Thucydides obtained permission to return to Athens when Thrasibulus restored the democratic government and proclaimed an amnesty. A special decree was, however, necessary for the recall of Thucydides, who, as a descendant of the Pisistratida, was excluded from the operation of the general pardon. The decree was granted at the instance of Oenobius, to whom, on account of this good action, a statue was erected in the Arkopolis. It is far from certain whether Thucydides ever took advantage of this decree and revisited his native land. He came to a tragic end, being assassinated by robbers, most probably at Scapte Hyle.

Thucydides excelled in the two great points which form a just historian, truth and eloquence. The voice of antiquity is unanimous in lauding his veracity; never is the slightest doubt raised in this respect. He was uninfluenced by fear or flattery, and, as he himself says, his only thought in writing was for posterity. It is not the historian, but the history itself, that seems to speak. He wanted no opportunities of knowing the truth, and he does not appear to have misrepresented it; for though some have fancied him to be a little malevolent towards his country, because the usage he had received would have made most men so, yet he has not written anything that discovers such a passion. His manner of writing is coherent, perspicuous, and persuasive, yet close, strong, and pithy. The ancients have spoken of him in the highest terms; and if Herodotus, as his senior, obtained the title of "The Father of History," it is generally admitted that Thucydides is the better historian. Plutarch says that Thucydides "aims always at this, to make his auditor a spectator, and to excite in his reader the same passions with those who were beholders." Then, enumerating some examples, "these things," he says, "are so described, and so evidently set before our eyes, that the mind of the reader is no less affected, than if he had been present in the actions." Confiding in the consciousness of his genius, Thucydides did not fear to predict that his work would go down to the remotest ages as a monument ever profitable to all; and the succeeding ages have confirmed his prophecy. Nothing now remains of the masterpieces of the great painters of his time, and we possess but a few fragments of the works of the illus• trious sculptors and architects who were contemporary with him, but the work of Thucydides himself still exists, and can never perish, so that in future ages men will always admire Pericks, Brasidas, Nicias, Alcibiades, Antiphon, and the other great men whose characters he has drawn.

THE greatest of the orators of antiquity was a native of the demos of Paania near Athens, being the son of an armourer, who had acquired, by the exercise of his calling, a handsome fortune. The father, at his death, entrusted his son to the guardianship of two of his cousins and one of his friends. These guardians, unfaithful to their trust, recklessly squandered nearly the whole of the property. It appears nevertheless that Demosthenes received an excellent education. According to a tradition handed down by Plutarch, and generally adopted, it was while listening to the eloquence of Callistratus, one of the glories of the Athenian bar, that Demosthenes first felt within him a strong desire to become an orator. On coming of age he summoned his guardians before the public tribunals, and pleaded against them with such success that one of them was condemned to pay him ten talents.

This was the first time Demosthenes distinguished himself by his eloquence, but these attempts revealed to him his shortcomings as an orator. He had to contend with serious physical defects, and the means he employed to remedy them have been frequently cited as an example of rare energy and perseverance. He had an impediment in his speech, which for a long time would not suffer him to pronounce the letter R. Moreover he had a weak voice, a short breath, and a very uncouth and ungracious manner; yet by dint of resolution and infinite pains he overcame all these defects. He accustomed himself to climb up steep and craggy places to facilitate his breathing and strengthen his voice; he declaimed with pebbles in his mouth to remedy the imperfection in his speech; he placed a looking-glass before him to correct the awkwardness of his gesture; and he learned of the best actors the proper graces of action and pronunciation, which he thought of so much consequence that he made the whole art of oratory in a manner to consist of them. But whatever stress he laid upon the exterior part of speaking, he was also very careful about the matter and style, forming the latter upon the model of Thucydides, whose history for that purpose he transcribed eight several times. So intent was he upon his study that he would often retire into a cave of the earth, and shave half his head, so that he could not with decency appear abroad till his hair was grown again. He also accustomed himself to harangue on the sea-shore, where the agitation of the waves gave him an idea of the motions in a popular assembly, and served to prepare and fortify him against them. Doubtless it was this energetic application to study which led those who envied his success to say that his orations "smelt of the lamp ;" but he could truly retort that his lamp did not shine on the same kind of works as theirs.

An interval of several years elapsed before he reappeared in the tribune, but this time his eloquence achieved the most signal and the most brilliant success. His orations laid the foundation of his reputation, which became so great that in 355 B.C. he was raised to the dignity of a member of the council. He was now about to enter into the most brilliant phase of his career, when he showed himself to be at once an ardent patriot, a consummate statesman, and an irresistible orator.

He exerted all his influence and all his eloquence to thwart the ambitious designs of Philip, King of Macedonia, who, meditating the subjugation of Greece, developed his plan of aggrandizement and made slow but sure progress towards the attainment of his object, by employing, in turn, deceit, power, and corruption. Demosthenes was the first to divine the real character of Philip's policy; he watched its gradual development; and when he thought the opportune moment had arrived, his voice, echoing from the tribune of Athens to every corner of Greece, denounced the ambitious projects of the tyrant. Each new undertaking and every fresh invasion was the signal for a renewed outburst of fervid

éloquence on the part of Demosthenes; and, for more than fifteen years, Philip was unable to take a step in advance without finding himself confronted by this unyielding adversary, whom he feared more than all the fleets and armies of the Athenians. It was against the King of Macedonia that he directed those marvellous orations which are known under the name of the "Philippics," or "Olynthiacs ;" and he succeeded at last in forming against that monarch a league, at the head of which were Athens and Thebes.

The orator was himself present at the battle of Charonea, which placed Greece at the mercy of Philip. On the death of that king the hopes of Demosthenes revived, and at his instigation the Greek cities again formed a league against Macedonia. Alexander repressed this renewed attempt at independence by the destruction of Thebes, but he pardoned Athens and her patriotic orator. In the years which followed these events the city resounded with accusations of venality. Eschines, the representative of the Macedonian party, indirectly brought a charge against Demosthenes by attacking Ctesiphon, who had promoted the decree under which Demosthenes had been crowned for his patriotism. This gave rise to the famous discourse "Of the Crown." Being compelled to justify himself for having given to his country advice which only brought about disasters, the grand orator triumphed over his base adversary by opposing to the materialist doctrine of interest the sublime philosophy of duty, of honour, and of devotion to one's country. He was less successful when the same antipathies obliged him to exile himself from Athens in consequence of a charge-apparently calumnious — of having accepted a bribe from the governor of Babylon.

After Alexander's death Demosthenes was restored, his entry into Athens being marked with every demonstration of joy. He became the soul of a new league which was formed among the Greek cities against the Macedonians. The confederacy was broken up, however, by Antipater, and Demosthenes retired to the island of Calauria off the coast of Argolis, where, being still pursued by the satellites of Antipater, he terminated his life by poisoning himself in the Temple of Neptune.

The orations of Demosthenes, of which sixty-one have been preserved, are the most sublime monuments of human eloquence and patriotism.

HISTORY, says Coleridge, is resolvable into a series of biographies of a few earnest and powerful men. For the large results of human action, which are the proper subject of history, are traceable ultimately, not to the masses that play their noisy, bustling part upon the stage of life, but to a few commanding minds that move them. In some cases this control is exercised by one who takes no part in the actions he has inspired; in others, by men who themselves act with those they lead. To the latter class belongs M. Tullius Cicero, the great Roman orator, perhaps, with one decisive exception, the greatest master in all time of the art of eloquent speech. For more than thirty years he was one of the most conspicuous figures in the political and forensic fields of the Roman republic, holding public office for more than twenty years, and wielding so powerful an

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