DEMOSTHENES
all that they propose, be directed by unbiased reason; particularly when affairs of state, and those of highest moment, are the object of our attention. But since there are persons whose speeches are partly dictated by a spirit of contention, partly by other like motives, it is your duty, Athenians, to exert that power which your numbers give you, and in all your resolutions and in all your actions to consider only the interest of your country.
Our present concernment is about the affairs of the Chersonesus, and Philip's expedition into Thrace, which has now engaged him eleven months; but most of our orators insist on the actions and designs of Diopithes. As to crimes objected to those men whom our laws can punish when we please, I, for my part, think it quite indifferent whether they be considered now or at some other time; nor is this a point to be violently contested by me or any other speaker. But when Philip, the enemy of our country, is now actually hovering about the Hellespont[1] with a numerous army, and making attempts on our dominions, which, if one moment neglected, the loss may be irreparable; here our attention is instantly demanded; we should re-
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- ↑ By the Hellespont Mr. Leland explains, in one of his notes, that we are here to understand not the Strait itself that separates Europe from Asia, but the cities and countries along the coast line.
Chersonesus Thracica is referred to, the same being the modern peninsula of Gallipoli, lying between the Hellespont and the Gulf of Melas.
