address you praise, but not exactly imitate, were politicians after this
form and fashion;--Aristides, Nicias, my namesake, [Footnote:
Demosthenes, the general so distinguished in the Peloponnesian war, who
defeated the Spartans at Pylus, and afterward lost his life in Sicily.]
Pericles. But since these orators have appeared, who ask, What is your
pleasure? what shall I move? how can I oblige you? the public welfare is
complimented away for a moment's popularity, and these are the results;
the orators thrive, you are disgraced. Mark, O Athenians, what a summary
contrast may be drawn between the doings in our olden time and in yours.
It is a tale brief and familiar to all; for the examples by which you
may still be happy are found not abroad, men of Athens, but at home. Our
forefathers, whom the speakers humored not nor caressed, as these men
caress you, for five-and-forty years took the leadership of the Greeks
by general consent, and brought above ten thousand talents into the
citadel; and the king of this country was submissive to them, as a
barbarian should be to Greeks; and many glorious trophies they erected
for victories won by their own fighting on land and sea, and they are
the sole people in the world who have bequeathed a renown superior to
envy. Such were their merits in the affairs of Greece: see what they
were at home, both as citizens and as men. Their public works are
edifices and ornaments of such beauty and grandeur in temples and
consecrated furniture, that posterity have no power to surpass them. In
private they were so modest and attached to the principle of our
constitution, that whoever knows the style of house which Aristides had,
or Miltiades, and the illustrious of that day, perceives it to be no
grander than those of the neighbors. Their politics were not for
money-making; each felt it his duty to exalt the commonwealth.
[Footnote: As Horace says:--

Privatus illis census erat brevis,
Commune magnum.]

By a conduct honorable toward the Greeks, pious to the gods, brotherlike
among themselves, they justly attained a high prosperity.

So fared matters with them under the statesmen I have mentioned. How
fare they with you under the worthies of our time? Is there any likeness
or resemblance? I pass over other topics, on which I could expatiate;
but observe: in this utter absence of competitors, (Lacedaemonians
depressed, Thebans employed, none of the rest capable of disputing the
supremacy with us,) when we might hold our own securely and arbitrate
the claims of others, we have been deprived of our rightful territory,
and spent above fifteen hundred talents to no purpose; the allies, whom
we gained in war, these persons have lost in peace, and we have trained
up against ourselves an enemy thus formidable. Or let any one come
forward and tell me, by whose contrivance but ours Philip has grown
strong. Well, sir, this looks bad, but things at home are better. What
proof can be adduced? The parapets that are whitewashed? The roads that
are repaired? fountains, and fooleries? [Footnote: Jacobs: _und
solches Geschwatz_. The proceedings of Eubulus are here more
particularly referred to.] Look at the men of whose statesmanship these
are the fruits. They have risen from beggary to opulence, or from
obscurity to honor; some have made their private houses more splendid
than the public buildings; and in proportion as the state has declined,
their fortunes have been exalted.

What has produced these results? How is it that all went prosperously
then, and nowgoes wrong? Because anciently the people, having the
courage to be soldiers, controlled the statesmen, and disposed of all
emoluments; any of the rest was happy to receive from the people his
share of honor, office, or advantage. Now, contrariwise, the statesmen
dispose of emoluments; through them every thing is done; you the people,
enervated, stripped of treasure and allies, are become as underlings and
hangers-on, happy if these persons dole you out show-money or send you