[320]
When the commonwealth was at liberty to
choose the best policy, when there was a competition of patriotism open to all
comers, I made better speeches than any other man, and all business was
conducted by my resolutions, my statutes, my diplomacy. Not one o f you ever put
in an appearance— except when you must needs fall foul of my measures.
But when certain deplorable events had taken place, and there was a call, not
for counsellors, but for men who would obey orders, who were ready to injure
their country for pay, and willing to truckle to strangers, then you and your
party were at your post, great men with gorgeous equipages.1 I was powerless, I admit;
but I was still the better patriot.
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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