[32]
For
the objects at stake in a war against the barbarian are nothing less than our
country, our life, our habits, our freedom, and all such blessings. Who, then,
is so desperate that he will sacrifice himself, his ancestors, his sepulchres,
and his native land, all for the sake of a paltry profit? I cannot think that
there is such a man. Moreover, it is not even to the King's advantage that
mercenaries should beat the Greeks, for the men who shall beat us have been his
masters long ago.1 No; his object is
not, after destroying us, to find himself in the power of others, but to rule
all the world, if he can, or if not, at least those who are now his slaves.
1 i.e. by beating us they will show that at any time they could have beaten him.
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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