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 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 theÌ„ 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 first that the warre was not domesticall nor proper to Athens but forreyne with the which kinde of warre the Athenians woulde not seeme to deale Againe that they had no monye ready to maintaine these 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 â—â—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 distrâ—sse of the sayde people and Citie I Do verily beleeue O Athenians you had rather thaÌ„ a great deale of money you were wel assured 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 vpoÌ„ And séeing it is so it is reasoÌ„ you should gladly giue theÌ„ the 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 that many a néedefull poynt should come into some mans head vpon the sodaine to speake of So shall it be no hard matter for you out of them all to vse choyse of the best and most profitable Wherefore O Athenians this present time euen verie now warneth vs with open mouth to go in hand with those affayres our selues if you haue any regard of your own safetie 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 and the same to be readie with all spéede to the intent the ayde may be of men euen out of this towne and that you commit not the lyke fault nowe as you haue done heretofore And that there weare Ambassadors dispatched both to aduertise them hereof also to
nowe called Modon an hauen town in Morea Great is the value of order and foresight to gouerne things well Disorder and want of foreknowledge doe cause confusion * 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 Tyme taryeth no man. He meaneth king Philip. Pleasant talke vnnecessarie when plaine speach is most needefull Foresight in Magistrates most requisite Lingring is then noysome when necessitie requires haste As Switzers fight fondly so doe many people and nations deale with their enimies vnwisely Cherronesus now Phanâ—â— a port towne in Morea God sendeth oft tymes wicked tormentors to securge and annoy others The carefulnesse of the wicked ought to quicken the Godly to looke about them All passages are open to the stowte and valiant souldiour â–ª As good neuer a whit as neuer the better Daungerous to slaunder souldiours that haue serued and worst of all to condemne them vpon the false report of others Gouernors to be personall and carefull vewers of things to be done Flying tales and flattering newes doe neuer good to any state 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 Demosthenes neuer preferred priuate welfare before common weale Words are vnfit weapons to withstande armour Such studie such fruite â–ª Profite to be preferred vnto pleasure The enimie being mightie he is to be feared greatly Demosthenes consideration vpon king Philips doings Pyle certaine narow gates or strayts for passages King Philip findeth the Athenians vnspotted for corruption Thebanes corrupted by giftes and faire promises Great princes seeke amitie of meaner states for their owne welfare and to serue their seuerall turnes the better Athenians neuer corrupted with any fayre promise or offered hope to lose their countries libertie Athenians worthinesse seâ— forth by example of their elders Herodotus reporter of these matters In the warres against the Persians the Argeyans would not meddle but the Thebanes toke part with the Persians 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 The lapping vp of all these matters Wise men being wronged are to be feared of the wrong doers Euill men care for nothing but for the present time onely 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. Olynthians abused by King Philips counterfeyte dealings Thessalians deceyued â—y king Philip vnder colour of friendship offered Mistrustfulnes the chiefest safegarde that may be against the practises of Tyraunts He meaneth bicause he writ himselfe king Carelesse men are euer most nigh their owne harme Ambassadors seeking theyr owne priuate welfare are most daungerous ministers and therefore to be narowly looked vnto Daungerous to grauÌ„t an entry to the enimie Good men maliced for speaking truth Fayre promises makes fooles faine Pickethankes seeke by discrediting others to benefite themselues Good men in greater daunger for saying the truth than euill men are for dooing naughtily Pyla were certaine straytes to stop passages where the town Thermopylae stoode Peloponesus now Morea One inconuenience suffered many mischiefs do follow after Then is forâ—earing to speake most daungerous when necessitie requireth speach Flatterers and slaunderers the very authors of all mischiefe and euill hap that may be Slaunderers Bolde speech vpoÌ„ good cause deserues fauor Free speaking forbidden bringeth daunger to the state Many frame their talke according to the humor of others Through diligence and care those thinges may be redressed that weare by slouth and negligence forlorne He that doth wrong giueth cause of warre not they that seeke the redresse of wrong Councellours speaking for the best doe oftentymes beare the greatest blame Peace better than warre if a man may be sure of it Not king Philips words but his deedes are to be marked and looked vpon King Philip practised stafford law with the people of Athens Olynthians Phoceyans being euill vsed forsâ—oke their countrie by consent neuer to returne and builded Massilia in Prouance Thebe now Thiâ—a in Beotia Phere nowe Ceramidi a towne of Attica betwene Megara and Thebes Oreteynes Sleight and guile fitter for king Philip than euennesse and plaine dealing King Philips deedes rather to be marked than his wordes Diophites generall of the Athenians armie Cherronesus now Phanar Serrium and Doriscum townes in Thracia and in this second towne Xerxes armie was found iust 1000000. men Whatsoeuer swarueâ— an ynch from iusâ—tice the same tendeth streight to iniustice An vndermâ—ner and a fetching practiser worse than an open and plain sworne enimie 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 Cherronesus now Phanar Bizance nowe CoÌ„stantinople Aâ—l Greceland in daunger of king Philip. The sodaine rysing and encreased might of king Philip. King Philips libertie to doe what he lyâ—â— without step or let hath beene the cause of all the warres in Grece Grecians ruled by the Athenians 7â— yeares Grecians ruled by the Lacededemonians 29. yeares Grecians ruled by the 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 The vnmeasurable harmes and excessâ—ue wrongs done by king Philip in short tyme Olynthus Methona Apollonia 32. townes in Thracia Countryes spoyled by king Philip. Phoceyans Thessalians Quatuorviratus Euboians A prowde bragging maner of writing vsed by king Phillip Hellespontus Ambracia now Larta Elis in Morea now Beluedere Megaris now Megrâ— 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 * King Philip he meaneth Euery man sekes to saue one for a time while others miscary whereas none haue any care of the whole state or country * An apt similitude deriued from the bodie to the mind declaring howe carelesse the GreciaÌ„s were Wrongs done by straungers more daungerous than harmes done by naturall Citizens or home borne men King Philip a barbarous prince mere straunger to the Grecians King Philip contumelius and dispitefuâ—l of his tongue * Pythia 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 the name of Amphiction who caused the princes of Grece to be summoned to meete at
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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 sufficieÌ„tly 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 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 or giue â—ny consent therevnto Howbeit if any other man will so councell 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 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 to that 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 weare most vnwilling And that preparation which you had made to put in practise and execution euen nowe 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 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 the 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 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 stande in great feare of him that dwelles at Susae and Ecbatana 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 rouer of the Gréekes who is risen aloft 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 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 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 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 good lucke the common reuenew of the Citie encreased and in stéed of one hundred there came in 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 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 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 are commō parents of the whole
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 Q QVestions vnnecessary asked of king Philips being 36 R 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 S 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 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 T TAke heede of had I wyst 78 Talkers often times frame their tongue to the 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 V 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 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 VV 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 X 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.
and how gladly he did reade to me and others certaine Orations of Demosthenes in Greeke the interpretation wherof I and they had then froÌ„ 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 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 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 Porâ—eise nor supersticious Monke in our Ladies Psalter as they call it nor yet good Preacher in the Bible or testament thaÌ„ this maÌ„ 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 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 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 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
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 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 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 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
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 that 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 to passe and than when it is done you shall doe well to sit in iudgement 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 For I pray you what is the cause that all the 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 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 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 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 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 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 Argument vpon the thirde Oration in fauour of the Olynthians 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 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
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 Therefore first and formost I say O Athenians you must make readie fiftie Galleys and prepare your selues to be of that 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 And the cause why I woulde haue our owne Citizens go to the seas mixed with forreyne Souldiors is for that
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 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 doubt 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 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 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 theÌ„ 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 eueÌ„ as soone as he touched once in Megara and established a tyrannous gouernement in Euboia 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 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 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 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 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 pâ—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 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 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 notwithstaÌ„ding that you haue bene the chiefe princes ouer al Grece for the space of .73 yeares the Lacedemonians for .29 yeares 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
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 The Argument vpon the fourth Oration against king Philip of Macedonie 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 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 theÌ„ with money for that otherwise the Citie had not wherewith to beare out their nâ—â—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 vp-vpon 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 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 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 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 they haue got the rule and beare sway euery where alredie And I thinke
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 and you haue taken out your part in laysinesse 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 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 that 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 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 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 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 the 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 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 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 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 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 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 And it weare a verie hard matter
therewithall his playfellowes commonlye called him by waye of scorne and mockage Battalus as much to say as wanton nise and effeminate after the conditioÌ„ of one Battalus a Musitian 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 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 the 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 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 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 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 that he himself would by and by be an Orator 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 â—hat is xxx pounde starling he being fatherlesse and motherleâ—â—e â–ª and 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 and by him did much aduaunce his skill for eloquence after whose death he became scholler to Aristotel and was his hearer so diligently 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 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 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 and so by such exercise got such an habilitie 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
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 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 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 well worthie to be Afterwardes notwithstanding when it came to the tryall of battaile at Cheronea where king Philip preuayled 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 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 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 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 course blaming his owne happe and destinie as infortunate and vnluckie vntill he heard that king Philip was deade 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 amoÌ„g the Athenians And Demosthenes that had buried his daughter not past seuen dayes before went in sumptuous aray and ware a garland vpon hys â—â—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 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 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 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 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 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
sodaine The treasuâ—er and gouernor of Aterne for the Persian king called home from his charge for practising with king Philip against his soueraigne â–ª It is sâ—llie not to take ayde of a straunger when we may and haue nede of it Susae chiefe Citie in Persia distant from Athens 2000 myles the people called Susâ—â— and Ciâ—â—â—â— by Straac but noâ—e called â—oque Ismail * King Philip he meaneth â—â—â—batana now 〈◊〉 Meâ—ia 〈…〉 Persian 〈…〉 doth vse to make his abode Ciuill factions being betwixt the riche and poore are nedefull to be cut of Speach in fauour of the poore * Twenty three thousand foure hundred pouÌ„ds sâ—arling * Three score twelue thousand poundes starling Riche men not to drawe backe from their duties bicause the poore are vnwilling So should euery man liue in the common weale as good folkes do in priuate families 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 The rich well warned not to hinder the poore Conuerting of publike treasure to priuate game a thing hurtfull and offensiue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a hurre or noise that vpon some thing that liketh or misliketh the people assembled togither goeth thorow them all Iustice maintayneth estates An answeâ—e to traytours that sayde their was no feare of king Philip bicause there was plentie of vittayles â–ª in Athens and no want of things necessarie * king Philip he meaneth Carelesse people alwayes in most daunger Strength of a Citie what it is and wherein it consisteth The king of Persia he meaneth Falshoode in felowship and common enuying one an other Laysinesse lost Athens Vnnecessarie reasons alleaged to hynder necessarie warre A well spenâ— pennie that saueth a pound Particular griefes sooner felt than publike annoyaÌ„ces Daungerous giuing eare to common accusers It is good beaâ—ing of a prowd man. Vilaynes in grosse Home foes the worst and most dauÌ„gerous people liuing Thessalians deceyued by tâ—king of great gyftes Olynthians abused â–ª Thebanes brought into a fooles Paradice Athenians wyped cleane of their chiefe townes and fortes vpon their conclusion of peace with king Philip. Bribe takers being suffered to speake without perill bring hurt to the state Money taking destroyed Olynthus Money taking vndid Thessalia Money taking the ruine of Thebes * Constantinople Athenians receyuing losse suffer flatterers to speake in fauour of the enimie contrary to the maner and vsage of other countries Euery man for himselfe none for his couÌ„trie The treasure of a kingdome are these three 1. War fellowes confederates 2. Faithfulnesse in dooyng thinges 3. good will to doe well * king Philip he meaneth Dissembling Counsellors Aristodemus an euill counsellor perswading vnnecessarie peace The priuate mans life a verie safe being Many in auâ—thoritie seeke rather theyr own aduauncement than the welfare of their Countrie Ouer muche medling and ouerlittle both hurtfull to man and Citie Honors chauÌ„ge maners especially in those that rise from the Dunghill Thre chiefe poynts fit for Counsellors 1. to be bolde 2. plaine and 3. faythfull Much pardoning offences destroyeth a state The minde of man is man himselfe and needeth continuall teaching To know and to do are all in all in vertue Honor got by vertue hath perpetuall assurance Vertue honoured of all men but of wrong deedes no man maketh any worship If eyther feare or loue woulde cause men to be honest lawes were nedelesse Vertue excludeth vice Lawes are the links of vertue Demosthenes more honoured for his notable vertues good life than for his greaâ— learning and wonderfull eloquence 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 huÌ„drethes were seuered into 365 fraternities or brotherhoodes euery brotherhoode hauing their proper names 〈◊〉 Demosthenes among the reaâ—â— was of the Peanian brotherhoode Such as had the gouernemeÌ„t of Galeyes weare the best esteemed men in Athens Vertue the best Nobilitie 15. Talents Executors carelesse of their charge Battalus a Musitian so nise of behauiour that he could not well tell howe to treade vpon the grouÌ„d and a great delite he had to go in womans apparell or at the least wyse as nisely as women do Demosthenes aptnesse by nature to follow the path of vertue Oropus a town of Attica bordering vppon Boeotia for the iurisdiction of which place there was great holde The cause that moued Demosthenes first to loue eloquence 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 Plato Aristotel Demosthenes pleadeth agaynst his Tutor Orchomenius Laomedon through exercise of bodie cured himselfe of a great disease and made his bodie therby euer after more nimble lustie strong An apt similitude Vse makes maysteries Demosthenes imperfections in speach and want of skill to tell his tale Eunomius Thriasius Demosthenes bashfull of nature before the people Satyrus a professor to teach iesture and vâ—terance who shewed his cunning in open stage as Roscius and others did among the Romaines Demosthenes complaine to Satyrus PronunciatioÌ„ of what force it is Demosthenes practise to amende his speache Demosthenes maner to mend his voyce Demosthenes remedie to help his bashfulnes Demosthenes maner to ameÌ„d his iesture Demosthenes diligence and painefulnesse and his strauÌ„ge kinde of keping within Demosthenes maner to occupie his head witte withall Demosthenes more painefull than wittie Demosthenes neuer spake in â—pen audience vnprepared Demosthenes to Epicicles Labour and paynes taking bring all things to passe Pythâ—as saying to Demosthenes Demosthenes temperauncie of life Demades saying vpon Demoâ—thenes Clepsidra a Diall measuring houres by running of water Demosthenes Orations what they are Demosthenes aboue al praise Many passing vertues in one seuerall man. * The rehersall of the order to set forth Demosthenes 1. His seuerall speaches 2. His loue to his countrie 3. His constaÌ„cie and stoutnesse against the enimies of his Countrie 4. His banishment 5. His restitution 6. His last end and maner of death Demosthenes pleasaunt in priuate talke Vtterance maâ—eth much to set forth a matter 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 MineruaÌ„ ColituÌ„ a place in Athens so named being the brothell corner as it should seeme of that Citie A pithie speach better than a Pilates voyce Fonde tales sooner heard than graue reasons Contention for the shadow of an Asse Trifling speaches better esteemed thaÌ„ earnest talke Aeschines and Policrates with others fauoured king Philips doings agaynst their Countrie King Philips prayses ouerthwarted Follie to dye without doing any good when a man may escape thereby do much good Phocion the hatchet of Demosthenes reasons Magistrates compared to Mastiffes that defende sheepe
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 F 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 G GEntlemen eschew euill for shame the common people for feare of harme 23 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 H 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 H 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 K KIngs being good and mighty therewithall are to be dread for feare of their authoritie 12 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 L 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 M 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 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 N 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 O 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 P PAinefull men weare the Garlands 17 Panyke what it is 87 Pardoning offences very often destroyeth a state 103 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