every man whom ye have sent out at the head of an army, hath deferted your fervice, and fought out fome private expedition? (if we muft fpeak ingenuously thefe our generals alfo,) the reafon is this: of moment he concludes; you yourselves will nounced in the fame Year. INTRODUCTION. when engaged in the fervice of the late, 3. The fecond Olynthiae Oration: prothe prize for which they fight is yours. Thus, fhould Amphipolis be now taken, you inftantly poffets yourfelves of it: the commanders have all the danger, the rewards they do not share. But, in their private enterprifes, the dangers are lefs; the acquifitions are all thared by the generals and foldiers; as were Lampfacus, Sigæum, and thofe veffels which they plundered. Thus are they all determined by their private intereft. And, when you turn your eyes to the wretched ftate of your affairs, you bring your generals to a trial; you grant them leave to fpeak; you hear the neceffities they plead; and then acquit them. Nothing then remains for us, but to be distracted with endless contests and divifions: (fome urging thefe, fome thofe measures) and to feel the public calamity. For in former times, Athenians, you divided into claffes, to raife fupplies. Now the bufinefs of thefe claffes is to govern; each hath an orator at its head, and a general, who is his creature; the THREE HUNDRED are affittants to thefe, and the rest of you divide, fome to this, fome to that party. You must rectify these diforders: you must appear yourselves: you must leave the power of fpeaking, of advifing, and of acting, open to every citizen. But if you fuffer fome perfons to iuc out their mandates, as with a royal authority; if one let of men be forced to fit out fhips, to raife fupplies, to take up arms; while others are only to make decrees against them, without any charge, any employment befides; it is not poflible that any thing can be effected feasonably and fuccessfully: for the injured party ever will defert you; and then your fole refource will be to make them feel your refentment inftead of your enemies. To fum up all, my fentiments are thefe: -That every man fhould contribute in proportion to his fortune; that all fhould take the field in their turns, until all have ferved; that whoever appears in this place, fhould be allowed to fpeak: and that, when you give your voices, your true interest only fhould determine you, not the authority of this or the other fpeaker. Purfue this courfe, and then your applaufe will not be lavished on fome orator, the 4 To remove the impreffion made on the It appears, from the beginning of this ftate, ftate, they breathed nothing but in dignation against the enemy, and poflibly, with fome contempt of his prefent enterprises, propofed to the Athenians to correct his arrogance, by an invafion of his own kingdom. Demofthenes, on the contrary, infifts on the neceffity of felf-defence; endeavours to roufe his hearers from their fecurity, by the terror of impending danger; and affects to confider the defence of Olynthus, as the laft and only means of preserving the very being of Athens. I AM by no means affected in the fame manner, Athenians! when I review the ftate of our affairs, and when I attend to thofe fpeakers, who have now declared their fentiments. They infiit, that we fhould punish Philip: but our affairs, fituated as they now appear, warn us to guard against the dangers with which we ourfelves are threatened. Thus far therefore I must differ from these speakers, that I apprehend they have not propofed the proper object of your attention. There was a time indeed, I know it well, when the ftate could have poffeffed her own dominions in fecurity, and fent out her armies to inflict chaftifement on Philip. I myfelf have feen that time when we enjoyed fach power. But, now, I am perSuaded we should confine ourselves to the protection of our allies. When this is once effected, then we may confider the punishment his outrages have merited. But, till the first great point be well fecured, it is weakness to debate about our more remote concernments. And now, Athenians, if ever we ftood in need of mature deliberation and counfel, the prefent juncture calls loudly for them. To point out the courfe to be purfued on this emergency, I do not think the greatest difficulty: but I am in doubt in what manner to propofe my fentiments; for all that I have obferved, and all that I have heard, convinces me, that most of your misfortunes have proceeded from a want of inclination to pursue the necessary measures, not from ignorance of them.Let me intreat you, that, if I now speak with an unusual boldness, ye may bear it confidering only, whether fpeak truth, and with a fincere intention to advance your future interefts: for you now fee, that by fome orators, who ftudy but I to gain your favour, our affairs have been reduced to the extremity of distress. I think it neceffary, in the first place, to recal fome late tranfactions to your thoughts. You may remember, Athenians, that, about three or four years fince, you received advice that Philip was in Thrace, and had laid fiege to the fortress of Heræa. It was then the month of November. Great commotions and debates arofe. It was refolved to fend out forty gallies; that all citizens, under the age of five-and-forty, fhould themselves embark; and that fixty talents fhould be raifed. Thus it was agreed; that year paffed away; then came in the months July, Auguft, September. In this last month, with great difficulty, when the mysteries had first been celebrated, you fent out Charidemus, with juft ten veffels unmanned, and five talents of filver. For when reports came of the ficknefs, and the death of Philip, (both of thefe were affirmed) you laid afide your intended armament, imagining, that at fuch a juncture, there was no need of fuccours. And yet this was the very critical moment; for, had they been dispatched with the fame alacrity with which they were granted, Philip would not have then efcaped, to become that formidable enemy he now appears. But what was then done, cannot be amended. Now we have the opportunity of another war: that war I mean, which hath induced me to bring these transactions into view, that you may not once more fall into the fame errors. How then fhall we improve this opportunity? This is the only question. For, if you are not resolved to affilt with all the force you can command, you are really ferving under Philip, you are fighting on his fide. The Olynthians are a people, whofe power was thought confiderable. Thus were the circumftances of affairs: Philip could not confide in them; they looked with equal fufpicion upon Philip. We and they then entered into mutual engagements of peace and alliance: this was a grievous embarraffment to Philip, that we fhould have a powerful ftate confederated with us, fpies upon the incident of his fortune. It was agreed, that we should, by all means, engage this people in a war with him: and now, what we all fo earnestly defired, is effected: the manner is of no moment. What then remains for us, Athenians, but to fend immediate and effectual fuccours, $ s I cannot I cannot fee. For befides the difgrace us. But, as to the neceffity of fending fucbe faid, we are agreed cours, this, it may But how fhall in; this is our refolution. we be enabled? that is the point to be explained. Be not furprised, Athenians, if my fentiments on this occafion feem repugnant to the general fenfe of this affembly. Appoint magiftrates for the infpection of your laws: not in order to enact any new laws; you have already a fufficient number; but to r peal thofe, whofe ill effects you now experience. I mean the laws relating to the theatrical funds (thus openly I declare it) and fome about the foldiery. By the firft, the foldier's pay goes as theatrical expences to the ufclefs and inactive; the others fcreen thofe from juftice, who decline the fervice of the field, and thus damp the ardour of thofe difpofed to serve us. When you have repealed thefe, and rendered it confiftent with fafety to advise you juftly, then feek for fome perfon to propofe that decree, which you all are fenfible the common good requires. But, till this be done, expect not that any man will urge your true intereft, when, for urging your true intereft, you repay him with deftruction. Ye will never find fuch zeal; efpecially fince the confequence can be only this; he who offers his opinion, and moves for your concurrence, fuffers fome unmerited calamity; but your affairs are not in the leaft advanced: nay, this additional inconvenience muft arife, that for the future it will appear more dangerous to advife you, than even at prefent. And the authors of thefe laws fhould alfo be the authors of their repeal. For it is not just that the public favour fhould be beftowed on them who, in framing thefe And be not ignorant of this, Athenians, that a decree is of no fignificance, unless attended with refolution and alacrity to execute it. For were decrees of themfelves fufficient to engage you to perform your duty, could they even execute the things which they enact; fo many would not have been made to fo little, or rather to no good purpofe; nor would the infolence of Philip have had fo long a date. For, if decrees can punish, he hath long fince felt all their fury. But they have no fuch power: for, though propofing and refolving be firft in order, yet, in force and efficacy, action is fuperior. Let this then be your principal concern; the others you cannot want; for you have men among you capable of advifing, and you are of all people moft acute in apprehending: now, let your intereft direct you, and it will be in your power to be as remarkable for acting. What feafon indeed, what opportunity do you wait for, more favourable than the prefent? Or when will you exert your vigour, if not now, my countrymen? Hath not this man feized all thofe places that were ours? Should he become master of this country too, muft we not fink into the loweft ftate of infamy? Are not they whom we have promifed to affift, whenever they are engaged in war, now attacked themfelves? Is he not our enemy? Is he not in poffeffion of our dominions? Is he not a barbarian? Is he not every base thing words can exprefs? If we are infenfible to all this, if we almoft aid his defigns; heavens! can we then ask to whom the confequences are owing? Yes, I know full well, we never will impute them to ourfelves. Juft as in the dangers of the field: not one of thofe who fly will accuse himself; he will rather blame the general, or his fellow-foldiers: yet every fingle man that fled was acceffary to the defeat. He who blames others might have maintained his own poft; and, had every man maintained his, fuccefs might have enfued. Thus then, in the prefent cafe, is there a man whofe counfel feems liable to objec tion? tion? Let the next rife, and not inveigh against him, but declare his own opinion. Doth another offer fone more falutary counfel? Purfue it, in the name of Heaven. "But then it is not pleafing." This is not the fault of the speaker, unlefs in that he hath neglected to exprefs his affection in prayers and wishes. To pray is eafy, Athenians; and in one petition may be collected as many inftances of good fortune as we pleafe. To determine juftly, when affairs are to be confidered, is not fo eafy. But what is most useful fhould ever be preferred to that which is agreeable, where both cannot be obtained. But if there be a man who will leave us the theatrical funds, and propofe other fub fidies for the fervice of the war, are we not rather to attend to him? I grant it, Athenians! if that man can be found. But I fhould account it wonderful, if it ever did, if it ever can happen to any man on earth, that while he lavishes his prefent poffeffions on unneceffary occafions, fome future funds hould be procured to fupply his real neceflities. But fuch proposals find a powerful advocate in the breaft of every hearer. So that nothing is fo eafy as to deceive one's felf; for what we with, that we readily believe; but fuch expectations are oftentimes inconfiftent with our affairs. On this occafion, therefore, let your affairs direct you; then will you be enabled to take the field; then you will have your full pay. And men, whofe judgments are well' directed, and whofe fouls are great, could not fupport the infamy which muft attend them, if obliged to defert any of the operations of a war, from the want of money. They could not, after fiatching up their arms, and marching against the Corinthians and Megareans, fuffer Philip to inflave the states of Greece, through the want of provifions for their forces. I fay not this wantonly, to raife the refentment of fome among you. No; I am not fo unhappily perverfe as to ftudy to be hated, when no good purpose can be answered by it: but it is my opinion, that every honeft fpeaker fhould prefer the intereft of the fate to the favour of his hearers. This (I am affured, and perhaps you need not be informed) was the principle which actuated the public conduct of thofe of our ancestors who fpoke in this affembly (men, whom the prefent fet of orators are ever ready to applaud, but whofe example they by no means imitate): fuch were Ariftides, Nicias, the former Demofthenes, and Pe ricles. But fince we have had fpeakers, who, before their public appearance, afk you, "What do you defire? What fhall I "propofe? How can I oblige you?" The intereft of our country hath been facrificed to momentary pleafure, and popular favour. Thus have we been diftrefied; thus have these men rifen to greatnefs, and you funk into difgrace. And here let me intreat your attention to a fummary account of the conduct of your ancestors, and of your own. I fhall mention but a few things, and these well known, (for, if you would pursue the way to happiness, you need not look abroad for leaders) our own countrymen point it out. Thefe our anceftors, therefore, whom the orators never courted, never treated with that indulgence with which you are flattered, held the fovereignty of Greece with general confent, five-and-forty years; depofited above ten thousand talents in our public treafury; kept the king of this country in that fubjection, which a barbarian owes to Grecks; erected monuments of many and illuftrious actions, which they themselves atchieved by land and sea; in a word, are the only perfons who have tranfmitted to pofterity fuch glory as is fuperior to envy. Thus great do they appear in the affairs of Greece. Let us now view them within the city, both in their public and private conduct. And, firft, the edifices which their adminiftrations have given us, their decorations of our temples, and the offerings depofited by them, are fo numerous and fo magni. ficent, that all the efforts of pofterity cannot exceed them. Then, in private life, fo exemplary was their moderation, their adherence to the ancient manners fo fcrupulously exact, that if any of you ever difcovered the houfe of Ariftides, or Miltiades, or any of the illuftrious men of those times, he must know that it was not diftinguished by the leat extraordinary fplendor. For they did not fo conduct the public bufinefs as to aggrandife themfelves; their fole great object was to exalt the ftate. And thus, by their faithful attachment to Greece, by their picty to the gods, and by that equality which they maintained among themselves, they were raifed (and no wonder) to the fummit of profperity. Such was the ftate of Athens at that time, when the men I have mentioned were in power. But what is your condition under thefe indulgent minifters who now direct us? Is it the fame, or nearly the fame? S sz Other Other things I fhall pass over, though I might expatiate on them. Let it only be obferved, that we are now, as you all fee, left without competitors; the Lacedemonians loft; the Thebans engaged at home; and not one of all the other ftates of confequence fufficient to difpute the fovereignty with us. Yet, at a time when we might have enjoyed our own dominions in fecurity, and been the umpires in all difputes abroad; our territories have been wrefted from us; we have expended above one thousand five hundred talents to no purpofe; the allies which we gained in war have been loft in time of peace; and to this degree of power have we raised an enemy against ourfelves. (For let the man ftand forth who can fhew, whence Philip hath derived his greatnefs, if not from us.) 66 "Well! if these affairs have but an un"favourable afpect, yet those within the city are much more flourishing than "ever." Where are the proofs of this? The walls which have been whitened the ways we have repaired? the supplies of water, and fuch trifles? Turn your eyes to the men, of whose administrations thefe are the fruits. Some of whom, from the lowest state of poverty, have arisen suddenly to affluence; fome from meanness to renown others have made their own private houses much more magnificent than the public edifices. Juft as the ftate hath fallen, their private fortunes have been raised. And what caufe can we affign for this? How is it that our affairs were once fo flourishing, and now in fuch diforder? Becaufe formerly, the poeple dared to take up arms themselves; were themfelves mafters of thofe in employment, difpofers themfelves of all emoluments: fo that every citizen thought himself happy to derive honours and authority, and all advantages whatever from the people. But now, on the contrary, favours are all difpenfed, affairs all tranfacted by the minifters; while you, quite enervated, robbed of your riches, your allies, ftand in the mean rank of fervants and affiftants: happy if thefe men grant you the theatrical appointments, and fend you fcraps of the public meal. And, what is of all moft fordid, you hold yourfelves obliged to them for that which is your own, while they confine you within thefe walls, lead you on gently to their purposes, and foothe and tame you to obedience. Nor is it poffible, that they who are engaged in low and grovelling purfuits, can entertain great and generous fentiments. No! fuch as their employments are, fo muft their difpofitions prove.-Aud now I call Heaven to witnefs, that it will not furprise me, if I fuffer more by mentioning this your condition, than they who have involved you in it! Freedom of fpeech you do not allow on all occafions; and that you have now admitted it, excites my wonder. But if you will at length be prevailed on to change your conduct; if you will take the field, and act worthy of Athenians; if these redundant fums which you receive at home be applied to the advancement of your affairs abroad; perhaps, my countrymen! perhaps fome inftance of confummate good fortune may attend you, and ye may. become fo happy as to defpife thofe pittances, which are like the morfels that a phyfician allows his patient. For thefe do not reftore his vigour, but juft keep him from dying. So, your diftributions cannot ferve any valuable purpose, but are juft fufficient to divert your attention from all other things, and thus increafe the indolence of every one among you. But I fhall be asked, "What then! is "it your opinion that these fums should I pay our army?”—And besides this, that the ftate fhould be regulated in such a manner, that every one may have his share himself an of public bufinefs, and approve ufeful citizen, on what occafion foever his aid may be required. Is it in his power to live in peace? He will live here with greater dignity, while thefe fupplies prevent him from being tempted by indigence Is he called to any thing difhonourable. forth by an emergency like the prefent? Let him difcharge that facred duty which he owes to his country, by applying thefe fums to his fupport in the field. Is there a man among you paft the age of service? Let him, by infpecting and conducting the public bufinefs, regularly merit his hare of the diftributions which he now receives, without any daty enjoined, or any return made to the community. And thus, with fcarcely any alteration, either of abolishing or innovating, all irregularities are removed, and the flate completely fettled; by appointing one general regulation, which fhall entitle our citizens to receive, and at the fame time oblige them to take arms, to adminifter justice, to act in all cafes as their time of life, and our affairs require. |