volume it generally corresponds with Dindorf's: but the experience which I gained as I went on, led me when in doubt to defer to Bekker's judgment in preference to Dindorf's, believing that the latter follows too implicitly the readings of the Codex S., a new collation of which he gives in the preface to his Third Edition. As Mr. Shilleto has observed, "this MS. was undoubtedly transcribed by a learned, acute, and careful copyist," but this very learning and acuteness seem to have led him occasionally to meddle with the text. In fact, the various readings of this Codex have the appearance of the corrections of a good scholar rather than of the natural language of the Orator.

In the divisions of the text I have adopted the sections of Bekker's Oxford Edition rather than Dindorf's, as being more generally used, and given them on the left hand side of each page. The figures on the right corresponding with the pages and lines of Reiske's Edition, (1779,) I have added in common with other editors, because they are frequently used by Böckh, Grote, and others, and occasionally I have myself found it convenient to quote them.

The MSS. of Demosthenes are generally divided into three classes, of which Dindorf says: "Ac primae quidem classis unus superest Parisinus S.; secundae principes sunt Parisinus 2935 et Marcianus Venetus 416, uterque membranaceus seculi undecimi, Venetique vel simillimi ei codicis apographum B, in bibliotheca regia Monacensi servatum (85), bombycinum seculi decimi tertii; tertiae denique classis nullus dum innotuit aut antiquior aut melior quam Monacensis 485. membranaceus seculi undecimi." The individuals comprehended in these classes are described as follows:

The Codex S. (Ed. Turic. Z.) is No. 2934, in the Bibliothèque Impériale at Paris, and originally belonged to a monastery on Mount Athos. Its date is of the eleventh century, and it contains sixty speeches, the Prooemia and five first letters, but wants the "Letter of Philip," and the last part of Oration XVII. The number of lines appended to the Orations, Prooemia, and

Epistles, seems to have been taken from an older copy, for it does not correspond with the MS. itself. Only twenty-two of the Orations have arguments prefixed.

F. 'secundae codicum classis princeps,' is No. 416 of St. Mark's, at Venice. It is of the eleventh century, and contains sixty-one speeches, the Prooemia and Epistles, with the arguments of Libanius (fol. 1-11,) prefixed to the whole. The Orations are arranged as in the printed editions, except that the order of the "De Libertate Rhodiorum," and the "Pro Megalopolitanis " is inverted, and that the "De Corona" precedes the speech against Androtion. It contains copious Scholia to the Olynthiacs, the Philippics, the De Corona, and the De Fal. Leg., but few for the other speeches.

B. is No. 85 in the Royal Library at Munich, the Codex Bavaricus of Reiske, and corresponds with F., as if it were almost a copy.

Y., "Parisiensis regius 2935," is of the eleventh century, by two copyists of the same age. It contains as Prolegomena (1—8,) a life of Demosthenes with the arguments of Libanius, besides twenty-nine orations, and the Prooemia.

A., 'tertiae classis princeps,' is No. 485 in the Royal Library, at Munich (olim Augustanus'). Its date is of the eleventh century. It contains only fifty-four orations, the Prooemia, and the letters. It differs from S. and F. in the collocation of words, in the simplification of sentences, and as Dindorf says, "vocabulis verborumque constructionibus exquisitioribus interdum in vulgaria mutatis." Reiske made great use of it.

O. and P. (as also Y.) are described by Dindorf, (Praef. Ox. Ed. xiv,) as intermediate between the first and second class of MSS. Seven others (Q. t. p. v. u. q. o.) have the same origin as "Venetus F., et Monacensis B." Of these Q. stands highest, and three (k. r. s.) belong to the third class, though s. has some special peculiarities.

Of these,

O. is No. 43 of the Jesuits' College at Antwerp, and agrees closely with Y.

P. is Codex 9, case 59, of the Bibliotheca Laurentiana (Lorenzo,) at Florence. It is of the eleventh century and contains eight orations.

Q. is 418 of St. Mark's Library at Venice. It is of the eleventh century, and contains thirty-two orations in this order, 18, 19. 32-61, with the Prooemia and Letters.

The remainder may be described in Dindorf's words, thus: "o. Parisiensis regius 2043, seculi decimi sexti.

r.

2936 (olim 380 et 2188), inter Colbertinos 3769, seculi XIII. Orationes insunt LVII. et Prooe

mia."

S.

orationes XVI.

2940, bombycinus seculi XIII. Insunt

Eight other Parisian MSS. are enumerated by the Zürich Editors, and by Mr. Shilleto (Pref. p. xi), but they are not important (see Becker, p. 78).

None of the MSS. that have been compared, agree in the sequence of the speeches. But they all group together the State Orations, and put the Olynthiacs first. The order which I have followed has been generally adopted, otherwise I should have preferred a chronological arrangement. The MSS. vary still more in the number of Orations, which according to Photius (Bibliotheca cod. 265), Patriarch of Constantinople, a. D. 858, was in his time sixty-five. There are now only sixty-one, including the "Letter of Philip," and some speeches which few scholars believe to be authentic. To these are appended fifty-six Prooemia, apparently prepared for use beforehand, as occasion might require, and six letters bearing the name of Demosthenes,

though of very questionable authorship. Long, however, before the time of Photius, there were extant different copies of the works of Demosthenes with various readings. (Dindorf, Praef. v.)

It remains for me to acknowledge the obligations which I owe to other authors, English as well as foreign, and the reader will see from my references how great they are. Especially should I mention Mr. Grote, whose researches and very correct references have materially assisted me in questions of history and Mr. C. R. Kennedy, whose admirable, if not unrivalled translations have often been my guide and resource in interpretation. My thanks are also due to Lord Brougham for his kindness and courtesy in the communications with which he has honoured me, and to Mr. Penrose, the Architect, for his permission to copy his plan of the Acropolis (see p. 302). To Mr. Long above all am I indebted for his careful revision of every sheet, for his corrections of error, and his suggestions of improvement. Without the benefit which I have derived from his ability, judgment, and experience, this volume would have lost much of any value which it may possess, and have been less free from errors and imperfections than it is now. Some of them are the result of inexperience, and for these I bespeak such consideration as may fairly be shown to an editor on his first attempt. I may further plead that I have been compelled to write at such intervals only as I could snatch from laborious occupations, and without the advantage of University or Metropolitan Libraries. The same causes have operated to delay the completion of this volume, and have occasioned repetitions which, though not always necessary, may perhaps prove not altogether useless. The remaining volumes will I trust, if life be spared, be completed in less time and with fewer imperfections than the first, and I only hope they may prove as useful to others as I have found the previous portions of the series to myself.

The King's School, Rochester,

May 24, 1859.

LIFE OF DEMOSTHENES.

DEMOSTHENES the great Statesman and Orator of Athens was born when her glory was on the wane, and the spirit of the past no longer that of his age. Much as we know about him, the year of his birth is still a question', and the dates for its determination are so conflicting, that we cannot accept with confidence any of the accounts which ancient authors have left us on the subject, nor any of the conclusions which modern writers have deduced from them. According to Dionysius of Halicarnassus, he was born B.c. 381 (Olym. 99. 4), seventeen years old when he prosecuted his guardians, twenty-six when he appeared in his first public cause, and thirty-two at the time of the Olynthian war. Another account in Aulus Gellius places his birth in B.C. 382, and this is to some extent confirmed by the Biographies of Plutarch and Libanius. A third is found in the lives of the Ten Orators (p. 844 a), improperly ascribed to Plutarch, and this assigns B.C. 384 for the birth-year, three or four years earlier than the date of Dionysius.

3

Unfortunately the internal evidence of the Orations does not remove the difficulty. For if, according to the received opinion, an Athenian citizen did not enter upon man's estate till eighteen, then it would seem from two of his speeches that Demosthenes was born before B.C. 382. But the oration against Meidias (§ 196) apparently

4

1 Discussed by Bp. Thirlwall in the Phil. Museum, ii. 390, and by Mr. Clinton, Fast. Hell. Appen. c. 20; also by A. Schäfer in Appendix ii. to 'Demosthenes und seine Zeit.'

2 Ad Amm. i. c. 4, vi. 724, Reiske.

3 Noct. Att. xv. 28.

4

c. Aphob. §§ 4. 7, and adv. Onet. i. § 15. Phil. Mus. ii. 392.