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They arrogate the rewards of activity for their having enjoyed the pleasures of luxury. Yet none can be more lavish than they are, in praise of their ancestors. And they imagine they honour themfelves by celebrating their forefathers. Whereas they do the very contrary. For, as much as their ancestors were diftinguished for their virtues,fo much are they disgraced by their vices. The glory of ancestors cafts a light, indeed, upon their pofterity: but it only ferves to fhew what the defcendants are. It alike exhibits to public view their degeneracy and their worth. I own, I cannot boast of the deeds of my forefathers but I hope I may answer the cavils of the Patricians, by ftanding up in defence of what I have myfelf done. Obferve, now, my countrymen, the injuftice of the Patricians. They arrogate to themselves honours on account of the exploits done by their forefathers, whilft they will not allow me the due praise for performing the very fame fort of actions in my own perfon. He has no ftatues, they cry, of his family. He can trace no venerable line of anceftors. What then! Is it matter of more praise to disgrace one's illuftrious ancestors than to become illuftrious by his own good behaviour? What if I can fhew no ftatues of my family? I can fhew the ftandards, the armour, and the trappings, which I have myself taken from the vanquished; I can fhew the fears of those wounds, which I have received by facing the enemies of my country. These are my ftatues. These are the honours I boaft of; not left me by inheritance, as theirs ; but earned by toil, by abftinence, by valour, amidst clouds of duft, and feas of blood; fcenes of action, where those effeminate Patricians, who endeavour, by indirect means, to depreciate me inyour esteem, have never dared to fhew their faces.

SALLUST.

CHAP.

1

CALISTHENES's

I

CHA P. IV.

REPROOF OF CLEON'S

FLATTERY TO ALEXANDER.

F the king were prefent, Cleon, there would be no need of my answering to what you have juft propofed. He would himself reprove you for endeavouring to draw him into an imitation of foreign abfurdities, and for bringing envy upon him by such unmanly flattery. As he is absent, I take upon me to tell you in his name, that no praise is lafting, but what is rational; and that you do what you can to leffon his glory, inftead of adding to it. Heroes have never, among us, been deified, till after their death. And whatever may be your way of thinking. Cleon, for my part I wish the king may not, for many years to come, obtain that honour. You have mentioned, as precedents of what you propose, Hercules and Bacchus. Do you imagine, Cleon, that they were deified over a cup of wine? And are you and I qualified to make gods? Is the king, our fovereign, to receive his divinity from you and me, who are his fubjects? First try your power, whether you can make a king. It is furely easier to make a king, than a god; to give an earthly dominion, than a throne in heaven. I only wish, that the gods may have heard, without offence, the arrogant propofal you have made, of adding one to their number; and that they may still be fo propitious to us, as to grant the continuance of that fuccefs to our affairs, with which they have hitherto favoured us. For my part, I am not ashamed of my country; nor do I approve of our adopting the rites of foreign nations, or learning from them how

we

we ought to reverence our kings. To receive laws, or rules of conduct, from them, what is it, but to confess ourselves inferior to them?

QUINTUS CURTIUS.

CHAP V.

THE SCYTHIAN AMBASSADORS TO

I

F

ALEXANDER.

your perfon were as gigantic as your defires, the world would not contain you. Your right hand would touch the east, and your left the weft, at the fame time. You grasp at more than you are equalto. From Europe you reach Afia: from Afia you lay hold on Europe. And if you fhould conquer all mankind, you feem difpofed to wage war with woods and fnows, with rivers and wild beafts, and to attempt to fubdue nature. But have you confidered the ufual courfe of things? Have you reflected, that great trees are many years in growing to their height, and are cut down in an hour. It is foolish to think of the fruit only, without confidering the height you have to climb, to come at it. Take care left, while you strive to reach the top, you fall to the ground with the branches you have laid hold on. The lion, when dead, is devoured by ravens; and ruft confumes the hardness of iron. There is nothing fo ftrong, but it is in danger from what is weak. It will, therefore, be your wisdom to take care how you venture beyond your reach. Befides, what have you to do with the Scythians, or the Scythians with you? We have never invaded Macedon : why should you attack Scythia? We inhabit vaft deferts, and pathlefs woods, where we do not want to hear of the name of Alexander. We are not difpofed to fubmit to slavery;

and

and we have no ambition to tyrannize over any nation. That you may understand the genius of the Scythians, we prefent you with a yoke of oxen, an arrow, and a goblet. We use these respectively in our commerce with friends, and with foes. We give to our friends the corn, which we raise by the labour of our oxen. With the goblet we join with them in pouring drink-offerings to the gods; and with arrows we attack our enemies. We have conquered those, who have attempted to tyrannize over us in our own country, and likewise the kings of the Medes and Persians, when they made unjust war upon us; and we have opened to ourfelves a way into Egypt. You pretend to be the punisher of robbers; and are yourself the general robber of mankind. You have taken Lydia : you have feized Syria: you are mafter of Perfia: you have subdued the Bactrians; and attacked India. All this will not fatisfy you, unless you lay your greedy and insatiable hands upon our flocks and our herds. How imprudent is your conduct! You grasp at riches, the poffeffion of which only increases your avarice. You increase your hunger by what should produce fatiety fo that the more you have, the more you defire. But have you forgot how long the conqueft of the Bactrians detained you; while you were fubduing them, the Sogdians revolted. Your victories ferve no other purpose, than to find you employment by producing new wars. For the bufinefs of every conqueft is twofold; to win, and to preferve. And though you may be the greatest of warriors, you must expect, that the nations you conquer will endeavour to shake off the yoke as fast as poffible. For what people chufes to be under foreign dominion? If you will cross the Tanais, you may travel over Scythia, and obferve how extensive a territory we inhabit. But to conquer us is quite another bufinefs. Your army is

:

loaded

loaded with the cumbrous fpoils of many nations. You will find the poverty of the Scythians, at one time, too nimble for your purfuit; and at another time, when you think we are fled far enough from you, you will have us furprize you in your camp. For the Scythians attack with no lefs vigour than they fly. Why should we put you in mind of the vastnefs of the country, you will have to conquer ! The deserts of Scythia are commonly talked of in Greece; and all the world knows, that our delight is to dwell at large, and not in towns, or plantations. It will therefore be your wisdom to keep with strict attention what you have gained. Catching at more, you may lose what you have. We have a proverbial faying in Scythia, That fortune has no feet, and is furnished only with hands, to distribute her capricious favours, and with fins, to elude the prafp of thofe, to whom The has been bountiful. You give yourself out to be god, the fon of Jupiter Hammon. It fuits the character of a god, to bestow favours on mortals; not to deprive them of what they have. But if you are no god, reflect on the precarious condition of humanity. You will thus fhew more wifdom, than by dwelling onthofe fubjects which have puffed up your pride, and made you forget yourfelf. You see how little you are likely to gain by attempting the conqueft of Scythia. On the other hand, you may, if you please, have in us a valuable alliance. We command the borders of both Europe and Afia, There is nothing between us and Bactria, but the river Tanais : and our territory extends to Thrace, which, as we have heard, borders on Macedon. If you decline attacking us in a hoftile mannner, you may have our friendship. Nations which have never been at war are on an equal footing. But it is in vain, that confidence is repofed in a conquered people. There can be no fincere

friendship

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