[308]
There is, indeed, a silence that is
honest and beneficial to the city, such as is observed in all simplicity by the
majority of you citizens. Not such, but far, far different, is the silence of
Aeschines. Withdrawing himself from public life whenever he thinks
fit—and that is very frequently—he lies in wait for the time
when you will be weary of the incessant speaker, or when some unlucky reverse
has befallen you, or any of those vexations that are so frequent in the life of
mortal men; and then, seizing the occasion, he breaks silence and the orator
reappears like a sudden squall, with his voice in fine training; he strings
together the words and the phrases that he has accumulated, emphatically and
without a pause; but, alas, they are all useless, they serve no good purpose,
they are directed to the injury of this or that citizen, and to the discredit of
the whole community.
Demosthenes. Demosthenes with an English translation by C. A. Vince, M. A. and J. H. Vince, M.A. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1926.
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