306 HISTORICAL TALES,

The Athenians, on the contrary, were enthusiasti-
cally fond of oratory, and ardently cultivated fluency
of speech. It was by this art that Themistocles kept
the fleet together for the great battle of Salamis. It
was by this art that Pericles so long held control of
Athens. The sophists, the philosophers, the leaders
of the assembly, were all adepts in the art of con-
vincing by eloquence and argument, and oratory
progressed until, in the later days of Grecian free-
dom, Athens possessed a group of public speakers
who have never been surpassed, if equalled, in the
history of the world.

It was the orators who particularly attracted the
weakly lad, whose mind was as active as his body
was feeble. He studied grammar and rhetoric, as
did the sons of wealthy Athenians in general. And
while still a mere boy he begged his tutors to take
him to hear Callistratus, an able public speaker, who
was to deliver an oration on some weighty political
subject. The speech, delivered with all the elo-
quence of manner and logic of thought which
marked the leading orators of that day, deeply im-
pressed the susceptible mind of the eager lad, who
went away doubtless determining in his own mind
that he would one day, too, move the world with
eloquent and convincing speech.

As he grew older there arose a special reason why
he should become able to speak for himself. His
father, who was also named Demosthenes, had been
arich man. He was a manufacturer of swords or
knives, in which he employed thirty-two slaves; and
also had a couch or bed factory, employing twenty