(we do not know their names, as Arrian skillfully evades mentioning them), who dispatched all that knew anything of his complicity, as well as those who had previously offended him— such a young man is condemned for all time to come.

5. Plutarch shows a foolish and unfounded partiality toward him, and such was universally the case among the Greeks. His drunkenness cannot be denied, and with it they excuse his murders, as, for example, that of Clitus; and, in order poetically to complete the indescribable folly committed by later Greeks, they compare him with Diony'sus.* Bacchus, it is said, at all times allows a Macedonian, in his intoxication, to commit more serious offenses than others. The Mimal'lonest are talked of, and the Thracian women who tore Orpheus (or'fuse) to pieces; and other similar trivialties of the Greek sophists, are brought forward as analogies.

6. But his drunkenness does not account for all he did. He caused the most innocent and most faithful servant, the best general of his father, to be maliciously assassinated in a truly oriental manner; the man had been frank and open, and knew that Alexander was what he was through him. Things like these are passed over in silence. The murder of his friend

Clitus, who told him the truth, was a fearful act. I do not comprehend how persons can excuse Alexander by saying, "He was an unusually great man;" if he was so, was he not then responsible for his unusually great powers?

7. All his actions, which are praised as generous, are of a theatrical nature and mere ostentation. He was indeed attached to Aristotle; but even lions and tigers show a certain kindness to those who have fed and nursed them in their youth, until the beast of prey awakens in them in all its ferocity. His friendship for Aristotle did not save Callis'thenes, and when this man had been sacrificed, Aristotle too thought it advisable to return to Athens. His attachment to Hephæs'tion was not friendship, but a disgrace. His generosity toward the captive Persian princesses is nothing extraordinary; if it be not osten

* The Greek name of the god Bacchus.

+ Priestesses or followers of Bacchus, + Parmenio.

tation, it is something quite natural, and of every-day occur rence; but it is mere ostentation.

8. It must, indeed, be acknowledged, that Alexander is a most remarkable phenomenon; but the praise bestowed upon him can apply only to his great intelligence and his talents. He was altogether an extraordinary man, with the vision of a prophet, a power for which Napoleon was greatly distinguished; when he came to a place, he immediately perceived its capability and its destination; he had the eye which makes the practical man. If we had no other example of the keenness of his judgment, the fact that he built Alexandria would alone furnish sufficient evidence; he discovered the point which was destined, for fifteen hundred years, to form the link between Egypt, Europe, and Asia.

9. Although at the time, when the course of the Nile was not obstructed by deposits of mud, that point did not yet possess its importance, still Alexander, at any rate, saw at a glance what nature had destined that place to be. "It was only required to build a city there, to make it the great emporium" of the world." That city was to be the corner-stone of his empire, and, as such, he probably intended it to be his capital. It would be the height of injustice not to ascribe the skillful management of the war to him, but to the generals of Philip.

10. The Persians, it is true, were incredibly wretched, and the senseless manner in which they opposed him rendered it easy for him to subdue them; but, at the same time, Alexander's arrangement was so sure and so correct, even under the most difficult circumstances, and his expedition to the Indus was so skillful, so well planned and chosen, that it is impossible not to concede to him the praise of a great general. Nay, a most competent judge, Hannibal, declared him to be the greatest general.

11. It must not, however, be forgotten, that he had most excellent instruments-distinguished generals, and a splendid army. If he had had to create his army, his undertaking would not have succeeded so well. Parme'nio, Philo'tes, Ptolemæ’ns, Seleu'cus, and Antig'onus, were all distinguished captains, all

proceeded from the school of his father, and had acquired great reputation even under him; and, if we except Eu'menes alone, we may assert, that no great commander was trained under Alexander. . . . . . Alexander was a man of cultivated intellect; indeed, he could not have been otherwise, having received the careful instruction of Aristotle; he was, moreover, as intimately acquainted with Greek literature as the best educated Greeks of his age.

Demosthenes.-Smith.

[From the "History of Greece," by William Smith, LL.D.]

1. SINCE the establishment of democracy at Athens, a certain degree of ability in public speaking was indispensable to a public man. Hitherto, however, the leading men of Athens had, like Cimon and Pericles, been statesmen and warriors as well as orators. But the great progress made in the art of rhetoric, as well as in the art of war since the improved tactics introduced by Epaminondas, had now almost completely separated the professions of the orator and the soldier. Phocion, the contemporary of Demosthenes, was the last who combined the provinces of the two.

2. The ears of the Athenians had become fastidious. They delighted in displays of oratorical skill; and it was this period which produced those speakers who have been called, by way of eminence, "the Attic orators." Demosthenes, the most famous of them all, was born in B.C. 382-381. Having lost his father at the early age of seven, his guardians abused their trust, and defrauded him of the greater part of his paternal inheritance. This misfortune, however, proved one of the causes which tended to make him an orator. Demosthenes, as he advanced toward manhood, perceived with indignation the conduct of his guardians, for which he resolved to make them answerable when the proper opportunity should arrive, by accusing them himself before the dicastery.

3. The weakness of his bodily frame, which unfitted him for the exercises of the gymnasium, caused him to devote him

self with all the more ardor to intellectual pursuits. He placed himself under the tuition of Isæus, who then enjoyed a high reputation as an advocate; and when he had acquired a competent degree of skill, he pleaded his cause against his guardians, and appears to have recovered a considerable portion of his estate. This success encouraged him to speak in the public assembly; but his first attempt proved a failure, and he retired from the bema' amidst the hootings and laughter of the citizens.

4. The more judicious and candid among his auditors perceived, however, marks of genius in his speech, and rightly attributed his failure to timidity and want of due preparation. Eunomus, an aged citizen, who met him wandering about the Piræus in a state of dejection at his ill success, bade him take courage and persevere. "Your manner of speaking," said he, "very much resembles that of Pericles; you fail only through want of confidence. You are too much disheartened by the tumult of a popular assembly, and you do not take any pains even to acquire that strength of body which is requisite for the bema."

5. Struck and encouraged by these remarks, Demosthenes withdrew awhile from public life, and devoted himself perseveringly to remedy his defects. They were such as might be lessened, if not removed, by practice, and consisted chiefly of a weak voice, imperfect articulation, and ungraceful and inappropriate action. He derived much assistance from Sat'yrus, the actor, who exercised him in reciting passages from Soph'ocles and Eurip'ides.

6. He studied the best rhetorical treatises and orators, and is said to have copied the work of Thucyd'ides with his own hand no fewer than eight times. He shut himself up for two or three months together in a subterranean chamber in order to practice composition and declamation. It may also be well supposed that he devoted no inconsiderable part of his attention to the laws of Athens and the politics of Greece. His perseverance was crowned with success; and he who, on the first attempt, had descended from the bema amid the ridicule

of the crowd, became at last the most perfect orator the world has ever seen.

Demosthenes to the Athenians.

[Extract from one of the orations of Demosthenes, warning the Athenians against the designs of Philip of Macedon, and hence called "Philippics."]

1. I NEED not warn you, Athenians, that votes alone can be of no avail. Had your resolutions, of themselves, the virtue to compass what you intend, we should not see them multiply overy day as they do, and upon every occasion, with so little effect; nor would Philip be in a condition to brave and affront us in this manner. Proceed then, Athenians, to support your deliberations with vigor. You have heads capable of advising what is best; you have judgment and experience to discern what is right; and you have power and opportunity to execute what you determine.

2. What time so proper for action as the present? What occasion so happy? When can you hope for such another, if this be neglected? Has not Philip, contrary to all treaties, insulted you in Thrace? Does he not, at this instant, straiten and invade your confederates, whom you have solemnly sworn to protect? Is he not an implacable enemy? A faithless ally? The usurper of provinces, to which he has no title nor pretense? A stranger, a barbarian, a tyrant? And, indeed, what is he not?

your

They

3. Observe, I beseech you, men of Athens, how different conduct appears from the practice of your ancestors. were friends to truth and plain dealing, and detested flattery and servile compliance. By unanimous consent they continued the arbiters of all Greece, for the space of forty-five years, without interruption; a public fund of no less than ten thousand talents was ready for any emergency; they exercised over the kings of Macedon that authority which is due to barbarians; obtained, both by sea and land, in their own persons, frequent and signal victories; and, by their noble exploits, transmitted to posterity an immortal memory of their virtue, superior to the reach of malice and detraction.