philip.Little was the authoritie that the Athenians had in their warres. And to prooue that it is so, haue not you made among you Ten men Citizens of your owne, to be your Capitaines, Coronels, and Marshalles, and two Gouernors, or Lordes of horsemen? And I pray you, what doe all these men? (one man onely set aside) whom you haue sent forth to the warres: al the reast doth serue you for a shew and pompe to go in procession with the Priestes. For you vse those Coronels, & Marshalles, as Potters and Founders do vse their worke in clay: to set them forth in the market place, and not to be employed in the warres. Had it not bene better for you (O Athenians) to haue chosen Coronels, of your owne Countriemen and Capitaynes of your horsemen, such as are bred and borne among you? and so [Page 41] your army being all souldiours of your owne country: should also haue conductors of their owne countrimen to lead them. But the Capitaynes of the men at armes being your owne countrymen, they must sayle to Lemnus: forsooth: & Menelaus a straunger,Menelaus a straunger and Capitaine to the Athenians in their warres at home. he must haue the charge and be general ouer the men at armes here at home, for the defence & safegard of our countrie. And this I do not say to chalenge Menelaus, or to cōplaine of him whom you haue allowed: but yet whosoeuer he be,Daungerous [...] haue a straunger generall. it weare fit that he that taketh such a charge in hand, should serue by your appoyntment. Thus touching these matters, it is possible you thinke I haue said well.
And now, all your desire is to heare what money wée néede, and where it is to be gathered. Wel, I wil tell you that too. Therfore to the poynt of money (for men must néedes haue wherwithall to liue) wée shall néede for the allowance of Souldiours in their vittayles onely, that shall go in the armie, nintie Sixtene thousand two hundred poundes starling. talents, and somewhat more: for ten swift Galleyes or Fustes Seuen thousand two hundred poundes starling. fortie talents, twentie poundes weight of siluer euery moneth Three score poundes starling. for euery Galley. For two thousand Souldiors as much likewise as for the Galleys, so that euery Souldiour shall receyue euery moneth for prouision of his vittayles It appeareth by this reckoning, the prouision should be for a yeare. ten drachmes, and two hundred horsemen shall haue Six shillings starling. A hundred drachmes, made minam, which was a pound of xij. ounces, that is three pound sterling of our standard. twelue talents, the which is after euery moneth Two thousand a hundred sixtie poundes starling. thrée hundred drachmes a man. And if any body thinke this allowance of vittayles to be too scant a reliefe for ye maintenance of Souldiours: he doth not thinke well. For I am assured if this bée orderly done, the armye will prouide the reast of themselues by the warres, to make vp their full stipend and reasonable finding, without any wrong or harme doing to any of the Grecians, or to their allyes either. And if this fall not out as I haue saide: I am contented of mine own accord to go to the warres with them my selfe, & to suffer all maner of extremitie that they can deuise.
But where this money shall be had, that must you tell vs:Nine pounds starling. well, I will shewe you that euen nowe.
The discourse how to gather money is here left out.
The things that we (O Athenians) are able to finde out, are these. And when you haue made an ende of asking euery mans [Page 42] voyce, you shal giue your hands to that that likes you best, so shal you make your warre with king Philip,To say and doe are two things. not with Paper worke, and decrées onely: but with effect and in good earnest. And in my minde you shall better conclude all things touching these warres and the preparations for the same: if you (O Athenians) first foresée and consider well before hande, the situation of that countrie where you minde to make your warres: and farther, if you thinke with your selues how king Philip compasseth most of his affayres by obseruing the tyme, and season of the yeare: who taking aduauntage of the Northeast windes and stormes,Etesie, certaine Northeast windes, so called bicause they came ordinarily at a certain season of the yeare. settes vpon vs at such time, as we shall not be able to styrre from hence. And therefore considering these thinges, it were good that you warred not with aydes and supplies onely, for so we may lose all: but with an ordinary power, and such a preparation as may continue. And this your garnison may winter it selfe in Stalimene, Thasus, Lemnus nowe Stalimene an Island in the sea Aegeum, south from Candia. Thasus an Island their likewise, not farre from Thracia. Sciathus an Iland there also. Sciathus, and other Isles theraboutes, where as is good harbour, forrage, vittayles, and all other things necessary for an armie: and at that time of the yeare when shall be good landing, and little daunger of stormes: and when our Souldiours maye easily approch and enter in within the country & hauen mouthes, where they may fare well and haue good cherishing. Thus of the maner and time of vsing this power, the Capitaine for the time being shall direct you well ynough: but the thinges to be performed of your parts, are those which I haue made you a draught of. And if you will (O Athenians) first and formost prouide this money, as I haue tolde you: and when that is done, haue in readinesse all other things, as footemen, Galleys, men at armes, and bynde the whole armie by a solempne act and constitution to kéepe the fielde altogither and not to wander or go else where: Good heede to be takē in time of warre, for dispensing of the treasure, that euery man may haue his iust pay. and that you your selues will be the treasurers of the Campe, the paymaisters to Souldiours, and the Auditors to Capitaynes for the accountes of their recepts: then shall you, at length make an ende for euer of thys long consultation of matters, all to no purpose. Moreouer, this commoditie will also follow vnto you (O Athenians) that you shall entercept and stoppe him of his greatest reuenues that he receyueth. And what are they? Marie he mainteyneth warre against [Page 43] you with the money of your confederates and neighbours, extorted from them and gotten by robbing and spoyling them, on the seas in warrelike maner. And what more? you shall be also altogither out of his daunger from doing you any harme. Neyther shall he be able to doe as heretofore he hath done, when he rushed in vpon Lemnus, and Imber, and there tooke your men prisoners and caried them slaues to Gerastus, Gerastus. Marathona. whereby he hath got an infinite summe of money, and last of all set vpon Marathona, and comming within the land, caryed away from thence our holy Galley: and this were you not able, as then, to let him of, nor yet to send ayde in time, as was agréed vpon.A sacred Galey. But what is the reason I pray you (O Athenians) that you kéepe alwayes so iust and at a day appoynted the feast of our Ladie Pallas, The feast of Minerua kept by order. and God Bacchus, whosoeuer it be that you choose for gouernours or maysters therof, be they men of grauitie & doings,The holy day of God Bacchus duely obserued, and by order appoynted to be kept. or simple and priuate persons, fit, or vnfit men: and bestow so much mony thervpon, as you haue not done the like, for setting forth of any one nauie hitherto, and that with suche preparation and hurlye burlye wythall: as the like is not to bée séene in anye other place.Short shooting loseth the game Whereas your nauie commeth alwayes to short of the time and season and through your delayes, Methona, nowe called Modon, an hauen town in Morea. you lose all good occasions that might else be had, like as you played by that you sent to Modon, Pegase, and Potidea. The reason is this. All things that appertaine to such feastes and pastimes, are done by order,Great is the value of order and foresight to gouerne things well. and established by lawe: and euery man knowes long before, who shall be ring leader in their daunces, who shall be mayster of their games for his warde, when, and of whom, and what euery mans dutie is to receyue, & to do, so that there is nothing to looke for,Disorder and want of foreknowledge, doe cause confusion. nothing neglected or left vndone, for lacke of order: where as in your warres, and the preparation thereof, all thinges are confused, all done without order, all without determination, and nothing aright as it ought to be. But assoone as we heare say that the enimie beginnes to be stirre himselfe: then by and by, we fall to appointing of Capitaynes of Galleys, then commes in The maner was that if any man being sessed, refused to pay that he was sessed at, an other offering to chaunge goods with him: might do it, and take that in hande that he should. chopping and chaunging of goods, that is, we giue them leaue to chaunge their goodes with others, that will giue them theirs, and take their charge in hande. And then wée [Page 44] lay our heades togither howe to get money, for prouision of these warres. When thats done, we decrée that aswell forreyners comming from other places to dwell here with vs, as outdwellers in the Suburbes: shall go into the Galleys, and then to follow after our selues. Thus whilest we lie houering aboute this, the thing is lost, that we sat out for: for why, wée spende our time onely in preparing our selues,Tyme taryeth no man. and setting things forward. ‘And ywis the time of doing things, taries not your leysure and delaying. Besides that, those aydes and bandes abroade which we account should be our succours: are found when time shall come, not able in déede to doe any thing at all.He meaneth king Philip.’ And as for that man, he is now become so outragious and spitefull, that he hath written such letters to the Euboians, as these are.
Here lacketh the Copie of King Philips Letters to the Euboians, the which as it should seeme weare written sharpely agaynst the Athenians to disclose their secretes.
The greatest part (O Athenians) of this matter conteyned in these Letters, is verye true (for woulde God it weare not so) howbeit, perhaps these matters be not pleasaunt to your hearing. ‘Well, weare thinges as easie to be passed ouer with silence, and let slip in doings, as they maye be spared in talke for feare of offending: why, than I graunt in déede it were not amisse to tell our tales so,Pleasant talke vnnecessarie when plaine speach is most needefull. as men might like withall. But séeing it is so that this currying of fauell in wordes when we ought not, is a plague to our workes when wée shoulde doe them, surely it is a foule shame (O Athenians) for such men as you are to bleare your owne eies, and to shift off all things that be difficult, to come short of all that is néedefull, and that you cannot vnderstand thus much:’ ‘That valiant Capitaynes must neuer follow after occasions lost, but rather must preuent them, and be aforehande with them in tyme. And euen as it fitteth a generall of an armie to foresée and prouide for all things while season serues him: Foresight in Magistrates most requisite. so should they that take vpon them gouernment and administration of affayres: [Page 45] well, aduise them selues before hand, what they haue to doe, to the ende that such thinges as they once haue resolued and agréed vpon, may be put in execution, and not be driuen to folow the euent of things.’ And where as you (O Athenians) haue the greatest power aboue all others, aswell of Galleys and Souldiours both footemen, and horsemen, as also of reuenues of money:Lingring is then noysome, when necessitie requires haste. yet for all that, as you haue lacke of nothing, so haue you to this day, not employed anye one thing to anye good vse at all. ‘But muche like as these barbarous people go to buffettes,As Switzers fight fondly: so doe many people and nations deale with their enimies vnwisely. and fight with their fistes one with another: euen so doe you nowe make warre with king Philip. For they, when one hath a blow giuen him, by and by he layes his hande vpon that place where he had the blow, and if an other hit him in an other place, streight wayes he layes his hande there also, without any skill or regarde how to warde the blowe, or almost to looke him in the face that stroke him: So you, if you heare say that king Philip is in Cherronesus, Cherronesus, now Phan [...] a port towne in Morea. by and by you send ayde thither: if you heare that he is at the Pyles, you runne streight thither to: if any other where, you gad hither and thither, and wayte vpon him vp and downe, you wote not whither. So, you follow after him as after your generall and chiefe Capitaine: And as for any councell in ordering your warres, you haue none of your selues that good is: neyther doe you foresée any thing before it be either done, or is in doing. And so much might you haue done heretofore possible well inough, but nowe thinges are brought to the vtter extremitie, and will not giue vs leaue any longer to vse it.’
Now surely (O Athenians) I thinke some God being ashamed on the Cities behalfe of our doinges,God sendeth oft tymes wicked tormentors to securge and annoy others. hath put this earnest loue of doing, and this painfulnesse into king Philips head: For, would he kéepe to himselfe all his conquestes and prises, and so be at rest, I doe thinke some of vs, as it séemeth to me, could be well ynough content with the matter, and deale no farther, whatsoeuer the world cryed out of vs for it, other shame, cowardlinesse, or any other villanie besides, for this our slacknesse in gouernment and slouthfull dealings. But forasmuch as he taketh vpon him still ambiciously to desire more and more, peraduenture his meaning is [Page 46] to quicken you and egge you forwarde,The carefulnesse of the wicked, ought to quicken the Godly to looke about them. so you be not altogither in dispaire of your selues. But I marueyle much (O Athenians) that none of you doth consider, nor that any of you is an angred, when ye sée that the first intent and beginning of these warres agaynst king Philip, was onely to be reuenged of him, and to do him hurt, but the ende of it is to defende our selues that we take no hurt. And most certaine it is, that he will neuer rest and holde himselfe contented till some begin to bearde him, and to withstande his enterprises. And shall we than tary and do nothing till that time? What? do you thinke that all shall go well with you? bicause you haue made out a fewe emptie and euill appoynted Galleys? and haue an hope in one ioly fellow or other, that shall haue charge of affayres, when you set forth? shall we not embarke our selues? and we that coulde neuer be brought to it before, shall we not martche forwardes nowe at the length, with some companye of our owne countrimen? shall we not put ouer a nauye into his Countrie?
But some peraduenture will aske the question, and where I pray you sir shall we put a lande?All passages are open to the stowte and valiant souldiour▪ The verie warre it selfe (O Athenians) shall shew and discouer vs the crackes & breaches of his state, so we would once go in hande with the matter. But and we do nothing but sit still at home, hearing our Orators scold one with another, and eche accusing & blaming other: we shall neuer do, no neuer shall we do, any thing well as we ought & are bound to do. And yet assure your selues of this, whether soeuer you listed to send forth any power of our men (though ye whole armie be not there altogither) there, will God himselfe, & good fortune, fight in our quarel. Wheras if you should send but a Capitain forth with a single & sleuelesse decrée, with great threates to your enimies, and a few comfortable words from this consistorie, to put men in hope withall: you shall be sure on the other side,As good neuer a whit, as neuer the better. you shall neuer doe any good at all. For why, our enimies shal laugh vs to scorne, & our friends shall be vtterly discouraged: & thinke themselues vndone when they shall sée this masking and counterfeite preparations. ‘For it is not possible, neither can it be, that any one man alone, shal be able to do al that for you, that you would haue done. Well may he promise, and auouch [Page 47] any thing, and accuse this man, or that man: and that is euen it, that hath brought all to naught.’ For as long as things be thus handled, that a Lieuetenant of a sight of forreyne, wretched,Daungerous to slaunder souldiours that haue serued, and worst of all to condemne them vpon the false report of others. and vnappoynted souldiours, if he chaunce to take the foyle in the fielde, by and of that which he shall doe there: you, haue one here at home shall forthwith be readie to bring a lying tale of him, and you as soone as you haue heard the matter, howsoeuer it be, will be as readie to make a decrée thereafter. What hope I pray you then is there left of such a gouernement? & when or how, will you redeeme such a mischiefe? Marie euen then and not before, all things will be well, when you (O Athenians) shall be disposed to go on warfare your selues, and be liuely witnesses of all those thinges that the Capitaines doe, and at your returne home, make your selues iudges of all their accountes. For it is not onely conuenient for you to heare howe your owne matters haue passed:Gouernors to be personall and carefull vewers of things to be done. but also that you be personally vewers and present séers of the thinges done.
But now things be so shamefully handled, that there is neuer a Capitaine but hath béene arreigned vpon his life twise or thrise before you: where as not one of them hath béene so hardie as once to aduenture the same in fighting like a man, against the enimie, but had rather choose the Gallowes (as it séemeth) like an errant théefe and rouer: than like an honest man, to spill his blood in open fielde vpon his enimie. In déede it beséemeth well naughtie packes and wicked doers to die by order of iustice, but a valiaunt Souldiour and couragious Capitaine, it becommeth to die in the field, vpon his enimie.
In this meane while there be some of you, that doe nothing but go vp and downe, and prattle newes scant worth a straw, Flying tales, and flattering newes: doe neuer good to any state. one that king Philip through the helpe and ayde of the Lacedemonians practises the destruction of Thebes, and mindeth the dissolution of frée Cities and commune weales: an other sort of you, telles how king Philip hath sent his Ambassadors to the Persians: others do babble, how he fortifieth in Illiria. And thus we go vp and down euery man deuising one tittle tattle or other, as his owne vaine heade imagines.
[Page 48]I for my part (O Athenians) doe thus thinke of king Philip in good sooth, that he is dronken and assotted with the greatnesse of his owne dooings, and dreameth much in his fantasie of suche like thinges, both bicause he séeth suche a dezert, and wildernesse of men to withstande him, and also bicause he is puffed vp with the pride and glorie of his owne prosperous doings. And yet let no man be so mad to thinke that he goeth so about his matters, and taketh such wayes, as euerie foole amongst vs shall perceyue what he doth or intendeth to doe. And what verier fooles can there bée in all the worlde, than these tale cariers and newes coyners be? Albeit let vs giue ouer these toyes,A short gathering of all that hath bene sayd. 1. King Philip enimye to Athens. 2. A spoyler of their countrie. 3. Prowde and iniurious. 4. And their trustie friends, by him made trecherous and vntrue persons. Best for a man to trust to himselfe. Better to fight with the enimie at his owne home, than for him to fight with vs in our owne countrie. and learne our selues to vnderstand: that this man is our enimie, that he spoyleth vs of our goodes, and hath done vs wronge this great while, and whatsoeuer others would haue done for vs, the same (as it appeareth) he hath altered and turned cleane agaynst vs. And than our remaine shall bée to trust to our selues and to aduaunce our owne power to make resistaunce against him. But if so be it that we will not make ouer, to fight with him there: peraduenture he will driue vs to fight with him here at home whether we will or no. Wherefore if we can thinke vpon these things which I haue sayde, I doubt not but we shall aduise our selues well inough, and be well ridde of the tattle of a sight of fooles: neyther néede wée to bethinke vs any more of the matter, howe wée shall doe hereafter. Once this is certaine, vnlesse wée plye our matters otherwyse than wée haue done hytherto, and euery man be readye to doe his part, we shall bée sure to doe but yll fauouredly.
And I for my part was neuer of that minde to speake to the pleasing of anye one man,Demosthenes neuer preferred priuate welfare before common weale. further then I was well assured the same shoulde bée profitable for euery man. And namely at thys time I haue not shroonke to vtter franckly and plainly my minde of whatsoeuer thinge I thought was for your profite and commoditie. And woulde God, that lyke as I am well assured that it is for your benifite to heare good thinges: so I might perceyue it profitable to him that telles you, and warnes you for the best, lyke a most faythfull and friendly Councellour: then shoulde I speake with a better will. And albeit I am in doubt, and can [Page 49] not tell certainly what will happen vnto mée vpon this: yet notwithstanding, bicause I am most certaine that if you doe as I haue sayde, it shall turne to your great ease: I haue thought good therefore to tell you thus much. And I pray God, that thing may preuayle with you: which shall be for the welfare of you all.
DEmosthenes being afrayde to stirre the Athenians directly to warre, for dread of the people being euill caried away by others that tolde them of the great charges that the warres do bring: doth councell them to take heede of king Philip, as of a suspected enimie. And in no wise to trust his forged peace, vnder shadow whereof he doth all the mischiefe he can. And therfore he willeth them to loke well to their businesse, and to trust to themselues, making their people readie against all assayes: bicause that king Philip doth nothing else but lye in wayte for them and all Greeceland besides, to conquer them, and to become a Tyraunt ouer them all. And in shewing the maner and behauiour as well of them in their doings, as of him in his doings: he doth verie wisely, bring in, many likelyhoodes and euident profes, as well concerning the disposition of king Philips owne person, as of the Grecians in generall, and so he maketh it a verie plaine and cleere matter that king Philip doth hate them deadly: warning them for that cause not to trust his faire promises, nor yet the profered kindnesse and fauour exhibited by Eschines and others. For that king Philip hath most cruelly abused other cities and countries with such like craft and subtiltie. And here he giueth a lesson fit at all tymes for all men liuing, the which is this. That there can bee no greater strength and assurance to a man, than to be mistrustfull, for (according to Libanius report) euen as money is the strength and sinewes of warre: so is mistrustfulnesse the maintenance and safegarde of wisedome.
In the end he promiseth to giue king Philips Ambassadors their aunswere when they shall come, in case they themselues doubt what aunswere to make vnto them: but he sheweth not what he will say, but leaueth that matter and falleth to inueigh agaynst those Traytors that are king Philips hyrelings, and sheweth that their promises, and king Philips present doings, agree not togither: and therefore plainely doth discifer king Philip to be their mortall enimie, against whome he councelleth them to take armor in hande, and to proclaime open warre for the better safegarde and defence of their whole estate and Countrie.
¶ The second Oration against king Philip of Macedonie.
WHen any talke is (O Athenians) of king Philips doings,Words are vnfit weapons to withstande armour. and the outrages and violences that he committes contrary to the peace: I perceyue you estéeme it to be both honest and reasonable. And who soeuer will séeme to speake any thing against king Philip, they shall be thought to speake, as is fitte for them: and yet for all that, there is nothing in a maner done, as it ought to be, nor yet as should become them that haue so much tolde them, as you haue. ‘For the worlde is come to this poynt with vs nowe, that the more plainelye and cléerelye a man sheweth king Philip to haue broken peace with vs, and to seke a conquest ouer al Grecelande: so much the more daungerous it is, to giue councell what weare best to be done. And the reason is this, bicause (O Athenians) all such as through violence and wrong couet more than in right they should doe: ought to be daunted and kept backe with déedes, and not with wordes onely.’ And first of all, we our selues that take vpon vs this place, our woont is to forbeare councell and aduise, in those poyntes, for feare of your displeasure: and in stéede of them we fall a discoursing vnto you of his doings, howe daungerous, howe weightie, and how heynous they are, and such like things. And then you that be the hearers: in vnderstanding, and giuing eare to a mans tale, be much more readie than king Philip is. But when it commes to ye withstanding of his doings that he is now in hand withall: then you be altogither ydle, and as colde in your doings, as may be. Such studie, such fruite▪ ‘And therefore it falleth out to good reason, and it must néedes be so to: that looke in what things eyther of you both is most conuersant and traueyled: in the selfesame eche of you, doth excell the other, that is, he in déedes, and you in wordes.’ And if so be you thinke it a goodlyer matter, to speake more aptly to the purpose, than he doth: why, thats a thing easie ynough to do, and it néedes no great traueile. But if it stand [Page 52] vs vpon at this time to consider howe to amende things presently amisse, least through our vnaduisednesse and ignoraunce, the same go to ruyne and destruction more and more hereafter, and least he shock vs with such a power, as we shall not be able to encounter: then are wée not to take that way of consulting togither, as wée haue doone heretofore, but as well all they that bée Orators,Profite to be preferred vnto pleasure. as all you that be hearers: must choose those things that be good and profitable, and leaue the delitefull and pleasant.
And first of all, if any man among you (O Athenians) is so foolehardy & so rash that séeing how mightie a lord king Philip is, makes reckoning for all that,The enimie being mightie: he is to be feared greatly. yt this his stately greatnesse will bréed no harme nor daūger to our Citie, neither yet that al that his preparation is ment agaynst you: I do much marueile at him that so thinketh. And therfore I pray you al, heare me a while what I will say, & wey my reasons, why, I am not of your minde, but rather thinke king Philip to be a deadly enimy vnto vs all: to the intent that if I shall by good hap séeme to sée farther in him, and to iudge of him more truly than others do: you may follow mine aduise and councell. But if these bold & foolehardy fellowes, such as haue so sound a beliefe & trust in him, sée farther and déeper than I do: why then, agrée you to them on Gods name.Demosthenes consideration vpon king Philips doings. First (O Athenians) I consider what countries king Philip hath vnited to himself, since the peace cōcluded with vs, namely the Pyles, & the Phoceyans. And what then?Pyle certaine narow gates or strayts for passages. how hath he vsed them I pray you? Mary he hath done for the cōmoditie of the Thebanes all that he could possible, but for vs he hath done no one thing at all. And why did he so? forsooth, bicause in bestowing his wittes howe to get and to bring all vnder his subiection without regarde of peace and quietnesse, right or wrong: he wisely doth consider and knowe right well that he is not able to winne our Citie, or vs eyther (as we haue hitherto liued) by any corruption of gift to betraye anye of the Gréekishe townes to him, for our owne profite: but rather he sées that wée haue regarde to iustice, to vpright doings, and to the eschewing of dishonour,King Philip findeth the Athenians vnspotted, for corruption. alwayes foreséeing things fit for vs with great warynesse: by which he doth perceiue that we will consequently withstande him (if he take any such matter in hande) as though wée [Page 53] had open warre with him. But as for the Thebanes he thought (as it fell out in déede) that for the pleasure he had done them:Thebanes, corrupted by giftes and faire promises. they would suffer him to vse the rest as he listed: who not onely would so much as once offer to withstande and hinder his purposes: but woulde also bée readie to take part with him in the fielde if hée required them. And so hoping to finde the like in others, he sheweth himselfe verye curteous and fauourable to the Messenians, Great princes seeke amitie of meaner states for their owne welfare, and to serue their seuerall turnes the better. and Argians for the same cause also. A matter (O Athenians) verie highly to your honour. For hereby you alone are of all the world iudged to be the onely men aboue all others that will not be corrupted with any promise or rewarde to forsake the common libertie of Grece, nor yet to chaunge for any mans fauour or profite: whatsoeuer amitie or good will you do beare their countrie. Athenians neuer corrupted with any fayre promise, or offered hope, to lose their countries libertie. And surely king Philip hath rightly iudged thus of you, and farre otherwise of the Thebanes and Argians, considering not onelye your present state, but also the doings of your Auncestours: for he findeth & perceiueth (as I beleue) that your predecessors although they might haue bene Lordes ouer all Grece, Athenians worthinesse se [...] forth by example of their elders. (so as they woulde haue bowed to the deuotion of the Persians and their king) would not onely not heare Alexander (of whom these men weare come) being then Ambassador to perswade them therevnto, but did determine rather to forsake their countrie,Herodotus, reporter of these matters. and to suffer all miserie that might be. Wherein they so worthily acquited themselues, that all men since, haue longed much to talke of them, but no man yet could worthily set them forth: as they haue deserued. And therefore, I will stay my tongue, and good reason too. For why, their worthy exploites and renowme, haue bene greater, than any man hath béene able to vtter by word of mouth: Whereas the Auncestours of the Thebanes and Argians haue some of them ioyned their power with the Barbarian and straunger,In the warres against the Persians, the Argeyans would not meddle, but the Thebanes toke part with the Persians. marching vnder his banner: and other some of them, would neuer set out foote agaynst him. And therefore, he knoweth that both they doe more estéeme their owne priuate estates: than they doe regarde the common profite of all Grece besides. And well he saw, that if he shoulde haue sought your friendships, he must néedes haue chosen you for iustice sake, where hauing the others to bée [Page 54] of his side, he was assured to haue their maintenance in his vniust and couetous desires. And that is the cause why he hath alwayes estéemed and still doth estéeme their friendship more than yours, not bicause he séeth they haue more Galleys than you, or bicause (hauing found good footing, or any great superioritie within the maine lande) he neglecteth to be Lorde of the Seas and their marchant Townes. Neyther hath he yet forgotten these condicions and promises, by which he trayned them to be at peace with him. But (sayth one) it was none of all this that moued him to doe as he hath done, neyther yet his ambition nor couetousnesse, An aunswere to an obiection, proouing that king Philip neyther for iustise sake, nor yet by enforcement, was friend to the Thebanes, with certaine mocking of those nations. or any other thing wherof he is accused, that made him to encline more to the Thebanes than to vs: but the only cause was bicause he knew them to be more faithfull than we are. This reason vnboubtedly (of all other reasons) he can not well alledge, for he that craftily forced the Lacedemonians to giue vp the towne of Messena, & at the selfe same time, notwithstanding set the Thebanes in possession of Orchomene & Choronea: how can he be sayd to haue delt iustly and vprightly. But some will say he was enforced (for else there is none excuse remayning for the defence of king Philip) to surrender & giue vp those places much against his will, as being than enuironed and surprised, by the horsemen of the Thessalians, and the Souldiours of Thebes. A good tale, on foorth a Gods name. And therefore (saye they) hée hath the Thebanes in great ielousie, yea, and they go vp and downe deuising further tittle tattle, how he mindes to fortifie Elateia: but he will doe a Dog as soone. He will neuer deale that way at all, as I thinke: and forsooth he will neuer ioyne with the Messenians and the Argians as he doth, to set vpon the Lacedemonians, and yet he hath sent a supply of straungers and money, and is looked for to be there in person himselfe with a mightie power: so that he séeketh the destruction of the Lacedemonians, as enimies to the Thebanes. And those Phoceyans whom heretofore he did ouerthrow, and destroy, he mindeth now to succor and to defend: yea forsooth that he will. And I pray you what mad man would beleue these things. For surely, I can not think for any thing that I can sée, that king Philip will continue to be an enimie to the enimies [Page 55] of the Thebanes, if eyther perforce or against his will, he graunted heretofore those matters before named: or else if he now mistrusted their good will towardes him: but rather it is euident by his present doings, that he hath sought their fauours for a purpose and wrought this pollicie to serue his owne turne withall. And whosoeuer looketh narowly vpon this matter,The lapping vp of all these matters. he cannot but plainely sée that all these his practises are wholye bent against oure countrie to take an aduauntage when he séeth his time. And this hée doth in a maner for méere necessitie. For, I pray you wey the matter with your selues, and thinke thus of it: he will néedes rule and be souereigne ouer all: and he knoweth well that none can withstande him, but you, who haue bene so lōg time molested by him through the iniuries and wronges that he hath done, and dayly doth against you, as his owne conscience can best witnesse against him, for by meanes of possessing those places which sometime were yours, and now are his, he kéepeth the reast of his dominions in safetie: but and if he should lose once Amphipolis and Potidea: he should hardly sit sure in his chayre at home. And therefore full well is he guyltie to himselfe: both that he lyeth in wayte for you, and that you also do vnderstand it. And bicause he hath found you a wise and a sage people, he gathereth by iust consequence,Wise men being wronged, are to be feared of the wrong doers. and good reason, that you are his enimies, & that makes him so sharpe set, to preuent your doings, as one looking for a scouring at your hands, whensoeuer any occasions shall be offered. This is it that he watches for, this is the cause of his close lying in waite against the Citie. And why, he holdeth in, somuch with certaine of the Thebanes, and with some Peloponesians also that are of the same minde with them, whom he accountes to be so gréedie and couetous of lucre,Euill men care for nothing but for the present time onely. that the present estate pleaseth them well ynough, and so beastly and so foolishe, that they neyther regard nor foresée the time to come. Howbeit, they that are but of a meane vnderstanding, may haue a very effectuall token & sample of his deuises and purposes, by that which was my chaunce once to tell both to the Messenians, and also to the Argians. And peraduenture it weare not amisse to tell the selfesame tale nowe agayne to you.
[Page 56] Part of an oration rehersed here by Demosthenes, whereby he did will the Messenians, and the Argians, not to be in league with king Philip.I pray you (quoth I) tell me, O Messenians, howe would the Olynthians haue taken it to haue heard king Philip so euil spokē of in their presence at that time, when he gaue and deliuered Anthemunta vnto them: a town so greatly desired & claymed heretofore by all the kinges of Macedonie? or then also, when he gaue Potidea vnto them, & draue out the outpeopled Athenians, a people that came from Athens to dwell there, and the hatred borne by them against you,Olynthians abused by King Philips counterfeyte dealings. he tooke vpon himselfe, and gaue the profites of the landes to them to enioy: thinke you that they woulde haue looked for such miseries as after folowed? or would haue beleued him that should haue told it them? no vndoubtedly neuer thinke it: and yet thus it nowe falleth out (saide I) that where as they haue had the fruit & vse of other mens lands for a very short time: they haue since lost most shamefully their owne territories for a long time, & are fowly put out, not as men cōquered only, but like men betraied & sold among themselues trayterously. ‘And to say the truth, it is neuer safe for any frée Citie to enter into ouer great familiarity with Tyrants.Thessalians deceyued [...]y king Philip vnder colour of friendship offered. What should I say vnto you of the Thessalians?’ do you think (sayd I) when he had driuen out their Tyrants, and had giuen also vnto them, Illiria, and Magnesia, that they euer would haue looked for the Ten Lordes to rule them as they doe nowe? or that he which gaue them Pyla, would afterwards haue taken their owne proper reuenues from them? Surely, they would neuer haue thought it. And yet notwithstanding it did so fall out afterwardes, as all the world knoweth: wherefore (sayde I) take héede of king Philip with his great giftes and promises, and curse you him, that hath so often deceyued you, and brought you to such afterdeales, and (if you wise be) pray to God you may neuer sée him againe. ‘There are diuers deuises (said I) made for the defence and garding of Cities, as Rampires, Walles, Trenches, and such other lyke, and all these requires great costs and charges, and are the handiworks of man: but there is a gard of natures getting, common to all wise men, & that vndoubtedly is good and assured for all degrées of men, and most of all, for all frée Cities, and Commonalties of people against the force of Tyrauntes. And what bulwarke or defence might this be? euen [Page 57] MISTRVSTFVLNESSE.’ Kéepe this surely and embrace it, and so you shall be safe and out of al daūger. I pray you what is it you would haue? (quoth I) is it not libertie? And do you not sée that euen the verie Mistrustfulnes the chiefest safegarde that may be against the practises of Tyraunts. titles and stiles, the which Philippe taketh vpon him, are cleane contrarie to libertie? for euery king and Tyraunt is an enimie to all libertie,He meaneth bicause he writ himselfe king. and an ouerthrower of all lawes. Will not you then (sayd I) looke about you, and take héede least while you séeke to be deliuered from warres: you doe finde a mayster of him? and bring your selues in bondage?
The Messenians when they had heard this, altho they allowed well ynough of it themselues: and had heard many other reasons in my presence by other Ambassadors besides my selfe: and of others also, when I was gone (as it is most likely:) yet could they not be brought for all that, to breake of from king Philip, nor once to mistrust his fayre promises. And it is no great shame or rebuke for certaine Messenians and Peloponesians, if they do a thing contrary to that, that reason perswades them to be good for them: but to you, it soundes marueylously to your dishonour, who as well by your owne vnderstanding as by our telling, know your selues to be layd for, and enuironed round about, and that continuing in this slouthfulnesse and nothing doing,Carelesse men are euer most nigh their owne harme. you shall catch hurt sooner (I feare me) than you beware of. Such is the force of a little fléeting pleasure and ease for a short time more vnto your hurt, than is the honor and profite of a long time to come. And therefore (if you be wise) take councell of your selues, while you may, of your matters you haue to doe.
Nowe howe and in what maner you shall make your aunswere, well, and as shall be fit for you, that will I tell you.
Méete it were (O Athenians) that you caused such to be called before you as brought you the promises, whereby you weare induced to make peace.Ambassadors seeking theyr owne priuate welfare: are most daungerous ministers and therefore to be narowly looked vnto. I for my part could neuer finde in my hart to take that Ambassage vpon me for reporting of the vntruth, or to agree to any such peace. And sure I am that you woulde haue desisted from warre, had you thought that king Philip after peace concluded with you: would haue done these things that he hath done, but the tale that was told than, was farre otherwise. There [Page 58] be others also, that are to be called to account, and who be they? Euen those whom after the conclusion of the peace at my returne from my last Ambassage for taking their othes, when I perceyued they wrought wiles and craftes with the Citie:Daungerous to graūt an entry, to the enimie. I tolde before hande, and protested vnto them, that so much as in me lay I would neuer agrée to the letting go of the Pyles, and the Phoceyans: whereto they tolde me againe, that it was no marueile if I, lyke a water drinker as I was, were such a frowarde and péeuishe colericke man.Good men maliced for speaking truth. And as for king Philip they sayd he would do according to your desires, if he might passe once into Grece. He would also fortifie both Thespias and Plateas, and cause the Thebanes to forbeare such outrage and wrong dooing to their neighbors as they vse. And that he would pierce through Cherronesus, vpon his owne charges,Fayre promises makes fooles faine. and deliuer vnto you Euboia and Orope, in recompence of Amphipolis. For I trust you remember all these promises to haue béene made in this place of audience, though you are not the quickest men in the worlde to take a marke of them, that haue done you a shrewde turne.
And that (which is too bad a thing to speake of) you weare so farre caryed away wyth thys hope, that you haue decréed that the ratifying and establishement of thys same peace, should also discende vnto your successours and posteritie. So farre and so throughly weare you led away and deceyued by these forgers and counterseyters of vntruthes. To what ende doe I tell all this? and why would I haue these men sent for to come before you? I will tell you franckly and boldely the truth (so God helpe mée) neyther will I hide any thing from you: Not to the intent to fall a rayling and taunting, whereby to make you haue the like talke of me againe, or to gyue them that euer since the beginning of the matter haue borne me a grudge,Pickethankes seeke by discrediting others, to benefite themselues. a freshe occasion at this time to get money of king Philip: no nor yet to kepe a styrre in vaine, and to no purpose. But I speake it, bicause I know king Philips doings will gréeue you more hereafter, than my sayings do at this time. For I sée things are in a great forwardnesse. Well, I pray God I gesse not aright, yea, I feare me greatly they are ouernigh vs alreadie. And then when it shall lye no more in our powers to [Page 59] remedie that which is fallen vpon vs, nor that you shall haue eyther me or any other, to tell you the treasons that are entended agaynst you, but when you yourselues shall beholde all thinges with your eyes, and knowe them to well: then doe I thinke you will bée thorowly tormented and in a great chafe with your selues. And I feare me least questionlesse these faultes of your Ambassadors (guiltie to themselues, euen in their consciences of briberie and corruption in these matters) being concealed and passed ouer with silence,Good men in greater daunger for saying the truth: than euill men are for dooing naughtily. the blame and displeasure thereof shall light vpon them that séeke all the meanes they can, how to recouer and redresse the losses and hurtes receyued by them. For I doe sée it ordinarily, men wreake their anger, not vpon the offenders: but agaynst those that are vnder their power.
Wherefore, nowe while wée staye, and bée in a mammering, harckening one to another: I woulde haue euerye one of you, (although you are wise ynough of your selues) to call to your remembraunce what he was that councelled you to giue ouer the Pyles and the Phoceyans:Pyla, were certaine straytes to stop passages, where the town Thermopylae stoode. Which places as soone as he was once possessed of, he was streight wayes maister of the passages to Attica, and Peloponnesus. Whereby hée hath nowe brought you in that case, that you are no more to consult howe to make warre for anye right and clayme belonging vnto you,Peloponesus now Morea. or howe to dispose of forreyne prouinces and matters abroade: but howe to deliberate vppon warre when it shall come wythin our owne Countrie, and within Attica it selfe. Which time whensoeuer it shall come, it will be a bitter season to you all. And yet was this euill set abroche, euen that verye day when the Pyles were giuen vnto him.
For if you had not then béene deceyued and so abused,One inconuenience suffered: many mischiefs do follow after. this Citie had not had this businesse nor thys adoe that wee nowe haue. For neyther shoulde King Philip lyke a Conquerour by Sea, come with his nauie into Athens: neyther yet shoulde he by lande euer haue béene able to haue passed ouer the Pyles and the Phoceyans: but eyther he shoulde haue béene fayne to haue kept all couenauntes and béene at peace and quietnesse, or else to haue fallen by and by into the like warre which he was [Page 60] in, before he sought for making of the peace. These thinges therefore may suffice for me nowe to haue sayde vnto you, to put you in remembraunce withall. And yet be it farre from mée, and God forbid it also, that we shoulde enter ouer narrowly into the searching and sifting of these thinges. For in déede, I for my part woulde not, that anye man although hée weare worthie to dye: should suffer smart and punishment, to the common daunger and perill of all men.
FOr as muche as king Philip being in league with the Athenians, did in wordes onely keepe peace, and in deedes wrought them much mischiefe: Demosthenes doth exhort all Grecelande to withstande his violent dealinges, and to cutte of his great rodes and inuasions made euery where: showing that it is nowe high time for them so to doe, if they will eschue perpetuall seruitude, and bondage for euer. And for this purpose he bringeth examples of their Auncestours, that those Cities that gouerned by Tyrannie, lost their state, for that the Grecyans coulde neuer abide vniust gouernement, nor any grieuous vsurped aucthoritie. Moreouer, he takes on marueylously agaynst Traytours, and reherseth certaine sharpe and seuere lawes made in that behalfe, wherein he maketh report of a notable example executed vpon a certain banished and outlawed straunger. And last of all, he sheweth how king Philip hath gotten many other Cities and townes, through treason onely. And therefore hee warneth them not to trust these fellowes that speake in king Philips fauour. And in this Oration hee sheweth that those men are the cause of all mischiefe, that seeke to winne fauour, and grace of others, for the atchieuing of a state or kingdome: the which he proueth manifestly, that king Philip hath wrought and sought by all meanes possible to doe. And therfore he giueth his Countrimen councell to take armour in hande, and to beate downe king Philips ambicious attemptes, considering the daunger, wherein not onely they themselues doe stande, but all the lande of Grece besydes.
¶ The thirde Oration against king Philip of Macedonie.
ALbeit much talke hath beene vsed (O Athenians) yea almost in euery assembly, of those great wrongs that king Philip hath done (since the peace concluded) not onely to you, but also to all Greceland besides: and that I sée all men can not choose but confesse (altho in déede they doe not so) yet that it is very néedefull for vs to agrée,Then is for [...]earing to speake most daungerous, when necessitie requireth speach. both to say, and doe all things, wherby at the length he may leaue this his violent vsage, and féele the smart of these his wrong doings: yet for all that I sée all thinges come to that poynt and so farre ouerpast, that I feare mée altho it be counted a slaunder, yet it shall be true which I will saye, that if all they that come vp into this place, would say the worde, and you holde vp your handes to the same, how to bring things into the worst pickle that might be: yet to order them worse than they be now, I thinke it weare impossible. And perhaps there be many causes why things are thus, and it is not one or two causes that haue made our state so euill. But most of all (if things be well examined) ye shall find the fault to be in them, who vse their talke so, as to benifite themselues, rather than to do you any good therby: of whom there are some (O Athenians) so as they may kéepe themselues in estimation and aucthoritie still,Flatterers and slaunderers the very authors of all mischiefe, and euill hap that may be. neither care themselues what may followe afterwardes: neyther yet thinke they that you doe. Other some againe do nothing else, but with slaundering and accusing those that be in office, séeke how to make our Citie a plague to it selfe,Slaunderers. and to kéepe our selues occupied aboute that. And that in the meane season king Philip, he may haue libertie to doe and say what he list. And this is the maner of your gouernment, and a thing you were woont to vse: but yet it is the cause of great trouble, and makes vs doe many thinges amisse. And nowe (O Athenians) if I doe speake the truth fréely and plainly vnto you,Bolde speech vpō good cause deserues fauor. I praye you be not angry with me for it. For consider this, how in all other things you yourselues thinke it so [Page 63] fitte that the libertie of the tongue shoulde bée so common to all men within the Citie: that you haue imparted the same euen to verie straungers and bonde men. And here a man may sée many a houshold seruaunt speake his minde, with more libertie than the Citizens themselues do, in some other townes.Free speaking forbidden, bringeth daunger to the state. And yet in cases where councell is to be giuen: you barre all men from it. Whervpon it cōmeth to passe, that in your assemblies, you be so daintie, & loue so wel to be clawed,Many frame their talke according to the humor of others. that you must heare nothing but things to féede your humors withall: but in your businesse and dooings, you let things go till they be at the vttermost daunger. Therfore, if you will haue this itch to hange vpon you in this [...] then I can say nothing to it. But if you be disposed [...] speake for your commoditie, and without flatterie [...] for your purpose: for tho our countrie be shrewdely [...] that we haue lost much through your owne follies and cowardlin [...] [...] if you will from henceforth doe your endeuours,Through diligence and care those thinges may be redressed: that weare by slouth and negligence forlorne. there are [...]anes ynoughe to redresse all that is awrie. And that thing which I shall say, though it séeme against the opinion of all men: yet it shal be true for all that. That thing which did hurt vs most of all heretofore, the same in our dooings hereafter shall doe vs most good. And what may that be? Marye our doings haue had the worse successe, bicause we haue done nothing more or lesse, in such sort as we ought to haue done. For if while we shewed our selues like valiaunt and lustie men, the worlde had gone after the same sort still: then without doubt there had béene no hope at all for things to be bettered. But nowe I must say plainly, that of our negligence and slouthfulnesse onely, king Philip hath got the victory, and hath got no victory of our country: neither be [...]ou either vāquished at al, nor yet so much as once stirred out of your place, with all the stirring hee can make. He that doth wrong, giueth cause of warre: not they that seeke the redresse of wrong. Then séeing we do all confesse that king Philip is at warre with vs, and breaketh the peace: what else can any man say or aduise you yt shall come hither: than that we must defende our selues, from him, with the easiest and safest waye we can. But forsomuch as some are so farre from their wittes, and so blinded with ignoraunce, that though they sée him take our chiefe fortresses and holdes: and enioy many things of ours, [Page 64] and continue dooing wrong to all men: yet for all that, they can well ynough away with such as beare them in hande oftentimes in their assemblies, howe it is some of vs, that makes the warre, and giues the occasion of breach. Councellours speaking for the best, doe oftentymes beare the greatest blame. Herein therefore we had néede to be well aduised, and to worke wisely. For it is to be feared, least he that shall giue you his aduise and order, how to defende your selues against him: shall be charged to be the author of the warres.
First of all I will say and determine thus much before you all, if so be, it stand in vs to take counsell of the matter, whether wée shall haue warre or peace: then I say, if our countrie may be at peace,Peace better than warre, if a man may be sure of it. and that the same lyeth in vs to choose: I thinke verily (to begin withall) we shall doe well to take it. And I exhort him that so sayth, both to enact and execute the same: and not to deceyue you and bleare your eyes. But if on the other side, it be so, that a man hauing armour in hand, and a great power about him, pretend and dash you in the téeth with the name of peace, and yet vseth such maners as belong to war: what other thing then should we doe, but defend our selues, and be reuenged of him. But if you will professe that you kepe peace, in such maner as he doth: I reck not much of it. Marie, and if any man do thinke this to be a peace, when he shall,Not king Philips words, but his deedes are to be marked and looked vpon. after he hath got all other places, make his waye streight towardes vs: I thinke that fellow, (to begin withall) is out of his wittes: And besides that, he speakes of such a peace, as he may make with you, not such as you may make with him putting in king Philips choyse to doe as he list, and not that you may doe as you woulde. And this is the thing forsooth that king Philip would be glad to purchase, with all the treasure that he hath spent, that hée himselfe may warre vpon vs when he list without resistaunce: and we may not set vpon him at all. And if we tarie till he set vpon vs, and giue vs the defiaunce, and confesse that he will warre with vs: then are we the most simple and fondest men that liue vpō earth. For you may be well assured he will not say so much vnto vs, although he entred with an army royall here,King Philip practised stafford law with the people of Athens. Olynthians. with in Attica, and the very Péere it selfe: as is wel to be gathered and proued by his dealings towardes others. For what did he to the Olynthians? when he was not past fiue miles from their towne, he sent them [Page 65] worde flatly they must do one of the two, eyther they must not tarie in Olynthus, or else he must forsake Macedonie. But if a mā shoulde haue charged him with this all the while before he came thither: then he would haue stormed, and sent Ambassadors,Phoceyans, being euill vsed, fors [...]oke their countrie by consent, neuer to returne, and builded Massilia in Prouance. Thebe, now Thi [...]a, in Beotia. Phere, nowe Ceramidi, a towne of Attica, betwene Megara, and Thebes. Oreteynes. to haue made his purgation. The same part he played with the Phoceyans, when he came vnto them as vnto his friendes that thought no harme at all, their Ambassadors then attending vppon him. There was many amongst vs at the selfesame time also, that debated the matter, and thought that his passage woulde not be for the profite of the Thebanes. And a little before this, he toke Pheres, in his way to Thessalia vnder colour of amitie and alliaunce. And last of all, he deceyued the siely Oriteynes, with his sleight and compasse, making them belieue that he sent Souldiours vnto them for good will, to determine the controuersies that were among them, for he heard say they could not agrée amongst themselues, but weare at iarre one with another: And therefore (quoth he) it was the part of a true & cōstant friend,Sleight and guile fitter for king Philip, than euennesse and plaine dealing. to assist them at such times. And then do you think that he being a man yt loues rather to set vpō these men, by sleight & pollicie (who, though they could do him no hurt, yet peraduenture, were able wel ynough to kéepe themselues from taking of harme) than to tell them before hand, how he would inuade them: would make open proclamatiō of these warres that he mindes to haue agaynst you: and that, at this time especially, when you are most willing to deceyue your selues? nay looke not for that: for now that he séeth himself to haue diuers waies wronged you, & you for al that, not to chalenge him for the same, but that you are rather ready alwaies to accuse and condemne one another: he might well be thought the veriest dolt in the worlde, if he would breake of this strife and contention that is amongst you, and by forewarning you, bring it all vpon hys owne backe, and by that meanes leaue nothing to say to those his féede men, who bearing you in hand, that he meanes no warre to this City:King Philips deedes rather to be marked than his wordes. séeke nothing but delayes and tracting out of time with you. But (O good Lord) is there any man in his right wittes that woulde iudge whether a man had peace or warre with him, by his gay wordes, rather than by his dooinges? no man without [Page 66] doubt.Diophites generall of the Athenians armie. King Philip euen immediately, after peace was concluded, Diophites not béeing yet generall, nor the Souldiours that nowe be in Cherronesus, béeing as yet sent from hence: he tooke Serrium and Doriscum from vs,Cherronesus, now Phanar. Serrium and Doriscum, townes in Thracia and in this second towne, Xerxes armie was found iust 1000000. men. and draue out those Souldiours out of Serrium wall, and the holy Mountain: which weare put in by our Generall. And in these his practises, what was his drift? for surely he had sworne to kéepe the peace. And let no man say, what of all this? or what hath this Citie to care for it? for whether these matters be trifles, or such as the Citie hath not to make any account of, it is no place now, to reason of such things. ‘Albeit, touching godlinesse & iustice,Whatsoeuer swarue [...], an ynch from ius [...]tice: the same tendeth streight to iniustice. be it in small matters, or in great, so a man once passe the bounds thereof: all is one in effect. Well, go to now, when he sends his hyred souldiers to Cherronesus (which countrie, both the Persian king & all the Gréekes besides, haue pronounced to be yours) and confesseth moreouer that he will succor thē, & signifieth the same by his letters, what doth he? for he saith that he is not at warre with vs:’ And yet I for my part am so far from déeming that he attempting such thinges, doth kéepe peace, that euē as soone as he touched once in Megara, and established a tyrannous gouernement in Euboia, An vnderm [...] ner, and a fetching practiser: worse than an open and plain sworne enimie. & now is going into Thracia, & hath practises a bruing in Peloponesus, and compasseth all that he doth with force of armes: I dare be bold to say, he breakes the peace altogither, & makes warre agaynst you: except ye will say that they that haue their engines and frames in a readinesse: do kepe peace till the time they haue brought them hard to the very walles.The intent makes the offence, when all things are prepared: although the execution do not follow. Preuention necessary, when purposed mischiefe is foreknowne. Hellespontus. Megaris. Euboia. Peloponesus. ‘But you will not say so, for why, that man that dooth and deuiseth those things, whereby I may be caught: I must néedes say, he is at warre with me, although he neither throwe nor shoote at me.’ And than what things should you put in hazard by it, if any such thing should happen? First, Hellespontus shall reuolt from you, and he that warres with you shal be Lord ouer the Megareans and the Euboians: and the Peloponesians, they will be on his side. And shall I then say vnto you that this man mindes peace and good fayth towardes vs, who prepares and rayses vp this frame against our Citie? surely, it is farre from my thought: nay, rather euen from the very first day that he destroied [Page 67] the Phoceyans, I maintaine it plainly, that he began streight to be your enimie. And therefore, if you doe withstand him out of hande, I say you doe wisely. And if you doe it not nowe, you shall not be able to do it, when you would. And so farre am I (O Athenians) from the opinion of others your Counsellors, that I think it not méete to haue any longer deliberation about Cherronesus and Bizance: Cherronesus now Phanar, Bizance, nowe Cōstantinople. but rather that you defende and rescue them from taking of harme. And to sende vnto your Generals there, all such things as they néede. And in the meane space, to consult for the safetie and welfare of the whole estate of Grecia, A [...]l Greceland in daunger of king Philip. nowe standing in verie great daunger.
And now I will giue you the reason, why I am so afrayde of your estate and dooings: to the intent, that if I shall séeme to say truely and as the matter is in déede: you may bée p [...]rtakers thereof, and if you will not haue care ouer others, yet at the least that you may be prouident and haue care of your selues. And in case you thinke I tell you a toy, and a brainlesse tale: then neuer hearken to my tale, either now or hereafter, as to him that were well in his wittes. Wherefore,The sodaine rysing and encreased might of king Philip. to touche vnto you howe king Philip from so slender and so base an estate as he was first in: is waxen so great and mounted so hie: howe all Grecelande hath béene tost through trecherie and sedition among themselues, how it is a great deale more out of all mens beléefe for him to come from that he was, to that he is now: than it is, that he should now at this time, bring all the reast vnder his subiection, after the conquest of so many as he hath made, and all such like things as I could well recite: I do thinke méete to ouerpasse, and surcease. But this I sée, that all men following your leading haue graunted and yéelded so willingly to king Philip that thing: which alwayes heretofore hath béene the occasion of all the warres among the Gréekes. And what might that be? euen this,King Philips libertie to doe what he ly [...], without step or let hath beene the cause of all the warres in Grece. Grecians ruled by the Athenians .7 [...]. yeares. that he may doe whatsoeuer him lusteth to doe: as much to say, hée may cut euery man in péeces: he may robbe and spoyle the Gréekes: and he may go vp and down conquering and bringing of townes vnder his subiection. And notwithstāding, that you haue bene the chiefe princes ouer al Grece for the space of .73. yeares: the Lacedemonians [Page 68] for .29. yeares:Grecians ruled by the Lacededemonians 29. yeares. Grecians ruled by ye Thebanes after the battail at Leuctra. Such as passed the boundes of moderation among the Grecians heretofore: were restrayned of their course, & brought perforce to liue in order. and the Thebanes also nowe of late yeares haue béene men of some force, since the battaile fought at Leuctra, yet for all this, was there neuer thus much graunted by the Grecians, eyther to you or to the Thebanes, or to the Lacedemonians eyther, at any time (O Athenians:) to doe whatsoeuer he lusted to doe. And in this matter néedes not much talke. But both against you, nay rather against the Athenians of those daies, after they séemed to passe the bounds of modesty in abusing some men: all men then thought it good, to reuenge the matter by open warre, yea those whom the quarrell of the wronged, did not touch at all. Againe, when the Lacedemonians ruled and had the like seigniorie as you had, when they fell once to encroching, and began out of measure to shake out of order, things well established: all men than bended themselues to open warre against them, yea, euen those that had no quarrell at all to them. And what néede we such farre fetcht examples? Did not wée our selues and the Lacedemonians, being as then no cause of griefe amongst vs, yet bicause we sawe others oppressed, thinke it good for their sakes to make warre? and yet all the offences and faults committed aswell by the Lacedemonians in their thirtie yeres,The vnmeasurable harmes and excess [...]ue wrongs done by king Philip in short tyme. Olynthus, Methona, Apollonia, 32. townes in Thracia, Countryes spoyled by king Philip. as by your auncestors in .lxx. yeres togither, be much fewer, (O Athenians) yea by a great number: than be ye wrongs that king Philip hath done to all Greceland in these not fully .xiij. whole yeares, that he is come thus to glitterring glory, from a thing of nothing. And this is easie to be shewed in few wordes. And not to speake of Olynthus, of Methona, of Apollonia, of .32. townes in Thracia, all which places he hath so cruelly ouerthrowne and bet to the ground, that a man comming to them can scant finde whether euer those places were inhabited or no. I will not speake of that huge and populous nation of the Phoceyans, spoyled and consumed by him.Phoceyans. Thessalians. I pray you in what case lyes Thessalia? hath he not ouerthrowne & taken from them, both their townes, their politicall or townelike gouernement,Quatuorviratus. and set Fouremen to rule ouer them, to the ende that not onely the townes, but the people also, may liue in bondage and slauerie? And are not the townes of Euboia, Euboians. gouerned and possessed euen nowe of late wyth Tyraunts, [Page 69] and that within an Isle, verye nighe to Thebes, A prowde bragging maner of writing vsed by king Phillip. Hellespontus. Ambracia, now Larta. Elis in Morea, now Beluedere. Megaris, now Megr [...]. All the worlde euer little to glut king Philips gredie and bottomlesse ambition. Fondly weare the Grecians carelesse, and vnquiet among themselues: when the enimie was so busie and stirring abroade. and to Athens? And doth he not write this apparauntly in his letters. I vvill haue peace (sayth he) vvith them that vvill do as I commaunde them. Neyther when he wryteth this, doth he cease to performe it also in déede: but he entreth vpon Hellespont, hauing béene before at Ambracia. He hath Elis that houge and mightie great Citie in Peloponnesus, and of late he made a platte howe to winne the Megarians. So that neither all Grecelande, nor yet all barbarous Countries besides, are able to satisfie the mans gréedie and ambicious minde. And notwithstanding that all the Grecians doe heare, and sée these thinges: yet doe we neyther sende Ambassadors one to another touching these matters, nor yet conceyue any great sorrow for it: but so maliciously be we set among our selues, and lye so lurking lyke men trenched in wyth Walles: that euen vntill this day, wée coulde neuer doe anye thing, that was eyther profitable, or séemely to be done, neyther to agrée togither, nor yet to ioyne in common, to the helpe and succor one of another: but séeing that King Philip he meaneth. man waxen greater, wée make none account of him. ‘And as séemeth to me, euery man thinketh to make that time gainfull to him wherein others go to wracke: and neyther studieth or attempteth the thing, that might be for the safegarde,Euery man sekes to saue one, for a time: while others miscary, whereas none haue any care of the whole state or country. and preseruation of the Gréekes.An apt similitude deriued from the bodie to the mind, declaring howe carelesse the Greciās were. Wrongs done by straungers, more daungerous, than harmes done by naturall Citizens, or home borne men. But it fareth herein, much like as it doth with them that haue an Ague, or any other disease that commeth by fittes or course. For how soeuer a man think it presently farre from him, yet at length the Feuer comes, and shakes him by the backe.’
Moreouer, this you doe all vnderstande, whatsoeuer smart the Gréekes suffered of the Lacedemonians, or of vs: they haue receyued the same as of naturall & méere Grecians: which was to be taken in like part, as if a mans owne sonne borne & brought vp in great welth, hauing done somewhat scant honestly or vniustly: although he weare to be blamed and rebuked iustly for the same: yet to say that he should be counted a straunger or a frem man, and not an inheritour to those goodes for his fact, surely that [Page 70] weare not a thing to be admitted. Whereas, if a bonde slaue or a mans hynde,King Philip a barbarous prince, & mere straunger to the Grecians. King Philip contumelius and dispitefu [...]l of his tongue. would without order, make hauock of things where he ought not: Lord God how grieuously would all men stomack and take on, at such a matter. And haue not men nowe the same opinion of king Philip, and his doings? who is not onely, not a Grecian, and nothing kyth or kin to the Gréekes at all, but also he is not so much as a Barbarian, of anye suche countrie as is woorth the naming: but euen a vile rancke Macedon, from whence neuer man yet willingly would haue bought a good bond slaue. And yet for all this, what extréeme contumelie and despite hath he forborne to raise against vs? hath not he in his handes besides the townes that he hath destroyed and beaten downe, the gouernment of thePythia, certaine games made yerely in the honour of Apollo, for killing the mighty and venimous serpent Pytho. Oracle of Apollo. Amphictyones, an assembly of states to come to gither, hauing ye name of Amphiction, who caused the princes of Grece to be summoned, to meete at the hils Thermopylae, which hils were so named of the hote baynes nighe vnto thē. And those states were twelue in number. Ore [...]m, How Lorio. A notable similitude declaring the nature of lyther & carelesse people. Ambracia, now Larta. Leucas, nowe saint Meura. Nanpactum, now Lepontus Etolia, a countrie betwixt Acarnania and Phocis. Pithyan oracles, where the common games of Grece weare? to which, if he list not to come himselfe, he sendeth slaues of his owne to be ouerséers of the games. He is Lorde of the Pyles and entryes into Grece: he kéepes the places with garnisons, and forreyne Souldiours to stoppe the passage into Grece. Hath not he also the preheminence and prerogatiue at Apollos Oracle? doth not he kéepe back, vs, the Thessalians, the Dorians, and the rest of the Amphictyones, from that which euery sort, (no not of the Gréekes themselues) might haue accesse vnto. Doth not he appoynt ye Thessalians, after what fashion they shal be ruled? doth not he send out mercenarie souldiers to kepe the Goulfe in Euboia, and to driue out from thence the cōmons of Eretria? doth not he sende others to Orium to place Philistides, the Tyrant there? All these things the Grecians sée & suffer before theyr faces. ‘Now truly herein they séeme to me to do euē as those do, ye sée a storme of hayle comming, agaynst which euery man prayth, that it may not light vpon him, but no man deuiseth howe to kepe it of.’ And neyther can the dispightes he doth to all Grecelande in common, no nor yet the wronges done by him to euerye man by himselfe: mooue anye man to bée reuenged of him. And last of all: is he not gotte to the Corinthians townes, Ambracia and Leucas? did not hée promise by solemne othe, that when he had taken Naupactum from the Achaeans, he would giue the same streight to the Etolians? hath not he taken Echinum [Page 71] from the Thebanes?Echinus, in the geulfe of Dollo in Macedonie. Bizance, nowe Cōstantinople in Romania. Cardia, in Thracia Cherronesus. and sendes he not his armie nowe agaynst those of Bizance? and are not they your confederates, your allies, & your friends? And to ouerpasse others, he hath got to himselfe Cardia, the greatest Citie in Cherronesus. And yet we, for all we sée these manifest and most plaine iniuries, make faire weather for al that, and dally out our matters: looking euery man vpon his next felow, and mistrusting one another: whilest he in the meane season doth vs al the apparant wrongs that may be.Where couetousnesse reigneth and licencicus liuing is vsed: there is destruction one of another, and small care had of the common weale. But what thinke you, that he (who now behaueth himselfe so outragiously towards al men in generall) will do when he is Lord ouer euerie man perticularly? And what is the cause of all these things? for it was not without reason & iust cause, that all ye Gréekes were then so readie, & forward to maintaine their libertie: and so willing now as they be, to liue in bondage. There was a thing, there was a thing (O Athenians) at those dayes in the hearts and mindes of many men, that is not now in these dayes,The soundnes and vpright dealing of the auncient Grecians in times past. which did both preuaile agaynst the Persians riches, made Grece liue in libertie, and that they weare neuer conquered in fight, or lost battaile by sea or by lande. But nowe that this is gone, all thinges go to hauock and ruyne, and the state of whole Greceland is turned altogither topsie turuie. And what was that? A thing of no great difficultie or cunning surely. ‘No more but this, that they deadly hated all such, as would take money of them, that desired alwayes to haue the rule ouer others,Bribe takers and corrupt receyuers of gifts hated among the Grecians, and sharpely punished. or sought the ouerthrow of Greceland by corrupt meanes.’ And a verye heynous matter it was in those dayes, to be conuicted for a bribe taker, they were most grieuously punished, none excuse or pardō was to be had for them. ‘And therfore amongst them, al such good opportunities, and occasions as happened vnto them, to doe theyr feates by (which by fortune oftentimes are poured into the carelesse mens lappes agaynst the watchfull, and to them that do nothing, against them that doe what they can) coulde not bée bought out or redéemed of the Counsellers and Capitaines:Councellours vncorrupted. neither the good will of men one to another, nor the mistrust that men had in Barbarians, The corruption and naughtinesse in bribe takers. and Tyraunts, nor in any such like.’ Wheras now all these are set to sale: as though it weare in ouert market. And in stéede of these: [Page 72] other things are brought in, that haue béene the losse and weakening of all Grece. And what are those? Malice, and repining, if a man take money: scoffing, if one confesse it: forswearing, if it be proued vpon him: hatred if any man find fault with it: and such other like thinges, as doe depende vpon briberie. As for Galleys, number of men, reuenues of money, store of other prouision, and all things besides, that are thought méete to belong to the strēgthning, and fortifying of Cities: we haue more plentie of them and better of al sortes, than was any at those daies. And yet for al that, all these things are now in vaine, and serue vs to no vse, or occupation, by reason of these copesmates, and corrupt bribe takers. And that this is true you know, very well, and neede not me for a witnesse. But that in tymes past it hath béene cleane contrarie, that wil I declare vnto you, and I wil not tell you a tale of mine owne head: but I will bring you foorth ye flat scriptures of our auncestors which they set vp in wryting vpon a brasen Piller in the Tower Acropolis, Acropolis, the name of the Tower or Castle of Athens. Where you shall see the Registers and tables conteyning the histories for perpetuall memorie. And the forme of gouernment aunciently engrauen, not that they had néede of such matters: for they knewe well ynough without any such wrytings, what they had to doe: but that these things might be examples and monumentes for you that followed,A seuere and auncient vsage of vanishing a traytor by the example of one Arthmius a Zelite, not much vnlike to baffeling, vsed in the Scottish borders. Reade Graftons Cronicle. 5. Hen. 8. This A [...]thenius was employed to win men with briberie & corruption, and so he brought great summes of golde from Medea to Peloponesus, a part of Grece, and yet not vnder Athens. and to sée with what care such things were to be looked vnto. And what sayth that wryting? forsooth it sayth, Arthmius, the sonne of Pithonactes, a Zelite, let him be taken for a defamed person, and an enimie to the commons of Athens, their allies and confederates, he and al his ofspring. Vnderneath the cause of his condemnation is alledged in this sort. Because he brought gold from Medea into Peloponesus, not bicause he brought it to Athens. Consider now for the reuerence of God with your selues, what the meaning of the Athenians was in those dayes, and what authoritie they had, when they did these things? They thus proclaymed [Page 73] Arthmius, a certaine Zelite being slaue to the king of Persia (for Zelia is a towne in Asia) bicause that he in seruice of his maister brought golde with him, to Peloponesus, Bribes brought to Peloponesus, offended the Athenians as muche, as though they themselues had bene offered bribes and touched with corruption. not bicause he brought any to Athens, therefore they graued in a Pyller that both he and his ofspring shoulde be reputed as enimies to them and their allies, and be diffamed for euer. This is not such a kinde of infamie as a man would so commonly tearme it. For what should he being a Zelite borne passe a grote, for being forbidden the franchises of Athens? But this writing hath not so sleight a meaning, there is an other matter in it. But it is written in the criminall lawes made against murtherers: That where a man woulde not stande to the punishment of the lawe, hee shoulde bee enquired of, and aunswerable for murder, yea, it was a godly déede to kill him.
And (sayth the lawe) let him die the death,The auncient Grecians thought themselues bound in conscience to tender the preseruation of all Greceland, not onely of their owne seuerall state or coūtry. with shame and dishonour, which is as much to saye, that he, that killeth such a man, shall be cleared, and reputed without stayne of any fault. Wherefore, these men thought themselues charged to looke to the safe kéeping of all Grecelande. For it had béene no matter, to them, if one had gone aboute to buye and to brybe men wyth money in Peloponesus, except they had béene of this minde? neither would they haue so punished, and bene reuenged of such whom they knew weare bribetakers,In time of daū ger, and especially whē neighbors and friendes are negligent and carelesse: it weare good for men to looke well and circumspectly to themselues. as to set their names vpon pillers. And these things by good reason made the Gréekes séeme so redoubted, and so terrible to the Barbarians to deale withall, not the Barbarians to them. But now the world is cleane chaunged, neyther be you of like disposition, eyther in this or in anye thing else. But how, you be disposed, ye know well ynough your selues. And therefore to what purpose weare it to find fault with you, for euery thing you doe? All Grecelande besides, is after the same sort, and nere a whit better than you are. Therfore I do ensure you, that it weare very néedefull for vs, to vse merueilous great diligence and to take good councell for these weightie affaires, [Page 74] and matters that we haue in hande at this time. And how now? shall I tell it you? doe you bid me? and will you not then be angrie with me? I haue written it in a Table that one shall reade to you, and you shall heare it. Reade these actes sirrha.
The rehersall of the Register is wanting.
The lesse one feareth his enimie: the nigher he is to his own harme.There is spred abrode certaine fond talke by such as would put vs in comfort, with telling vs that king Philip is not yet of such puissance as ye Lacedemonians haue bene heretofore, who were Lordes of the sea, and of the land all about, and weare in league with the king of Persia, so that none could withstand them: and yet this Citie reuenged themselues of them, and lost nothing at their hands. And as al things in a maner be much encreased, and nothing like to that they weare in times past: so also I thinke nothing is more altered and aduaunced, than are the affayres of warre.
For first of all, I hearesay that the maner of the Lacedemoniās in those daies, & al other Gréekes to, was to be forth foure or fiue moneths in warfare, when the season of the yere serued, & in that space to inuade & annoy their enimies coūtrie, with a power of armed men and souldiors of their owne countrie,The order of warfare, cleane altered, and in stede of plaine dealing deceyte vsed, and all sleyghts, that may be, both deuised, and practised. and so to returne home againe when they had done. And so aunciently or rather ciuilye they behaued themselues, that they would do nothing by corruption of money, but by loyaltie & open warre. Whereas now adaies, you sée al things go to ruine by treason, and nothing done by fight and open battaile. You sée that king Philip not with squares of armed souldiers goeth whither he will: but with a retinue of light horsmen and hired archers. And then hauing such fellowes at hand, his maner is, where he sées men at sedition and trouble among themselues, that for priuate faction and mistrust one to another, no man dares issue oute, for his Countrie: there he rushes mée in vppon them,King Philip most painfull, sparing for no weather to doe his indeuour. and hauing his engines with him, layes streyght siege to their Townes. And I tell you not here, howe all is one to him, whether he warre in Winter or in Sommer, and howe he makes no choyse of the [Page 75] season, when to leaue of from dooing his businesse. Wherefore,Daungerous to fight with out enimye at our owne doores. seing you all doe knowe, and consider this well ynough: it were good that ye suffered not the enimie, to bring the warres into our owne Countrie: least following that foolishe and simple order of the Lacedemonians warres, ye bring your selues to some great mischiefe, ynough to break your necks withall. But you must very circumspectly or ere things approch vpon vs, beware aswel by your doings, as by your preparation, and looke wel to him that he stirre not from home, and that wée be not fought withall by him, hand to hand. For why, to maintaine the warres,Better to begin warres, than to abide warres. we haue many wayes aduauntage of him (O Athenians) so we would but doe as we ought to doe: The verie nature of his countrie, a good part whereof we maye ransacke and annoye, and tenne thousande aduauntages besides. But as for the fight, he is farre better exercised in it, than we are. ‘Neyther is it ynough to withstande him abrode, with sworde and armour, but ye must doe it also by reason and vnderstandinge, persecuting all such as amongest you speake on his side,Home enimies the worst people liuing, and an euill cherishing it is of a Serpent in a mans bosome. assuring our selues that we shall neuer ouercome our enimie abrode, till we haue punished his ministers here at home.’ And that thing, so farre as I can sée, before God and all his Saintes, you be neyther able nor willing to doe: but you are come to such foolishnesse, or rather madnesse, or I wot néere what to tearme it: (for oftentimes it commes in my minde to be adrad, least some spirite or fatall destinie doe chase and persecute our doinges) that eyther for rayling, or enuie, or scoffing, or some other trifling matter, you make a sight of hirelings to come vp and speake in this place: of whome there are some that cannot disavowe nor denie themselues to bée suche men: and then you make a sport of it, when they fall a rayling vpon men. And yet this is no great matter neyther, although it be a great matter in déede. ‘For you suffer such to gouerne with more safetie: than they that speake for your welfare.Euill men gouerne with better safetie, than good men. And yet marke what great mischiefe commeth hereof, bicause you will giue eare vnto such men.’ I will tell you their doings, which you all shall well perceyue.
At Olynthus Olynthians there weare some men of authoritie in the common [Page 76] weale, who fauoured king Philip and weare his ministers in all thinges they coulde doe.Examples of practised treasons. Others did all for the best, procuring al they could, that their countrimen should not be brought to slauerie. Which of them say you destroyed their countrie? or who betrayed the horsemen, wherevpon the Citie of Olynthus was destroyed and vndone?Apollonides banished being a faythfull subiect. Eretria. Plutarchus a Capitaine, Porthmus a Creeke or Goulfe of the Sea that may easily be passed Hipponicus being sent by king Philip to ayde the Gretrians, tooke their town and countrie afterwardes for his maysters vse. Hipparchus, Automedon, Clytarchus Eurilocus, Parmenion. Oreum, nowe called Loreo. Philistides, Menippus, Socrates, Thoas, Agapeus. Philistides accused of treason by Euphreus. Enphreus suffered to be caried to prison by thē, that weare for king Philip, and despited euen then, of hys owne countrimen. Certainly that did they, that weare on king Philips side: who (as long as the Citie stoode) did so slaunder and picke quarrels agaynst them that spake best for you, that at the length they perswaded the Commons of Olynthus, to banishe Apollonides. Now thinke you that this custome, was the cause of all the mischiefe onely in Olynthus, and no where else? Nay it was so in Eretria to, for there, after the departure of Plutarchus, & the forreine souldiors, when the people ruled the towne and goulfe therof: some would be vnder vs, and some vnder king Philip. To these the miserable and vnhappie Eretrians giuing eare in many things or rather in al, they were at length perswaded to thrust out such as spake of their own side. And yet for all yt, king Philip theyr friend and allie, sendes me vnto them Hipponicus, with a thousand straūgers, & bet downe the walles of their goulfe, placing there thrée tyrants, Hipparchus, Automedon, & Clytarchus, & after this draue thē twise out of their own coūtry, when now they would gladly haue bene in safety, sending thither the straungers yt were with Eurilochus: & after that again, those that were wt Parmeniō. What nede I to heape vp many examples? at the towne of Oreum, were not Philistides, Menippus, Socrates, Thoas, and Agapeus, practisers for king Philip, who now haue the City in their handes? And this was knowne to all men. But to tell how one Euphraeus, a man that dwelt here somtymes, and traueiled for their fréedome, that they should not come in bondage to any body, was iniuried and railed vpon by the commons of the Oreteynes: it would aske a long tyme of talke. The yeare before the sayd towne was taken, he vnderstanding theyr practises, appeached Philistides and his complices of highe treason: whervpon many men cōspiring and assembling themselues, hauing Philip their pursebearer, & being guided by his instructions, caried me away Euphraeus to prison, as a disturber of the [Page 77] common weale. Which thing ye cōmons of the Oreteynes seing, in stéede of assisting him, and tormenting them: they shewed them selues not offended at all with them, and as for him, they thought he was worthily punished, & reioyced at it. But afterwards these fellowes béeing in such aucthoritie, as they wished: they wrought a practise to take the towne by, and brought the same to passe.The sharpe punishing & euill handling of one good man, makes many other good men afrayde. And then the Commons, if any of them vnderstood the matter, they held their peace, like people amazed, remembring how Euphraeus was handled. Yea, in such miserable state weare those men brought, that none durst open his mouth in that extréemitie, till the army that was prepared, came euen to their walles. And then some of them defended the town, and others betrayed it. And thus the towne being fowly and euill fauoredly lost: these fellowes are become Princes, and play the tyraunts ouer such as earst preserued both themselues, & Euphraeus too (being men ready to do any thing) when they had banished some, & put to death some others.Erphreus [...]emented the euil of his countrie, and beeing in prison, not able to redresse things amisse: did kil himself. And that same Euphraeus, being in prison killed himself, witnessing by such a déede, that he had iustly and sincerely withstoode King Philip in the quarrell of his Countrimen. But now perhaps euery one of you doth wonder and maruaile how it commes to passe, that the Olynthians, Eretrians, & the Oret [...]ynes haue more fauored king Philips friends & partakers: then their own patrones and defenders, euen in like sort as you do. ‘The cause is this:The reason, why traytours and flatterers are better lyked, than are the iust and true meaning Counsellors. those that speake for the best, can not at al times tell you that, the which shall please you, no though they would. For why, it lyes them vpon to cōsider what shall be for your preseruation, wheras these others while they tell you a faire tale, and curry fauell with you, brue altogither for king Philip.’ They required of euery one a contribution: these men would haue none.The demaund of good men, for their countries weale: the deniall vsed by flatterers, to the hurt thereof. They would haue vs make warre, and haue him in a ielousie: these would haue vs to be at peace, til the enimie were come vpon vs. And in like sort I meane of all other things, bicause I will not particularly rehearse them all. These men tell you the things, whereby they may presently please your fantasie: the others tolde you that, whereby the state might be kept in safetie hereafter, not without displeasure and hazard of themselues. And last of all, the common people, they did beare [Page 78] with many things, not for fauour, nor yet for ignoraunce, but as men (that constreyned to yéelde vnto the time) perceyue themselues altogither vnequally matched. The selfesame thing so helpe me God and holidome,Aduice and councell to go before mens actions. I doubt much will fall vppon you: forasmuch you sée there is nothing in you, that is done by aduise and councell. And when I sée them that bring you, in this taking: I doe not tremble and quake at them, but I loth them vtterlye. For,God graunt vnto England many such true, faythfull, stowte and wise counsellors, as was Demosthenes to Athens. be it of purpose, or be it through ignorance, once, they haue brought the Citie into great hazarde and to a marueilous straite: But God forbidde (O Athenians) that thinges shoulde come to that poynt: better it weare to dye ten thousande deathes, than by flatterie to serue King Philips humor: to the vtter vndoing of them that are the Authors of your welfare.Oriteynes abvsed, and pitiful [...]y tormented by king Philip. A goodly dishe of thankes I promise you, that the Oriteynes receyued by yéelding themselues to King Philips friendes, and thrusting out of Euphraeus. The commons of Eretrians also, they are wiselye handled, for kéeping back your Ambassadors, and yéelding themselues to Clytarchus, Clytarchus. they are handled like slaues in déede, they are whipped and scourged, and miserably tormented. Oh Lord, howe goodlily did he pardon and spare the Olynthians for choosing of Lasthenes to their Captaine of horsemen,Olynthians deceyued by king Philip of their hope and promised pardon. and erpulsing Apollonides. ‘It is a verie follie, and the greatest beastlynesse that may bée, for men to hope for such things, (and whereas they take euill councell themselues, and are not willing to doe anye thing, as is fitte for them to doe, but giue eare to them that speake on their enimies side) to thinke that they dwell in a Citie of such greatnesse that they can suffer no harme whatsoeuer betide.’ And what a foule shame were this, if any mishap fell vpō vs hereafter,Take heede of Had I wyst. to say, who would ere haue thought it? For why, God knowes, thus, and thus, we should haue done forsooth, and thus we shoulde not haue done.Olynthians wise a day after the fayre. The Olynthians shoulde haue now many things to saye, the which, if they had than foreséene: they had not bene vndone as they are.Oriteynes beaten wyth their owne rodde. Phoceyans come to had I wist. So might the Oriteynes: So might the Phoceyans, and all the reast that are now come to their vndoing. But what good would this doe them? ‘So long as the shippe is safe whether it be great or small, it is méete that both [Page 79] Maister, Mariners,An apt similitude, to warne men to be wise in time, and to take paines when neede requires. The summe of Demosthenes aduice & councell, for warres to be had, and the preparation thereof. Athenians (being the chiefest and worthiest Greciās aboue all others) neuer yeelded to any seuerall subiection or bondage. Ambassadors needefull to be sent abrode in tyme of warre, to all parts. and euery man in his course doe his best indeuour, and be héedefull that no man either witting or vnwares, should by any meanes ouerwhelme it: but when the sea is once come in, then is it in vaine to traueils any longer: euen so we also (O Athenians) so long as we are in good state, enioying a puissant Citie of our owne, and haue opportunitie and occasions at will, while we maintaine and holde our selues in this great dignitie: peraduenture there sittes some here amongst vs, that haue longed this good while to aske the question, what shall we doe?’ Why, by Gods grace, that will I tell you, and enact it my selfe, and if you like it, you may holde vp your hands to it, and passe it.
Let vs first and foremost, and before all others withstand him, and defend our selues: let vs, our galleys, our money & souldiors be in a readinesse, for though all the world would yéeld vnto slauerie and bondage: yet vndoubtedly must we fight for our libertie. And then I say, when we are furnished with all these things, and that we haue made the rest of ye Grecians priuie thervnto: let vs couple and linke in with others, & dispatch Ambassadors al about to make information thereof to Peloponesus, to the Rhodes, to Chio, yea, euen to the king of Persia himselfe. For it is not against his profite neyther, that we should stoppe this man from conquering all: to the intent that if you may bring them to it, than they may take such part as we doe: as well in the aduentures, as in the costs and charges that be requisite. And if by this meanes we can not get our purpose, yet at the least ye shall driue out the time with him, and winne somewhat by delayes. Winning of time, and delayes: are profitable sometimes. Demosthenes, Polieuctus, Hegesippus, Clytomachus, Lycurgus. with others sent Ambassadors to Morea, and the good that they did therby, in staying of king Philip from thence, and other places beside. And that is a poynt you shall not finde altogither vnprofitable vnto vs, considering wée are to make warre against the personne of a man, and not against the force of any selfe gouerned state or frée Citie. Neyther was that ambassage in vaine, that I, and that worthie man Polieuctus, Hegesippus, Clytomachus, and Lycurgus with others went in, nor yet the complaintes that wée made in traueyling aboute Peloponesus, a yeare ago: for by that meanes wée made him staye that he coulde neyther enter into Ambracia n [...]w Lacta. Ambracia, nor yet inuade Peloponesus. ‘And yet I speake not this, to the intent that we should call others in our ayde, and then we [Page 80] our selues should sit still, and be vnwilling to doe anye thing that should do vs good. For why, it were a very fond part, yt they who do forslow their owne businesse, shoulde say they tooke vpon them the charge ouer other folkes matters: and while they doe themselues neglect things present: shoulde warne others to beware of things to come.’ No, that is not my saying, but my meaning is, that you should sende money to the souldiours at Cherronesus, and do for them as they shal require you in al things besides. And that we our selues be in a readinesse,Good for the Athenians as chiefest among the Grecians, to beginne first their warres, and then to call others to ioyne in league and felowship of war with them. and first of all do our parts, and after that to call other Grecians vnto vs, and assemble them togither, and enforme them, and aduertise them of all thinges. This is the dutie of a Citie, that hath such aucthority, and estimation as you haue. For if you looke that the Calcidians or the Megarians should kéepe Grece, and you your selues to shrinke from dooing any businesse: you are not well aduised. For the worlde goeth well with them, if euery one of them maye saue himselfe. But it is you that must doe this feate: to you haue your Auncestours left this office, and purchased it, with many a faire and valiaunt aduenture. But if euery one will looke to haue his will by sitting still,Such as are careles in their owne causes: hardily finde others to bee carefull for them. and thinke to doe nothing himselfe: first of all he shall be sure to find no bodie will do it for him. And afterwards I feare me we shall be enforced our selues, to do euery one of vs that we would not doe. For had there béene any such, they had long agoe shewed their good willes, bycause you your selues woulde doe nothing. But there are none suche. And therefore this saye I, this write I, and this béeing done, I thinke there is time ynough yet to amend all. Howbeit, if any man haue any better than this, let him say it, and giue his aduice: and whatsoeuer it be, that you shall like of, God graunt the same may be for your profite.
CErtayne of Athens, beeing King Philips feede men, and greatly bounde vnto him for large rewardes giuen: kept the people backe as muche as they coulde from repressing or withstanding his dooynges from tyme to tyme, till hee had made all thinges readie for the warres, and had sette foote in the fittest places, that might bee for his purpose. So that such his hyrelinges as vsed to speake for the maintenaunce of peace, agaynst warre: weare verye well lyked of the people, not for anye speciall loue they had to peace, but for feare of taxes and paymentes, and other burthens hanging vpon warre, the which commonly grieue the people most of all, and in tyme of warre must needes bee had. Wherefore it was daungerous to propounde matter concerning warre, or to exhort the people to bee at defiaunce with any bodye. For then those trayterous hyrelinges woulde put vp a Byll of complaint against them, as motioners and Aucthours of those decrees. And the people that coulde not abide to heare of charges and payments, and therefore hated warre: woulde with open mouth and full consent condemne him presently as an offender, that once spake for warre, although the necessitie weare neuer so great. So that where as Demosthenes durst not subscribe to the enacting of warre to bee proclaymed, he vseth cunning by a figure called Translatio, and layeth it vpon an other, saying, that King Philip hath denounced warre agaynst them, so that they are in great hazard and daunger. And therefore he doth exhort them to withstande the warres alreadie commenced and taken in hande by king Philip, the which is a naturall request. For what is he that will not seeke to defende himselfe and deuise with force to withstande force.
Lastly, he seeketh to set an attonement betwixt the rich men & the poore, who weare at defiaunce amongst themselues. For the rich weare verie loth to yeeld to any subsidie, and would rather that the treasure money wherof the poore people had, a good part for their comfort, should bee conuerted wholy to beare all the charges of the warres: on the other side, the poores sort weare in an vprore agaynst the riche, and threatned that they woulde enter vpon their goodes, and spoyle them in their owne houses rather than they woulde lose their stage pence and the benifite of the publike treasure, [Page 82] for setting foorth of their shewes and pastimes. Demosthenes herevpon rebuketh them both, and willeth the rich men to let the stage money alone for the poore, being so small a matter: and chargeth the sayde poore men on the other side, to forbeare violence and iniurie towardes the richer sort. And in the necke of this, he cryeth out agaynst Traytours that hinder good motions, and councelleth herevpon the Athenians to sende Ambassadors to the king of Persia, to haue him ioyne in league with them, and to helpe thē with money, for that otherwise, the Citie had not wherewith to beare out their n [...]essary charges: meaning hereby, that the riche men should not bee called vpon, and the poorer sort should be spared also, and haue their desires, if this ambassage tooke place, the which is the verie scope and full entent of all his meaning. And as it should seeme this Oration was spoken more vpvpon the sodaine, or at the least wise not prouided for, as the other his Orations weare. For that diuers thinges are here vttered, and much matter of substaunce rehearsed, and almost after the selfe-same maner in this action declared: as was before spoken in certaine of his other Orations alreadie made and vttered to the people.
¶The fourth Oration against king Philip of Macedonie.
FOr asmuch as (O Athenians) these affayres wherevpon you doe sit in councell; are both right weightie and necessarie for our Countrie: I will endeuour my selfe to speake thereof, that which I thinke is for your profite. Amongst a great number of faults, and gaules and those not of a small times growing, that cause vs to be in this euil fauoured pickle: there is none of them all (O Athenians) that doth vs more hurt at this time, than this, that you giue your mindes altogither from the dooing of your businesse.Negligence lost Athens. For so long and no longer lastes all the labour you take, as you may be sitting still, & hearing some newes told you: and then euery man gets him away neyther regarding nor so much as remembring the matter at all. And as for king Philippes dealings towarde all men, they be so full of outragiousnesse, and couetousnesse as you heare them reported to bée: and euery man knowes very well, that it is not possible to bridle him or restraine him of this,Not wordes, but armor, must kepe king Philip vnder. by anye treatie or perswasion that we can vse. Which thing he that can not perceyue by any other thing else, let him consider it hereby: whensoeuer it came to the talke of right & iustice: we neuer had the worse, nor yet weare euer iudged to be wrong doers, but haue alwayes had the better hande, and haue preuayled in our talke: And yet I pray you what did his businesse procéede any whit the worsse, or ours any thing the better for al this? nothing at all surely. ‘For where as his fashion is, as soone as he hath taken armour in hande, by and by to be readie to go and aduenture himselfe with all that he hath, and ours on the other side to sit still, some when we haue spoken that which right requireth, and other some, when we haue giuen the hearing, by good reason I thinke it falleth out, that déedes doe surpasse wordes, [Page 84] and that all men do not so much marke and regarde, the right that we maintaine in wordes, and what we haue sayde or shall say for our selues: as the thing that we do and put in execution.’ And they be such, as are of no force to the preseruation and safetie of any that is oppressed. And here néedes no more talke therof. Wherefore, séeing it is so, that all States and Towneships, are deuided into these two factions, whereof the one sort, bée of those that neither desire themselues to haue the rule by force and strong hande, neyther yet to be in bondage to others, but séeke onely to maintaine their libertie, and to haue their Countrie gouerned by lawes in an euennesse: the other sort, is of them that desire to be Princes ouer their owne Countrie men, and yet can be contented to bée vnder the obedience of some other, by whose meanes they thinke they maye attayne therevnto: So it is that such as are of his minde, that is, they that desire to be Tiraunts and Lordes,Ambicious persons cherished by king Philip. they haue got the rule and beare sway euery where alredie. And I thinke there is neuer a one of them all left, that sittes fast in their democratie or people holde estate, saue yours onely. And those that by his meanes beare rule in Townes,Corrupt officers neuer want matter, to satisfie theyr corrupt myndes. they haue alreadie euery where gotten the ouer hande, by all these meanes whereby matters are brought to passe. And the very first and chiefest thing of all is, that such as be bribe takers, are sure of a briber to féede theyr humor.Mandragora, of two sortes black and white bearing apples low vpon the groūd, hauing no such roote, as is fondlye ymagined, but of vertue, to cast one into so heauie a sleepe, that being laū ced or burned, he shall not fele the griefe. The next and neuer a whit lesse matter than that, is this, that there is a power at hande to beate downe such as doe withstande their purpose, at what time soeuer they shall require it. But as for vs, we are not onely behind in this behalfe, but like men cast into a sléepe with drinking of Mandragora, or some other like beuerage: wée can not by any meanes bée wakened. Againe, we are in such a contempt and slaunder abrode, by these our doings, (For I must be plaine with you, and tell you as I thinke) that some men béeing themselues in the middest of daunger, doe for all that kéepe a quarreling with vs, some for the Generalships,Athenians contemned for their slouthfulnesse. others, about the diet and méeting place: and other some there be, that are determined rather to [Page 85] defende themselues by themselues, than with vs. And wherefore doe I say all this, and why make I so great a discourse? ‘Now God is my witnesse, and all his saintes,As a Feuer Hectyke is son [...] cured at the first, and hardly knowne: but being growne, is hardly cured, & easily perceyued: so it fareth in the affayres of this world, that things may son [...] be remedied at the beginning, if they weare espied, whereas afterwards being suffered and knowne, they do waxe incurable. that I meane not to get your euill wil by it, but to the intent that euery one of you (O Athenians) maye right well knowe and perceyue, that it fareth in Towneships, and States of Cities, by this our dayly laysinesse and faint dealings, much like as it doth in our owne liues, that we féele not at the first the smart of euerie thing foreslowed: but when our reconing commeth to the totall summe, then our slouth méeteth with vs in the ende.’ You sée Serrius, and Doriscus, (for these things weare first neglected after the peace concluded, which peraduenture to manye of you bée not knowne at all.) And yet in very déede, the letting go, and ouersight of them, was the losse of Thracia and Chersobleptes your allie and warrefellow. And when he sawe that you made no account of those neyther, nor yet sent them any succours: he digged downe the walles of Porthmus, & made a fortification agaynst you in Euboia, right ouer against Attike: and séeing you cared not for this neyther, neuer so little more he had got Megara. And so slenderly did you regarde and weare mooued with all this: that you did not so much as shewe a countenance that you woulde not suffer him so to raunge. What more? When he had bought out Antrona for his money, he seysed to himselfe not long after the state of Oreo. Many other things I let passe, as Pherrhas, the passage & high way to Ambracia, those slaughters made in Elis, and ten thousand things besides.Elis now Beluedere, in Morea. Neyther haue I made this discourse, meaning thereby to reckon vp vnto you such as king Philip hath subdued wyth outrage, and iniuriously wronged: but to shewe you this poynt, that king Philip will neuer ceasse wronging, and getting all the worlde into his handes, vnlesse some bodie stop him of hys course. Now forsooth there are some men, that before they haue heard a mans tale to the ende, will by and by bée asking the question, what is to bée done? not bicause that when they haue heard good councell giuen them, they meane streight wayes to [Page 86] followe the same and put it in execution,He meaneth, for that they had peace, such questioning there was, as though it had beene nedelesse to speake when all things were well and quiet. (for such men in déede if they did so, weare the best people in the worlde) but they aske it to the intent to be the quicklier rid of the speaker. Howbe it, for all that, I must néedes tell you what is to be done. And therefore first and formost (O Athenians) assure your selues of this one thing, that king Philip makes warre agaynst thys Citie, and he hath alreadie broken the peace, and is an euill willer, and a deadly enimie to this whole Citie, and to the very ground it stands vpon: yea I may say too, to the very Gods that be within this Citie,King Philip hateth euen the verie religion of Athens. whome I beséeche vtterly to confounde him. For there is nothing in all the worlde that he doth, more earnestly fight agaynst, than the verye forme or maner of our common weale, and how to vndoe the same, and at this time he is in a maner, as it shoulde séeme by fine force driuen so to doe. For make you this reckoning with your selues: his meaning is to rule all,Such as liue in libertie, cannot brooke tiranny. and therein he thinkes, there is no bodie to withstande him, but you onely. For well hée wotteth as his owne conscience can witnesse with him, that he hath done you great wrong, nowe this long tyme: for with these things which bée yours of right, and the vse whereof, he hath agaynst right, hée hath gotten the safe possession of all the reast. For had he forgone Amphipolis, and Potidea: he would thinke he shoulde not sit sure in Macedonie. So that he vnderstandeth well eche of these things, both that he lyeth in wayt for you, and that you vnderstand the same very well. But bicause he taketh you to be men of good vnderstanding and iudgement: he perceyueth himselfe to be worthilye hated of you. Besides all these things which be so many and of so great importance, he is well assured, that although he weare Lorde ouer all other countries, yet shall he neuer be able to kéepe them surely, so long as your popular & people ruled estate doth continue. For should he haue any ouerthrow or trip (as he is a man may haue many an one) all those townes which he now kéepes by mayne force, will reuolt streight from him to you:Athenians apt by nature to helpe the afflicted. for you be not men apt of your owne nature to séeke gréedily, and to get the principalitie ouer [Page 87] others: but rather to kéepe an other man from getting: and when he hath gotten any thing, to get ye same out of his handes againe: and wholy to empeach all such as aspire to principalitie, & well able, and sufficient to restore all men to their libertie. And therefore it likes him not at any hande, that the libertye, that is amongst you, should be a trumpe in his way, when the tyme should serue him: neyther is his reason, in this behalfe amisse or out of the purpose. And euen for this cause first and formost, must we iudge him to be such an enimie to the state of a common wealth, and populare fréedome of a Citie, as will neuer be reconciled. And next to that, be you right well assured,King Philip myndeth nothing more, than the destruction of Athens. that all his practises, and deuises at this tyme, are altogither prepared agaynst your Citie: neyther is their any one, among you all, so simple as to think that king Philip hath any desire to those pelting things in Thracia (for by what other name should a man call them) as to Drongilus, Cabyle, and Masteira, and to those that he is now reported to haue, or that for the getting of those baggage things he would endure such trauaile, colde, and extréeme daunger, as he doth: & that his longing is not rather to the hauens of Athens, their Arsenales, their Galleies, their workes of siluer mynes, their huge reuenewes, their territorie and honour, wherof God graunt that neither he nor any other may at any time be Lord & Maister, after that he hath brought our Citie into subiection: or that he would suffer you to enioy all these things, and he himselfe be contented to winter in a Dungeon, for the getting of Tares, Fatches, and Panyke a kind of pulses, not vnlike to Millet, with a long stalke full of ioyntes, in the top whereof groweth an ear full of little yellow seedes as small as Mustard seede, but not so rounde, being of little nourishment for man, & yet verye good for small birdes to feede vpon, and to fa [...] them withall. Panyke that are in the Caues of Thracia. It can not be so: but it is the getting of these things into his handes, for which both those, and all other his practises be. And thus much it is reason,King Philips chiefe drift to get Athens. euerye man should know, and be resolued of in himselfe, and not to require him in good fayth that should giue you the best councell in all rightfull causes, to subscribe to the decrée for making of warre. For High time for the Athenians to proclayme warre with one consent, and to go also to the warres themselues in person that weare the part of them that would faine find one, to whom they might picke a quarrell, and not of them that mynded the thing, that should bée for the wealth of this Citie. [Page 88] For marke you well, whereas Philip hath broken the peace concluded, once, twise, thrise (for many a time one after another hath he so done) if for these so often breaches a man had decréed to make warre vpon him, and he had ayded the Cardians in lyke maner as he nowe doth, when none of the Athenians decréeth warre: thinke you that he which had made this decrée should not haue bene pulled out by the eares,Daungerous for any one man to subscribe to the Table for making of warre: if the people did not allowe of it, and therefore euery one forbare for feare of vndooing, to enact or vnderwrite to the Table, but woulde rather it should be the whole peoples decere and act. and would not all men haue quarreled, that Philip had ayded the Cardians for this cause? Therefore séeke you not whome to hate for King Philips faultes, and to deliuer vp into the handes of his brybed hirelings to be pulled in péeces. Neyther is it méete, when you shall haue once agréed vpon warre, to call the matter againe in question: and to be at contention among your selues, whether it weare néedefull for you to haue done this thing or no. But in like maner as he doth make warre vpon you, so make you your defence, by giuing your money and other thinges necessarie to them that be nowe at warres with him, and your selues by contributing and preparing of an armie, swift Galleyes, horses, and vesselles for transporting of them, and all other thinges belonging to the warres. For as we nowe vse thinges, it is a plaine mockerie,King Philip findeth the Athenians to be as he woulde haue them for his purpose. and I beléeue verily, so God helpe me, that king Philip himselfe would neuer wishe of God, that ye should doe otherwise than ye now doe: you come euer to short in your businesse, you spende money, you séeke out, whome to giue the charge of your businesse vnto, you brawle, you chafe, you accuse one another. And whereof all these thinges doe ryse, you shall heare of me, and I will shew you againe, how to remedie all that is amisse.
I must tell you plaine (O Athenians) you did neuer looke well to your dooings from the beginning, neyther did prouide any thing rightfully and orderly as you ought to doe, but are guided alwayes,Athenians carelesse of their doings till daunger appeared. by the euent and falling out of thinges: and when you sée your selues ouer taken, or come to late, than you take your rest. Againe, if any other thing doe happen, you prepare your selues and make a great styrre, whereas you should [Page 89] not so doe: For it can not be, that you shall euer doe any thing well, by sending of supplies and ayde. But when you haue prepared an armie and gotten sufficient prouision of vittayles for the same, and appointed common officers ouer your treasure,The Treasure must be looked vnto and kept in safetie. and as much as may be, séene that your money bée in safe kéeping: when I say you haue this done, then must you take an account of the Treasurers, howe they haue bestowed their money, and of your Generall for matters of warre, and leaue him no occasion or pretence, to sayle any other where, or to take any other matters in hande. And thus dooing, and shewing your selues willing: then shall you in déede compell king Philip to kéepe the peace vprightly, and tarie at his owne home: or else you shall be sure to deale with him vpon euen hande. And peraduenture it may so come to passe, that euen as you nowe are woont to aske, what doth king Philip? which way goeth he with his armie? euen so will he be carefull which way your armie is gone, & where you will make your entrie, and discouer your selues. Now if any man thinke it very chargeable and painfull to bring these matters to passe: surely he thinketh right well and with good reason. ‘But and he will consider what will become of this Citie hereafter, if in case wée will not so doe:Nothing well done, that is not willingly done. he shall then finde and sée how profitable a thing it is when a man must néedes doe a thing, to doe it with a good will.’ For although God himselfe would be our suretie, and warrant vs, (as in déede it passeth mans power sufficiētly to assure vs in such a matter as this is) that though we would liue at rest, & let all things alone, as men carelesse which way the worlde went: and that king Philip for all that, would not inuade vs himselfe: yet notwithstanding, it weare a fowle rebuke to vs before God, and a dishonourable dealing for this Citie, and a thing vnfit,Our neighbours harme, should be our griefe, and carefull ought we to be ouer them. for the renowne of the noble actes of our predecessors, that all other Grecians should through the lythernesse and negligence of vs, be brought into extréeme bondage and slauerie: and for my part I had rather die the death outright, then I would once say the worde,God graunt England many such Counsellours. or giue [...]ny consent therevnto. Howbeit, if any other man will so councell [Page 90] you, and perswade you to it, be it for me: defende not your selues, let all things go to wracke and spoyle. But for as much as there is no bodie of that minde, and we all know the contrary alreadie:The greater our enimy groweth: the more we decay. howe that we shall haue king Philip so much the harder and mightier enimie, the greater Prince that we suffer him to be: why be we so backwardes? wherevpon linger we? and when will we dispose our selues (O Athenians) to do that, which in reason we ought to doe? shall it bée (on Gods name) when very néede shall driue vs therevnto? well, and you meane such néede, as any frée borne man would terme to be néede: the same not onely is nowe present, but it is also gone and past, a great while since: But such as bonde men and slaues terme néede, I pray God blesse vs from that. And what difference is betwéene them I pray you? mary thus much: ‘Shame and rebuke of euill dooings is the greatest necessitie that can be layde vppon those that be frée men, than the which I knowe none greater.’ But the greatest inforcement to a slaue that can bée, is stripes, and scotching, or mangling of his bodie, the which God kéepe vs from, and let vs not so much as once speake of it. And nowe (O Athenians) for you to shewe your selues so slowe in those things wherein euery man is bounde to serue both with his bodie and goodes: surely that is not well, no God knowes, it is farre wide. Howbeit, there may be some excuse made for it. Marie in that you be not willing to giue eare,They that will not so muche as heare councell giuen them are persons inexcusable, and nighest their last vndoing. to yt which might be told you, & should be fitte for you to receyue councell in: surely, that is altogither worthie of blame in you. For it is your custome, neuer to heare of the matter till things be come euen vppon you, as it is now: Neyther will you take coūcel of any matter so long as you be in quietnesse: but when Philip maketh preparation against you, than do you (neglecting to do the same, & in like maner to prepare against him sit still ydlely. And who so euer telleth you of it: you thrust him out streight. Againe, when you heare of any place lost or besieged: then you begin to hearken and buckle to armor: where as your fittest tyme had béene to haue giuen eare euē then, & to haue taken councel when you [Page 91] weare most vnwilling: And that preparation which you had made: to put in practise and execution euen nowe,To prouide before hande, is most wisedome: that things being in a readinesse, the same may be put in execution vpon the sodaine. at this present, when you make it your tyme of consultation.
So that by this your maner of dealing: you onely amongst all others doe things cleane contrary to all the worlde. For all other folkes vse to take councell before thinges be in doing: whereas you begin to deale when all is done.
Nowe therefore that thing which remayneth to be sayde, and should haue bene done long before, and yet there is no time to late nowe neyther: I will shewe the same vnto you. Of all things in the worlde our Citie hath néede of none so much for these matters that be euen at hande, as of money. And fortune of hir selfe hath offered vs good lucke, which if we can vse well, there may perhappes some méete thing be done.
First and formost, suche as the king of Persia puttes hys trust in, and hath taken to be his benefactor, sthey do hate Philip, and be at warre with him. Again, he that was all in all, and priuie with Philips practises agaynst the Persian:The treasu [...]er and gouernor of Aterne for the Persian king, called home from his charge for practising with king Philip against his soueraigne▪ the same man is nowe taken away from his charge. And the Persian shall heare al his practises, not by any of our cōplaints (in which case he might suspect vs to speake for our owne profite) but by him that was himselfe the aucthor and chiefe minister there in: so that our accusasion shal cary ye more credite with it, and your Ambassadours talke, shall be such hereafter, as the king will heare it to his very great delyte and pleasure: that he who hurteth vs both, shall be reuenged of vs both, and also that King Philip shall be a much more terrible enimie to the Persian, if he first set vpon vs. For should we be once forsaken and distressed: he would then without feare marche towardes him. And for all these causes I thinke it good, that you doe dispatch Ambassadors to treate with the king of Persia, and lay away these simple and slender reasons of your owne,It is s [...]llie not to take ayde of a straunger, when we may, and haue nede of it. whereby you haue béene so oftentymes hindered, as those. The Persian, he is a Barbarian so he is, forsooth, and a common enimy to al men, and al the lyke talke. Nowe surely I for my part, when I sée a man [Page 92] stande in great feare of him that dwelles at Susae, and Ecbatana, Susae, chiefe Citie in Persia distant from Athens. 2000 myles, the people called Sus [...], and Ci [...] by Straac, but no [...]e called [...]oque Ismail. and beare vs in hand that he is enimy to this country, who both heretofore hath holpen the matters of our City that weare out of frame, & nowe also hath promised vs his ayde, (which his offer if you did not receyue, but refused it by common decrée, he is not to be blamed therfore:) And yet the same man to report otherwise of that errant King Philip he meaneth. rouer of the Gréekes, who is risen aloft, [...]batana, now [...] Me [...]ia, [...] Persian, [...] doth vse to make his abode. hard by our noses, euen at our owne gates, within the verye hart of Greece: at him do I much marueile, and that man feare I, whosoeuer he be: bicause he feareth not Philip. There is an other thing plagues this City besides al this: which is cast abrode vpon a certain vniust slaunder & vncomly talke of men, and besides that, giueth an excuse & cloke to such as be not willing to doe their duties within the Citie: and of all those things that are wanting (when that want shoulde be supplied by anye bodie) you shall finde the blame layde on this thing. Whereof, albeit I am greatly adradde to speake: yet for all that, I will tell you my mind, and I hope I shal haue good matter to speake of, for the profite of the Citie, aswel on the behalfe of the poore to the rich, as for them that haue substaunce, to the néedie: so that we remooue those slaunderous reports, which certaine men do spreade abrode vpon no iust cause, touching the theater charges or stage money: and also if we woulde cast away this feare, that this thing will not be stayed without some great mischiefe:Ciuill factions being betwixt the riche and poore are nedefull to be cut of. than which thing, I thinke there can be nothing more for our profit, nor generally more for the preseruation and establishment of this Citie. Consider the matter thus with your selues. Albeit, first of all,Speach in fauour of the poore. I will speake of them that are the poorer sort.
The time was, and that not long ago neyther, when the reuenues of this Citie weare not aboue a hundred Twenty three thousand foure hundred poūds s [...]arling. & thirtie talents, and yet there was no man (that was able to mainteine a Galley at his owne proper charges, or to pay any taxe or tallage) that grudged to doe his dutie, for want of money. But there weare Galleyes set foorth, and they made money in good tyme, and all things were done as they should be. After this, by [Page 93] good lucke, the common reuenew of the Citie encreased, and in stéed of one hundred, there came in Three score twelue thousand poundes starling. foure hundred talents, and yet was no man pinched in his goodes, or lost any thing, but rather got by it. For why, the rich & wealthie men, came to haue their part of it, and good reason. Then what ayleth vs,Riche men not to drawe backe from their duties, bicause the poore are vnwilling. that we hit one another in the téeth, and vnder a cloke therof, resist to do our duties? Vnlesse it be so, that we doe enuie the offered ayde that fortune sendeth to the poore: whome neyther I my selfe doe blame, nor yet would haue others to finde fault with them. For euen in priuate families and housholdes, I cannot sée the yonger sort, to be of that disposition towardes their elders,So should euery man liue in the common weale: as good folkes do in priuate families. nor any so out of order, or so foolish, that if any bodie doe not so much as himselfe, he will therefore say that he will doe nothing neyther. Such a fellowe surely should then féele the daunger of the lawes prouided agaynst euill handling of our elders. For I think euery man is bound of right, to yéeld that dutie willingly & of his owne accorde, towards his parents: which both nature and lawe haue ordeyned. And as euery one of vs particularly, hath a father: so ought we all to thinke that all the Citizens,The common Countrie and naturall soyle, should be deare to euery man that is bred & borne in it, and no Subiect ought to be vncared for. are commō parents of the whole Citie. And that it is not fit or conuenient to take that from them, which the Citie hath giuen to them, but rather if the Citie weare not able to giue them anye thing: we ought to prouide for them otherwise, and to sée that they shoulde not want. ‘That if the riche men had this considerate care with them, they would not onely deale (as I beléeue) vprightly, and iustly: but also be profitable and benificiall to others. And it can not be otherwise, but that, when men are commonly voyde of thinges necessary for their liuing: it makes a number of men euil minded to the dispatch of things.’ Againe, on the other side, I would wish that the poorer sort, would cleare themselues, and leaue to deale in that matter, for which the riche men are iustly grieued, and haue good cause to be offended with them.
And now likewise as I haue done alreadie to the poore:The rich, well warned not to hinder ye poore. so will I speake of the riche, and will not shrinke to say the truth. [Page 94] Neyther is there anye man, be he of Athens, or of any other countrie, so miserable and of so cruell a heart (as I thinke) that will grudge, to sée the poore haue it, and them that are in necessitie. But whereat sticke we then, and what is it, that angers vs?Conuerting of publike treasure to priuate game, a thing hurtfull and offensiue. Marie this, when they sée some men turne the custome of the common treasurye, to their owne priuate vse, and the worker hereof so quickly to come aloft among you, and to liue in so great securitie as though he were safe for euer: And then sée the voyce secretly giuen, [...] a hurre or noise that vpon some thing yt liketh or misliketh the people assembled togither, goeth thorow them all. farre different from the shoute and reioycing that was openly made. This is it that bréedeth mistrustfulnesse: this is that that causeth all this anger. ‘For why, it is méete (O Athenians) that one man liue by another, according to right and equitie. And that the riche men, may thinke themselues in safetie of those thinges, that are for maintenaunce of their life,Iustice maintayneth estates. and without feare to inioy them: And when tyme of daunger is, to yéeld vp to their countrie, all their goodes in common for their safegarde and welfare: and as for the rest, that i [...] the poorer sort, to estéeme things common, that are common, and euery one to haue his share, and that which is euery mans in priuate, to remayne still to the owners. And by this meanes, a small Citie waxeth great, and a great Citie is preserued for euer.’ This is in a maner all that may be sayde on both sides, aswell for the riche, as for the poore, but how these thinges may be lawfully done, I must open the matter more plainely.
An answe [...]e to traytours, that sayde their was no feare of king Philip, bicause there was plentie of vittayles▪ in Athens and no want of things necessarie.Of these present businesse and troubles, there are many by past causes to be alledged, which I will open vnto you, if it will please you to giue me the hearing.
You are much swarued (O Athenians) from that State and maner of liuing, which your fore elders left you in, and are perswaded by such, as rule all in these matters, and thinke it a superfluous & a néedelesse charge, to be chiefe ouer all the State of Grece, or to haue alwayes an armie in a readinesse, for the reliefe of all those that are wronged and oppressed: and are giuen to thinke that it is a wonderfull happinesse and great safetie to liue at rest, and to doe nothing as you ought to do: but rather [Page 95] neglecting euerye thing perticularly, to giue other men leaue to take all: and by this meanes an other man is stept vp to that degrée (which had béene fitte for you to haue béene in) king Philip he meaneth. he is become both happie, and mightie, and Lorde ouer a great number, and good reason. For why, that feate which was so honourable, so great, and so goodly a matter, and such as the mightiest Cities haue alwayes striued for among themselues, what thorowe the Lacedemonians vntowarde lucke, and the Thebanes that coulde not intende it by reason of theyr warres with the Phoceians, & what through our negligence: that thing I say hath king Philip taken vp as a thing forsaken, and giuen ouer of all men. Whervpon others of the Grecians were in great feare, but king Philip he got thereby great allyes, and mighty power. And such and so great stirres and troubles haue nowe compassed round about all the Grecians, that it is no very easie matter to giue such councell as is requisite. And where as (O Athenians) all Grece stands in a very dreadfull case (as I take it) yet is there none in greater perill, than you are, not onely bicause king Philip doth chiefely minde confusion vnto you aboue all others,Carelesse people alwayes in most daunger. but especially bicause you your selues are the most carelesse and ydlelest of all. But if, bicause you sée great store and good cheape of things to be solde, and plentie of vittayles in the Market place, you are delyted so much therein, as though the Citie weare out of all daunger: no doubt you do not iudge well of the matter, nor as you ought to doe. For in déede they weare it good matter, for a man to iudge a Market or assē bly by, whether it weare well or euill serued or no. But as for a City, which he (whosoeuer alwayes coueteth to be a ruler ouer the Gréekes) hath thought only able to withstand his purpose, & to defend the liberty of al ye reast: we ought not forsooth to iudge of things that are to be bought & solde, whether that Citie be in good state or no,Strength of a Citie what it is, and wherein it consisteth. but rather if it haue affiance in the good will of confederates, and be strong in furniture of armour. These be the things that ought to be considered in the state of this Citie: which with you are altogither euill vsed, and not well appoynted. [Page 96] And this you may well perceyue, if you will consider with your selues by the time when Gréeceland was chiefly in trouble: (as no man can say yt euer it was at any time so much as at this present.) For in times past all Gréeceland was deuided into two factions, that is to say, betwixt the Lacedemonians and vs. The rest of the Grecians weare part at our deuotion, and part at theirs.The king of Persia, he meaneth. As for the king, so long as he was by himselfe, he was mistrusted of all men alike. But ioyning to him ye weaker side that was conquered in battaile: so long was he trusted, vntill he had made them equall with the other side. Afterwarde they whome he had saued, did no lesse hate him, then those did that had béene his enimies from the beginning. And at this present tyme to beginne withall, the king vseth friendly all the rest of the Gréekes, but vs least of all, except we now play the men.
Moreouer, there are diuers Lieutenaunt shippes appoynted euerye where, and euery one séekes to be chiefe: Some reuolts from others,Falshoode in felowship, and common enuying one an other. some disdaynes and enuies one another, and not one trustes his neighbour, contrary to that they ought to doe. And euerie one holdes of himselfe, the Argeynes, the Thebanes, the Corinthians, the Lacedemonians, the Arcadians, and we. And all be it that Greece is deuided into so many partes and seigniories, as they are: yet if any man should boldly say the truth, ye shall sée none amongst them all, haue theyr Courts and consistories, more naked and lesse frequented, than they are with you. And by good reason: for no man that eyther loueth vs, or crediteth, or feareth vs, commoneth with vs of any matters. And there is not one cause onely of these thinges, (O Athenians) for then it weare easie for vs to redresse it, but there is full many a fault, yea of all sortes, and at all times committed, whereof I leaue to speake particularly, onely one I wil moue you in, wherevnto all the reast doe tende: beséeching you, if I be bolde to tell you the truth, not to be offended with me for it.
Your commodities haue béene solde out of your hand from time to time:Laysinesse lost Athens. and you haue taken out your part in laysinesse [Page 97] and rest, the pleasure whereof, so caries you away, that you are nothing offended with them that doe you wrong. And by that meanes other men robbe you of your honour. As for other poyntes, it is no fitte tyme nowe to rippe them vp. But so soone as we fall in any talke of king Philip, by and by startes vp one and sayes, it is nowe no tyme for vs to dallye, nor passe a decrée for the making of warre:Vnnecessarie reasons alleaged to hynder necessarie warre. adding streight way in the necke of that, what a goodly thing it is to be at peace: how sore a thing it is to maintaine a great armie: and howe there be that goe about to spoile vs of our treasure: & many other tales, do they tell you (as they take them to be) verie true. But verily they should not perswade peace vnto you, that sit so still, béeing already perswaded: but vnto him rather yt doth things belonging to warre. But if Philippe weare once perswaded to peace, than for your partes it is done alreadie. Neither should we thinke those charges burdenous vnto vs,A well spen [...] pennie that saueth a pound. that we spende and employe for our owne safegard: but rather those burdenous, which we are sure to abide, if we shall neglect this, and omit to deuise the meanes to kéepe our treasure from robbing (not by foreslowing our profit) but by assigning a good gard for the safe kéeping therof. And surely this may well vexe me to the heart, to sée howe it would gréeue some of you & you were robbed of your money,Particular griefes sooner felt, than publike annoyāces. which is in your owne powers to haue kept, & to punish the robbers: and yet that king Philip who raunges thus a spoyling of all Grece one péece after another, gréeueth you nothing at all, specially whereas he robbeth and spoyleth to your hurt, and vndooing. And what is the cause (O Athenians) that he dooing vs thys apparant wrong, and taking our townes from vs, yet there is no man will say, he doth vs wrong, or makes warre vpon vs: but rather will beare you in hand, that they which councell you not to suffer him, neither negligently to cast away these things, are they that make the warre? The cause is, for that of all these euils and miseries, that may happē to come by the warres (as in déede it must néedes bée, yea, it can not be otherwise, but that great troubles and vexations will arise by the warre) they [Page 98] will with one voyce lay the whole fault vpon them, that gaue you best councell, for your owne welfare. For they thinke verily that if you would all with one mind and consent defend your selues against king Philip, both you should haue ye better hand of him, and they also should no more haue the meanes to serue him for his bribes as they do. But if assoone as you sée any troubles, you turne your selues by and by to accusing and condemning of men,Daungerous giuing eare to common accusers. they thinke that they themselues by accusing these men, shall get both these things, that is, thanks at your hands, and money at his. And that for those thinges for which you should haue punished them before: ye shall nowe punishe them that haue spoken for your profite. And this is the hope of these bribe takers, and the fetch of all their accusations, in charging some men to be the authors of the warres, where as I my selfe knowe this very well, that when no man of all Athens did decrée any warre at al, king Philip both kéepes many things that belongs to this Citie, and euen nowe hath sent in an ayde to Cardia. Nowe if we will not be acknowne that he warreth agaynst vs: surely he weare the veryest foole in the worlde, if he would finde out this fault himselfe.It is good bea [...]ing of a prowd man. For when the wronged man, denyeth that any man hath done him harme, what would you haue him to say that doth the wrong? But when he shal set vpon vs our selues, what will we say then? For certainly hée will plainly say, that he hath no warre with vs, as he sayde to the Oreteynes, hauing his men of warre within their country. No more did he to the Pheriens till he began to batter theyr walles. Nor yet to the Olynthians at the first, till he was readie with his armie within their Countrie. And shall we say that they that had them then defende themselues, were the authors of the warre? Why then there is none other waye, for vs but to liue in slauerie, for there is no way else that we can take.
And as farre as I can sée, the daunger that we are in, is farre different from other folkes. For king Philip meanes not to haue our Citie vnder his obeysance, no, that is not his meaning? but altogither to destroy it. For he knowes well ynough, you [Page 99] are men that neyther will liue in bondage, nor yet if ye would, could tell howe to doe it. For you haue béene alwayes accustomed to rule, and he knoweth well ynough that you are able to worke him more trouble (if you will watche your time) than all others are able to doe what so euer they be. And therefore hée will not spare you, if he once get the vpper hand of you. Wherfore you must be of that minde to fight lyke men, that are at the vttermost, and very last cast of all, and to shew your selues manifest foes vnto them, and to put them to the racke and torture that be the apparaunt hirelings and bought and solde men of king Philip, for you shall neuer,Vilaynes in grosse. you shall neuer preuaile against the outwarde enimie, vnlesse you roote out first and destroy these home foes within the towne, but like men driuen vppon a sight of rockes:Home foes, the worst and most daūgerous people liuing. so you méeting with these felowes shall come short of all. Moreouer, whence commes it thinke you that he is so spitefull towardes you? For I can not sée what he meanes by his dooings else. For he is good to all others, and thereby though he getteth nothing else, yet he is sure to deceyue them, but as for you he threatneth alreadie. The lyke he hath done by the Thessalians whom he hath nowe towled in by his number of gifts to this their present slauerie.Thessalians deceyued by t [...] king of great gyftes. And it weare a verie hard matter for any man to tell, how much he abused the poore wretches, the Olinthians after he had giuen them Potidaea, Olynthians abused▪ and many thinges else. And euen nowe he fetches me in the Thebanes by giuing to them the Countrie of Boeotia, and deliuering them from a very grieuous and daungerous warre.Thebanes brought into a fooles Paradice. So that euery one of them by profiting and aduantaging himselfe in a verie small matter: are now some of them alreadie in that case as all men may sée, & othersome of them shall be faine to abide, whatsoeuer may chaunce vnto them. But as for you, what you haue béene spoyled of, I will saye nothing.Athenians wyped cleane of their chiefe townes and fortes, vpon their conclusion of peace with king Philip. Euen at the verie instant of the knitting vp of the peace, in howe many things haue you béene deceyued in? how many things haue you bene lurched of? hath he not got from you the Phoceyans? the Piles? is he not Lorde in the State of Thracia? Doriscum? [Page 100] Serrium? and of king Charsobleptes himselfe, kéepes he not presently Cardia in his hands, & cares not who knowes it? And why beareth he himselfe towardes other men, and towardes you,Bribe takers being suffered to speake without perill, bring hurt to the state. not a like? forsooth, bicause men haue frée libertie without perill in this our Citie onely, of all others, to speake in the behalfe of the enimie: and if any hath taken money, he may speake safely ynough amongst you, although you shoulde bée spoyled of all that you haue by the bargaine.
Money taking destroyed Olynthus.It was no safe speaking in Olynthus, on king Philips side, had not the Commons there, béene also benifited by taking the fruites of Potidaea.
Money taking vndid Thessalia.It was no safe speaking on king Philips side in Thessalia, had not the multitude of the Thessalians béene also benifited, in that Philip expulsed theyr Tyraunts, & after restored to them Pyles. Money taking, the ruine of Thebes. It was no safe speaking in Thebes neyther, till he had giuen them vp Beotia, and destroyed the Phoceyans. But at Athens, (though king Philip hath taken from vs not onely Amphipolis, and the whole countrie of the Cardians, but also fortifieth euen nowe Euboia, and maketh it as a rampire or countermure against vs, and nowe commeth streight with his army vpon Constantinople. Athenians, receyuing losse, suffer flatterers to speake in fauour of the enimie, contrary to the maner and vsage of other countries. Bizanze:) yet is it safe speaking on king Philips side for all that. And therefore some of these good felowes, that speake in his fauour are risen vppe from beggers state, to become sodenly very riche persons, and of men without name or reputation,Euery man for himselfe: none for his coūtrie. growne to be of great aucthoritie, and famous. But you cleane contrary, that earst weare of great account, be now out of al estimation:The treasure of a kingdome are these three. 1. War fellowes & confederates2. Faithfulnesse in dooyng thinges.3. good will to doe well. and that eare while weare welthie, be now out of all welth. ‘For surely I take it that the riches of a state, consisteth in confederates, faithfulnesse, and good will, all which things you doe want. And by your neglecting hereof, and letting all things goe as they doe, king Philip he meaneth. he is become happie and mightie and terrible to all the Gréekes and Barbarians:’ whereas you your selues are voyde of friendes, and low brought, making a goodly shewe, and glistering of a cheapnesse of vittayles that is among you: But as for anye store or preparation you [Page 101] haue of things conuenient or néedefull: you may be laughed to scorne of the worlde for it. And I perceyue very well, there be Counsellors, that giue you not the like councell,Dissembling Counsellors. as they would do to themselues. For they tell you, you must be quiet, & though a man doe you wrong: Where as they themselues cannot be at rest among you, when no man doth them any harme at all. But if a man, might aske a question without checke:Aristodemus an euill counsellor, perswading vnnecessarie peace. ‘Tell me O Aristodemus, for as much as thou knowest it well ynough (as what is he that knowes it not) that as the priuate mans life is verie safe, quiet and without perill:The priuate mans life a verie safe being. so their life that beare rule in the common weale, is fraughted with complaintes, and vncertaine, full both of dayly brawles and mischiefes: why wouldest thou not rather follow a quiet and vnbus [...]ed life, than choose this daungerous and vncertaine state of béeing? What hast thou to saye to it?’ For if thou makest vnto me that aunswere, which is best for thée,Many in au [...] thoritie, seeke rather theyr own aduauncement, than the welfare of their Countrie. and that I doe graunt it vnto thée to be true, that thou doest all these things, for the desire thou hast to aduaunce thine honour: I doe maruell truely, séeing thou thinkest it méete for thée to take all these paines, & not to refuse any labor or perill, for honors sake: that thou wilt be a meane for thy Countrie, to lose all these things through verie sloth and lythernesse. For thou wilt not say this, that it were méete for thée to be some body in this City: and yt this City ought to be of no estimation among the Gréekes. Neither do I vnderstand this, how it can be for the safetie of the Citie, to meddle with hir own affayres, and yt it should be daūgerous for thée: except thou doest intermeddle ouer curiously wt other folkes businesse. But contrariwise,Ouer muche medling and ouerlittle, both hurtfull to man and Citie. I thinke that through this thy medling and ouermedling great peril is like to fall to thée: and the like to the City through their ydlenesse. But thou on Gods name hast honor by thy Grandfather & Father, the which thou thinkest a shame to be ended in thée: & hath this Citie receyued no renowme or honor of hir Auncestors? But that is not so. For an errant théefe was thy father, if he were like to thée: wheras the glorie of our Citie standes in this, that the Grecians (as all men knowe) [Page 102] weare twise deliuered out of extréeme daunger by our elders. But all men doe not in lyke maner equally and ciuilly, handle and gouerne their owne, and the publike goodes. For what equitie is there in this,Honors chaūge maners, especially in those that rise from the Dunghill. that some of those fellowes who came but the last day out of prison, should be so prowde, that they knowe not themselues: and the Citie which earewhile had the chieftie and preheminence ouer all Gréecclande, shoulde nowe become so base, and out of all estimation? Thus hauing much yet to speake, and of many matters: I will say no more. Neyther is it for lacke of speaking, as me thinketh, that eyther nowe, or at any tyme else, our matters haue béene in so euill a plight, but the matter is this, when you haue heard men giue you good coū cell, and with one accorde allowed well their sayings: you are as readie by and by to sit you downe, and giue eare to those that are disposed to marre, and ouerthwart the whole: And not bicause you knowe them not, for why, you know them so soone as euer you sée them who they be, that speake for their hire, who serue king Philips turne: and who they be that telles you the truth as it is, and best for your auaile: but to the intent that hauing a quarrell to rebuke them, and turning all the matter to a ieast and a flowte, you may kéepe your selues from doing of any thing that should be néedefull.Thre chiefe poynts fit for Counsellors, 1. to be bolde,2. plaine, and3. faythfull. These things be true which I haue tolde you frankely and fréely with plainenesse, goodwil, and for your best behooue, not a tale farced with flatterie, hurtfulnesse, and guile, for the speaker to get money by, and to yéeld vp the state of our Citie into our enimies hands. Wherefore eyther you must leaue of, these condicions of yours: or else you must blame no bodie that all things go awrie, but your owne selues.
¶Certaine sentences, gathered out of certaine seuerall Orations of Demosthenes.
Ex orat. de falsa legatione.
THat Citie is of no value,Much pardoning offences, destroyeth a state. the which is not of habilitie ynough to punish wrong dooers: neyther is that common weale any thing worth at all, where pardon and intercession preuayles agaynst lawes.
Ex orat. Amator.
THe minde of man is his guide in all thinges,The minde of man, is man himselfe, and needeth continuall teaching. and the same is onely to bée instructed and trayned vp with knowledge and learning.
Ex orat. Iuneb.
THe beginning of all vertue is wisedome,To know, and to do, are all in all, in vertue. the ende of vertue is monhoode and courage: by the one we learne what to do: by the other, we preserue and maintaine our selues.
Ex orat. Amator.
IT is a verye goodly thing for a man, euen through fortunes goodnes to be regarded and had in estimation,Honor got by vertue, hath perpetuall assurance. among the noblest and best sort of men: but yet a much more goodly thing it is for a man to haue got through his owne vertue and trauaile, all maner of reputation and honour: for that one which is welfare, the vile and naughtie man doth attaine vnto nowe and than, but of this other surely, no man can euer be partaker sauing he onely, that is of an excéeding noble courage, and hath a manly heart of his owne.
Ex orat. contra Aristogit.
ALl men haue Altars of iustice, equitie and shamefastnesse:Vertue, honoured of all men: but of wrong deedes, no man maketh any worship. And those some haue verie fayre, and the most holy, euerye man within his owne minde, and nature: others haue such as [Page] be set vp for the common vse of all men, but of shamelesnesse, of slaundering, of forswearing, and of vnthankefulnesse, was neuer man had any aultar at all.
Ex orat. ad Lept.
IF all men for verie feare of the lawes would leaue to do any euill,If eyther feare or loue, woulde cause men to be honest: lawes were nedelesse. and euery man for desire of rewarde would doe his dutie: what shoulde let why a countrie should not be verie mightye, all men honest, and none euill?
Ex orat. contra Aristogi.
WHatsoeuer thing is goodly and honorable, and serues for the ornament and preseruation of states, as modest behauiour towardes parents,Vertue excludeth vice. reuerences of yong men towardes their elders, and good order: all those I saye by the onely ayde and assistance of the law,Lawes are the links of vertue. doe preuaile agaynst all wickednesse: as agaynst vnshamefastnesse, foolehardinesse, and vnreuerent behauiour towardes others.
¶These few sentences are set foorth, to giue a certaine shew of Demosthenes notable worthines, who hath infinit speaches of like sort, throughout all his Orations, which he vttered with great eloquence and pleasure to the hearers, but much more effectually expressed he the same in the whole course of his life,Demosthenes more honoured for his notable vertues & good life: than for his grea [...] learning and wonderfull eloquence. as being in déede more famous for his vertuous liuing and constant hartinesse towardes his deare Countrie, than for his excellent knowledge, and maruellous gift of eloquence, wherein neuerthelesse, he hath bene thought of all men hitherto, to bée the odde man of all the worlde.
The life and doings of Demosthenes, gathered out of Plutarch, Suidas, Libanius, Lucian, and others, with some discourse vpon certaine things, as occasion serueth.
DEmosthenes, being father to Demosthenes the Orator,Theseus perswaded the people to liue togither in the Citie, who liued before in the countrie, diuided into foure tribes or shyres, and those tribes weare parted into twelue hundrethes, and those twelue hūdrethes were seuered into 365 fraternities, or brotherhoodes, euery brotherhoode hauing their proper names, [...] Demosthenes among the rea [...] was of the Peanian brotherhoode. and one of the warde or companie of the Paeanians, (a felowship so called by addicion or name of that place in the territorie of Atticke from whence they first came, as many other cōpanies did, to dwell afterwards within the Citie of Athens, and to leaue the Countrie) was a very honest man, and a welthy Citizen, called by surname the blade Smith, or Cutler, for that he had certaine workmen vnder him, that made blades and swoordes, to be sold for his benifite. And albeit his seruants did thus labour vnder him with such handie crafte workes: yet was he no worke man himselfe, but being a wise and a welthie Citizen, was appoynted by the State to be a Trierarchus, which is asmuch as Capitaine or Gouernor of some one Galley, or Galleys, who not onely tooke that office vpon him as a good Surueyor, but also did defray of his owne proper cost, all the expences and charges belonging to a Galley, according to the maner then vsed for the riche men so to doe, in fauour of their Countrie, their Galleyes being the woodden walles of their Citie, as Apollo sayde by his Oracle, and so the defence of their State. Now belyke this man and such other, as tooke vpon them so great a matter, being of so great charge, credite, and benifite to their Country, could not be otherwise estéemed, [Page 106] then for the best, and most worthie Citizens among the reast. Thus much I speake for his degrée and calling,Such as had the gouernemēt of Galeyes, weare the best esteemed men in Athens. notwithstanding he bare the name of a blade Smith: to the rebuke of those that can not brooke any to beare aucthoritie in their Countrie, that are not Gentlemen borne, the which is no thanke to them. For so might others haue béene as well as they, if their constellation had béene thereafter, or rather if God had thought it so conuenient. But whatsoeuer he be, poore or riche, lowe or high, craftes man, or landed man, if he be vertuous and godly, hée is a Gentleman. And he that can do nothing, nor will do nothing: eyther is no Gentleman in déede, or vnfitly beareth the name of a Gentleman,Vertue the best Nobilitie. yea vertue onely is the truest and most rightest Nobilitie that is. This man had to wife, one Cleobula, a straunger borne, and no Grecian as it was thought, who brought him forth a sonne, called Demosthenes, after hys owne name. This Demosthenes the father died in good welth, to the value of .2700. pound starling of reuenewes, as it should séeme,15. Talents. leauing his sonne verie yong, and of tender age after him, scant seuen yeares olde. Wherefore he bequeathed him with those his goodes, to thrée executors men of trust, named Aphobus, Demophon, and Therippides, who like common executors, not only became carelesse of the childes bringing vp, but also employed his portion to their owne vse,Executors carelesse of their charge. yea they did not so much, as pay the teachers for his learning. And the Boy being in déede somewhat wéerish, and tender of bodie, his mother therfore was not willing that he should be ouertrauelled with to great paynes to séeke learning, for feare of hindering his health. And the Schoolemaysters they cared as little as who cared least, how little the childe tooke for his money: beyng neyther willed by others to take paynes with the Boy, nor yet like to be greatly cōsidered for their paines taking (as they thought) if perhappes they shoulde haue taken any. So that this childe might haue béene lost for want of carefull bringing vp, and good héede taking to him: if he had not béene better enclined of hys owne nature. And for that he was such a milke soppe, and so [Page 107] neshe or tender natured childe, and so verie a cockney therewithall, his playfellowes commonlye called him by waye of scorne and mockage Battalus, as much to say as wanton, nise, and effeminate, after the conditiō of one Battalus a Musitian,Battalus a Musitian, so nise of behauiour, yt he could not well tell howe to treade vpon the groūd and a great delite he had to go in womans apparell, or at the least wyse as nisely, as women do. that was a womanishe man, as tender a péece, God wote, as a Nunnes hen. He was also called afterwards Argas, by surre name, as much to say, as a biting Serpent, applying the terme either to the fiercenesse and bitternesse of his nature, or for that he was so sharp to the hearers in his Orations, that they could not well abyde him.
Nowe that this his father was thus deade, although it bée to others a great lacke for want of good bringing vp: his mother being more tender than néeded, & louing hir sonne against reason, as commonly mothers doe, hauing greater care to hys wanton cherishing, than to his good education, he hauing lettes also besides this, mo than a good many to do well: yet such was his naturall inclination and aptnesse to all goodnesse and vertue, that he of himself, without guide, or directour in his doings, folowed the best and worthiest way, that was for man to go in vpon earth. For whereas Athens was a towne, that ministred great pleasures, and caryed some awaye, to great follie, that weare vnder the power and gouernment of their fathers,Demosthenes aptnesse by nature to follow the path of vertue. and that all youth is commonly giuen to disorder, and many times through default of their gouernors, doe runne astray: yet was this childe being verie yong and tender of yeares, so wholy giuen to good learning, that he forsooke all the vanities of ye world, to heare Aristotle, Theophrastus, and Plato, thrée of the most famous learned men that euer weare. So that whereas there be two wayes of loue offered to euery one at his first entrie, to tread in, the one sauage, rude, and wicked, being the very path to hell, death, and damnation: the other, godly, plaine, right, and honest, being the high way to heauen, and al the ioyes that may be, the which way entiseth all good men to it, through the beautie thereof, & draweth all them with an heauenly traunce or motion of minde, that are borne of Gods race: he tooke that [Page 108] louing way of vertue, and through great paynes and trauaile, gotte the immortall rewarde, of his heauenly desire, béeing knowne and reputed to bée one of the most famous Orators that euer lyued. Nowe the cause that mooued him chiefly besides his naturall inclination, to be so gréedie and so studious of eloquence, was this. It happened that when Calistratus that famous Orator shoulde handle the Oropians cause,Oropus a town of Attica bordering vppon Boeotia, for the iurisdiction of which place there was great holde. béeing a matter of so great importaunce, as it touched the state of their towne: there was like to be a maruellous audience, not onely for the weightinesse thereof: but also for the worthinesse of the Orator. At which time it fortuned Demosthenes (being then of verie yong yeares as it should séeme) to heare certaine scholemaysters saye to his Mayster, that they and he would go and heare the sayde Orator, which made that the Boye was not quiet till by much intreatie he had obtayned of his teacher, that he might also go with him. Wherewith his maister was content,The cause that moued Demosthenes first, to loue eloquence. and for that hée had good acquaintaunce with the officers and kéepers of that place, he got an apt rowme for hys Boy, to sit close and secrete, where he might heare all that was to be sayde. At last, when Calistratus had excellently handled himselfe, and was wonderfully estéemed for his eloquent Oration: Demosthenes thought it a great honour, to sée him so followed and attended vppon by the people, and to be reported so worthie a man, but most of all his woonder was, that his maruellous eloquence was such as thereby he did preuayle in all causes, and brought thinges to passe as he woulde haue them, which fired so his heart, that therevpon he gaue ouer all other kyndes of studie, and began to exercise himselfe with making Orations, as though yt he himself would by and by be an Orator.Iseus an excellent Orator, and teacher of eloquence. Isocrates kept a schole of Rhetoricke, being the sweetest Orator for hys sentences and phrases that then liued. And so professed himselfe scholler to one Isaeus a maister of eloquence, and not to Isocrates, who was the more famous man, and did reade at the selfe same tyme. But the cause was, as it is thought, for that he had not wherewith to pay the pencion appoynted by Isocrates, which was ten Minas [...]hat is xxx. pounde starling, he being fatherlesse, and motherle [...]e▪ and [Page 109] hauing no vse of his owne goodes as then: or else he did rather choose to followe Isaeus for that his kinde of wryting and speaking was more pearcing, and more cunning to season causes withall, or (as it may be thought) more agréeable to his nature. Some say agayne that he was scholler to Plato, Plato. and by him did much aduaunce his skill for eloquence, after whose death, he became scholler to Aristotel, and was his hearer so diligently,Aristotel. and so prospered vnder him, that he reported him afterwardes both to king Philip, and to Alexander, to be one of the worthiest schollers, for diuers his giftes and vertues, that euer he had. It is also sayde, that he had and did secretely learne the bookes of Isocrates, and Alcidamantes, touching the precepts of Rhetorike, the which he had of one Callias a Siracusan, and others. And truth it is, so soone as he was of full yeares and crept out of his minoritie, he brought an action agaynst hys Tutors for their wasting of his Patrimonie committed to their charge, and began to tytle Orations agaynst them,Demosthenes pleadeth agaynst his Tutor. the which are yet extant some of them, in aunswering of whome, they vsed great sleightes and delatorie plées, with protestations and exceptions agaynst the whole processe as full of Nullities, and therefore of no force. And onely this they did, bicause they would compell him to begin lawe againe, and so (in forme of lawe through continuall delayes) to wearie him altogither.
Thus being with painefull trauaile and earnest studie well exercised, and following his cause without intermission: at length he preuayled agaynst them, although he neyther got a quarter of his owne, nor yet recouered that small portion, which was awarded him, without great perill and hazard.Orchomenius Laomedon through exercise of bodie cured himselfe of a great disease, and made his bodie therby euer after more nimble, lustie & strong. And so by often dealing in his owne matters being well seasoned and made bolde through custome to speake, and séeing what honour it was to be an excellent Orator: he gaue himself to pleade openly, and to be a Counsellor in other mens causes. And as it is reported like as Orchomenius Laomedon did vse by the aduise of the Phisition to run euery day a long race to amende the fault of his splene,An apt similitude. and so by such exercise got such an habilitie [Page 110] and perfection in running, that at the common games hée got the garland from all others, and was counted the swiftest runner of all men liuing: so happened it with Demosthenes that whilst he entered the Courtes to pleade his owne cause, to recouer such losses and wronges as he had sustayned in his priuate goodes and possessions, he thereby got himselfe such experience in pleading, and such eloquence of speach therewithall, that he was counted in ciuill causes (as Orchomenius was in running for the garland) the chiefest pleader of all others,Vse makes maysteries. that came to the barre to speake in any matter.
But yet at the first time of his speaking to the people, he was hissed at, and out countenaunced with knocking and trampling of féete, for his vnacquainted and straunge maner of speach, which béeing intricate and confused, caryed very long and tedious sentences, powdered with bitter and odious reasons, alledged and wrested in,Demosthenes imperfections, in speach and want of skill to tell his tale. to proue his matter good. Besides this, hys voyce as it séemed was childishe and small, his tongue vnreadie and obscure, himselfe short breathed, hacking and parting his sentences in such sort, that he was altogither thought confused and superfluous. Nowe when through his imperfection hée saw that he got small credite for his dooings: he gaue ouer pleading in open Courts before the people, and traded himselfe to walk solitarily on the Péere in Athens: Whom when Eunomius Thriasius a verye aged man did perceyue to walke so,Eunomius Thriasius. he did sharpely rebuke him for his faint heart, and tolde him that he had cause ynough to be of good chéere, for that his maner of pleading was not inferior to Pericles dooings, who was a most excellent and vehement Orator:Demosthenes bashfull of nature before the people. but he sayde that he marred himselfe with a certaine bashefulnesse, and faynt stomacke of his owne, for that he was fearefull, and coulde neyther abyde boldly the peoples presence, and their noyse: nor yet acquaint his bodie with exercise to endure paynes, vndooing himselfe wholy with ouermuch ease, and daintinesse, and hindering his good dooings with néedelesse feare. An other time being graueld in open audience, he gat him home with an heauie heart, [Page 111] thrusting his head in his bosome as one cleane out of countenaunce. And as the tale goes, one Satyrus a Stage player,Satyrus, a professor to teach iesture and v [...] terance, who shewed his cunning in open stage, as Roscius and others did among the Romaines. and of his acquaintance came to him, and kept him company. Vnto whome Demosthenes vttered his minde and sayde, that where he was the most painefull Orator aboue all others, and had almost wasted his body with the studie thereof, yet his credite with the people was nothing, but bellie gods, gluttons, lowtes, mariners, and euery ignorant lubber (quoth he) can be heard, and haue audience with fauour,Demosthenes complaine to Satyrus. where as I for all my trauell am naught set by, but dispised and estéemed as no bodie. Thou sayst euen true Demosthenes, quoth Satyrus to him. But I will soone remedie this matter, if thou wilt but reherse vnto me (quoth he) without booke any sentence of Euripides, or Sophocles: which when Demosthenes had done, Satyrus tooke the same sentence in hande againe, and did sette it forth with vtteraunce of speach, countenaunce, and iesture, in such sort,Pronunciatiō of what force it is. that in a maner it séemed to Demosthenes himselfe to be an other maner of sentence. Wherevpon, when he perceyued what an ornamēt good pronunciation was to eloquence, and found that where the gift of speach & iesture was not aptly vsed, euery sentence was but deade: he gaue him wholy to correct his vtteraunce and iesture, and therein vsed the helpe of one Andronicus. Demosthenes practise to amende his speache. And as Demetrius Phalerius reporteth (who heard Demosthenes tell it in his latter dayes) he vsed for helpe of his stammering this kinde of exercise, that is, he kept certaine Counters or stones in his mouth when he was rehersing Orations, which counters or stones serued him (as I take it) for a gagge to make him gape more wide, or to speake thereby the playner, and more distinctly. And for helpe of his voyce,Demosthenes maner to mend his voyce. his maner was to get him vp vpon high places, as on the tops of stares or such like, and there woulde he make Orations by himselfe, and vtter certaine verses with one whole breath so long, as he was able by any possibilitie to continue. And to help his bashfulnesse and shamefastnesse withall, through which he was many tymes dasht out of countenaunce, with the great [Page 112] noyse that the people made, when he should speake in open audience:Demosthenes remedie to help his bashfulnes. he haunted the sea side, where the surges most rored, imagining that vsing himselfe to speake where such a tempestuous hurling noyse was, he might the rather abyde the peoples exclamations and vnquietnesse. And where as he had an vncomely vse to mooue one of his shoulders,Demosthenes maner to amēd his iesture somewhat higher sometimes than the other: he caused a swoorde to be hanged vpon a beame with the poynt downeward, almost to his shoulder, yt if by any meanes he should happē to hit that iesture, or to shrug his shoulder otherwise than weare méete: the swordes poynt might streight wayes pricke him. And besides, he had a great Glasse in his house, in the sight whereof he vsed to stand, till he had ended suche Orations as he minded to vtter before the people.Demosthenes diligence and painefulnesse, and his straūge kinde of keping within. And the better to be a helpe to himselfe in all these things, he builded him a vawte or vnder cellor, by lowe in the ground, into the which he went daylye, and there framed hys voyce and iesture, and continuing sometymes two or thrée monthes togither close at home, he caused one part of the side of his heade to be shauen, to the intent that although he would go abrode, he might not for verie shame. Besides this, he lost none occasion, by such speach and conference as he had with others: to occupie his heade and witte withall. For when he came home,Demosthenes maner to occupie his head & witte withall. he gat him streight to his secret corner, and there repeated to himselfe the whole matter of the talke had abrode as it was, and what defence was made for it. And such Orations as he heard abrode, he woulde call them to his minde at home, and first deuide them into sentences, and then amende and alter the wordes as he thought méete, into some other sort, aswell such speaches as other men vsed to him, as those which he himselfe vsed to them. Whereby it was thought that he attayned not to such excellencie by any great witte,Demosthenes more painefull than wittie. but rather by great labour, and continuall studie. And the likelyhoode was great it should so be, for there was no man lightly coulde heare Demosthenes speake anye thing in open audience vpon the sodaine. For being oftentymes set in councell, and by name desired [Page 113] of the people to say his minde, he woulde not for all that stande vp to speake at any tyme,Demosthenes neuer spake in [...]pen audience, vnprepared. except he had béene first prepared before hande for the matter. Insomuch that he was one day charged that he spake nothing vnwritten, which he did not denie flatly, but sayde that he neyther spake altogither wythout penning of his matter, nor yet wholy with penning of it, but vsed to lay his grounde in wryting, so that he knewe what hée had to say materially, before he spake from poynt to poynt: yea he made a more round aunswere to an other, that misliked with his ouermuch painfull vttered Orations by writing, saying, that he wished of God not onely to bring with him written Orations, but also Orations grauen in Marble, if it weare possible, especially for such an assembly and place of audience as the Orators had. And to like purpose was his saying an other time to one Epicicles, Demosthenes to Epicicles. who charging him that all his matters were studied for before hande, aunswered thus: I might with good reason be ashamed in déede, if giuing vp mine aduice and councell to such a multitude, I should speake vpon the sodaine: iudging it rather rashnesse then wisedome, to speake to a number without preparation and aduicement, before hand. And surely this his diligence and wisedome appeareth notable, to the great blame and shame of them that passe their dayes ydlely,Labour and paynes taking bring all things to passe. without taking paynes, or giuing themselues earnestly to any trade or vertuous exercise. For God hath put vertue, & all good things to sayle for labour and paynes taking onely, as may appeare by this notable man, one of the rarest ornamentes of all the worlde for eloquence, and déepe vnderstanding of those things that he tooke in hande to knowe. Who being but meanely witted and vnapt by nature, wanne through great labor to excell all others: yea his industrie and diligence was such, that he did much forbeare his sléepe and naturall rest, sitting vp late many tymes, and rysing very early, dooing most of his things by candle light,Pyth [...]as saying to Demosthenes. wherevpon one Pythias cast in his téeth that his excellencie of eloquence, and profound reasons alledged, did smell altogither of candle smoke, vnto whome Demosthenes aunswered, [Page 114] in déede it maye be (quoth he) that your charges and mine for candle light be not of one maner, meaning that the other was a great ryoter by night, and lashed out his thrift by smoke of the candle, where as Demosthenes was onely occupied at his booke.
Demosthenes temperauncie of life.The maner of his liuing was also aunswerable to his painfull trauaile, for he was verie spare of dyet, and neuer dranke other maner of lyquor than only water, whervpon Demades did merily take occasion to ieast:Demades saying vpon Demo [...]thenes. saying that others spake their Orations by water, but he wrote his by water, signifying that all others hauing their tyme stinted to saye their myndes by a certaine houre glasse,Clepsidra, a Diall, measuring houres by running of water. called Clepsidra, out of the which, water did runne softly, as sande doth in our vsuall Glasses, for one, two, or thrée houres space, as the Iudges would appoynt theyr tyme of sitting, and as the necessitie of the cause required: so Demosthenes did write his Orations by water, that is to say, he did drinke nothing else but water, to haue his wittes euer readie, and fresh for all matters. And therfore as he did perfite and bring forth to great excellency these his euerliuing monuments of Orations, by great labor, much abstinence, & notable watchfulnesse: euen so they that desire in like maner to be as he was, must take the same course, that he did, or else they shall neuer be able to attaine to his perfection.Demosthenes Orations, what they are. Whose Orations are such that there lyes more good matter buried in them, than the outwarde shew of them caryes to the eye, béeing vttered in the playnest and most familier maner that could be, for the peoples capacity and vnderstanding. For his secret and hid knowledge can not be discouered and knowne by any, but by such as are very studious of him, and wholy bende their wittes to marke his dooings, and haue nothing else to doe, but as his schollers, to learne his cunning, by continuall care, and paineful imitation. And surely to speake of this man fullye, and according to hys worthinesse,Demosthenes aboue al praise. I doe thinke it an harder péece of worke, when a man is in it, howe to get out of it: than to want a beginning to make an entrance. For I am in a maze what first to say, and [Page 115] where to begin, when I consider his wonderfull absolute nature, his maruellous fulnesse and vehemencie of speach: hys modest and sober lyfe, his piercing eloquence, his passing vtteraunce, his constant firmenesse in all his doynges,Many passing vertues, in one seuerall man. his innocent handes from corruption and bribes, his iust dealing, his curteous and gentle behauiour, his faythfull mynde, his manly stomacke, his singuler wisedome, and last of all his seuerall order, and particuler dooings throughout the whole course of all hys lyfe. So that I say in such a plentifull fielde, where so manye rare and notable vertues weare planted, better it is sleightly to runne ouer the plot with admiration, and highly to honour God for such an odde vessell of his creation: than boldly to professe the large commending of so excellent an instrument and heauenly Orator as he was, not being able to touch him to the quicke, as he ought to be vsed and dealt withall. And therefore best it is to let his owne doings speake for themselues, and remaine a spectacle to the worlde of his wonderfull disposition. For I thinke if himselfe weare aliue, he coulde hardly with all the eloquence that euer he had, worthily and fully set forth all that was in him, and as he had iustly deserued, or at the leastwise, none could doe it but himselfe alone. Wherefore, I will passe ouer the rehearsall of all his Orations and doings:The rehersall of the order to set forth Demosthenes. 1. His seuerall speaches.2. His loue to his countrie.3. His constācie. and stoutnesse against the enimies of his Countrie.4. His banishment.5. His restitution.6. His last end and maner of death. and onely gather out certaine sentences seuerally vsed by him. And after report made of them, I will declare somewhat of the loue he bare to his Countrie, and of the stoutnesse he vsed agaynst King Philip for the same, and of his trouble that happened to him by banishment, and then speake of his restitution, and lastly of his maner of death, and so make an ende.
In his Orations he was vehement and bitter of speache, and yet many tymes in his common and familier talke verye pleasant, as may appere by diuers and sundrie his aunsweres,Demosthenes pleasaunt in priuate talke. and phrases vsed to manye men from time to time, among a number whereof I will vtter a fewe.
When one desired Demosthenes to pleade in his cause, agaynst an other man, that had beaten the sayde complaynant, [Page 116] he hearing him tell his tale somewhat coldely, sayde thus, it is not so man, as thou doest say, it séemes to me he hath done thée no harme at all.Vtterance ma [...]eth much to set forth a matter. What saye you sir (quoth the man) wyth a short and roughe voyce, as though he had béene caught with a furie, hath he done me no harme, say you, at all? yea marye (quoth Demosthenes) this is an other maner of matter, now I heare the voyce of a man that hath béene wronged, and euill handeled, where as thou toldest thy tale before so coldly and so softly as though thou haddest béene a Mouse in a Chéese. Such force thought Demosthenes doth vehement speach and apt vtteraunce carye, that it perswades credite, and winnes good liking.
Likewise Demades that most wittie and excellent Orator, (who in promptnesse of speach,Minerua, the Ladie of wisedome, chastitie, and learning, and therfore when an vnlearned person would controll one of much excellencie, it is sayd in rebuke to him, Sus Mineruā. & Orations on the sodaine, passed al others) being tripped by Demosthenes, said thus, me Demosthenes, sus Mineruam. As who should say, Demosthenes controlleth me, not vnlike a filthie Sowe, that would teach Ladie Minerua: vnto whom Demosthenes aunswered: and yet forsooth, if it please you good sir (quoth he) your fine & chaste Minerua (of whom you speake of) was lately taken in adoultry in Colito, a place so called in Athens, as you woulde saye the banke,Colitū, a place in Athens so named, being the brothell corner as it should seeme of that Citie. or such a knowne out corner for that purpose.
There was also a certaine théefe in Athens called Aereus, as much to say as brassie or made of brasse, who was much offended with Demosthenes candle lightes in the deade night, and therfore iested & scoffed much at his night watches: Sirha, quoth Demosthenes, I knowe well enough that my lightes are not good for thy profession, for weare not my lights thou wouldst doe greater matters than lightes come to. But maruell not you a whit (O people of Athens) quoth Demosthenes at these robberies that are done by this felow, for as much as your théeues are of brasse, where as your walles are but of earth, iesting at his name, Aereus, which in Englishe is brassie or made of brasse.
On a time when Demosthenes voyce was thought to soft [Page 117] by reason of the noyse that the people made, which afterwards was cast in his téeth by some others: he aunswered that stage players are to be iudged by their lowd speach, when it is either good or bad, or when their voyce fayleth them: but Orators and Councellors to an estate, ought to be estéemed and accounted vpon, by their wisedome and knowledge only. For the part of him that playes on a stage, is to séeke to satisfie the peoples eares, but the part of an Orator and Councellor is, to séeke the welfare of the Subiectes: the one is for pleasure, the other is for profite, and therefore we may not stande vpon,A pithie speach better than a Pilates voyce. howe lowde a man be that speaketh to doe good: but how good the councell is, that he giueth. A reporter of tales, or a stage player in an open Theater, it becommeth very well to haue a good ringing voice, to ouersounde the noyse of the people: but he that is a Counsellor, or an Orator to an estate, ought to be heard of the people with their owne accorde, very quietly and attentiuely, howe so euer his voyce serueth him.
An other tyme when the people would néedes rumble him out of his seate where he made his Oration, by making an vncomely noyse with their handes and féete, (as they vse at thys houre to doe in all the Schooles of Italie most vnséemely, when eyther they like not the readers handling of his matter, or are not disposed to heare him any longer) he desired them to giue him pacience to tell them a merie tale. Where vpon when euery man was whisht and still, he sayde thus: a certaine yong man did hyre an Asse to serue for cariage in the whote sommer season, to go from Athens to Megara, and his guyde with him,Fonde tales sooner heard, than graue reasons. and when the sunne was verie hote about noonetide, they both would go on the shadow side of the Asse to auoyde the heate, so that they were at strife for the matter: the guyde saying, that the Asse was hyred, but not the shadowe,Contention for the shadow of an Asse. the other saying that as he had right to the Asse by hyring of him, so had he right to the shadow of the Asse, as well as to the Asse it selfe. And when Demosthenes had tolde his tale to this poynt, and saw them so hartily attentiue to heare the rest, he came downe from his [Page 118] seate, and gaue ouer his tale: wherevpon the people staid him, and desired him maruellously, that they might heare the ende and application of his matter, vnto whome he aunswered, you loue verie well my maysters (quoth he) to heare a man speake of the shadowe of an Asse,Trifling speaches better esteemed thā earnest talke. but you cannot abide that any man should tell you of earnest matters, or such things as touches all your welfare. And so he went his way, and would not speake any thing else to them.
Demosthenes was one of the ten Orators whom the people of Athens sent in ambassage to king Philip of Macedonie. Aeschines and Policrates with others, fauoured king Philips doings agaynst their Countrie. And therfore after that Aeschines and Policrates (whom king Philip did chiefly cherish) retourned home to Athens with the rest, and had amongst other cōmendations of the king, set him specially forth, for these thrée ornamentes of his, that he was a verie fayre and welfauoured king, a iolye talker, and a lustie good fellow, such as we call a potte companion, or a carrowser with good felowes: Demosthenes did thus iest vpon the praise, and sayd that they had reported nothing of him,King Philips prayses ouerthwarted. fit for a king to haue, bicause the first prayse was proper to a woman, the second to a babling Sophister, the thirde to a Sponge.
In his Targate that he vsed for the warres (although he was not the hardiest man in the world) he caused this sentence to be written, Good lucke. Afterwardes comming to the field where he shoulde shewe his manhoode: by and by he tooke his héeles, and threwe his Targate from him, which matter being layde to his charge, that he played the coward, he shooke off the same with this common prouerbe, and vsuall verse. The man that turnes his backe,Follie to dye without doing any good when a man may escape, & thereby do much good. will shew his face againe. Meaning that it is more wisedome for a man, to runne his way when there is none other remedie, than to die in the fielde foolishly. For that a dead man fighteth no more, whereas he that escapeth vpon any ouerthrow, may reinforce himselfe againe, and be profitable to his Countrie diuers wayes.
When Phocion that notable wise man in Athens did steppe forth to speake after Demosthenes had done, he woulde [Page 119] say to his friendes that sate next him, nowe riseth the sworde or hatchet of all my reasons,Phocion the hatchet of Demosthenes reasons. for that Phocion did many tymes dissent from Demosthenes, and being short in collecting an other mans tale, was sharpe therewithall, and did cut off all superfluous speaches, not touching any thing, but that chiefly, the which was most of all materiall.
When king Alexander did graunt peace to the Athenians, with this condition that they should giue him eight of their gouernours into his handes, amongst whom he named Demosthenes for one: Demosthenes start vp amiddes the people and tolde them a fable of the Wolfe, who promised vnto the shéepe that he would be at peace with them,Magistrates compared to Mastiffes, that defende sheepe against the Wolfe. so that they woulde giue vnto him their Dogges, signifying by the Wolfe Alexander, by the Dogges the Magistrates and Orators, by the shéepe the people of Athens. He sayde moreouer lyke as Marchantes sell great quantitie of Wheate or other corne, with bringing out a little modicum in a tréene dishe for a sample: so you (quoth Demosthenes) if you deliuer your eight gouernours that are demaunded: you doe thereby betray and giue vp your selues and your whole Countrie. But Demades that notable wise man of Athens, Fiue talents▪ tooke vpon him for the charges of. 980. pound starling, to take the Ambassage vpon him for them, and to entreate the king, either for the hope he had in the kings friendship, or else for that he thought to finde him nowe full glutted wyth slaughter, as a Lion is, that hath eaten his bellie full of carion or other meate.
It is reported that he went once to Corinthus to sée a famous Courtisan there called Lais, being a man somwhat subiect to the frailtie of flesh, although he dranke water neuer so much, with whome he thought to haue had some familiaritie, which Courtisan asked him for ye reward of hir loue. 300. pound starling, whervpō he being amazed at hir shameles demaund,10000. drachmes was cooled, and sayd.Pleasure bought with sorow, causeth repentance. Ladie I doe not minde to buye my repentance so deare, as for the pleasure of a little bulbiting, to haue a pinching and sharpe displeasure for the same. Meaning that all [Page 120] such as follow vnhonest pleasures in such sort, doe repent themselues afterwards, almost to their graue.
A certaine Damosell receyued certaine money to kéepe, for two straungers that went out of towne, with this condition, that shée shoulde deliuer the same money to them both ioyntly. Afterwards it happened that one of them came home colourably as a mourner for his fellowe that was deade, and brought as it should séeme a false testimoniall thereof, and so deceyuing the yong woman, got all the money to himselfe. Now when this money was payde, the other fellow commes in the necke thereof, and demaundes the money that he left with hir in trust. The poore woman was out of hir wittes, and coulde not tell in the world what aunswere to make, wherevpon Demosthenes séeing hir in dispayre, tooke the matter in hand, and thus he began to saye for hir. This woman is readie sirha to pay you the money that you put hir in trust withall, but except you bring your fellow, she cannot pay it, bicause as you know your selfe,Sleight auoyded by sleight. the agréement was betwixt you, that the money should not be payd to the one, without the other. And therefore bring your fellow and you shall haue it, otherwise you are lyke to haue none at hir handes. And by this wise sleightie deuise, he saued the poore woman from vndoing, and auoided the falsehoode of those varlets, that betwixt themselues had packed to haue this money twise payde them.
Being asked what was the chiefe thing in eloquence, hée aunswered pronunciation, and asked what was the seconde, he sayde pronunciation,Good vtterāce the best thing for an Orator. and further asked what was the third, he made none other aunswere but still pronunciation: signifying hereby, that none can euer be an excellent Orator, that hath not the gift of vtteraunce by nature, or at the leastwise attayned therevnto by industrie and trauaile, and that all other skill in the profession of eloquence is but vaine, if this one thing bée wanting.
On a time when one scoulded with him maruellously, and vsed vnséemely spéech, he sayd thus, I am entered into a match [Page 121] with one, wherein he that preuayleth, hath the worste,Scolding and rayling, not to be vsed nor answered vnto. and hée that is ouercome hath the best, signifying that it is better yéelding to a rayling verlet, than to contend with him in babling and fowle language.
Thus I haue giuen you a tast of certaine his aunsweres, whereby both his myrth and pleasauntnesse, haue somewhat appeared, and the quicknesse of his witte made notorious.
Nowe will I shew howe good a man he was towards his Countrie, and how faythfully he defended the libertie thereof, deuising the assurance of it, euen to his ende.Demosthenes loialty towards his Countrie. And therefore not onely did he speake most boldly to the people, in rebuking their disorders, and withstanding their vnlawfull desires: but also in denying flatly vnto them, that which he was charged to do, for (as Theopompus wryteth) when he was chosen to be an accuser of one, and to burthen him with surmises, he would not do it for any thing they could doe, and when the people were in a hurly burly for it, he sayde thus: O you people of Athens, Slaundering, neuer vsed by any honest man you shall haue me to be your Counsellor, and to aduise you the best I can, whether you will or no: but to be an accuser or slaunderer of men, that shall you not haue mée to bée, althoughe you would neuer so faine. Whom he knew to be faultie,Demosthenes boldnesse to rebuke offenders. he spared not to charge them to their faces, whatsoeuer they weare, and namelye Antiphon, a man of great aucthoritie, whome he caused to be taken,Antiphon charged with treason by Demosthenes. and to be arreyned of high treason in spite of the people, amongest whom he was very well estéemed. And he layde so hard to his charge before the Iudges of the Areopagus, to haue promised vnto king Philip to sette their nauie on fire: as he was thervpon found guiltie, and so suffered death for it, with others that were of his conspiracie.Demosthenes ielous ouer his Countryes welfare. Yea he was so iealous of the state, not only agaynst some of his owne country, but also agaynst forreyners: that he was neuer at rest, but euer busie in charging one or other, when good cause mooued him. Especially he did so much mistrust king Philip of Macedonie, Demosthenes continuall [...]mitie agayn [...] king Philip of Macedonie. that although there was peace betwixt him, and Athens: yet would he euer be harping at him, for euery matter, and thrust [Page 122] diuers things into their heads to warne them still to take héede of him. Which king Philip did know very well, and therefore hated him aboue all others, and yet sought to winne him if it weare possible to be on his side, as he did Aeschines and others, but he could neuer by any meanes in the worlde get him to like well of him. And therefore when the breach of peace was lyke to be, bicause that neyther king Philip could be at rest, and the people of Athens were maruellously encensed, by Demosthenes agaynst him: he did stirre the Athenians to attempt Euboia, Euboia, nowe the Islande Nigrop [...]nie. which was gouerned by king Philips Tyraunts. And so they making thither by sea, vpon Demosthenes decrée: did expell from thence all king Philips officers and subiects. Again he caused those of Constantinople to be holpen,Bizanze, nowe Cōstantinople. and the Perinthians also, agaynst the force of king Philip, perswading the people to loue one another, and to helpe their allies and confederates, by whome they haue béene heretofore preserued. Moreouer, what with sending Ambassages and calling the Gréekes into societie of warre with them, and styrring them to be doyng: he brought the matter to this poynt, that all the Gréekes (a fewe excepted) were in confederacie agaynst king Philip. And now when all these were in league, that is to wit, the Euboians, the Achaians, the Corinthians, Megarensians, Leucadians, and those of Corfu, there remayned onely for Demosthenes this matter in hande, to bring the Thebanes to be in league also with Athens, who had lande nigh to Atticke, and sufficient power, and weare counted the valiauntest warriours amongest all the Gréekes. Neyther was it a matter easy for him to doe, bicause the Thebanes had freshly then receyued great pleasure from king Philip, in the warres agaynst the Phoceians, and weare still like to stande in néede of him, for that there was euer like to be controuersie and debate betwixt the Phoceians and them, the landes and territories adioyning so nighe the one to the other, as they did. Yet for all that, when king Philip being puffed vp with ye successe of Amphissa, Amphissa. Phocis. Eliteum. had gotten Phocis, and had vpon the sodaine set vpon Eliteum, [Page 123] wherwith the Athenians weare maruellously astonied, and that no man durst steppe forth to speake his minde, as people in dispaire and not knowing what to do: onely Demosthenes (when they weare all at their wittes endes) stoode vp and gaue councel by decrée, that they should ioyne themselues with the Thebanes, and séeke their friendship by all meanes possible. And so when he had hartened them in all other things, and according to his maner had put them in good hope: he was sent Ambassador with others to the Thebanes. Demosthenes Ambassador to the Thebanes. On the other side king Philip sent Amyntas, & Clitarchus, Macedonians: and Daochus, and Thrasidaeus, Thessalians, to perswade against that confederacie, so much as they could possible. At what time the Thebanes weare not ignoraunt what profite they had receyued of king Philip, and caried fresh in remembrance euery one of them, the battaile fought against the Phoceians, the woundes and harmes whereof weare not yet fully cured, in which king Philip had stoode them in good stéede. And yet such was the force of this Orator, in styrring their mindes and heating their hartes, to the studie and desire of renowme, and glorie, that all other things weare lapped vp, and laid a side in such sort, as they forsooke reason, had no feare in themselues, and shooke out of their heades, the remembraunce of all good turnes receyued by king Philip, and weare caryed headlong with perswasion, as though it weare by a diuine inspiration, to the aduauncement as they thought of all renowme, and glorie.Demosthenes aucthoritie among the Thebanes, Boetians, & the rest of Greece. The which déede of this Orator was so famous and so renowmed, that king Philip sent haroldes, by and by for peace, and the Gréekes weare set all on a gogge, and looked for great things to followe. Neyther did the Capitaynes onely stande obedient to Demosthenes, and did what soeuer he would haue them to doe: but the chiefest of the Boetians, and the whole assemblie of the Thebanes were as much ruled by Demosthenes, as were his owne Countrie men of Athens: for that he was deare to them both, and of great aucthoritie amongest them, and not without cause, and desert, but as it was méete, and as he was [Page 124] well worthie to be. Afterwardes notwithstanding, when it came to the tryall of battaile at Cheronea, where king Philip preuayled,Cheronea, a town in Bo [...]otia, where king Philip got victory against the Athenians. and had victorie, Demosthenes ranne away, vsing the excuse before said, that the man which turnes his back, may shewe his face againe, alleaging more wisedome in so doing when there is no remedie, than to be killed outright. And yet king Philippe for all this victorie and triumphe that he had gotten,King Philip after victorye had, feared yet Demosthenes. when he considered the great hazarde wherein both his estate and life lay, as to be lost in a short space: he began mightily to mistrust Demosthenes eloquence, and to dread the force of his Orations. For such was the aucthoritie of Demosthenes, that it stretched euen to the king of Persia, in such sort that the king sending letters to his Lordes, and Counsellors, commaunded them to giue great summes of money to Demosthenes, King of Persia his estimatiō of Demosthenes. and him to estéeme chiefly, and to honour him aboue all the Gréekes. For that he knewe he was able with his force of eloquence and wisedome, to call backe king Philip, and to make him retire, from annoying the Gréekes, or making any stirre among them. And yet there were certaine Orators that began to charge Demosthenes déepely for this ouerthrow at Cheronea (as what is he that being in great aucthoritie is not enuied) and sought to call him to his aunswere: but the people woulde not heare of that,Enuie foloweth vertue. who not only did acquite him for all such complaintes and accusations: but did him all the honour they could very constantly for that time, and desired him to take aucthoritie againe vpon him, as a good Citizen ought to doe. And therefore willed him to make the funerall Oration vpon those that weare killed at Cheronea, and béeing nothing discouraged, or offended with him, but rather gathering good heartes vnto them, did honor and extoll him, as a most worthie Counsellor, and neuer repented the following of any aduise that he had giuen them: which Oration Demosthenes made, notwithstanding he would not put his owne name to the establishing of decrées or actes (according as the maner was to subscribe vnto any thing resolued vpon) but vsed the names of his friendes by [Page 125] course, blaming his owne happe and destinie, as infortunate and vnluckie, vntill he heard that king Philip was deade,King Philip trayterouslye slaine by Pa [...] sanias one of his Garde. and slaine by Pausanias, at what time he began to take heart vnto him againe. And hearing verie secretly that king Philip was dead, before it was knowne openly to others: bicause he would preuent the Athenians thereof, and make them to be of better courage hereafter by his perswasions: he came verye merily into the Senate house, and saide that he had béene warned by a dreame, that some great goodnesse should spedily befall to hys Countrie. Whervpon there came word very shortly after, that king Philip was deade, at which tydings, great triumph, and much reioicing was made amōg the Athenians.Great reioysing in Athens vppon the newes had of King Philips death & especially by Demosthenes. And Demosthenes that had buried his daughter, not past seuen dayes before, went in sumptuous aray, and ware a garland vpon hys [...]ade, according as the maner was then, in token of reioysing and gladnesse, not suffering himselfe to mourne for his daughters death, in the middest of the common ioy, and mirth of hys Countrie. And yet it may be doubted much, whether such reioycing and ioyfulnesse be to be well lyked of or no, especially when a forraine King is trayterously murthered by his owne man, as though he had béene slaine in open fielde, by the force and valiantnesse of his enimie. Truely being so mightie a king he should not haue béene so vsed, notwithstanding his hatred neuer so much agaynst the people of Athens. For this desire of honour to aduaunce states, and to enlarge kingdomes, is naturally graffed in the heartes of all Princes. And there was neuer yet anye, of stomacke or courage,None contented with their state. but desireth to bée in better case than he is, neyther is any man contented with hys owne estate. For the Athenians themselues if they might, they woulde haue béene Lordes ouer king Philip, and haue had as great aucthoritie, as euer the Romaines had.Enuie shoulde ende, with the death of a man. And therefore such affections being ordinarie, are rather to be pitied, than to be dispited: and especially against the person of one that is dead. For what harme can a deade man doe? and if euer enuye should ceasse, it should than haue an end, and die for euer, when [Page 126] the cause is taken away. And the rather I speake this, for that king Philip was of a princely nature, whatsoeuer Demosthenes sayth, & especially towardes Demosthenes, whose friendship he sought by all meanes possible: and yet when he coulde not haue it,king Philips saying to Parmenio of Demosthenes. he sayd thus to Parmenio his déere friend, & counsellor, I haue done whatsoeuer I can do to win Demosthenes, but it will not be, though there are others that stand contented to be mine. Well, this I say, if any Citizen of Athens when he sitteth in councell there,Traytors to their Countrie hated, euen of the enimie, although their treason bee sometimes rewarded. do preferre me before his Countrie, I doe giue him my sée, but I doe no whitte thinke him worthie to be my friend: but he that hates me for his Countrie, I doe and will set vpon him as I woulde doe vpon a Castell, a Fortresse, or a Trench, and yet I doe reuerence him for his vertue, and thinke that Citie blessed,A good subiect beloued euen of the enimie. where suche a man doth dwell, where in déede I would hang vp yonder other fellowes, when I had no more néede of them. But as for this man, I woulde rather haue him mine, than to haue my Pensioners & Garde of Illirian horsemen, and Triballians, and all the hyred souldiours else that I haue nowe, or that I can haue hereafter. For I thinke the might of a wise Orator, and the grauitie of an eloquent speaker,Eloquence of as great force as armour. is nothing inferiour at all to the force of armor, and manhoode whatsoeuer.
At an other tyme he spake thus, to Antipater, that mightie warriour, and one of his chiefe Counsellors. What? fearest thou man any Capitaine of Athens? their Galleyes, and their Péere, are but trifles and toyes vnto me. For what should I passe vppon those fellowes that giue themselues to dauncing, hoyting,Demosthenes onely feared of king Philip▪ as being a Spoke to all his deuises. banquetting, and bellie chéere? that if Demosthenes onely weare not among them, I would sooner get Athens than Thebes, or Thessalia, by deceyuing, by inforcing, by preuenting, and by giuing of bribes, and great rewardes. But that one man is euer in my way, watching and warding still, and taketh aduauntage of occasions, and followeth our attemptes, and stoutely withstandeth all our deuises. Neyther can we hide our doings from him, eyther in vsing sleightes, or attempting [Page 127] any thing, or purposing to doe any exployte: yea that one man is altogither such an hinderaunce, and so maine a rock against vs, that we can not haue our will in all things, and go thorowe with our matters as we would. Nay marie, he did as much as he could that we had not Amphipolis, Olynthus, and the Phoceians. That if he had had his will, we had also gone without Thermopile, Cherronesus, and the coast of Hellesponte, for he doth nothing but styrre them vp against their willes, and waketh them out of their sléepe, with such roughnesse of speach, that oftentymes he gettes no thanke for his labour. Yea he turneth the reuenues that weare woont to be bestowed vpon pastimes, to the seruice of their warres: & prouideth lawes for their nauie, & appointeth Capitaynes and Gouernors to them, which nauie was almost destroyed for want of good order and gouernment. And where the state and dignitie of the Citie was vtterly defaced and almost brought to naught, and the people altogither vntoward to doe any thing: he brought to their remembraunce their forefathers and elders, to doe such things as they did at Marathona, and at Salamine, Marathone, a place t [...]n miles distant from Athens, where Miltiades that valiant Capitain of Athens, vanquished the Parsians. and causeth them to be in league with the rest of the Gréekes. And be our doings neuer so close, there can be nothing hid from him, and vnpossible it is for anye one to deceyue him, and as for corrupting him wyth giftes or rewardes, he is no more to be touched that way, than was Aristides that iust and vndefiled Magistrate. So that this man onely is more to be feared, than are all the Gréekes,Salamine, an Island by Athens, where they gotte a greet v [...]ctorie. and nauie that the people of Athens haue. For the same that Themistocles and Pericles weare heretofore, to the Athenians: the same is Demosthenes alone to all Athens, in wisedome equall to Themistocles, and in greatnesse of mind, comparable to Pericles. And this he hath done by his eloquence, that all Grecia giueth eare vnto him, as Euboia, Megara, Hellesponte, Boeotia. And surely the Athenians (quoth he) doe very well for my purpose, that they sende Charetes, Diopithes, Proxenus, and such others, to be their Generalles and Capitaynes, and suffer Demosthenes to kéepe home, and to speake [Page 128] to speake to them onely out of the Pulpit. For had they put this man in trust with their armour, nauie, and money, sending him foorth with their power, and had suffered him to haue taken the aduauntages that happened:The best men able to doe the greatest good: are often kept backe, & others set in place that can do lesse good▪ I feare me, I shoulde haue béene to séeke, for mine owne Realme of Macedonie at this time. For that he nowe dealing with vs only, but with his decrées, and aduises at home, doth fetch vs out euery where, preuents our doings, prouides thinges necessarie, and makes great powers readie, many tymes agaynst vs. And therefore (quoth he to Antipater that succéeded Alexander his sonne) I count it part of my good hap, that Demosthenes was neuer yet Generall ouer their armie.
Antipater lykewise sayde to Archias the Marshall, whome he sent to Calauria for the taking of Demosthenes, Calauria, now Sidra. and willed him in any wise to bring him aliue: What meane you sir (quoth Archias) is not Demosthenes of all enimies the dreadlyest enimie that you, and we all haue? Vnto whom Antipater aunswered: no by saint Marie is he not, as thou doest say, if any man haue care of vpright doings, or counteth that mans witte, friendly and honest to him, the which is altogither voyde of all deceyte and falshoode,Vertue honoured euen amōg enimies. and abideth still constant. For honest things be honest, euen amongst enimies, and the nature of vertue, is to be greatly estéemed wheresoeuer it is founde to be graffed, or knowne to haue a dwelling place. Neyther am I a wiser man than Zerxes, Xerxes fauour to his deadly enimies. who did maruellously honour Bulis, and Sperchis, both Lacedemonians, & his deadly enimies: whome he dismissed, when he might haue put them both to death. But if euer I did reuerence man, I haue most of all estéemed and honoured Demosthenes (with whome I talked twise in Athens, although I had not then very good leysure to speake with him, and asked others of him) for the onely gift he had in gouernment of the State, bicause men should not thinke that I made such account of him,Demosthenes honoured chiefly for his great wisedome in gouernment▪ for his eloquence, although Python the Orator was nothing in comparison of him nor yet all the other Orators of Athens: they weare but bench-whistlers, [Page 129] if they were to be cōpared with this mans styrring, and vehemencie in doings, with his aptnesse of wordes, with his interlacing of sentences, with his oft vsing of demonstrations, and his maruellous reasons both to winne fauour, and to pierce the hearers. It repentes vs muche to haue called the Gréekes to Athens, in hope to conquer the Athenians, vpon trust & affiaunce that we had in Pytho, and Pytho his promises, the same being afterwards ouerthrowne by Demosthenes himselfe, & the reasons that Demosthenes vsed. And as for vs we could neuer attaine to the pith of his eloquence. But I doe account his eloquence in the second place in stéede of an instrument and meane for him to doe his feates: hauing alwayes passinglye reuerenced Demosthenes himselfe, for the greatnesse of his courage and witte,Demosthenes neuer dismayde by any aduersitie▪ who helde out with a stomacke vpright and vnmooueable, in all the bitter and great [...]ormes of fortune, neyther coulde he be remooued from his purpose, by any terrour or vexation whatsoeuer.
And whereas some sayde to king Philip, that the people of Athens bare him great hatred, and was his mightie aduersarie: Tushe (quoth he) it is Demosthenes and none other, that is my aduersarie. For he onely, maketh Athens to be so mightie as it is. Such is the force of vertue in a good man,Great prayses giuen to Demosthenes by king Philip his enimie. & so great is the value of some one aboue thousandes. And further he said that whereas he did send Ambassadors to other places, if the Athenians did sende any of theirs thether, and suffered Demosthenes to tary at home, he commonly preuayled in his demaunde: but if Demosthenes weare in place, he defeated still all his purposes, and was euermore a trumpe in his way. Yea such a man is he (quoth king Philip) that there can not be any sufficient monument erected, to set forth fully hys great worthinesse.
But to returne againe to king Philip, thus it is reported that he hearing Demosthenes at an other time euill spoken of by Parmenio, for that he had vsed verie vehement wordes agaynst the king, in the Councell house at Athens, well (quoth [Page 130] king Philip) we must allowe Demosthenes to vse his wordes, for amongst all others,Demosthenes could neuer be corrupted by king Philip. he neuer yet came within our bookes of expences, meaning he could neuer fasten pennie of him: whom he did so estéeme for his singular constancie, his assured fidelitie, and notable heart towardes his Countrie: that he thought him to be the oddest man for all giftes that euer was in Grecia.
Thus worthily king Philip reported of his deadlie enimie, honouring vertue, where soeuer he found it. And therefore I would haue wished that the memory of such a king should haue béene kept vnspotted, after his death, or at leastwise not so dispited, as to haue triumphes made vpon his infortunate ende, séeing he was not so verie euill, as he is made to be. I doe like well that Demosthenes hated him deadly while he liued, for that he sought to get into his hands the whole estate of Athens, and all Greceland besides.Loue and hatred must be in euerie good Magistrate. And surely I do thinke that no man can be a good Magistrate, that will not as deadlye hate, as hée déepely loueth: and as soone make an euill man afrayde of him, as a good man to loue him. For by that meanes, he shall both do his Countrie good seruice, and saue himselfe from great perill and daunger, that else might happen vnto him. And according (as the Poet Pyndarus sayth) he is a man among men, that is friend to a friend,Pyndarus, worthy saying of hi [...], that is both a friend, and a foe. and a Lyon to his enimye, especially the hatred rising for the detestation of vice, and the loue growing for the aduauncement of vertue. But nowe that king Philip was dead, what doe the people of Athens? forsooth by & by through Demosthenes perswasion, they did fall to arme themselues, and ioyning in confederacie with others, they warred vppon king Philips countrie, where the Thebanes gaue the [...]resh onset vpon a garrison of Macedonians, and slue them through helpe of Demosthenes, that prouided them armor: and therevnto the Athenians hasted all that was possible for helpe, and ioyned with them.Demosthenes estemed among men as a God. And who swayed nowe lyke a God among men, but Demosthenes? addressing letters to the Nobilitie of Persia, Alexander miscalled by Demosthenes. to arme themselues against yong king Alexāder, whom Demosthenes called [...]ibberly Boy. Notwithstanding afterwardes [Page 131] when yong Alexander had satled his Realme: hée marched with a great power to Boeotia. And then was the Athenians combe cut, and Demosthenes courage cooled. For then did the Thebanes forsake them, and they standing vpon their owne proper force: weare in daunger to haue lost theyr Citie, whervpon they sent Demosthenes with others, as Ambassadors to entreate. But he was so afrayde of king Alexanders indignation,Demosthenes fearefull to doe his message. that he returned backe againe in the midde way, without doing his message at all. Vpon the necke whereof king Alexander sent his Ambassadors, and required to haue giuen into his handes and power, eight of the Orators, whereof Demosthenes was the first and principall. And although Demosthenes went to perswade them by the tale of the woolfe and the shepe, as you heard before, with other reasons alleaged amongst his Apoththegmes, that they should not deliuer them: yet if Demades that great Orator and suttle Grecian had not béene, they had all béene sent away,Nine hundred pound starling. who requiring fiue talents for his charges of Ambassade, tooke vpon him to deale with the king, for appeasing of his wrath, hoping eyther vpon the kings friendship, and his fauour: or else that the king being glutted alreadie with so great an ouerthrow, woulde the rather be satisfied. Who in déede (as he thought) perswaded the king, and so the Orators weare not demaunded, and peace was made with the Citie. Now after Alexander was gone,Demosthenes out of credite. the rest of the Orators caryed great fauor, but Demosthenes was no bodie, & yet whē Agis king of Lacedemon began to styrre,Agis king of Lacedemon, slaine by his owne men, for that he would restore ye lawes of Licurgus. Demosthenes then rowsed himselfe a little, but after when ye Atheniās would do nothing, and that Agis was ouerthrowne, & his whole country brought to ruyne: Demosthenes then sate stil as others did. About this time, was that action entered by Aeschines against Ctesiphon for crowning Demosthenes with a Garlande,Aeschines agaynst Ctesiphon for decreeing a garlande to Demosthenes, in aduauncement of his worthinesse. for his deserts towards his Country, according to the maner then vsed: but the matter was tryed long after, which matter was so famous, as neuer was any publike cause, aswell for the worthinesse of both those Orators, as for the honor and noblenesse [Page 132] of the Iudges who would not yéeld to the condemnation of Demosthenes, although his enimies weare very mightie, & great friendes to the Macedonians: but did acquite him so nobly that Aeschines had scant the fift part of the Ballottes on his side with him.Aeschines banished and Demosthenes cleared. And therefore he went out of the Citie by and by, as a banished man, wearing out the rest of his dayes, at the Rhodes where he taught Rhetorike. And there one day vnfolding his Oration to certaine learned men, which he had vttered agaynst Ctesiphon, for the discredit & ouerthrow of Demosthenes, & being maruellously well liked of them for [...]t: they desired also yt they might heare of him Demosthenes aunswere in his owne defence. Who read it to them likewise. Whereat when he sawe they stoode astonied, and amazed for the wonder of his vehement and singular maner of perswasion: he brust out thus: nay then (quoth he) what would you haue sayd my maisters,Demosthenes vtterance commended by Aeschines his enimie. if you had heard the best himself vtter it, & pronounce it vnto you, meaning that his pronunciation was of such force, and so excellent, that it wanne notable credit to the matter propounded.
Thus these two men being both notable Orators, the one could neuer abyde the other, and in their méetings at councell, weare euer contrarie and ouerthwarting togither.
Not long after this, one Harpalus a great man with king Alexander forsooke his Countrie of Macedonie, Harpolus a traytor that forsooke his mayster king Alexander, and ran away with his treasure. and fledde to Athens, partly for that he had euill vsed things committed to his charge, and partly for that he feared the fiercenesse of king Alexander, who had cruelly dealt with certaine of his deare friends, as Lysimachus & Calisthenes, and had slaine Clitus his best beloued Coūsellor sodainly in his fury, as he sate at table with him. Now this Harpalus being come to Athens, with great treasure and ships (stolne from king Alexander as it was supposed) and so to yéelde himselfe to their protection: the rest of the Orators perceyuing him a fat clyent, weare readie to further him al that they could,Money blindeth the wise. and perswaded altogither the Athenians to receiue him, and to take tuition of him: onely Demosthenes woulde none of it, but rather caused that he shoulde be [Page 133] sent backe againe, and [...]adde them take héede that they did not bring warre vpō their necks, without nede, & vpō vniust cause. Within a while after, commaundement being giuen that hys money and treasure should be séene, and Harpalus perceyuing by Demosthenes eye, that he was in loue with a cup of golde of the kinges, at the excellent workemanship whereof he sawe him take great maruell: he willed Demosthenes to p [...]yse the cup in his hande, and to estéeme the weight of it. Nowe when Demosth [...]s had wondered at the massinesse thereof, and therefore as [...]ed him what it might way, Harpalus smiling vppon him, sayd, it weigheth vnto you sir, xx. talents,3600. p [...]unde stacling. and in déede as soone as it was night, he sent him the cup of golde with .xx. talents of money. Good was the skil and insight of Harpalus in good sooth, to iudge by a mans countenance & casting of his eies vpon a cup: what his chiefe desire was.Demosthenes euercome with the loue of a golden cup. Neyther did Demosthenes forbeare to take it, but being ouercome with that offer, as a man would say caught in the net of temptation, bare with Harpalus, and would not gainsay that he required. And therefore gettes him the next day certaine wooll and rollers to fasten handsomely about his necke, and so comes into the Counsell house, where being desired to stande vp, and to saye his minde in this matter, he aunswered that he had lost his voyce with a paine in his throte: but some merrie conceyted fellowe that smelled the matter, sayd that he was not sick of Angina, Angina, otherwise called Synanche, an inflamation of the muscle of the inner gargil. but he was taken the last night with Argentangina, that is not with simple Angina, but with siluer angina, meaning that he was not troubled with the Vvula being a swelling in the throte, and called in Gréeke Angina, but was corrupted with Argentangina, that is, his mouth was stopped with money, for so the word signifieth vpon the allusion of Angina. Now afterwards when euerie bodie perceyued plaine corruption, and therefore would not heare him speake for himselfe, but weare very angrie with him, and in an vprore and murmure for the matter: one starts me vp, and like a good friendly furtherer of Demosthenes, sayde thus, what meane you my Maysters, will you [Page 134] not heare him speake, that hath the golden cup in his throte? herevpon they banished Harpalus out of the Citie, and fearing least that money should be demaunded of them the which certaine of the Orators had spoyled him of, and finely fléeced to themselues: they did make diligent search in euery one of their houses sauing where Cal [...]cles dwelt, into whose house onelye they did forbeare to enter,Reuerence of a spousall. bicause he was lately maryed, and had his yong spouse within the house with him.
Thus when Demosthenes sawe this matter so hotely taken,Areopagus the high Court of Grece, called the Pallace of Mars, to iudge causes criminal and matters of great importāce and stomacked in such sort: he appealed from them, and desired that his matter shoulde be determined by the high Court of the States of Grece, called Areopagus, that if he weare found faultie, he might be punished thereafter. Now the Court found him guiltie and condemned him for an offender, after he had appeared in open iudgement, & fined him to pay Nine thousād pound starling. fiftie talents, and to lye in prison also, till the money weare payd: who for very shame of this offence as it was sayde, and for the infirmity of his body, being not able to endure emprisonment: made an escape, whereof partly the kéepers were ignorant, and partly they wincked at it. And as he was running away not farre from the Citie, he met certaine of his contrarie faction, whome he woulde gladly haue auoyded, but they followed a pace, and calling him by name, willed him to be of good chéere, for that they ment him no harme, offering to giue him money to beare his charges. Whervpon Demosthenes fetched a great sigh, as a man wounded at the verie heart, but they comforted him, and asked what he ment so to sigh: he aunswered and said thus, alas my Maysters, what other countenaunce maye I shewe than heauinesse, that sée my self constrained to leaue that Citie, which nourisheth suche good enimies of mine in it:A good enimie better than a bad friend. as I shall hardly be able to finde the lyke good friendes anye where else. And so going his waies, he tooke this his banishment very heauily, and impaciently, casting his eyes manye times vpon Athens. And as he went he looked backe verie often vppon the Castell of Pallas in Athens, and holding vp his handes sayde [Page 135] with a lowde voyce: O holy Pallas, Demosthenes saying when he went into banishment. souereigne and Ladye of cities, why hast thou so great pleasure in thrée such infortunate and vnluckie beastes, the night Owle, the Dragon, and the people? The night Owle, or the scriche Owle (as some call hir) being thought the birde of death, was dedicated to Pallas, for a birde of hir chiefe delight: the Dragon also was set vpon hir crest: the people weare Pallas dearlings,The people euill rewarders of them, that haue done them good. ouer whom she tooke great care, who are compared to a monstruous beast with many heades, euill fauoredly acquiting those that haue done them most good, as they did Socrates, Phocion, Scipio, Demosthenes, Tullie, and diuers others. And this man being wearyed with the malice, and vnkinde dealing of the people: woulde say many tymes to his familiers that came to sée him: I knowe (sayes he) that he who séekes to beare office,Magistrates, alwayes subiect to enuie. and to carie authoritie in his Countrie: is euer readie to be enuied, threatned, maliced, slaūdered, and to be put in great hazard, to lose both goods and life for his labour. That if I weare put to choyse whether to dye, or to take the aucthoritie of a Counsellor vpon me, as I haue done: I had rather clearely giue away my life for euer: then once to touch the burthen of the state, or to open my minde in open audience to the people.
And good cause he had to be greatly grieued with the people that weare so vnkinde towardes him, who loued them so dearely, and did so much for them. For not onely did he with his councell, wisedome, and courage aduaunce the welfare of his Countrie: but also he was at great charges diuers wayes with them. For he made diuers publike feastes to the people of his owne cost, a custome vsed amōg them,Diuers good deedes of Demosthenes. by such as were able to beare the charges, & desirous therby to winne fauor. He tooke vpon him besides, to sée to the maintenaunce of the Temples, and priuate buildings in the Citie, and therefore was Aedilis, as who should say, the Guardian of Churches, and buildings in the Citie: he also looked to the shippes, that they wanted nothing, but had all their tackell and furniture accordingly. He repayred also the walles and ditches of the Citie, to his great [Page 136] charge and cost, he redéemed captiues and prisoners with his owne proper money,Such charity of redeming captiues muche vsed, and greatly commended at this day among the Greekes. & gaue of himselfe verie much to the mariage of poore maydes, and orphanes, a good and godly déed, and besides this, serued his Countrie in forraine Ambassages, at all tymes when he was commaunded, and deuised good and wholsome lawes from tyme to time, for maintenaunce of the state. All this notwithstanding, he was cleane out of fauor, for committing one bare offence, in taking the cuppe of golde as a gift from Harpalus, that fled from Alexander, and forbearing onely to speake against him, whereas others, that haue neuer done any good at all, but rather much euill, are neuer dealt withall, nor so much sayd vnto them, as black is their eye. And yet touching this cup,Pausanias wryteth the hystorie of Harpalus at large in his second boke of the description of Grece, & semeth there to cleare Demosthenes. Pausanias a Gréeke Author wryteth, that hée had no such cuppe at all, but was slaundered by his enimies of briberie, & through false accusation condemned, as afterwardes vpon his retourne and better tryall, it fell out in proufe. But what can not the malice of wicked men procure? Wherein I note by the way, that the best and worthiest men, are nighest their owne destruction: and none other in so great perill, though they offende neuer so much, as those are, that liue most vprightlye in aucthoritie, and are the chiefest fauourers of their Countries welfare. So that vertue is harmefull to some, if they excéede the common sort of men in well doing,Ostracismus a banishment for ten yeres space by a certaine kinde of balloting with shelles, wherin the names of ye persons condēned weare written, and it was vsed to abate the power and credit of great personages, y• weare suspected to aspire▪ and therefore they had in Athens, a certaine kinde of banishment called Ostracismus, by the which they banished them that weare in the greatest fauour with the people, for their vertue and godlynesse of lyfe, fearing least such excellent worthinesse shoulde bring them to be chosen as supréeme and sole Gouernours ouer all the rest. And thus this man still continuing in his banishment, worde came vnto him in the Isle Calauria before Troezene where he lay, that Alexander was dead. Where vpon the Grecians began to hast themselues togither, and one Leosthenes taking the matter stoutely vpon him, beset Antipater, Alexanders successor, so round: as if he had enclosed him within a wall. At what time Pythias and Collimedon, béeing men [Page 137] banished from Athens, tooke part with Antipater, Pytheas and Callimedon banished men from their coū trie, became traytours to the same. and laboured the fauour and defence of Macedonie, ioyning themselues with his Ambassadors and friendes, and warned the Grecians not to reuolt frō Antipater, nor yet to confederate themselues with Athens. Which Demosthenes vnderstanding, he also prepares to lincke himselfe with the Ambassadors of Athens, and deuises all the wayes he can,Demosthenes euer true to his Countrie, although he was banished. to perswade the Grecians to driue whole flockes of the Macedonians cleane out of Grece. And while the matter stoode at this poynt, it happened that Demosthenes and Pytheas met togither, betwéene whome there fell such scoulding, so openly,Demosthenes and Pytheas chiding & brawling the one with the other. and with such inuectiues the one against the other, Pytheas for the Macedonians, and Demosthenes for the Athenians: that it was a worlde to heare them two. And whereas Pytheas had thus sayde in his scoulding eloquence, like as we thinke (sayes he) there is alwayes some euill happening to that house, where Asses milke is brought in to be solde: euen so that Citie of necessitie can not be long without trouble and mischiefe,Demosthenes turning a speach vttered by his enimy, to his purpose. vnto the which an Ambassade is sent from Athens: Demosthenes turned his reason thus, and said the milke of Asses is brought into mens houses for healthes sake, and to doe good: And so the Athenians doe come alwayes for the welfare of others, and to helpe such as are in any wyse destressed. Of which controuersie when the people of Athens had heard, and howe honestly and wisely Demosthenes had handeled himselfe in his countries behalfe:Demosthenes called from banishment. they made one Demon of the tribe of Paeanea, Demosthenes Cosyn germain, to penne a decrée for his returne, and so they called him home: vpon the conclusion wherof, a Galley was sent for him to Aegina, where he lay banished. And thus after a certaine tyme of exile returning home in the Galey with great honor, and comming out of the Hauen Pyraeeum into the Citie, he saw readie afore him all the Nobilitie and Cleargie attending his arriual, with a maruellous number of the common people, who receyued him with all the ioy and gladnesse that might be. Wherevpon it was reported, he helde vp his handes to heauen, wyth [Page 138] great thankes to God, that he sawe that day which was more honourable to him, than it was to that noble man Alcibiades vpon his like returning from banishment, for that he saw himselfe welcomed of the people willingly and voluntarily, whereas they receyued Alcibiades home by commaundement, & for verie necessitie to their great charge,Alcibiades receyued home for feare, least being absent▪ he might be hurtfull to his countrie. much agaynst their will. And now where a fine was set vpō his head of .50. talēts which yet stood still and could not be pardoned, being vpon a condemnation by consent of the state: they sought to help the extremitie thereof, by this cunning, that where they were woont vpon the sacrifices made to Iupiter the Sauiour, to giue money vnto them that trimmed and prepared the Aultare: they did let vnto him the doings of that sacrifice for .9000. pounde starling, to counteruaile thereby the value of his amerciment.Fiftie talents.
Thus Demosthenes being most honourably restored and highly estéemed, he could not yet for all this long enioy his desired Countrie,Alteration of states, a thing naturall. for that the ouerthrow and ruine of the Grecians was at hande, euen within fiue Monethes after, as it followed. At what tyme Antipater gaue them an vtter distresse in the battaile at Cranon, Cranon a town in Thessaly. and the next Moneth his garnisons approched Munichia, and shortly after both Antipater & Craterus, came to Athens it selfe, whose comming being reported and knowne: Demosthenes with a fewe others conueyed themselues awaye spéedilye, before hande, wherevpon the people condemned him and all his companie by a decre of Demades, Demosthenes condemned by the people. to suffer death. And nowe when they weare all gone, some one way, & some another: Antipater sendes out streight his catche powles and Sergeants (whereof one Archias was Knight marshall and chiefe minister) to apprehende those Orators and others.
This Archias was sometymes a player in Comedyes, and one that brought vp schollers vnder him, most excellent in that facultie:Hiperides. Marathonius, Aristonicus, Himerius. but being called to this office, he did his diligence to séeke them out, and finding Hyperides, Aristonicus, and Himerius, in Aegina where they tooke Sanctuarie: he plucked [Page 139] them out from the sacred place,Hyperides a lewde wauering Orator. and sent them streight to Antipater, who caused them forthwith to be executed. And as for Hyperides, the report went, that his tongue was first plucked out of his heade.
Nowe Archias hearing afterwards,Calauria an Island bordering vpō Tro [...] [...]enium in Arcipelagus. that Demosthenes was in the Isle Calauria, and had taken the Church of Neptune for his succour: he sayled streight thither, and entring the Temple with his officers,Archias entering the temple of Neptune, in Calauria, foūd Demosthenes there, & sought to perswade him to come away quietly to Antipater, and he should haue no harme, but he could not entreat him for all that he could doe or say. he entreated Demosthenes to go quietly with him to Antipater, and he should haue no harme. But Demosthenes had a wonderfull warning by a dreame the same night before, for it séemed to him in his sléepe, that he did contend with Archias for the setting forth of a Tragedie, and hauing the better of him, and winning the stage from him: he did afterwardes quayle for want of furniture and charges. And therefore whereas Archias had vsed much entreatie, Demosthenes looking vpon him, from the place in the Church, where he did then sit, sayde thus: Archias, neyther couldst thou euer perswade me to like thée, when thou wast a cōmon player vpon a stage:Demosthenes would not giue eare to Archias speach. neyther shalt thou nowe perswade me with promises, when thou playest the Orator. And when Archias thervpon had bitterly threatned him, yea nowe (quoth he) thou doest vtter liuely the oracles, and bloudie dooings of Macedonie, where as thou diddest euen now but onely play the part of a stage player. Tarie a while man (quoth he) I pray thée, that I may dispatch somewhat to my family, and housholde folkes. And when he had sayd these wordes, he went farther into the Church, and taking out his writing tables as though he would haue written somewhat, he did put a quill to his mouth,Demosthenes maner of death by putting a quill to his mouth. and byting it a little with his téeth, as he was woont to doe with hys penne, when he was wryting or deuising any thing: he helde it so a while, and in the end wrapping his head into his garment, he layde him downe vpon the ground, which when those saw that wayted at the Church doore without: they fell a mocking of him, calling him cowarde, faint hearted wretch, and a verye woman. But Archias came vnto him, and prayed him to ryse [Page 140] vp, and renuing the same milde wordes vnto him againe that he had spoken before, did promise him that Antipater ment clearely to forgiue him, and to be in perfite loue and charitie with him. Notwithstanding Demosthenes when he perceyued the poyson had taken force within his bodie, vncouering his face, he looked vp vpon Archias and sayde: by and by thou shalt play the part of that tragicall Creon, Creon king of Thebes, a cruell murtherer of diuers, and especiallye of Antigone, and Argia, beeing slaine himselfe afterwardes by Theseus of Athens for hys great tyrannie and murther vsed against others. and shalt cast thys dead carkasse away without buriall, whereas I my selfe (O mightie Neptune) doe rise aliue out of thy temple. And when he had sayde these wordes, he badde them take him, whose body trembling for faintnesse, and falling downe as he passed foorth by the Aultare: at the last he fetching a great sigh, gaue vp the ghost among them. And thus ended this worthie man. Howbeit, the maner of his death is reported diuersly. Some say that he tooke poyson out of a quill: others saye, that when he fell downe at the aultare, there was founde in his wryting tables the beginning of an Epistle, Demosthenes to Antipater, and not a worde more. They that came for him, and weare the gard to Antipater, sayde they saw him sucke poyson out of a clowte, that he had in his hande, and put it to his mouth, they taking it to be golde that he had swalowed: but a mayde seruaunt of his being asked by Archias of this matter, sayde, that Demosthenes had kept the selfe same clowte a long time about him, as a remedie at all tymes for him. Democrates a kinsman of Demosthenes did verily thinke that he did not die of any poyson at all,Demosthenes dyed without poysoning himselfe, being sodenly deliuered by Gods mightie hand. but rather that he was deliuered by the verie prouidence of God, from the cruell Macedonians, by a short, easie, and naturall death.
It weare not amisse to declare in some part the very wordes that Archias and Demosthenes had togither, and were afterwardes reported to Antipater successour to Alexander the great, according as Lucian maketh mention after the winning of Athens by the sayde Antipater. For it should séeme Demosthenes made little account of death, after the losse of his countrie, but rather prepared himselfe to die with it, thinking [Page 141] life vnfit for him, when his déere Countrie was once vndone. And thus therfore he said to Archias, cōming to him into the Isle Calauria, whervnto he then was fled, to eschue present tyrannie: after long entreatie made by the sayde Archias, and promise therewithall that if he woulde come away, he shoulde not haue any harme at all:A dialogue betwixt Demosthenes & Archias, and the same rehearsed as it was, to king Antipater by Archias vpō his returne from the Isle Calauria, now Sidra. (The which wordes Archias rehearsed afterwardes to king Antipater.)
In good sooth I am not mooued, O Archias, through feare of tormentes or death, to make promise to come to Antipater in hope to haue lyfe. And though these thinges bée true that thou doest saye with all thy fayre promises: I ought yet much more to take héede, that I doe not take my life of Antipater by the waye of a gift or by corruption, least I shoulde séeme to forsake that standing and rowme wherein I was placed for the defence of Grece, and béeing counted as a runnagate, shoulde goe ouer to Macedonie. That if it be honest for me to liue, let the hauen Pyraeus giue me life, and that Galley,A rehearsall made by Demosthenes, of his seuerall deedes atchieued, for his coū tries welfare. the which I gaue to the Citie, and the walles and trenches that I made aboute the Citie of mine owne charges, and the Pandion Tribe, whereof I was Guardian, and benefactor of mine owne accorde: and Solon, and Draco, the two lawe makers, and the fréedome of the Parliament house, and people, and the decrées, and ordinaunces for the nauie, and the worthie déedes and triumphes of our elders, and the good affection of the communaltie, by whome I haue béene oftentymes crowned, and the aucthoritie of the Grecians, whom I haue often preserued. That if I woulde liue by the mercie and fauour of others, although the same be a dishonourable thing: yet weare it better for me to séeke mercie amongest them, whose kinsfolkes and friendes, I haue deliuered out of captiuitie, or to deale with the fathers of those maydes, that I holped to good mariages, or else to go to such as I haue ayded heretofore, to pay theyr subsidies and ordinarie tributes. But if neyther the state of an Islande, nor the Sea can deliuer me from death: I desire God Neptune (in whose Temple I am) to saue my lyfe, and I desire it [Page 142] of this his Aultare and of his holy lawes, that if God Neptune neyther cannot so much as withstande the prophaning of this his Church,God Neptunes temple a sanctuarie. and that he thinketh it no shame, to giue vp Demosthenes to Archias: I will be contented to die, and yet shal not Antipater for that, be honoured of me, as a God. In déede I might haue had better friendes of the Macedonians, than I had of the Athenians, and might haue béene a companion of thy happinesse and flourishing estate, if I would haue lincked my selfe with Callimedon, Callimedon, Pytheas, Demades, three euill members & salemakers of their Countries libertie. Pythias, and Demades. But I do not like any such lyfe, neyther will I chaunge my faith with the ficklenesse of fortune. ‘That surely is a noble passage which a man maketh vpon his death, with a cleare conscience, and without guilt or feare, of any filthie act, or wicked offence done.’ And asmuch as lyeth in me, I will not dishonour Athens, but will rather embrace bondage, and renounce cleane my liberty, and so go streight to my graue with honour. And good it weare for thée Archias to call to thy remembraunce the Tragedies whererein thou hast béene a player. For is it not notably sayde there in one of them? The Ladie being readie to die, was verie carefull to fall downe comely,Notable bashfulnesse of a Mayden, yt being to be executed, was careful that no bare plat of hir body might vnsemely appere open. that no bare part of hir bodye might appeare. And séeing a Mayde did this, shall Demosthenes preferre a dishonourable lyfe before an honest death, forgetting the disputations of Zenocrates, and Plato, touching the immortalitie of the soule? These weare his sayings. ‘And moreouer he enueyed bitterly agaynst those that doe vpbrade vnto others their calamitie,Hee is worsse than mad, that chargeth an other man with beggerie, for that fortune is euer vnstable, and no man assured of that he hath. and dashe them in the téeth with their poore life and miserable estate. But to what end do I rehearse all these things, sayth Archias to Antipater?’ At the length when I had partly entreated, and partly threatned him, vsing both sharpt and swéete wordes togither: I would (quoth he) be styrred man with these thy wordes: if I weare Archias, but séeing I am Demosthenes, pardon me I pray thée, for that it is agaynst my woont to be a wauering or an inconstant man. And nowe when I went to plucke him out perforce, and that he perceyued it: he beganne to laugh at me, and looking vpon [Page 143] the God, sayde: Archias thinketh that armour onely and armyes of men, are the strength, and bulwarkes of mans lyfe,The courage of mans minde, aboue all force and strength whatsoeuer. contemning my furniture, the which neyther the Illirian souldiours, the Treballian garde, nor yet the Macedonian forces, shall euer be able to dash and ouerthrow: The same force being stronger than that woodden wall, (our shippes) was:Their galleyes and ships, called by Apollo their woodden walles. the which Apollo did once report by his Oracle, to be inuincible. For euē as through foresight & vnderstanding, I haue kept my selfe safe in gouernement of the common weale hitherto: so I trust by the same to defende my selfe clearely from the Macedonians daunger hereafter. I neuer cared a straw for Euctemon, Euctemon, Aristogiton, Pytheas, Callimedon, foure traytours to their Countrie, and flatterers to king Philip. nor for Aristogiton, nor for Pytheas, nor for Callimedon, nor then for Philip, nor yet nowe for this Archias. And when he had sayde thus, and I began to plucke at him. How nowe man (quoth he) doe not lay violent hands vpon me, for this Temple shall not be prophaned through me, by so much as I am able to let it: so soone as I haue done my prayers to God, I will follow thée streight wayes without leading at all. And so I looked in déede yt they would haue done, when he had put his hande to his mouth. Neyther had I any mistrust at all that he did any other thing, but only prayed to God. But what he did then we knew it afterwardes, by taking streight examination of his mayde, who confessed, that he bought poyson for himselfe a great while ago, to loose his soule from bondage of the bodie, to liue streight wayes in libertie. Neither could he scantly passe ouer the stares of the Church doore, when he looked vpon me and sayde,The minde of euery man, is man himselfe. thou mayest cary this carkasse man to Antipater, but as for Demosthenes, thou shalt not carie him, no, no, by. And séemed then according to his maner to sweare by those that dyed in the battaile at Marathona in the fauour of their Countrie,Miltiades victor in the battaile at Marathona. where Miltiades gaue the ouerthrow to the Persians. But death approching & he taking his leaue of vs, his speach fayled, and his spirit vanished cleane away. This end, O king, Antip. of Demosthenes you say. Now all these things O (Archias) yt thou hast sayde are proper to Demosthenes. And doest thou thinke [Page 144] then that we woulde haue caryed this man to the slaughter house,Antipaters notable prayses giuen of Demosthenes. as men cary an Oxe or any other beast: or rather would we haue cherished him, and vsed his councell touching the whole state of Greceland, that we might haue heard the voyce of a frée minded man,The free minded man, the best and surest friend. where as nowe we haue none about vs but flatterers, and soothers to all things that we say and doe. But he was to good for vs. Nowe Lorde God what a passing man was this: O spirit inuincible, and most blessed creature: what a valiaunt stout heart had he. It is wisedome, I sée for man, euer to haue in his hande the possession of libertie. Nowe he is gone most like to liue in the Islandes of the blessed, in Paradice of the renowmed and worthie Champions: or rather he hath taken the streight way to heauen there to be an aungell, with Iupiter the Sauiour. As for his bodie we will sende it to Athens, the which is like to be a more precious monument to that Countrie, than all those that dyed at Marathona for sauegarde of their Citie. Thus farre Lucian, in that Dialogue, betwixt King Antipater, and Archias the Marshall.
He was .62. yeares of age, when he dyed, ending his course the .xvj. day of October vpon the feast of Ceres, Demosthenes age, and how long it is since he was. which feast was euer after hallowed with mourning and fasting for memorie of him, about ninetéene hundred and .93. yeres past. The Athenians vpon this day did him honour as he had deserued, and erected a brasen monument of his shape and portrature, and gaue to the eldest of his familie a liuing in the Court, grauing an honourable inscription vpon the foote of his monument, in this wise.
Thus this noble Orator ended his dayes, being a man worthie to haue liued euer, whose name and glorie cannot but continue, so long as the Sunne giueth light vpon earth, or man hath tongue to speake. Neyther haue I in vsing this report of him, done as Zenophon did in setting forth the lyfe of Cirus king of Persia, who in déede did coulour him not as his condicions [Page 145] weare, but spake of a king in his person, as a king should bée: but I haue béene bolde with Demosthenes to shewe him fully and wholy in his colours as he was, not leauing in the middest of his vertues, to touch also the nature of his vices, bicause I woulde shewe plainely what he was in all poyntes, that the worlde may sée, God giueth not to anye one man all things in perfection without some blemish or default, although some men haue some seuerall and excellent giftes, farre passing others as this man without doubt had.
Nowe Demades the Orator his fellow (who for naturall witte farre passed Demosthenes) decréed and enacted a sentence of death agaynst him, after he was fledde, the rather to flatter the Macedonians, and to yéelde himselfe and his countrie into their handes, which turned him to vtter destruction.Traytors ende their dayes as they deserue. And hereof Demosthenes gaue him warning before hande, and willed him in anye wise not to make sale of hys naturall soyle, saying that traytours in making sale of theyr Countrie, doe first make sale of themselues. And so it fell out afterwards with him in déede, for Demades shortly after was apprehended, and had first his sonne slaine in his armes, and he himselfe next put to a most cruell & miserable death. A worthie ende for all such whatsoeuer they be, that are wicked betrayers of their naturall soyle and Countrie, who after a sort plucke out their owne bowelles, in that they alienate from themselues to others (whatsoeuer the respect be) the proper inheritaunce and birth right of their owne nation, the chiefest and greatest treasure belonging to man vpon earth, next to the true knowledge and reuerent feare of God.
Pausanias report vpon Homere and Demosthenes, in his second booke of the description of all Grecia.
WIthin the Temple of Neptune, there is a monument of Demosthenes, vpon the which man chiefly, as vpon Homere in tymes past, fortune séemeth to haue shewed hir great spite and malice. For Homere besides the losse of his eye sight, felt an other great harme, the which was extréeme beggerie,A straunge and pitifull sight to see learning go a begging. whereby he was forced to traueyle the wide worlde, asking his almose, of euery bodie: Demosthenes againe, being an aged man, was driuen to abide the smarts of banishment,The best men alwayes in most daunger. and besides that dyed a violent death. Vpon the which matter, like as diuers other haue spoken and written much: so Demosthenes himselfe hath sayd his minde verie largely. And touching the money that Harpalus brought from Asia, without doubt he had not one pennie of it. And so proueth by coniectures at large, the likelihoode thereof, so that it shoulde seeme by Pausanias saying, that he was wrongfully and vniustly charged with taking of that massie golden cup, and the 1600. pound starling. xx. talents in it, as is before declared in the description and report made of his life.
- Enimies to be vsed as they would vse others. 8
- Enimies to be dealt withall when they are at the worst. 36
- Enimie to be fought withall rather at his home, than at our home. 48
- Enimie waxing mighty to be feared greatly. 5 [...]
- Enimies most daungerous when they deale with vs in our owne countrie. 75
- Enimies domesticall the worst creatures liuing. 75
- Enuie followeth vertue. 124
- Enuie shoulde ende with the death of him, that is enuied. 125
- Entry graunted to the enimie a thing very daungerous. 58
- Euent of things rather marked than the cause. 4
- Etesie, north east windes comming ordinarily at a certaine season of the yeare. 42
- Euill men care for nothing but for the present time. 55
- Euill speakers would be euill doers. 8
- Euill men gouerne with better safetie than good men. 75
- Euboia, now Negroponte, an Iland in Achaia. 38
- Euphreus, a iust man, euill vsed by his owne Countrymen, not onely by his enimies. 76
- Euphreus seeing the destruction of his countrie would not liue. 77
- Examples of foreslowing things, and the losse of occasion offered. 3
- Execution of lawes a higher thing in nature than is the deuising or bare reporting of them. 24
- Executors carelesse of their charge. 106
- FAults rather shyfted off to others, than acknowledged of any. 25
- Fayre promises make fooles fayne. 58
- Falshoode in fellowship and common enuying one another. 96
- Falshode fayleth. 13
- Flatterers most daungerous people to a common weale. 26
- Flatterers bearing authoritie all things go to ruine. 28
- Flatterers suffered to speake in Athens in fauour of the enimie, contrary to the maner of all other Countries. 100
- Flying tales and flattering newes doe neuer good to any state. 47
- Folly to die without doing any good, when a man maye by escaping doe very much good. 118
- Fonde tales sooner heards than graue matters. 117
- Fortune so called, otherwise in very deede is the grace of God, which giueth successe to all our actions. 16
- Free speaking forbidden bringeth daunger to the state. 63
- GEntlemen eschew euill for shame, the common people for feare of harme. 23
- [Page]Gods goodnesse worketh all in all. 16
- God and nature set all things to sale for labor. 34
- Godly men to be stirred through carefulnesse of the wicked. 46
- Good men made afrayde when they see a good man euill vsed. 77
- Good men and euill men are of diuers opinions. 77
- Goodes wrongfully gotten haue small assurance. 13
- Good men maliced for speaking truth. 58
- Good men in greater daunger for saying the truth, than euill men are for doing naughtily. 59
- Good subiects beloued, euen of the enimy. 126
- Good vtterance the best thing for an Orator. 120
- Gouernors passing measure excedingly were restrained of their course. 68
- Gouernors ouer Gallies the best estemed men amōg the Athenians. 106
- Greecelande altogither in daunger of king Philip. 67
- Greecelande ruled by the Athenians .73. yeares. 67
- Greecelande ruled by the Lacedemonians .29. yeares. 68
- Greecelande ruled by the Thebanes after the battayle of Leuctra. 68
- Grecians fondlye vnquiet among themselues, when the enimie abrode was so busie and stirring agaynst them. 69
- Grecians aunciently most sounde in their dealings. 71.
- Grecians in olde tyme carefull ouer Greecelande, not onely ouer that Countrie wheare they weare borne. 73
- HAbilitie in dealing rather to be followed than will. 26
- Haliartum a towne in Morea. 38
- Happy who learneth wyt by anothers myshap. 21
- Happy is he that can take his tyme. 21
- Home foes the worst people liuing. 99
- Honors chaunge maners especially in those that rise frō the dunghil. 102
- Honor got by vertue hath perpetuall assurance. 103
- IDle men vnfit to reape the paynefull mans labor. 30
- Idle men soone taken tardie. 36
- Inconstancie not to bee feared of them that can not reuolt without their vndoing. 31
- Intent makes the offence being notoriously prooued although the deede be not done. 66
- Iseus an excellent Orator and teacher of eloquence. 108
- Isocrates the sweetest Orator aboue all others. ibidem.
- Iustice neuer so little broken, iniustice is streyghtwayes commited. 66
- Iustice maintayneth estates. 94
- KIngs being good and mighty therewithall, are to be dread for feare of their authoritie. 12
- [Page]King Philips force what it is. 12
- his nature. 1 [...]
- his state both fickle and weake. 35
- his properties rehearsed in a beade rowle. 48
- his wordes not so much to be marked as hys deedes. 64
- He practised Stafforde lawe with the people of Athens. 64
- fitter for sleyght and guyle than for euennesse and playne dealing. 65
- his deedes rather to be noted than his wordes. 65
- his libertie to doe what he lyst hath bene the cause of all the warres in Greece. 67
- his vnmeasurable wrong doing in short time. 68
- his prowde maner of wryting. 69
- his bottomlesse ambicion. 69
- barbarous and contumelious of his tongue. 70
- most painfull to doe his endeuour. 74
- to be kept vnder by armor not by wordes. 83
- a cherisher of ambicious persons. 84
- he hateth euen the very religion of Athens. 86
- he mindeth wholy the destruction of Athens. 87
- his prayse is ouerthwarted. 118
- LAbor and paynes taking bring all thyngs to passe. 113
- Laysinesse lost Athens. 96
- Lawes to be abrogated that hinder good proceedings. 23
- Lawe makers and none others ought to abrogate their owne decree and lawe established. 24
- Lawes needelesse, if either feare or loue could driue men to be honest. 104
- Lawes are the lynkes of vertue. 104
- Libertie sweete and desired of all men. 13
- Lewde doyngs shorten good dayes. 16
- Lythernesse to be redeemed by diligence. 17
- MAgistrates what they shoulde bee. 27
- Magistrates that are to be mislyked, and wherfore. 28
- Magistrates compared to Mastrifes that defende sheepe against the Wolfe. 119
- Mans minde is man himselfe. 103
- Mardonius fauchen hoong vp in the temple for hys victorie agaynst the Plateyans. 27
- Mandragora what it is. 85
- Menelaus a straunger and Captayne to the Athenians in their warres at home. 41
- Men in authoritie seeke rather their owne aduauncement than the welfare [Page] of their countrie. 101
- Miltiades a temperate gouernor. 27
- Monye to be well heeded in time of warre, for dysposing of it, that euery one may haue his pay. 42
- Monye taking destroyed Olynthus. 100
- Monye taking the ruyne of Thebes. ibid.
- Monye taking vndid Thessalia. ibid.
- Mistrustfulnesse the chiefest safegarde that may be agaynst the practises of tyrants. 57
- Mercenary souldiers serue there where they may haue the most gaine. 18
- NAughtypackes make euill men the more bolde, and flatterers make fooles the more fonde. 15
- Necessitie and neede neuer more than now. 36
- Neglecting euen of priuate causes, very daungerous to a state. 5
- Negligence, not ignorance, hurted the Grecians. 21
- Negligence and want of care haue caused much wo. 33
- Negligence lost Athens. 83
- Neighbours adioyning vnto vs should carefully be looked vnto. 89
- Nothing well done that is not willingly done. 89
- OCcasion giuen, is a warning sent from god not to be omitted without great daunger. 1
- Occasion presently offered and vnlooked for. [...]
- Occasions newly offered vpon rehersall of occasions lost. 4
- Occasion not to be omitted without great perill. 11
- Occasions to be taken nowe or neuer. 22
- Occasions offered neuer better. 25
- Offers made that may be receyued as much to be esteemed, as the present and absolute possession of things. 4
- Olynthians deceyued by king Philip. 78
- Olynthians abused by King Philips counterfeyte dealings. 56
- One inconuenience suffered, many mischiefes follow after. 59
- Order of great value, to gouerne things well. 43
- Oriteynes abused and pittifully tormented by King Philip. 78
- Orchomenius Laomedon by exercising of his body cured himselfe of a great disease. 109
- Ouermuch medling and ouerlittle both hurtfull to man and Citie. 101
- PAinefull men weare the Garlands. 17
- Panyke what it is. 87
- Pardoning offences very often destroyeth a state. 103
- [Page]Peoples cōmon hatred prognosticateth destruction to the partie hated. 15
- Peace better than warre, if a man may be sure of it. 64
- Peny well spent that saueth a pounde. 97
- Practisers vndermining worse than open enimies. 66
- Perticular griefes sooner felt than publike annoyances. 97
- Phocion the Hatchet of Demosthenes reasons. 219
- Priuate lyfe a safe being. 101
- Pleasure causing displeasure bringeth repentance in the ende. 5.119
- Presence of a Prince, speedes his affayres. 2
- Preuention necessary when purposed mischiefe is foreknowne. 66
- Priuate losse to be susteyned for common profite. 6
- Prince and subiect being of diuers dispositions can not both long continue togither. 15
- Princes ambicious, euill neyghbours to dwell by. 2
- Princes that be mightye match in league with meaner states to serue their turne the better. 53
- Profit to be preferred vnto pleasure. 52
- Prouision before hande is alwayes necessary. 91
- Pykethankes seeke by discrediting others to benifite themselues. 58
- Pythea certayne games in the honor of Apollo. 70
- Pytheas saying to Demosthenes. 113
- Pythie speach vsed, better than a Pylates voyce. 117
- QVestions vnnecessary asked of king Philips being. 36
- REwardes necessary for well doers, and chastisement fitte for offenders. 18
- Rich men not to drawe backe to doe their duties bicause the poore are vnwilling. 93
- SAtyrus a professour to teach iesture and good vtterance. 11
- Saying and doyng are two things. 42
- Scolding and rayling not to be vsed nor aunswered vnto. 121
- Short shooting loseth the game. 43
- Sclaunderers and flatterers the worst people liuing. 62
- Sclaundering neuer vsed by any honest man. 121
- Similitude declaring how carelesse the Grecians weare. 69
- Similitude declaring the nature of lyther and carelesse people. 70
- Similitude warning men to be wyse in tyme. 79
- Speach daungerously forborne when necessitie requireth speach. 62
- Speach needefull to be free for all men in their Countries quarrell. 18
- [Page]Stage mony ought to be employed vpon the warres. 30
- Straungers not so fit to deale for others, as others to deale for themselues. 30
- Straungers ayde not to be refused in tyme of great neede. 91
- Straungers alone not to be trusted in seruice of the warres. 40
- Straunger to be generall is a thing very daungerous. 41
- Strength of a Citie wherein it consisteth. 95
- Souldiers must haue their paye. 40
- Souldiers not to be touched in their honor, much lesse to be condemned through false report. 47
- Subiectes alwayes to be ready for annoying the enimie. 38
- Subiectes and straungers to be ioyned togyther. 40
- Subiectes to liue as men doe in priuate families. 93
- TAke heede of had I wyst. 78
- Talkers often times frame their tongue to ye humor of others. 63
- Thankes to be giuen for that which a man might haue, aswell as for that which he hath. 4
- Thessalians treacherous people. 7
- Thessalians deceiued by king Philip vnder color of friendship offered. 56
- Theseus perswaded the people to forsake the Countrie, and to lyue in the Citie. 105
- Thebanes corrupted by king Philip. 53
- Traytours and flatterers better lyked than true meaning men, and the reason why. 77
- Traytours to their Countrie hated euen of the enimye, although their treason be sometime rewarded. 126
- Traytours ende their dayes as they deserue. 145
- Treasons vttered by examples. 76
- Treasure of the state, consumed vpon feastes and games for to pleasure the people therewithall. 7
- Treasure of the state to be looked vnto. 89
- Treasure of the state conuerted to priuate gaine causeth great harme. 94
- Treasure of a kingdome consisteth vpon three poyntes. 100
- Troublesome times warne all men to be carefull. 73
- Trusting causeth treason. 76
- Trusting to a mans selfe is the best trusting. 48
- Tyme to be taken whyle it is, for tyme will away. 2
- Tyme sometyme protracted and delayes vsed, very profitable. 79
- VAliant souldiers make all passages open for their purpose. 46
- Vertue consisteth vpon knowledge and doyng. 203
- Vertues a great number in one seuerall man. 115
- [Page]Vertue honoured of all men, but of wrong deedes no man maketh any worship. 103
- Vertue excludeth vyce. 104
- Vertue the best nobilitie .106. honored euen of the enimie. 128
- Villaynes in grosse. 99
- Vse makes maysteries. 110
- Vsury the cause of all misery. 5
- Vtterance maketh much to set forth a matter. 116
- WArres better to be denounced, than to stande at defence. 75
- Welfare touching a mans selfe not likely that it will be forgotten. 1
- Welth exceeding ouermuch causeth much wo. 8
- Welfare hideth the vices of wicked men, and aduersitie vnfoldeth their natures to be seene of all men. 16
- Welfare of a state to be preferred before all other things. 26
- Wordes and deedes should be all one. 21
- Wordes vnfit weapons to withstand armor. 51
- Wrong doers be the cause of warre, not the redressers of wrong. 63
- Wrong done by straungers more daungerous than harme done by subiectes. 69
- Wyse counsell more easie to be allowed than to be deuised. 1
- XErxes saddle dedicated to Minerua for his victorie had at Salamnia. 27
- Xerxes fauour to his deadly enimies. 128
¶ Imprinted at London by Henrie Denham, dwelling in Pater noster Rowe, at the signe of the Starre
Cum priuilegio ad imprimendum solum.
Anno Domini. 1570.